The Coffin Texts of Ancient Egypt - Spell 7

Selected sources: B1P; B2Bo; B3Bo; B4Bo; B4C; B6C; S10C; T1L; T1NY; T9C

THE VINDICATION OF A MAN AGAINST HIS FOES IS BROUGHT ABOUT IN THE REALM OF THE DEAD⁽¹⁾

The earth was hacked up

when the Rivals⁽²⁾ fought.

Their feet scooped out the flooded parcel of sacred⁽³⁾ land⁽⁴⁾ in Heliopolis⁽⁵⁾.
Now comes THOTH⁽⁶⁾ adorned with his dignity⁽⁷⁾,

for ATUM⁽⁸⁾ has dignified⁽⁷⁾ him with strength,

and the Two most splendid Ladies⁽⁹⁾ are pleased with him⁽¹⁰⁾.

So the fighting is ended,
The tumult is stopped,
The fire which went forth is quenched,
The wrath in the presence of the Tribunal of the God⁽¹¹⁾ is calmed,
And it sits to give judgement in the presence of GEB⁽¹²⁾.

Hail to you, magistrates of the gods⁽¹³⁾!
NN is vindicated before you on this day,

like HORUS was vindicated against his foes on this day of accession⁽¹⁴⁾.

May he be joyful before you

like ISIS was joyful on her happy day of playing music⁽¹⁵⁾,

          when her son HORUS had taken possession of his Two Lands in triumph.

Notes

1. The title of this spell is only written in B2Bo. One other source has "To be uttered: The spells of recitation for vindication in the realm of the dead". 
2. Horus and Seth are struggling for the throne of Egypt - the topic of one of the oldest and most important myths of ancient Egypt, already attested in the Pyramid Texts; for a study on this myth from Egyptian and classical sources, see J. Gwyn Griffiths, The Conflict of Horus and Seth (Liverpool 1960).
3. Written as nTr in B4Bo; B4C; S10C; T1L; T1NY and T9C, but B1P; B2Bo; B3Bo and B6C have n rnp - "of fair/vigorous/youthful land(?)" (Wb 2, 433.18-28; vgl. Allen, Inflection, 583; FCD 150) instead. Rnp seems to be a common replacement for nTr in the Coffin Texts.
4. Sdy.t - a "flooded parcel of land" (Wb 4, 567.11-14), also translated as "lake" or "canal", although I prefer the picture of both gods violently ploughing through the sarcred landscape of Heliopolis while fighting, emphasizing the terror of their actions.
5. The city of the Sun(god), for archaeological work done there, see this website and the post from July 2017 on this blog.
6. The ibis-headed god of science, writing and the moon, the deputy of the sun god and clerk to the council of gods.
7. Anadiplosis/palilogy: the root saH is used for both terms at the end and beginning of the respective verses.
8. The primeval creator god.
9. Written as dual, fem: wr.tj aA.tj - the "grandest of the great", perhaps Isis and Nephthys(?).
10. The goddesses are happy with Thoth for ending the terrible fight.
11. Var. "of the fair (one)" in B1P; B2Bo; B3Bo and B6C.
12. The god of Earth, father and predecessor of Osiris on the Egyptian throne. He is also one of the gods presiding over the Tribunal in Heliopolis and judges Horus and Seth over the succession.
13. Var. "the magistrates of heaven and earth" in S10C.
14. On xaw, see A. Gardiner, The Coronation of King Haremhab, in: JEA 39 (1953) p. 23.
15. xnt as infnitive to xnj - "make music" (Wb 3, 288.7; FCD 192; Van der Molen, Dictionary of Coffin Texts, 391); three sources (B4Bo; B4C; B6C) change this to Xnt - "rowing" (Wb 3, 374.1-375.4). Xn.t (Wb 3, 375.5-12; FCD 201) could also be translated as a festive "river-procession". Both translations point to the festive character of Horus' accession to the throne.

Bibliography

A. de Buck, The Egyptian Coffin Texts I-VIII, OIP 34, 49, 64, 67, 73, 81, 87, 132 (1935-1961).
L. H. Lesko, Index of Spells on Egyptian Middle Kingdom Coffins and Related Documents (Berkeley 1979).
H. Willems (ed.), The World of the Coffin Texts. Proceedings of the Symposium held on the Occasion of the 100th Birthday of Adriaan de Buck, Leiden december 17–19, 1992, EU 9 (Leiden 1996)
R. van der Molen, A Hieroglyphic Dictionary of Egyptian Coffin Texts, PÄ 15 (Leiden / Boston / Köln 2000).
J. Assmann, Totenliturgien in den Sargtexten des Mittleren Reichs. Altägyptische Totenliturgien 1, Supplemente zu den Schriften der Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften, Philosophisch-Historische Klasse 14 (Heidelberg 2002).
L. Gestermann, Die Überlieferung ausgewählter Texte altägyptischer Totenliteratur („Sargtexte“) in spätzeitlichen Grabanlagen, ÄA 68 (Wiesbaden 2005).
R. O. Faulkner, The Ancient Egyptian Coffin Texts. Spells 1-1185 (Oxford 2007).