The Wisdom of Ptah-Hotep · 25 of 36

Of the Swallow

(From the Papyrus of Nu, British Museum, No. 10,477, sheet 10)

The chapter of making the transformation into a swallow. The chancellor-in-chief, Nu, triumphant, saith:

“I am a swallow, I am a swallow. I am the scorpion, the daughter of Ra. Hail, ye gods, whose scent is sweet; hail, ye gods, whose scent is sweet I —Hail—, Flame, which cometh forth from the horizon! Hail, thou who art in the city, I have brought the Warden of his Bight therein. Oh, stretch out unto me thy hand so that I may be able to pass my days in the Pool of Double Fire, and let me advance with my message, for I have come with words to tell. Oh, open—thou—the doors to me and I will declare the things which have been seen by me. Horus hath become the divine Prince of the Boat of the Sun, and unto him hath been given the throne of his divine father Osiris, and Set, that son of Nut,—lieth—under the fetters which he had made for me. I have made a computation of what is in the city of Sekhem, I have stretched out both my hands and arms at the word (?) of Osiris, I have passed on to judgment, and I have come that—I—may speak, grant that I may pass on and declare my tidings. I enter in,—I—am-judged, and—I—come forth worthy at the gate of Neb-er-tcher. I am pure at the great place of the passage of souls, I have done away with my sins, I have put away mine offences, and I have destroyed the evil which appertained unto my members upon earth. Hail, ye divine beings who guard the doors, make ye for me a way, for, behold, I am like unto you. I have come forth by day, I have journeyed on, on my legs, and I have gained the mastery over my footsteps—before—the God of Light, I know the hidden ways and the doors of the Sekhet-Aaru, verily I, even I, have come. I have overthrown mine enemies upon earth, and yet my perishable body is in the gravel”

If this chapter be known—by the deceased—he shall come forth by day, he shall not be turned back at any gate in the underworld, and he shall make his transformation into a swallow regularly and continually.

(From the Papyrus of Nu, British Museum, No. 10,477, sheet 11)

The chapter of making the transformation into a lotus. The overseer of the palace, the chancellor-in-chief, Nu, saith:

“I am the pure Lotus which springeth up from the divine splendor that belongeth to the nostrils of Ra. I have made—my way—, and I follow on seeking for him who is Horus. I am the pure one who cometh forth out of the Field.”

(From the Papyrus of Paqrer—see Naville, op. cit., Bd. I, Bl. 93)

The chapter of making the transformation into a lotus. Saith Osiris Paqrer:

“Hail, thou lotus, thou type of the god Nefer-Temu! I am the man that knoweth you, and I know your names among—those of—the gods, the lords of the underworld, and I am one of you. Grant ye that—I—may see the gods who are the divine guides in the Tuat—underworld,—and grant ye unto me a place in the underworld near unto the lords of Amentet. Let me arrive at a habitation in the land of Tchesert, and receive me, O all ye gods, in the presence of the lords of eternity. Grant that my soul may come forth whithersoever it pleaseth, and let it not be driven away from the presence of the great company of Gods.”