The Papyrus of Ani Volume . 1; A Reproduction in Facsimile

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1913 Excerpt: ... large Sun-temples which were built by some of the kings of the Vth dynasty was that of a stone. The stone had the shape of a massive, truncated.obelisk, with a pyramid above it, and it stood on a strong masonry base. The spirit of the Sun-god was supposed to enter the stone at certain periods, and on these occasions human sacrifices 1 A statement about the languages into which this story has been translated, and an account of its wanderings will be found in my History of Alexander the Great, Cambridge, 1890. were offered to it. The victims were probably prisoners of war who had been captured alive, and foreigners, and when these failed, the priests must have drawn upon the native population, as priests have done in Africa from time immemorial. Ra sailed over the sky in two boats; his morning boat was called Mantchet, or Matet, or Afcet, and his evening boat Semktet. His course was guided by Mad/, the personification of law, order, unfailing regularity, etc. After he set in the west in the evening he entered the Tuat under a different form, and by the help of the gods who were there, and by the power which he possessed in his own person, he passed through that region successfully, and appeared in the sky of this world the next morning in his usual form. As he passed through the Tuat he gave air, and light, and food to those who, for some reason or other had been doomed to dwell there. Two fishes swam before the boat of Ra, and acted as pilots and warned him of coming danger; these were called Abtu fj, and Ant 0. respectively. Each morning as he was about to enter the sky, and just before he left the Tuat, he engaged in battle with the great Devil called Aapep QJtfdjii which, aided by a group of pow...