Egyptian Literature/The Book of the Dead/Of Gaining Mastery Over Enemies
OF GAINING MASTERY OVER ENEMIES
[From the Papyrus of Nu (British Museum No. 10,477, sheet 15).]
The Chapter of coming forth by day and of gaining the mastery over enemies. The chancellor-in-chief, Nu, saith:
“Rā sitteth in his habitation of millions of years, and he hath gathered together the company of the gods, with those divine beings, whose faces are hidden, who dwell in the Temple of Khepera, who eat the god Bāh, and who drink the drink-offerings which are brought into the celestial regions of light; and conversely. Grant that I may take possession of the captives of Osiris, and never let me have my being among the fiends of Suti! Hail, let me sit upon his folds in the habitation of the god User-ba (i.e., he of the strong Soul)! Grant thou that I may sit upon the throne of Rā, and let me have possession of my body before the god Seb. Grant thou that Osiris may come forth triumphant over Suti [and over] the night-watchers of Suti, and over the night-watchers of the Crocodile, yea the night-watchers of the Crocodile, whose faces are hidden and who dwell in the divine Temple of the King of the North in the apparel of the gods on the sixth day of the festival, whose snares are like unto everlastingness and whose cords are like unto eternity. I have seen the god Abet-ka placing the cord; the child is laid in fetters, and the rope of the god Ab-ka is drawn tight(?) . . . Behold me. I am born, and I come forth in the form of a living Khu, and the human beings who are upon the earth ascribe praise [unto me]. Hail, Mer, who doest these things for me, and who art put an end to by the vigor of Rā, grant thou that I may see Rā; grant thou that I may come forth against my enemies; and grant thou that I may be victorious over them in the presence of the sovereign princes of the great god who are in the presence of the great god. If, repulsing [me], thou dost not allow me to come forth against my Enemy and to be victorious over him before the sovereign princes, then may Hāpi—who liveth upon law and order—not come forth into heaven—now he liveth by Maāt—and may Rā—who feedeth upon fish—not descend into the waters! And then, verily shall Rā—who feedeth upon right and order—come forth into heaven, and then, verily, shall Hāpi—who feedeth upon fish—descend into the waters; and then, verily, the great day upon the earth shall not be in its season. I have come against my Enemy, he hath been given unto me, he hath come to an end, and I have gotten possession [of him] before the sovereign princes.”