the Book of the Dead ( PDF )

The Abode Of The Blessed.
7. Ibid., t. iv., p. 55 (l. 475).
8. Ibid., t. iv., p. 68 (l. 567).
9 Ibid., t. iv., p. 69 (l. 576 ff.).]
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Power of the gods of Annu.
The souls of the dead could also be commended to the care of the gods above by the gods of Annu, and
thus we find it said in the pyramid of Unas: "O gods of the west, O gods of the east, O gods of the south,
O gods of the north, ye four [orders of gods] who embrace the four holy ends of the universe, and who
granted to Osiris to come forth to heaven, and to sail over the celestial waters thereof with his son Horus
by his side to protect him and to make him to rise like a great god from the celestial deep, say ye to Unas,
'Behold Horus, the son of Osiris, behold Unas, the god of the aged gods, the son of Hathor, behold the
seed of Seb, for Osiris hath commanded that Unas shall rise like the second of Horus, and the four khu's
who are in Annu have written this command to the great gods who are in the celestial waters.'"[1] And
again, "When men are buried and receive their thousands of cakes and thousands of vases of ale upon the
table of him that ruleth in Amenta, that being is in sore straits who hath not a written decree: now the
decree of Unas is under the greatest, and not under the little seal."[2]
The plan of the Sekhet-Hetep which we find in the Book of the Dead during the Theban period will be
described below, and it is therefore sufficient to say here that the ideas of the happy life which the
deceased led had their origin in the pyramid texts, as may be seen from the following passage:--"Unas
hath offered incense unto the great and little companies of the gods, and his mouth is pure, and the
tongue which is therein is pure. O ye judges, ye have taken Unas unto yourselves, let him eat that which
ye eat, let him drink that which ye drink, let him live upon that which ye live upon, let your seat be his
seat, let his power be your power, let the boat wherein he shall sail be your boat, let him net birds in
Aaru, let him possess running streams in Sekhet-Hetep, and may he obtain his meat and his drink from
you, O ye gods. May the water of Unas be of the wine which is of Ra, may he revolve in the sky like Ra,
and may he pass over the sky like Thoth."[3]
Of the condition of those who failed to secure a life of beatitude with the gods in the Sekhet-Aaru of the
Tuat, the pyramid texts say nothing, and it seems as if the doctrine of punishment of the wicked and of
the judgment which took place after death is a development characteristic of a later period.
[1. Recueil de Travaux, t. iv., p. 69 (ll. 572-75).
2 Ibid., t. iv., p. 71 (l. 583).
3 Ibid., t. iii. (l. 191-95).]
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