Address to the Gods of the Tuat
From
the Papyrus of Nu, Brit. Mus. No. 10477, Sheet 24:
The following are the words which the heart of truth that
is sinless shall say when he cometh with the word of
truth into the hall of Maati; they shall be said when he
cometh to the gods who dwell in the Tuat; and they are
the words which are [to be said] after [he cometh forth
from] the hall of Maati.
Nu, the steward of
the keeper of the seal, whose word is truth, saith:-
Homage to you, O ye gods who dwell in your Hall of Maati!
I know you, I know your names. Let me not fall under your
knives of slaughter, and bring ye not forward my
wickedness to this god in whose following ye are. Let not
evil hap come upon me through you. Speak ye the truth
concerning me in the presence of Neb-er-tcher, for I have
done what is right and just in Ta-Mera. I have not cursed
the god, and my evil hap did not come upon him that was
king in his day.
Homage to you, O ye
who dwell in your Hall of Maati, who have nothing false
in your bodies, who live upon Truth, who feed yourselves
upon Truth in the presence of Horus who dwelleth in his
Disk, deliver ye me from Beba, who feedeth upon the
livers of the great ones on the day of the Great
Judgment. Grant ye that I may come before you, for I have
not committed sin, I have done no act of deceit, I have
done no evil thing, and I have not borne [false] witness;
therefore let nothing [evil] be done to me. I have lived
upon truth, I have fed upon truth, I have performed the
ordinances of men, and the things which gratify the gods.
I have propitiated the god by doing his will, I have
given bread to the hungry man, and water to him that was
athirst, and apparel to the naked man, and a ferry-boat
to him that had no boat. I have made propitiatory
offerings and given cakes to the gods, and the
"things which appear at the word" to the
Spirits. Deliver then ye me, protect then ye me, and make
ye no report against me in the presence [of the Great
God]. I am pure in respect of my mouth, and I am clean in
respect of my hands, therefore let it be said unto me by
those who shall behold me: "Come in peace, Come in
peace." For I have heard that great word which the
Sahu spake to the CAT, in the House of Hapt-ra. I have
borne witness to Her-f-ha-f, and he hath given a decision
[concerning me]. I have seen the things over which the
Persea tree which is in Rasta, spreadeth its branches. I
have made petitions to the gods, [and I] know the things
[which appertain to] their bodies. I have come,
travelling a long road, to bear righteous testimony, and
to set the Balance upon its supports within Aukert.
Hail, thou who art
exalted high upon thy standard, thou Lord of the Atef
Crown, who dost make thy name to be "Lord of the
Winds," deliver thou me from thy divine Envoys who
punish and afflict according to [thy] decrees, and who
make calamities to arise, and whose faces are without
coverings, for I have done what is right and true for the
Lord of Truth. I am pure. My breast is purified by
libations, and my hinder parts are made clean with the
things which make clean, and my inner parts have been
dipped in the Lake of Truth. There is no single member of
mine which lacketh truth. I have washed myself clean in
the Lake of the South. I have rested myself in the City
of the North, which is in Sekhet Sanhemu (the Field of
the Grasshoppers), where the mariners of Ra wash
themselves clean at the second hour of the night, and at
the third hour of the day. The hearts of the gods are
gratified when they have passed over it, whether it be by
night or whether it be by day, and they say unto me,
"Let thyself advance."
- They say unto me,
- "Who art thou?"
- And they say unto me,
- "What is thy
name?"
- [And I reply],
- "Sept-kheri-nehait-ammi-beq-f"
is my name.
- Then they say unto me,
- "Advance straightway on
the city which is to the North of the Olive Tree.
What dost thou see there?"
The Leg and the Thigh. What dost
thou say unto them? Let me see rejoicings in these lands
of the Fenkhu. What do they give unto thee? A flame of
fire and a sceptre-amulet [made] of crystal. What dost
thou do with them? I bury them on the furrow of M'naat,
as things for the night. What dost thou find on the
furrow of Maat? A sceptre of flint, the name of which is
"Giver of winds." What now didst thou do with
the flame of fire and the sceptre-amulet [made] of
crystal, after thou didst bury them? I said a spell over
them, and I dug them up. I quenched the flame of fire and
I broke the sceptre-amulet, and I made a lake of water.
- [Then shall the Two and
forty gods say unto me]:
- "Come now, pass in over
the threshold of this door of the Hall of Maati,
for thou hast knowledge of us." "We
will not allow thee to enter in over us,"
say the bars of this door, "unless thou
tellest us our names."
- [And I reply],
- Tekh-bu-maa" is your
name.
- The right lintel of this
door saith:
- "I will not allow thee
to pass over me unless thou tellest me my
name."
- [And I reply],
"Henku-en-fat-maat" is thy name.
- The left lintel of this door
saith:
- "I will not allow thee
to pass over me unless thou tellest me my
name."
- [And I reply],
- "Henku-en-arp" is
thy name.
- The ground of this door
saith:
- "I will not allow thee
to pass over me unless thou tellest me my
name."
- [And I reply],
- "Aua-en-Keb" is
thy name.
- And the bolt of this door
saith:
- "I will not open the
door to thee unless thou tellest me my
name."
- [And I reply],
- "Saah-en-mut-f" is
thy name.
- The socket of the fastening
of this door saith:
- "I will not open unto
thee unless thou tellest my name."
- [And I reply],
- "The Living Eye of
Sebek, the Lord of Bakhau," is thy name.
- The Doorkeeper of this door
saith:
- "I will not open to
thee, and I will not let thee enter by me unless
thou tellest my name."
- [And I reply],
- "Elbow of the god Shu
who placeth himself to protect Osiris" is
thy name.
- The posts of this door say:
- "We will not let thee
pass in by us unless thou tellest our name."
- [And I reply],
- "Children of the
uraei-goddesses" is your name.
- The Doorkeeper of this door
saith:
- "I will not open to
thee, and I will not let thee enter in by me
unless thou tellest my name.
- [And I reply],
- "Ox of Keb" is thy
name.
- [And they reply],
- "Thou knowest us, pass
in therefore by us."
- The ground of this Hall of
Maati saith:
- "I will not let thee
tread upon me [unless thou tellest me my name],
for I am silent. I am holy because I know the
names of two feet wherewith thou wouldst walk
upon me. Declare, then, them to me."
- [And I reply],
"Besu-Ahu" is the name of my right
foot, and "Unpet-ent-Het-Heru" is the
name of my left foot.
- [The ground replieth]:
- "Thou knowest us, enter
in therefore over us."
- The Doorkeeper of this Hall
of Maati saith:
- "I will not announce
thee unless thou tellest my name."
- [And I reply],
- "Discerner of hearts,
searcher of bellies" is thy name.
- [The Doorkeeper saith]:
- "Thou shalt be
announced."
- [He saith]:
- "Who is the god who
dwelleth in his hour? Speak it"
- [And I reply],
- "Au-taui."
- [He saith]:
- "Explain who he
is."
- [And I reply],
- "Au-taui" is
Thoth. "Come now," saith Thoth,
"for what purpose hast thou come?"
- [And I reply]:
- "I have come, and have
journeyed hither that my name may be announced
[to the god]."
- [Thoth saith]:
- "In what condition art
thou?"
- [And I reply],
- "I, even I, am purified
from evil defects, and I am wholly free from the
curses of those who live in their days, and I am
not one of their number."
- [Thoth saith]:
- "Therefore shall [thy
name] be announced to the god."
- [Thoth saith]:
- "Tell me, who is he
whose heaven is of fire, whose walls are living
serpents, and whose ground is a stream of water?
Who is he?"
- [And I reply],
- "He is Osiris."
- [Thoth saith]:
- "Advance now, [thy
name] shall be announced to him. Thy cakes shall
come from the Utchat (Eye of Horus or Ra), thy
ale shall come from the Utchat, and the offerings
which shall appear to thee at the word upon earth
[shall proceed] from the Utchat." This is
what Osiris hath decreed for the steward of the
overseer of the seal, Nu, whose word is
truth."
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