The Transformations in The Coffin Texts A New Approach

The "Transformations" in the Coffin Texts a New Approach
Author(s): Walter Federn

Source: Journal of Near Eastern Studies, Vol. 19, No. 4 (Oct., 1960), pp. 241-257
Published by: The University of Chicago Press
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JOURNAL OF
NEAR EASTERN STUDIES
Volume XIX OCTOBER 1960 Number 4
THE "TRANSFORMATIONS" IN THE COFFIN TEXTS

A NEW APPROACH
WALTER FEDERN
in 1949,8 translated the heading of

INCE about two-thirds of the eighty-
seven Spells in Volume IV of De BD 78 = Spell 312 (CT, IV, 68 a) as
Buck's Egyptian Coffin Texts, filling"Changing into a divine falcon." It was
about two-fifths of its 413 pages, are
challenged in 1867 by Lepsius,9 who
concerned with "transformations"-i.e., argued that 4pr does not imply the action
their headings begin with hprw m or withof "Verwandlung" (transformation,
irt i prw m-a new attempt to clarify thechange), and that "hprw are rather the
meaning of these expressions may serve existences in various forms which the
as a review of this volume of the greatdeceased may assume." It was challenged
work, the perfection of which no longer again, in 1954, by Ranke,10 who argued
needs to be extolled.1 that the deceased, without ceasing to be
The commonly accepted translation, a man, merely "appears" in various other
"transformation into," of the irt hprw mforms.
in But the Egyptians-occasionally,
the headings of Chaps. 76-88 of the Bookat least-apparently did not distinguish
of the Dead originated in 1849 with
irt hprw m from irt hprw-f m,11 which does
Birch;2 it was supported by De Rouge in
mean "changing into" beyond any doubt.
Thus it would seem justified to reserve
1851,3 by Reinisch in 1865,4 by Brugsch
in 18675 and in his Dictionnaire (1868),6
the translation "appearing as" for ht'i m
and has prevailed ever since; it was de-
and to retain "transformation into" or
fended by Shorter in 1935,7 and De Buck,
"changing into" for irt 4prw m.
1 For a few tiny blemishes, see Allen's incom-However, in the Coffin Texts this term
parably informed review of Vol. V in JNES, XIV
(1955), 280-82. For other reviews, see Janssen's occurs but rarely; for the most part, the
Annual Egyptological Bibliography, 1954, pp. 1037-38; 8sJEA, XXXV, 92.
add: WZKM, LII (1955), 399-400 (G. Thausing).
9 Aelteste Texte des Todtenbuchs, pp. 26 and
33-34.
2 Revue Archdologique, V (Pt. 2), 515-17.
3 Bibliothique gyptologique, XXII (1908), 53. 1o zAS, LXXIX, 52-54.
4 Die dgyptiechen Denkmaler in Miramar, p. 17, 11 In Spell 290 of the Coffin Texts (CT, IV, 42 e),
n. 1. one text uses the latter term instead of the former,
a ZAs, V, 21-60. and in the tomb of Senenmut we read, according to
6 Vol. 3, p. 1074. Wb., Beleget., IV, 98, ad 483, 12: ir.f hiprw.f (instead
7 JEA, XXI, 172. of the usual &prw) r mrr.f.
241
242 JOURNAL OF NEAR EASTERN STUDIES
headings of the "transformation" of the term spells

"transformation" in the
are introduced by bprw m (without a necessarily was based

funerary literature
preceding irt). With regardfor toa the
long latter
time on texts of the Book of
term, Lepsius's scruples have greater the Dead, especially on the phrase irt
force. The exact translation would seem h prw m Fprw nb mrr-f, and on the well-
to be "formation into" (the equivalent
known cryptic passage in the biography of
of Kees's "Gestaltung in");12 or, perhaps,
cAh1mosi of Elkab:20 irn-i 'hprw-i m Nhb.
"formation of," construing hprw m The
as latter's
a discoverer, De Rouge, in
verbal noun derived from the term h 1851
pr m,tried to reconcile it with the passages
of the Book of the Dead already known
used absolutely-a very rare expression,13
discovered in 1916 by Gardiner,14 to who
Birch, and with the attribution of hprw
translated chc. n hpr m ntrw imyw-bch Rf15 to, and in his opinion inter-
(parallel
as "There came into existence thosechangeable
gods with, mswt) to RVC, by having
recourse
who are in the presence of Rc,"''16 and hpr to the ideas of pantheism and
m h3ty m tyt 'Itm17 as "Heart came into
metempsychosis, which at that time were
existence as an aspect of Atum."18 generally held to have been fundamental
Accordingly, "formation spells" would
tenets of Egyptian religion and philosophy.
seem to be a more exact designationInthan his opinion, "Ahmes indicates by this
"transformation spells" for the spells the term the moment of his birth; he
mystic
headings of which begin with hprw m; considers the human body as one of the
and since irt Aprw m can be interpreted
successive types which his soul must put
on."21 This synthesis of the various
as "making (or undergoing) the formation
into (or of)", the same designation might
aspects of the term hprw was-rather
be used for the spells with headings that20 Urk., IV, 2, 9.
21 Bibliothbque gSgyptologique, XXII (1908), 113-
begin with irt hprw m. This suggestion,
114. The correct interpretation of the passage was
however, applies only to the Coffin Texts;
recognized, beyond doubt, by Gunn and Gardiner in
1919 (JEA, V, 49, n. 1. Cf. also Caminos, Late Eg.
it is not to be rashly extended to the Misc. (1954), p. 84, ad Anast. III, 3, 12): "I had my
"transformations" in the Book of the upbringing in Elkab"; still, there may be some link
Dead, or in the Demotic Livre des Trans- with the use of the term in the funerary texts,
inasmuch as "upbringing" might be considered as a
formations.19 sort of "formation." An underlying concept of
The interpretation of the religious and a"formation" may likewise explain the use of Aprw as
quasi-psychological term beside other parts of the
philosophical concepts underlying the use human personality (3hw, b3, ib, h3t, hk3, kS) in Spell
304 (CT, IV, 58 c) and in Urk., IV, 1061, 6. (See also
12 E.g., Gdttinger Totenbuchstudien (1954), p. 6. Wb., Belegst., III, 80, ad 266, 2); I think that Gardiner
13 It occurs, too, in Spell 290 (CT, IV, 42 a) and(Tomb of Amenemhat [1915], pp. 99-100) and Miss
in Spell 333 (CT, IV, 178 f and k). Thausing (WZKM, LII [1955], 399) were mistaken
14 PSBA, XXXVIII, 44. in interpreting hprw as a more general term than the
15 Uric., V, 30, 17. others and translating "modes of being" and "Seins-
16 Gunn, JEA, XII (1926), 125: "There resulted formen," respectively, and that it rather denotes that
(literally, Resulted in) the gods in the presence of part of the personality which is gradually formed by
the impact of impressions from the outer world
17 Denkmal memphitischer Theologie, 1. 53. (perhaps comparable to the Buddhist term "sams-
18 The latter phrase was translated by Gunn in kara"; cf., e.g., P. T. Raju, Idealistic Thought of
1926 (l.c.): "(It) resulted in the heart . . . as a symbol India [1953], p. 448)-hence the juxtaposition of
of Atum"; by Sethe in 1928 (Dramat. Texte, p. 50) ib-i ny mwt-i and h3ty-i ny 6prw-i (the last word
as "Es entstand in dem Herzen . . . (ein Gedanke) in being interpreted by De Buck, JEOL, IX [1944],
der Gestalt des Atum"; by Junker in 1939 (Gdtter- 23-24, wrongly, I think, as "birth" or "existence")
lehre von Memphi8, p. 40) after a thorough discussion, in the opening line of Chap. 30 B of the Book of the
as "Es hat etwas Gestalt als Herz ... als Sinnbild Dead, to distinguish between the inborn and the
des Atum"; by Wilson in 1950 (ANET, p. 5): "There
acquired elements of the human mind. (Similarly
came into being as the heart ... (something) in Archiv
Otto, the fiir Orientfor8chung, XVII, 2 [1956],
form of Atum."
402: "... die von Natur gegebene Anlage und die
19 Published by Legrain in 1890. im Laufe des Lebens gemachten Erfahrungen.")
THE "TRANSFORMATIONS" IN THE COFFIN TEXTS: A NEW APPROACH 243
exuberantly-endorsed by Reinisch in en fait que l'assimilation de l'lme humaine

1865,22 and may have influenced Lepsius's au type divin qu'elle repr6sentait. Les
formulation of 1867.23 Soon afterwards it 6trangers et m~me les r6dacteurs des livres
was abandoned (except for a momentary hermetiques s'y laisserent tromper. Tandis
que les uns nient le principe de la metem-
and superficial revival by Schaefer in
psychose appliqu6 & 1'ame humaine, les
1914),24 presumably in connection with
autres l'affirment (Poemander, cap. X,
the growing disenchantment about the pp. 71-72).28
alleged profundity of the "wisdom of the
Egyptians." Maspero, in his authoritative The assumption-in which Maspero
Histoire ancienne des peuples de l'Orient was followed by all subsequent writers
(1875), still clung to De Rouge's con- on the subject 29-that the attribution of a
ception with regard to the hprw in general, belief in metempsychosis to the Egyptians
in saying: by Herodotus and in some patristic and
Hermetic writings must have been due
L'etre qui naissait a notre monde avait d6jh
v6cu et devait vivre ailleurs; les moments de
to a misinterpretation of the "trans-
son existence terrestre n'6taient qu'un des formation" chapters of the Book of the
stages, un des devenirs (khopriou) d'une Dead seems to me arbitrary and perhaps
existence dont il ne connaissait ni le com- erroneous. It would appear to be quite
mencement ni le fin; chacun des moments in line with the growth of the practice of
de cette existence et partant la vie humaine
animal mummification in the Late Period,
r6pondait & un jour de la vie du soleil et if an ancient belief that a person's soul
d'Osire.25
after death would sojourn in the other
But with regard to the "transforma-world for a limited time only and then
would
tions" of the Book of the Dead, it was be reborn as one of his descendants,
by the time of Herodotus had degenerated
their inconsistency with the idea of metem-
into the belief in an involuntary trans-
psychosis attributed to the Egyptians
migration
by Herodotus (II. 123), that Maspero through animal bodies.30 (Pre-
sumably this was coupled with the belief
emphasized in a statement26 (taken from
a review he had published in 1872)27 virtue and knowledge-or "magic"-
that
combined could ward off such a fate.)
which became the much-quoted locus
classicus on the subject: However, if such a belief existed, no
trace of it is discernible in the "trans-
II ne faut pas oublier que l'assomption
formations" of the Book of the Dead,31
de toutes ces formes est purement volontaire
let alone in the "formations" of the Coffin
et ne marque nullement le passage de l'ame
Texts. It may be considered an established
humaine dans un corps de bete. Chacune de
figures que revetait l'Esprit 6tait une des28 The last two sentences were omitted in the
Histoire ....
figures symboliques de la divinit6; l'entr'e
29 E.g., Wiedemann, Herodots zweites Buch (1890),
de l'ame dans ces figures ne marquait done
pp. 457-58; Morenz, in Asiatica (Festschrift Weller)
(1954), p. 416.
22 See n. 4.
30 Indeed, already in the classic scene of the
23 See n. 9.
24 ZAS, LII, 103. weighing of the heart, in the Eighteenth Dynasty,
the "Eater," half crocodile (with its connotation of
25 3d ed. (1878), p. 39; 4th ed. (1886), p. 35. guilt and revenge) and half hippopotamus (with its
26 3d ed., p. 42, n. 1; 4th ed., pp. 37/8, n. 3. It
connotation of fertility) might conceivably have
did not pass into his large Hi8toire ancienne des
symbolized damnation to reincorporation in an
peuples de l'Orient classique (1895). inferior body rather than destruction.
27 Revue critique d'hi8toife et de littdrature, VI. 31 Not even in the deviations of the Demotic
ann., 2. sem., p. 340, n. 1 = Bibliothique gyptologiqueLivre des Transformations (see n. 19) from the older
II (1893), 467, n. 3. texts.
That
fact32 that irt hprw has nothing tothey
do had
withnothing to do with the
the idea of metempsychosisideainofthe form
metempsychosis thus appears to be
related by Herodotus (II. 123), nor
one of in itsconcerning the "trans-
two things
formations"
Indian, Karma-linked, form-nor, that may be considered an
it may
be added, in the form it took in Plato's established fact. The other is their
myths (Phaedrus, c. 29, 249 B; Republicvoluntary character.37 This implies38 tha
x. 617 C), where the choice of the next they were a desirable experience.39 Fo
incorporation is voluntary. what reason? From Birch to Maspero a
Again, the above-mentioned belief in his followers everybody seems to hav
the rebirth of one's soul (perhaps better:taken for granted that the very freedo
reincarnation of one's ka) in one of his of choice among various modes of (divine
descendants after a limited sojourn in the existence was looked upon by the Egyp
other world33 evidently has no bearing on ians as desirable and as a goal in itself
the purport of spells that are concernedThe question: What was the purpose o
with changing at will into (or with thethe "transformations ?" was asked for the
formation of) various divinities or aspects first time, to the best of my knowledge, in
of divinity.34 Even the exceptional phrase 1927 by Kees,40 who answered it (in
irt prw m rmt in the heading of Spell 105 accordance with the accepted ideas about
(CT, II, 112), coupled as it is with prt mthe general purpose of the Book of the
hrw,35 apparently does not refer to anyDead) with the assumption that they
actual rebirth on earth.36 assured the deceased of freedom of move-
ment, physical integrity, and security of
32 Especially after the investigations of Ranke,
nourishment-in short, as Morenz41 put
ZAS, LXXIX (1954), 52-54, and Morenz, in Asiatica
(Festschrift Weller) (1954), pp. 414-27. it, of self-maintenance (Selbstbehauptung).42
33 It was investigated for the first time by Ranke
(Personennamen, II, 206-8) in so far as it appears Thisto line of explanation has remained the
be reflected by certain proper names of the M.K. fashion
In ever since.43 Yet, nowhere in the
my opinion, ancient Egypt is quite likely to have
cultivated it in early, pre-Osirian times, in a form Coffin Texts are any "transformations"
similar to that in which it is alive today in Western explicitly stated to take place for the
Africa. (Cf., e.g., Parrinder, African Traditional
Religion [1954], pp. 138-40; also Meyerowitz, Africa, purpose of helping the deceased, or for
XXI [1951], 31 [Sommaire]; as the latest compre- any other particular purpose,44 and ex-
hensive survey of the evidence and literature, see
H. Huber, Das Fortleben nach dem Tode im Glauben
westsudanischer Volker [Sankt-Gabrieler Studien, 37 Even in the Late Period, when their order of
No. 10, 1951], pp. 85-109). For a possible trace of sequence became fixed (cf. especially Brugsch, ZAS,
the complementary idea of pre-existence of the soul V (1867), 21-26), this fact would not necessarily
in the O.K., see Federn, MDAIK, XVI (1958), 128. preclude that the process as a whole was entered
34 From the evidence collected and discussed by upon voluntarily.
Clark (University of Birmingham Historical Journal, 38 Cf. Ranke, ZAS, LXXIX (1954), 53, n. 2.
II [1949-1950], 1-29, 105-40) it would seem that the 39 It should be noted that there are no spells
various birds appearing in many headings were not designed, according to their headings, to avoid
animals of this world, but different designations of some undesirable transformation.
the one mythical primordial bird that created the 40 Totenglauben und Jenseitsvorstellungen der alten
world-somewhat reminiscent of the Indian Harhsa. Agypter, p. 278.
35 Cf. later on, p. 244, with n. 46; p. 255, with41 Asiatica (Festschrift Weller) (1954), p. 422.
n. 142.
42 Otto, ZDMG, CII (1954), 191-92, speaks even
36 Miss Thausing adduced it in 1939 (WZKM, more generally of "power" (Macht).
XLVI, 170-88) to bolster her demonstration of 43 Drioton (BiOr, X [1953], 167) even saw a link-
how the continuation of the vital forces that was unsupported by any textual evidence-with the
mythologically reflected in the succession ofavoidance Horus of specific perils mentioned in the headings
to Osiris could be conceived metaphysically as of other spells in CT, Vol. IV.
realization of potentialities, so one might speak of a 44 The various "transformations" of Set-
"resurrection in the son." But this would seem to be a personification of death (cf. Thausing, Arch.Ag
refinement of thought only remotely connected with I [1938], 218-20)-are, of course, purposeful, b
the presumed pre-Osirian belief in reincarnation. entirely different matter.
ceedingly few headings link a "trans-must further ask: For what reason? The
formation" with some other action or
right answer, in my opinion, was given
by Miss
experience.45 One of these exceptions is Thausing,50o when she defined
the addition of "Transformation into Shu their essence as "the identification with
(Formation of Shu)" to "Spell of the Ba the vital forces, or rather, with the various
(manifestation) of Shu," which seems manifestations
to of the one vital force." She
be a mere tautology, in the heading of continued: "This identification takes place
Spell 75 (CT, I, 314 a). Another one is the through an inner experience and the
above-mentioned coupling of "Trans- magically spoken word," thus implying
formation into (formation of) a human that the "transformations" were meant to
being"46 with "Coming-forth-on-the-day" be experienced primarily by the living;
in the heading of Spell 105 (CT, II, 112)-- she does not say so explicitly, but later
an indication that the human form was on in her book51 she considers it probable
deemed sufficient47 to obtain the latter
that the Coffin Texts in general were also
"initiation" texts. This does not contradict
experience. A third exception, the "Trans-
formation into (formation of) the Bull heroftheory that the "transformations"
Heliopolis," coupled with "Being the belong to an "intermediate state" between
scribe of Hathor" in the heading of lifeSpell
and death, comparable to the "Bardo"
208 (CT, III, 161 c), will be discussed of the Tibetan Book of the Dead.52 It is
later on.48 Thus, the assumption of any self-evident that any text written on a
such purpose for the "transformations" as coffin was Mneant to serve the deceased
Kees and his followers have suggested after his death. However, I find it ex-
appears to be barely permitted but nottremely implausible that the Egyptians
required by the textual evidence of theshould have intrusted their well-being in
Coffin Texts.49 To me the latter seems to the hereafter to magic spells without
be more consonant with the assumption
testing their efficiency in some way on
earth, and I think, what Lepsius, in
that they were desired for their own sake,
1867,53 said of the Book of the Dead, is
or, one might also say, because they were
regarded as a pleasurable experience in
even more true of the Coffin Texts:
themselves. However, in that case, one
The Book of the Dead, or the collection of
45 Even in the BD, the headings of only four out
the
texts relating to the resurrection, the
of the thirteen "transformation" chapters contain
additional statements. judgement, and the life in the other world,
46 Perhaps one of divine character? It should be was in its essential character a book of
noted that the heading of Spell 301-the prototype practical instruction. Its aim was to inform
of BD 76-(CT, IV, 53 e; cf. also 42 e and 51 d)
runs: "Changing into (irt hprw m) any god he wantsthe individual, intent on his spiritual welfare,
to," as compared with the heading of BD 76: about what already on earth should be
"Changing into any form (hprw) he wants to"-which
occurs already, though, in CT, IV, 16 k. One is known and prepared by him for his death.
reminded of the Orphic-Pythagorean doctrine that 50 Der Auferstehungsgedankce in dgyptischen re-
the perfect souls after death become and remain gods;
ligidsen Texten (1943), p. 22.
but the idea, expressed in the CT, of merging in 51 P. 43.
particular deities, temporarily and at will, is evidently 52 Bardo Thddol, ed. by W. Y. Evans-Wentz
something different. This difference appears blurred (1927).
in Stern's comparison in Das Ausland, XLIII (1870), 53 Aelteste Texte des Todtenbuchs, p. 8: Das
606-11, esp. 611. Todtenbuch, oder die Sammlung der auf die Aufer-
47 According to Kees, Totenglauben und Jenseits-stehung, das Gericht, und ,das jenseitige Leben
vorstellungen, 2d ed. (1957), p. 186, even needed beziiglichen
to Texte, war seinem wesentlichen Charak-
obtain it.
ter nach ein Buch praktischer Belehrung. Es sollte
48 See p. 254 and n. 139. den Einzelnen, der auf sein Seelenheil bedacht war,
49 A later development in this direction is unterrichten
likely fiber das, was er schon auf Erden wissen
enough, though. und fiir seinen Tod vorbereiten sollte.
Similarly, Schack-Schackenburg found insaid in

the Indian concept of Samadhi,
1903:54 "The mind's becoming one with an object
by a process of acute concentration upon
The deceased thus might have tested in life
it and a continuous repetition of it with
the effect of the charm which he now took
with him into the tomb like so much else that
the exclusion of all other thoughts of
all kind."61
had become dear to him.
Of the traditional "objects of Sanyama"
New impetus was given to this point leading
of to Samadhi, which are enumerated
in the
view by Kristensen, in 1926;55 he based it Yoga-Sutras,62 one that more than
others
simply on the postscripts of Chaps. 125 brings to mind the Egyptian
and 64 of the Book of the Dead. But it is "transformations," namely, "acquiring the
powers of an elephant," served H.
still far from being widely accepted
Gomperz in 1931 as the point of departure
nowadays. Especially Morenz is violently
for demonstrating with profound common
opposed to it.56 However, it has been
sense the feasibility of a "psychological
generally recognized in recent years that
interpretation of the doctrine of magic
not merely a good part of the texts proper
of the CT-in contradistinction to the powers."63 In a similar vein, "the great
headings-originally were of a non- experience of identity-based on magic,"
funerary character,57 but that at leastof which Miss Thausing speaks,64 "that
in two cases58 the headings, i.e., the experience which knows man to be one
with the forces of the universe and ulti-
directions for the use of the texts, must
also-and it stands to reason, primarily--mately with the primordial creative
have been aestined for the living.59 Aspower65
a itself," (even when the Egyptian
proclaimed with an intensely felt con-
matter of personal opinion, not susceptible
viction and awareness of oneness: "I am
of proof, I would like to suggest that the
same was true of the entire group of R6C!'") may be construed as an essentially
"(trans)formation" spells in the CT.60 intellectual process.66 To bolster this
In what manner, then, should we con- opinion, I had the good fortune to en-
ceive of these transformations of a livingcounter in the Ortus Medicinae, published
in 1648, of the scientist and mystic,
person into various divinities (or aspects of
the one divinity)? The answer may be 61 Dasgupta, Yoga as Philo8ophy and Religion
(1924), p. 155. Yoga has been cited before by Blackden
54 Das Buch von den zwei Wegen des seligen Toten (Theosophical Review, XLII [1908], 105) to ex-
(Zweiwegebuch), p. 9, note *): Der Verstorbene plain the original purpose of the BD in general and
konnte also die Wirkung des Zaubers im Leben by Miss Thausing (WZKM, LIII [1956], 106) to
erprobt haben, den er wie so vieles, das ihm lieb explain Spell 405 (CT, V, 200-10) but not to explain
und werth geworden war, nun mit sich ins Grab nahm. "transformations."
the
55 Het Leven uit de Dood, p. 153. 62 Dasgupta, .ce.
56 OLZ, LII (1957), 124 and n. 2. Similarly 63 "Psychologische Deutung der Lehre von den
Capart, CdE, XVI (1941), 94-95, in his critique Zauberkriiften
of ?" Yoga; Internationale Zeitschrift fiir
Marques-Rivibre, Histoire des doctrines isothriques
wissenschaftliche Yoga-For8chung, Vol. I, No. 1,
(1940). pp. 79-82.
57 This has been clear ever since Roeder's pioneer- 64 WZKM, LII (1955), 8.
ing article of 1915, in Archivfiur Religionswissenschaft,65 " Ursch6pferische Kraft." Otto, ZDMG, CII
XVI, 66-85. (1954), 195, speaks, with slightly shifted accent, of
58 Spell 228 (CT, III, 285-f, 291-92), cf. Kees, "urzeitliche Sch6pfermacht."
G6ttinger Totenbuchstudien (1954), pp. 30 and 38; 66In contradistinction to a purely religious
Spell 341 (CT, IV, 345 g), cf. Otto, ZDMG, CII experience; cf. Aristotle's much-quoted dictum about
(1954), 191. See also Spell 149 (CT, II, 227 b), cf. the Eleusinian mysteries: rovs rcAovufivovs ot
Kees, Totenglauben, 2d ed., p. 223.
59 Cf. also De Buck in Pro Regno (1950), p. 81, .pa0etyv
45, rt &Ev,
Rose), and AA tratOeiv
its interpretation byKal &rTi a& (fr.
J. Croissant,
and Otto in Miscellanea Gregoriana (1941), p. 159. Aristote et les mysttres (1932), p. 142, and by Puech,
60 Leaving the BD out of consideration. L'Antiquitd Classique, II (1933), 480.
J. B. van Helmont, the following illu-initiation rites-like the rest of the world
minating passage: is plainly absurd, and irreconcilable with
the existence there of a hierarchy.) Given
Intellectus noster, novo velut perfectionis the right mood, any recapitulation of his
rore perfunditur, quoties intellectualiter
knowledge, whether couched in more
contemplatur aliquid supercoeleste: eo quod
mythical language or in more abstract
pro momento, transmigrat in illud, illudque
theological terms, or even in plain ("un-
degustat. Turn nimirum intus fulgurat imago
Dei, et evadit gloriosa.67 (In J. Chandler's mythical") language,72 would serve to
translation of 1662:68 Our understanding is produce a feeling of blissful confidence-a
as it were all to be sprinkled with a new dew mental food and mental medicine, tested
of perfection, as oft as any thing that is in this life as a means to expel passions
super-coelestial or heavenly above, is intel- and evil thoughts (so as to become a
lectually contemplated of: because for that "silent man")73 and expected to assure
moment, it passeth over into that, and the deceased the mental strength needed
tasteth down that. Then indeed, the Image to overcome the hostile forces of evil in
of God shines all over within and becomes
the other world.74 Thus, the "psycho-
glorious.)69
logical" interpretation of the "transforma-
tions" does not completely invalidate the
It stands to reason that "mantric
utterances" (as Blackden70 aptly currently
called accepted one of Kees and his
the spells of the BD) could not lead to thebut rather adds a new dimension
followers
to it. Much
blissful certainty of oneness with the less is it at variance with Miss
Thausing's
divinity in its various aspects," unless broadly metaphysical inter-
pretation in her Auferstehungsgedanke.75
their use had been preceded by a thorough
indoctrination and instruction, whichViewing the "transformations" as a
might rightly be called an initiation-if
means to achieve happiness and well-being
only in a sense broad enough to ininclude
this life as well as after death also makes
it possible to understand better why once
present-day Sunday school. Then, reciting
the "transformation" spells would in the not
Eighteenth Dynasty, in the tomb
constitute the initiation but rather an of Senenmut,76 the phrase: "May he under-
application of what the initiate had gobeen
his transformations as he likes," is paired
taught in the past. (To maintain that with: "May he follow his heart in his tomb."
precisely ancient Egypt should not haveThe latter phrase occurs already in the
known some kind of initiation-and First Intermediate Period on a stela
(Brooklyn 54.66), in the form: "In order
67 Venatio scientiarum, ?? 48-49 (p. 28). A few
lines earlier: "... quod ipse intellectus, trans- that he may follow his heart in his
migrando sese transformat in rem intellectam." garden,"77 and the same idea appears to
68 Oriatrike or Physick Refined.
69 The hunting or searching out of Sciences, 72 Otto, ZDMG, CII (1954), 193.
?? 48-49 (p. 23). A few lines earlier: "... because 73 See De Buck, CdE, XV (1940), 182-83.
the intellect it self doth transform it self by passing74 Or, according to Miss Thausing, more precisely
over, or thorow, into the thing understood." during an intermediate state (the Bardo of the
70 Theosophical Review, XLII (1908), 105. Tibetan Book of the Dead) between death and the
71 The rational question why so many different attainment of a new mode of being in the other
manifestations of it are used for the one purposeworld;
of cf. n. 52.
"identification" can be answered with Ramakrishna's75 Pp. 7-19.
saying: "The devotee who has seen Him in one aspect76 Wb., Belegst., IV, 98, ad 283, 12.
only, knows that aspect alone. But he alone who has 77 Five Years of Collecting Egyptian Art (1956),
seen Him in manifold aspects can say, All these
No. 26, P1. 48 = RE, II (1936), P1. II, p. 60; Vandier,
forms are of one God, for God is multiform." (Teach-
ibid., p. 61, translated: "Pour qu'il puisse prendre
ings of Sri Ramakrishna. New Edition [1934],
son plaisir dans son jardin qui fait partie de ses
p. 290, No. 787.) fondations funeraires."
sage84phrase
have been expressed in the not mentioned
h:i.fby De Buck, 8ms-ib
occurs
r .f r rdi:n ib-f, which occurs inbetween ir 'ht n m-ht and smnh
a passage
of the coffin of IHenuy from dd n-f, thus evidently
Gebelein that indicating some
has not yet been republished goodin trait of character.
the CT;78 Davies's85 trans-
it may also be connected with lation runs:
the expres-
sion iswt nt 8ms-ib in Spell 62 (CT, I, (One) whose devotion brings prosperity,
269 a).79 (which seems to refer to extra- who is serviceable to posterity, who follows
terrene places or worlds that cannot be his conscience, and benefits him who appeals
reached except mentally-in ecstasies or to him, and in whom guile cannot be found.
dreams or simply "by conjecture"), and But the context seems rather to suggest
with the expression prwt nt ms-ib in the
that here the connotation of leisurely
autobiography of )Dhout,so0 (the Eighteenth
contemplation predominates within the
Dynasty sculptor who boasted that the
complex concept of 8ms-ib: Kenamfin
decoration of his tomb was altogether his
presents himself as taking his time and
own achievement).81 The expression 8ms-ib
thereby improving upon (smnh) what he
was discussed the last time in 1940 by has been told (dd naf), perhaps in deliberate
De Buck, 82 who defined it as "the technical
contrast to Ptahhotpe's advice: "Follow
term (in this literature) for an enjoyment
your heart as long as you live; don't
of life. that is by no means unbridled or
do more than you have been told."s86 But
frivolous." That fits all the instances he
whatever the exact meaning of 8ms-ib and
collected, and is an exact definition of
its evolution from Ptahhotpe87 to Peto-
what "following one's heart" meant in
siris88 may have been, Senenmut's linking
the Late Period. In the Eighteenth
of irt hprw-f r mrr-f with 8msyf ib-f m is-f
Dynasty, however, and perhaps already certainly fits well into the thesis that the
in the M.K., "following one's heart"
"transformations" of the CT were regarded
seems to have denoted more specifically a
as a pleasurable experience sought for its
happiness-engendering, leisurely, and con- own sake, and, after death, as a continua-
templative way of life, a pleasant day- tion of the enjoyment of mental food the
dreaming, comparable perhaps not only to
mind had already known and enjoyed on
the "kef" of the modern Oriental, but even
earth, in exactly the same manner as the
to the Pflos ~ewprILKo', which Aristotleenjoyment of food and drink was expected
called the "complete happiness of man."83
to continue in the other world-not as a
For in the tomb of Kenamiin, in a pas-novel experience.89
78 Steindorff, Grabfunde . . ., II (1901), 17.
II
79 Cf. Kees, Totenglauben, 2d ed., (1957), p. 286.
What can this new point of view do to
so Urk., IV, 132, 3-4.
81 I would suggest that hwt tn nt hrt-ntr is an improve our understanding of the "trans-
apposition to prwt nt gms-ib, and that mRt in line 8 formations" in the CT? As far as details
means "sculpting," like Pt (Wb., V, 347).
84 Uric., IV, 1385, 18-20.
82 JEOL, VII, 300-2.
85 The Tomb of Kenamiin (1930), p. 18, ad P1.
83 Ethics, X, 7 = 1177 b 23. Then ?ms-ib might VIII.
be rendered in Greek as aXoAc~tEv: "to have leisure,86 Lines 186-87 (DLvaud).
to be at leisure"; and Aristotle's statement that 87 I would suggest: "Take it easy!"
"in Egypt ... . the priestly caste was allowed to be ss See n. 82.
at leisure" (Metaphysics, I, 1 = 981 b 23) may have 89 One may also compare the weapons depicted
been based on a sound knowledge of Egyptian on certain stelae of the First Intermediate Period
habits--even though he probably was arbitrary in (Vandier, CdE, XVIII (1943), 21-29), apparently to
attributing the invention of geometry to that fact perpetuate the enjoyment of hunting and warfare
(cf. Macdonald, Classical Review, LXIV [1950], 12; rather than to ward off the dangers of the other
Griffiths, Classical Review, LXVI [1952], 10). world.
are concerned, practically nothing, to be

in the third person, that is listed separately
sure. However, the often indiscriminate as Spell 305 (CT, IV, 58-59). To this
and seemingly inconsistent use of the
group belongs also the series of spells
personal name in the place of either the extolling the Nile, Spells 317-21 (CT,
IV, 110-47);93 as Pietschmann said in
first or the second or the third person loses
much of its confusing quality when we1878,94 "the two world-animating forces,
construe the insertion of "Osiris NN," not light and water, were but two utterances
simply as foreign to the original mytho- of the same creative power."
logical context, but as the expression of Into the same category from the point
an absolute certainty of identity with the of view of how the divinity is approached,
divinity, a certainty that might be termedthough formally a different type, belong
"mystical" (perhaps inexactly, since thethose texts in which the divine utterance
person did not lose his own identitytakes the form of a dialogue between gods
thereby), because it was imbued with or divine entities. Thus, in Spell 303
religious fervor, or "magical" (perhaps (CT, IV, 55-56) a call of Osiris for help
inexactly, since the divinity was not is answered by Horus. The same pattern,
coerced thereby), because it was liable to elaborated into a full drama with the
be used mechanically--just as yoga. introduction of an intermediating "mes-
There emerges a new genre of religious sefiger," occurs in Spell 312 (CT, IV,
literature,90 which is akin to the hymns, 68-86), "Formation of the Divine Falcon,"
so far as the contents are concerned, but which later became Chap. 78 of the BD
differs from them formally, as well as in and which was translated, with a full
the purpose of establishing an intimate comment, by De Buck in 1949.95 Here
relationship with the divinity through the insertion of the name of the deceased
insight, whereas the hymns display an in the place of the personal pronoun
already established and impersonal designating any of the divine dramatis
relationship. personae becomes much better under-
The simplest type of these "medita- standable and excusable, I think, than De
tions," as the new genre might be called, Buck made it out to be, when we assume
has the form of a monologue of the Sun- that the contemplating person identifies
god (perhaps better: the One God), who himself by turns with each speaker in a
discourses about one of his aspects. In CT, drama which he knows to take place in
Vol. IV, typical examples are Spell 268
"Transformation into the Golden Falcon"-clearly
(CT, IV, 1-6), "Formation of Suchos"; a designation of the Sun. The size of one cubit
Spell 307 (CT, IV, 62-64), "Formation of (CT, IV, 54 a)-four cubits in the BD, seven cubits
in Spell 305 (CT, IV, 58 1) and occasionally in the
Neh";91 Spell 302 (CT, IV, 53-55), BD-may be compared with the "breadth of a human
"Formation of the Falcon" (i.e., of the foot," attributed to the sun by Heraclitus, B 3
Sun),92 with an illuminating variant, cast (- Aetius, Plac. II, 21, 4 in Diels, Dox. Gr., 351).
93 Translated and discussed by Clark, The Univer-
sity of Birmingham Historical Journal, V (1955),
90 In principle first recognized by De Buck in 1-30.
1947 (Plaats en beteekenis van Sjoe in de Egyptische 94 Zeitschrift fiur Ethnologie, X, 178. Cf. also
theologie, p. 17), when he spoke of Spell 75 (CT, I, Thausing, WZKM, LII (1953), 21.
314 ff., headed in one Ms.: "Spell of the Soul (Mani- 95 JEA, XXXV, 87-97. Drioton believes and has
festation) of Shu; Formation of Shu") as "consisting repeatedly tried to prove (especially in BiOr, X
of theological documents."
[1953], 167-71) that this text shows traces of having
91 Which became later Chap. 85 of the BD, been performed by actors on some sort of stage.
"Transformation into a Soul (ba)"; translated and If this view is basically sound, Spell 303 might
commented on by Zandee, JEOL, VIII (1942), similarly be considered as the text of an actually
580-86.
spoken dialogue (between initiate and "guru"?)
92Which became later Chap. 77 of the BD,
rather than as a "meditation."
alone'
his own mind, partaking of the"-apparently
divine an ancient formula
mind.96 with connotations similar to the r' i g
In a third type of "transformation" or Kal 7r v Of the Eleatics, and the Pytha-
"identification" spells, the monologue of gorean "corresponding principles," Ev
the divinity is either preceded or followed Ka& rA70Go0s, and Heraclitus' EK 7Trvr&ov V
by an address or hymn. Thus, Spell 335 K(& 66 E~V~ rr&v7a, and with a force
(CT, IV, 184-326), later BD 17, begins comparable to that of the Indian "Tat
with the manifestation of the Sun-god in tvam asi."
one's self and-after some interludes-- A different approach to the divinity

concludes with a set of prayers to several seems to be implied in those spells in
of his forms or aspects for delivery from which the speaker asks and gets permission
the powers of death and evil (and ignor- to join some group of divinities.
ance?) or, perhaps, rather a set of praises If the premise that many, if not all, of
for having achieved such delivery. Still, the Coffin Texts were primarily used in
the mental process involved remains this life is extended to this type of texts,
essentially that of knowing and pro- then (even though the mental activity of
claiming oneself to be one with the irt Aprw, i.e., the concentration on some
divinity by way of describing certain of itsdivine objects, may still be involved) such
manifestations,97 asserting: "I am the texts would seem not to describe didacti-
(Golden, Divine) Falcon," "I am Suchos,"cally some manifestation of the divinity,
etc. but rather to reflect a ceremony of
A similar although not exactly the same admitting, after due initiation, a person
concept of approach to the divinity into a "secret society," in which gods or
underlies, in my opinion, the first sentenceat least superhuman beings were im-
of Spell 335 (BD 17): hApr mdw nnk tmpersonated by humans.

wnn.i wcikwi. Even though it is never The documentary evidence for such an
rubricized and is usually preceded by the institution in early Egypt is scanty though
rubricized heading: r' n prt-m-hrw m not altogether lacking;98 but the burden
hrt-ntr (in the BD it was apparently of proof would seem to lie with those who
re-interpreted, since hpr mdw is regularlywould deny its existence there, in the face
rubricized, marking the end of the heading,of its prevalence in Western Africa and
while the rest of the words forms the the Sudan,99 and of its nature as a
characteristic feature of agricultural
beginning of the text proper), the structure
of the sentence indicates that it is civilizations
not, all over the globe. What is
doubtful, however, is the form it took
like the sentences that follow it, a mytho-
logical statement, used for the purpose
in Egypt,loo and the term for such "secret
of "identification," but rather describes
societies,"o101 and more especially, whether
the effect of the whole spell in "clear"98 Cf. Stracmans, Annuaire de l'Institut de
language: "Coming-into-existence of philologie
the et d'histoire orientales et slaves, XII (1952
[1953]), 427-40; XIII (1953 [1955]), 631-39.
word (notion), 'All belongs to me; I am 99 For a survey of facts and literature, see E.
Hildebrand, Die Geheimbiinde Westafrikas als Prob-
96 Moreover, it should be considered that Osiris lem der Religionswissenschaft ("Studien zur Religions-
and Horus were in a sense one (as expounded by
wissenschaft," II [1957]).
Miss Thausing in WZKM, XLVI [1939], 170-88), 100 An approximate idea of what it was like may
representing mythically two aspects of the eternal be gained, in my opinion, from the ritual of the
life-circle: corruption and regeneration. Winnebago Indians recorded by P. Radin under the
97 Cf. n. 71. Cf. also Arieti, "Some Basic Problems
title: "The Road of Life and Death" (1945).
Common to Anthropology and Modern Psychology," 101 It may have been 3d3dt, what with its juridical
American Anthropologist, LVIII (1956), 26-39. connotations (cf. Sami Gabra, Conseils de fonction-
one of their manifestations was the as its rubric directs that it be written on
"Abydenic Ritual,"102 and whetherseven
the Udjat-eyes, then to be washed off
with beer and natron, and drunk (CT,
latter was connected with the Abydenic
mystery-play so well attested by the
IV, 345 g,i)."106
stela of Ikhernofret, and if so, in what An initiation through the experience of
manner. To this extent the reluctance of death and return to life need not have
many authors103 to admit the existence
involved the participation in, or attend-
of Egyptian "mysteries" in the imageance
of at, some ritual play; rather it may
those of Eleusis seems warranted. How- have been a dreamlo6a induced by
ever, that "shamanistic" initiations hypnosis, perhaps, together with (in-
involving the experience of dying-- haled?) drugs. In this connection the
followed by the rotting away and dis- rubric of Spell 341, just quoted, appears
memberment of one's body104-and being significant. One might think here of a
phrase in the "Abydenic Ritual"107 (CT,
reborn purified, which are known all over
the world (not only in Northern Asia, but
IV, 325 a) that speaks of the "evening-meal
in India and in Africa as well),os5 should
consisting of fayence in Tnnt."los But it
have been altogether unknown in ancientseems preferable to take the rubric of
Egypt, seems to me a priori rather Spell 341 as an indication that certain-or
improbable. Moreover, one positive argu-
perhaps many-Coffin Texts were remini-
ment for the existence of some such scences of what was considered as a sort
initiation-ceremonies is found precisely
of medical treatment.109 It should be kept
in CT, Vol. IV. There we read in Spell 341 that Anubis, as Steuerll0 has
in mind
(CT, IV, 344 a,b): iinU.i c kmmn5 i bsw.out, was a patron of medicine,
pointed
as Ithe
'Inpw hr wcb.i: "I come here, after common aim of both embalming
have
finished the initiation. Anubis is cleansing
and medicine was to hinder putrefaction.111
me," and it seems difficult to deny that this
106 Kees again
spell was meant originally for the living, and again has skirted the question
of precedence; cf. Morenz, OLZ, LII (1957), 124.
Even Otto, ZDMG, CII (1952), 191, says merely:
naires [1929], pp. 8-10; Harari, Contribution d l'9tude
"The magic value of the spells may also profit
de la procedure judiciaire dans l'Ancien Empire living persons." ("Der magische Gehalt der Spriiche
?gyptien [1950], pp. 15-22), recalling the German kann auch Lebenden zugute kommen.")
"Vehmgericht"-an institution that flourished pre- 106a See Excursus II.
cisely in a period when the central authority was at 107 Cf. n. 102.
its lowest ebb, just as in the First Intermediate
Period. 108 On the other hand, it may be pointed out that
102 Recognized by E. Lef6bure in the closing in modern Egypt "eating of live coals, glass, etc."
passage of BD 17 (= Spell 335, CT, IV, 324 c, was a common practice at the zikr's of the dervishes
325 a): "etude sur Abydos, ? II. L'office des morts (Lane-Poole, The Modern Egyptians, 5th ed. [1860],
6 Abydos," PSBA, XV (1893), 433-55 = Biblio- pp. 241 and 463).
thdque .8gyptologique, XXXV (1912), pp. 259-86. 109 Its nature deserves to be called "magical"
103 E.g., Nagel, in The Mysteries. Papers from in the case of texts that exorcise evil spirits. But
the Eranos Yearbooks (1955), pp. 119-34 (from whenever they mirror a mental re-enactment of the
Eranos-Jahrbuch XI, 1944 [1945], pp. 145-66). revivication of Osiris, or of some other mythological
"Believers," on the other hand, may now find the event, such a treatment might better be termed
evidence neatly laid out for them in Mayassis's "psycho-therapeutical." It should be noted that,
Mystdres et initiations de l'.gypte ancienne (1957). according to Diodorus, I, 49, the library of the
104 Cf., e.g., Eliade, Le Chamanieme et les tech-Ramesseum was named /vXi~ larpedov, "hospital
niques archaiques de l'extase (1951), pp. 72-75, and of the soul"; see Goossens, CdE, XVII (1942), 182,
Nachtigall, Zeitschrift fiir Ethnologie, LXXVII and Capart, CdE, XXI (1946), 27.
(1952), 188-97. Cf. also Hermann, Numen, III (1956), 110 Wjhdw, Aetiological Principle of Pyaemia in
81-96, esp. 93-94. Ancient Egyptian Medicine (1948), p. 25.
105 Cf., e.g., Frazer, The Golden Bough, Pt. VIII: 111 Cf. also Sander-Hansen's (Der Begriff des
Balder the Beautiful, 3d ed. (1913), Vol. 2, Chap. XI, Todes bei den Agyptern [1942], p. 15) suggestion that
? 5, pp. 225-78: The Ritual of Death and Resur- sometimes death was understood to be an illness
rection. of the person.
Thus, in Spell 451 (CT, V, 320),112 should be the"heoccurrence of Anubis, since

who treated Osiris" may well have
the use ofbeen
his figure as a sportive ideogram
Anubis. (Horus, too, came to be con- for hry-stll6--as early as the time of
sidered as a physician,13 but that seemsSesostris II-would seem to attest that
to have been a late development.) in the "mysteries" of Abydos he was the
It seems significant that on two coffins key figure he was to be again in the
this spell is followed by Spell 351 (CT,Mysteries of Isis in the Greco-Roman
IV, 386-89), later BD 21, which is clearly period.117 Therefore, it seems significant
(as Balcz in 1937 was the first to recognize)that, generally speaking, Anubis is foreign
an initiation text-addressing a figure to the "transformation" spells. Any
clad in shining white robes which emerges attempt, however, to draw on that account
out of the darkness, a "basket"114 on the a sharp distinction118 between "trans-
head, the hands hidden behind the back, formation" (or "identification") spells and
who is asked to lead the initiate to the "initiation" spells is confounded by a
"good ways of heaven." Its heading: crucial passage (recognized as such first
"Giving one (back) his mouth that he may by Miss Thausing) in Spell 49 (CT, I,
speak with it in the necropolis (hrt-ntr)," 216 c) which runs: Mtn hCw ntr snd*n
should be understood in the sense of nbdw iron hprw. Kees119 translates that:
"permitting him to speak again (after "See ye athe god's body, being in dread of
period of enforced silence)."114a the vermin which had transformed them-
As to hrt-ntr, "the holy ground,"115
selves"; but to do so, he has, with regard
it stands to reason that the place where
116 Gardiner, Egyptian Grammar, 2d ed. (1950),
the "mysteries" were taught or performed
p. 459, E 15.
was situated within the precinct of117the
It is true, however, that in no pre-Greek
representation Anubis appears in a non-funeral role
necropolis. Thus, the inclusion of m hrt-rntr
except in the birth-scene at Deir el Bahri (Naville,
in the heading of a spell might
Thequite
Temple of Deir el Bahari, II, P1. LV, p. 18),
properly have served to mark thewhere he is shown trundling a disk, which has been
latter
explained (convincingly, I think) as a divinatory
as an "initiation" spell. sieve by Petrie (?) in Ancient Egypt (1915), 88,
followed by Blackman, Luxor and its Temples (1923),
Reasoning a priori, another likely
pp. 168-70. (For a connection between the sacred
characteristic of this category of spells
sieve in India and the characteristic drum of the
North-Asiatic shaman, see Koppers, Anthropos,
112 Cf. Drioton, Aesculape, XXXVI (1955), 177. XXXV/XXXVI [1940/41], 805-06.) Likewise, in
113 Cf. Diodorus, I, 25; see Spiegelberg, ZAS,the picture of a bed-canopy (?) in Tomb 73 (Amen-
LVII (1922), 70-71. hotep ?), of the time of Hatshepsut (Sihve-SSderbergh,
114 Dniw; perhaps a particular headdress (cf. Private Tombs at Thebes [1957], Pl. IV; cf. also
Ahmed Kamal, Bulletin de l'Institut 19gyptien, s6r. Schott,
5, BiOr XV [1958], 193), his figure occurs--
XI [1917], 121), which cannot, however, be identified
without a disk-among those of divinities linked
with any known divine crown or head-dress. with birth, like Bes and Taweret. In the Greco-
114a See Excursus III. Roman period, Anubis frequently carries a disk,
115 "Gottesboden" (Czermak, ZAS, LXXVI [1939],
variously interpreted (cf. Daumas, Les mammisi8 des
12, n. 4; Thausing, Auferstehung8gedanke, p. 5,temples
n. 5). dgyptien8 [1958], pp. 476-78; also BruyBre,
Cf. Piehl, Sphinx, III (1900), 59: "le dessous duFouilles
Dieu IFAO, XX, 3 [1952], pp. 129-30,
(= Osiris ou Anubis)." To interpret the term as just
fig. 16 = Medinet Habu, IV, 228 D); in Edfu, it is a
another designation of the other world, as thetamburin,
Wb. but it cannot be said whether that reflects
(II1, 394, 11-13) and Kees and Drioton do, seems a late development, influenced from Asia or inner
unwarranted by the textual evidence of the Wb. Africa, or whether that reveals the original meaning
for the Old and Middle Kingdoms. (The state ofand its shamanistic nature. In the latter case, the
being mm:-brw was acquired during the burial cere- royal birthrites would appear to have been modeled
monies in the necropolis, or, when the epithet of a after some initiation ritual; and cf. below, n. 148.
living person-for evidence see Caminos, JEA, 118 Reminiscent of, if not identical with, Breasted's
XXXVIII [1952], 58; Fischer, JNES, XVI [1957],distinction between R6c-religion and Osiris-religion
225, n. 12; also Blackman, JEA, XXVII [1941], in his Development of Religion and Thought in
88 (26)-perhaps through an initiation.) For the NewAncient Egypt (1912).
Kingdom, cf. below, n. 148. 119 Totenglauben, 2d ed., p. 270.
to the ir.n, to ride roughshod over the "bird-shaped super-humanity." This seems
rules of grammar, which demand clearlyto me an unjustified extrapolation from
Miss Thausing's translation:120 ". .. whichthe fact that by the time of the Eighteenth
the nbd (= Death) dreads and which the Dynasty the idea of the bird-shaped ba
transformation created." Her interpreta-haunting the tomb and its environment124
tion of the passage as referring to anhad become a principal theme of the
"intermediate state" between life and
funerary texts and representations. As
death differs from the "shamanistic" one Otto himself admits, this "transformation
here proposed, but both are reconcilable
into a living soul" is signally absent from
and they make it appear that the "trans-
the CT. And the various birds into which
formations" preceded the "initiation" and
the deceased desires to be "transformed"
made it possible. Yet, as a means of are, as I said before, either the "(Golden)
classification, the dichotomy between Falcon," i.e., the Sun,125 or they are
"transformation" spells and "initiation" various aspects of the "Primeval Bird"126
spells may have some usefulness. -a notion that can hardly be separated
It admits of being correlated with two from the second verse of Genesis127 as
of the three ideas which Otto, in his well as from the Indian concept of the
penetrating study of CT, Vol. IV,121Cosmic Gander, Hakhsa, and should be
described as the main themes of the
understood on a similarly lofty level.
"transformation" texts; namely, thethe idea of "bird-shaped super-
Thus
"primordial creative power," on the one
humanity" should better not be considered
hand, the "vegetative immortality," on
as separate from, but rather as comple-
the other hand.122 The language mentary
used in to, that of "primordial creative
developing either of these themes power."is
mythological. In the first group of spells,
Of the two groups of Coffin Texts which
however, the vocabulary is predominantly
I have tried to characterize, viz., those of
that of solar mythology, applicable to the
"identification" and those of "initiation,"
idea of spiritualization and using the obviously flourished in the
the former
sun and its regular reappearance period
as the of the CT as compared with that
main symbol of the Divine; in theofsecond
the BD, while the latter, which were to
group, the central myth is that ofpredominate
Osiris, in the BD, show signs of
being applied mainly to the burialincomplete
(either development. One of these
of the corpse or of the initiate), and
signs, the
I think, is found in the headings of
life-giving grain that comes forth fromof spells concerned with the
a group
the ground year after year is its chief
Scribe of Atum (or RMC)128 or of Osiris29
symbol.123 124 This idea still persists in modern Egypt; cf.
As a third main theme of the "trans- Selim Hassan, in Actes du Ve Congr9s International
d'histoire des religions (Lund, 1929), p. 165: "In
formation" texts, Otto distinguished themodern Egypt the soul may be seen hovering from
120 AuferstehungSgedanke, p. 146. branch to branch in the form of a green fly"; Vycichl,
121 ZDMG, CII (1952), 187-200. in Archiv filr dgyptische Archdologie, I (1938), 264:
122 In the sense of Frankfort's great concept of "... der Glaube an den Seelenvogel (heute der
the "multiplicity of approaches" (Ancient Egyptian griine
abends Bienenfresser, zerztrt
die Ueberlebenden ed.-djenna), der Freitag
besucht."
Religion [1948], p. 4), they are but two variations 125 Cf. n. 92.
on the basis theme of "rebirth" or of "eternal return"
126 Cf. n. 34.
(Eliade, The Myth of the Eternal Return [1954]).
123 Cf. Kristensen, Het Leven uit de Dood (1926 127 Cf. Skinner in International Bible Commentary,
and 1949), and many of his articles, collected in I (1925), p. 18.
Verzamelde Bijdragen tot kennia der antieke Gods-. 12S Spells 252, 253, 254 (CT, III, 351, 353, 357).
dienaten (1947), and in Symbool en werkelijkheid 129 Spell 329 (CT, IV, 165). S4 n S&st- tp appears
(1954). to represent in mythological language the earthly
or of Hathor,so30 once even world in order to be ready for joining

of Khonsu.31'
In the heading of Spell 252, the elect
some in the other world after death.136
texts
have hpr m ..., one has wnn m ...; In the symbolic language of religious life,
Spell 253 has hpr m ...; Spell 254 has of a divinity" may
"being the scribe137
wnn m .... This vacillation reveals ap- well have signified the dispensation of
parently some change in the underlying spiritual goods and blessings received
concept. According to Kees,132 the purpose from that divinity,138 in the manner
of these spells was to include the deceased expounded in the first chapter of Dante's
Convivio.
among "the celestial hierarchy." Since,
however, none of these texts contains any The same line of explanation would suit
reference (e.g., an address to a plurality the fact that in Spell 208 (CT, III, 161-62)
of beings) to some procedure of induction the heading wnn m sA n Hthr is added to
into a circle of divine beings or their (in three texts) or replacing (in two texts)
representatives (except perhaps, the men- a (presumably older) hpr m k) Iwnw--an
tion of Thoth and Anubis in Spell 254, indication, it seems, that there existed,
CT, III, 358 d), and since the name of the in the M.K., "mysteries of Hathor,"139
scribe of Osiris (according to the heading the "Bull of Heliopolis''l40 being evidently
of Spell 251: of R6c), JKrkrw, occurs in the the counterpart of the "Bull of the West,"
PT (? 1095 d) as the name (or an epithet)133 the appellation of Osiris in the first line
of some divinity (according to Kees,134 as of Spell 314 (= BD 1).
"mythischer Deckname des Verstorbenen"), Another way of changing an "identi-
it appears likely that these "scribes," too, fication" spell into an "initiation" spell
were avatars of the One God (or of one is shown by Spell 334 (CT, IV, 179-83),
particular god), and invoked in some "Formation of :Ih4y," which is prefaced by
mythological context in order to producea short address to a group of beings
"identification," not otherwise than is the encircling RVc; the artificial nature of this
case with the various birds, or with the addition shows clearly in 179 o, where the
god Neperi in Spell 330, which follows 2nd pers. changes into the 3rd pers.,
immediately after Spell 329.135 Thus theproducing a ddtns8n.
change from hpr m ss to wnn m s8 seems Still another indication of such an
to show us a group of "identification" adaption of an originally personal religio
spells developing into "initiation" spells--to-or its development into-a socialized
used to the end of joining some "secret and ritualized one, may be found in th
society" (or religious community) in this 136 Whether Spell 329 (CT, IV, 165), "Formation
of the Scribe of the SEt-htp of Osiris," which later
title s8 wdhw (Wb., I, 393, 16) in Spell 295 (CT,part
became IV,of BD 144, partook of this development
47 g and h), but in Spell 329 the earthly title 8?.inhht
already the period of the CT, is doubtful, as all
extant copies show hpr m. (Similarly Spells 295
(see 329
Spell CT,(CT,
IV,IV,165
165 d B2BO).
b and The
d) seem "stoves" and
to indicate (h.dty)
540.) in
some festival like the Roman Fornacalia (cf. Pauly- 137 Especially an agricultural scribe, as in Spell
Wissowa's Realenzyklopddie, VI (1907), 2876. 329, cf. n. 129.
130 Spell 295 (CT, IV, 47-48); Spell 540 (CT, VI, 138 Cf. in the same Spell 329 the second phrase:
135-36). "I am the nurse (hnmtt) of Osiris" (CT, IV, 165 c).
131 Spell 207 (CT, IIL, 155). 139 Perhaps the prototype of the Mysteries of
132 Totenglauben, 2d ed., p. 196. Isis in the Greco-Roman period? Primarily they
133 Sethe, Obersetzung und Kommentar zu den were connected with the cult of R6E, not of Osiris
altdgyptischen Pyramidentexten, IV, 371. (see Drioton's remarks on the "funerary role of
134 Totenglauben, 1st ed., p. 121; 2d ed., p. 81. Hathor in the Middle Kingdom," BiOr, XV [1958],
135 Cf. n. 129. Or with "The Child" of Spell 188-90), but note that in Spell 334, Ihy, the son of
291 (CT, IV, 42), which is, in my opinion, contraryHathor and Rc8, is said to be the son of Isis (CT, IV,
to Otto's interpretation (ZDMG, CII [1952], 193), 179 d, 181 j, 182 f); also of Nephthys (180 b).
a mythological term, perhaps a designation of IDy. 140 He occurs also in Spell 207 (CT, III, 160).
addition of the heading prt m hrw tothe BD, on the other hand, the underlying
Spell 335 (CT, IV, 184-85),141 and in theidea seems to be that death and burial
addition of prt m hrw to the heading should be viewed as an initiation.148s This
hpr m rmt of Spell 105 (CT, II, 112).142concept-although the logical counterpart
Whatever the correct translation and and corollary of the concept (apparent in
exact meaning of prt m hrw may be, the roles
it played by Anubis) that the
seems certain that the rite or event denoted initiation was an artificial death and burial,
by this phrase was connected with some
followed by revivication-was a far cry
ritual that formed part of the burialfrom the simpler old belief that the rewards
ceremonies in the Eighteenth Dynasty. In of the initiation undergone in this world
the BD, it appears primarily attached to would duly accompany the deceased into
Chapter 1,143 which seems to have been the other world and profit him there. It
originally an "initiation" spell.144 In theappears, therefore, that the CT are
CT, this text occurs-as Spell 314 (CT, IV,indispensable for understanding149 the
94-96)-on one coffin only, has no heading, BD, whereas one cannot and should not
and "follows without a mark of division"''145
try to understand the CT in the light of
after Spell 313, "Formation of the the BD.
Falcon." Nevertheless, the fact that it
does occur on one coffin146 is perhaps
sufficient to indicate that the ideas which
EXCURSUS I
were to triumph in the BD were already The sentence "That he may follow his
stirring in the M.K., even though they heart in his garden (or in his tomb)" can
had not yet led to changes in the wordingbe explained by the belief that the soul
of the CT, which remained dominated by would do so after death by means of
the idea of identification with the Divine models (see esp. Junker, Archiv Orientdlni,
XX [1952], 185-89), pictures and spells.
through "yoga" and "shamanistic" rites,
in preparation for the other world.147However,
In it may also-in line with the
141 Cf. above, p. 250. view that the dominating idea was that of
142 Cf. n. 46.
perpetuation of earthly conditions-be
143 The vignettes of this chapter (best known and
most elaborate are those in the Papyrus of Hunefertaken as an indication that not merely the
in the British Museum) leave little doubt about the
fact that it was recited at the burial. person is spoken of was Janssen, JEOL, IX (1944),
144 To be interpreted somehow-without accept. 35, No. 46). Then we can understand the entire
ing any of the details of his translation-in thespell
way as a description of the state of "death" under-
Blackden did (Ritual of the My8tery of the Judgment gone during the initiation period. Nothing even
of the Soul (1914), pp. 32-36; cf. also Czermak, ZAS, remotely similar to this spell is found in the BD. It
LXXVI (1940), 9-24), i.e., as a dramatic text, should be noted that it is preceded in both extant
divided among the participants of an induction copies by Spell 303 (mentioned above, p. 249), which
ceremony. Cf. also n. 100. describes rebirth in strictly mythological language
145 CT, IV, 93, n. 3*. as the transition of life from Osiris to Horus, in the
146 B5C, Twelfth Dynasty. form of a short dialogue between the two, similar
147 The supreme test for the correctness of this to the far more elaborate Spell 312, "Formation of
view is Spell 304 (CT, IV, 57-58), untitled, which is the Divine Falcon," which became later BD 78, with
written not in mythological but in absolutely "clear,"the same heading, and that Spell 303 in its turn, again
"psychological," language. It was translated in partin both extant copies, is preceded by Spell 302,
by De Buck in JEOL, IX (1944), 18, as follows: "Formation of the Falcon," a typical "identification"
"I am well, I am exceedingly well, (for) my soul spell,
is which later became BD 77, "Transformation
with me, my heart is in my body; my corpse is in into the Golden Hawk" (cf. n. 92).
the earth, (but) I do not weep for it, (for) my soul
148 Moret, Myst8res8 Jgyptiens (1913), p. 100:
is with me, it has not withdrawn from me; my magic... des pratiques qui transforment la mort en une
power is in my body, I have not been robbed of it."
6preuve d'initiation."
In order to understand the crucial passage: b3.4 149 To be sure, I do not pretend myself to under-
stand the CT (except, perhaps, sporadically), let
W.n , we should
(The first to pointremember Sinuhe
out that there theBba
255:
of b.4 sbiw
a livingalone the BD.
this idea. in
family of the deceased gathered There
hisis reason to believe, I
think,but
tomb for commemorative feasts, that that
the version of the First
religious persons, while stillIntermediate
alive, used Period
to (pr-n.i m niwt-i,
seek meditative seclusion near and in their
h.ni--i m is.i) likewise referred to life on
gardened rock-tombs, as forerunnersearth
of (and not to its end) and to reaching
the anchorites. The custom of such one's highest aspiration; but that the
retreats, either at intervals or atlatter
the was
endno longer (as it had been in the
of one's life, would seem to provide oneto be again in the Twelfth
O.K. and was
possible explanation for the enigmatic
Dynasty) to enter the civil service, but
phrase: "He will complete the rather
110 years
to retire at the end of one's life
into one's his
in life, 10 years of which being without tomb, i.e., to end one's life as a
faults," in the rubric of Spell 228 (CT,or
hermit III,
in a religious retreat-exactly as
267 a-b and 292-93); for which cf. in Janssen,
ancient (Vedic) India. The most
OMRO, XXXI (1950), 34; also Gardiner, completely developed description of this
JEA, XXXIV (1948), 26, n. 3; Kees, anchoritic ideal-reminiscent of the "Gar-
den" of Epicurus-is found, I believe, in
Goettinger Totenbuchstudien (1954), pp. 30-
31 and 38 and Totenglauben, 2d. ed. Spell 184 (CT, III, 82 d,e; 83 a): "I have
(1957), p. 218. The chief argument for mygiven (shown) spirit(uality) surpassing sex,
thesis, however, is a well-known phrase ofhappiness surpassing passion, calmness
the First Intermediate Period, the correct surpassing nourishment." (Otto, Der Vor-
understanding of which was advanced inwurf a an Gott [1951], p. 9, translated: "Ich
decisive manner five years ago by Goedickehabe Verklirtheit an Stelle von Geschlecht-
(Orientalia, XXIV [1955], 225-39): pr-n-i lichkeit gesetzt, Herzensweite an Stelle
m pr-i, h3i-n-i m is-i: "I came forth fromvon Herzensbegierde, Herzensruhe an
my house and I went down into my tomb." Stelle von Brotessen.") For the translation
Its counterpart in the O.K. was the very of rdi-n-i, cf., perhaps, Pap. St. Petersburg
common phrase: "pr-n-i m niwt-i, hi-ini m 1116 B rto. (Neferti) 38: di-i n-kc t: m sn-mn,
sp5t-i": "I came forth from my town and according to Gardiner, JEA, I (1914), 104:
went down into my nome." Whenever the "I show thee the land upside down."
latter occurred, it was to open the story
of the "autobiography" of the deceased.
EXCURSUS II
(See Edel, ZAS, LXXIX [1954], 14.)
Thus, the idea it expressed was, I think, A warning seems in order against using
not that of "Passing from Life to Death," in this connection line 137 of the Instruc-
as Goedicke suggested, but that of tion for King Merikeri. The version of
"Passing from private family life to civil the St. Petersburg papyrus (Volten,
service in the public interest." (The Analecta Aegyptiaca, IV [1945], p. 75),
difficulties presented to Goedicke's inter-
pretation by the abnormal forms: ii-ni m which runs: ir.n.f n-sn hkid(w) r Ch.w r
hsf-c n Apryt,
niwt-i pr-n-i m spit-i krs-i m is pn [Urk., translated
I, rswt-s gr.
by Gardiner mi Ihrw,
(JEA, was
[1914,]
57] and ii-n-i m niwt-i pr-n-i m spt-i. 34): "He made for them magic as weapons
hii-wni m is pn [Giza 7152] cannot be to ward off (evil) events; dreams also by
surmounted by his arbitrary surmise "that night and day." The version of the Cairo
pri m means here "to come into [a place]"; papyrus, which has for its second part:
it never does.) The M.K. version: -in-in m rswt hr-s mi hrw mi grh, was translated by
Volten: "and dreams announce (smi) (what
niwt-i, h.i-ni m spit-i signified a return to
the threats against the greatest gods at

is to be) by day as by night." But since
the end of these spells (cf. Sauneron,
there are no plural strokes after rswt and
no determinative after the alleged smi,
Bulletin de la Societedfrangaise d'dgyptologie,
VIII [1951], 11-21), I would prefer to
and the expression "by night as by day"
consider them as a special kind of
is usually found in connection with terms
"Adunata" (cf. Van der Leeuw, JEOL,
denoting watchfulness, it seems possible
and perhaps preferable to construe theVIII [1942], 631-41).
phrase in analogy to Urk., IV, 185, 1
(rs.ckwi hr*ss grh mi hrw) and Wreszinski, EXCURSUS III
Wien,
and 154 (III, 2)the
to translate (rswhole
3 r-fpassage:
m gr. m hrw),
"He Similarly, the group of spells concerned
made for them (i.e., the kings) a charm with avoiding the eating of excrements
(i.e., remedy) against weapons (i.e., an and the drinking of urine (mostly pub-
insurrection), in order to ward off (evil) lished in CT, Vol. V)150 is best understood
developments (the same rare word as in in the light of Herodotus iii. 22,151 i.e., as
Pap. Edwin Smith, I, 9)-(namely,) referring to a temporary abstention from
watching out for them (i.e., the hpryt)all,
by or at least a great number of, cereal
night as by day." (Mi ... mi can be foods; whereas the sequel: "not to go up-
explained in the light of Wb., II, 38, 12.) side down in the necropolis," although
On the other hand, there are certain reminiscent of, and perhaps derived from,
spells which, it seems, were primarily the widespread notion of "inversion"152 in
designed to give some tangible benefit to athe other world, in the period of the CT
person still alive (note the addition of would seem to be best understood in the
light of the first sentence of Sallust's
88s mch' h n sp to the postscript of Spell 146
[CT, II, 205 d]), but could not fulfil their Bellum Catilinae: "ne vitam silentio
aim in this world except by inducing transeant velut pecora, quae natura prona
pleasant dreams, namely, the spells atque ventri oboedientia finxit," i.e., as
a warning and aid against looking to the
designed to secure the reunion with one's
entire family and earthly goods in theground, in the sense of thinking of such
"necropolis" (Spells 131-46, CT, II material things as food and drink.
151-205; cf. Kees, Totenglauben, 2d. ed.,
FOREST HILLS, NEW YORK
pp. 207-10; Heerma van Voss in Pro
Regno [1950], pp. 227-32. For the meaning 150 Cf. Drioton, BiOr VI (1949), 141-42, for a
of hrt-ntr, cf. above, p. 252, with n. 115).somewhat similar explanation.
151 "Then said the Ethiopian, it was no wonder
For under normal conditions the greater
that their lives were so short, if they ate dung."
(Translation of Godley [Loeb Classical Library], who
part of the "old family" was alreadyadds in a footnote on p. 31: "i.e. grain produced
dead, the greater part of the "new family"
by the manured soil.")
was still alive, and only dreams could 152 Cf. Weinkopf, "Umkehrung," in Hand-
w6rterbuch des Deutschen Aberglaubens, VIII (1936/7),
provide the required timelessness. As to pp. 1321-28.

The Transformations in The Coffin Texts A New Approach

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The Transformations in The Coffin Texts A New Approach

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The "Transformations" in the Coffin Texts a New Approach

Author(s): Walter Federn

NEAR EASTERN STUDIES

Volume XIX OCTOBER 1960 Number 4

THE "TRANSFORMATIONS" IN THE COFFIN TEXTS

in 1949,8 translated the heading of

headings of the "transformation" of the term spells

are introduced by bprw m (without a necessarily was based

exuberantly-endorsed by Reinisch in en fait que l'assimilation de l'lme humaine

Similarly, Schack-Schackenburg found insaid in

are concerned, practically nothing, to be

one's self and-after some interludes-- A different approach to the divinity

of Spell 335 (BD 17): hApr mdw nnk tmpersonated by humans.

Thus, in Spell 451 (CT, V, 320),112 should be the"heoccurrence of Anubis, since

or of Hathor,so30 once even world in order to be ready for joining

the threats against the greatest gods at

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