Chapter 120
, 2 (= 12, 2) in the sense of ‘splitting up.’ And this is clearly the Egyptian concept of the soul—‘the internal force, that which works within us,’ τὸ ἐνεργοῦν.
The word is ideographically written ⁂ or ⁂,[8] both the Ram and the cranelike bird being called _ba_. Some have cleverly inferred that the Egyptians thought that the soul was of a birdlike form, and others have not hesitated to consider _ba_ as expressive of the cry of the _ram_. The odd thing is that only the ram has this name, not the _sheep_ or the _lamb_, who nevertheless indulge in the same cry. The truth is that in spite of appearances the word _ba_ is not onomatopoeic here. Whether applied to the ram or to the heron, the word is expressive of human action and signifies ‘digging through, cleaving, piercing, splitting.’ The hieroglyphic variants are very expressive: ⁂⁂⁂, ⁂⁂⁂⁂, ⁂⁂⁂⁂, ⁂⁂⁂, ⁂⁂⁂, ⁂⁂ (the last is already found in _Denkm._ II, 51).
The Ram is called in Egyptian _ba_ on account of the digs which he makes with his head, and a force which has occasioned the name of ‘ram’ to be given to powerful engines.
The Heron is also called _ba_ because with its bill it _cleaves_ the fishes which it attacks.
And the word which _we_ translate Soul or Spirit is called _ba_, because it is conceived as something which ‘pierces, penetrates and divides.’
It is right to point out (to those who may wonder at this Egyptian etymology) that the Latin _scio_ ‘I know’ is etymologically akin to _seco_ ‘cut,’ _securis_ ‘an axe,’ and the Greek κείω, κεάζω ‘split, cleave.’
21. The ⁂⁂⁂ _sem_, and the ⁂⁂⁂ _urȧ ḫerp ḥem_, were priests in the service of Ptah. The latter, who held perhaps the highest sacerdotal office in Egypt, as high priest of Ptah at Memphis, is repeatedly found combining with his own special office that of the _sem_. The ceremony which is here referred to consisted in a grand procession round the walls of the great sanctuary of Ptah, conveying upon a sledge the bark ⁂ in which the coffin of the god was supposed to rest. Sokaru signifies ‘the coffined,’ and Ptah Sokaru is only a form of Osiris. Abundant details of the ceremony will be found in the plates of M. Mariette’s _Abydos_, I, pl. 36 and following. The king Seti I is represented as a Sem priest presiding at the festival.
22. ⁂⁂⁂⁂ _Suten-ḥenen_ was called by the Greeks Heracleopolis.
23. Or ‘rid of his business.’ The word ⁂ _sep_, ‘turn,’ has the different significations of the Latin ‘vices.’
In the later recensions this chapter is lengthened out by other petitions. The deceased asks, among other things, to appear “before thee, O Lord of the gods, to attain the region of _Maāt_, may I rise up a living god, let me shine like the divine host which is in heaven, let me be as one of you. Let my steps be lifted up in Cher-ābaut. Let me see the ship[9] of the holy Sahu [Orion], traversing the sky; let me not be prevented from seeing the lords of the Tuat [the Netherworld], smelling the fragrance of the sacrificial offerings made to the divine host, and sitting with them. Let the Cher-heb [the priestly ministrant] make invocation over my coffin. Let me hear the prayers of propitiation. Let the divine ship Neshemet advance for me, let not my soul and its possessor suffer repulse.”
An invocation to Osiris follows.
“Hail to thee, Prince of Amenta, Osiris, lord of Nifura; grant that I may advance in peace towards Amenta, and that the Lords of Tasert may receive me and say to me, ‘Salutation! Salutation! in Peace!’ let them make for me a seat by the Prince of the divine Powers, let the two Chenemta goddesses [Isis and Nephthys] receive me, in presence of Unneferu, the Victorious. Let me be a follower of Horus in Re-stau, and of Osiris in Tattu. Let me assume all forms for the satisfaction of my heart in every place that my Genius [_Ka_] wisheth.”
The following rubric is found as early as the XIXth dynasty in connection with this chapter, but it seems to have originally been attached to