Egyptian Book of the Dead
Chapter LXXII
Hail to you, ye Lords of Rule, devoid of Wrong, who are living for ever, and whose secular period is Eternity. I make my way towards you. Let me be glorified through my attributes; let me prevail through my Words of Power, and let me be rated according to my merit
Let me have a mouth wherewith I may speak, and let my oblations be placed before you; because I know you, and I know your names: and I know the name of that great god to whose nostrils ye present delicacies: Tekmu is his name. And whether he maketh his way from the Eastern Horizon of Heaven, or alighteth at the Western Horizon of Heaven, let his departure be my departure, and his progress be my progress
Let me not be stopped at the Meskat; let not the Sebau have mastery over me; let me not be repulsed at your gates, let not your doors be closed against me; for I have bread in Pu and beer in Tepu. And let me join my two hands together (6) (6) in the divine dwelling which my father Tmu hath given me, who hath established for me an abode above the earth wherein is wheat and barley of untold quantity, which the son of my own body offereth to me there as oblations upon my festivals
Grant me the funereal gifts, beef, fowl, bindings, incense, oil, and all things good and pure upon which a deity subsists, regularly and eternally, in all the forms I please
If this book is learnt upon earth, or executed in writing upon the coffin, he will come forth by day in all the forms he pleaseth, with entrance into his house without repulse. And there shall be given to him bread and beer and flesh-meat upon the table of Osiris. He will come forth to Sechit-aarru, and there shall be given to him wheat and barley there, for he will flourish as though he were upon earth, and he will do all that pleaseth him, like those gods who are there: undeviatingly, for times infinite
This chapter is often found not only in papyri but upon coffins, in accordance with the rubric at the end. The earliest copy is on the coffin of Queen Mentuhotep. A very fine copy is on the alabaster sarcophagus of Seti I, and our museums are rich in funereal monuments inscribed with this ancient text. A very similar text is found at the end of chapter 99