Forms of Amen-Ra
In the Saite Recension of the Book of the Dead we find several passages to Amen, or Amen-Ra, which appear to belong to the same period, and as they illustrate the growth of a set of new ideas about the god Amen, some of them being probably of Nubian origin, they are reproduced here. The first is found in the Rubric to Chapter clxii, which contains the texts to be recited over the amulet of the cow, and was composed with the view of keeping heat in the body of the deceased in the Underworld. The first address is made to the god PAR, which is clearly a form of Amen-Ra, for he is called "lord of plumes," "lord of transformations, whose skin {i.e., complexions} are manifold," the "god of many names," "the mighty runner of mighty strides," etc. The second address is to the Cow Ahat, i.e.,the goddess Meh-urt or Net, who made a picture of herself and placed it under the head of Ra when he was setting one evening, and is petition which is to be said when a similar amulet is placed under the head of the deceased and runs, "O Amen, O Amen, who art in "heaven, turn thy face upon the dead body of thy son and make "him sound strong in the Underworld."
In Chapter clxiii. We have the second message as follows: --- "Hail, Amen, thou divine Bull Scarab, "thou lord of the two Utchats thy name is Hes-Tchefetch, the Osiris {i.e., the deceased} is the "emanation of thy two Utchats, one of which is called Share- " Shapuneterika. The magical name of the deceased is, "Shaka-Amen-Shakanasa er hatu Tem sehetch-nef-taui," and on his behalf the following prayer is made: -- "Grant that he may be of the land of Maat, let him not "be left in his condition of solitude, for he belongeth to this land "wherein he will no linger apppear, and 'An' {?] is his name". O let him be perfect spirit, or {as others say} a strong "spirit, and let him be the soul of the mighty body which is in "Sau {Sais}, the city of Net {Neith}."
The third passage is Chapter clxv., which really a petition to Amen-Ra by the deceased wherein the most powerful of the magical names of the god are enumerated. The vignette of the chapter contains the figure of an ithyphallic god with the body of a beetle; on his head are the characteristic plumes of Amen, and his right arm is raised like that of Amsu, or Min, the god of the reproductive powers of nature. The text reads, Hail, Prince, Prince! "Hail Amen, Hail Amen! Hail Par, Hail Iukasa! Hail God, Prince of the gods of the eastern "parts of heaven, Amen-Nathekerethi-Amen. Kail thou whose skin is hidden, whose "form is secret, thou lord of the two horns {who wast born of} "Nut, thy name is Arethi-kasathi-ka, and thy name is Amen-naiu-an-ka-entek-share, "or Thekshare-Amen-Rerethi, Hail, Amen, let me make supplication unto thee, "for I know thy name, and {the mention of} thy transformations "is in my mouth, and thy skin is before mine eyes. Come, I pray "thee, and place thou thine heir and thine image, myself in the "everlasting underworld. Grant thou that all my members may "repose in Neter-khertet {the underworld}, or {as others say} "in Akertet {the underworld} ; let my whole body become like unto that of a god, let escape from the civil chamber and let "me not be imprisoned therein ; for I worship thy name. Thou "hast made for me skin, and thou hast understood {my} speech, 'and thou knowest it exceedingly well. Hidden "is thy name, O Letashaka, "and I have made for thee a skin. Thy name is Marqatha, thy name is Rerei, thy name is Nasaqebubu, thy name is Thanasa, "Thanasa, thy name is Sharshathakatha.
"O Amen, O Amen, O God, O God, O Amen, I adore thy "name, grant thou to me that I may understand thee; grant "thou that I may have peace in the Tuat {underworld}, and that "I may possess all my members therein." And the divine Soul, which is in Nut saith, "I will make my divine strength to protect "thee, and I will perform everything which thou hast said." This interesting text was ordered to be recited over a figure of the "god of the lifted hand," i.e., of Amen in his character of the god generation and reproduction, painted blue, and the knowledge of it was to be kept from the god Sukati, in the Tuat; if the directions given in the rubric were properly carried out it would enable the deceased to drink water in the underworld from the deepest and purest part of the celestial stream, and he would become "like the stars in the heavens above." A perusal of the above composition shows that we are dealing with a class of ideas concerning Amen, or Amen-Ra, which, though clearly based on ancient Egyptian beliefs, are peculiar to the small group of Chapters, which are found at the end of the Saite Recension of the Book of the Dead.
The forms of the magical names of Amen are not Egyptian, and they appear to indicate, as the late Dr., Birch said, a Nubian origin. The fact that the Chapters with the above prayers in them are found in a papyrus containing so complete a copy of the Siate Recension proves that they were held to be of considerable importance in the Ptolemaic period, and they probably represented beliefs, which were widespread at that time. Long before that, however Amen-Ra was unidentified with Horus in all forms, and Ra in all forms, and Osiris in all forms, and the fathers and mothers of these gods were declared to be his; he was also made to be the male counterpart of all the very ancient goddess of the South and the North, and the paternity of their offspring was attributed to him.
Above text from the: Tour Egypt Home Page http://touregypt.net/amenra.htm
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Created: 11/15th, 1999,
Day 1 of the New Genesis.
Edited
04/30/03 09:42:30 PM
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