The Egyptian Book of the Dead 131

Of Living Nigh unto Ra [From the Papyrus of Nu (British Museum No. 10,477, sheets 17 and 18).]

The Chapter of having existence nigh unto Ra. The overseer of the palace, the chancellor-in-chief, Nu, triumphant, saith:

“I am that god Rā who shineth in the night. Every being who followeth in his train shall have life in the following of the god Thoth, and he shall give unto him the risings of Horus in the darkness. The heart of Osiris Nu, the overseer of the palace, the chancellor-in-chief, triumphant, is glad because he is one of those beings, and his enemies have been destroyed by the divine princes. I am a follower of Rā, and [I have] received his iron weapon. I have come unto thee, O my father Rā, and I have advanced to the god Shu. I have cried unto the mighty goddess, I have equipped the god Hu, and I alone have removed the Nebt god from the path of Rā. I am a Khu, and I have come to the divine prince at the bounds of the horizon. I have met and I have received the mighty goddess. I have raised up thy soul in the following of thy strength, and my soul [liveth] through thy victory and thy mighty power; it is I who give commands in speech to Rā, in heaven. Homage to thee, O great god in the east of heaven, let me embark in thy boat, O Rā, let me open myself out in the form of a divine hawk, let me give my commands in words, let me do battle in my Sekhem(?), let me be master under my vine. Let me embark in thy boat, O Rā, in peace, and let me sail in peace to the beautiful Amentet. Let the god Tem speak unto me, [saying], ‘Wouldst [thou] enter therein?’ The lady, the goddess Mehen, is a million of years, yea, two million years in extent, and dwelleth in the House of Urt and Nif-urt [and in] the Lake of a million years; the whole company of the gods move about among those who are at the side of him who is the lord of divisions of places(?). And I say, ‘On every road and among these millions of years is Rā the lord, and his path is in the fire, and they go round about behind him, and they go round about behind him.'"