Egyptian Book of the Dead
Chapter XL
Back, serpent Haiu, whom Osiris execrateth. May Thoth cut off thy head, and may there accrue to me whatsoever property proceedeth from thee [according to] what was decreed against thee by the Company of the gods for the accomplishment of thy slaughter
Back, thou whom Osiris execrateth, from the Neshemet galley, which saileth towards the south with favourable breeze
O Ha-as, whose horns Horus doth cut: by my children, the cycle of gods in Pu and Tepit, thou art severed from thy fold and thy fold is severed from thee
And he who cutteth thee off cometh forth as the Eye of Horus; thou art kept back and assailed, and stopped by the breath of my speech
O thou god who devourest all wrong, and carriest off with violence; there is no wrong in me, my tablets are free from wrong. Let me not suffer violence before the Divine Circle; let not disaster be hurled upon me
The translation of this chapter is based upon the important papyrus T 5 of Leyden, known as Lb . This is the only MS. which contains the whole chapter. All other copies begin after the sixth line. The usual chapter begins in Lb with a , which is the ordinary way of indicating a various reading. But the difference of reading applies rather to a mere paragraph than to the whole chapter. In this case we should expect or something equivalent
Here, as in each case of mythological name, the animal is not meant, but something which is connoted by it. The name of the ass is given to it in consequence of one of its characteristics. It is . But this is one of the seventy-five names of the Sun-god in the Solar Litany. [58] And he derives this appellation from his fructifying power