The Literature of the Ancient Egyptians | Page 8

of a sucking calf on the day of its birth. Thou art censed. Thou art censed. Thou art pure. Thou art pure. Thou art established among thy brethren the gods. Thy head is censed. Thy mouth is censed. Thy bones are purified. [Decay] that is inherent in thee shall not touch thee. I have given thee the Eye of Horus,[5] and thy face is filled therewith. Thou art shrouded in incense (say twice)."[6]
[Footnote 1: A form of the Sun-god.]
[Footnote 2: Originally a benevolent god: later the great god of evil.]
[Footnote 3: The scribe of the gods, lord of wisdom: see pp. 1,2.]
[Footnote 4: The Earth-god.]
[Footnote 5: Horus gave his eye to Osiris, and thereby restored life to him.]
[Footnote 6: Repetitions are omitted.]
The next ceremony, the ninth, represented the re-birth of the king, who was personified by a priest. The priest, wrapped in the skin of a bull, lay on a small bed and feigned death. When the chief priest had said, "O my father," four times, the priest representing the king came forth from the bull's skin, and sat up; this act symbolized the resurrection of the king in the form of a spirit-body (_sahu_). The chief priest then asserted that the king was alive, and that he should never be removed, and that he was similar in every way to Horus. The priest personifying the king then put on a special garment, and taking a staff or sceptre in his hand, said, "I love my father and his transformation. I have made my father, I have made a statue of him, a large statue. Horus loveth those who love him." He then pressed the lips of the statue, and said, "I have come to embrace thee. I am thy son. I am Horus. I have pressed for thee thy mouth.... I am thy beloved son." The words then said by the chief priest, "I have delivered this mine eye from his mouth, I have cut off his leg," mean that the king was delivered from the jaws of death, and that a grievous wound had been inflicted on the god of death, _i.e._ Set.
Whilst these ceremonies were being performed the animals brought to be sacrificed were slain. Chief of these were two bulls, gazelle, geese, &c., and their slaughter typified the conquest and death of the enemies of the dead king. The heart and a fore-leg of each bull were presented to the statue of the king, and the priest said: "Hail, Osiris! I have come to embrace thee. I am Horus. I have pressed for thee thy mouth. I am thy beloved Son. I have opened thy mouth. Thy mouth hath been made firm. I have made thy mouth and thy teeth to be in their proper places. Hail, Osiris![1] I have opened thy mouth with the Eye of Horus." Then taking two instruments made of metal the priest went through the motion of cutting open the mouth and eyes of the statue, and said: "I have opened thy mouth. I have opened thy two eyes. I have opened thy mouth with the instrument of Anpu.[2] I have opened thy mouth with the Meskha instrument wherewith the mouth of the gods was opened. Horus openeth the mouth and eyes of the Osiris. Horus openeth the mouth of the Osiris even as he opened the mouth of his father. As he opened the mouth of the god Osiris so shall he open the mouth of my father with the iron that cometh forth from Set, with the Meskha instrument of iron wherewith he opened the mouth of the gods shall the mouth of the Osiris be opened. And the Osiris shall walk and shall talk, and his body shall be with the Great Company of the Gods who dwell in the Great House of the Aged One (_i.e._ the Sun-god) who dwelleth in Anu.[3] And he shall take possession of the Urrt Crown therein before Horus, the Lord of mankind. Hail, Osiris! Horus hath opened thy mouth and thine eyes with the instruments Sebur and An, wherewith the mouths of the gods of the South were opened.... All the gods bring words of power. They recite them for thee. They make thee to live by them. Thou becomest the possessor of twofold strength. Thou makest the passes that give thee the fluid of life, and their life fluid is about thee. Thou art protected, and thou shalt not die. Thou shalt change thy form [at pleasure] among the Doubles[4] of the gods. Thou shalt rise up as a king of the South. Thou shalt rise up as a king of the North. Thou art endowed with strength like all the gods and their Doubles. Shu[5] hath equipped thee. He hath exalted thee to the height of heaven. He hath