Egypte - Legends Of The Gods
THE HISTORY OF CREATION--A.
THE BOOK OF KNOWING THE EVOLUTIONS[FN#49] OF RA, AND OF OVERTHROWING APEP.
[FN#49] Kheperu. The verb Kheper means "to make, to form, to produce,
to become, and to roll;" kheperu here means "the things which come into
being through the rollings of the ball of the god Kheper (the roller),"
i.e., the Sun.
[These are] the words which the god Neb-er-tcher spake after he had
come into being:--"I am he who came into being in the form of the god
Khepera, and I am the creator of that which came into being, that is to
say, I am the creator of everything which came into being: now the
things which I created, and which came forth out of my month after that
I had come into being myself were exceedingly many. The sky (or
heaven) had not come into being, the earth did not exist, and the
children of the earth[FN#50], and the creeping, things, had not been
made at that time. I myself raised them up from out of Nu[FN#51], from
a state of helpless inertness. I found no place whereon I could stand.
I worked a charm[FN#52] upon my own heart (or, will), I laid the
foundation [of things] by Maat,[FN#53] and I made everything which had
form. I was [then] one by myself, for I had not emitted from myself
the god Shu, and I had not spit out from myself the goddess Tefnut; and
there existed no other who could work with me. I laid the foundations
[of things] in my own heart, and there came into being multitudes of
created things, which came into being from the created things which
were born from the created things which arose from what they brought
forth. I had union with my closed hand, and I embraced my shadow as a
wife, and I poured seed into my own mouth, and I sent forth from myself
issue in the form of the gods Shu and Tefnut. Saith my father Nu:--My
Eye was covered up behind them (i.e., Shu. and Tefnut), but after two
hen periods had passed from the time when they departed from me, from
being one god I became three gods, and I came into being in the earth.
Then Shu and Tefnut rejoiced from out of the inert watery mass wherein
they I were, and they brought to me my Eye (i.e., the Sun). Now after
these things I gathered together my members, and I wept over them, and
men and women sprang into being from the tears which came forth from my
Eye. And when my Eye came to me, and found that I had made another
[Eye] in place where it was (i.e., the Moon), it was wroth with (or,
raged at) me, whereupon I endowed it (i.e., the second Eye) with [some
of] the splendour which I had made for the first [Eye], and I made it
to occupy its place in my Face, and henceforth it ruled throughout all
this earth."
[FN#50] i.e., serpents and snakes, or perhaps plants.
[FN#51] The primeval watery mass which was the source and origin of
all beings and things.
[FN#52] i.e., he uttered a magical formula.
[FN#53] i.e., by exact and definite rules.
"When there fell on them their moment[FN#54] through plant-like clouds,
I restored what had been taken away from them, and I appeared from out
of the plant-like clouds. I created creeping things of every kind, and
everything which came into being from them. Shu and Tefnut brought
forth [Seb and] Nut; and Seb and Nut brought forth Osiris, and Heru-
khent-an-maati,[FN#55] and Set, and Isis, and Nephthys[FN#56] at one
birth, one after the other, and they produced their multitudinous
offspring in this earth."
[FN#54] i.e., the period of calamity wherein their light was veiled
through plant-like clouds.
[FN#55] i.e., the Blind Horus.
[FN#56] i.e., these five gods were all born at one time.
THE HISTORY OF CREATION--B.
THE BOOK OF KNOWING THE EVOLUTIONS OF RA, AND OF OVERTHROWING APEP.
[These are] the words of the god Neb-er-tcher, who said: "I am the
creator of what hath come into being, and I myself came into being
under the form of the god Khepera, and I came into being in primeval
time. I came into being in the form of Khepera, and I am the creator
of what did come into being, that is to say, I formed myself out of the
primeval matter, and I made and formed myself out of the substance
which existed in primeval time. My name is AUSARES (i.e., Osiris), who
is the primeval matter of primeval matter. I have done my will in
everything in this earth. I have spread myself abroad therein, and I
have made strong my hand. I was ONE by myself, for they (i.e., the
gods) had not been brought forth, and I had emitted from myself neither
Shu nor Tefnut. I brought my own name[FN#57] into my mouth as a word
of power, and I forthwith came into being under the form of things
which are and under the form of Khepera. I came into being from out of
primeval matter, and from the beginning I appeared under the form of
the multitudinous things which exist; nothing whatsoever existed at
that time in this earth, and it was I who made whatsoever was made. I
was ONE: by myself, and there was no other being who worked with me in
that place. I made all the things under the forms of which I appeared
then by means of the Soul-God which I raised into firmness at that time
from out of Nu, from a state of inactivity. I found no place
whatsoever there whereon I could stand, I worked by the power of a
spell by means of my heart, I laid a foundation [for things] before me,
and whatsoever was made, I made. I was ONE by myself, and I laid the
foundation of things [by means of] my heart, and I made the other
things which came into being, and the things of Khepera which were made
were manifold, and their offspring came into existence from the things
to which they gave birth. I it was who emitted Shu, and I it was who
emitted Tefnut, and from being the ONE, god (or, the only god) I became
three gods; the two other gods who came into being on this earth sprang
from me, and Shu and Tefnut rejoiced (or, were raised up) from out of
Nu in which they were. Now behold, they brought my Eye to me after two
hen periods since the time when they went forth from me. I gathered
together my members which had appeared in my own body, and afterwards
I had union with my hand, and my heart (or, will) came unto me from out
of my hand, and the seed fell into my mouth, and I emitted from myself
the gods Shu and Tefnut, and so from being the ONE god (or, the only,
god) I became three gods; thus the two other gods who came into being
on this earth sprang from me, and Shu and Tefnut rejoiced (or, were
raised up) from out of Nu in which they were. My father Nu saith:--
They covered up (or, concealed) my Eye with the plant-like clouds which
were behind them (i.e., Shu and Tefnut) for very many hen periods.
Plants and creeping things [sprang up] from the god REM, through the
tears which I let fall. I cried out to my Eye, and men and women came
into existence. Then I bestowed upon my Eye the uraeus of fire, and it
was wroth with me when another Eye (i.e., the Moon) came and grew up in
its place; its vigorous power fell on the plants, on the plants which I
had placed there, and it set order among them, and it took up its place
in my face, and it doth rule the whole earth. Then Shu and Tefnut
brought forth Osiris, and Heru-khenti-an-maa, and Set, and Isis, and
Nephthys and behold, they have produced offspring, and have created
multitudinous children in this earth, by means of the beings which came
into existence from the creatures which they produced. They invoke my
name, and they overthrow their enemies, and they make words of power
for the overthrowing of Apep, over whose hands and arms AKER keepeth
ward. His hands and arms shall not exist, his feet and leas shall not
exist, and he is chained in one place whilst Ra inflicts upon him the
blows which are decreed for him. He is thrown upon his accursed back,
his face is slit open by reason of the evil which he hath done, and he
shall remain upon his accursed back."
[FN#57] i.e., I uttered my own name from my own mouth as a word of
power.
Egypte - Legends Of The Gods
|
|
