Chapter 7 (part 2)

But side by side with neter , whatever it may mean, we have mentioned in texts of all ages a number of beings called neteru which Egyptologists universally translate by the word "gods." Among these must be included the great cosmic powers and the beings who, although held to be supernatural, were yet finite and mortal, and were endowed by the Egyptians with love, hatred, and passions of every sort and kind. The difference between the conceptions of neter the one supreme God and the neteru is best shown by an appeal to Egyptian texts. In the pyramid of Unas it is said to the deceased, un-k ar kes neter Thou existest at the side of God.[3] In the pyramid of Teta it is said of the deceased, ut'a-f met neter as set'em-nef metu He weigheth words, and, behold, God hearkeneth unto the words.[3] nas en Teta neter God hath called Teta[4] (in his name, etc.). [1. Die thätige Kraft, welche in periodischer Wiederkehr die Dinge erzeugt und erschafft, ihnen neues Leben verleiht und die Jugendfrische zurückgiebt." Religion und Mythologie , p. 93. 2. Maspero, Recueil de Travaux , t. iii., p. 202 (l. 209). 3. Ibid. , t. v., 27 (ll. 231, 232). 4. Ibid. , p. 26 (l. 223).] {p. lxxxiv} Views held in the first six dynasties. In the pyramid of Pepi I. an address to the deceased king says, sesep-nek aru neter aaa-k am xer neteru Thou hast received the form of God, thou hast become great therewith before the gods.[1] ta en mut-k Nut un-nek em neter en xeft-k em ren-k en nefer Hath placed thy mother Nut thee to be as God to thine enemy in thy name of God.[2] tua Pepi pen neter Adoreth this Pepi God.[3] Pepi pu ar neter sa neter Pepi this is then God, the son of God.[4] All these extracts are from texts of the Vth and VIth dynasties. It may be urged that we might as well translate neter by "a god" or "the god," but other evidence of the conception of neter at that early date is afforded by the following passages from the Prisse papyrus,[5] which, although belonging at the earliest to he XIth dynasty, contains copies of the Precepts of Kaqemna, written in the reign of Seneferu, a king of the IVth dynasty, and the Precepts of Ptah-hetep, written during the reign of Assa, a king of the Vth dynasty.[6] [1. Recueil de Travaux , t. v., p. 160 (l. 19). 2. Ibid. , p. 162 (l. 33). 3. Ibid. , p. 191 (l. 185). 4. Ibid. , t. viii., p. 89 (l. 574). 5. See Fac-simile d'un papyrus Égyptien en caractères hiératiques , trouvé à Thèbes, donné à la Bibliothèque royale de Paris et publié par E. Prisse d'Avennes, Paris, 1847, fol. The last translation of the complete work is by Virey, Études sur le Papyrus Prisse , Paris, 1887. 6. M. Amélineau thinks ( La Morale Égyptienne , p.