Page:Books on Egypt and Chaldaea, Vol. 32--Legends of the Gods.pdf/164

 He shall be arrayed in a new double tunic, and his body shall be purified with the water of the nile-flood, and he shall have upon his feet a pair of sandals made of white [leather], and a figure of the goddess Maāt shall be drawn upon his tongue with green-coloured ochre. Whensoever Thoth shall wish to recite this composition on behalf of Rā, he must perform a sevenfold(?) purification for three days, and priests and [ordinary] men shall do likewise. Whosoever shall recite the above words shall perform the ceremonies which are to be performed when this book is being read. And he shall make his place of standing(?) in a circle (or, at an angle)..... which is beyond [him], and his two eyes shall be fixed upon himself, all his members shall be [composed], and his steps shall not carry him away [from the place]. Whosoever among men shall recite [these] words shall be like Rā on the day of his birth; and his possessions shall not become fewer, and his house shall never fall into decay, but shall endure for a million eternities. Then the Aged One himself (i.e., Rā) embraced(?) the god Nu, and spake unto the gods who came forth in the east of the sky, "Ascribe ye praise to the god, the Aged One, from whom I have come into being. I am he who made the heavens, and I set in order [the earth, and created the gods, and] I was with them for an exceedingly long period; then was born the year and...... but my soul is older than it (i.e., time). It is the Soul of