Page:Book of the Dead.djvu/17

Rh allow thee not to pass me, the Keeper of the Door, unless thou tell my name.

—Let Ushabti do it.

Ushabti— "The Knee of Shu, Which He Hath Lent for the Support of Osiris" is thy name.

—Pass.

—We allow thee not to pass by us, the Lintels of the Door, unless thou tell us our names.

—Let Ushabti do it.

—"The Dragon Brood of Renenut" is your name.

—Thou knowest us; pass therefore by us into the Hall of Righteousness into the presence of the Sacred Council of Amenti, the Secret Council of Rameses.

—Do you know who I am?

—Nay, tell us.

—Let Ushabti do it.

—I am the noble Ushabti. Of old, when an Egyptian died, I was fashioned in the form of a statuette and was placed with him in his mummy case to accompany him to the Hereafter. By virtue of the deep incantations and words of power written in the Book of the Dead, I was made to do his work for him in the Underworld. For thus it is written as the words of the deceased in the Chapters of the Coming Forth by Day:

"O Ushabti there! Should I be called and appointed to do any of the labors that are done in the Netherworld by a person according to his abilities, lo! all obstacles have been beaten down for thee; be thou counted for me at every