Legends of the Gods

The Egyptian Texts, edited with Translations

by E. A. Wallis Budge

London: Kegan Paul, Trench and Trner & Co. Ltd.

[1912]

THE LEGEND OF THE DESTRUCTION OF MANKIND

CHAPTER V

WHOSOEVER SHALL RECITE the words of this composition over himself shall anoint
himself with olive oil and with thick unguent, and he shall have propitiatory
offerings on both his hands of incense, and behind his two ears shall be pure
natron, and sweet-smelling salve shall be on his lips.

He shall be arrayed in a new double tunic, and his body shall be purified with
the water of the nile-flood, and he shall have upon his feet a pair of sandals
made of white [leather], and a figure of the goddess Maat shall be drawn upon
his tongue with green-coloured ochre. Whensoever Thoth shall wish to recite this
composition on behalf of Ra, he must perform a sevenfold (?) purification for
three days, and priests and [ordinary] men shall do likewise.

Whosoever shall recite the above words shall perform the ceremonies which are
to be performed when this book is being read. And he shall make his place of standing
(?) in a circle (or, at an angle) . . . . . which is beyond [him], and his two
eyes shall be fixed upon himself, all his members shall be [composed], and his
steps shall not carry him away [from the place]. Whosoever among men shall recite
[these] words shall be like Ra on the day of his birth; and his possessions shall
not become fewer, and his house shall never fall into decay, but shall endure
for a million eternities.

Then the Aged One himself (i.e., Ra) embraced (?) the god Nu, and spake unto
the gods who came forth in the east of the sky, “Ascribe ye praise to the god,
the Aged One, from whom I have come into being. I am he who made the heavens,
and I (set in order [the earth, and created the gods, and] I was with them for
an exceedingly long period; then was born the year and . . . . . . but my soul
is older than it (i.e., time). It is the Soul of Shu, it is the Soul of Khnemu
(?), 1 it is the Soul of Heh, it is the Soul of Kek and
Kerh (i.e., Night and Darkness), it is the Soul of Nu and of Ra, it is the Soul
of Osiris, the lord of Tettu, it is the Soul of the Sebak Crocodile-gods and of
the Crocodiles, it is the Soul of every god [who dwelleth] in the divine Snakes,
it is the Soul of Apep in Mount Bakhau (i.e., the Mount of Sunrise), and it is
the Soul of Ra which pervadeth the whole world.”

Whosoever sayeth [these words] worketh his own protection by means of the words
of power, “I am the god Hekau (i.e., the divine Word of power), and [I am] pure
in my mouth, and [in] my belly; [I am] Ra from whom the gods proceeded. I am Ra,
the Light-god (Khu).” When thou sayest [this], stop forth in the evening and in
the morning on thine own behalf if thou wouldst make to fall the enemies of Ra.
I am his Soul, and I am Heka.

Hail, thou lord of eternity, thou creator of everlastingness, who bringest
to nought the gods who came forth from Ra, thou lord of thy god, thou prince who
didst make what made thee, who art beloved by the fathers of the gods, on whose
head are the pure words of power, who didst create the woman (erpit) that standeth
on the south side of thee, who didst create the goddess who hath her face on her
breast, and the serpent which standeth on his tail, with her eye on his belly,
and with his tail on the earth, to whom Thoth giveth praises, and upon whom the
heavens rest, and to whom Shu stretcheth out his two hands, deliver thou me from
those two great gods who sit in the east of the sky, who act as wardens of heaven
and as wardens of earth, and who make firm the secret places, and who are called
“Aaiu-su,” and “Per-f-er-maa-Nu.” Moreover [there shall be) a purifying on the
. . . . . day of the month . . . . . . .. even according to the performance of
the ceremonies in the oldest time.

Whosoever shall recite this Chapter shall have life in Neter-kher (i.e., Underworld),
and the fear of him shall be much greater than it was formerly [upon earth] .
. . . . . . and they shall say, “Thy names are ‘Eternity’ and ‘Everlastingness.'”
They are called, they are called, “Au-peh-nef-n-aa-em-ta-uat-apu,” and “Rekh-kua-[tut]-en-neter-pui-.
. . . . . en en-hra-f-Her-shefu.” I am he who hath strengthened the boat with
the company of the gods, and his Shenit, and his Gods, by means of words of power.

Footnotes

1 There are mistakes in the text here.