The Introduction To Maati

[From the Papyrus of Ani (British Museum No. 10,470, sheet 30).]

THE CHAPTER OF ENTERING INTO THE HALL OF DOUBLE MAĀTI; A HYMN OF PRAISE TO
OSIRIS, THE GOVERNOR OF AMENTET. Osiris, the scribe Ani, triumphant,
saith:

“I have come, and [I] have drawn nigh to see thy beauties; my hands [are
raised] in adoration of thy name ‘Right and Truth.’ I came and I drew nigh
unto [the place where] the acacia-tree groweth not, where the tree thick
with leaves existeth not, and where the ground yieldeth neither herb nor
grass. Then I entered into the hidden place, and I spake with the god Set,
and my protector(?) advanced to me, and his face was clothed (or covered),
and [he] fell upon the hidden things. He entered into the Temple of
Osiris, and he looked upon the hidden things which were therein; and the
sovereign chiefs of the pylons [were] in the form of _khu_s. And the god
Anpu spake [to those who were on] both sides of him with the speech of a
man [as he] came from Ta-mera;(84) he knoweth our paths and our cities. I
make offerings(?), and I smell the odor of him as if he were one among
you, and I say unto him, I am Osiris, the scribe Ani, triumphant in peace,
triumphant! I have come, and (I) have drawn nigh to see the great gods,
and I feed upon the offerings which are among their food. I have been to
the borders [of the territory of] Ba-neb-Tettet (_i.e._, the ‘Soul, the
lord of Tattu,’ or Osiris), and he hath caused me to come forth like a
_Bennu_ bird, and to utter words. I have been in the water of the stream,
and I have made offerings of incense. I have guided myself to the
_Shentet_ tree of the [divine] children. I have been in Abu (or Abu,
_i.e._, Elephantine[?]) in the Temple of the goddess Satet. I have
submerged the boat of mine enemies [while] I myself have sailed over the
Lake in the _Neshmet_ boat. I have seen the _Sāhu_ (_i.e._, the spiritual
bodies) [in] the city of Qem-ur. I have been in the city of Tattu, and I
have brought myself to silence [therein]. I have caused the god to have
the mastery over his two feet. I have been in the Temple of Tep-tu-f
(_i.e._, ‘he that is on his hill,’ or Anubis), and I have seen him that is
lord of the divine temple. I have entered into the Temple of Osiris, and I
have arrayed myself in the apparel of him that is therein. I have entered
into Re-stau, and I have seen the hidden things which are therein. I was
shrouded [therein], but I found a way for myself. I have gone into the
city of An-aarret-f (_i.e._, the place where nothing groweth), and I
covered my nakedness with the garments which were therein. There was given
unto me the _ānti_ unguent [such as] women [use], along with the powder of
human beings. Verily Sut(?) hath spoken unto me the things which concern
himself, and I said, ‘Let thy weighing be in(?) us.’ ”

“The Majesty of the god Anpu saith, ‘Knowest thou the name of this door so
as to declare it unto me?’ And Osiris, the scribe Ani, triumphant in
peace, triumphant! saith, ‘Destroyer of the god Shu’ is the name of this
door. The Majesty of the god Anpu saith, ‘Knowest thou the name of the
upper leaf and of the lower leaf?’ ‘Lord of Maāt upon his two feet’ is the
name of the upper leaf, and ‘Lord of twofold strength, the subduer of
cattle,’ [is the name of the lower leaf. The Majesty of the god Anpu
saith], ‘Since thou knowest pass on, O Osiris the scribe, the teller of
the divine offerings of all the gods of Thebes, Ani, triumphant, the lord
of reverence.’ ”




The Introduction To Maati


[From the Papyrus of Nu (British Museum No. 10477, sheet 22).]

[THE FOLLOWING] SHALL BE SAID WHEN THE OVERSEER OF THE PALACE, THE
CHANCELLOR-IN-CHIEF, NU, TRIUMPHANT, COMETH FORTH INTO THE HALL OF DOUBLE
MAĀTI(85) SO THAT HE MAY BE SEPARATED FROM EVERY SIN WHICH HE HATH DONE
AND MAY BEHOLD THE FACES OF THE GODS. The Osiris Nu, triumphant, saith:

“Homage to thee, O Great God, thou Lord of Double Maāti, I have come to
thee, O my Lord, and I have brought myself hither that I may behold thy
beauties. I know thee, and I know thy name, and I know the name[s] of the
two and forty gods who exist with thee in this Hall of double Maāti, who
live as warders of sinners and who feed upon their blood on the day when
the lives of men are taken into account in the presence of the god
Un-nefer; in truth ‘Rekhti-merti-neb-Maāti’ (_i.e._, ‘twin-sisters with
two eyes, ladies of double Maāti’) is thy name. In truth I have come to
thee, and I have brought Maāt (_i.e._, right and truth) to thee, and I
have destroyed wickedness for thee. [I have not done evil to] mankind. I
have not oppressed the members of my family, I have not wrought evil in
the place of right and truth. I have had no knowledge of worthless men. I
have not wrought evil. I have not made to be the first [consideration] of
each day that excessive labor should be performed for me. [I have] not
brought forward my name for [exaltation] to honors. I have not ill-treated
servants. [I have not thought scorn of God.] I have not defrauded the
oppressed one of his property.(86) I have not done that which is an
abomination unto the gods. I have not caused harm to be done to the
servant by his chief. I have not caused pain. I have made no man to suffer
hunger. I have made no one to weep. I have done no murder. I have not
given the order for murder to be done for me. I have not inflicted pain
upon mankind. I have not defrauded the temples of their oblations. I have
not purloined the cakes of the gods. I have not carried off the cakes
offered to the _khu_s. I have not committed fornication. I have not
polluted myself [in the holy places of the god of my city],(87) nor
diminished from the bushel. I have neither added to nor filched away land.
I have not encroached upon the fields [of others]. I have not added to the
weights of the scales [to cheat the seller]. I have not misread the
pointer of the scales [to cheat the buyer]. I have not carried away the
milk from the mouths of children. I have not driven away the cattle which
were upon their pastures. I have not snared the feathered fowl of the
preserves of the gods. I have not caught fish [with bait made of] fish of
their kind. I have not turned back the water at the time [when it should
flow]. I have not cut a cutting in a canal of running water. I have not
extinguished a fire (or light) when it should burn. I have not violated
the times(88) [of offering] the chosen meat-offerings. I have not driven
off the cattle from the property of the gods. I have not repulsed God in
his manifestations. I am pure. I am pure. I am pure. I am pure. My purity
is the purity of that great _Bennu_ which is in the city of Suten-henen
(Heracleopolis), for, behold, I am the nose of the God of the winds, who
maketh all mankind to live on the day when the Eye (Utchat) of Rā is full
in Annu (Heliopolis) at the end of the second month(89) of the season Pert
(_i.e._, the season of growing) [in the presence of the divine lord of
this earth].(90) I have seen the Eye of Rā when it was full in Annu,
therefore let not evil befall me in this land and in this Hall of double
Maāti, because I, even I, know the name[s] of these gods who are therein
[and who are the followers of the great god].”(91)