THE BOOK OF THE DEAD

The Papyrus of Ani

by

E. A. WALLIS BUDGE

Late keeper of Assyrian and Egyptian
Antiquities
in the British Museum

[1895]

PLATE XXI.

“Thou dost place thy disk in the west, and my two
hands are [raised] in adoration [of thee] when thou settest (30) as a living being.
Behold, thou art the maker of eternity, and thou art adored [when] thou settest
in the heavens. I have given my heart unto thee without wavering, O thou who art
mightier than the gods.”

Osiris Ani, triumphant, saith: “A hymn of praise to
thee, O thou who risest like unto gold, and who dost flood the world with light
on the day of thy birth. Thy mother giveth thee birth upon [her] hand, and thou
dost give light unto the course of the Disk. O thou mighty Light, who shinest in
the heavens, thou dost strengthen the generations of men with the Nile-flood, and
dost cause gladness in all lands, and in all cities, and in all the temples. Thou
art glorious by reason of thy splendours, and thou makest strong thy ka with
hu and tchefau foods. O thou who art the mighty one of victories,
thou who art the Power of [all] Powers, who dost make strong thy throne against
the powers of wickedness, who art glorious in majesty in the sektet boat,
and who art exceeding mighty in the atet boat, make thou glorious Osiris
Ani with victory in the netherworld; grant thou that in the underworld he may be
void of sin. I pray thee to put away [his] faults behind thee; grant that he may
be one of thy venerable servants who are with the shining ones; may he be joined
unto the souls which are in Ta-sertet; and may he journey into the Sekhet-Aaru by
a prosperous and happy path, he the Osiris, the scribe Ani, triumphant.

“Thou shalt come forth into heaven, thou shalt pass
over the sky, thou shalt be joined unto the starry deities. Praises shall be offered
unto thee in thy boat, thou shalt be hymned in the diet boat, thou shalt behold
Ra within his shrine, thou shalt set together with his disk day by day, thou shalt
see the ant fish when it springeth into being in the waters of turquoise, and thou
shalt see the abtu fish in his hour. May it come to pass that the Evil One
shall fall when he layeth a snare to destroy me, and may the joints of his neck
and of his back be cut in sunder.”

“Ra [saileth] with a fair wind, and the sektet
boat draweth on and cometh into port. The mariners of Ra rejoice, and the heart
of Nebt-ankh is glad, for the enemy of her lord hath fallen to the ground. Thou
shalt behold Horus on the watch [in the Boat], and Thoth and Maat upon either side
of him. All the gods rejoice when they behold Ra coming in peace to make the hearts
of the shining ones to live. May Osiris Ani, triumphant, the scribe of the divine
offerings of the lords of Thebes, be with them.”

Vignette: Ra, hawk-headed, with the disk upon
his head and the emblem of life upon his knees, seated in the solar bark; before
him stands Ani with both hands raised in adoration.

Text [CHAPTER CXXXIII.]: TO BE SAID ON THE DAY
OF THE MONTH. Osiris Ani, the scribe, triumphant in peace, triumphant, saith: “Ra
riseth in his horizon, and the company of his gods follow after the god when he
appeareth from his secret place, when he showeth strength and bringeth himself forth
from the eastern horizon of heaven at the word of the goddess Nut. They rejoice
at the journeyings of Ra, the Ancient One; the Great One rolleth along in his course.
Thy joints are knitted together, O Ra, within thy shrine. Thou breathest the winds,
thou drawest in the breezes, thou makest thy jaw-bones to cat in thy dwelling on
the day when thou dost scent right and truth. Thou turnest aside the godlike followers
[who] sail after the sacred boat, in order that they may return again unto the mighty
ones according to thy word. Thou numberest thy bones, thou gatherest together thy
members; thou turnest thy face towards the beautiful Amenta; thou comest thither
renewed day by day. Behold, thou Image of gold, who possessest the splendours of
the Disk of heaven, thou lord of terror; thou rollest along and art renewed day
by day. Hail, there is rejoicing in the heavenly horizon, and shouts of joy are
It raised to the ropes which tow thee along. May the gods who dwell in heaven ascribe
praises unto Osiris Ani, when they behold him in triumph, as unto Ra. May Osiris,
the scribe Ani, be a prince who is known by the ureret crown; and may the meat offerings
and the drink offerings of Osiris Ani, triumphant, be apportioned unto him; may
he wax exceeding strong in his body; and may he be the chief of those who are in
the presence of Ra. May Osiris, the scribe Ani, triumphant, be strong upon earth
and in the world under the earth; and O Osiris, scribe Ani, triumphant, mayest thou
rise up strengthened like unto Ra day by day. Osiris Am, triumphant, shall not tarry,
nor shall he rest without motion in the earth for ever. Clearly, clearly shall he
see with his two eyes, and with his two ears shall be hear what is right and true.
Osiris, the scribe Ani, triumphant, cometh back, cometh back from Annu; Osiris Ani,
triumphant, is as Ra when he rangeth the oars among the followers of Nu.