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THE BOOK OF THE DEAD

SAILING IN THE GREAT BOAT

[From the Papyrus of Nu (British Museum No. 10,477, sheet 28).]

The Chapter of sailing in the Great Boat of Ra to pass over the circle of bright flame. The Osiris Nu, the overseer of the palace, the chancellor-in-chief, triumphant, saith:

“[Hail], ye bright and shining flames that keep your place behind Rā, and which slay behind him, the boat of Rā is in fear of the whirlwind and the storm; shine ye forth, then, and make [ye yourselves] visible. I have come [daily] along with the god Sek-hra from the bight of his holy lake, and I have seen the Maāt [goddesses] pass along, and the lion-gods who belong unto them. Hail, thou that dwellest in the coffer who hast multitudes of plants(?), I have seen [what is] there. We rejoice, and their princes rejoice greatly, and their lesser gods(?) are glad. I have made a way in front of the boat of Rā, I have lifted myself up into his divine Disk, I shine brightly through his splendors; he hath furnished himself with the things which are his, taking possession thereof as the lord of right and truth. And behold, O ye company of the gods, and thou ancestor of the goddess Isis,[1] grant ye that he may bear testimony to his father, the lord of those who are therein. I have weighed the . . . in him [as] chief, and I have brought to him the goddess Tefnut and he liveth. Behold, come, come, and declare before him the testimony of right and truth of the lord Tem. I cry out at eventide and at his hour, saying, Grant ye unto me that I may come. I have brought unto him the jaws of the passages of the tomb; I have brought unto him the bones which are in Annu (Heliopolis); I have gathered together for him his manifold parts; I have driven back for him the serpent fiend Apep; I have spit upon his gashes for him; I have made my road and I have passed in among you. I am he who dwelleth among the gods, come, let [me] pass onward in the boat, the boat of the lord Sa. Behold, O Heru-ur, there is a flame, but the fire hath been extinguished. I have made [my] road, O ye divine fathers and your divine apes! I have entered upon the horizon, and I have

  1. Read “god Osiris”?