<HTML>Hi Kat and Will, to follow on from our Ma'at logo conversation I went and got my translation of The Book of the Dead (it's Faulkner's 1972 translation, updated and revised with commentary by Ogden Goelet in 1994, published by Chronicle Books). The scene is from the Papyrus of Ani, is labelled Plate 3 and entitled "30B - Chapter for not letting Ani's heart create opposition against him in the God's Domain".
The caption is part of a larger section of the Book of the Dead and it is the larger section which comprises the full Plate 3, which is translated by Faulkner as:
"O my heart which I had from my mother! O my heart which I had from my mother! O my heart of my different ages! Do not stand up as a witness against me, do not be opposed to me in the tribunal, do not be hostile to me in the presence of the Keeper of the Balance, for you are my Ka which was in my body, the protector who made my members hale. Go forth to the happy place whereto we speed; do not make my name stink to Entourage who make men. Do not tell lies about me in the presence of the god; it is indeed well that you should hear!
"<i>Thus says</i> Thoth, judge of truth, to the Great Ennead which is in the presence of Osiris: Hear this word of every truth. I have judged the heart of the deceased, and his soul stands as a witness for him. His deeds are righteous in the great balance, and no sin has been found in him. He did not diminish the offerings in the temples, he did not destroy what had been made, he did not go about with deceitful speech while he was on earth.
<i>Thus says</i> the Great Ennead to Thoth who is in Hermopolis: This utterance of yours is true. The vindicated Osiris Ani is straightforward, he has no sin, there is no accusation against him before us, Ammit shall not be permitted to have power over him. Let there be given to him the offerings which are issued in the presence of Osiris, and may a grant of land be established in the Field of Offerings as for the Followers of Horus."
Mike.</HTML>
