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Hail, unto thee, O thou great god, thou who art lord of truth!
Lo! I draw nigh to thee now, O my lord, and mine eyes behold thy beauty.
Thee I know, and I know also the two-and-forty gods assembled with thee in the Hall of justice;
They observe all the deeds of the wicked; They devour those who seek to do evil;
They drink the blood of those who are condemned before thee, O just and good king.
Hail! Lord of justice; Thee I know,
I come before thee even now to speak what is true,
I will not utter what is false, O Lord of All.
The soul then recites the ritual confession in which he claims to be guiltless of the offences which are
punishable.
I have done no evil against any man.
I have never caused my kinsfolk to be put to death,
I have not caused false witnesses to speak in the Hall of justice.
I have not done that which is hated by the gods.
I am not a worker of wickedness.
I have never oppressed a servant with too much work.
I have not caused men to hunger nor to weep.
I have not been devoid of good works, nor have I acted weakly or with meanness.
I am not a murderer.
I have not conspired to have another put to death.
I have not plotted to make another grieve.
I have not taken away temple offerings.
I have not stinted the food offered to the gods.
I have not despoiled the dead.
I have never committed adultery.
I have not failed to keep myself pure as a priest.
I have not lessened the corn measure.
I have not shortened the hand measure.
I have not tampered with the balance.
I have not deprived children of milk.
I have not stolen cattle from the meadows.
I have not snared the birds consecrated to the gods.
I have not taken fish from holy lakes.
I have not prevented (Nile) water from running (in channels).
I have not turned aside the water.
CHAPTER VII. Death and the Judgment 59
EGYPTIAN MYTH AND LEGEND
I have not stolen water from a channel.
I have not put out the fire when it should burn.
I have never kept from the Nine Gods what was their due.
I have not prevented the temple cattle from grazing on my land.
I have not obstructed a god (his image) when he came forth (in a festival procession).
The soul concludes by declaring that he is sinless,and expresses the hope that no ill will befall him in the Hall
of Judgment.
The jackal-headed god Anubis, "Opener of the Ways", then strides from the hall and leads the soul by the
hand before Osiris, who had heard the confession in silence. No word is uttered as the dead man enters. The
King of the Dead sits in his high throne within a dim pavilion. His crown is upon his head. In one hand he
holds the crook and in the other the flail. He is the supreme judge of the Dead.. Before him stands the sure
balance on which the heart of the dead man will be weighed. Thoth, the recording god, is beside it, and Horus
and Maat, goddess of truth and justice, are there also. The guardian of the balance is a monster which is ready
to fall upon sinners who are condemned before the great god. Around the dread hall crouch the
two-and-forty animal gods who tear the wicked to pieces.
In the tingling silence which prevails, the pilgrim again recites the confession. Osiris makes no comment.
Then, quivering with fear, the soul watches the gods deliberately weighing his heart in the balance, while
Maat, the goddess of truth and justice, or her symbol, an ostrich feather, occupies the opposite scale.
The trembling soul cries out to his heart not to witness against him. "O heart that was mine," he says, "do not
say 'Behold the things he hath done'. Permit me not to be wronged in presence of the great god."
If the heart is found to be neither too heavy nor too light, the dead man is acquitted. Thoth makes known the
result of the weighing to Osiris, who then orders the heart to be restored to the man on trial. "He hath won the
victory," the King of the Dead exclaims. "Now let him dwell with the spirits and the gods in the fields of
Aalu."
Released and rejoicing, the dead man goes forth to gaze upon the wonders of the Nether World. The divine
kingdom is a greater and more glorious Egypt, in which the souls work and hunt and combat against their
enemies as in other days. To each man is allotted his task. He must till the soil and reap the grain which
grows in abundance and to a great height. The harvest never fails, and famine and sorrow are unknown.
When the soul desires to return to visit familiar scenes upon earth it enters the body of a bird or an animal, or
perhaps it blossoms as a flower. It may also visit the tomb as the Ba, and reanimate the mummy and go forth
to gaze on scenes which were familiar and dear in other days.
The souls of dead men whom Osiris condemns, because of sins committed upon earth, are subjected to
terrible tortures ere they are devoured by the animal gods which crouch, waiting, in the silent and awful Hall
of Judgment.
CHAPTER VIII. The Religion of the Stone Workers
Memphite Religion The Cult of Ptah Ethical Beliefs Pharaoh worshipped as a God "Husband of his
Mother" Magical Incantations "Mesmerizing the Gods" The Earliest Mastabas Endowment of Tomb
Chapels The Servants of the Dead Scenes of Everyday Life Zoser's Two Tombs The First Pyramid An
Architect who became a God Inspiration of Egyptian Religion How it promoted Civilization Mythology of
the Stone Builders Ptah and Khnûmû The Frog Goddess A Prototype of Isis A Negroid Deity Khnûmû
associated with Khufu (Cheops).
CHAPTER VIII. The Religion of the Stone Workers 60
EGYPTIAN MYTH AND LEGEND
WHEN Old Memphis became the leading city of United Egypt the religious beliefs of the mingled peoples
were in process of fusion and development. Commerce was flourishing, and ideas were being exchanged as
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