HYMN I(1.).
_Adored be Râ, when he riseth up from the eastern horizon of
Heaven; they who accompany him extol him._
Here is the Osiris _N_, the Victorious, and he saith:—
O thou radiant Orb, who arisest each day from the Horizon, shine thou
upon the face of the Osiris _N_ who adoreth thee at dawn, and
propitiateth thee at the gloaming.
Let the soul of _N_ come forth with thee into heaven, let him journey in
the Mââtit boat and finish his course in the Sektit boat(2.) till he
reach in heaven unto the Stars which set(3.).
He saith, as he invoketh his Lord, the Eternal one:—
Hail to thee, Horus of the Two Horizons(4.), who art Chepera
Self-originating(5.); Beautiful is thy rising up from the horizon,
enlightening the two Earths with thy rays. All the gods are in
exultation when they see thee the King of Heaven, with the Nebt
Unnut[11] established upon thy head (and the diadem of the South and the
diadem of the North upon thy brow) which maketh her abode in front of
thee.
Thoth abideth at the prow of thy bark that he may destroy all thine
adversaries.
They who dwell in the Tuat are coming forth to meet thy Majesty, and to
gaze upon that beautiful semblance of thine.
And I too come to thee that I may be with thee to see thine Orb each
day; let me not be detained, let me not be repulsed.
Let my limbs be renewed by the contemplation of thy glories, like all
thy servants, for I am one of those who honoured thee upon earth.
Let me reach the Land of Ages, let me gain the Land of Eternity; for
thou, my Lord, hast destined them for me.
The Osiris _N_; he saith:—
Hail to thee who risest up from the Horizon as Râ in union with Maāt;
thou dost traverse heaven in peace and all men see thee as thou goest
forward. And after being concealed from them thou presentest thyself at
the dawn of each day.
Brisk is the bark under thy Majesty.
Thy rays are upon men’s faces; the golden glories they cannot be told:
not to be described are thy beams.
The Lands of the gods, the colours of Punit(6.) are seen in them; that
men may form an estimate of that which is hidden from their faces.
Alone art thou when thy form riseth up upon the Sky; let me advance as
thou advancest, like thy Majesty, without a pause, O Râ, whom none can
outstrip.
A mighty march is thine; Leagues by millions, and hundreds of thousands,
in a small moment thou hast travelled them, and thou goest to rest.
Thou completest the hours of the Night, according as thou hast measured
them out. And when thou hast completed them according to thy rule, day
dawneth.
Thou presentest thyself at thy place as Râ, as thou risest from the
Horizon.
The Osiris _N_, he saith, as he adoreth thee when thou shinest; He saith
to thee when thou risest up at dawn, as he exalteth thine appearance;
Thou comest forth, most glorious one, fashioning and forming thy limbs,
giving birth to them without any labour, as Râ rising in heaven.
Grant that I may attain to the Heaven of eternity and the abode of thy
servants; let me be united with the venerable and mighty Chu[12] of the
Netherworld; let me come forth with them to see thy glories, as thou
shinest at the gloaming, when thy mother Nut(7.) enfoldeth thee.
And when thou turnest thy face to the West, mine hands are in adoration
to thy setting as one who liveth;[13] for it is thou who hast created
Eternity.
I have set thee in my heart unceasingly, who art more mighty than all
the gods.
The Osiris _N_, he saith:—
Adoration to thee, who arisest out of the Golden, and givest light to
the earth on the day of thy birth. Thy mother bringeth thee forth upon
her hands, that thou mayest give light to the whole circumference which
the Solar Orb enlighteneth.
Mighty Enlightener, who risest up in the Sky and raisest up the tribes
of men by thy Stream, and givest holiday to all districts, towns and
temples; and raising food, nourishment and dainties.
Most Mighty one, master of masters, who defendest every abode of thine
against wrong, Most Glorious one in thine Evening Bark, Most Illustrious
in thy Morning Bark.
Glorify thou the Osiris _N_ in the Netherworld, grant that he may come
into Amenta without defect and free from wrong, and set him among the
faithful and venerable ones.
Let him be united with the souls in the Netherworld, let him sail about
in the country of Aarru[14] after a joyful journey.
Here is the Osiris _N_.
Come forth into Heaven, sail across the firmament and enter into
brotherhood with the Stars, let salutation be made to thee in the Bark,
let invocation be made to thee in the Morning Bark. Contemplate Râ
within his Ark and do thou propitiate his Orb daily. See the Ant fish in
its birth from the emerald stream, and see the Abtu fish and its
rotations.(8.)
And let the offender[15] fall prostrate, when he meditates destruction
for me, by blows upon his back-bone.
Râ springs forth with a fair wind; the Evening Bark speeds on and
reaches the Haven; the crew of Râ are in exultation when they look upon
him; the Mistress of Life, her heart is delighted at the overthrow of
the adversary of her Lord.
See thou Horus at the Look-out of the ship,(9.) and at his sides Thoth
and Maāt. All the gods are in exultation when they behold Râ coming in
peace to give new life to the hearts of the Chu, and here is the Osiris
_N_ along with them.
[LITANY.](10.)
_Adored be Râ, as he setteth in the Land of Life._(11.)
Hail to thee, who hast come as Tmu, and hast been the creator of the
cycle of the gods,(12.)
Hail to thee, who hast come as the Soul of Souls, August one in Amenta,
Hail to thee, who art above the gods and who lightenest up the Tuat with
thy glories,
Hail to thee, who comest in splendour, and goest round in thine Orb,
Hail to thee, who art mightier than the gods, who art crowned in Heaven
and King in the Tuat,
Hail to thee, who openest the Tuat and disposest of all its doors,
Hail to thee, supreme among the gods, and Weigher of Words in the
Netherworld.
Hail to thee, who art in thy Nest, and stirrest the Tuat with thy glory,
Hail to thee, the Great, the Mighty, whose enemies are laid prostrate at
their blocks,
Hail to thee, who slaughterest the Sebau and annihilatest Âpepi,
[Each invocation of this Litany is followed by]
Give thou delicious breezes of the north wind to the Osiris _N_.
Horus openeth; the Great, the Mighty, who divideth the earths, the great
one who resteth in the Mountain of the West, and lighteneth up the Tuat
with his glories and the Souls in their hidden abode, by shining into
their sepulchres.
By hurling harm against the foe thou hast utterly destroyed all the
adversaries of the Osiris _N_.
HYMN II.(13.)
The Osiris _N_; he saith when he adoreth Râ, the Horus of the Two
Horizons, when setting in the Land of Life.
Adoration to thee, O Râ; Adoration to thee, O Tmu, at thy coming in thy
beauty, in thy manifestation, in thy mastery.
Thou sailest over the Heaven, thou travellest over earth and in
splendour thou reachest the zenith; the two divisions of Heaven are in
obeisance to thee, and yield adoration to thee.
All the gods of Amenta are in exultation at thy glory. They whose abodes
are hidden adore thee, and the Great Ones make offerings to thee, who
for thee have created the soil of earth.(14.)
They who are on the Horizon convey thee, and they who are in the Evening
Bark transport thee, and they say—Adoration at the approach of thy
Majesty, Come, Come, approach in peace, Oh to thee, Welcome, Lord of
Heaven, King of Akerta.
Thy mother Isis(15.) embraceth thee, seeing in thee her son, as the Lord
of Terror, the All-Powerful, as he setteth in the Land of Life at night.
Thy father Tatunen(16.) carrieth thee, and his arms are stretched out
behind thee, and that which hath taken place is made last upon earth.
Wake up from thy rest, thine abode is in Manu.
Let me be entrusted to the fidelity which is yielded to Osiris.
Come, O Râ, Tmu, be thou adored. Do thy will daily. Grant success in
presence of the cycle of the mighty gods.
Beautiful art thou, O Râ, in thine Horizon of the West; O Lord of Law,
in the midst of the Horizon.
Very terrible art thou, rich art thou in attributes, and great is thy
love to those who dwell in the Tuat.
_To be said, when Râ sets in the Land of Life; with hands bent
downward._(17.)
HYMN III.(18.)
_Adoration to Tmu as he setteth in the Land of Life._
The Osiris _N_; he saith:—
Adoration to Tmu as he setteth in the Land of Life.
The Osiris _N_; he saith, adoring Tmu, when setting in the Land of Life
and shedding his rays on the Tuat;
Hail to thee setting in the Land of Life, O Father of the gods, thou art
united to thy mother in Manu. Her two hands receive thee daily. Thy
Majesty hath part in the house of Sokaru. Exult thou because the doors
are opened of the Horizon, at thy setting in the Mountain of the West.
Thy rays, they run over the earth to enlighten the dwellers in Amenta.
Those who are in the Tuat worship thee with loud acclaim, and cherish
hope when they see thee daily.
Thou grantest to the gods to sit upon the earth; to those, namely, who
follow thee and come in thy train.
O august Soul, who begettest the gods, and dost invest them with thine
attributes; the Unknowable, the Ancient One, the Mighty in thy mystery.
Be thy fair face propitious to the Osiris _N_, oh Chepera, Father of the
gods(19.).
Freedom for ever from perdition is derived through this Book, and upon
it I take my firm stand.
He hath written it who spake it, and his heart resteth on the reward.
Let there be given me armfuls of bread and drink, and let me be
accompanied by this Book after my life.
NOTES.
The fifteenth chapter as it stands in the later recension (represented
by the Turin _Todtenbuch_) is of very recent origin. It is in fact a
collection of texts originally independent of each other; (1) a hymn to
Râ at his rising, (2) a litany, (3) a hymn to Râ at his setting, (4) a
hymn to Tmu at his setting, followed by a statement respecting the
spiritual importance of the document.
Of the last hymn there are no copies of ancient date, but the other
three compositions are found more or less perfect as far back as the
XIXth dynasty. The discrepancies, however, between the ancient texts
furnish so much evidence of free composition on the part of the scribes,
that it is impossible to suppose that they had before them documents
recognised as sacred and canonical. M. Naville has found it necessary to
publish four different forms of the hymn to the rising, and three of the
hymn to the setting sun. The ideas and expressions throughout these
hymns are current in the religious texts of the XVIIIth and XIXth
dynasties.
In the translation here given I have followed the _form_ adopted by the
later recension, correcting the text when necessary by the copies
written in the better periods.