Texts - Phoenician Polar (excerpt) Inspired by the prayers of Pharaonic Egypt and the "weighing of heartsduring the judgment of the soul of the deceased.

My prayer to Osiris

Osiris,
Hear my prayer.
In the beginning is Nothingness, then comes Life.

I have filled it as best I could, striving to follow the rule of Ma'at; truth and justice.

I never knew my father, who died in the copper mines of Timnah.
I was a child when Ahiram (1) took me away from my mother, like me a slave of the Great King.
Without parents, a twelve-year-old girl belongs to her master.
If not, she belongs to everyone.
Her emaciated body hurts me, but my soul will never be hers.

Zákros comes from the great island of Minos.
He sails his ship beyond the horizon.
As soon as the sun's chariot begins its course across the sky, I scan the sea, praying to Sobek to ask the waves not to devour him.

He trades for the city and carries the purple of Byblos to kingdoms of unknown tongues.
On his return, he brings back the wonders of these distant lands, where the water disappears into the Abyss ofApophis.
As soon as the lookouts at the lighthouse overlooking the bay signal his sail, I flee the palace to find him.
When night comes, lying on the deck, embedded in his skin and looking up at the sky, I listen to him tell me the story of the stars that guide him and live far above the clouds.

Ahiram doesn't want me to leave.
To touch another man is sacrilege.
I belong to him, I'm his flesh, he won't dare have me removed.
He's had Zákros arrested for execution in three days, as soon as the evidence of his treason is invented.

- Seth, Lord of the North Skymaster of storms and thunder, burn Ahiram with your incandescent eyes.
- Apophis, Serpent-god of darkness, creator of eclipses that hide the star of day, lead him to the end of the world.

I want Ahiram dead.
But I can't kill him with my own hands.
Otherwise I won't be "fair of voice according to Maat.
And I won't be able to join Zakros in the next life, for my soul, tainted by murder, will be devoured.

Osiris,
Tell me how to do this.
If I must die to achieve this, let my life cease.

Then I'll appear before your tribunal to weigh my heart.
Let my soul be judged.
On the two scales of the balance, my being is in your hands.
One for my heart, where my conscience, my thoughts and my memory sit.
The other to receive the Ostrich Feather, as light as Maat; truth and justice.

- If my heart is lighter than the Feather, my soul will be judged "Right of Voice".
The gates of the Beyond will be open to me and I will continue my existence in the Beautiful West - Kheret-Netjerheading for the fertile fields of Ialou (2).

There, I'll be able to rest in the shade of the reeds, sycamores and palms that nourish the souls of the righteous.
Zákros will be waiting for me.

- But if my heart is heavier than the Feather, I'll be devoured.
My soul will know pain, then it will be the end of my existence.
Vanishing forever.

Osiris,
I do not fear your judgment.
I know that this existence is a path to the next life.
Only the soul must remain.
At the death of the body, two beings united in the world of the living and judged "Right of Voice" can exist together for eternity.

May my heart be lighter than a feather.
May my soul see the sun rise in the Beyond, Bel Occident.
Zákros, that's where I'll find you.
Your hand will be mine and I'll never lose you again.

- I must find a way to kill Ahiram without touching him,
- Or send an assassin.
- Without being there,
- Without giving him anything from this world that would cause his death,
- Nor be accused of it, by men and gods at the weighing of my heart.

Osiris,
Tell me how to do it.

Thus Zákros, Breath of my being, I will leave this life to join you in the other world.
Where I'll exist forever in your eyes.

If I must die to achieve this, let my life cease.
I'm ready.


(1): Ahiram: Phoenician, literally "my brother is exalted", name of a king of Byblos.

(2) Paradise