Jump to content
Join the Unexplained Mysteries community today! It's free and setting up an account only takes a moment.
- Sign In or Create Account -

The Negative Confessions of Maat


Festina

Recommended Posts

Book of the Coming Forth by Day (The Book of the Dead) in the Papyrus of Ani is the Negative Confession. The forty-two Gods and Goddesses of the Nomes of Egypt conduct this initiatory test of the soul before the scale of Ma’at. In this translation by pioneering Egyptologist E. A. Wallis Budge, we hear the initiate’s assertion of blamelessness before the Court of Osiris. For clarity, divine names and city names in parentheses have been added to the 1895 text of Chapter 125 from Budge’s 1913 edition.


1. Ani saith: “Hail, thou whose strides are long (Usekh-nemmt), who comest forth from Annu (Heliopolis), I have not done iniquity.”


2. “Hail, thou who art embraced by flame (Hept-khet), who comest forth from Kheraba, I have not robbed with violence.”


3. “Hail, Fentiu, who comest forth from Khemennu (Hermopolis), I have not stolen.”


4. “Hail, Devourer of the Shade (Am- khaibit), who comest forth from Qernet, I have done no murder; I have done no harm.”


5. “Hail, Nehau, who comest forth from Re-stau, I have not defrauded offerings.”


6. “Hail, god in the form of two lions (Ruruti), who comest forth from heaven, I have not minished oblations.”


7. “Hail, thou whose eyes are of fire (Arfi- em-khet), who comest forth from Saut (Asyut), I have not plundered the god.”


8. “Hail, thou Flame (Neba), which comest and goest, I have spoken no lies.”


9. “Hail, Crusher of bones (Set-qesu), who comest forth from Suten-henen
(Herakleopolis), I have not snatched away food.”


10. “Hail, thou who shootest forth the Flame (Utu-nesert), who comest forth from Het-Ptah-ka (Memphis), I have not caused pain.”


11. “Hail, Qerer, who comest forth from Amentet, I have not committed fornication.”


12. “Hail, thou whose face is turned back (Her- f-ha-f), who comest forth from thy hiding place, I have not caused shedding of tears.”


13. “Hail, Bast, who comest forth from the secret place (Bubastis), I have not dealt deceitfully.”


14. “Hail, thou whose legs are of fire (Ta-retiu), who comest forth out of the darkness, I have not transgressed.”


15. “Hail, Devourer of Blood (Unem- snef), who comest forth from the block of slaughter, I have not acted guilefully.”


16. “Hail, Devourer of the inward parts (Unem-besek), who comest forth from Mabet, I have not laid waste the ploughed land.”


17. “Hail, Lord of Right and Truth (Neb- Ma’at), who comest forth from the city of Right and Truth (Ma’ati), I have not been an eavesdropper.”


18. “Hail, thou who dost stride backwards (Tenemiu), who comest forth from the city of Bast, I have not set my lips in motion against any one.”


19. “Hail, Sertiu, who comest forth from Annu (Heliopolis), I have not been angry and wrathful except for a just cause.”


20. “Hail, thou being of two-fold wickedness (Tutu), who comest forth from Ati (the Busirite Nome), I have not defiled the wife of any man.”

The rest here....

https://d628e93a87508d390763-57cef68fda4fc1e410cee0eeddd485c4.ssl.cf5.rackcdn.com/42_confessions.pdf

 

  • Thanks 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Revealing the moral depth and formal beauty of Ancient Egyptian culture.  What about it shall we discuss?

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Reminiscent of the Ten Commands.

Which came first?

 

Edited by Festina Lente
Link to comment
Share on other sites

W

2 minutes ago, The Wistman said:

Revealing the moral depth and formal beauty of Ancient Egyptian culture.  What about it shall we discuss?

Yes.  Isn’t it interesting what the Mosaic moral code omitted? 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, Festina Lente said:

Reminiscent of the Ten Commands.

Which came first?

 

the Papyrus of Ani dates to @ 1250 BCE, so it predates the Ten Commandments.  It is far more rigorous in its restrictions, and remember the AE's believed they'd have to attest to these in the afterlife, otherwise oblivion, so they would mostly be obliged to comply.  It was a great check on excess and cruelty.  I think.

  • Like 3
  • Thanks 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 minutes ago, Festina Lente said:

Reminiscent of the Ten Commands.

Which came first?

100 and something Commandments. The Christians only accept 10.

Mosaic Law wasn't written down until the Ptolemaic Era so the Egyptian one came first.

The Code of Hammurabi came before the Egyptian.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Code_of_Hammurabi

Edited by Piney
**** Atlantis
  • Like 5
  • Thanks 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 minutes ago, Piney said:

100 and something Commandments. The Christians only accept 10.

Mosaic Law wasn't written down until the Ptolemaic Era so the Egyptian one came first.

The Code of Hammurabi came before the Egyptian.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Code_of_Hammurabi

Hammurabi Laws — should we bring them back?   — Ship sinks, death to the ship builder — Keeps people honest. Although some of them are quite harsh.  That was then...

Funny peculiar how so many of my appliances croak shortly after the warranty runs out. 

 

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

57 minutes ago, Piney said:

100 and something Commandments. The Christians only accept 10.

Mosaic Law wasn't written down until the Ptolemaic Era so the Egyptian one came first.

The Code of Hammurabi came before the Egyptian.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Code_of_Hammurabi

The omissions of the the Maat laws are many.

Some of the new laws...care of “Moses”.

A few from the 613 Mitzvahs — under  administering “justice”

544-549

“thou shalt” administer “justice” by;

Stoning

Decapitaion by the sword

Suffocation 

Strangulation 

Hanging

Burning alive 

https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/756399/jewish/The-613-Commandments-Mitzvot.htm

 

 

 

Edited by Festina Lente
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Negative Confessions is a superior moral instrument I think.  Instead of a fitting temporal punishment for getting caught in a crime, the Confessions relies on the fear of oblivion common to men to enact its justice.  And one must attest about moral sins, such as lying, not for just once, but for one's entire life.  No exceptions for nobody.  And the punishment is explicit, unlike the Commandments: the monster eats you and then you are nothingness.  The Confessions are sophisticated.

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

18 minutes ago, The Wistman said:

The Negative Confessions is a superior moral instrument I think.  Instead of a fitting temporal punishment for getting caught in a crime, the Confessions relies on the fear of oblivion common to men to enact its justice.  And one must attest about moral sins, such as lying, not for just once, but for one's entire life.  No exceptions for nobody.  And the punishment is explicit, unlike the Commandments: the monster eats you and then you are nothingness.  The Confessions are sophisticated.

A preparation for death, and the next life.  Oblivion I do not see, just coming back here “again and again and again....” until we Know.  Great song...they knew, know.

 

Edited by Festina Lente
  • Like 1
  • Thanks 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, Festina Lente said:

A preparation for death, and the next life.  Oblivion I do not see, just coming back here “again and again and again....” until we Know. 

One of the greatest songs ever. :tsu:

  • Like 4
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, Piney said:

One of the greatest songs ever. :tsu:

It may be the Best! ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ 

Spodify  is taking me to more Johnny.. I’m dancin! 

 

  • Like 1
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, Festina Lente said:

Can I go off topic on my own thread? 

It's your thread! :lol:

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just now, Piney said:

It's your thread! :lol:

And my very first. 

And OT is fine, as long as it’s friendly. 

  • Like 1
  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Be brave.  Nothing to Fear.

Edited by Festina Lente
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, kmt_sesh said:

Yes,  but keep in mind, I'm standing at the ready with my whip.

I'll always remember the end of a tour I was giving in our Egyptian gallery at the Field Museum. A particular man happened to have joined my group near the end of the tour. Afterward he gestured to me to step aside with him. He then said to me he knew of ancient religious writing far older than the Book of the Dead. He nodded knowingly, and I returned a knowing nod. I then stepped away so I could chuckle.

He was talking, of course, about the Bible. I often encounter people who don't really have a grasp of history. Many people like to compare the Negative Confession with the Ten Commandments. Of course the Negative Confession is much, much older than the Ten Commandments, but people of the Abrahamic Faiths don't want to hear that.

 

I knew you would stop by, and thank you.

The programming is deep, I understand.  It’s difficult to cast it IT off — by design.

But  what exactly is IT?   

Are they ready?

 

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

14 minutes ago, Festina Lente said:

I knew you would stop by, and thank you.

The programming is deep, I understand.  It’s difficult to cast it IT off — by design.

But  what exactly is IT?   

Are they ready?

 

 

 

 

I'm not really sure what you mean by "IT." LOL This is starting to sound like a Bill Clinton trial.

  • Haha 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

22 minutes ago, kmt_sesh said:

I'm not really sure what you mean by "IT." LOL This is starting to sound like a Bill Clinton trial.

No, no.. I’m 100% apolitical.  But a disinterested spectator I Am. 

“There is no political solution to our troubled evolution” 

—Sting (a wise man) 

Edited by Festina Lente
  • Like 2
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Egypt— The Land Of Magic — which can be used positive or negative purposes. 

So what happened.  Poor vetting? 

Magic— Black and White. 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Festina Lente said:

Hammurabi Laws — should we bring them back?   — Ship sinks, death to the ship builder — Keeps people honest. Although some of them are quite harsh.  That was then...

Funny peculiar how so many of my appliances croak shortly after the warranty runs out. 

 

Christians can’t abide by it — Jesus specifically refutes it. 

Not that what Jesus commands typically has any relevance to what Christians do.

—Jaylemurph 

  • Like 2
  • Thanks 1
  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 minutes ago, jaylemurph said:

Christians can’t abide by it — Jesus specifically refutes it. 

Not that what Jesus commands typically has any relevance to what Christians do.

—Jaylemurph 

Not really a fan of the Hammurabi  laws but they certainly are interesting. But....

Who exactly was is Jesus? 

And why oh why is this world in the mess that it is in?

Are we any better for it all?

The answer must be NO.

So then...what now? 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, Festina Lente said:

Book of the Coming Forth by Day (The Book of the Dead) in the Papyrus of Ani is the Negative Confession. The forty-two Gods and Goddesses of the Nomes of Egypt conduct this initiatory test of the soul before the scale of Ma’at. In this translation by pioneering Egyptologist E. A. Wallis Budge, we hear the initiate’s assertion of blamelessness before the Court of Osiris. For clarity, divine names and city names in parentheses have been added to the 1895 text of Chapter 125 from Budge’s 1913 edition.


1. Ani saith: “Hail, thou whose strides are long (Usekh-nemmt), who comest forth from Annu (Heliopolis), I have not done iniquity.”
2. “Hail, thou who art embraced by flame (Hept-khet), who comest forth from Kheraba, I have not robbed with violence.”
3. “Hail, Fentiu, who comest forth from Khemennu (Hermopolis), I have not stolen.”
4. “Hail, Devourer of the Shade (Am- khaibit), who comest forth from Qernet, I have done no murder; I have done no harm.”
5. “Hail, Nehau, who comest forth from Re-stau, I have not defrauded offerings.”
6. “Hail, god in the form of two lions (Ruruti), who comest forth from heaven, I have not minished oblations.”

The most recent translation of it (1998) is by Faulkner.  The Ancient History Encyclopedia has Faulkner's list: https://www.ancient.eu/The_Negative_Confession/

  • Like 3
  • Thanks 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.