of their oblations. I have
not purloined the cakes of the gods. I have not carried off the cakes
offered to the _khu_s. I have not committed fornication. I have not
polluted myself [in the holy places of the god of my city],(87) nor
diminished from the bushel. I have neither added to nor filched away land.
I have not encroached upon the fields [of others]. I have not added to the
weights of the scales [to cheat the seller]. I have not misread the
pointer of the scales [to cheat the buyer]. I have not carried away the
milk from the mouths of children. I have not driven away the cattle which
were upon their pastures. I have not snared the feathered fowl of the
preserves of the gods. I have not caught fish [with bait made of] fish of
their kind. I have not turned back the water at the time [when it should
flow]. I have not cut a cutting in a canal of running water. I have not
extinguished a fire (or light) when it should burn. I have not violated
the times(88) [of offering] the chosen meat-offerings. I have not driven
off the cattle from the property of the gods. I have not repulsed God in
his manifestations. I am pure. I am pure. I am pure. I am pure. My purity
is the purity of that great _Bennu_ which is in the city of Suten-henen
(Heracleopolis), for, behold, I am the nose of the God of the winds, who
maketh all mankind to live on the day when the Eye (Utchat) of Ra is full
in Annu (Heliopolis) at the end of the second month(89) of the season Pert
(_i.e._, the season of growing) [in the presence of the divine lord of
this earth].(90) I have seen the Eye of Ra when it was full in Annu,
therefore let not evil befall me in this land and in this Hall of double
Maati, because I, even I, know the name[s] of these gods who are therein
[and who are the followers of the great god]."(91)

The Negative Confession

[From the Papyrus of Nebseni (British Museum No. 9,900, sheet 30).]

The scribe Nebseni, triumphant, saith:

1. "Hail, thou whose strides are long, who comest forth from Annu
(Heliopolis), I have not done iniquity.

2. "Hail, thou who art embraced by flame, who comest forth from
Kher-aba,(92) I have not robbed with violence.

3. "Hail, thou divine Nose (Fenti), who comest forth from Khemennu
(Hermopolis), I have not done violence [to any man].

4. "Hail, thou who eatest shades, who comest forth from the place where
the Nile riseth,(93) I have not committed theft.

5. "Hail, Neha-hau,(94) who comest forth