Chapter 6 (part 4)

A perusal of the above Chapter shows that it is the expression of beliefs and ideas concerning the future life which belong to a very early period of civilization, and to a time when the Egyptians held most primitive views about their gods. The first paragraph calls upon two forms of the Sun-god, and the god of the earth, and the god of the sky, to allow the deceased to pass through the sky, and the earth, and the waters, to meet his ancestors, mother, father, wives, women of pleasure, sons and daughters of all ages, brothers and sisters, foster-Parents (or perhaps uncles and aunts), cousins, connexions, friends of both sexes, "the doers of things," both men and women, etc. Portions of the second paragraph are difficult to render exactly, but it seems that in it the deceased is made to say that in the event of his being prevented from meeting or rejoining his father, mother, and other near and dear relatives and friends, the customary funeral offerings shall be promptly discontinued, and the heart of Ra, which is equipped with its word (of power), shall be removed from him; if, on the other hand, he is made to rejoin all his near and dear relatives and connexions, and is allowed and enabled to travel about and visit them in the various holy cities in heaven, bread and p. 72 meat offerings shall be duly made on earth for the gods, and the Boat of Ra shall travel on its way. In other words, the deceased undertakes to provide offerings to the gods whom he mentions so long as he is allowed to rejoin his relatives at will, but if he is hindered in any way, he threatens that the progress of Ra himself shall be hindered, and that the god shall suffer the loss of his heart with its word of power. The Cow-goddess Hathor is said to endue him with the protection of her magical power, and the earth-god Seb to supply him with all he needs, and the guardian of the staff [of life] promises that he shall be supplied with food and air in the Great Field, because the ancestors of the deceased who are already living there have given orders to this effect. These same ancestors, it is declared, shall come out to meet him, and as it is possible that some attempt may be made to stop or injure him by Seb (?), Nut, Shu and Tefnut, they shall bring their sticks, and staves, and clubs, and other weapons in their hands, so that they may be ready to defend their relative, and lead him to their abode. Here we have a good description of the manner in which Egyptian peasants have always turned out to defend a friend, and how they have always armed themselves with clubs, and sticks, and handles of ploughs, or, flails, whenever a fellow villager had to be rescued from the clutches of foes or from the authorities, and have gone forth to his assistance. Not only would their spirits defend their spirit relative in the Other-World, p. 73 but they would also defend him by exactly the same means which their bodies would have employed to defend his body upon earth. From one end of the chapter to the other there is no mention of Osiris, who in later times became the god of the Resurrection, and it is quite clear that the deceased believed that his reunion with his ancestors and family could be brought about without the help of any god, simply by the recital of the Chapter "Millions of times with never-ending regularity." The repetition of the whole chapter was unnecessary, for if a man recited the words of the Rubric an infinite number of times he would not only be able to rejoin his relatives, but also to regain in the Other World possession of all the property of every kind which he had enjoyed on this earth.