The Coffin Texts of Ancient Egypt - Spell 17

Selected sources: B1P; B2Bo; B3Bo; B4Bo; B6C; B15C; BH5C; MC105; S10C; T2C

His two Enneads gave him these⁽¹⁾,
                which are great and
                which are grand,
        that he⁽²⁾ may rage (among) the gods with his power and
        that he⁽²⁾ alone may guide the life of the gods.

An invocation offering for RE is MAAT⁽³⁾.
HORUS alone, the foremost of the living, protects his father OSIRIS⁽⁴⁾.
He brought the movements of those to a halt,
        who slew his father OSIRIS.

As for anyone,
        who shall commit any evil robbery against NN,
        this NN will raise his hand
                against (all those) living under the sky⁽⁵⁾
                        along with their great ones,
                in Heliopolis⁽⁶⁾ in the presence of the risen OSIRIS.

This NN has taken possession of his Two Lands in vindication.
You are HORUS, Lord of Justice.


Notes

1. The two jAA.tj-staffs of Osiris mentioned in the previous spell 16.
2. MC105 and S10C write "NN" as subject of the sentence.
3. Offering Maat to a god is a scene often observed on temple walls, but also found as a topic for statuary (Fig. 1).
4. B4Bo has "his father Osiris NN".
5. Xrj.w - technically "humankind" (Wb 3, 392.2-3; FCD 203), but written with the God-sign (A40) like the "great ones" in the next line. The deceased seems to threaten all beings of heaven and earth with punishment if he or his tomb is defiled.
6. The city of the Sun(god), for archaeological work done there, see this website and the post from July 2017 on this blog.

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). 

The Coffin Texts of Ancient Egypt - Spell 16

Selected sources: B1P; B2Bo; B3Bo; B4Bo; B6C; B15C; BH5C; MC105; S10C; T2C

O NN,
sit in the presence of GEB⁽¹⁾, the sovereign of the Gods.
You are HORUS
        with his White Crown⁽²⁾ on his head and
        with his MAAT⁽³⁾ on his brow⁽⁴⁾.

His mother⁽⁵⁾ ISIS bore him.
KHABET⁽⁶⁾ brought him up.
The nurse of HORUS nursed him.
He gathered(?)⁽⁷⁾ the powers of SETH⁽⁸⁾ more than his own powers.
His father OSIRIS gave him these two staffs⁽⁹⁾ of his,
                which are great and
                which are grand,
        so he may rage (among) the gods with his power.⁽¹⁰⁾

This NN came,
        so he may rejoice over it in vindication.


Notes

1. 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.
2. HD.t - the Crown of Upper Egypt (Wb 3, 211.3-7; LÄ III, 811-812; LGG V, 607-608).
3. The goddess of righteousness, truth, justice and order (Wb 2, 20.10-13; LGG III, 222-224), daughter of the sungod Re, who is also identified by a feather on her head (cf. Spell 8).
4. Only written in B4Bo.
5. Only written in MC105 and S10C.
6. A goddess in the form of a vulture, the wet nurse of Horus and the deceased, cf. CT IV, 5a. Her name means "the one who bends(?)", LGG V, 627.
7. pXr.n=f (Wb 1, 544.12-547.7). MC105 and S10C write "Osiris (NN) gathered(?) the powers of Seth (...)."
8. The god of the desert, mighty warrior, powerful sorcerer and protector of the sun bark. Also the uncle of Horus and competing with him for the throne of Egypt (spell 7). For a study of this myth from Egyptian and classical sources, see J. Gwyn Griffiths, The Conflict of Horus and Seth (Liverpool 1960).
9. jAA.tj - "rod, scepter" (Wb 1, 27.10). These scepters are symbols of office and signs of leadership in the ancient Egyptian administration.
10. Only written in B2Bo.

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).