the Book of the Dead ( PDF )

The Egyptians' Ideas Of God.
is the sun who is the ruler of the horizon, [and] his similitudes are
her tep ta tata-tha neter sentra em kai-set emment
upon earth is given incense with their food offerings to these daily.[1]
6. faau-s aaui-set en pa neter emtuf setemu
If she (i.e., thy mother) raiseth her hands to God, he will hear
sebehu-set
her prayers[2] [and rebuke thee].
7. amma su en pa neter sauu-k su emment en
Give thyself to God, keep thou thyself daily for
pa neter au tuauu ma qeti pa haru
God; and let to-morrow be as to-day.[3]
[1. Amélineau, La Morale, p. 141.
2. Ibid., p. 149.
3 Ibid., p. 172.]
{p. lxxxix}
God and the gods.
The passages from the pyramid of Pepi show at once the difference between neter as God, and the "gods"
neteru; the other passages, which might be multiplied almost indefinitely, prove that the Being spoken of
is God. The neteru or "gods" whom Unas hunted, and snared, and killed, and roasted, and ate, are beings
who could die; to them were attributed bodies, souls, ka's, spiritual bodies, etc. In a remarkable passage
from the CLIVth Chapter of the Book of the Dead (Naville, Todtenbuch, Bd. I., Bl. 179, l. 3) the
deceased king Thothmes III. prays:--
seset-kua emxet-k Tem huau ma ennu ari-k
Preserve me behind thee, O Tmu, from decay such as that which thou workest
er meter neb netert nebt er aut neb er t'etfet neb
for god every, and goddess every, for animals all, for reptiles all
sebuit-f per ba-f emxet mit-f ha-f
for each passeth away when hath gone forth his soul after his death, he perisheth
emxet sebi-f
after he hath passed away.
The gods mortal.
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