The Literature of the Ancient Egyptians, page 248 by E.A. Wallis Budge
<< Return to Title Details & Download249
ll shall not hear the lamentation. Never shall cries of grief cause To beat [again] the heart of a man who is in the grave.
Therefore occupy thyself with thy pleasure daily, And never cease to enjoy thyself.
Behold, a man is not permitted To carry his possessions away with him. Behold, there never was any one who, having departed, Was able to come back again.
[Footnote 1: He was one of the kings of the eleventh dynasty, about 2700 B.C.]
[Footnote 2: A high official of Tcheser, a king of the third dynasty.]
[Footnote 3: Son of Khufu, the builder of the Great Pyramid (fourth dynasty.)]
CHAPTER XV
MISCELLANEOUS LITERATURE
In this chapter are given short notices of a series of works which the limits of this book make it impossible to describe at greater length.
I. The BOOK OF THE TWO WAYS.--This is a very ancient funerary work, which is found written in cursive hieroglyphs upon coffins of the eleventh and twelfth dynasties, of which many fine examples are to be seen in the British Museum. The object of the work is to provide the souls of the dead with a guide that will enable them, when they leave this world, to make a successful journey across the Tuat, i.e. the Other World or Dead Land, to the region where Osiris lived and ruled over the blessed dead. The work describes the roads that must be travelled over, and names the places where opposition is to be expected, and supplies the deceased with the words of power which he is to utter when in difficulties. The abode of the blessed dead could be reached either by water or by land, and the book affords the information necessary for journeying thither by either route. The sections of the book are often accompanied by coloured vignettes, which illustrate them, and serve as maps of the various regions of the Other World, and describe the exact positions of the streams and canals that have to be crossed, and the Is