Egyptian Book of the Dead

Chapter CXVI

Ancient Egyptian trans. P. Le Page Renouf & E. Naville • c. c. 1550 BCE

Neith dawneth forth in Mat’at, and Maāt is conveyed upon the Arm of the Eater of the Eye by him who reckoneth it out

I know it, and I am therefore led in through the Sem priest

I tell it not to men, I repeat it not to the gods (and conversely

I enter as one who knoweth not, and seeth not

Hail, ye gods who are in Hermopolis. Know ye me as I know Neith, that the Eye may be made firm and permanent. I take delight in reckoning out that which is reckoned

I know the Powers of Hermopolis who are great at the beginning of the month, and diminished at the fifteenth day

They are Thoth the Unseen, Sau and Tmu

If this chapter be known, filth is avoided, and lye is not drunken

This is the last of the chapters concerning the Powers of certain places. Of their positive antiquity there can be no doubt, whatever alterations they may have undergone. But they are relatively modern with respect to other chapters, e.g , the 17th. Mr. Goodwin used to compare them with Christian legends of the mediæval period. These are ancient enough as far as we ourselves are concerned, but no one would think of judging by them of primitive Christianity