The mystery of the Great pyramid : traditions concerning it and its connection with the Egyptian Book of the dead : with numerous illustrations

CHAPTER V

Tue Houser oF OsiRIS AND ITS ALLEGORY

“Tuts book is indeed a very great mystery; thou shalt never allow those that dwell in the papyrus swamps of the Delta (i.e. ignorant folk), or any person whatsoever to see it.”

Such is the emphatic declaration contained in the very last words of the rubric at the close of the final chapter of all (goth) in the Book of the Dead,’ and all its contents are in harmony with it. For throughout the whole Book there is hardly a paragraph the expression of which is not studiously obscure and difficult of understanding.

The chief difficulty in comprehending this book of mystery lies not only in the variety of the imagery employed, but much more in the complexity of its application. For the usual familiar objects drawn upon to supply this imagery are but rarely employed singly so as to present a definite image in which the signification can be detected, but are used together so as to suggest no meaning except to the initiated.

Amongst the different symbols employed, however, there is one kind which is met with more frequently than any other ; namely those which refer to some form of building, and that building clearly the Great Pyramid.

To this class belong the festival of the “ Northern Passage ” (the Passage pointing to the Pole Star); of the

1 Compare Rubric at end of chap. clxii (referred to above in connection with the real title of the book), which formed the end of the Turin Papyrus, and which reads : ‘* This is a composition of exceedingly great mystery. Let not the eye of any man whatsoever see it, for it is an abominable thing for [everyman] to know it; therefore hide it.”

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