The Book of the Dead | Page 9

Tem-Sep, comer forth from Tetu, I have not cursed the king.
"O Nefer-Tem, comer forth from Het-ka-Ptah, I have not acted deceitfully; I have not committed wickedness.
"O Nekhen, comer forth from Heqat, I have not turned a deaf ear to the words of the Law (or Truth)."
The names of most of the Forty-Two gods are not ancient, but were invented by the priests probably about the same time as the names in the Book of Him that is in the Tuat and the Book of Gates, i.e., between the XIIth and the XVIIIth dynasties. Their artificial character is shown by their meanings. Thus Usekh-nemmit means "He of the long strides"; Fenti means "He of the Nose"; Neha-hau means "Stinking-members"; Set-qesu means "Breaker of bones," etc. The early Egyptologists called the second part of the CXXVth Chapter the "Negative Confession," and it is generally known by this somewhat inexact title to this day.
In the third part of the CXXVth Chapter comes the address which the deceased made to the gods after he had declared his innocence of the sins enumerated before the Forty-Two gods. He says: "Homage to you, O ye gods who dwell in your Hall of Maati. I know you and I know your names. Let me not fall under your slaughtering knives. Bring not my wickedness to the notice of the god whose followers ye are. Let not the affair [of my judgment] come under your jurisdiction. Speak ye the Law (or truth) concerning me before Neb-er-tcher, [8] for I performed the Law (or, truth) in Ta-mera (i.e., Egypt). I have not blasphemed the God. No affair of mine came under the notice of the king in his day. Homage to you, O ye who are in your Hall of Maati, who have no lies in your bodies, who live on truth, who eat truth before Horus, the dweller in his disk, deliver ye me from Babai [9] who liveth upon the entrails of the mighty ones on the day of the Great Reckoning (APT AAT). Behold me! I have come to you without sin, without deceit (?), without evil, without false testimony (?) I have not done an [evil] thing. I live upon truth and I feed upon truth. I have performed the behests of men, and the things that satisfy the gods. [10] I have propitiated the God [by doing] His will. I have given bread to the hungry, water to the thirsty, raiment to the naked, and a boat to him that needed one. I have made holy offerings to the gods, and sepulchral offerings to the beautified dead. Be ye then my saviours, be ye my protectors, and make no accusation against me before the Great God. I am pure of mouth, and clean of hands; therefore it hath been said by those who saw me, 'Come in peace, come in peace.'"
The deceased then addresses Osiris, and says, "Hail, thou who art exalted upon thy standard, thou Lord of the Atefu Crown, whose name is 'Lord of Winds,' save me from thy Messengers (or Assessors) with uncovered faces, who bring charges of evil and make shortcomings plain, because I have performed the Law (or Truth) for the Lord of the Law (or Truth). I have purified myself with washings in water, my back hath been cleansed with salt, and my inner parts are in the Pool of Truth. There is not a member of mine that lacketh truth." From the lines that follow the above in the Papyrus of Nu it seems as though the judgment of the deceased by the Forty-Two gods was preliminary to the final judgment of Osiris. At all events, after questioning him about the performance of certain ceremonies, they invited him to enter the Hall of Maati, but when he was about to do so the porter, and the door-bolts, and the various parts of the door and its frame, and the floor, refused to permit him to enter until he had repeated their magical names. When he had pronounced these correctly the porter took him in and presented him to Maau (?)-Taui, who was Thoth himself. When asked by him why he had come the deceased answered, "I have come that report may be made of me." Then Thoth said, "What is thy condition?" And the deceased replied, "I am purified from evil things, I am free from the wickedness of those who lived in my days; I am not one of them." On this Thoth said, "Thou shalt be reported. [Tell me:] Who is he whose roof is fire, whose walls are living serpents, and whose floor is a stream of water? Who is he?" The deceased having replied "Osiris," Thoth then led him forward to the god Osiris, who received him, and promised that subsistence should be