The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani) · 230 of 357 · tr. E.A. Wallis Budge
Chapter 39 (part 2)
20,636, stone tet inlaid with lapis-lazuli, carnelian, plasma, and mother of emerald.] Text: [CHAPTER CLV.] (1) THE CHAPTER OF A TET OF GOLD: Osiris Ani, triumphant, saith: "Thou risest, O still heart!
(2) Thou shinest, O still heart!
Place thou thyself upon my side.
I have come arid I have brought unto thee a tet of gold; rejoice thou in it." Appendix: In the late recension of this chapter (Lepsius, Todtenbuch , Bl.
75) the rubric is divided into two parts, which read: "To be recited over a Tet of gold inlaid (?) in sycamore wood, and placed on the neck of the shining one; and he shall pass in through the doors of the underworld by the might of the words here spoken.
It shall set him in his place on the day of the new year among the followers of Osiris.
"If this chapter be known by the deceased he shall become perfect in the underworld.
He shall not be thrust back at the doors of Amentet; cakes and ale and meat offerings shall be offered unto him upon the altars of Ra, or (as some say) of Osiris Un-nefer; and he shall triumph over his foes in the underworld for ever and for ever." Vignette: A buckle, or tie.
Text: [CHAPTER CLVI.].
(1) THE CHAPTER OF A BUCKLE OF CARNELIAN. Saith Osiris Ani, triumphant: "The blood of Isis, the charms of Isis, (2) the power of Isis, are a protection unto me, the chief, and they crush that which I abhor." Appendix: Rubric: This chapter shall be said over a buckle of red jasper ( or carnelian) which hath been dipped in water of ankham flowers and inlaid in sycamore wood, and hath been placed on the neck of the shining one.
If this chapter be inscribed upon it, it shall become the power of Isis, and it shall protect him; and Horus, the son of Isis, shall rejoice when he seeth it.
No way shall be impassable to him, and one hand shall extend unto heaven, and the other unto earth.
If this chapter be known [by the [1.
The Nebseni papyrus adds the words, "to be placed near the neck of this shining one." 2.
See Maspero, Mémoire sur Quelques Papyrus du Louvre , p.
8.
3.
The amulet of the buckle is usually made of carnelian, red jasper, red porphyry, red glass, or red faïence , but examples in grey and black stone and wood are also known at times it was made entirely of gold, but it was frequently set in gold only.
Large wooden models of the buckle were placed in the wooden hands which were fastened on the breasts of coffins; they usually lay upon the left breast, and the tee on the right.
In the fine collection of buckles in the British Museum the following are of interest: No.
20,641, pendent buckle of red glass inscribed with the Chapter of the Buckle No.
20,621, black stone pendent buckle, with hollow loop, inscribed with the Chapter of the Buckle; No.
20,646, grey stone buckle inscribed ###.
No.
20,619, red glass (?) buckle set in a gold frame, and inscribed with a few words of the Chapter of the Buckle, and the name of Aah-mes the scribe; No.
[auto] The text is a chapter from the Book of the Dead explicitly designed to guide the deceased through the afterlife, ensuring resurrection and safe passage in Amentet.
The maintenance of a state of cleanliness—physical, moral, or spiritual—required for encounter with the divine.
[auto] The passage mandates specific conditions of cleanliness for the ritual object, such as a 'clean tile' and a field where 'swine have not trampled'.
The consecration of an inscribed physical object — seal, pentacle, amulet, character, or figure — so that it holds and channels magical power independent of any ongoing spoken formula, protecting, attracting, or acting on its bearer's behalf. Distinct from sacred_names (the power resides in the name itself, spoken or written, not in a dedicated physical vessel) and from spirit_conjuration (the object is not commanding or binding a spirit but is itself the locus of power).
Both chapters center on consecrating physical objects (a tet of gold, a buckle of carnelian) inscribed with sacred text so they hold protective power on the bearer's behalf in the underworld.
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 speaks as 'Osiris Ani, triumphant' — a direct identification with the god Osiris that transforms the dead person into a divine being among the followers of Osiris.
The doctrine and practice that spoken or sung word carries causal-magical force — that uttering names, formulas, songs, or incantations alters reality directly rather than merely communicating about it. Vainamoinen's runo-songs that move mountains and command iron, Norse galdr, Vedic mantra, Shinto kotodama, the magician's barbarous names in the Greek Magical Papyri, Iamblichean arcane signatures and inexplicable symbols, biblical creation-by-word. Distinct from sacred_names (the ontological power of names themselves) and prayer (address to the divine); word_power_incantation is the magical-causal efficacy of the spoken word as such.
The rubrics explicitly state that the chapters must be recited over the amulets and that 'by the might of the words here spoken' the deceased shall pass through the underworld, attributing causal-magical force to the spoken/sung formula.