Page:Books on Egypt and Chaldaea, Vol. 25--Liturgy of Funeral Offerings.pdf/83

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THE NATRON INCENSE
59

Horus the Elder, and it is possible that this is the case in the Liturgy. On the other hand, the deduction to be made from our text seems to be that the essence of Horus and Set introduced into the body of the deceased changed his nature into theirs, while the cleansing with natron made him a counterpart of the followers of Horus, the son of Isis. He thus possessed the nature of Horus, the oldest god of heaven, and the nature of a “follower” of the son of the man Osiris, who rose from the dead and became the ever-living god and judge of the dead.


The Fifth Ceremony.

The next ceremony continued the process of assimilating the deceased with the gods. The priest, having dissolved five grains of incense made from the salt deposit in a place in the Natron Valley called “Shet pet,”

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, or "Lake of Heaven," in a libation vase of water, and poured it into a vessel, walked with it four times round the mummy and sprinkled it each time. As he did so the Kher ḥeb said the following words four times:

"Thou art purified with natron, and Horus is purified with natron.
Thou art purified with natron, and Set is purified with natron.
Thou art purified with natron, and Thoth is purified with natron.