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The Egyptian Heaven and Hell · 29 of 96 · tr. E.A. Wallis Budge

Chapter 6 (part 2)

Lacau in Recueil , 1904, p. 67. The very short form of the prayer of the deceased that he may enjoy the companionship of his father and mother in Sekhet.-hetep is the outcome of a belief which is very ancient; and it finds its fullest expression in an p. 67 important Chapter, which M. Lacau has published 1 according to the texts on two coffins of the XIth Dynasty, which were found at Al-Barsha, and are now in the Egyptian Museum at Cairo. 2 This Chapter supplies us with some valuable information concerning the reunion and recognition of relatives and friends in Sekhet-hetep, and M. Lacau's excellent edition of the text is a useful contribution to the literature which specially concerns Sekhet-hetep. The words which stand at the head of the Chapter read, "THE GATHERING TOGETHER OF THE ANCESTORS OF A MAN TO HIM IN NETER KHER," 3 and the text begins: "Hail, Ra! Hail, Tem! Hail, Seb! Hail, Nut! Grant ye unto Sepa that he may traverse the heavens (or sky), that he may traverse the earth, that he may traverse the waters, that he may meet his ancestors, may meet his father, may meet his mother, may meet his grown up sons and daughters, and his brethren, and his sisters, may meet his friends, both male and female, may meet those who have been as parents to him, 4 and his kinsfolk (cousins?), 5 and those who have worked for him upon earth, both male and female, and may meet the concubine whom he loved and knew." p. 68 "Behold, O Qema-ur (i.e., Great Creator), make Sepa to rejoin his grown up sons and daughters, and his concubines whom it is his heart's desire [to meet], and make thou Sepa to rejoin his friends, both male and female, and those who have worked for him upon earth." "And if it happen that his father should be turned aside, or opposed or removed, when he would appear to him, or his mother when she would reveal herself to him, when Sepa wisheth to rejoin his ancestors, and his father and his mother, and his men and his women, and if it happen that there should be turned aside or opposed, or done away the reunion of Sepa with his little children, or his reunion with his brethren and sisters, and with his friends, and with his foster-parents, and with his kinsfolk, and with those who have worked for him upon earth: then verily the heart which is provided [with words of power] shall be removed from Ra, and the choice oxen for sacrifice shall be driven away from the altars of the gods, and the bread-cakes shall not be shattered, and the white bread-cakes shall not be broken in pieces, the meat-offering shall not be cut up in the divine chamber of sacrifice, and for you ropes shall not be coiled, and for you boats shall not be manned. "But if he shall be with his father when he appeareth, and if he shall receive his mother when she maketh herself visible, and if he shall be rejoined to his ancestors and to his fathers and his mothers, and his men and his women, and his little p.
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Themes
Ancestor Venerationpraxis

Ritual maintenance of relationship with the dead as ongoing presences whose favour is cultivated and whose offence is propitiated. Shinto uji-gami and obon, Norse disir and the alfablot, Celtic samhain and the feast for the deceased, Roman lares and parentalia, Chinese ancestor rites, Vedic śrāddha. Practice-coded rather than belief-coded: distinct from soul_migration (cosmological doctrine of soul-transmigration) and theosis_deification (deification trajectory); ancestor_veneration centres the living's ongoing ritual obligation to the dead.

The entire passage centers on the deceased's ongoing ritual relationship with the dead—praying for reunion with father, mother, ancestors, and kinsfolk in Sekhet-hetep, and the conditional maintenance of offerings to sustain that relationship.

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Funerary Navigationpraxis

Texts and rituals guiding the soul through death.

[auto] The passage explicitly references the Book of Coming Forth by Day and describes the geography of the afterlife (Sekhet-hetep, Halls, Gates) used to guide the deceased.

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Living Godtheology

The divine conceived as active, present, and dynamic—not an abstract principle but a personal responsive reality.

The gods are addressed as active agents capable of granting traversal and facilitating reunion with ancestors.

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Prayerpraxis

Direct address to the divine, whether petitionary, contemplative, or liturgical; speech and silence offered upward.

[auto] The text centers on the 'prayer of the deceased' and includes direct invocations like 'Hail, Ra! Hail, Tem!' requesting divine action.

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Spiritual Ascentpraxis

A staged journey of the soul upward through heavenly realms or levels of being toward the divine source.

The prayer requests that the deceased may 'traverse the heavens,' implying an upward journey through cosmic realms.

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Theurgypraxis

Iamblichean ritual practice that engages the gods directly through consecrated material symbols and actions, on the premise that divine power descends into properly prepared matter — distinct from philosophical contemplation alone.

The text describes ritual chapters and sacrifices used to engage the gods directly to ensure the deceased's successful reunion in the afterlife.

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Word Power Incantationpraxis

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 passage references 'the heart which is provided [with words of power]' whose removal would disrupt the cosmic order of sacrifice, indicating that specific utterances carry causal-magical efficacy over the afterlife reunion.

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Related passages · 7 parallels
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Shared concept: Ancestor Veneration — Ritual maintenance of relationship with the dead as ongoing presences whose favour is cultivated and whose offence is propitiated. (derived)