Cippus of Horus on the Crocodiles

Title

Cippus of Horus on the Crocodiles

Date

3rd century B.C.E.

Period

Ptolemaic Period

Geography

Place made: Egypt

Medium

Steatite

Classification

Sculpture

Dimensions

9 1/8 x 5 5/16 x 2 3/16 in. (23.2 x 13.5 x 5.6 cm)

Inscriptions

Hail to you God, son of a God! Hail to you heir, son of the heir! Hail to you bull, son of the bull, born of the divine cow! Hail to you Horus, come forth from Osiris, born of Isis, the goddess! I have pronounced your name, I have read [aloud] your magic formulae. I have recited your incantations, I have conjured with your spells which you created. It is your conjurations which are in my mouth, those which your father Geb ordained for you, which your mothers Mut and Isis remitted to you, which Khenty-khem taught you in order to accomplish your protection, in order to renew your safe-guard, in order to seal the mouth of every serpent in the sky and in the water, in order to permit mankind to live, and in order to satisfy the gods and to glorify Ra with your praises. Come to me! Hasten! Hasten on this day, as he who steers in the divine bark did for you. May you repulse for me every lion upon the desert, every crocodile in the river, all reptiles which bite in their holes. Make them for me [as harmless] as the pebbles of the desert, as the sherds of pots and of jars in the street. Extract for me the coursing venom which is in every limb of every person, [every] falcon, [every] cat and [every] monkey who has been poisoned. Beware lest your words concerning it go unheeded. Behold! You shall come against it. Your word is against it. See! Your name is [present] here this day. Bring into action your prestige on my behalf by means of your magic; increase [your...] on my behalf by means of your divine power, in order to cause him who is suffocating to live, that praises may be given to you by the people, that Maat may be adored in your form, and that God may be called upon in your likeness. Behold! One calls upon you on this day. I am Horus the Savior! // O aged one, who has become young again in his time! O old man, become a youth! Cause Thoth to come to me at my call, that he may repel Nehaher for me. It is Osiris who is upon the waters, the eye of Horus being with him and the great scarab spread out above him. Do not raise your heads, o you who are in the waters, in order that Osiris may pass above you. Behold! He is at Djedet. His hand is victorious against you. Your mouths are gagged, your gullets are stopped up. Retreat, enemy! Do not lift up your head towards Osiris. Ra is rising in order to see the Ennead of Khery-aha, those lords of the waters and the underworld standing [ready] to subjugate you. You shall not go against Osiris, Nehaher, while he is on the water. Turn yourselves upside down. Place yourselves on your backs. Your mouths are sealed by Ra himself, your gullets are stopped up by Sekhmet, your extermination is to be carried out by Thoth while your eyes are blinded by Heka, these four (three is written in error) great gods who protect Osiris, they who protect the living falcon in the house of Ra. A great wailing voice is [heard] in the temple of Neith, and a great lamentation in the mouth of the Cat, while the gods look carefully at the abdju fish at its birth. Turn your steps away from me, enemy! I am Khnum, the lord of Her-wer. Take care not to repeat your depredations a second time because of that which was done to you before the Great Ennead. Retreat from me! I am a god, son of a god, born of a goddess. O! Ra! You did not then hear the great wailing voice at eventide upon this shore of Nedyt? A great screaming in [the mouths of] all the great gods and goddesses in mourning at this harm which the enemy who perpetrates evil has done to you? Behold Ra, furious and raging because of it. He has ordered that you should be killed. Back, enemy! // Twice hail to him who comes forth from the underworld, who rises from the deep, who illumines the two lands with his two brilliant eyes! Behold, you have landed! Hasten! Your bark is in joy, your enemies have fallen. There is not one who greets [you], who ignores your great name. Direct your steps away from me, Mega! Turn back your steps from me, enemy! It is spoken to you as an order! Back! Turn away your steps! Retreat! Beware! O Mega, of Osiris. Raise yourself, Iuny! You shall fall over, enemy, on your back. You shall not have power over any people, any horses, any small cattle, any large cattle, which are in the river. A great wailing voice is (heard] in the temple of Neith, a great lamentation is in the mouth of the Cat, because of this which you have done, o Mega, son of Seth. This was not a command which was given by the Great Sobek. Come forth, that he may cause your chastisement, to cut off your legs, the punishment which was destined for you among the things which would happen to you. Tremble! Retreat from me, keep at a distance from me! I am Khnum, lord of Her-wer. I have come from Heliopolis with a message from Sepa. I am one whose arm embraces. 0... Translation by Helen Jacquet-Gordon, as published in Brooklyn Museum Annual VII 1965-66.

Credit Line

Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund

Accession Number

60.73