180 RECORDS OF THE AUSTRALIAN MDSEU.M. 



Although more than four tliousand years liave passed away since the 

 inscriptions and paintings were executed on the coffin sides and lid, yet 

 we are able to read nearly all the texts and to learn the name of the person 

 for whom the case was made. The hieroglyphs, which comprise sevei^al 

 hundreds of curious signs — gods, men, birds, animals, and various ani- 

 mate and inanimate objects — contain prayers to the gods of the Other 

 World for sepulchral offerings and felicity in the " Fields of Peace." 

 These prayers belong to the oldest form of the " Book of the Dead," or 

 Ancient Egyptian Funeral Liturgy, which we term the Heliopolitan 

 Recension (on account of its being promulgated by the priests of Heliopolis, 

 the On of the Old Testament) to distinguish it from the later Theban 

 and Saite Recensions. The object of all the ceremonies and formulae 

 contained in the "Book of the Dead " was to endow the dead body with 

 power to resist corruption, and to ensure it a renewed and beatified 

 existence with the gods. 



The deceased's name, which appears in several places on the coffin, 

 is Neter-Nekht ; he was the son of some person the latter part of whose 



name, ti, only can be read due to the fact of certain hieroglyphs 



being obliterated. According to the Museum's descriptive label one reads 

 that Neter-Nekht (i.e., " Strong in god ") was the son of " Hetep," but 

 from a close examination of what remains of the signs for the name in 

 question, the present writer has no hesitation in saying that this rendering 

 is hardly correct. 



Neter-Nekht was a " mer ahet " or "Overseer of Farm Lands," wliich 

 was a very important office in ancient Nilotic days. 



For the sake of clearness, and in order that the reader, if he so desires, 

 may be able to compare the inscriptions drawn in plate, with those painted 

 on the coffin, each side of the case will be ti^eated separately. The 

 numbers in the following text refer to the numbers on the plate. 



The Cop II of Neter-NelcJit. 



Southern end: — This contains three separate lines of texts, which read as 

 follows: — Jlorizontal text — (1) "The devotee before Isis, whose word 

 is right and true." Ferpendiculnr fe.ds — (2) " Devotee before Serqet, 

 Neter-Nekht"; (3) "Devotee before the Little Company of Gods, 

 Neter-Nekht." 



Expl(V}iiition.H — Line (1) Isis was one of the greatest of all the 

 Egyptian goddesses; she was the wife of Osiris, the supreme judge of the 

 dead, and is usually depicted as a woman, with a head-dress in the form 

 of a seat, the value of the hieroglyph for which forms her name. (2) 

 Serqet was a scorpion-goddess. (3) At Heliopolis, the priests proclaimed 

 the existence of three Companies of the gods ; the first Company was called 

 the " Great," the second the " Little," and the third had no special title : 

 these Companies represented the gods of heaven, earth and Other 

 Woi'ld respectively. The " Little Company of Gods " which is mentioned 

 on the end of the coffin under review was formed of eleven deities. 



Northern end: — This end also contains three lines of texts: — llarizoiitnl 

 lg_rt — (4) "The devotee before Ne])htliys. " Vcriicitdicidnr texts — 



