Egyptian Literature/The Book of the Dead/Preserving the Heart (2)
PRESERVING THE HEART
[From the Papyrus of Nu (British Museum No. 10,477, sheet 5).]
The Chapter of not letting the heart of the overseer of the palace, the chancellor-in-chief, Nu, triumphant, be driven away from him in the underworld. He Saith:
“O my heart, my mother; O my heart, my mother! O my heart of my existence upon earth. May naught stand up to oppose me in judgment in the presence of the lords of the trial; let it not be said of me and of that which I have done, ‘He hath done deeds against that which is right and true’; may naught be against me in the presence of the great god, the lord of Amentet. Homage to thee, O my heart! Homage to thee, O my heart! Homage to you, O my reins! Homage to you, O ye gods who dwell in the divine clouds, and who are exalted (or holy) by reason of your sceptres! Speak ye [for me] fair things to Rā, and make ye me to prosper before Nehebka. And behold me, even though I be joined to the earth in the mighty innermost parts thereof, let me remain upon the earth and let me not die in Amentet, but become a Khu therein.”