Living By Air

[From the Papyrus of Nebseni (British Museum No. 9,900, sheet 12).]

THE CHAPTER OF LIVING BY AIR IN THE UNDERWORLD. The scribe Nebseni, the
lord to whom veneration is paid, saith:

“[I am the god Tem], who cometh forth out of Nu into the watery abyss. I
have received [my habitation of Amentet, and have given commands] with my
words to the [_Khu_s] whose abiding-places are hidden, to the _Khu_s and
to the double Lion-god. I have made journeys round about and I have sung
hymns of joy in the boat of Khepera. I have eaten therein, I have gained
power therein, and I live therein through the breezes [which are there]. I
am the guide in the boat of Rā, and he openeth out for me a path; he
maketh a passage for me through the gates of the god Seb. I have seized
and carried away those who live in the embrace of the god Ur (_i.e._,
Mighty One); I am the guide of those who live in their shrines, the two
brother-gods Horus and Set; and I bring the noble ones with me. I enter in
and I come forth, and my throat is not slit; I go into the boat of Maāt,
and I pass in among those who live in the _Atet_ boat, and who are in the
following of Rā, and are nigh unto him in his horizon. I live after my
death day by day, and I am strong even as is the double Lion-god. I live,
and I am delivered after my death, I, the scribe Nebseni, the lord of
piety, who fill the earth and come forth like the lily of
mother-of-emerald, of the god Hetep of the two lands.”




Living By Air


[From the Papyrus of Nu (British Museum No. 10,477, sheet 12).]

THE CHAPTER OF LIVING BY AIR IN THE UNDERWORLD. Nu, the overseer of the
palace, the chancellor-in-chief, triumphant, the son of the overseer of
the palace, the chancellor-in-chief, Amen-hetep, triumphant, saith:

“I am the double Lion-god, the first-born of Rā and Tem of Ha-khebti(?),
[the gods] who dwell in their divine chambers. Those who dwell in their
divine abodes have become my guides, and they make paths for me as they
revolve in the watery abyss of the sky by the side of the path of the boat
of Tem. I stand upon the timbers(?) of the boat of Rā, and I recite his
ordinances to the beings who have knowledge, and I am the herald of his
words to him whose throat stinketh. I set free my divine fathers at
eventide. I close the lips of my mouth, and I eat like unto a living
being. I have life in Tattu, and I live again after death like Rā day by
day.”