Egyptian Book of the Dead
Chapter CLIII A
O he who turns backwards, mighty of heart, who spreads his net before him, who entereth the earth! O you the fishermen sons of their fathers, who go round in the midst of the stream, you will not catch me in your net, in which you catch the disabled, and you will not carry me away in your canvas, in which you take away the evil ones in the earth; the frame of which reaches the sky, and the weights of which are on the earth
For I will come out of its meshes and shine like Hunnu (Sokaris). I will come out of its bars and shine like Sebak. I shall fly against you like a fisher whose fingers are hidden
I know the fork which belongs to it. It is the great finger of Hunnu (Sokaris). I know the stake; it is the leg of Nemu. I know its pointed head, it is the hand of Isis. I know the name of its blade; it is the knife of Isis with which she cut the meat for Horus
I know the names of the fishermen who are fishing. They are the worms, the ancestors of the blood drinkers, who pour their flow on my hands, when the great god the lord listens to the words in Heliopolis, in the night of the 15th of the month, in the temple of the moon
I know the marked space in which they are enclosed. It is the soil of iron on which the gods stand
I know the name of the divine supervisor who takes hold of the fishes, and marks them on the tail. He is the supervisor of the divine property
He sits alone in the night; nobody sees him; the future ones see him, and the present ones give him their acclamations
I shine like Horus; I govern the land, and I go down to the land in the two great boats. Horus introduces me into the house of the Prince
I have come as a fisher; the fork has been given into my hand; my blade is in my hand, my knife is in my hand. I come forth; I go round about, and I entangle in my net
I know the name of the fork which closes the mouths vomiting (fire?). It is the great finger of Osiris
The fingers (prongs) which hold fast, they are the fingers of the ancestors of Rā, the claw of the ancestor of Hathor
I know the name of the stake; the thigh of Nemu. Its point is the hand of Isis, its coil, the cord of the first-born god, its cordage the rope of Rā
I know the name of the fishermen who are fishing; they are the worms, the ancestors of Rā, the creatures, the ancestors of Seb
When what thou eatest is brought to thee, what I eat is brought to me. Thou eatest what is eaten by Seb and Osiris
O thou who turnest backwards, mighty of heart, who fishes and entangles him who enters the earth; O you fishers, sons of their fathers, and ye fowlers who are in Nefer-sent; you will not catch me in your nets, and you will not entangle me in your meshes, wherein you catch the disabled, and where you catch those who are in the earth; for I know it (the net), its frame above, and its weights below. Behold, I come, my stake is in my hand; the point is in my hand, the blade is in my hand
I come, I arrive to my ... (?) I have come myself; I have come to bind it, to put it in its place. My knife is sharpened. I put it in its place
The stake which is in my hand is the thigh of Nemu; the fork which is in my hand is the fingers of Sokaris; this point which is in my hand is the claws of Isis; the blade which is in my hand is the knife of Nemu
Behold I have come, I sit in the boat of Rā, I sail on the lake of Cha and on the lake of the Northern sky
I hear the words of the gods. I do what they are doing, I give praises to their persons, I live as they live
N. appears on the ladder which was made for him by his father Rā, when Horus and Sut take hold of him
In the Theban version the Chapter of the Net is divided into two, 153 A and 153 B , which have different titles and different vignettes. 153 A is called the “ Chapter of coming out ,” or, as might be translated, “ of escaping from the net .” The vignettes represent a clap-net, used for waterfowl. The second Chapter is called “ the Chapter of escaping from those who catch ,” which, from the etymology, might be translated foul or fetid fish . There the vignette represents a drag-net containing fishes, and drawn by apes
The text of 153 A is very corrupt, and seems to differ greatly from the original. The variants between the chief documents are considerable, and show that the understanding of it was nearly lost. It probably had two different versions, which have been cast into one, since after the first two-thirds it begins over again and nearly repeats itself
The Turin text contains only 153 A , and that even much shorter, but it is followed by a rubric, which is absent from the Theban version
The vignette of 153 A , in the papyrus III, 93, of the Louvre ( Pb ), shows a clap-net drawn by four men. Behind it comes the deceased, holding in his hand two instruments mentioned in the text: the and the , called or each of them consists of different parts having a distinct name
Among the dangers to which the deceased is exposed is that of being caught in a net by hidden genii, who will treat him as is done to water-fowl or fishes. But he escapes from this peril, because he knows the names of the fowlers and fishermen who intend to attack him, and also of the net itself, and of the various parts of which it consists. All these names are mystical; they are connected with some divinity, and this gives them a magical power, owing to which the deceased can make his escape
The fingers are often mentioned when we should say the hand. The act or the wound is attributed to the fingers. “Whose fingers are hidden,” means he who hides the hand with which he will strike
The instrument in the hand of the deceased. Though the determinative is , it does not necessarily mean that it is made of wood; it may be the determinative of weapons in general. It has prongs, which are compared to nails or claws, so that it probably is a weapon like the bident for spearing fishes, the tines of which are held together by a string (Wilkinson, Manners and Customs , 2nd edition, Vol. II, p. 107). Otherwise it is not unlike a netting needle (Wilkinson, loc. cit. , p. 175). If it is a weapon, one does not very well understand why it is said to belong to the net
The is evidently the stake or peg to which the end of the clap-net is fastened. But it must be noticed that in the vignette of London, 9900, this peg is a dagger. Therefore Therefore one may speak of its pointed head (Brugsch, Dict. Suppl. , p. 85), and of its , blade
We know from an inscription at Dendereh that the , the drinkers, feast on blood, (Brugsch, Dict. Suppl. , p. 18
The late recension of Chapter 153 ends here, and does not contain 153 B . It is followed by this rubric
Said on a figure of the deceased which is placed in a boat. Thou shalt put the Sektit boat on his right, and the Âtit boat on his left. Offerings will be made to him of cakes, beer, and all good things, on the day of the birth of Osiris. He to whom these things have been done will be a living soul for ever, and will not die a second time
I consider this word as derived from , , which means to mark an object with a cut or with fire, for a religious purpose, or simply as an indication of property. A little further it is spoken of fishes “marked on the tail.”
We have here the opposition between “those who are,” and “those who are not,” that is, those who are not yet, the future ones. The negative, which often expresses the idea of anteriority, is one of the usual ways of rendering the future; that which has not yet taken place, which is to come. An official of the XIIth dynasty says: “the king made me his commissioner of works, having charge of present and future work” ( Zeitschr. , 1882, p. 8, note). It is said of Isis that “she issues her directions for what is and what will be” (Stèle Metternich, Brugsch, Dict. Suppl. , p. 355
As they are sometimes mentioned before the gods, I believe the word might be translated, the first beings, the first creatures: “die Urwesen.”