funeral chest. Grant thou that I may enter into the land of
everlastingness, even as it was granted unto thee, and unto thy father
Temu, O thou whose body did not see corruption, and who thyself never
sawest corruption. I have never wrought that which thou hatest, nay, I
have uttered acclamations with those who have loved thy KA. Let not my
body turn into worms, but deliver me [from them] even as thou didst
deliver thyself. I beseech thee, let me not fall into rottenness as
thou dost let every god, and every goddess, and every animal, and
every reptile to see corruption when the soul hath gone forth from
them after their death. For when the soul departeth, a man seeth
corruption, and the bones of his body rot and become wholly
loathsomeness, the members decay piecemeal, the bones crumble into an
inert mass, the flesh turneth into foetid liquid, and he becometh a
brother unto the decay which cometh upon him. And he turneth into a
host of worms, and he becometh a mass of worms, and an end is made of
him, and he perisheth in the sight of the god Shu even as doth every
god, and every goddess, and every feathered fowl, and every fish, and
every creeping thing, and every reptile, and every animal, and every
thing whatsoever. When the worms see me and know me, let them fall
upon their bellies, and let the fear of me terrify them; and thus let
it be with every creature after [my] death, whether it be animal, or
bird, or fish, or worm, or reptile. And let life arise out of death.
Let not decay caused by any reptile make an end [of me], and let not
them come against me in their various forms. Do not thou give me over
unto that slaughterer who dwelleth in his torture-chamber (?), who
killeth the members of the body and maketh them to rot, who worketh
destruction upon many dead bodies, whilst he himself remaineth hidden
and liveth by slaughter; let me live and perform his message, and let
me do that which is commanded by him. Gave me not over unto his
fingers, and let him not gain, the mastery over me, for I am under thy