Honey, Incense and Entering the Shrine

The Fifteenth Ceremony. The Chapter of the Festal Perfume in the Form of Honey. The following shall be said: “Hail, Amen-Ra, Lord of the Throne of the Two Lands! I present to you honey, the Eye of Horus, the sweet one, the exudation of the Eye of Ra, the lord of offerings and tchefau food. Amen-Ra, Lord of the Throne of the Two Lands, is flooded with it, for it is sweet to your heart, and it shall never depart from you. “Amen-Ra, Lord of the Throne of the Two Lands, is filled with the sweet Eye[s] of Horus, the Black and the White, which rest on the river-flood, the mud of Amen, concerning which Amen said, ‘Behold it ...’ That which is its abomination (but) is lying in its name of ‘Bat.’ “It is sweet to the heart of Amen-Ra, Lord of the Throne of the Two Lands, and beautiful on the day in which he rests his heart upon it. It opens his flesh, it knits together his bones, it gathers together his members, and he absorbs the smell of it as Ra joins himself to his horizon. “O Amen-Ra, Lord of the Throne of the Two Lands, I give to you the Eye of Horus, it is sweet to your heart; let your face be gracious (or, appeased) and good for Pharaoh.” The Sixteenth Ceremony. The Chapter of Incense. The following shall be said: “The incense comes, the odour of the god comes,⁠a the odour of it comes to you, Amen-Ra, Lord of the Throne of the Two Lands. The odour of the Eye of Horus is for you, the odour of the goddess Nekhebit is for you, coming from the city of Nekheb. It washes you, it ornaments you, it makes its place on your two hands. “Homage to you, O incense. Homage to you, O Ment-uru (bitumen), which dwells in the member of the Eye of Horus the Great. Pharaoh has made you spread abroad (pet) in your name of ‘Pet,’ Pharaoh has censed (senter) you in your name of ‘Senter.’ “O Amen-Ra, Lord of the Throne of the Two Lands, I have presented to you the Eye of Horus, the odour comes to you, the odour of the Eye of Horus is to you.” The Seventeenth Ceremony. The Chapter of Entering into the Temple. The following shall be said: “O God, exalted one among the Company of the Gods, mighty one of fear among his sailors, great one of terror among the gods, behold [he is] Ra to what he has made, and Tem to what he has created. “Come to me, O Amen-Ra, in that embrace in which you came forth on that day in which you rose as king, in which you rose in the heavens. Run to me yourself as you ran to your holy uraeus to deliver yourself from Apep. “I have come to you, O Amen-Ra. I am Thoth, who journeys at the two seasons to seek for the Eye of its Lord. I have come, I have found the Eye, I have reckoned it up for its Lord. “Come to me, O Amen-Ra, guide me in the path on which you travel; make me to enter in in the form of a Ba bird, make me to come forth in the form of a Lion, make me to travel in the form of Ap-uat, and let me not be repulsed or turned back on the roads, on this day, on this night, in this month, in this year. “Behold, come to me, O Amen-Ra, and open for me the two doors of the sky, and unclose for me the two doors of the earth, and throw open before me the area of the divine house. “I have looked upon the god, I have come to him, and his two uraei have enclosed me. I have entered in with the statue of Maat in order that Amen-Ra, Lord of the Throne of the Two Lands, may make peace with his beautiful Maat of this day.” The Eighteenth Ceremony. The Chapter of Entering into the Shrine of the God. The following shall be said: “Peace! Peace! O soul, divine and living, that smites its enemies, your divine soul is with you, your Sekhem is at your side, I have brought to you your Setennu Crown [which] embraces you.” Another Chapter. “I have entered into the sky to look upon Aten (i.e., the Solar Disk), I have made my way to the god at the time of storm. There are oblations in my hands, let there not be said to me, ‘Get back.’ I have made the God to rest [upon] his seat, I have not defiled my magical power, and no evil belonged to me. I come forth in the form of Sekhet. Suten ta hetepu. I am pure.” The Nineteenth Ceremony. The Chapter of Withdrawing the Foot, with the Papyrus Cord, from the Great Sanctuary. The following shall be said four times: “Thoth has come. He has delivered the Eye of Horus from the hands of his enemies. No male devil and no female devil shall enter into this temple. Ptah has closed the door, and Thoth has set it fast. The door is closed, the door is set fast with the bolt.” The Twentieth Ceremony. The Chapter of Coming Forth on the Steps of the Shrine. The following shall be said: “I have come forth, your great Face is behind me. There are offerings on my hands. I have advanced to Tefnut, and Tefnut has made me pure. I am a servant of the God, and the son of a servant of the God in this temple; I am not fettered, and I shall not be made to retreat. “I am a servant of the God. I have come to perform the rites; behold, I have not come to perform that which should not be performed. Exalted is Amen-Ra, Lord of the Throne of the Two Lands, upon his great seat; the Great Company of the Gods are exalted upon their seats. “Your beauties are to you, O Amen-Ra, Lord of the Throne of the Two Lands. Naked one, clothe yourself, and gird yourself with the girdle. I have come to place the God upon his seat, and you are firmly seated upon your great seat, O Amen-Ra, Lord of the Throne of the Two Lands.” The Twenty-first Ceremony. The Chapter of Opening (i.e., Uncovering) the Face at Festivals. The following shall be said: “The face of Ra is uncovered in Het-Benben, O Amen[-Ra], who are established in Thebes, Lord of the Sixth Day Festival, Prince of the Tenat Festival, Khepera who illumines the Two Lands with his beauties. “Horus and Thoth have come to see you in the Great Divine House, and they present an offering to you of the water of the Nile Flood, of grains of incense of the city of Nekheb. They give oil to your divine double front, and the Menkhet bandlet for your members. They present to you the eye-paints Uatch and Mestemet, and [the odours of] myrrh and natron go round about your shrine. “Your Soul has gained the mastery in Annu of the South (Hermonthis), your terror has conquered those in the South; your name is holy in Annu (Heliopolis), and those of the North have fear of you. Offerings of things of every kind are made to you by the thousand on your altars of silver-gold. “The hands of the beneficent god are pure, your son Pharaoh whom you love. Your souls have tied together the Two Lands, and your bellowing (or, roaring) goes through every foreign land.”