the Book of the Dead ( PDF )

The Doctrine Of Eternal Life.
forms who make God to come are upon each side of thee. God cometh, and Pepi hath come upon the
throne of Osiris. The shining one who dwelleth in Netat, the divine form that dwelleth in Teni, hath
come. Isis speaketh unto thee, Nephthys holdeth converse with thee, and the shining ones come unto thee
bowing down even to the ground in adoration at thy feet, by reason of the writing which thou hast, O
Pepi, in the region of Saa. Thou comest forth to thy mother Nut, and she strengtheneth thy arm, and she
maketh a way for thee through the sky to the place where Ra abideth. Thou hast opened the gates of the
sky, thou hast opened the doors of the celestial deep; thou hast found Ra and he watcheth over thee, he
hath taken thee by thy hand, he hath led thee into the two regions of heaven, and he hath placed thee on
the throne of Osiris. Then hail, O Pepi, for the Eye of Horus came to hold converse with thee; thy soul
which was among the gods came unto thee; thy form of power which was dwelling among the shining
ones came unto thee. As a son fighteth for his father, and as Horus avenged Osiris, even so doth Horus
defend Pepi against his enemies. And thou
[1. Recueil de Travaux, t. iv., p. 74 (1. 602).
2. Recueil de Travaux, t. iv., p. 46 (l. 405).
3. Ibid., t. iii., p. 202 (1. 209).
4. Ibid., t. iv., p. 51 (1. 447 f.).
5. Ibid., t. v., p. 53 (l. 340).
6. ###. Ibid., t. 8, p. 104 (l. 665).
7. Ibid., t. v., p. 159, (ll. 1-21).]
{p. lxxviii}
"standest avenged, endowed with all things like unto a god, and equipped with all the forms of Osiris
upon the throne of Khent-Amenta. Thou doest that which he doeth among the immortal shining ones; thy
soul sitteth upon its throne being provided with thy form, and it doeth that which thou doest in the
presence of Him that liveth among the living, by the command of Ra, the great god. It reapeth the wheat,
it cutteth the barley, and it giveth it unto thee. Now, therefore, O Pepi, he that hath given unto thee life
and all power and eternity and the power of speech and thy body is Ra. Thou hast endued thyself with the
forms of God, and thou hast become magnified thereby before the gods who dwell in the Lake. Hail,
Pepi, thy soul standeth among the gods and among the shining ones, and the fear of thee striketh into
their hearts. Hail, Pepi, thou placest thyself upon the throne of Him that dwelleth among the living, and it
is the writing which thou hast [that striketh terror] into their hearts. Thy name shall live upon earth, thy
name shall flourish upon earth, thou shalt neither perish nor be destroyed for ever and for ever."
Corporeal pleasures.
Side by side, however, with the passages which speak of the material and spiritual enjoyments of the
deceased, we have others which seem to imply that the Egyptians believed in a corporeal existence,[1] or
at least in the capacity for corporeal enjoyment, in the future state. This belief may have rested upon the
view that the life in the next world was but a continuation of the life upon earth, which it resembled
closely, or it may have been due to the survival of semi-savage gross ideas incorporated into the religious
texts of the Egyptians. However this may be, it is quite certain that in the Vth dynasty the deceased king
Unas eats with his mouth, and exercises other natural functions of the body, and gratifies his passions.[2]
But the most remarkable passage in this connection is one in the
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