Egyptian Literature/The Book of the Dead/Of Going About in the Underworld
OF GOING ABOUT IN THE UNDERWORLD
[From the Papyrus of Nu (British Museum No. 10,477, sheet 9).]
The Chapter of going in after coming forth [from the underworld]. The overseer of the palace, the chancellor-in-chief, Nu, triumphant, saith:
“Open unto me? Who then art thou? Whither goest thou? What is thy name? I am one of you, ‘Assembler of Souls’ is the name of my boat; ‘Making the hair to stand on end’ is the name of the oars; ‘Watchful one’ is the name of its bows; ‘Evil is it’ is the name of the rudder; ‘Steering straight for the middle’ is the name of the Mātchabet; so likewise [the boat] is a type of my sailing onward to the pool. Let there be given unto me vessels of milk, together with cakes, and loaves of bread, and cups of drink, and pieces of meat in the Temple of Anpu,” or (as others say), “Grant thou me [these things] wholly. Let it be so done unto me that I may enter in like a hawk, and that I may come forth like the Bennu bird, [and like] the Morning Star. Let me make [my] path so that [I] may go in peace into the beautiful Amentet, and let the Lake of Osiris be mine. Let me make my path, and let me enter in, and let me adore Osiris, the Lord of life.”