benefiting thy soul each day.
Thy son Horus saluteth thy name
(in) thy mysterious abode,
in presenting thee the things consecrated to thy person.
The gods hold vases in their hands
to make libations to thy being.
Come to thy companions,
Supreme Ruler, our Lord!
Do not separate thyself from them.
When this is recited,
the place (where one is)
is holy in the extreme.
Let it be seen or heard by no one,
excepting by the principal _Khereb-heb_(585) and the _Sam_.(586)
Two women, beautiful in their members,
having been introduced,
are made to sit down on the ground
at the principal door of the Great Hall.(587)
(Then) the names of Isis and Nephthys
are inscribed on their shoulders.
Crystal vases (full) of water
are placed in their right hands;
loaves of bread made in Memphis
in their left hands.
Let them pay attention to the things done
at the third hour of the day,
and also at the eighth hour of the day.
Cease not to recite this book
at the hour of the ceremony!

It is finished.

The Litany Of Ra

Translated by Edouard Naville

The following Litany of Ra is the translation of a long text which is to
be found at the entrance of several of the largest tombs of the kings, in
the valley called Biban el Moluk at Thebes. It is a kind of introduction
to the long pictures which adorn the walls of the royal sepulchres, and
which generally represent the course of the sun at the different hours of
night.

Although very nearly connected with the "Book of the Dead," this text has
not yet been found complete in any funereal papyrus; the second section of
the fourth chapter only is contained in a papyrus of the British Museum.

The importance of this text consists in this, that it gives us an idea of
the esoteric doctrine of the Egyptian priests, which was clearly
pantheistic, and which certainly differed from the polytheistic worship of
the common people.

The present translation has been made from the book "_La Litanie du
Soleil_" (Leipzig, 1875, _avec un vol. de XLIX planches_), where this text
has been first translated in French, with a commentary. Among the
different tombs where this inscription was collected, that of Seti I,
commonly called Belzoni's tomb, has been chosen as the standard text.

THE LITANY OF RA

CHAPTER I

_Title._ The beginning o