Chapter XLVI Chapter Whereby He That Is Living Is Not Destroyed in the Netherworld
Oh ye recent offspring of Shu, who dawn after dawn is possessor of his diadem at sunrise; ye future generations of men, my springing forth64 is the springing forth of Osiris.
Note.
This chapter is addressed to the ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂ hammemit, who are known from other quarters to be human beings, as the younglings of the god Shu. But the reference is not to men who have yet lived upon the earth. They are spoken of as men of a future generation. Queen Hatshepsu on her obelisk when speaking of them connects them with the period of 120 years, that is as if we said “men of the next century.” Before their appearance upon the earth they circle round the Sun, and the glorified dead hold converse with them (chapter 124, 6).
The Egyptians, like many other ancient nations, held the doctrine of the preexistence of souls. They held it not like philosophers or poets, but as an article of their popular and traditional creed.
Notes
64. The Day-Spring.