The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani) · 157 of 357 · tr. E.A. Wallis Budge
Chapter 19 (part 4)
The draught-board of the ancient Egyptians is often a rectangular wooden box, the top divided into squares, containing a drawer in which the men are kept (British Museum, No.
21,576).
Draught-boards were also made of blue glazed faïence , and bone or ivory (British Museum, No.
21,577).
The draughtsmen n are of wood, bone, ivory, glazed faïence , or stone, and have at times the heads of lions 1) (British Museum, Nos.
13,417, 21,580, 21,581); jackals (British Museum, Nos.
604 b , 24,660-66); and of the god Bes (British Museum, Nos.
6413 c , 24,667-75).
No.
6414 a is inscribed with the prenomen of Necho II.
2, I.e.
, the Sun-god when he sets and rises.
3.
Supplied from the Papyrus of Nebseni.
See British Museum papyrus No.
9900; Naville, Todtenbuch , Bd.
II., Pl.
xxxi.
4 See supra , p.
273, note 3.
5.
Adding ### or ### from the variant readings given by Naville.
6.
Some papyri read Unnu ; on this town, see Brugsch, Dict.
Géog.
, p.
146.
7.
Shu was the son of Ra and Hathor and the twin-brother of Tefnut.
He typified the sunlight, and separated the earth from the sky, which he established and supported.
For a drawing of Shu and his four supports, see Lanzone, Dizionario , tav.
385.
8.
See Brugsch, Dict.
Géog.
, p.
749.
9.
I.e.
, " substance of the gods."] (13) Who then is this?
It is Tmu in his disk, or (as others say), It is Ra in (14) his rising in the eastern horizon of heaven.
"I am Yesterday; I know (15) Tomorrow." Who then is this?
Yesterday is Osiris, and (16) Tomorrow is Ra, on the day when he shall destroy the (17) enemies of Neb-er-tcher, and when he shall stablish as prince and ruler (18) his son Horus, or (as others say), on the day when we commemorate the festival (19) of the meeting of the dead Osiris with his father Ra, and when the battle of the (20) gods was fought in which Osiris, lord of Amentet, was the leader.
What then is this?
(21) It is Amentet, [that is to say] the creation of the souls of the gods when Osiris was leader in Set-Amentet; or (22) (as others say), Amentet is that which Ra hath given unto me; when any god cometh, he doth arise and (23) doeth battle for it.
"I know the god who dwelleth therein." (24) Who then is this?
It is Osiris," or (as others say), Ra is his name, even Ra (25) the self-created.
"I am the bennu [1] bird (26) which is in Annu, and I am the keeper of the volume of the book of things[2] which are and of things which shall be." Who (27) then is this?
It is Osiris, or (as others say), It is his dead body, or (as others say), (28) It is his filth.
The things which are are and the things which shall be are his dead body; or (as others say), (29) They are eternity and everlastingness.
Themes
◆Eschatological Judgmentsoteriology
Final, collective cosmic judgment as an event in which the wicked are sentenced and the cosmos restored; distinct from psychopomp_journey (individual passage at death) and emphasising verdict where Zoroastrian frashokereti emphasises restoration.
References are made to the battle of gods and the destruction of enemies on a specific day of reckoning.
The Egyptian principle of truth, balance, and right order underlying both the cosmos and human conduct; the parallel to Zoroastrian asha and Greek dike.
The text describes Ra destroying enemies and establishing order, reflecting the Egyptian principle of Maat as truth and balance against chaos.
The doctrine — central to Eastern Orthodox and Maximian theology — that the human person is progressively transformed into a partaker of the divine nature by grace, not merely justified or united in passing ecstasy.
The deceased identifies themselves with divine figures ('It is Osiris', 'I am the bennu bird'), seeking to become like the gods.