The Book of the Dead by E. A. Wallis Budge
page 34 of 40 (85%)
page 34 of 40 (85%)
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of the gods; he lived upon what they lived upon, and so became one
with them. Chapters LIV-LXII gave the deceased power to obtain cool water from the Celestial Nile and the springs of waters of heaven, and being identified with Shu, the god of light and air, he was enabled to pass over all the earth at will. His life was that of the Egg of the "Great Cackler," and the goddess Sesheta built a house for him in the Celestial Anu, or Heliopolis. The recital of Chapter LXIII enabled the deceased to avoid drinking boiling water in the Tuat. The water in some of its pools was cool and refreshing to those who were speakers of the truth, but it turned into boiling water and scalded the wicked when they tried to drink of it. Chapter LXIV is an epitome of the whole Book of the Dead, and it formed a "great and divine protection" for the deceased. The text is of a mystical character and suggests that the deceased could, through its recital, either absorb the gods into his being, or become himself absorbed by them. Its rubric orders abstention from meats, fish and women on the part of those who were to recite it. Chapter LXV gave the deceased victory over all his enemies, and Chapters LXVI and LXVII gave him access to the Boat of Ra. Chapters LXVIII-LXX procured him complete freedom of motion in heaven and on earth. Chapter LXXI is a series of addresses to the Seven Spirits who punished the wicked in the Kingdom of Osiris, and Chapter LXXII aided the deceased to be reborn in the Mesqet Chamber. The Mesqet was originally a bull's skin in which the deceased was wrapped. Chapter LXXIII is the same as Chapter IX. Chapters LXXIV and LXXV secured a passage for the deceased in the Henu Boat of Seker the Death-god, and Chapter LXXVI brought to his help the praying mantis which guided him through the "bush" to the House of Osiris. By the recital of Chapters LXXVII-LXXXVIII, i.e., the "Chapters of Transformations," the deceased was enabled |
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