The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani) · 158 of 357 · tr. E.A. Wallis Budge
Chapter 19 (part 5)
Eternity is the day, and everlastingness (30) is the night.
"I am the god Amsu[3] in his coming-forth; may his (31) two plumes be set upon my head." [1.
See above, p.
277, note 2.
2.
Or, "I am he that presideth over the arrangement (or ordering) of things," etc.
Birch renders it, "The Creator of beings and existences," and Pierret, "La loi de 1'existence et des êtres." In a hymn Ra is called neb enti , "lord of things which are," and ari enti , "maker of things which are," and ari unenet , "maker of things which shall be." See Grébaut, Hymne à Ammon-Ra , pp.
5, 16, 27, who, however, believes to mean inanimate objects; see p.
130.
3.
The name of this god was first read Khem, and then Min, but it has been proved ( Aeg.
Zeitschriff , 1877, p.
98, and Trans.
Soc.
Bibl.
Arch.
, Vol.
VIII., p.
204, note 2) that the correct {footnote page 283} reading is Amsu (compare the variants in Naville, Todtenbuch , Bd.
II., Bl.
41).
This god was associated with Amen-Ra, and represented the power of reproduction (see Pierret, Panthéon , p.
39; and Lanzone, Dizionario , p.
935).
The seat of his worship was Apu, the Panopolis of the Greeks, and the Akhmîm of Arabic writers.
For the forms of the name of the town, see Brugsch, Dict.
Géog.
, p.
19.
Figures of Amsu, in bronze and faïence , are common, and good examples are Nos.
43, 44, 45, 46, 47 a , and 13,520 in the Third Egyptian Room.] Who then is this?
Amsu is Horus, the (32) avenger of his father, and his coming-forth is his birth.
The (33) plumes upon his head are Isis and Nephthys when they go forth to set themselves (34) there, even as his protectors,[1] and they provide that which (35) his head lacketh,[2] or (as others say), They are the two exceeding great uræi which are upon the head of their (36) father Tmu, or (as others say), His two eyes are the two plumes.
(37) "Osiris Ani, the scribe of all the holy offerings, riseth up in his place in triumph; he cometh into (38) his city."[3] What then is this?
It is the horizon of his father Tmu.
(39) "1 have made an end of my shortcomings, and I have put away my faults." What then (40) is this?
It is the cutting off of the corruptible[4] in the body of Osiris, the scribe Ani, (41) triumphant before all the gods; and all his faults are driven out.
(42) What then is this?
It is the purification [of Osiris] on the day of his birth.
(43) "I am purified in my exceeding great double nest[5] which is in Suten henen, (44) on the day of the offerings of the followers of the great god who is therein." (45) What then is this?
"Millions of years" is the name of the one [1.
Themes
◆Living Godtheology
The divine conceived as active, present, and dynamic—not an abstract principle but a personal responsive reality.
The description of the god in his "coming-forth" portrays the deity as active and dynamic rather than a static abstract principle.
[auto] This passage is an excerpt from the Book of the Dead, a text specifically designed to guide the deceased through the afterlife via spells and declarations.
Divine names or formulas that carry ontological power, used in prayer, liturgy, or magical practice.
[auto] The footnotes emphasize the correct reading and power of the name "Amsu," highlighting the ontological importance of divine names in magical practice.