Chapter CXIV: Chapter whereby one knoweth the Powers of Hermopolis

Maāt is borne(1.) over the Arm,(2.) and Neith dawneth at Ment’ait,(3.) and the Eye is illumined(4.) by the one who adjusteth its level.

I am led in by her, and I know what she bringeth from Kasu.(5.) I tell it not to men; I repeat it not to gods.

I am come as a messenger of Rā, to make fast Maāt upon the Arm, for the dawning of Neith at Ment’ait, and for restoring the Eye to him who taketh the reckoning thereof.

I am come as omnipotent through the knowledge of the Powers of Hermopolis, who love the Powers which you love.

I am one acquainted with Maāt made firm and permanent and reckoned out, and I take delight in reckoning out that which is reckoned.

Hail ye Powers of Hermopolis, small at the beginning of the month and great upon the Fifteenth Day; Rā teacheth the mysteries of Night, and be it known to you that he who teacheth me is Thoth.

Hail ye Powers of Hermopolis as I know you.

NOTES.

There are two chapters (114 and 116) of “the Powers of Hermopolis,” and they have been preserved separately both in the older and in the more recent papyri. They are very similar in thought but differently worded, and each throws a certain light upon the other, without however dispelling the obscurity of this very ancient religious composition. Some farther help, however insufficient, is afforded by the pictures of the Book which records the passage of the Sun-god through the twelve hours of the night.

1. _Maāt is borne._ ⁂⁂ is the same word as ⁂⁂⁂, the reduplicated form of ⁂⁂ _to gush_, _spring forth_. But in certain cases it acquires the sense of _being borne_, or _conveyed_, and is written ⁂⁂⁂ in Ptolemaic inscriptions. The corresponding word in chapter 116 is ⁂⁂⁂⁂, which has the same meanings. One of the pictures above alluded to (Lefébure, _Hypogées, Tombeau de Seti_, part IV, pl. 31) represents a boat carrying the Moon-disk, raised upon a stand.

A personage kneeling behind is supporting the feather of Maāt. The words ⁂⁂⁂, which are written by way of explanation, might give rise to some misunderstanding were it not for considerations mentioned in the following note.

2. _The Arm_ ⁂ in chapter 114 has for corresponding word ⁂⁂⁂⁂ in chapter 116 implying that _Arm_ is to be taken in a geographical sense, as when we speak of an ‘arm of the sea’. Now the pictures which have been spoken of have the words ⁂⁂⁂, ‘arm of the Urnes,’ inscribed ever the stream down which the Sun-god takes his nightly journey.

These pictures have only the value of a commentary on a very ancient text, but they are at least as old as the earliest papyrus which contains the text.

3. _Ment’ait_ ⁂⁂⁂, is the ancient reading in chapter 114, but the later texts have ⁂⁂, _T’ar_. Chapter 116 has ⁂⁂⁂⁂, _Mat’ait_.

4. _Illumined._ The texts are discordant as to the reading. I follow that of the two old papyri which have ⁂; though this orthography, however defensible, is somewhat suspicious.

5. _Kasu._ ⁂⁂⁂, the ‘Burial Place,’ was the metropolis of the 14th Nome of Southern Egypt. Dendera is called ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂ and in more ordinary characters ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂. Like very many other geographical names, it has the feminine form in ⁂, as well as the masculine in ⁂.

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Footnote 96:

There is a copy of the chapter in the tomb of Chā-em-hait, which is
our oldest authority. But it is unfortunately mutilated, and all that
can be said is, that if the additional words were once there, they
have been destroyed.

Footnote 97:

The Apis tablets (_Zeitschr._, 1882, p. 22) give the name of a place
_Pa-ḳerḳ-en Ḥor_, which seems to refer to this catastrophe; the Coptic
ⲕⲟⲣϫ, ⲕⲱⲣϫ corresponding to the Greek ἐκκόπτειν, ἐκκλὰν, κατασπᾶσθαι.

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