Table Of ContentTHE
ANCIENT EGYPTIAN
COFFIN TEXTS
Volume III Spells 788 -1185
& Indexes
R. O. Faulkner, D. Lit., F. S.A.
ARIS & PHILLIPS LT O.,
Warminster, England.
ISBN 0856681040
© R. O. Faulkner 1978. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be
reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any
means, without the prior permission of the publishers.
'(.
Published by Aris & Phillips Ltd.,
Teddington House, Warminster, Wilts., England.
Printed in Great Britain by
Biddies Ltd, Guildford, Surrey
CONTENTS
PREFACE vi
TRANSLATIONS AND NOTES
INDEXES 191
PREFACE
The present volume completes the translation into English of the Ancient Egypt
ian Coffin Texts. It corresponds to Vol. VII of de Buck's edition of the Egyptian
text, comprising Spells 788 - 1185. For the student of religion and mythology
the most important part consists of Spells 1029 - 1185, which record a composi
tion which has interested scholars ever since Schack-Schackenborg in 1903 pub
lished Das Buch von den Zwei Wegen des seligen To ten. But the interest of the
Coffin Texts as a whole does not rest solely on their religious and mythological
content, although that, of course, gives them their major importance to the reader.
They also shed light, albeit a dim and flickering glimmer, on other aspects of
ancient Egyptian life. There are spells clearly adapted or borrowed for the benefit
of the dead from the rituals of the death or accession of the king; for those who
are interested in ancient boat-building there are references to the construction of
canoes made from reeds, together with long lists of the component parts of a sail
ing boat and its gear, the terms for which will be found collected in Index VI at
the end of this book. There are also spells which are concerned with fishing-nets
and their gear, or with the preparation of the catch for table; one spell even has to
do with various grades of woven cloth. In attempting to interpret such texts the
translator's greatest obstacle is our ignorance of the meanings of so many Egypt
ian technical terms; sometimes the context or an inherent probability may provide
a clue to the meaning, but too often the would-be interpreter has to abandon the
attempt.
The philology of the Coffin Texts offers a wide field of study. Falling as they
do between Old Egyptian on the one hand and the classical literary idiom on the
other, constructions and usages referable to both phases of the language are
found, but there is a tendency for the older element to predominate. Thus the
older independent pronouns lwt, swt (very rarely also stt) are preferred to the
ntf paradigm, though that also is present; the writing out of the weak final radic.al
in the prospective tense of infirmae verbs is common; the earlier combination hJy
m 'go down into' competes on equal terms with the later hJy r; and perhaps most
significant of all, the negative construction n srjm./ used with reference to future
time is much more common than the classical nn srjm./ In orthography the
distinction between z and s is largely preserved, even though it is evident that they
have been fairly completely merged in speech; also the distinction between t and
I is fairly consistently observed, and the same is true of d and rj, though in both
cases there are exceptions. Instances of cryptic writing also occur, while there are
not a few new words to be inserted in our dictionaries, and the grammatical
usages provide a fruitful field for research.
vi
No task like that just completed could come to fruition in isolation, without
the sympathy and support of colleagues, so once again I express my deep apprecia
tion of the help and encouragement I have received on all hands, notably those of
Professor Harry Smith, Mr. C. H. S. Spaull, Dr. David Dixon and Mr. Adrian
Phillips of Aris and Phillips Ltd., to whom has fallen the heavy task of printing
these three volumes. Also I gratefully acknowledge again the generosity of the
Sir Alan Gardiner Settlement for Egyptological Purposes and of the Committee
of the British Academy in the very considerable financial support which has
rendered it possible to publish these volumes at what for these days is a modest
cost.
R. O. Faulkner
Woodbridge, Suffolk.
September 1977.
vii
Spell 788
N's vision is cleared so that he may see the Lord of the horizon and cross over the VII,l
sky, he1 causes him to appear as the great god, the Lord of eternity, who will
never2 perish, and he will be worshipped in the starry sky. 0 you who are over
those who have gone before ( ... ).3
1. The Lord of the horizon. For the following '3r.[ two texts have /yJr,f
2. 1~m in three texts, itm in DaIC. The sense is not affected.
3. lu only in L2U; Iv only in Da3C, which is incomplete.
Spe11789
Hail to you, you gods who are in the beautiful West! N has come that he may VII,2
greet you, for N knows you and N knows your shapes; may you grant that N
may go to rest in his fair place among the possessors of doubles; see, N's sitting
and restiI1.g1 are with provisions. N has done what is right, for he detests wrong
Rer
doing and never sees it; N rows the bark of , N has acquired his throne, N is
one of those who are in the retinue of Horus, who go to the Innt-shrine.
o
you who are in charge of the Milky Way(?). who guard the gates of the
Netherworld, prepare a fair path for N, so that N may enter and that N may
worship Osiris, and (himself) be a god for ever.
1. Ifmswt and btp appear to be infinitives.
Spe11790
Words spoken by N: See, I have come that I may open up the Netherworld and
that I may see my father Osiris who has flown up. I am a son beloved of
my father; I have come so that I may protect Osiris from Seth. I open all
the paths which are in the sky, I open all the paths which are on earth, I open
all the paths which are in the Netherworld, and I have entered into the horizon,
for I know my way and I am one who equips his spirits.
Spell 791 .
Rer
A boon which the king grants, a boon which Osiris grants, a boon which - VII, 3
l:Iarakhti grants, that he (sic) may permit N to be in company with the nobles
who once existed, that he may see Ref every day, that N may ferry across to
the Field of Rushes, that he may receive offerings there daily among the possess
ors of offerings through the command of the great god, the Lord of Offerings.
Spell 792
Words spoken by Nut: 0 N, I am your mother, I am Nut, and I have come so that
I may enfold and protect you from all things evil.
Words spoken by Isis: 0 N, I am your sister Isis; I have come so that I may
lay hold of you, I have come so that I may protect you. 1
1. Read 3n as iw.n. i ~w. i two
Spell 793
[A boon which the kingJ grants, a boon which Osiris grants, (and also) [the godJ
who is in the Mound of the Nt-crown, that he may permit N to have power
over cold water at his desire, being what was commanded for ever [ . . . ]
what is good. N has invocation-offerings by favour of [ ... ].
A boon which the king grants (and also) Geb, Lord of the lands, of what
is under the ribs.
A boon which Osiris grants, that he may permit N to be a spirit and to be
at the head of the spirits for ever.
Spell 794
VII, 4 To BE SPLENDID OF SHAPE IN THE REALM OF THE DEAD. [ ... ] I have taken
possession of the wrrt-crown of every god, I am [ . .. ]. The rest of the spell is
lost except for a few fragments.
Spell 795 is almost entirely lost.
Spell 796
VII,s NOT TO GO UPSIDE DOWN ON THE PART OF A MAN IN THE REALM OF THE DEAD.
The rest of the spell is lost.
2
Spell 797
To BE GIVEN BREAD IN DJEDU. The rest of the spell is nearly all lost, but there are
mentions of the Bull of the Ennead, of the town of Djedu and of the Mansion of
Thoth.
Spell 798
To RISE UP FROM UPON THE LEFT SIDE ON TO THE RIGHT SIDE. Of the rest of the VII, 6
spell only fragments remain.
Spell 799
To ESCAPE FROM THE FIRE AND TO SAVE A MAN FROM HIS FOE. The rest of the VII,7
spell is nearly all lost, but there is a mention of Geb in 7a. i.
Spell 800
NOT TO PERISH(?), BUT TO BE GUIDED(?) IN SKY AND EARTH. What follows is VII,s
fragmentary; the Ennead and Thoth are named.
Spell 801
[A boon which the king grants(?)] , which the god of linen(?) grants, which
N.
Osiris the god of the marshland I grants; going out into the day by2 N is
this lone spirit, this [ ... ] on [ ... ],3 N has come into this land, being spiritu
alized through magic and being worthy through magic; there is nothing unknown
to N in the sky,4 there is nothing unknownS to N on earth, there is nothing
unknown to N in the waters, there is nothing unknown to him at [ . . . ], there is
nothing unknown to [him as(?)] a god,6 there is (nothing) 7 unknown to N
[ ... ], because N (knows the names oOs the two Sisterly Companions [ ... ].91 VII, 9
N [will] not fall 10 into the hns- and htmt-waters, for N knows the name of [ . .. ]
who sits at the gate; 'He who fashio~ed II the god' is his name in it; (N 12> knows
the name of another [ ... ]; 13 'Dancer of the god' is his name. (N knows> 14the
name of the [Valley(?) IS . . . ] the name of the West in which he is [ . . . ] .16
3
1. Reading mJ:zw and emending d!>. into )1...
2. For n read in.
3. 81 is broken and unintelligible, but compare cr V, 303c-304a.
4. Compare V, 305b ff.; Spell 443, n. 5.
5. The fern. ending of ~mt has been omitted.
6. Restoring tentatively as nn ~mt n [.f m] ntr.
7. The negative word has been omitted.
8. An omission supplied from V, 306c-307a. The text here makes no sense as it stands.
9. Broken and unintelligible; originally perhaps a version of V, 306 a or c.
10. Read n ~[.n] N; compare V, 308b.
11. The det. of ms is lost.
12. The subject of r~, i.e. the name of the deceased, has been omitted.
13. A tall sign lost after i.
14. Iw N r~ omitted, cf. 9b.
15. Restore as int?
16. The rest of the spell is too much broken to yield a coherent sense.
Spell 802
Do not come down on N, do not [ . .. ] the brother of the two gods who have
come in. N has come to this land as owner [of] his magic. 1
1. The fmal n /JkJw looks like a dittograph.
Spell 803
Words spoken by Nut who enfolds [him(?)] and who puts (her) arm(s) about N
[in] life: N will not die.
o Nut, you have carried off Horus1 and his greatly magical; you have carried
off Seth and his greatly magical; enfold N with life [in] your [name] of Great
Protectress. 2
1. Cf. Pyr. §823; de Buck, n. 5*.
2. Cf. Pyr. §638; de Buck, n. 6*.
Spell 804
VII, N's protection is with Osiris, N[ ... ]. The name of the cord is 'The god who
10
pervades [ ... ] '. The rest of the spell is too fragmentary to trans/ate, but it
4
