The next Meeting of the Society will be holden at 37, Great Russell Street, Bloomsbury, W.C., on Tuesday, the 2nd April, 1895. The following Paper will be read :— Rev. Dr. Löwy, "Pre-Mosaic Culture of the Hebrews," Part II. PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY OF BIBLICAL ARCHEOLOGY. TWENTY-FIFTH SESSION, 1895. Fourth Meeting, 2nd April, 1895. REV. JAMES MARSHALL, M.A., PRESIDENT, IN THE CHAIR. The following Presents were announced, and thanks ordered to be returned to the Donors: From F. D. Mocatta :-Sources of Spanish Jewish History. By Joseph Jacobs. 8vo. 1894. From the Author, Prof. C. P. Tiele :-Western Asia according to the most recent Discoveries. Translated by Elizabeth J. Taylor. [No. CXXIX.] 121 From Prof. E. P. Tiele:-Overgedrukt uit den Feestbundel van Taal-, Letter-, Geschied. En Aardrijkskundige Bijdragen ter Gelegenheid van Zijn Tachtigsten Geboortedag. Tan Dr. P. J. Veth. The following Candidates were submitted for election, having been nominated at the last Meeting, 5th March, and elected Members of the Society: S. Hirschfeld, Bream's Buildings, Fetter Lane, E.C. The following Candidate was nominated for election at The General Theological Seminary, E. H. Jewett, Librarian, Chelsea Square, New York, U.S.A. A Paper was read by THEO. G. PINCHES on a "Tablet in the Babylonian Character, with Greek transcriptions of the era of Alexander." Mr. Pinches spoke of the pronunciation of Assyrian, bringing forward evidence of the existence of the so-called from the inscriptions, where such forms as issi, instead of itti (= iththi), "with" are found, as well as from a tablet with a Greek transcription, numbered Sp. III, 245 +81-7-6, 141; which gives pes for peš. The existence of o, both long and short, in places where u or й is now universally read, was also referred to. The Paper will be published in full in a future part of the Proceedings. A Paper was read by the Rev. Dr. Löwy, on "The Primitive Culture of the Hebrews." Part II. Remarks were added by the Rev. C. J. Ball, Dr. Gaster, W. G. Thorpe, F.S.A., and the Chairman. Thanks were returned for these communications. PROCEEDINGS. [1895. BOOK OF THE DEAD. BY P. LE PAGE RENOUF. CHAPTER CXVII. Chapter whereby one taketh the blissful path at Restau. (1) O paths which are high above me at Restau: I am the Girdled (2) and the Mighty one, coming forth triumphantly. (3) I am come: I am come that I may firmly secure my suit in Abydos, (4) and that the path may be open to me at Restau. Let my suit be made pleasant for me by Osiris. I am he who produceth the water which balanceth his throne, and who maketh his way from the Great Valley. (5) Let the path be made for me; for behold I am N the triumphant. (6) [Osiris is made triumphant over his adversaries, and the Osiris. N is made triumphant over his adversaries, and is as one of you, his patron (7) is the Lord of Eternity: he walketh even as ye walk, he standeth as ye stand, he speaketh as ye speak, before the great god, the Lord of Amenta.] NOTES. 1. This chapter and the following have reference to Restau, one of the Gates between the Netherworld and Heaven. It is not mentioned in the most ancient recension of chapter 17 (from which my translation was taken), but in all the papyri of the eighteenth and later dynasties it is stated that Restau was a gate south of An-aaref and north of the "Domain Osiris." of 123 The papyrus of Ani has this picture of it, but the most interesting representations of it are in the Dublin papyrus (D. a), where the Sun god is seen passing between the folding doors, and in the papyrus of Hunefer (A. g), where the doors are also open and the god is sitting between them. (See Plates VI, 11 and VII b.) The name Restau is more frequent in later texts) signifies Gate of the passages. These are the passages guarded by the faithful attendants of Osiris, but armed with "hurtful fingers" against the adversaries of Rã, against whose onslaught the deceased prays Ră for protection in chapter 17. A mystical interpretation will be found in chapter 119 and note. 2. Girdled, or stoled, On the importance attached to this ritual investiture, the following references may (among many others) be useful: Unas 66, Teta 149, Pepi I, 395, Merenrā 190, Todt. 125 (rubric), 145, 25. The deceased prays (Chapter 82, 4) that he may be girt by the goddess Tait. A passage in Todt. 78, 26 (Turin text) would be of greater interest were it not an emendation of those who no longer understood the ancient text. 3. Coming forth triumphantly. This is the reading of the oldest authority (Nebseni), but the reading which has prevailed, not only here, but in Chapter 147, is "coming forth from the Crown," |