Egyptian Literature/The Book of the Dead/Living by Air (2)

LIVING BY AIR

[From the Papyrus of Nu (British Museum No. 10,477, sheet 12).]

The Chapter of living by air in the underworld. Nu, the overseer of the palace, the chancellor-in-chief, triumphant, the son of the overseer of the palace, the chancellor-in-chief, Amen-hetep, triumphant, saith:

“I am the double Lion-god, the first-born of Rā and Tem of Ha-khebti(?), [the gods] who dwell in their divine chambers. Those who dwell in their divine abodes have become my guides, and they make paths for me as they revolve in the watery abyss of the sky by the side of the path of the boat of Tem. I stand upon the timbers(?) of the boat of Rā, and I recite his ordinances to the beings who have knowledge, and I am the herald of his words to him whose throat stinketh. I set free my divine fathers at eventide. I close the lips of my mouth, and I eat like unto a living being. I have life in Tattu, and I live again after death like Rā day by day.”