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Book of the Dead Chapter 161

There is no source for the composition ealier than the New Kingdom. In the late 18th Dynasty, it is found on the exterior wall of elite coffins and sarcophagi, such as that of Amenhotep son of Hapu.

The short version below is the earliest known, in the Book of the Dead of Neferwebenef, preserved in the Louvre, Paris (mid-18th Dynasty).

r n sd wbA m pt
ir.n DHwty Hr wn-nfr
ti sw Hr wbA m itn
anx ra mwt Stw
iab XAt m tA
iab qsw n wsir N
anx ra mwt Stw
wDA nty m DbAt
nty m DbAt wsir
anx ra mwt Stw
bbw m iwf qbH-snw.f
r irt.sn wsir N
anx ra mwt Stw
snw sn.sn sntt

Formula for cutting an opening in the sky
done by Thoth over Wennefer,
when he was opening into the sun-disk
Ra lives, the turtle dies!
the body is pure in the earth,
the bones are pure of Osiris N.
Ra lives, the turtle dies!
the one in the chest is well,
the one in the chest is Osiris N.
Ra lives, the turtle dies!
suffocated by the flesh of Qebehsenuf
for their keeper Osiris N.
Ra lives, the turtle dies!
their passing surpasses the foundation.


 

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