Confessions 31-35

Confession 31. O Captain who came forth from Weten, I have not discussed
I have not discussed likely refers to not revealing private matters to uninvolved parties. Who is not involved in a situation is likely open to interpretation. Is a best friend uninvolved? What about some other confidant? When I read this I take it to mean revealing secrets or revealing personal matters to people who are outside of what those involve consider their confidants. After three days of searching for where or who "Weten" might be I am at a loss. I have yet to find any references to it. I will continue to look and hopefully in the near future there will be an answer for this Captain who came forth from Weten.

Confession 32. O Possessor of the Two Horns who came forth from Asyut, I have not been garrulous about matters. 

Asyut is mentioned here again, Lycopolis. The possessor of two horns is probably either Isis or Hathor. It is hard to tell considering that most of our copies of the Book of the Dead come from time periods where Isis and Hathor were, at times, merged into one goddess. Garrulous is a state of talking in a roundabout way. It also means not talking about trivial matters in ways that blow them out of proportion or make them out to be more important than they are.

Confession 33. O Nefertum who came forth from Memphis, I have not done wrong, I have not done evil.
Nefertum is the son of of Sekhmet and Ptah. He is the god of the lotus blossom and Memphis is sacred to him and his family. This is a repetition of not going against Ma'at. Evil and Wrong are general terms that in Egyptian text refer to breaking the Laws of Ma'at.

Confession 34. O He-Who-Does-Not-Allow-Survivors who came forth from Bursiris, I have not disputed/cursed the king.
Bursiris is the birth place of Osiris (and probably the rest of Nut's children as well.) He who does not allow survivors could mean one of two things... either Osiris in his seat at Judgement or Set as the head of the military or just as a nasty character. Disputed the king or cursed the king here refers to more than just bad language. It is more related to destruction of tombs and mummies, disturbing the dead and those things. The other thing this could refer to is "king" could be translated as "king of the gods" which could be Ra or Osiris.This could refer to cursing the gods or going against the order of the universe.

Confession 35. O He-Who-Acts-As-He-Wishes who came forth from Antinaiopolis, I have not waded in the water.

This city (which has the Greco-Roman name here. The Egyptian city is likely Her-Wer.) This location is sacred to Khnum, Bes and Hathor. This is probably Bes because of the title. Bes is known for acting outside the norms of the other deities. Khnum, being a god of creation could also be thought of as a god who acts as he wishes in his role as a creator. I have not waded in the water means entering the sacred water of a temple to which you are not devoted to or a sacred spring, oasis, etc which is sacred to those you are not devoted to. It is a ways of maintaining sacred space which the Egyptians had a very complex protocol for. (It look like I have yet another topic to address after these confessions. Ideas of sacred space in the Egyptian culture.)

Confessions 16-20

Confession 16.O Eater of Entrails who came forth from the Council of Thirsty. I have not robbed/destroyed a parcel of (crop)land.
This is confession could be seen one of two ways. Literally, not destroying (or possibly wasting) food or as not destroying the work and/or property that allows another to maintain a livelihood. Either way, it has a similar meaning of not being destructive. Eater of Entrails is an interesting title as it is almost exactly the same as a title given to Ammut. She is called Eater of Bodies and Eater of Souls. However, she who gives council to the thirsty is Anqet, goddess of the Aswan area, dispenser of cool water and wife of Khnum. Satis, Anqet's daughter, an archery goddess is also associated with alleviating thirst. I am not aware of any associations between Satis or Anqet and Ammut but it is possible that there is one. All three goddesses have associations to crocodiles. Crocodiles are also associated with croplands.
 
Confession 17. O Lord of Truth who came forth from the Hall of Two Truths, I have not discussed secrets.
This one is remarkably straightforward compared to others. The Lord of Truth who comes from the Hall of Two Truths is Thoth. This is a title he is given in papyri. I have not discussed secrets refers, in my opinion to two things, eavesdropping and telling to others those things you have been trusted to keep secret. Basically these are about keeping oaths and promises.

Confession 18. O Strayer who came from Bubastis, I have brought no lawsuits.
 The "Strayer" is likely Ptah. Named the ancient one, Ptah was known to be the first of the gods to wander the Earth after it rose from the water. The confession itself has some items that are only understood when we consider the direct translation which is not lawsuit but "Not have I set my mouth in motion against others". This direct reading is about false accusations. I have not falsely accused others. We could think of this confession as also being similar to all the false lawsuits we often see in the news but it is also about our personal claims as well.

Confession 19. O Planter who came forth from Heliopolis, I have not disputed without just cause.
This confession is an addition to the previous one. Not only have I not made false claims but I have also not caused disputes without just cause. Just cause is something that requires a more detailed understanding of Egyptian society and culture than I am going to give here. However, any good book that addressed Egyptian culture would work. The book The Mammoth Book of Eyewitness Ancient Egypt by Jon E Lewis would be a good source for a general overview. Planter who came forth from Heliopolis could be either Atum as a god of fertility, since Heliopolis was originally called Per-Atum. It could also refer to Osiris who is known to come forth from Heliopolis and so has Hapi, both are vegetation related gods who come forth on occasion from Heliopolis. Any of these three would make sense though given the confession it might be more likely to be Osiris.

Confession 20. O Doubly Evil One who came forth from Busirite Nome, I have not had intercourse with a married woman.
The Busirite Nome is one of the places that it is believed the children of Nut were born. The doubly evil could refer to Set. Other gods and goddesses are at times listed as being born in this location too. It is hard to say which one this might refer to.  Though this confession says woman it is meant to express not having intercourse with any married individual male or female. It is important to remember that most of the speakers in the copies of the Book of the Dead are males so we must consider gender in defining this one. If it were a woman's tomb it would likely read "I have not had intercourse with a married man."

Confessions 6-10

Confession 6: O Double Lion who came forth from the Sky, I have not reduced the measure.
Reducing the measure refers to ancient trade where things were weighed on scales. This in essences means you have not cheated people in your dealings with them as a seller or a person rendering a service. You have not reduced the measure of what they receive for what they have given. It might also be interpreted as not being greedy but in some versions of the Negative Confessions there is another confession specifically about greed. The Double Lion of the Sky is Aker the double headed lion Tuau and Sef; yesterday(West) and today(East), who guard the mountain pass to the Eastern and Western horizons.

Confession 7: O He-Whose-eyes-are-in-Flames who came forth from Asyut, I have not stolen god's property.
This confession also has two ways to read it. First is the straightforward idea of stealing from a temple. Though, due to how Egyptian society was structured "god's" could be read as "pharaoh's" property. If this is the way we choose to read it then it means not stealing from the government. Asyut is the Egyptian name for what the Greeks called Lycopolis. This is the city sacred to Anubis and Wepwawet, gods of death and dying as well as healing and medicine. There is some awesome mythology about wolves repelling invasions in this area and Osiris coming from the dead in the form of a "wolf shade". I have assumed that this refers to Anubis or Wepwawet. Both these deities are spoken of in reference to wolves with glowing eyes. However, I have not seen any direct evidence that He Whose Eyes are in Flame is one of these gods, merely my suspicions.

Confession 8:O Burning One who came forth backwards, I have not told lies.
An obvious confession. I have not been deceitful or lied. These are the laws of the goddess of truth, it is the one that should be expected. However, I have no idea who "Burning One" is yet. I am still researching it.

Confession 9: O Breaker of Bones who came forth from Heracleopolis, I have not stolen food.
Egypt had a sort of socialist distribution of food so stealing meant someone else would go hungry or have less to eat. I have seen this believed in many ways. Some practitioners associate it with actually stealing others see it as working the system... so something like using food stamps or food banks when you don't truly need it. Still others see it as not being wasteful with food. I think any of these would work for the idea being put forth.  Heracleopolis was known as Hwt-nen-nesu (approximately: Hewet-nen-nye-soo), the house of the royal children. Given the title "Breaker of Bones" and the association with the royal children I have always associated this assessor with one of two goddesses: Sekhmet who is sometimes a protector of the royal children or Tuaret who is associated with protecting all children. Both goddesses are known for being aggressive defenders.

Confession 10: O Ordered of Flame who came forth from Memphis, I have not sullen.
 Sullen in this case can be defined as one of three things: dismal, lacking hope or lazy. All of these can be seen as letting circumstances depress you into inaction. Action and taking action is seen as following the path of honesty and truth. Ordered of Flame is likely a reference to Ptah. He is god of craftsman and crafting and Memphis was his sacred city. Ordered of Flame to me has always brought about the ideas of fire being used in most of the crafts he is associated with including pottery, metal working and creating building materials. It could also be a reference to his wife Sekhmet but it seems that confession 9 may refer to her. It is unlikely that 2 confessions are given to one god.