RECORDS OF THE PAST
_______________
BEING
ENGLISH TRANSLATIONS
OF THE
ASSYRIAN AND EGYPTIAN MONUMENTS
PUBLISHED UNDER THE SANCTION
OF
THE SOCIETY OF BIBLICAL ARCHAEOLOGY
VOLUME TWELVE:
EGYPTIAN TEXTS
___________________
NOTE
Every Text here given is either now translated for first time, or has been specially revised by the Author to the date of this publication.
CONTENTS
| PREFACE | vii |
| The Book of Hades (Continuation) By E. LEFEBURE. |
1 |
| Scarabaei of Amenophis III By SAMUEL BIRCH, LL.D., D.C.L. |
37 |
| Dream of Thothmes IV By SAMUEL BIRCH, LL.D., D.C.L |
43 |
| The Foundation of the Temple of the Sun at
Heliopolis By LUDWIG STERN. |
51 |
| Inscription of Ameni-Amenemha By SAMUEL BIRCH, LL.D., D.C.L. |
59 |
| Inscription of Chnumhetep By SAMUEL BIRCH, LL.D., D.C.L. |
65 |
| Libation Vase of Osor-ur By PAUL PIERRET. |
77 |
| The Great Tablet of Rameses II at Abu-Simbel By EDOUARD NAVILLE. |
81 |
| Inscription of Prince Nimrod By SAMUEL BIRCH, LL.D., D.C.L. |
93 |
| Spoliation of Tombs (XX. Dynasty) By P. J. DE HORRACK. |
101 |
| Inscriptions on Statue of Bak-en-Khonsu (XIX
Dynasty) By P. J. DE HORRACK. |
117 |
| The Papyrus, I. 371, of Leyden (XX Dynasty) By G. MASPERO. |
123 |
| Inscription of Queen Hatasti on base of Great
Obelisk of Karnak By P. LE PAGE RENOUF. |
127 |
| Sepulchral Inscription of Panehsi By E. L. LUSHINGTON, LL.D. , D.C.L. |
137 |
{p.vii}
PREFACE
THE present volume, which completes the present series,
closes the translations of the principal Assyrian
and Egyptian texts. Those which here appear are equal in interest to the others
which have gone before, but many that have been discovered have not found a
place in the present work, and necessitate the production of a new series, which
might be undertaken if the idea was favourably entertained by the translators.
It has been already pointed out the great benefit which the "RECORDS OF THE
PAST" have
conferred on the advance of the researches into ancient Oriental mythology and
literature, by laying before the general reader results obtained by the labours
of all the leading students into the philology and inscriptions of the greatest
Eastern nations of antiquity. Such results are the more valuable because
{p.viii}
they are derived from primary sources and from contemporaneous documents, in many cases official, and
in all public, so as to invest them with the character of
contemporary witnesses. In fact, without the know
ledge of such texts as those published in the
"RECORDS," it is impossible to comprehend the history
of Egypt and Mesopotamia, or to adequately realize
the historical narrative of Scripture. It must be
borne in mind that whatever differences may exist in
details, the general impression conveyed to the mind
by these translations will always remain the same.
The present volume is accompanied by an alphabetical
list of the contents of all the twelve volumes, prepared
by Mr. W. H. Rylands; and the series will hereafter be
accompanied by a thirteenth or supplementary volume,
containing a copious alphabetical index of the proper
names and leading points of interest, which Mr.
Rylands has also drawn up, and which will be found of
great advantage to those consulting the "RECORDS
OF THE PAST."
S. BIRCH.
LONDON, 3rd February, 1881.
{p.1}
THE BOOK OF HADES
(FROM THE SARCOPHAGUS OF SETI I)
(Continuation)
TRANSLATED BY
E. LEFEBURE.
IN the introduction to the first portion of the translation
of this sacred book of the Egyptians M. Lefebure explained the general sense of
the work and the position in which the various Divisions are to be found carved
upon the sarcophagus.
The translation given on pages 85 to 134 of volume X of this series included
the Divisions from the 1st to the 9th, the last-named, or the door corresponding to
nos. 13 and 12 of the plates drawn by the late Mr. Bonomi.1
The portion printed in the following pages completes the translation of the
text. It commences with the 10th Division, or door of the serpent Stu, plates
12, 11, and 10, beginning at the foot of the sarcophagus; the 11th Division, or
door of the serpent Am-netu-f, extending to the right, and finishing at
_______
1 Sarcophagus of Oimenepthah I, with Introduction by Samuel Sharpe. 1864.
{p.2} the head, where is the 12th Division, the doors of the
serpents Sebi and Reri. This ends the Book of Hades. From the 8th Division, the
scenes represented lose their unity, the written explanations are shortened, and
it seems as if the imagination of the author or authors of the work had become
exhausted by so often reproducing the same fundamental idea under so many
different forms.
The cover was found broken by Belzoni, but translations are here given of what
remains, as figured by Bonomi, on plates 18 and 19. Those which cover the
interior side of the lid belong in part to the "Book of the Dead," but are
incomplete. Only a small portion of the upper side of the lid now remains,
figured on the same plates. On the bottom of the sarcophagus is engraved a large
figure of the goddess Neith (plates 16 and 17), her arms hanging down, and her
body wrapped round with folding wings in the form of a tight-fitting dress.
The figure is surrounded with prayers and chapters from the "Book of the Dead."
In the Appendix M. Lefebure has given the version of the Book of Hades from the
Tombs of Seti I.
W. H. R.
{p.3}
THE BOOK OF HADES
(FROM THE SARCOPHAGUS OF SETI I)
(Continued from Vol. X)
TRANSLATED BY
E. LEFEBURE.
TENTH DIVISION—PLATES 12, 11 AND 10
DOOR
The great god arrives at this pylon, and enters this pylon:
this great god is adored by the gods who are there.
The pylon Scri-t, or the chapel. At the entrance Nemi, holding a knife, and on
the inside Kefi, robed in white. In the interior, sixteen uraei, opposite them:
Come to us, dweller on the horizon, great god, who opened the refuge! Open the
holy gates, draw back the mysterious doors.
Door of the Serpent Stu.
He who is on this door opens to RA. SAU says to STU: "Open thy gate, draw back
thy door. He will illuminate the darkness and the shades, and (will place) light
in the {p.4} concealed abode, This door closes after the entrance of this great
god, and the uraei which are in this pylon cry out when they hear this door
close."
SCENES1
A. Four persons, the Anti-it, or those who fix, holding with one hand a knife and with the other a kind of hook of rope or a club; four other persons armed with the same, but having each four uraei for a head, the Hati-u2 or bearers of the club. Opposite, the serpent Apap, of which it is said: His cry is wafted into hell. He is tied by the neck with a chain on which the goddess Serk,3 one of the forms of Isis, is drawn out. The chain is held by four men, Stefi-u, or those who fire, placed opposite the Anti-u and the Hati-u. Twelve gods, T'atiu with the strong arm, holding also the chain and turning his back to the Stefi-u. An enormous hand, the concealed body drawing towards it the chain, which then rises over the five serpents (the first of which is Uammeti), each attached by the means of a small chain to the larger one by Seb Mester Hupi. Kebhsenuf and Tuaumatef armed with hooks and clubs; these five gods issue by half from the great chain, and face the preceding gods. The chain ends at the feet of Osiris, Inhabitant of Amenti.
B. The boat of Ra and the Infernals, a person,
_______
1 Cf. for the scenes and the legends, Champollion, Notices,
vol. II, pp. 532 to
536, tomb of Rameses.
2
Cf. tomb of Rameses VI, and Chabas, Egyptology. 1876, p. 20.
3 Cf. sarcophagus of T a-ho, Museum of the Louvre.
{p.5} Unti, who with one hand raises a star and with the other hand
raises another star. Four gods squatted, bearing on their head an uraeus with a
long tail. Horus (hawk-headed), Serek, Abesh, and Sekhet (lion-headed). Three
persons, the stars, each raising a star with one hand, and with the other hand
drawing by a rope towards the solar bark a small boat in which is, half surrounded
by an uraeus, a human head, the head of the disk, a winged serpent which rises
up, Semi, a person, Best, pouring flame on the head of a bull placed at the end
of a stick struck with a sword. An uraeus standing up, Ankhi, with its head
flanked by two human heads. Four women, the Invocators, in a posture of
adoration. Two bows supporting each three uraei, the diadem of the uraei. In
the middle, with one foot placed on each bow, the Double-headed, with the head
of Set and of Horus, with four arms in adoration.
C. Twelve bearers of oars, the gods Akhum-u Sek-u.1 Twelve women holding a
rope, the hours which tow along. Four gods with a sceptre: Bauti, or the
monkey, with an animal's head. Seshesha, who has a star over his head. The Bull
of Amenti, with the head of a bull, and He who names the stars with a star over
his head. Opposite, on a bracket, and over his head a star, a monkey named the
god of Ruten (Syria). On another bracket a large sacred eye. A god with a
sceptre, the master of his house, advancing towards the sacred eye.
_________
1 The unknown who row, these are the circumpolar stars; the other stars, having
a rising and setting, are the Akhem-u Urt-u, or, "the unknown who repose
themselves."
{p.6}
A. Those who are in this scene rise for RA, who arises1 and
approaches them. (They sing to RA)2: "Arise, RA; Rule, Khuti. They beat down
APAP in his bonds.3 Do not ascend, RA, towards thy enemy; thy enemy does not
ascend, RA. May thy holy things which have a place in Mehen be brought forth.
APAP is stricken with his swords: he is sacrificed! RA rises at the finishing
hour: the great god ascends when his chain(s) is fixed.
The serpent which is in this scene, Serek, flings away his chain. The boat of
this great god advances towards the narrow pass of APAP. The great god comes when
his chain is fixed.
Those who are in this scene drag the chains of this evil doer. They say to RA:
Come, RA; advance, Khuti! The chain is placed on Neha-her, and APAP is in his
bonds.
Those who are in this scene as guardians of the Fomenters of trouble, watch
over the murderous chain which is in the hand of the Concealed Body in the
compass of which are placed the dead at the pylons of the Inhabitant of Amenti,
The god says: "Darkness to thy countenance, Uammeti! Destruction to you,
Fomenters of trouble (by) the concealed hand, which causes (you) evil by the
means of the deadly chain which is in it! SEB guards your bonds, and the
threads of the chain place the murderous chain on you." Watch under the
inspection of the Inhabitant of Amenti.
Those who are in this scene load the chains of the Fomenters of trouble, and the
boat of the good god advances.
B. The great god is towed along by the gods of Hell,
________
1 Autl-n, M. Naville.
2 Tomb of Rameses VI.
3 The words for Ra are wrongly repeated here; cf. tomb of Rameses VI.
{p.7} and they say, those who tow along RA: Let us tow along
towards heaven, Let us tow along towards heaven, Servants1 of RA and of
NU!
Take possession, RA, of thy countenance, thy truth. Unite thyself, RA, to thy
countenance, thy truth.2 Let the countenance of RA open, and let the eyes of
Khuti enter! Let him drive away the darkness of Amend, let him shed light where
he had sent shade.
He rises for RA, placing3 himself over UNTI: this god guides4 him, and the
hour fulfils its duties.
Those who are in this scene, the inhabitants of the earth5 guard them. They rise
for RA. They are seated (on) a large image which is under them, and they raise
themselves behind RA with the mysterious image which is under them.
Those who are in this scene invoke with their stars. They drag the rope before
this boat, and they enter Nu.
This countenance of RA glides along and advances in the land: those who are in
hell invoke him.
It rises for RA; it guides the good god through hell towards the eastern
horizon.
He rises for RA: he throws flame on the head, and the weapon (?)6 which is in
the hand of the warrior servant of this god appears.
It rises for RA: the length of time marked out in years is established by this
uraeus, who makes it ascend with him towards heaven.
_________
1 Tomb of Rameses VI.
2 Various readings from the tomb of Rameses VI: Take possession, Ra, of thy
countenance. Arise higher! Unite thyself, Ra, to thy mysterious head! The
meaning of this symbolism is, that the sun, having become by night ram-headed
(pl. 5. c), i.e., "soul," as if he was dead, resumes in the morning a luminous
countenance.
3 Nahap, tomb of Rameses VI.
4 Su, id.
5 The serpents.
6 Or, "the gift," ta, according to the tomb of Rameses VI. The gift, perhaps
called thus through irony, is the blow of a knife. Is there any allusion here to
the sacrifice of the bull?
{p.8}
They say, those who call RA: "Come, RA! Oh! come, son of
hell; come, child1 of heaven. Oh! arise, RA."
It is the diadem of the uraei; he traverses2 hell.
The bows3 bear the Double-headed in his mystery. They direct RA to the eastern
horizon of the heavens, and they advance on high with him.
C. Those who are in this scene rise for RA, and take their oars in this cavern
of Unti. Their appearance, to
them, is for the births of RA in NU; their appearances are for the births of RA: they issue from Nun with him. They navigate for this great god when he places
himself on the eastern horizon of the heavens. RA says to them: "Take your
oars, unite yourselves to your stars!4 Your manifestations are (my)
manifestations, your births are my births. Oh my pilots, you shall not perish,
gods AKHEMU, SEKU."
Those who are in this scene take the rope to tow along RA5 in
NU: they tow
along RA and prepare the pathways in NU. These are the goddesses who guide this
great god in NU; RA says to them: Take the rope, take your places, pull
towards you, my followers to heaven, guide (me) in the pathways. My births
are your births, my manifestations are your manifestations. Oh! establish the
length of the years (for) him who is with us.
The god in this scene calls out that the gates of RA be opened: he rises with
him.
______
1 Atu; cf. Naville, Litany of the Sun, p. 85.
2 Mehen is masculine, cf. Book of the Lower Hemisphere, 11th hour.
3 The two bows
of hell are mentioned on the tomb of Rameses III; cf. Champollion, Notices,
vol. I, p. 746.
4 Cf. tomb of Rameses VI.
5 S, and on the tomb of Rameses VI, su; in the corresponding part of the
sentence there is sut, which varies in other texts with tut as, an expression
very frequent in the Solar Litanies.
{p.9}
The god in this scene calls on the stars for the births of
this great god: he rises with him.
The god in this scene calls on the gods of the boat of RA, and rises with him.1
The god in this scene places the stars in their dwelling, and rises with him,
this great god.
It is the Utef of RA: this god unites it to him, and it rejoices in its place
in the boat.
He opens the gate of this cavern; he remains in his place, and does not rise
with RA.2
______
1 Kher-f, tomb of Rameses VI.
2 The sacred eyes. Tomb of Rameses VI.
{p.10}
ELEVENTH DIVISION—PLATES 10 AND 9
DOOR1
The god arrives at this pylon; this great god enters this
pylon; this god is adored by the gods who are there.
The pylon Sheta-bes-u, or the most mysterious of passages. At the entrance,
Mates, or the executioner; and inside, Shetan—each holding an enormous knife.
In the interior, two sceptres, over which are two crowns of the South. By the
side of one, Ser; by the side of the other, Horus; and between the two
sceptres:
They say2 to RA: (Come) in peace (twice), in peace (twice). Many-shaped! thy
soul is in heaven and thy body on the earth; thou hast willed it, O great one!
thyself.3
Gate of the serpent. Am-net-u-f.
He who is on this gate opens to RA. San says to Am-net-u-f: Open thy gate to
RA, draw back thy door for Khuti; he will illuminate the darkness and the
shades, and will place light in the concealed abode. The door closes after the
entrance of this great god, and the gods who are in this pylon cry out (when)
they hear this door closing.
________
1 Cf. Champollion, Notices, Vol. II, p. 530, tomb of Rameses VI.
2
Tomb of Rameses VI .
3 Id. The text of the sarcophagus would lead us to understand it, "the land
united for thee."
{p.11}
SCENES1
A. Four persons, each holding a disk, the bearers of light.
Four bearers of stars. Four persons with a sceptre in their hands, those who go
out. Four ram-headed persons with a sceptre, Ba, Num, Pe-neter, Tent. Four
hawk-headed persons with a sceptre, Horus, Shenebt, Sapt, and he who is in his
double boat. Eight women seated on uraei, and each holding a star with one hand; the protecting hours. A crocodile-headed person with a sceptre (Sebek-ra)2
holding behind him a serpent in an erect position.
B. The boat and the Infernals. Nine persons, four of which are wolf-headed, each
holding a large staff with a hook, and a knife, the nine who slay Apap. A pap
tied by chains attached to five objects like the hieroglyph sent, the cords of
Horus. Four monkeys, each holding an enormous hand. Two women wearing on their
heads the diadems of Upper and Lower Egypt, Amenti. A person with a sceptre in
his hand. Sebekh-ti.
C. Four men with the crown of the South, the Royal Heads. Four men bare-headed,
the Afflicted. Four men with the crown of the North, the Nem-u. Four men
bare-headed, the Renniu. Four women with the crown of the South, the Royal. Four
women with the crown of the North (the Nemtiu).3 Four women without a crown (the
Afflicted). Four
_________
1 For the scenes and legends, cf. Champollion. Notices, Vol. II, pp. 536 to
539, tomb of Rameses VI.
2 Tomb of Rameses VI.
3 Tomb of Rameses VI. Three of them have the complete crown there.
{p.12} men half bent, the Aratti-u.1 A cat-headed god. Ma-ti2 holding behind him a serpent in an erect position.
LEGENDS
A. Those who are in this scene bear the disk of RA. They
guide (in) hell and in heaven by this3 shape which is in their hands. These
are they who (?)4 speak to the pylon of Aker-t that RA may place himself in
the bosom of Nu.
Those who are in this scene carry stars. When the arms of Nun receive RA they
shout with their stars, they raise themselves with him towards heaven, and they
place them selves in the bosom of Nu.
Those who are in this scene, their sceptres in their hands, settle the
possessions of this god in heaven, and in return RA points out their abodes.
Those who are in this scene, their sceptres in their hand, furnish (?) the food
of the gods who are in heaven, and pass over (?)5 the water, RA not having (as
yet) arrived at Nun.
Those who are in this scene, their sceptres in their hands, place the naos, put
their hands to the side of the double boat of the god when he issues from the
gate of Sam,6 and place the oars in Nu (when) (the present) hour is born in it,
and (when) (the preceding) hour reposes in it.
Those who are in this scene, their uraei under them, and their hands holding
stars, issue from the double sanctuary of this great god, four to the east, and
four to the west.
______
1 Tomb of Rameses VI.
2 Mauti on the tomb of Rameses VI.
3 Pen on the tomb of Rameses VI.
4 Ari; there is ba, or "the soul," on the tomb of Rameses VI.
5 Nutt. This word seems an alteration of skat.
6 Cf. tomb of Rameses VI. It is the country of the reunion, Hades.
{p.13}
They call the souls of the east, they invoke this god, and
adore him on his going out (when) Setti issues in his shapes; they direct the
navigation of the pilots of the boat of this great god.
B. The gods of hell say:1 The issuing from Amenti, installation in the double
extent of Nun, and accomplishment of the transformations in the arms of Nun!
The god does not enter heaven, he opens hell to heaven, in his shapes which are
in Nun. What opens hell for Nu are the arms of Amen-ran-f2 he is in the black
night, whence light issues from the shade.
Those who are in this scene, their staves in their hands, take their weapons and
strike Apap: they accomplish his sacrifice, and inflict blows on (his) coils,
which are in heaven. The chains3 of this wicked one are in the hands of the
children of HORUS: they raise themselves towards this god, their ropes in their
fingers. The god counts4 his members, when he
whose arms are concealed opens to make a way for RA.
The serpent who is in this scene, the sons of HORUS strike him. They are placed
in Nu in this scene. They
weigh down his chains, and if his coils are in heaven, his venom falls into
Amenti.
Those who are in this scene direct RA to the eastern horizon of heaven. They
direct this god, their creator, with their hands, two to the east and two to the
west, in the two sanctuaries of this god. They issue behind him, and give praise
to his soul when it sees them.
________
1 The coming out refers to the scene of the Twelfth Division.
2 The "mysterious being," Osiris.
3 Kha-u; cf. tomb of Rameses VI, where this word has the determinative of
rope.
4 Cf. tomb of Rameses VI.
{p.14}
Those who are in this scene turn away SET1 from this pylon
(of Tuan-ti): they open the cavern and fortify the mysterious (?) pylons. Their
souls arise behind RA.2
C. Those who are in this scene place the white crown of the gods who follow RA.
They remain in hell: their souls arise and remain in the pylon.
Those who are in this scene in this pylon lament over OSIRIS,3 when RA issues
from Amenti: (their) souls rise after him. They are behind OSIRIS.
Those who are in this scene join RA, producing his births on earth. Their souls
rise behind him, and their bodies remain in their place.
Those who are in this scene name RA, and magnify the names of all his shapes:
their souls rise behind Nun, and their bodies remain in their places.
Those who are in this scene raise Truth and place it in the naos of RA, when RA
places himself in Nu: their souls ascend behind him, and their bodies remain in
their place.
Those who are in this scene fix the length of time, and cause the existence of
years for the guardians of the damned in hell and for the living in heaven. They
follow this god.
Those who are in the scene in (this) pylon in their wailings lament over
themselves in presence of the great god in Amenti: they drive away SET from
this pylon, and do not enter heaven.
Those who are in this scene adore RA, and invoke him: They give praise to the
gods who are in hell, guardians of the gate of the refuge (they remain in their
places).
The porter of the cavern remains in his place.
_______
1 Set, as in the following lines this name has no determinative. The
Book of the
Lower Hemisphere places Set-Nehes to the east (20th hour.)
2 Tomb of Rameses VI.
3 Ser on the tomb of Rameses VI.
{p.15}
TWELFTH DIVISION—PLATES 9 AND 15
GATE1
This great god arrives at this pylon: this great god is
adored by the gods who are in it.
The pylon Teser-t ba-n, or the most holy of souls. At the entrance Pi, or
perhaps Bai, and in the inside Akhekhi. In the interior, two heads at the end
of two long poles; over one is the scarabaeus, hieroglyph of the god Khepru,
over the other the solar disk, and the word Tum; between the two poles:
They hold themselves on their heads, they are on their poles in this pylon. The
heads rise in this pylon.
Door of the serpent Sebi.
He who is on this door opens to RA. Sau says to Sebi: Open thy gate to RA, draw
back thy door for Khuti: he will leave the refuge and will place himself in the
bosom of Nu. The door closes, and the souls which are in Amenti cry out when
they hear this door closing.
Door of the serpent Reri, almost touching the former one.
He who is on this door opens to RA. Sau says to Reri: Open thy gate to RA, draw
back thy door to Khuti; he
_______
1 Cf. Champollion, Notices, vol. II, p. 540, tomb of Rameses VI.
{p.16} will leave the refuge and will place himself in the bosom of
Nu. This door closes, and the souls in Amenti cry out when they hear this door
closing.
By the side of this door two uraei, Isis and NEPHTHYS, the first above and the
second below.
They guard this mysterious door of Amenti, and raise themselves behind this god.
SCENE AND LEGENDS1
Above, OSIRIS forms a circle with his body; it is OSIRIS, who
surrounds hell. He raises his arms towards the goddess Nu, standing on his head:
it is Nu who receives RA. OSIRIS and Nu have their heads below. The goddess
holds the solar disk over a scarabaeus placed in a boat: this god places
himself in the boat.2 Around the scarabaeus are the gods who are in it (in the
boat). These are, beginning at the side of the door and at the stern, Sau, Hu,
Hak, Shu, and Seb: then Isis and NEPTHYS stretching out their hands under the
scarabaeus, then Seba-ru (gates or doors) going forward. The boat is supported
by Nun, whose bust and arms are only to be seen: these arms issue from the
water and bear up this god. The entire scene is surrounded by the waves of Nun,
which shows that the Egyptians looked upon the earth (or Osiris) as a spherical
body floating through the air. The boat is directed, as a passage made through
the waves indicates, towards a spot where a disk is represented on a band. This
band, studded with points, represents the earth,3 from which the sun is about
to issue, and it completely frames in the divisions of the Book of
_________
1 Cf. Champollion, Notices, Vol. II, p. 541, tomb of Rameses VI.
2 Aat.
3 Cf. Preface, p. 18.
{p.17} Hades which is contained in the inside of the sarcophagus. The divisions of the outside of the sarcophagus were framed in the same way, and the dotted band appears also under the divisions of the cover.
END OF THE BOOK OF HADES
{p.18}
OUTER SIDE OF THE COVER
HORIZONTAL INSCRIPTION
Under the dotted band which surrounds the 6th and 7th divisions of the Book of Hades, on the out side of the cover, there are fragments of a horizontal inscription divided into two halves: the first is on the right side (pl. xviii.), the second begins at the edge and is continued on the left side. (pl. 18 and 19.) We must remark that the second fragment of pl. 19 ought to be the third.
PLATE 18
D. Nu the great says: I have made him great, I have made him a soul, I have made him powerful, I have made him master in the bosom of his mother Tefnu, I who never bring forth, I come, I unite myself to OSIRIS, King.
PLATES 18 AND 19
D. THOTH says: My son, Master of the Two Lands, RA(menma) .... OSIRIS King, Master of the Two Lands. RA(menma), the son of RA, master in doing
things, who is Seti-merenptah, truthful, his soul lives for ever .....
The son of RA, Master of the Diadems, who is Seti-merenptah .... in this name of mine
from Nu. I do not depart from (him).
_______
1 Cf. pl. 16.
{p.19}
INNER SIDE OF THE COVER
RIGHT SIDE—PLATE 18
F. Thoth between two fragments of wings, remains of the
general decoration of the inside of the cover, pulls with both his hands a rope
attached to heaven, as in certain portions of chapter 161 of the Todtenbuch.
..... of
the gods by him. He is like .... with the great breath, the great one of heaven, the
great SATNE, who is in the middle of the spirits of Heliopolis.1
....
H .... in Memphis. He has made the things of the altar (?) of the lord of Sekhem to
breathe. He has led the men to Nemti .... to raise on the partition.2
Below, a horizontal line gives the beginning of the 72nd chapter of the
Todtenbuch.
F. (Health) to you, lords of justice, who are free from iniquity, you who live
for ever, for the double period of eternity! Let pass the OSIRIS (King), RA(menma),
truthful, towards earth, powerful in qualities, Master ....
LEFT SIDE—PLATE 19
L. Thoth and the hieroglyph of night as on the right side.
.....in
the tank of flame; he extinguishes the fire.
________
1 Chap, xxiii of the Todtenbuch.
2 Text foreign to the Todlenbuch.
3 Cf. Todtenbuch.
{p.20}
Below, a horizontal line, which is continued on the fragments
N and M, contains the continuation of the text, which begins at the
corresponding line of the right side.
.... (do not close) the door against me,
because .... (my) drinks are in Tep. My arms are joined in the divine abode
which (my father) has given me. (there is corn and) barley in them, no one knows
how much. There is prepared for me (there, a festival). by the son of my body.
Give me funereal offerings of incense, of oil....
In N, M, O, and P, fragments of a text which accompanies the Litany of the Sun
in the royal tombs,1 and which also occurs in
some books of the dead of a good period.2
N..... The Master of the Two Lands, who is RAMENMA, truthful, in hell, he he comes
out of it. The arms of TATNEN receive (him) .... Stretch out your arms to me! I know
the gates lead (me) invoke, be ye glad for my sake he has (placed) food for you,
he masters I am his son on earth. I have made the way ... M .... (let) him pass
..... The
headdress of Amen-ran-f.... (gods) who cross through hell, order that ....deliver
the OSIRIS, King, Master of the Two Lands.3
_______
1 Cf. Naville, Litany of the Sun, p. 98, and pl. 15., 21., 31., and 40.
2 Cf. Pierret, Etudes Egyptologiques, fasc. 1, pp. 89 to 92, and papyrus
without name from the Louvre, No. 3073.
3 This arrangement of the text does not correspond with that of the royal tombs,
but it is found in the papyrus without a name in the Louvre.
{p.21}
O ... with perishable shapes: open .... raise yourselves on your
funereal couches; order it so that he reposes himself in .... (draw back) for him
your doors; open for him (your) locks ... (it is the guide) of the souls, it is1
the conductor of the gods; he .... the guardian of his gates, who places the gods in
their abodes the companion of the husbandmen ..... I have made my offerings ....
P .... friends of RA who follow his soul truthful, by your towing (it is the image)
of RA! Towers .... the OSIRIS, son of RA, Master of the Diadems, Seti-(meren)ptah
.... in
Amenti. He says:2 Hail to thee .... thy splendour, in making transformations....
___________
1 Tut, as in the papyrus without name in the Louvre; the royal tomb have
sut,
which is a variant of su as may be seen in pl. 11. c.
2 Beginning of a new text.
{p.22}
LOWER PORTION OF THE UPPER PART OF THE COVER
PLATE 18
E. Runners of the divine hall .... Seti-meren(ptah) truthful, in
every place where he is ... to lead this soul to me .... (RA)MENMA, truthful. Thou wilt
find the eye of Horus taking part against these .... the catchers: does he rest,
those who rest in .... (of) cities in him? If he were carried away....1
_______
1 Chapter lxxxix. of the Todtenbuch; cf. pl. 17, where the same text occurs
with some differences in the beginning.
{p.23}
BOTTOM OF THE SARCOPHAGUS
PLATES 16 AND 17
The goddess Nu, her arms hanging down, and her body wrapped
round with folded wings, is surrounded with texts. She has over her head the
hieroglyphs of her name the last of which, that of heaven, is studded with
stars.
Words of OSIRIS, King, Master of the Two Lands, who is RAMENMA, truthful, of the
son of RA, who is Seti-merenptah, truthful. He says: Nu, support me! I am thy
son. Separate1 my weakness from what makes it so.
Nu, inhabiting the abode of Hennu, says: (O) this son, the OSIRIS, King, Master
of the Two Lands, who is RAMENMA, truthful, the son of RA, of his loins, who
loves him, Master of the Diadems, the OSIRIS who is Seti-merenptah!
SEB says: This chosen one, who is RAMENMA, and who loves me, I have given given
him purity on earth, and power in heaven, to the OSIRIS, King, Master of the Two
Lands, who is RA-MEN-MA, truthful, to the son of RA, who loves Nu, and who is
Seti-merenptah, truthful, in the presence of the lords of hell.
Speech. (O) OSIRIS, King, Master of the Two Lands, who art RAMENMA, son of RA,
of his loins, who art Sefi-merenptah, truthful! Thy mother Nu stretches for
thee her arms over thee, OSIRIS, King, Master of the Two Lands, who
_________
1 Literally, "destroy;" i.e., destroy my weakness (by separating it) from what
makes it so.
{p.24} art RAMENMA, truthful, son of RA, who loves him, Master of
the Diadems, Seti-mtrenptah, truthful. Thy mother Nu has given thee the health
which is in her for thy safety. Thou art in her arms. Thou shalt never die.
Removed and discarded are the evils which remained for thee. That will come no
more to thee, that will ascend no more to thee, OSIRIS, King, Master of the Two
Lands, who art RAMENMA, truthful: HORUS stands behind thee, OSIRIS, son of RA,
Master of the Diadems, Seti-merenptah, truthful, since thy mother Nu is come to
thee: she purifies thee, she unites herself to thee, she renews1 thee as a
god, vivified, established among the gods.
Nu, the very great, says: I have made him a soul, I have made him powerful, I
have made him master in the bosom of his mother Tefnu, I who never bring forth.
I have united him, the OSIRIS, King, Master of the Two Lands, RA MENMA,
truthful, son of RA, the Master of the Diadems, who is Seli-merenptah, truthful,
with life, stability, and happiness. He shall no longer die. I am Nu with the
powerful heart. 1 have placed a seed in the bosom of his mother Tefnu, in this
name of mine, Nu, of the mother of whom no one is master. I have entirely
fulfilled all my splendours: the entire earth, I have taken possession of it, I
have taken possession of the south and of the north, and I have surrounded all
things in my arms to restore to life the OSIRIS, King, Master of the Two Lands,
who is RAMENMA, the son of RA, of his loins, loving SAKAR, the Master of the
Diadems, the Sovereign with joyous heart, Seti-merenptah, truthful. His soul
will live for ever.
Nu, says the OSIRIS, King, who is Seti-merenptah, truthful, support me! I am
thy son. Separate my weakness from what made it exist.
_____
1 Literally, "destroys."
{p.25}
The sovereign of the two parts of Egypt, who is RAMEN-MA,
truthful, the son of RA, who is Seti-merenptah, truthful. Chapter to bring out
the day and to pass through Ammati.1
Speech of OSIRIS, King, Master of the Two Lands, who is RAMENMA, truthful, of
the son of RA, of his loins, who loves him, Master of Diadems, who is
Seti-merenptah, truthful; he says: Health to you, lords of justice, who are
free from iniquity, and who are living for ever, for the double period of
eternity! (The OSIRIS, King, Master of the Two Lands) who is RAMENMA, truthful,
the son of RA, of his loins, who loves him, the Master of the Diadems, who is
Seti-merenptah, come to us; he is powerful by his qualities; he is master of
his (magical) virtue, he is endowed with protective (formulae). Deliver the
OSIRIS, King, Master of the Two Lands, who is RAMENMA, truthful, the son of RA,
Master of the Diadems, who is Seti-merenptah, of the crocodile of this tank of
the just His mouth is his, he speaks by it. Let him be granted liberty to act in
your presence, because I know you: I know your names; I know this great god to
whose nostrils you present exquisite things. Rekem is his name; he passes to
the eastern horizon of heaven, Rekem; he departs, I depart; he is safe, I am
safe. May I not be destroyed on the Mesak! May the impious not take possession
of me! Do not drive me from your doors, do not close your arms for the OSIRIS,
King, Master of the Two Lands, who is RAMENMA, truthful, for the son of RA, of
his loins, who loves him, the Master of the Diadems, who is Seti-merenptah,
truthful, because (my) bread is in Ta, and my drink is in Tep. My arms are
________
1 Chapter lxxii. of the Todtenbuch.
{p.26} united in the divine house which my father has given me. He
has established for a dwelling above the earth; there are corn and barley in
it, the quantity of which no one knows. A festival is celebrated there for me by
my son, of my body. Give me funereal offerings, incense, oil, and all good and
pure things, upon which the gods feed. The OSIRIS, King, RAMENMA, truthful, the
son of RA, of his loins, who loves him, the Master of the Diadems, the Sovereign
with the joyous heart, Seti-merenptah, truthful, exists for ever under all
shapes which please him, he navigates in ascending and in descending the plain
of Aam, he is united to life for ever in the plains of offerings. It is I, the
double lion.
Said by OSIRIS, King, Master of the Two Lands, Ramen-ma, truthful, by the son of
RA, who loves him, Seti-merenptah, truthful: Oh! keep that destroyer of my
father for me, the OSIRIS, King, Master of the Two Lands. RAMENMA, truthful,
for he is my father who is under my legs which rise, OSIRIS, son of RA, Master
of the Diadems. Seti-merenptah, truthful, strike him with thy hand! Search him,
for he is taken, he is taken by thy hand. OSIRIS, King, Master of the Two Lands, RAMENMA, truthful, thou shalt not grow weak! Nu comes to thee, she hides thee
as a great uniter. Thou shalt not grow weak, she unites herself to thee, she
protects thy weakness, she collects thy limbs, she unites thy heart to thy
bowels, she has placed thee among living essences. OSIRIS, King, Master of the
Two Lands, RAMENMA, truthful, before the good god, Lord of Taser-t.
Said by OSIRIS, King, Master of the Two Lands, RA-MEN-MA, truthful, son of RA,
of his loins, and who loves him, the Master of the Diadems, Seti-merenptah,
truthful:1 O,
______
1 Chap. lxxxix. of the Todtenbuch.
{p.27} ravishers! (O) runners! Oh! do not seize me,1 great god;
grant that that soul of mine may come to me in every place where I shall be. If
thou delayest in leading this soul to me in every place where I shall be, thou
wilt find the eye of HORUS placing itself against these in the same way as the
watchers. Is it that he lies down of those who lie down in Heliopolis, a country
where there are thousands of towns? If my soul, with which is my state of elect,2 is brought to me in every place where I shall be, thou shalt have laboured,
guardians of heaven and earth! for this soul of mine; (yet) if thou delayest
in making my body see its soul thou wilt find the eye, HORUS, placing itself
against thee in the same way (as the watchers). O (you), these gods who tow the
boat of the Lord of Multitudes, who lead heaven to hell, who clear (the path)3
of Nu, who make the soul approach the mummy, its hands full of bonds, seize and
grasp with chains, destroy the enemy. The boat rejoices, the great god passes in
peace; behold, you have granted that this soul may issue from OSIRIS, King
RA-MEN-MA, truthful, with his legs, on the eastern horizon of heaven, for ever,
for ever."
Words of OSIRIS, King, Master of the Two Lands, who is KA-MEN-MA-AAT-RA,
truthful, of the son of RA, loving PTAH-SUKAR, of the Master of Diadems, who is
Seti-merenptah, truthful. He says: Let the great ones pass behind me. May these
limbs of mine never grow weak!
The OSIRIS, King, Master of the Two Lands, who is RA NI EN-MA-RA, truthful, the
son of RA, of his loins, who loves him, the Master of Diadems who is
Seti-merenptah, truthful, says: Nu, support me! I am thy son. Separate (my)
weakness from what makes it exist. OSIRIS, King, Master
________
1 Literally "him."
2 Khu.
3 Cf. Todtenbuch, chap. lxxxix. 5.
{p.28} of the Two Lands, who art RA-MEN-MA-RA, truthful, son of RA, of his loins, and who loves him, Master of the Diadems, who art Seti-merenptah, truthful, I have given thee thy head; of thy body there shall not grow weak any of those limbs of the Master of Diadems, who is Seti-merenptah, truthful.
END OF THE SARCOPHAGUS OF SETI I
{p.29}
APPENDIX
It has been said that the tombs of Seti I1 and Merenptah I2 give a different version of the Book of Hades, completely different from that which the other tombs and the sarcophagus of Seti I present. The following is the version from the tomb of Seti I:
GATE
The god arrives at this pylon and enters this pylon: this
great god is adored by the gods who are there.3
The pylon Neb-hau4 the lower part of which is injured. At the entrance Ma-ab, in
the interior six male mummies, the gods and goddesses also are in opposite them.
Come to us, Inhabitant of the Horizon, great god, who opened the refuge! Open.
In Champollion's copy the representation of the pylon is accompanied by a large
scene which, perhaps,
takes the place of that of the Psychostasis, and which is described thus:
The god HORUS presenting the Pharaoh-Osiris to his father OSIRIS, assisted by
the goddess of Amenti.
Door of the serpent Set-m-ar-f:
_______
1 Champollion, Notices, vol. I, p. 432 and 770 to 775.
2 Id., pp. 827 and 829. 3 Id., p. 772.
3 Id., p. 773.
4 Champollion, Notices.
{p.30}
He who is on this door opens to RA. Sau says to Set-m-ar-f: Open thy gate to RA; draw back thy door for Khuti. He will illuminate the darkness and the shades, and will place light in the concealed dwelling. The door closes after the entrance of this great god, and those who are in this pylon cry out when they hear this door closing.
SCENES
FIRST LINE
Twelve bearers of forked sticks. Twelve bearers of the Devourer of the coils from which heads issue. Twelve bearers of the rope from which the hours issue. The Devourer is a serpent which has twelve human heads on his back. The rope is double, and over it twelve stars; it terminates at a standing mummy, Kena, which is opposite the other persons.
SECOND LINE
The boat and the Infernals. Twelve persons, standing, their arms wrapped up in yellow, blue or red mantles; the concealed arms, bearers of mysteries. Eight gods of the temples. Four gods who dwell there.
THIRD LINE
Tttanti, the Infernal Horns, standing, and leaning on a staff, before a funereal couch made of the serpent Nehap, which supports twelve mummies, those who {p.31} accompany Osiris, the sleepers who are in repose. Four persons, between whom is written the word Khasit, lowering their arms in sign of adoration.
LEGENDS
FIRST LINE
RA says to them: Take your staves and strike. Go, O you,
against the Devourer! Oh! strike on him. Let the heads come out of him, and
let him draw back. They say to RA: Our staves are for RA. We strike the
evil-doing serpent, O RA, because he has eaten the heads. They issue from his
coils; he draws back. These are the gods who are in the boat. They drive Apap
from Nu, and they raise themselves in hell. They drive away Apap far from RA, in
Amend, (where) the infernals guide this god. Their food is (made) of bread,
their drink of the liquor feser, their refreshment is of water. Offerings are
made to them on earth because they drive away the impious far from RA in Amenti.
These are the gods who sacrifice the evil-doers to over throw the enemies of RA.
They strike the wicked one and make the heads which were in him come forth. (RA)
says to them: Make the wicked one retreat: make APAP draw back. Let the heads
which were in him come forth. Let him perish. He calls them: He is destroyed,
oh eaten heads; you that were eaten, you that were devoured Come out of him.
(RA) calls them and they come out of him whose coils had absorbed them to raise
himself over them. Now the heads had entered their coils, because this serpent
does not see, does not feel, does not hear; he {p.32}
feeds on their cries, he lives on calling on himself. Their
food is of offerings (made) on earth, when RA issues from hell. Oblations are
made to them as they remain under trees. (RA says): Pull the rope, tear (it)
from the mouth of Ken! Make your hours come forth. Take your opportunity for
yourselves, by them, and place yourselves in your dwellings. (When) the rope
which has entered Aken comes out, the hour is not (yet) born: RA calls it, and
it puts itself in its place, for ANK swallows the rope.1 They say to RA: The
rope is with Ak, and the hours are with thy divine (soul?), RA, when thou
shinest, thou whose body is the most mysterious of things, their food is (made)
of bread, and their drink of the liquor feser, their refreshment is of water.
Offerings are made to them on earth because they make (?) the rope rise (?) out
of him.
SECOND LINE
The great god is towed by the Infernals. They say to RA:
Towing for thee, great god, the Master of the Hours, acting according to what is
in the earth: the gods live by his powers, and the elect (by) the sight of his
shapes. RA says to them: Power to you, towers; holiness to you, towers! I
come for the things of hell. Tow me towards the dwelling of stable things. Free
yourselves on this mysterious mountain of the horizon.
They possess the mystery of the great god, the dangerous (?) (when) those who
are in hell see him, and (when) the dead who burn in Ha-ben-ben,2 see him, on the
spot,
_______
1 Cf. the Oknos of the Greek, (Pausanius, x. 24), and the Festival of the Ap at
Acanthopolis (Diodorus, 1. 97).
2 Ha-ben-ben was the name of the great temple of Heliopolis.
{p.33} where the body of this god is. RA says to them: "Let us
take, O you, my image, embrace your mysteries in Ha-ben-ben, in the place where
my body is, which is with me. Mystery to what is in thee! The mystery of hell
is what your arms conceal. They say to RA: "That your soul may be in heaven,
Inhabitant of the Horizon, let thy shadow ascend to the refuge. May thy body be
on earth, thou who dwellest in heaven; we give him RA in him. RA (?) feed
thyself and unite thyself to thy body, which is in hell. Their food is (made) of
the nutriment of Ternet, in which the souls repose. Offerings are made to them
on earth because they see the light in hell.
They are at the gate of Ha-ben ben; they see what RA sees; enter with his
mysterious image and examine what the great ones bring. RA says to them: My
food is your food, my nutriment is thy nutriment. You are those who are with my
mysteries. Here I am to protect my mysteries which are in Ha-ben-ben. Glory to
you! that your souls may live. Their nutriment is the nutriment of Khuti.
Tuanti says to them:2 O God, who dwelleth in hell, who art with us and the
sovereign of Amenti, you who cheer yourselves in your places and who recline on
your beds, raise up your flesh, unite your bones, close together your limbs,
collect together your flesh that the agreeable breath be wafted to (your
nostrils.)
THIRD LINE
Tuanti says to them: O Gods, who dwell in hell, who are with
the sovereign of Amenti, who cheer yourselves
_______
1 Form of Ra, cf. Litany of the Sun. [Note: This footnote
is not assigned anywhere.]
2 This end is the beginning out of its place of the following line.
{p.34} in your places and who are reposing on your heads, raise up
your flesh, unite your bones, close together your limbs, bring together your
flesh, that the agreeable breath be wafted to your nostrils. Overturning to your
coffins, carrying off to your headdresses1 that your divine eyes may glisten.
See the light by them. Arouse yourselves from your swoon! Receive for
yourselves your fields in the plain Neb-hatap-u. Fields are yours of this plain,
and its water is yours. Unite, thanks to me, fields in Neb-hatap-u. Their
refreshment is of water. NEHAP is he who places their bodies; their souls arise
there towards the plain of Aam, which is given (to them) to refresh themselves
there. This land produces their food and their meat, their refreshment is of
water. Offerings have been made to them on earth as to the mummy which reposes
on its bed.
They are in the circuit of this Khaset, there is an uraeus erect in this Khaset.
The water of this Khaset is on fire. The gods of the earth and the souls of the
land do not descend towards this Khaset, on account of the flame of this uraeus.
This great god who is in hell lives on the water of this Khaset. RA says to them: Oh! return to gods and souls, the holy Khaset, given for the water which is
in Anker. The water of this Khaset is OSIRIS,2 and this tank the inhabitant of
hell. Thy fire being burning, be devouring for the mouth of the souls, which
rise towards thee. O OSIRIS, thou dost not perish! O Khaset, thou dost not
perish. The gods do not take possession of it, and take care of his water. Their
food is (made) of bread, and their drink of the liquor feser, their refreshment
is of water. Offerings are made to them on earth as to the
________
1 Ant, instead of Apent.
2 The assimilation of Osiris to water is known by other texts.
{p.35} destroyer in Ament, Neb-hatap-u,1 these are fields of this
plain for you, and its water is yours. Return to, thanks to me, fields in Neb-hatap-u. Their refreshment is of water, Nehap is he who places their
bodies. Their souls rise towards the plains of Aam to take possession of (their
tanks).
________
1 These last sentences, which have already been given, are wrongly repeated
here.
{p.37}
SCARABEI OF AMENOPHIS III
TRANSLATED BY
S. BIRCH, LL.D., D.C.L.
AMONGST the various monuments of Amenophis III important information is afforded by three large scarabaei, which record as many historical facts. This class of monuments is exceedingly rare, and almost limited to the reign of Amenophis III. The scarabaei here translated have been published as follows: the first scarabaeus, recording his marriage with the queen Tai or Tii, an event which took place before his tenth regnal year, has been published by Rosellini, Monumenti Storici, Tav. 44, 1, and translated by the same author in his Monumenti Storici, tom. III., pl. 1, p. 263. The second scarabaeus, recording the lion hunts of the same monarch, has been published Zeitschrift fur Egyptische Sprache, 1880, p. 81; the {p.38} third, from two different examples, by Dubois, Pierres Gravees, 1747, pl. 22, and by Young, Hieroglyphics, 1828, pl. 13, and although not translated entirely is often alluded to by Egyptologists. The fourth scarabaeus, in the Vatican at Rome, has been published by Rosellini, Monumenti Storici, Tav. 44, 2, and imperfectly translated by him in the same work, Monumenti Storici, tom. III., pl. I, p. 263. Attention to its correct meaning was first called by Hincks, Trans. Royal Irish Academy, vol. XXI, part I, 1843. This is the most important of the series, showing, as it does, the commencement of the disk heresy, and from it a chronological deduction has been drawn as to the probable date of the reign of Amenophis III. Examples of the 1st and 3rd scarabaei are in the British Museum, Nos. 4095-4096.
{p.39}
SCARABEI OF AMENOPHIS III
I
1 The living HORUS, the Strong Bull, crowned by Truth,
2 the Lord of Diadems, establishing laws, pacifier of
3 the two countries, great warrior,1 smiter of the Eastern foreigners,2 King
of the Upper and Lower Egypt.3
4 NEB MA RA, Son of the Sun, AMENHETP,4 the ruler of the Thebaid, the Giver of
Life, the Great Royal Lady5 Tii, the living; the name of her father was IUA,
5 the name of her mother was TUAU.
6 She is the wife of the powerful King.
7 His southern frontiers are to the Karui,6
8 his northern are to
9 Naharaina.7
II
1 The X year under the Holiness
2 of the Horus, the Strong Bull crowned with Truth.
3 lord of diadems, establisher of laws, pacifier of the two countries, golden
hawk and great warrior
4 smiter of the Eastern foreigners, King of Upper and
________
1 aa χeps; see Pierret,
Vocabulaire, voce χeps.
2 Satu.
3 As of the orbit of the Upper and Lower world.
4 Amenophis III.
5 Wife, queen.
6 Gallas.
7 Mesopotamia.
{p.40} Lower Egypt, Lord doing things, NEB MA-RA approved of the
Sun.
5 Son of the Sun, AMEXHETEP, ruler of the Thebaid, giver of life, the great
royal lady Tii, the living.
6 The name of her father was IUA.1
7 The name of her mother was TUAA, the marvel
8 brought to his Holiness the living and well, the daughter of the chief of Naharaina,3
9 SATHARNA,4 KIRIKAIBA.5
10 The chief of her women
11 317 persons.
III
1 The living HORUS, the Strong Bull, crowned in Truth,
2 the Lord of Diadems, establisher of laws, pacifier of two countries,
3 Golden Hawk, great warrior, smiter of the Eastern foreigners, King of Upper
and Lower Egypt.
4 NEB MARA, Son of the Sun, AMENHETP6 ruler of the Thebaid of his race, Giver of
Life, (and)
5 The Queen, Tii, the living; the number of lions
6 brought7 by His Majesty, by his own shooting, beginning
7 from his first year, and continued to his tenth, fierce
8 lions, 102.
________
1 Lord of the Vulture, Neben or Eileithyia and the Uraeus, Buto.
2 The division of lines not marked here.
3 Mesopotamia.
4 Or Sathlana.
5 Kirgip, Brugsch.
6 Amenophis III.
7 an, brought as tribute.
{p.41}
IV
1 The year XI, the 1st of the month Athor,1 under
2 the Holiness of the HORUS, the Strong Bull, crowned with Truth, the Lord of
Diadems,
3 establisher of laws, pacifier of the two
countries, great warrior,2
4 smiter of the Eastern foreigners,3 King of Upper and Lower Egypt, NEB MARA,
Son of the Sun.
5 AMENHETP,4 Ruler of the Thebaid, Giver of Life, (and) the Great Royal Lady
Tii,
the living.
6 His Majesty ordered that the tank of the Great Royal Lady (Queen) Tii should be
made
7 in the city of TSARUKHA,5 excavating its length
8 3600 cubits, its breadth 600 cubits, his Majesty made the great festival
9 of the waters of the month of Athor, the i6th day, his Majesty sailed6 in
10 the barge (named) Atennefru7 within it.
_______
1 The third month of the Sa, or first season of the year.
2 Aaχepi, great man of the sword, or scimitar.
3 Satu.
4 Amenophis III.
5 Mansourah, Brugsch, Geogr, Dict., p. 986, reads em dema en Tsarutha.
6 Or, "rowed," apparently χen, the text here badly given by Rosellini,
loc. cit.
7 "The most beautiful disk," or "orb," or "of the most beautiful disk."
{p.43}
DREAM OF THOTHMES IV
TRANSLATED BY
S. BIRCH, LL.D., D.C.L.
THIS inscription is found upon a tablet, the lower part of which is much injured, about 14 feet high, placed before the breast of the Great Sphinx at Gizeh. This inscription was first copied by Salt, in 1820, when it was in better condition than the subsequent copies show. His MS. copy is in the British Museum, with other drawings and papers, entitled Memoirs on the Pyramids and the Great Sphinx, fo., 1820. Salt's copy was first published by Young, Hieroglyphics, fol. Lond., 1828, pl. 80, and a subsequent republication of Salt's copy was given in Vyse, Appendix to Operations Carried on at the Pyramids of Giseh, 8vo, Lond. 1842, vol. III, pl. 6. It was subsequently published by Lepsius, Denkmaler, Abth. III, Bl. 38, {p.44} and a portion of it by Brugsch-Bey, Zeitschrift fur Aegyptische Sprache, 1876, se. 89, who first gave a translation of the most important portion of the text relating to the dream. A translation of part of the contents had been given by me in the above cited work of Vyse, p. 114, and following. The present translation is the first given of the whole, and a collation of the different texts has been made for the purpose. It is indeed to be regretted that the monument has been so much injured, as otherwise the wanting portion would have contributed still more to the history of the Sphinx. It would appear, from the inscription, that the Sphinx was a representation of the king Cephren, the successor of Cheops; that the dream of Thothmes IV happened when the king was still a youth and had not yet mounted the throne, and that in remembrance of the dream, as soon as Thothmes had ascended the throne, he proceeded to fulfil the injunction laid upon him in his dream by the god.
{p.45}
DREAM OF THOTHMES IV
At the top of the tablet is the Hut, and right and left the
Sphinx, on an edifice like the facade of a tomb of the 4th dynasty, adored by
Thothmes IV. The inscriptions read:
The King of Upper and Lower Egypt, the Lord of the two countries, MEN KHEPERU
RA, TAHUTIMES (THOTHMES), Crown of crowns, Giver of Life, gives incense and
water.
Above the Sphinx is HAREMAχU (HARMACHIS) says I give great power to the Lord of
the two countries, TAHUTIMES, Crown of crowns.
On the left side Thothmes IV offers a jar to the Sphinx.
The King of Upper and Lower Egypt,1 Lord of the two countries, MENKHEPERU-RA,
Giver of Life, established and powerful like the Sun.
Over the Sphinx:
HAREMAχU (HARMACHIS). The speech. I give a strong life to the Lord of the two
countries, TAHUTIMES, Crown of crowns.
Between the two scenes is .....The speech. I have given to be crowned MEN
KHEPERURA,2 on the throne of SEB, TAHUTIMES3 Crown of crowns in the dignity of
TUM.
__________
1 As of the Upper and Lower orbit of the sun;
2 Thothmes IV.
3 Harmachis.
{p.46}
The text then follows
1 The year 1, the 18th of the month Athor, of the sanctity of the HORUS, the
Powerful Bull, image of rulers, Lord of diadems, establisher of kingdoms like
TUM, Golden hawk, rich in years, destroyer of the Ninebows, King of Upper and
Lower Egypt, MEN KHEPERU RA (Son of the Sun of his race, TAHUTIMES, Crown of
crowns), beloved of giver of life, stability, and health, like the Sun immortal.
2 The living good god, Son of TUM, support of HAREM-AχU, the living Sphinx of
the entire Lord, crowns the chief son,1 made of his substance, formed of KHEPERA, created by KHEPERA in the likeness of his strength,2 the image
proceeding to the earth in his form as HAREMAχU, father of the King of Upper and
Lower Egypt,3 most beautiful,4
agreeable to the circle of the gods, purifying ANNU,5
3 protecting its peace, protecting the abode of PTAH-[KA],6 giving what is due to
TUM, carrying it to him who is the South wall7 making memorials in the daily
course8 to HORUS, making all things, seeking out the glories of the gods of the
North and South, building their abodes .... in making all their substance,9 the
son of the Sun of his race, TAHUTIMES,10 Crown of crowns, like the Sun.
_______
1 The word here is apparently sa, "son," perhaps of the sun.
2 her me hekutf, uncertain phrase.
3 su χeb, or of the Upper and Lower world
4 Perhaps Nebui
5 Heliopolis.
6 Memphis.
7 Ptah, one of his titles.
8 Ameni.
8 Pant.
10 Thothmes IV.
{p.47}
4 The substance of HORUS, on his throne, MENKHEPERU-RA, Giver
of Life. Then His Majesty was like a young Anepu1 like a young HORUS, in the
Lower country;2 his beauties, like the sustainer of his father, seen like a god
himself, rejoicing on account of it, the soldiers, the princes, and all the
leaders; he was in his strength by his exaltations.
5 He doubled the circle of his riches like the Son of NUT. Then he made a hunt
for his enjoyment in the Hill of the Southern wall,3 in its direction North and
South, to shoot at a mark with bronze bolts, to hunt the lions of the gazelle
land,4 journeying in his chariot, his horses fleeter
6 than the wind, with two of his followers; they did not perceive any one. Then
it was an hour of giving rest5 to his servants, at the time HAREMA^U selects to
be with SEKAR in Rusta, Ranen is in Tsammut6 above with (to}
Isis, Lady of the
Wall of the North, Lady of the Wall of the South,
7 SEKHET, resident in Khas,7 SET-APEP, the Great Enchantress, in the holy place
from the first beginning to the place of the Lords of Kharkar,8 the holy road
of the gods to the western horizon of Annu.9 Then the form of the Sphinx of KHEPERA reposed in this place, the greatest of spirits, worthy in honour, rested
upon it, were
_________
1 Anubis, or youth
2 χeb.
3 The Acropolis of Memphis.
4 Desert.
5 Desert.
6 A doubtful phrase. Brugsch reads "grains of corn, with flowers." It is known
as Gemi, Pakemis, or Pasemis.
7 Xois.
8 Babylon.
9
Heliopolis.
{p.48} given to it the houses of Ptah-ka1 and every town which was
in its district. Their hands adored its face,
8 having great offerings for his being.2 One of these days it happened a
journey was made by the Prince TAHUTIMES3 journeying at the time of noon. A rest
it was he made in the shade of this god; it (sleep) fell on him, dreaming in
slumber at the moment of the Sun being in the zenith,4
9 he found the sanctity of this noble god speaking with his own mouth, as a
father speaks to his son, saying: Look at me! behold me, my son, TAHUTIMES5 I
am thy father, HAREMAKHU,6 KHEPRA, RA, TUM, will be given to thee my kingdom.
10 upon my seat dwelling amidst the living. Thou will bear the Upper and Lower
crown on the throne of SEB, the heir7 Every land in its length and breadth with
(which) the beaming eye of the Lord entire lightens will be thine. Supplies will
be thine of the product of the two countries, and the great tribute of every
land, the duration of a long time of years. My face is to thee, my heart is to
thee.
11 Consider as if you were encircled by all my special flesh, the sand of the
country encroaches on me, on that which is my existence. Answer8 me that you
will do me what is in my heart. I shall know to say thou art my son, my true
helper; come nearer, let me be with you, I am
_________
1 Memphis.
2 Qa, "Genius."
3 Thothmes IV before his accession to the crown.
4 The Horus.
5 Thothmes IV before his accession to the crown.
6 Harmachis.
7 Repa, "youth," Brugsch.
8 An-na, uncertain.
{p.49}
12 conducting thee. (When) he had finished this speech, the
prince awoke; he listened to these, he recognized the words of that god; he made silence in his own heart. He said, let us
go to the temples of the country let us They dedicate offerings to that god,
13 give ye tribute to him of cattle bread, beer and incense; we raise our hands
to the protector noble
14 The KHAFRA, the image made to TUM, HARMACHIS,
15 gifts in the festivals (of Egypt),
16 in all places numerous were
17 of His Majesty, who was at
18 of KHEPRA1 in the western horizon of Annu2
19 was done.3
_________
1 The god, form of Ra.
2 Heliopolis.
3 This latter portion is in Salt.
{p.50}
THE FOUNDATION OF THE TEMPLE OF THE SUN OF HELIOPOLIS
POETICAL TEXT WRITTEN ON A LEATHER ROLL
TRANSLATED BY
LUDWIG STERN.
THE leather roll which contains the following record of the
XIIth dynasty was secured by Dr. Brugsch in 1858, at Thebes, and sold, after his
return in 1859, to the Royal Egyptian Museum at Berlin. It remained unknown till
1874, when I published the texts, in facsimile, with a transcription, in the
Zeitschrift fur Aegyptische Sprache of Berlin. Though I recognized its contents
as referring to the foundation of the Temple of Heliopolis, yet it was not
without an appeal to the indulgence of the candid reader, that I ventured a
translation of a text so full of difficult phrases and obsolete words. Dr.
Reinisch republished the hieratic text in his Chresto-
{p.52} mathy; Dr.
Birch, the transcript in his reading-book of Egyptian Texts; and Dr. Brugsch
gave a short analysis of its contents in the recent edition of his History of
Egypt. The following translation is a revision of my first attempt.
The document refers to the foundation of a Temple of the Sun, in the 3rd year of
the reign of Usertsen I. This king having ruled for several years, together with
his father Amenemha I, the date of the present account ought to fall into this
co-regency; and in my first attempt I even thought the father himself alluded to
in the text. But, after due consideration, I abandoned this supposition, since,
if this were the case, we should expect him to be introduced with his
full titles. There can be no doubt that the temple, the foundation of which is
described here, is the temple of Horus and Tum, the rising and the setting sun,
at On or Heliopolis. It is the famous "House of the Sun," mentioned in the
prophecy of Jeremiah (xliii. 13): "He shall break also the images of Beth-Shemesh,
that is in the land of Egypt; and the houses of the gods of the Egyptians shall
he burn with fire."
{p.53}
RECORD OF FOUNDATION
1 The year 3, month Athor, of the reign of the King of Upper
and Lower Egypt, KHEPER-KA-RA, the Son of the Sun, USERTSEN I, may he triumph
and live for ever!
2 The King1 was crowned with the double crown, there was a sitting in the hall,
a council of his attendants. the counsellors of PHARAOH, may he live!
3 and the great ones for the place of the
foundations.2
4 "Come, let my Majesty order the works, let me think duly of the glories.
5 Henceforth I will make monuments and erect carved columns to the Double Harmachis.3
6 He created me to do what becomes him, to fulfil what he ordered to do. He made
me overcome4 this country, he took note and inclined, (?)
7 he bestowed on me his protection, illustrating what is in the eyes (?). Let me
do the same in his love,
8 I am a king of his making; a monarch long-living, not by the father (?). I
occupied as a mere child, not yet worshipped,
________
1 Read sutn, instead of atf.
2 For adtu, as given in the edition, might be read senenlu. The meaning of some
expressions is suggested by a similar inscription in Mariette's Karnak, pl.
xii.
3 Read en Hor, instead of Hor.
4 Read ken-a (beating man), instead of uau-d.
{p.54}
9 in the egg already I was a
superior of the road of ANUBIS. He exalted me as lord of both parts,1
10 as an infant not yet gone forth. He anointed my forehead as lord of men,
11 creating me as chief of mortals. He placed me into the palace, as youth not
yet come forth from my mother's womb.2
12 He gave me his length and his width, and I have a name in his being
victorious. He gave me the land, I am its lord, and I penetrated unto the souls
in the heights of heaven.
13 Let me do good deeds3 to him who made me, let me conciliate the god by
offerings to him. his son
14 He ordered me to occupy what he had occupied. I come, O HORUS, examiner of
the body.4 I established the offerings of the gods,
15 and I shall make works in the house of father TUM. May he give increase as he
made me begin (?).
16 I shall fill his altar upon earth, and I shall build, while I abide. There
will be a remembrance of my benefits in his house.
17 Let my name be the temple, my monument the lake. Immortality is a glorious
deed.
18 There is no calculating a king of age out of his works, they will not know
(how) to name him, (?)
______
1 Read pesesti "both parts of Horus and Set," as it is found elsewhere. Lepsius,
Denkm. III. 5, 2,
2 Compare: "when thou comest from the ahti of thy mother." Lepsius,
Denkm.
VI. 115, 19.
3 Mäars perhaps to be explained: "success, good deed, happiness." Comp. Goodwin
in the Zeitschrift, 1876, p. 103.
4 An epithet of Horus, ap-set, which I have met with in another instance.
Mariette, Karnak, xvi. 39.
{p.55} unless his name be engraved.
19 There is no desolation by the effect of time, the works
will last,
it is a striving for glories;
20 it is an enterprise of a perfect name;
it is the watching over an eternal work."
{p.56}
PART II
1 They spoke thus, the King and the counsellors,
and these replied to their god:
"Hu is (in) thy mouth, and SA is within thee.1
2 O long-living ruler! thou plannest2 and it is so.
King crowned as uniter of both countries. to extend (the cord) in thy temple.3
3 Magnificent, when the morning is looking
upon the glories of the age!
4 They all will not finish it without the lord,
thy Majesty is now the eyes of everybody.
Let large statues be made for thy monuments in the house
of the gods
5 to thy father, the Lord of the Great house,
TUM, the bull of the circle of the gods,
6 who makes thy house, its construction of hard stone;
let it be made with a sculptured idol,
let thy statues be placed in the interior
on pedestals4 everlasting."
7 The King himself said:
"Chancellor and intimate counsellor,
chief of the treasure house,
8 chief of the mysteries of THOTH,
it is proposed to execute the work;
the Majesty likes to have it made.
9 Let the superintendent in this matter
_______
1 The gods of eloquence and wisdom.
2 Read sexeru instead of sexer.
3 To extend the cord is to lay the foundation.
4 Read, em dnut, but the meaning is doubtful.
{p.57} carry it on as is desired.
Let everybody be vigilant,
10 let them make it void of fatigue.
Let every ceremony required be done,
11 and let the foreman perform it.
Thy hour is a time for doing it,
12 since it becomes thee to order the things (?);
let the beloved place arise.
13 Order the workmen to perform as thou art
charged." The King (rose) with the diadem and double pen, all men following him.
The lecturer read the holy book, while extending the cord and laying the
foundation on the spot to be occupied by this temple.1
Then his Majesty departed2
______
1 Almost the same expressions are found in a text of the time of Thutmes
III, in Mariette's Karnak, 15, 25. Here the King extends the cord with
his own hands.
2 It is impossible to give a sure translation of the lost lines of the text,
explained only conjecturally in the Zeitschrift. In line 18 I discern the
groups "the South and the North;" anen su, will be rather "he returned."
{p.59}
INSCRIPTION OF AMENI-AMENEMHA
TRANSLATED BY
S. BIRCH, LL.D., D.C.L.
THE following inscription, which is found in one of the entrance halls of the well-known tomb at Benihassan, has been translated by Birch, Transactions of the Royal Society of Literature, vol. V, 1856, p. 212, and by Brugsch-Bey, Histoire d'Egypte, 4to, Leipzig, 1859, p.55-56 again in his Geschichte Aegyptens unter der Pharaonen, p. 139 and foll., and by Reinisch, Aegyptische Chrestomathie, fo. Wien, Taf. I, 5. It is also translated by M. Maspero, Recueil de Travaux relatifs a la Phulologie et a l'Archeologie Egyptiennes et Assyriennes, 4to, Paris, 1879, vol. I, p. 160. It occurs in a hall, or chamber, leading into the celebrated tomb of Beni-hassan, and refers to one of the ancestors of Chnumhotep, whose inscription is also given, containing the account of the hereditary investiture of {p.60} his family with the governorship of the district Mah, or Sah, known, at a later period, by the name of Antinbe. These inscriptions throw some light on the condition of Egypt under the XIIth dynasty, and the present one records the famine which then prevailed, similar to the great seven years famine recorded in the Book of Genesis. Dependent upon the annual increase of the Nile, which sometimes failed, Egypt was occasionally subject to famines, and these, at the time of the XIIth dynasty, were so important that they attracted great attention and were considered worthy of record by the princes or hereditary lords who were buried at Beni-hassan. Under the XIIth dynasty, also, the tombs of Abydos show the creation of superintendents or storekeepers of public granaries, a class of functionaries apparently created to meet the emergency, while the disturbance of the level of the Nile, at Samneh, points to the cause of deficient inundations. The text is given, Lepsius, Denkmaler, Abtheilung II., Bd. IV, Bl. 122. The person who narrates his merits in the text is Ameni, surnamed Amenemha.
{p.61}
INSCRIPTION OF AMENI-AMENEMHA
1 The year 43 of the sanctity of the HORUS, life of the born,
the King of the South and North, RA-KHEPER-KA, ever-living.
2 Lord of Diadems, life of the born, golden hawk, life of the
born, son of the SUN, USERTESEN (I), ever-living, for
ages.
3 in1 the 25th year, in Mah,
of hereditary chief the officer2 AMENI justified.
4 The 43rd year, the 15th of Choiak, Oh, all who love life
(and) hate
5 death, say3 thousands of food and beer, bread, oxen,
geese,
6 for the person4 of the hereditary chief functionary, great
one of Mah, guardian5 of Syene, superior6 superintendent
of prophets, AMENI justified, I followed my lord in his
7 sailing up the river to overthrow his enemies in the four7
foreign lands; I sailed up as the son of a chief chancellor, general of troops, the chief of Mah.
8 as the representative8 of my old father, the favoured of
the palace, beloved9 of the court, I passed
_______
1 χeft used as her, "when," or "in."
2 Am-tut "gracious hand."
3 May Osiris give.
4 qaa, "double," Maspero.
5 Nem, "lesser guardian."
6 Her may apply to Syene.
7 The cipher four occurs in the text, perhaps by error.
8 Em atten, sa aten is an officer.
9 Meri.
{p.62}
9 to Kash1 sailing up. I led things everywhere;
I brought all my tribute my favour it reached as far as
the heaven.
10 His Majesty went, and came round in safety; he over
threw his enemies in the vile Kash. I came, following him, protecting2
11 no loss of my troops. I sailed up to bring the treasure
of gold3 to the sanctity of the King of the South and North
RA-XEPER-KA, ever living for ages.
12 I sailed up with the hereditary chief, the prince, eldest
of his race, AMENI. May he live and be well! I went with
my number4 of 400 of all the picked men of
13 my troops, I came in safety. I did not lose any of
them. I was rewarded;5 I was praised on account
of it by the kings.6
______
1 Aethiopia.
2 Em, sept, her, no one was wanting of my warriors. Brugsch. "As a
brave one."
3 All sorts. Maspero.
4 Or body.
5 s'a na.
6 The two monarchs at the time reigning together.
{p.63}
LEFT SIDE
1 I adored the Prince. I sailed up to bring the treasure
to the city of Qaba,1 with the hereditary chief, the
governor of the district, the magistrate USERTESEN. May
he live and be well! I sailed with my body of 400
2 of all the brave men of Mah. I brought in safety my
troops; certainly I did all I said. I am a favoured chief,
very much beloved, a ruler beloved of his district. I made
a course of years
3 as ruler of Mah, and all the work2 for the palace was done
by my hand. I was appointed superintendent3 of the
serfs of the temples of the gods of Mah, 3000 bulls with
heifers. I was
4 praised on account of it by the palace for the yearly
produce of cattle. I worked the whole of Mah4 with
abundant labourers.5 No little child have I injured; no
widow have I oppressed; no fisherman have I hindered;
no shepherd have I detained; no
5 foreman of five men have I taken from his gang out
for the labour.6 There was no poverty in my days, no
starvation in my time, when there were years of famine.
6 I ploughed all the fields of Mah7 to its southern and
______
1 Coptos.
2 Revenue. Maspero.
3 Brugsch made, "Behold the chiefs of the temples gave me
thousands of bulls with their cattle."
4 Antinoe, or Beni-hassan.
5 Labouring feet, labours. Maspero.
6 Referring to the corvee, or forced labour.
7 Owner of the land. Brugsch.
{p.64} northern frontiers. I gave life to its inhabitants, making
its food; no one was starved in it. I gave to the widow as
to the
7 married woman. I made no difference between the
great and little in all that I did. When the Nile made1
great waters, all types2 all cultivation3
all things, I did not take out of the fields.4
_____
1 r or ar.
2 χeper neb, all things to assume their forms. He who sowed was the
master of the crop. Brugsch.
3 A mutilated word, ending ruti, determined by two parallelograms.
4 I did not take from the revenues of the field. Brugsch.
{p.65}
INSCRIPTION OF CHNUMHETEP
TRANSLATED BY
S. BIRCH, LL.D., D.C.L.
THE following inscription, taken from the celebrated tomb at Beni-hassan, belonging to a most remarkable family which flourished at the XIIth dynasty, has long been known. The text was first published by Burton, Excerpta Hieroglyphica, fo., Cairo, 1830, pl. 33-34, and afterwards, in a more complete and exact form, by Professor Lepsius, Denkmaler, Abth. II, Bl. 124 and 125. It is taken from the walls of a well-known sepulchre. The most important and historical portion has been translated by Brugsch-Bey, Histoire d'Egypte, 4to, 1856, p. 55; his Geschichte Aegyptens, 8vo, Leipzig, 1877, pp. 139, 143, 146, and the translation, A History of Egypt under the Pharaohs, 8vo, London, 1879, pp. 148, 149, {p.66} 157, 158, comprising the first half; but the other portion, although not so interesting, is far more difficult. Later, a translation of the whole has been given by M. Maspero in the Recucil des Travaux relatifs a la Philologie et a l'Archeologie Egyptiennes et Assyriennes, 1879, p. 160 and foll. The contents show the old feudal constitution of Egypt, the power of the monarch over the principalities, the amount they paid, and the hereditary succession of the great nobles, as also the rights of women to the hereditary estates under the Crown.
{p.67}
INSCRIPTION OF CHNUMHETEP
1 The hereditary chief, the royal relative, loving the god,1 governor
2 of the lands of the East, XNUMPETEP, son of NEHERA,
justified,
3 son of the daughter of a chief, BEQAT, justified,
4 has made a monument for the first time2 to embellish3
5 his district, he has sculptured his name for ever4
6 he has embellished it for ever by his chamber
7 of KARNETER5 he has sculptured the name of his
8 household, he has assigned their place.
9 The workmen, those attached to his
10 house, he has reckoned amongst his
11 dependents of all ranks,6 he gave to
12 all the ministers,7 it was as they were.
13 his mouth said, granted me
14 the sanctity of the HORUS adoring with truth, the Lord
of Diadems adoring with
15 Truth, the Golden Hawk the justified, the King of the
South and North, RANUBKA, son of the Sun.
16 AMENEMHA (II), Giver of Life, established and strong
like the Sun, immortal, to be
_________
1 Beloved of his god. Maspero.
2 The first time he made any monument.
3 Smenχ, to fabricate or make; translated, throughout, "embellish," or
"adorned," or "complete."
4 Srui, some read, "made to flourish."
5 His tomb.
6 χeft, at this period
χeft, replaces the face, and usually read
"her."
7 Net'en χet, a kind of officers, a word like the net
χet of the Tablet of
Canopus.
{p.68}
17 the hereditary chief governor of the lands of the East,
18 HORUS, PAχET1 to the succession2 of
19 the father of my mother in Mena-
20 XUFU, he set up to me
21 the landmark of the South; he made
22 the Northern like the heaven;
23 he stretched the great river at
24 its back,3 as was done to my father
25 and mother,4 by the decree
26 proceeding from the mouth of the sanctity of
27 the HORUS, the second born, the Lord of Diadems, the
second born,
28 the Golden Hawk, the second born, the King of the
South and North, RASATETPAB, son of the Sun.
29 AMENEMHA(I), Giver of Life, established and strong like
the Sun for ever,
30 he appointed him to be hereditary chief of the lands of
the East, in Mena-Xufu;5
31 he established the landmark6 of the South; he sculptured
32 the Northern like the heaven; he stretched the great
river
33 on its back,7 its place in the East
34 was Apollinopolis,8 to remain in the East.
35 Came his sanctity doing away with
________
1 The patron god. Brugsch reads, "these god as patents or makes the
chief their priest." Perhaps of the East of Har-Pakhet.
2 Fau, race.
3 In its middle. Maspero.
4 Father of my mother. Brugsch.
5 Minieh.
6 Hutu, tablets.
7 Or spine, aat; either the Nile flowed through or behind the district,
8 Tu-Har,
{p.69}
36 negligence,1 crowned2 as ATUM
37 he was ATUM
38 himself, he set right what he found
39 wasted; he made the district
40 in its two parts3
knowing4
41 its frontiers, for a district:
42 setting up their land marks5
43 like the heaven, determining their waters;
44 by what was in the list, making
45 the dues by the valuation of the greatness
46 of his love of justice. He appointed him
47 hereditary chief, great protector of the land of Mah;6
48 he made the land marks of
49 the South of his frontiers at
50 Unnut,7 his northern at Cynopolis;8 he stretch-
51 ed the great river at its back9
52 his waters, his fields, his tamarisks,10
53 his soil11 to remain to the lands of the West,
54 He gave his eldest son NEKHT,
55 justified, a worthy person, (to be) ruler
56 of his heritage in Mena-Xufu12
57 by the great favour
58 of the King, by an eternal decree
_______
I Suppressing the insurrection. Brugsch.
2 Rising. Maspero.
3 Taking one town after another. Brugsch.
4 Reχ, or calculating.
5 Determining the two parts.
6 Benihassan.
7
Hermopolis.
8 The nome Anupu.
9 He distributed to him the great river over his territory. Brugsch.
10 Aser, here for trees in general.
11 Sâ, sand arena.
12 Minieh.
{p.70}
59 coming from the mouth of the Sanctity of the HORUS,
life of the born,
60 Lord of Diadems, life of the born,1 the Golden Hawk,
life of the born,
61 RAXEPERKA, son of the son USERTESEN (I.) Giver of
Life,
62 strong (and) firm, like the Sun immortal,
63 I succeeded from my birth2
64 My mother proceeded as an hereditary
65 chief, the daughter of a ruler3
66 of Mah, to the palace of RASATEPAB4
67 the giver of life, strong and firm, like the Sun immortal, to be the wife
68 of the hereditary chief, the ruler of nomes,
69 satisfying5 the heart of the King of the South, favourite
70 of the King of the North, to his succession of governor
of the country.
71 NEHERA justified, a worthy person brought
72 me the King of the South and North, RA-NUB-KAU, Giver
of Life, strong and sound,
73 like the Sun immortal, as the son of a chief, to succeed
74 to the rule of my father and mother out of
75 the greatness of his love to me, truly he was ATUM
76 himself, RA-NUB-KAU6 Giver of Life,
77 established and strong, like the Sun immortal, he appointed
78 me for chief in the 18th year,7 in
_______
1 Or living born.
2 The first of my race, or those born as heir.
3 Heka, or hyk, small prince.
4 Amenemha I.
5 Met-met.
6 Amenemha II.
7 Uncertain if of his reign, but probably so.
{p.71}
79 Menaχufu.1 I was adorning
80 it. I was making it to be (provided)
81 with all things. I caused to prosper2
82 the name of my father. I completed
83 the existing temples of the Ka.3 I served4 my statues
84 at the great temples. I sacrificed to them
85 their food, bread, beer, water, vegetables,
86 pure herbs. My priest has verified. I procured5
87 them from the irrigation
88 of my workpeople.6 I ordered
89 the sepulchral offerings of bread, beer, cattle, fowl, in all
the festivals
90 of Karneter,7 at the festivals of the beginning of the
year, the opening of the year, increase
91 of the year, diminution of the year,8
close of the year,9
92 at the great festival, at the festival of the great burning,
93 at the festival of the lesser burning, the five inter-
94 calary days, at the festival of bread-making,10
95 at the twelve monthly and twelve half-monthly festivals,
96 all the festivals on the earth (plain) terminating on the
hill.11 But
97 should my sepulchral priest or men
_______
1 Minieh.
2 Or flourish.
3 Or Genius.
4 I dragged my statue to the temples. Brugsch.
5 I chose a priest of the Ka or Genius. Maspero.
6 Mer, vassals, peasants, serfs.
7 Hades or Purgatory, sepulchral.
8 Little year. Brugsch.
9 These festivals varied according to the fixed or vague years, were in the
year but did not mark separate years.
10 Set fa s'a, civil and funereal, or s'et ta sâ, flour and food. Entry of
grain, Maspero.
11 On the hill, or, "over the hill" is a hill of Anubis.
{p.72}
98 conduct them wrong may he not exist,
99 nor his son in his place. I was more
100 favoured in the palace than
101 any other courtier,1
102 who reckoned me his following;2
103 before those who were
104 before me, in opposition to
105 chamberlains3 of the palace,
106 I paid my court by
107 touching the forehead in
108 the homage. It was
109 in the presence of the word of mouth of the king
110 himself, never was like done
111 by servants to their lord in their homage:
112 he knew the place of my tongue,
113 the humility of my thought;
114 I was one worthy
115 of the sanctity of the king, the honoured
116 of those around him,
117 favoured in the presence
118 of his courtiers, the hereditary chief,
119 XNUMHETEP'S son NEHERA, a devoted person.
120 Also praised4 be what has done for me.
121 Appointed has been my eldest son NEKHT
122 of the lady of the house, KHRATI, to be ruler of
Cynopolis,
123 for the hereditaments of the father of
124 his mother. He is a courtier5
_______
1 Sabmer, or, as some read, s'mer, a courtier or minister.
2 χenhu f, his condition or position, degree, nobility.
3 qanbut, pillars of the palace, "or household."
4 Hesut, thanked, or homage be rendered.
5 Sabmer, one of the king's friends. Brugsch.
{p.73}
125 appointed ruler of the district
126 of the South, given to him, have been each
127 hereditaments by the sanctity of
128 the HORUS, conducting the two countries, the Lord of
Diadems, crowned (by) truth,
129 the Golden Hawk of the gods,1 King of the South and
North, RA-SHA-χEPER, son of the Sun,
130 USERTESEN (II), Giver of Life, established and strong
like the Sun, for he made
131 his memorial in Cynopolis, making good
132 what he found defective. He made
133 the district into two parts,2 causing to be determined
134 its frontiers, adjusting
135 the dues by valuation,
136 he placed a landmark3 at his frontiers
137 on the South, he completed the North
138 like the heavens, placed in the fields
139 of the fallen,4 making a total
140 of fifteen landmarks set up on
141 his fields, the Northern frontiers
142 to Uas-b-uas,5 he stretched
143 the great river at its back.6
144 Its western place of Cynopolis to remain
145 (as far as) in the land of the West as
requested.7
146 The hereditary chief NEKHT, son of KHNUMHETEP,
147 justified a worthy person, says: Not has known my wish
________
1 Or third divine golden hawk.
2 Brugsch translates, taking possession of one town after the other.
3 Hutu, tablets.
4 Uncultivated. Brugsch.
5 Oxyrynchite, nome.
6 See before.
7 etf sper, when, or, as asked by me.
{p.74}
148 favoured greatly
149 by the King, any other grown old in
150 the service as a courtier,1
151 any among the
152 numerous courtiers,2
153 led to the palace as a courtier.3
154 There is not in his district who has heard
155 (such) great hearings, a mouth
156 stopping mouths, bearing4
the honour5
157 of the great lord, door and gate of lands,
158 XNUMHETEP, son of NEHERA, son
159 of the lady of the house, KHRATI,
160 keeping alive the name of my father.
161 (which) I found injured
162 on the doors known by
163 the hand,6 judged by the condition,7
not
164 was given another instead
165 of the other, lo, I a son completed,
166 making to flourish the name,
167 of the ancestors of NEHERA,
168 son of XNUMHETEP, justified, a worthy person,
169 the chief ancestor, first I completed
170 the upper part8 of the door to let pass
171 a person to do what a father had done;
172 my father made for it a statue
173 and a sepulchral temple for it, of his great love of the
district,
________
1
Safaner, or smer.
2 Ibid.
3 Hid
4 Ar, making.
5 χut, the lustre or glory.
6 Or form.
7 Set.
8 Her, the lintel.
{p.75}
174 of good and beautiful1 stone,
175 causing his name to flourish for ever.
176 He completed it for ever, his name lives
177 in the mouth of men, established
178 in the mouth of the living,
179 through his chamber of Karneter,2 his place
180 completed for ever, placed
181 is his house of eternity, through the favour
182 of the sanctity of the King, who loved him,
183 in his palace. He ruled his district when
184 he was a babe, clothed in male attire;
185 he accompanied the King, his feathers
186 they3 danced as a boy
187 on his forehead, in the South,
188 the place of his tongue and humility of his thought SEBAK-
189 ANKH'S son NEHERA, justified, a pure person.
190 He knew4 the hereditaments of his ancestors
191 to rule his district. It was IXNUMHETEP,
192 making his noble memorial within the district.
193 I built a colonnade, which I found
194 on the place, I set it up
195 with new columns
196 inscribed in my own name.
197 I kept alive the name of my father in order
198 to perpetuate what I had done,
199 in all the memorial; a door of six cubits,
200 of brass5 and cedar, inlaid6 for the first
________
1 Or, of good stone to see, or in appearance.
2 Hades, sepulchral.
3 χet, dressed; the feathers were s'u, ostrich.
4 Or had assigned reχ.
5 Apparently determinative of this metal, and the word at, cedar.
6 Neka.
{p.76}
201 gate of the chamber; two gates of seven cubits
202 at the turn1 of the noble
203 house which is within2 that chamber; a table of
204 offerings, sepulchral meals of bread, beer, oxen, geese,
food in all;
205 the monuments I caused to be made hollow. The area
206 of its circuit, giving air to
207 the great colonnade placed
208 within this district for fathers,
209 (as) a child of this district completing
210 the memorials of its district to the ancestral places
those before,
211 adding to the turn made before me.
212 I am noble3 by the monuments,
213 I ordered all the years of
214 disgust4 within that district
215 enveloped;5 sculpturing my name
216 on all the monuments. I
217 held on them without defect in them; I embarked
218 on the boat, as my father ordered.6
219 I the hereditary chief,
220 KHNUMHETEP, son of NAHRI,
221 son of the lady BEGAT, justified
222 a devout person.
223 The chancellor BEGAT made the tomb.
_______
1 Or area, kar, corner.
2
χen.
3 Sah, or χetit,
4 teft.
5 Meru. Hall of Libations. Maspero.
6 ha hut atef, or else the boat named Hut atef.
{p.77}
LIBATION VASE OF OSOR-UR
PRESERVED IN THE MUSEUM OF THE LOUVRE, NUMBERED 908
TRANSLATED BY
PAUL PIERRET
THIS vase, in bronze, of an oblong form and having
a movable handle, is covered with inscriptions
finely traced with a pointed instrument. Saitic
epoch. Capacity 5 litres (about five pints).
The text (the translation of which here follows) is
found in the 2nd vol. of my Recueil d'Inscriptions du Louvre, in the eighth
number of the Etudes Egyptologiques.
The goddess Nout standing in her sycamore, pours
the water, which is received by the deceased from one
side and by his soul from the other.
Saith the OSIRIS: Divine father and first prophet of AMMON
OSOR-UR, truthful: Oh, Sycamore of NOUT! Give me the
water and the breath (of life) which proceed from thee.
That I may have the vigour of the goddess of vigour; that
I may have the life of the goddess of life; that I may
breathe the breath of the goddess of the respiration of
breaths, for I am TOUM. {p.78} Saith NOUT: Oh, the OSIRIS, divine father, etc., thou receivest the libation from my own hands; I, thy beneficent
mother. I bring thee the vase containing the abundant water
for rejoicing thy heart by its effusion, that thou mayest breathe
the breath (of life) resulting from it; for I give water to
every mummy: I give breath to him whose throat is deprived
of it, to those whose body is hidden, to those who have no
chapel. I am with thee.
I reunite thee to thy soul, which will separate itself no
more from thee never.
The deceased is in adoration before Osiris Ounnefer, who is seated and followed by Harsiesi, Isis
and Nephthys, who assure him of their protection.
Saith the OSIRIS: Divine father of AMMON RA, King of the
gods, first prophet of AMMON OSOR-UR, truthful, son of
NESPAOUT-TA-UI, born of the lady NEHEMS-RA-TAUI: I
come near to thee, my lord OSIRIS, to implore the breath
and the water from thee. Grant that I may receive them, to
rejoice my heart.
Underneath these two scenes, one reads an address
to the deceased:
Oh, divine father, servant of AMMON RA, servant of the
diadem of HORUS, prophet of KHEM, prophet of MONTH,
lord of Tserout, prophet in twelfth part of AMMON, become
first prophet of AMMON, OSER-UR, son of the very dignitary
NESPAOUT-TAUI, born of the lady of the house, priestess of
AMMON RA, NEHEMS-RA-TAUI, to thee is offered this libation
drawn from ABYDOS, flowing come from OSIRIS, which
SOTHIS bringeth thee with his own hands.1
_______
1 It refers to the water of the Nile, the return of which was announced by
the rising of Sothis.
{p.79}
KHXOUM telleth thee of it. Cometh to thee an abundant
Nile in his time; his hands hold the water of renewal; he bringeth thee all the offerings, all the plants at their season,
without lack from their total. TOUM maketh thy bones firm;
his good north-wind is for thy nostril; he giveth thee the
daily aliments; his beverages are not lacking to thee. Thy
flesh liveth by the purification which thy son maketh thee in
thy retreat. The Resident of the West hath established thy
person among the sages of the divine lower region; he giveth stability to thy body among those who repose, and
causeth thy soul not to distance itself from thee. Isis,
divine mother, offereth thee her breast, and thou hast, by
her, the abundance of life; she giveth thee the things in the
hall of OSIRIS; she granteth that thou enterest amongst the
august personages of the Thebaid; she placeth thy person
near to the Good Being; thou dost not cease to belong to
His followers. Thou receivest the libation from the hands
of thy son, at the period of every ten days, when the barque
of the Divinity of Libations appeareth at the west of Thebes
for the purification in Medinet-Abou, where is the face of
the father of thy fathers.
He evoketh the remembrance of thy person and saveth
thy body entirely and for ever.
Every son maketh the purification for his father, accomplishing the ceremony of water to thy person,1 and he anointeth his father and reuniteth
him to his mother by invoking thy name with that of his father. The beneficent
sister repeateth the formula and provideth thy soul with her
conjurations. She granteth that thou leavest and that thou
enterest into the Halls. She hath placed thee amongst her
benevolent genii Thy person is strengthened by all her
formulae of incantation. Thou shalt not be repulsed by
_______
1 The deceased is here addressed as if he were Osiris himself. Isis.
{p.80} OSIRIS on the day of his great festival of the Arm of the gods. I invoke their name, that they may give thee the aliments of the other life, and that they may establish thy person in the middle of their sacred dwelling. At all times of appeal and of invocation thy heart doth follow thee on the waves of the stream, where thou dost eat according to thy desire, for ever and ever.
{p.81}
THE GREAT TABLET OF RAMESES II
AT ABU-SIMBEL
TRANSLATED BY
EDOUARD NAVILLE
IN the great temple of Abu-Simbel, between two
pillars of the first hall, there is a large tablet
which has been added, evidently, a long time after the
completion of the temple. This tablet, which is the
object of the present translation, is covered with a
text of 37 lines, containing a speech of the god Ptah {p.82} Totunen to the king Rameses II, and the answer of
the king.
It was very likely considered by the kings of
Egypt to be a remarkable piece of literature, as it has
been repeated, with slight alterations, on the pylons of
the temple of Medinet-Habu, built by Rameses III.
The tablet, which is decaying rapidly, has been
published three times; first, by Burton, in the Excerpta
Hieroglyphica, pl. 60; then from the copies of Champollion, in the Monuments de
l'Egypte et de la Nubie, I,
pt. 38; and, finally, by Lepsius, Denkmaler III,
pl. 193. The inscription of Medinet-Habu has been
copied and published by M. Dumichen, in his Historiche Inschriften I, pl. 7-10, and by M.
Jacques de Rouge, in his Inscriptions recueillis en
Egypte, II, pt. 131-8.
I am not aware that any complete translation of
this long text has been made. The first part has {p.83}
been translated into German by Mr. Dumichen (Die
Flotte einer Aegyptischen Konigin. Einleitung), from
the text at Medinet-Habu; a portion of it is also to
be found in Brugsch, Aegyptische Geschichte, p. 538.
The present translation I have made from the tablet,
which, being more ancient than the inscription, is
very likely to be the original. It contains an interesting allusion to the marriage of Rameses with a
daughter of the king of the Kheta. The inscription
at Medinet-Habu, which is written more carefully
than the tablet, and with less abbreviations, has given
me a clue to several obscure passages of the ancient
text.
The tablet is surmounted by a cornice, with the
winged disk. Underneath, the god Totunen is seen
standing, and before him Rameses, who strikes with
his mace a group of enemies whom he holds by the
hair. Behind the god are the ovals of six foreign
nations, most likely Asiatics: Aumtem, Hebuu, Tenfn
Temuu, Hetan, Emtebebu.
The inscription above the god is as follows:
{p.84}
Said by PTAH-TOTUNEN, with the high plumes, armed with horns, who generates the gods every day: (I am) thy father. I have begotten thee like a god, to be a king in my stead. I have transmitted to thee all the lands which I have created; their chiefs bring thee their tribute, they come bearing their presents because of their great fear; all foreign nations are united under thy feet, they are to thee eternally; thy eye is fixed on their heads for ever.
{p.85}
TABLET OF RAMESES II
1 The 35th year, the 13th of the month Tybi, under the
reign of RA-HAREMAKHU, the strong bull, beloved of
truth, the Lord of the Thirty Years, like his father PTAH,
TOTUNEN, the Lord of Diadems, the protector of Egypt,
the chastiser of foreign lands, RA, the father of the gods,
who possesses Egypt, the golden hawk, the Master of
Years, the most mighty sovereign of Upper and Lower
Egypt.
2 RA-USERMA-SOTEP-EN-RA, the son of RA, the issue of
TOTUNEN, the child of the Queen SEKHET, RAMESES,
beloved of AMEN, ever living.
Thus speaks PTAH-TOTUNEN with the high plumes,
armed with horns, the father of the gods, to his son who
loves him,
3 the first-born of his loins, the god who is young again,
the prince of the gods, the master of the thirty years, like TOTUNEN, King RAMESES.1 I am thy father, I have
begotten thee like a god; all thy limbs are divine. I took
the form of the ram of
4 Mendes, and I went to thy noble mother. I have thought
of thee, I have fashioned thee to be the joy of my person,
I have brought thee forth like the rising sun, I have raised
thee among the gods, King RAMESES. NUM
5 and PTAH have nourished thy childhood, they leap with
joy when they see thee made after my likeness, noble,
_______
1 The name of the King is everywhere written in full, with the two car
touches.
{p.86} great, exalted.1 The great princesses of the house of
PTAH and the HATHORS of the temple of TEM are
6 in festival, their hearts are full of gladness, their hands
take the drum with joy, when they see thy person beautiful and lovely like my Majesty.
The gods and goddesses exalt thy beauties, they
celebrate thee
7 when they give to me their praises, saying: "Thou art
our father who has caused us to be born; there is a god
like thee, the King RAMESES.
I look at thee, and my heart is joyful; I embrace thee
with my golden arms, and I surround thee with life, purity
and duration. I provide thee
8 with permanent happiness. I have fixed in thee joy,
enjoyment, pleasure, gladness, and delight. I grant thee
that thy heart may be young again like mine. I have
elected thee, I have chosen thee, I have perfected thee;
thy heart is excellent and thy words are exquisite; there
is absolutely nothing
9 which thou ignorest, up to this day, since the time of
old; thou vivifiest the inhabitants of the earth through
thy command, King RAMESES.
I have made thee an eternal king, a prince who lasts
for ever. I have fashioned thy
10 limbs in electrum, thy bones in brass and thy arms in
iron. I have bestowed on thee the dignity of the divine
crown; thou governest the two countries as a legitimate
sovereign; I have given thee a high Nile, and it fills
Egypt for thee with the abundance of riches and wealth;
there is
11 plenty in all places where thou walkest; I have given
______
1 Here and in other places a gap in the tablet has been filled up by the
corresponding sentence in the inscription of Medinet Habou.
{p.87} thee wheat in profusion to enrich the two countries in all
times; their corn is like the sand of the shore, the
granaries reach the sky, and the heaps are like mountains.
Thou rejoicest and thou art praised
12 when thou seest the plentiful fishing, and the mass of
fishes which is before thy feet. All Egypt is thankful
towards thee.
I give thee the sky and all that it contains. SEB shows
forth for thee what is within him;1 the birds hasten to
thee, the pigeons of HORSEKHA
13 bring to thee their offerings, which are the first-fruits of
those of RA. THOTH has put them on all sides.
Thou openest thy mouth to strengthen whoever thou
wishest, for thou art NUM; thy royalty is living in
strength and might like RA, since he governs the two
countries.
14 King RAMESES, I grant thee to cut the mountains into
statues immense, gigantic, everlasting; I grant that foreign
lands find for thee precious stone to inscribe (?) the
monuments with thy name.
15 I give thee to succeed in all the works which thou hast
done. (I give thee) all kinds of workmen, all that goes
on two and four feet, all that flies and all that has wings.
I have put in the heart of all nations to offer thee what
they have done; themselves, princes great and small,
with one
16 heart seek to please thee, King RAMESES.
Thou hast built a great residence to fortify the boundary of the land, the city of RAMESES; it is established on
the earth like the four pillars
17 of the sky; thou hast constructed within a royal palace,
where festivals are celebrated to thee as is done for me
________
1 The plants.
{p.88} within. I have set the crown on thy head with my own
hands, when thou appearest in the great hall of the
double throne;1 and men and gods have praised thy
name
18 like mine when my festival is celebrated.
Thou hast carved my statues and built their shrines as
I have done in times of old. I have given thee years by
periods of thirty;2 thou reignest in my place on my
throne; I fill thy limbs with life and happiness, I am
behind thee to protect thee; I give thee health and
strength;
19 I cause Egypt to be submitted to thee, and I supply the
two countries with pure life.
King RAMESES, I grant that the strength, the vigour and
the might of thy sword be felt among all countries; thou castest down the hearts of all nations;
20 I have put them under thy feet; thou comest forth
every day in order that be brought to thee the
foreign prisoners; the chiefs and the great of all nations
offer thee their children. I give them to thy gallant
sword that thou mayest do with them what thou likest.
21 King RAMESES, I grant that the fear of thee be in the
minds of all and thy command in their hearts. I grant
that thy valour reach all countries, and that the dread of
thee be spread over all lands; the princes tremble at thy
remembrance, and thy
22 majesty is fixed on their heads; they come to thee as
supplicants to implore thy mercy. Thou givest life to
whom thou wishest, and thou puttest to death whom thou
pleasest; the throne of all nations is in thy possession.
I grant thou mayest show all thy
_______
1 Allusion to the festival of the coronation.
2 The τριακονταετηρίς here and in the title of the King has been employed
as we should say a century.
{p.89}
23 admirable qualities and accomplish all thy good designs;
the land which is under thy dominion is in joy, and
Egypt rejoices continually.
King RAMESES, I have exalted thee through such
marvellous
24 endowments that heaven and earth leap for joy and
those who are within praise thy existence; the
mountains, the water, and the stone walls which are on
the earth are shaken when they hear thy excellent name,
since they have seen what I have accomplished for
thee;
25 which is that the land of Kheta should be subjected
to thy palace; I have put in the heart of the inhabitants
to anticipate thee themselves by their obeisance in
bringing thee their presents. Their chiefs are prisoners,
all their property is the tribute in the
26 dependency of the living king. Their royal daughter is
at the head of them; she comes to soften the heart of
King RAMESES; her merits are marvellous, but she does
not know the goodness which is in thy heart;
27 thy name is blessed for ever; the prosperous result of
thy great victories is a great wonder, which was hoped
for, but never heard of since the time of the gods; it was
a hidden record in the house of books since the time of
RA till the reign of thy
28 living1 Majesty; it was not known how the land of Kheta could be of one heart with Egypt; and behold,
I have beaten it down under thy feet to vivify thy name
eternally, King RAMESES.
29 Thus speaks the divine King, the Master of the Two
Countries, who is born like KHEPRA-RA, in his limbs,
who appears like RA, begotten of PTAH-TOTUNEN, the
_______
1 Lit., life, health and strength.
{p.90} King of Egypt; RA-USERMA-SOTEP-EN-RA, the son of RA,
RAMESES, beloved of AMEN, ever living, to his father who
appears before him, TOTUNEN,
30 the father of the gods:
I am thy son, thou hast put me on thy throne, thou
hast transmitted to me thy royal power, thou hast made
me after the resemblance of thy person, thou hast transmitted to me what thou hast created; I shall answer by
doing all the good things which thou desirest.
31 As I am the only master like thou, I have provided the
land of Egypt, with all necessaries; I shall renew Egypt
for thee as it was of old, making statues of gods after the
substance, even the colour of their bodies. Egypt will be
the possession of their hearts, and will build them
32 temples. I have enlarged thy abode in Memphis, it is
decked with eternal works, and well-made ornaments in
stones set in gold, with true gems; I have opened
33 for thee a court on the north side with a double stair
case; thy porch is magnificent; its doors are like the
horizon of the sky, in order that the multitude may
worship thee.
Thy magnificent dwelling has been built inside its
walls; thy divine image is in its
34 mysterious shrine, resting on its high foundation; I have
provided it abundantly with priests, prophets, and
cultivators, with land and with cattle; I have reckoned
its offerings by hundreds of thousands of good things;
thy festival of thirty years is celebrated there
35 as thou hast prescribed it to me thyself; all things flock
to thee in the great offering day which thou desirest; the
bulls and calves are innumerable; all the pieces of their
flesh are by millions; the smoke of their fat reaches
heaven and is received within the sky.
36 I give that all lands may see the beauty of the buildings
{p.91}
which I have created to thee; I have marked with thy
name all inhabitants and foreigners of the whole land;
they are to thee for ever; for thou hast created them, to
be under the command of thy son, who is on
37 thy throne, the master of gods and men, the lord who
celebrates the festivals of thirty years like thou, he who
wears the double sistrum, the son of the white crown, and
the issue of the red diadem, who unites the two countries
in peace, the King of Egypt, RA-USERMA-SOTEP-EN-RA,
the son of RA, RAMESES, beloved of AMEN, living eternally.
{p.93}
INSCRIPTION OF PRINCE NIMROD
TRANSLATED BY
S. BIRCH, LL.D., D.C.L.
THE following inscription, which was found and still exists on the front of a granite block at Abydos, has been published by Mariette Pasha in his Abydos, Description des Fouilles &c., fo., Paris, 1880, tom. ii. pl. 36, 37, 38. It has been translated by Brugsch-Bey, Geschichte Aegypten unter den Pharaonen, 8vo, Leipzig, 1877, s. 652 and foll.; and the translation of this work by Danby Seymour and Philip Smith, London, 8vo, 1879, Vol. II. p. 199 and foll. According to Brugsch-Bey, Shashanq, mentioned in it, was a king of Assyria, and Namroth, or Nimrod, his son, who was buried at Abydos, the grandson of Shashanq I., or the biblical Shishak. The granite statue of Nimrod mentioned in the inscription {p.94} is said to be in the Egyptian collection at Florence. The copy of Mariette Pasha shows that the inscription is much mutilated, and in the translation which has been given by Brugsch-Bey considerable restorations have been inserted by that savant, to link together the text, and so render the sense more continuous. Some of these may be due to a better copy; others are necessary restorations; the rest are more or less conjectural. Besides this are several other newly discovered inscriptions of the period of the 22nd dynasty; but as the present volume closes the series of the "RECORDS OF THE PAST," there is not space for their insertion in the series.
{p.95}
INSCRIPTION OF PRINCE NIMROD
1 The great chief of chiefs, SHASHANQ justified, his son
upon the place, glorious like his father OSIRIS, he gave
his beauties within Nifur,1 facing (the temple of OSIRIS)
Thou gavest his Majesty to receive an old age, he was
made
2 .... over his companions, thou wast giving in peace
festivals to his Majesty to receive all power at once. The
god assented very much. Again, his Majesty said before
the great god, "Oh, my good lord, thou hast (shouldest) destroy.....
3 the troops, the officers, all persons, all scribes, the messengers to the
country, the fields, all who plundered the things of its lord, of the table of
the OSIRIS, chief of the MA,2 NAMRUTH, justified, the son of MEHTEMUSKH,
who is in in Abydos; all
4 the men who shall be diminishing his divine supplies, his
men, his herds of cattle, his gardens, all his sacrifices.3 All
his glories and his men thy great spirits will complete,
completing the women,
5 children. Assented the god. His Majesty kissed the
ground before him. Said his Majesty. Give effect to the
word of SHASHANQ, the great chief of the MA, Chief of
chiefs, the great noble chief, with all which are with thee
6 (him), all thy troops all there was. Lo! AMEN-RA, the King of the gods said to him, "I have done for
thee, that thou art receiving a good old age established on
_________
1 Metropolis of the 8th Nome, part of Abydos.
2 Brugsch reads Mat, people, which he considers to be the Assyrian word
Matati, and hence Assyrians. Mariette Ma[shash] or Maxyes. "Egypt
under the Pharaohs." Lond. 1881. 2nd Ed. vol. II, p. 209.
3 All this is apparently future, a kind of imprecation.
{p.96} earth, thy race shall be on thy throne for ever. His
Majesty ordered the statue of the Osirian great chief
7 of the MA, the great Chief of chiefs, NAMRUTH, justified,
to be brought to Abydos. There was many
soldiers for its transport,1 having keels ....Their.2
They were received3 together with the envoys of the great
chief of the MA, making it to be placed in the great
8 palace, the shrine, the West ye of the Sun,4 making its
sacrifices on the table of Nifur, when was brought the
instruction for making its offerings, giving incense to it at
the doors of the temples three days, appointing its dues in
9 the chamber of writings. According to the words of the
Lord of the gods, he set up a stone tablet in the land (of
Abydos)5 bearing6 the order of him who hides his name,7
causing it to be placed in the shrines of the gods to
remain8 for ever and ever: was (made), the setting up
the table of the Osirian great chief of the MA,
10 NAMRUTH, justified, son of MEHTEMUSKH, which is in
the land of Abydos. Brought the men of the
of the great chief of the MA, who carne with the rock
statue9 of the land of Kharu, the auditor of plaints,10 KHUAMEN, the chief of the land of
11 Kharu, BEQPTAH. Fifteen pounds11 of silver his Majesty
gave for them twenty pounds of silver, total thirty-five
pounds of silver. The assignment which is for the revenue
________
1 χenf, erroneously given,
en neχt f.
2 Nen, "not." Doubtful if not error for sen, "their."
3 Rta, to give, receive or place.
4 The western shrine.
5 Or Nifur.
6 According to.
7 Amen Ra, or Osiris.
8 Sam.
9 Aruma pa tut. Brugsch reads this as a proper name, "a Phoenician."
"Egypt under the Pharaohs." Lond. 1881, vol. II. p. 209.
10 Satemas', a judge.
11 Uten.
{p.97}
50 arurag, which are on the borders1 of the south land of
Abydos, called Heh-
12 suti; five pounds of silver for the fields which are by the
canal of Abydos, a field of 50 arurae2 they make five
pounds of silver, total of fields of the children north of
the place on the confines of the south land of Abydos,
with the heights
13 of the north of Abydos fields, 100 arurae. It makes ten
pounds of silver his workman PAUR, son of
.... his slave ABEK, his slave BUPIAMENKHA, his slave
NASHENUNAS, his slave TENNA,3 total
14 of slaves six, making three pounds one ounce of silver
20+10 + x; pounds of silver PASHERIEN-KHONS, son of HORSI-ESI, they make four ounces of silver
and two-thirds of an ounce. The garden which is in the
northern heights of Abydos makes two pounds of silver,
the gardener, HARMES, justified,4 the son of PENMER,
15 makes two-thirds of an ounce of silver, PENAMAU,
justified, his son5 HARENPA (making) six ounces
two-third ounces of silver. The6 NASTATEP, justified, his
mother TATATMUT, the female slave TATATESSI, daughters
of NEBTPEP, her mother, ARI-
16 AMAKH, the female slave, TAPIARAMENF
daughters of PANEHSI, justified, each one five ounces
two-thirds of an ounce, the price of the person making
three pounds two-thirds charged on the treasury, likewise
a hin,7 measure of honey issued from the treasury
_______
1 Au, heights. Brugsch.
2 Sat.
3 Brugsch reads Pashenhar.
4 He had died, but was paid.
5 Or slave.
6 Perhaps rut, cultivator.
7 The hin was about a pint.
{p.98}
17 to the lord the chief1 great chief son
of the chief the men, charged is the
silver to the treasury of OSIRIS, there are neither attachments2
nor diminutions. The load of incense.3
18 four pounds of silver charged to the treasury
of OSIRIS, also four ounces of incense shall be issued
from the treasury of OSIRIS daily for the divine supply of
the Osirian great chief, of the AAMU NAMRUTH, justified,
whose mother is MEHTENUSKH for ever and ever
19 .... of the incense, the silver is charged to
the treasury of OSIRIS, there are neither attachments
nor diminutions makes five ounces two- thirds
of an ounce charged to the treasury of OSIRIS. Also shall
be issued ....x +
20 two-thirds of an ounce of (oil) from the treasury of
OSIRIS for the lamp4 of the Osirian great chief of the MA NAMRUTH, justified, whose mother is MEHTEMUSKH, for
ever and ever, for the coming forth of the perfume the
silver is charged on the treasury of OSIRIS, there are no
attachments5 nor
21 deductions .... person ..... persons two,
each one three ounces of silver, together with silver, one
ounce charged on the treasury of OSIRIS, likewise the
meat issued daily from
22 the treasury of OSIRIS and the of OSIRIS for
the altar of the Osirian chief of the MA NAMRUTH,
justified, whose mother is MEHTENUSKH, for ever and
ever, for the workmen of the ... of the cooking of
________
1 Here usual titles of Namruth.
2 Or meh augmentation.
3 Fa sender.
4 χebs, lighting up of the statue. Brugsch reads "burning."
5 Nast. Brugsch reads this sentence "neither more or less."
{p.99} the food, of which the silver is also charged to the
treasury of OSIRIS.
23 of the corn of the fields upper also
charged to the treasury of OSIRIS, there is no attachment
nor deduction total of the silver which is for the men
which is charged for the treasury of OSIRIS.
24 each person one with another will be the ..... issued from the treasury for the altars of the Osirian
chief of the MA, Chief of the chiefs, NAMRUTH, justified,
son of the great chief of the MA, SHASHANQ, justified,
whose mother is MEHTENUSKH, given to
25 of the Osirian great chief of the MA, NAMRUTH,
justified, son of MEHTENUSKH, who is in Abydos, a field of
100 acres; persons, male and female, 25; garden, 1;
silver, 102 pounds additional.
{p.101}
SPOLIATION OF TOMBS
XXTH DYNASTY
TRANSLATED BY
P. J. DE HORRACK.
THE papyrus, of which a translation here follows,
was purchased in the year 1857 from Dr. Abbott
of Cairo, by the Trustees of the British Museum, and
in 1860 a facsimile, preceded by an excellent preface
from the pen of Dr. S. Birch, was published by them
in the Select Papyri in the Hieratic character. This
eminent Egyptologist had already in 1859 drawn the
attention of the scientific public to this ancient document by giving an account of it in the
Revue Archeologique (tome XVI. p. 257), under the title
of Le Papyrus Abbott, par S. Birch, traduction de
F. Chabas. Since that time, and nearly simultaneously, two complete French translations have been
published one by M. F. Chabas, Chalon-sur-Saone,
1870, in his Melanges Egyptologiques (troisieme serie,
tome I); the other by M. G. Maspero, Paris, 1871, {p.102}
entitled Une enqucte judiciaire a Thebes ait temps de la XX Dynastie. Both translations are accompanied
by an analysis, and the latter by a transcription of
the hieratic text and an interlinear version.
The MS. consists of seven pages of clear and bold
handwriting, regular at the commencement, but less
carefully written as it approaches the end, until it
becomes almost illegible on the endorsement which
is not reproduced here, as it merely contains a list
of names of no special importance for the present
publication.
This valuable document throws considerable light
upon the administration of justice in ancient Egypt,
and shows the entire course of proceedings in a
criminal case under the reign of Rameses IX. The
style is clear and the action goes on in a connected
and regular way. But what makes the sense of the
translation somewhat ambiguous on a first reading is
the difficulty of rendering it literally, and at the same
time in good English, as the sentences are very long
and frequently interrupted by explanatory phrases.
{p.103}
SPOLIATION OF TOMBS
PAGE I
1 (The 16th year,)1 the
18th day of Athyr, in the reign of
the King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Lord of the two
countries, NEFER-KA-RA SOTEP-EN-RA, the son of the Sun,
Lord of Diadems,
2 (RAMESSU KHA-EM-UAS) MERER-AMEN, Beloved of
AMEN-RA, the King of the gods, and of HAR-EM-AKHU,
who gives life eternally and for ever.
3 (On that day were sent) the Examiners of the august
necropolis, the Scribe of the Nomarch and the Scribe of
the Overseer of the King's treasury,
4 (to the monuments) and chapels of the royal ancestors,
and to the sepulchres and resting-places of the chanters
5 (and mourners) which are in the West-quarter of the
city, by the Nomarch KHA-EM-UAS
the royal Controller, NES-SU-AMEN, Scribe of the King,
6 (the Major-domo) of the abode of the divine adorer of
AMEN-RA, the King of the gods,
the royal Controller NEFER-KA-RA-EM-PA-AMEN, Reporter of the King,
7 (in order to investigate) concerning what the thieves had
done in the West-quarter of the city, on which subject the
Commandant, Chief of the Police, PA-AU-AA, of the very
august Necropolis
8 (of millions of years, of the) King, which is in the West of
Thebes, had reported to the Nomarch, the Magistrates
and the Examiners of the King.
________
1 The words enclosed in brackets, thus, ( ) replace lacunae.
{p.104}
9 (Functionaries) who went on that day with the Commandant, Chief of the Police, PA-AU-AA, of the necropolis:
10 the ....1 BKK-EX-UR-ENRU, of the palace,
11 ........of the necropolis,
12 ....... of the palace,
13 ...... of the palace,
10 bis the Chief of the Police, MENTU-KHOPESH-EF, of the
palace,
11 bis the Scribe PA-A-EN-BAUK-HOR, of the Nomarch,
12 bis the great Scribe of the Store-house, PAI-NEFER, of the
Overseer of the Treasury,
13 bis the Prophet PA-AN-KHAU, of the temple of AMEN-HOTEP,
14 the Prophet SAR-AMEN, of the temple of AMEN, of the
cellars,
15 the Police-officers of the necropolis, who were with
them.
PAGE II
1 Monuments, chapels and sepulchres examined on that
day by the Examiners:
2 The eternal horizon2 of King SAR-KA, son of the Sun,
AMEN-HOTEP, which is 120 cubits
3 deep in its principal chamber,3 the long corridor belonging to it being at the north of the temple of AMEN-HOTEP
4 of the vineyard, of which the Commandant PA-SAR, of
the city, had made a report to the Nomarch KHA-EM-UAS,
5 the royal Controller NES-SU-AMEN, Scribe of the King,
_______
1 Lacunae.
2 The tomb.
3 The one in which the mummy is deposited.
{p.105} the Major-domo of the abode of the divine adorer of
AMEN-RA, the King of the gods,
6 and the royal Controller NEFER-KA-RA-EM-PA-AMEN,
Reporter of the King, (all) high Magistrates, saying:
7 "The thieves have violated it." Examined on that day,
it was found intact by the Examiners.
8 The monument of King SA-RA AN-AA, which is at the
North of the temple of AMEN-HOTEP of the terrace.
9 This tomb is injured on the surface opposite the spot
where the tablet is placed;
10 on the tablet is the image of the King, in a standing
position, having between his feet his greyhound
11 named BEHHUKA. Examined on that day, it was found
in good condition.
12 The monument of King NUB-KHEPER-RA, son of the
Sun, ANTUF, was found to have been
13 pierced by the hands of the thieves, who had made a
hole of two cubits and a half in its surrounding wall, and
(a hole of) one cubit
14 in the great outside-chamber of the sepulchre of the
Chief of the transportation of the offerings, AURI, of Pa-Amen,
15 which (tomb) is in ruins. It was in good condition, the
thieves not having been able to penetrate into it.
16 The monument of King RA-SEKHEM-EM-APU-MA, son of
Sun, ANTUF-AA. It was found
17 to have been pierced by the hands of the thieves at the
spot where the tablet of the monument is fixed.
18 Examined on that day, it was found entire, the thieves
not having been able to penetrate into it.
{p.106}
PAGE III
1 The monument of King RA-SEKHEM-SESHET-TAUI, son
of the Sun, SEBAK-EM-SAU-EF.
2 It was found that the thieves had violated it by under
mining the chamber of the perfections1 of the
3 monument, from the great exterior chamber of the
sepulchre of the Overseer of the granaries, NEB-AMEN, of
the King MEN-KHEPER-RA (THOTMES III).
4 The place of sepulture of the King was found to be void
of its occupant; so was the place of sepulture of the
principal royal spouse,
5 NUB-KHA-S, his royal wife; the thieves had laid hands
on them. The Nomarch,
6 the Magistrates and Controllers investigated (the matter)
and found the thieves having laid hands on them, a fact,
7 as far as the King and his royal spouse were concerned.
8 The monument of King RA-SEKENEN, son of the Sun,
TA-AA. Examined on that day
9 by the Examiners, it was found intact.
10 The monument of King RA-SEKENEN, son of the Sun,
TA-AA-AA, being King TA-AA Second.
11 Examined on that day by the Examiners, it was found
intact.
12 The monument of King UAT-KHEPER-RA, son of the
Sun, KA-MES. Examined on that day, it was (found)
uninjured.
13 The monument of King AHMES SA-PA-AR. Examined
and found intact.
14 The monument of King NEB-KHER-RA, son of the Sun.
___________
1 One of the names of the principal chamber of a tomb.
{p.107} MENTU-HOTEP, which is in the (region of) Sar;1 it was
intact.
15 Total of the monuments of the royal ancestors examined
on that day by the Examiners;
16 found intact, 9 monuments; found violated, 1; total 10.
17 The sepulchres of the pallakides of the abode of the
divine adorer of AMEN-RA, the King of the gods; found
intact, 2;
18 found violated by the thieves, 2; total, 4.
PAGE IV
1 Sepulchres and chapels in which repose the chanters and
mourners, the women and men of the country,
2 in the West-quarter of the city. It was found that the
thieves had violated them all, that they had torn their
occupants
3 away from their coffins and cases, had thrown them into
the dust and had stolen all the funeral objects which
4 had been given to them, as well as the gold and silver
and the ornaments which were in their coffins.
5 The Commandant, Chief of the Police, PA-AU-AA, of the
very august necropolis, as well as the Chiefs of the Police
and the Police-officers,
6 the Examiners of the necropolis, the Scribe of the Nomarch, the Scribe of the Overseer of the Treasury, who
were with them, made a report about (these tombs) 2 to
7 the Nomarch KHA-EM-UAS, the royal Controller NES-SU-
_______
1 A particular quarter of the necropolis of Thebes.
{p.108} AMEN, Scribe of the King, the Major-domo of the abode
of the divine adorer of
8 AMEN-RA, the King of the gods, and the royal Controller
NEFER-KA-RA-EM-PA-AMEN, Reporter of the King, (all)
high Magistrates.
9 The Commandant of the West-quarter, Chief of the
Police, PA-AU-AA, of the necropolis, placed the names of
the thieves in writing
10 before the Nomarch. The Magistrates and Controllers
arrested them and put them into prison; they cross-examined them and reported the state of things.
11 The 16th year, the 19th day of Athyr. This was the
day on which started, in order to examine the great
places 1 of the royal children, the royal wives
12 and the royal mothers, which are in the abode of the
perfected,2 the Nomarch KHA-EM-UAS, the royal Controller NES-SU-AMEN, Scribe of the King,
13 after having received the declaration of the
worker in metal,3 PAI-KHARI, son of KHARUI, born of MAI-SHERAU,
of the West-quarter of the city, a man belonging to the
servants
14 of the temple of USER-MA-RA MERI-AMEN (RAMSES III.)
in Pa-Amen, which (temple) is under the direction of the
First Prophet of AMEN-RA, the King of the gods, AMEN-HOTEP. This man, who was found on the spot,
15 was arrested, he having been (one) of three temple
servants who were near the sepulchres, at the time
when the Nomarch RA-NEB-MA-NEKHT made
_________
1 The tombs.
2 Tombs of the royal family.
3 Literally, after having been spoken to by the worker in metal.
{p.109}
16 his investigation in the year xiv; he said: "I was in the tomb of the royal spouse Isis of the King USER-MA-RA
MERI-AMEN (RAMSES III); I took away some
17 objects and I squandered them." When the Nomarch
and the Controller had the worker in metal brought
before them at the
PAGE V
1 sepulchres, he was blindfolded as a man to be carefully
watched; his sight was restored when he arrived at the
spot, and the Magistrates
2 said to him: "Walk before us to the tomb of which you
said: I took away some objects from it." The worker in
metal walked before the Magistrates
3 to a reserve-tomb of the royal children of King USER-MA-RA SOTEP-EN-RA (RAMSES II), the great god; nobody
had been interred therein and it had been left open,
4 as well as the resting-place of the workman AMEN-EM-AN, son of Hui, of the necropolis, also situated there.
And he said: "These are the tombs where I have been."
5 The Magistrates submitted the worker in metal to a
complete cross-examination in the interior of the Great
Valley. It was
6 found that he was unacquainted with any place there,
excepting the two on which he had put his hand. He
pronounced an oath by the sovereign Lord, striking his
nose
7 and his ears, and with both hands upon a rod said:
"I do not know any place within the (funeral) abodes,
with the exception of the tomb which is open and
8 the resting-place on which your hand is placed." The {p.110} Magistrates examined the tombs and the great places
which are the abode of
9 the perfected, where repose the royal children, the royal
wives, the royal ancestors, the good fathers and mothers
of the King.
10 They were found in good condition. The high Magistrates despatched the Examiners, the overseers, the
workmen of the necropolis, the Chiefs
11 of the Police, the Police-officers, and all the servants of
the necropolis of the West-quarter of the city, with a
grand verdict (of Not Guilty?) as far as the city.
12 The 16th year, the 19th day of Athyr. On that day, at
the time of evening, near the temple of PTAH, Lord of
Thebes, arrived the royal Controller
13 NES-SU-AMEN, Scribe of the King and the Commandant
PA-SAR, of the city. They met the Chief of the workmen,
USER-KHOPESH, the Scribe AMEN-NEKHTU
14 and the workman AMEN-HOTEPU, of the necropolis.
The Commandant of the city spoke to the men of the
necropolis in the presence of the Controller of the King
15 as follows: "The statement which you have made
this day is not an authentic statement. You will have
to suffer for what
16 you have done." Thus he spoke to them. He pronounced an oath by the sovereign Lord, in presence
of the Controller of the King, and said: "The Scribe
HORA-SHERAU, Son of AMEN-NEKHTU
17 of the necropolis, from the interior of the Khena,1 and
the Scribe PAI-BESA, of the necropolis, have made me five
_______
1 The buildings pertaining to the residence of the King (according to M.
Chabas).
{p.111} revelations of sayings for which you are accountable, well
worthy of death;
18 now I shall place a report on this subject before the
King, my master, that the King's men may be sent to
destroy you all." So spoke he.
19 The 16th year, the 20th day of Athyr. Copy of the
writing which the Commandant of the West-quarter of the
city, Chief of the Police, PA-AU-AA, of the necropolis,
placed before the Nomarch,
20 relative to the words which the Commandant PA-SAR, of
the city, spoke to the men of the necropolis, in presence
of the Controller of the King and the Scribe PAI-NETEM,
of the Overseer of the Treasury.
21 The Commandant, PA-AU-AA, of the West-quarter of the
city, said: "The royal Controller, NES-SU-AMEN, Scribe
of the King, found himself in company with the Commandant, PA-SAR,
22 of the city. He was discoursing with the men of the
necropolis, near the temple of PTAH, Lord of Thebes.
And the Commandant of the city said to the men
PAGE VI
1 of the necropolis: "Why were you mirthful on my account
at the door of my house? I am the Commandant who
makes the reports
2 to the Prince. Come! be mirthful in the place where
you dwell. When it was examined, you found it in good
condition, the violated (tomb) of
{p.112}
3 RA-SEKHEM-SESHET-TAUI, son of the Sun, SEBEK-EM-SAU-EF and NUB-KHA-S, his only royal spouse. By the
great Prince!" And
4 he pronounced ten oaths by the worth of AMEN-RA, the
King of the gods, the great god, whose statues were
placed in his sanctuary this day.
5 Then, the workman USER-KHOPESH, who is under the
authority of the chief workman, RETU-EM-MAUT, of the
necropolis, spoke as follows: "All the kings and their
6 royal spouses, royal mothers and royal children, who
repose in the august necropolis, as well as those who
repose in the abode of the perfected, are in good condition;
7 they are protected and cared for through all eternity:
the excellent administration of the King, their child,
watches and inspects them
8 thoroughly." The Commandant of the city said to him:
"You use marvellous language." But the words were
not insignificant ones, those spoken by the
9 Commandant of the city. Again the Commandant of
the city told the words for a second time, saying: "The
Scribe HORA-SHERAU, son of AMEN-XEKHTU, of the necropolis, of the interior of
10 The Khena (came ) towards the place where
I was, and made me three revelations of very important
sayings,
11 which my Scribe and the Scribe of the two districts of
the city wrote down. Now the Scribe PAI-BESA, of the
necropolis, made me
12 two other revelations, total, five. They also wrote them
down. Concerning them silence cannot be kept; Woe!
They are crimes worthy of the hatchet,
13 (and that the criminals) be placed on the bed of torture {p.113} and submitted to all sorts of chastisement on account of
them. But I shall send a report on this subject before
the King, my master,
14 that the King s men maybe despatched to destroy you."
Thus spoke to them the Commandant of the city, and he
pronounced ten oaths, saying:
15 "Thus shall I do." I heard of the words which the
Commandant of the city said to the men of the august
necropolis of millions of years, of the
16 King, in the West of Thebes, and I make a report of
them before my master, as it would be a crime for a man
like me
17 to hear of words and conceal them. However, I have
not been able to get at the highly important words of
which thus said the Commandant of the
18 city: "The Scribes of the interior of the necropolis,
who stayed amongst the men (of the necropolis) told them
to me." Alas! I
19 did not reach them.1 I make a report before my master
on the subject. Let my master bring forward those who
got at the words of which
20 the Commandant of the city said: "The Scribes of the
necropolis told them to me; I will send a message on the
subject before the King." Thus spoke he. It is a crime
21 for the two Scribes of the necropolis to have sought out
the Commandant of the city, in order to make a report to
him, when their fathers had not made him any,
22 but brought in their statement to the Nomarch, when
he was in the South. But when he was in the North,
the Police-officers, attendants of
23 his Majesty, of the necropolis, started for the place
________
1 Literally, my feet did not reach them.
{p.114} where the Nomarch was, with their memoranda. I have
procured evidence in the 16th year, the 20th day of
Athyr,
24 concerning the words which had been heard from (the
mouth of) the Commandant of the city. I place them in
writing before my master, that he may have brought
forward those who reached them, immediately the next
morning."
PAGE VII
1 The 16th year, the 21st day of Athyr. On that day, at
the great assembly of the city, near the two tablets of
AMEN, at the entrance of the court of AMEN, at the
door of the adoration
2 of the Rekhi;1 Magistrates who were sitting in the great
assembly of the city on this day:
3 The Nomarch KHA-EM-UAS, the First Prophet of AMEN-RA, King of the gods, AMEN-HOTEP, the Prophet of
AMEN-RA, King of the gods, the Scribe NAS-SU-AMEN, of
the temple of millions of years,
4 Of the King of Upper and Lower Egypt, NEFER-KA-AR
SOTEP-EN-RA (RAMSES IX), the royal Controller NAS-SU-AMEN, Scribe of the King, the Major-domo of the abode
of the divine adorer of AMEN-RA, the King of the gods,
5 the royal Controller NEFER-KA-RA-EM-PA-AMEN, Re
porter of the King, the Captain HORA, of (the cavalry),
the Fan-bearer HORA,
6 of the Marine, the Commandant PA-SAR, of the city.
Then the Nomarch KHA-EM-UAS had brought forward
the worker in metal PAI-KHARI, son of KHARUI,
_______
1 The intellectual part of society.
{p.115}
7 the worker in metal TARI, son of KHA-EM-APT, the
worker in metal PA-KAMEN, son of TARI, of the temple
of USER-MA-RA MERI-AMEN (RAMSES III) which is under
the authority of the First Prophet of AMEN.
8 The Nomarch said to the high Magistrates of the grand
assembly of the city: "The Commandant of the city said
some words to the
9 Examiners and workmen of the necropolis, in the 16th
year, the 19ih day of Athyr, in presence of the royal
Controller NES-SU-AMEN, Scribe of the King,
10 and slandered concerning the great places which are in
the abode of the perfected. Now I, the Nomarch of
the country, was there
11 with the royal Controller NES-SU-AMEN, Scribe of the
King. We examined the places of which the Commandant of the city said: "They have been penetrated
by the workers in metal
12 of the temple of RA-USER-MA MERI-AMEN." We found
them intact, discovering everything he had said to be
false. But behold!
13 the workers in metal are standing before you. Let them
tell all that has happened." They deliberated. It was
found that the men
14 did not know any place in the abode of the perfected,
about which the Commandant of the city had spoken. It
was he who had been false in this.
15 The high Magistrates accorded the breath of life to the
workers in metal, of the temple of USER-MA-RA MERI-AMEN, in Pa-Amen, which (temple) is under the authority
of the First Prophet of AMEN-RA, the King of the gods,
16 AMEN-HOTEP. On this day a paper was signed for them,
and they went to the house of the Scribe of the Nomarch.
{p.116}
INSCRIPTIONS ON THE STATUE OF
BAK-EN-KHONSU
(XIXth DYNASTY)
TRANSLATED BY
P. J. DE HORRACK.
THE Glyptothek in Munich possesses a fine statue of a High-Priest of Ammon, named Bak-en-Khonsu, who was also Superintendent of Public Works under Seti I and Ramses II. He is represented, in the Egyptian style, sitting on the ground with his arms folded across his knees. The inscriptions, of which a translation here follows, cover the legs, back, and lower part of the statue. They have already been published and translated by the late Theodule Deveria, Monument Biographique de Bakenkhonsou, in the Memoires de l'Institut Egyptien, tome premier, Paris, 1862; by Professor J. Lauth, Der Hohepriester und Oberbaumeistcr Bokenchons, Leipzig, 1863; and by Dr. H. Brugsch-Bey in his Geschichte Aegyptens, Leipzig, 1877.
{p.118}
It would appear from the inscriptions (as Deveria justly observes) that Bak-en-Khonsu himself caused his statue to be executed during his lifetime, when he was 86 years of age. Egyptian epitaphs show us many cases in which the deceased appear to extol their own virtues, and in this instance modesty is certainly not predominant in the High-Priest's estimate of his qualifications. Having completed his statue to his satisfaction, and taken care that no meritorious act of his life should be forgotten, he entreats, as a recompense from his god, the favour of a prolonged existence.
{p.119}
INSCRIPTION COVERING THE BACK OF THE STATUE
The noble Chief, First Prophet of AMEN, BAK-EN-KHONSU, the justified, says: I was equitable and truthful,
a favourite of my master, honouring the precepts of my god,
walking in his track, performing acts of beneficence within
his temple. I was the great superintendent of public
works in PA-AMEN,1 beloved by my master. Oh, all men
having reflection in their minds, oh creatures who are
upon earth, and come after me from millions of years to
millions of years, after age and decay, whose hearts are
contented at the sight of glorious acts, I will inform ye
who I was upon earth, in all the functions I filled from the
time of my birth: I was four years in extreme infancy;
I was twelve years in youth; I was made steward by
King RA-MEN-MA [SETI I]; I was priest of AMEN for four
years; I was divine father of AMEN for twelve years; I was
third prophet of AMEN for fifteen years; I was second
prophet of AMEN for twelve [years]. He [the King]
rewarded me; he distinguished me for my merit; he
appointed me first prophet of AMEN, [which I was] for
twenty-seven years. I was a good father to my temple
servants, providing for their families, tendering the hand
to those who were miserable, sustaining those who
were inferior, and performing glorious acts in his [the
King's] temple. I was the great superintendent of public
works of the KHENT of Thebes to his son, issued from his
loins, the King of Upper and Lower Egypt, RA-USER-MA
______
1 Pan of Thebes, situated on the left bank of the Nile.
{p.120} SOTEP-EN-RA, the son of the Sun, RAMESSU-MERI-AMEN [RAMSES II], who giveth life. [He] erected monuments to his father AMEN, who placed him on his throne; he did it through the First prophet of AMEN, BAK-EN-KHONSU, the justified. He [BAK-EN-KHONSU] says: I performed glorious deeds in the temple of AMEN, as superintendent of public works of my master; I made him a sacred pylon [named] "RAMESSU-MERI-AMEN, WHO DOTH LISTEN TO THE BELIEVER," at the upper doorway of the temple of AMEN. I had obelisks in granite erected near it; their summits reach the firmament. The front building before it is of stone, and faces Thebes. The reservoirs and gardens are planted with trees. I constructed huge gilt doors; their summits join the sky. I made lofty flag-staffs; I had them raised in the noble court in front of his temple. I launched large boats into the river for AMEN, MUT and KHONSU. By the noble Chief, First Piophet of AMEN, BAK-EN-KHONSU.
{p.121}
INSCRIPTION COVERING THE LEGS OF THE STATUE
"May AMEN-RA, TUM, HOR-EM-AKHUI, the soul of
heaven, living in truth, the AKHEM1 in his boat, MUT, the
great, the protectress of the two regions, and KHONSU-NEFER-
HOTEP grant a royal table of offerings; may they grant that
my name be established in Thebes, and remain stable to
all eternity; [may they grant this] to me, the noble Chief,
the leader of the prophets of all the gods, First Prophet of
AMEN in Ape,2 BAK-EN-KHONSU, justified."
He says: Oh prophets, divine fathers and priests of PA-AMEN, present flowers to my statue and libations to my
body. I was the virtuous slave of my master, possessing
equity and sincerity, rejoicing in truth, hating evil and
developing the precepts of my god, I, the First Prophet of
AMEN, BAK-EN-KHONSU.
________
1 Name of the mummified hawk, a special form of Horus.
2 A quarter of Thebes, on the right bank of the Nile.
{p.122}
INSCRIPTION COVERING THE LOWER PART OF THE STATUE
The noble Chief, First Prophet of AMEN, BAK-EN-KHONSU,
[justified. He says:] I am he who possesseth truth, the
virtuous slave of my god, who approacheth him in his
turn, who giveth
Youth or married man who [art yet] in life, may the happiness of to-day surpass that of yesterday, and (the same)
to-morrow; may it increase more than mine. I was, from
youth to old age, within the temple of AMEN, in the service
(of my god), contemplating his face. May he bestow upon
me a happy existence of one hundred and ten years.
________
1 Lacuna.
{p.123}
THE PAPYRUS, I. 371, OF LEYDEN
TRANSLATED BY
G. MASPERO
THIS papyrus was found in one of the Theban
tombs. It was tied to a wooden statuette of
"The singer-woman of Ammon, Kena ...." The
name on the statue, Kena ... being, not the name
on the papyrus, Onkliari, it is evident that the statue
had not been made in the first instance for the
woman whom it was supposed to afterwards represent.
It came probably from an older tomb which had
been rifled of its contents by robbers, and was sold
second-hand to the husband of Onkhari.
The style of the writing brings us to the last years
of the XXth dynasty, and perhaps to the time of
Sheshonq. A facsimile has been published by M.
Leemans in Monuments Egyptiens du Musee de Leyde,
tom. II. pl. 183-184. A short analysis was given
by M. Chabas in his Notices Sommaires; a transcription, translation and complete commentary will be
found in the Journal Asiatique, Mai-Juin, 1880, and in
the 2nd fasc. of my Etudes Egyptiennes.
{p.124}
In it we have a husband complaining of the evil condition he is in, three years at least after he became a widower, telling how considerately he had acted towards his wife, and contrasting his conduct with hers. The nature of the evil he suffered he does not state very explicitly: perhaps he was afflicted with some illness which he attributed to the malignity of his departed consort, perhaps he thought she came back from the other world expressly to torment him. The whole case reminds me of the curious actions the Norsemen of the Middle Ages brought against ghosts: they accused, judged, and found guilty dead persons who, as they said, rose from the tomb to haunt the house they had lived in. Though the Leyden Papyrus is not an official document, it seems to me to have a judicial character, and to relate to some matter of the same kind. The husband sues "the wise spirit" of his wife, and forbids it to inflict on him persecutions which no anterior ill-usage ever justified. To transmit the writ unto Ament, he probably read it aloud in the tomb, and then tied it to the statue which was supposed to represent his wife: she received the summons in the same way she was accustomed to receive the prayers and food which were given to her statue at certain times of the year.
{p.125}
TO THE WISE SPIRIT OF ONKHARI1
What offence have I committed against thee that I must
come to this the evil condition which I am in? What
offence have I committed against thee that thou must help2
against me? For, since I became a husband to thee, until
to-day, what I have done to thee that I kept secret? What
am I to do, when I shall have to give my evidence [as to]
what I have done to thee, when I shall stand with [thee]
before [the judge,] in words of my mouth [directed] to the
cycle of the gods of Ament, and thou shall be judged
through this writing viz., [through] the words of my complaint against what thou hast done, what wilt thou do?
When [thou] becamest my wife, I was a young man, I was
with [thee]. I was promoted to offices of every kind, [and]
I was with [thee], I never deserted [thee], I never caused
any grief to thy heart. I acted thus when I was a young
man; when I was promoted to every great dignity of
PHARAOH, 1. h. s., I did not desert thee, saying: "Let this
be thine in common with me!" And whereas everybody
who came to me saw me in thy presence, I never received
anybody before knowing whether thou wouldst have any
thing to say to it, saying: "I will act according to thy
heart." And now, behold, thou hast not gladdened my
heart, and I must plead against thee, and people shall see
the false from the true. For behold, I commanded the
captains of the bowmen of PHARAOH, 1. h, s., also of his
_______
1 Spirits were called aqrou viz., instructed in every prayer or science; and
aprou viz., furnished with every weapon or thing which was necessary to
them in the other world.
2 Here, as in some other passages, I have given only a paraphrase: for a
literal translation see the notes in Journal Asiatique or Etudes Egyptiennes.
{p.126} charioteers, and I, when they came to lie on their belly
before thee, if there was, in what they brought, something
good, I put it before [thee], I never hid anything for myself.
I never showed myself offensive to thy feelings in
whatever I did to thee in the way of a master; I never
was found being rude to thee in the way of a clown who
enters another s house; I never took any account of what
thou didst [to] me. When I was put into the place which I am
in, when I came to know no more [what it was] to go out
as was my wont [before], and to do what I had to do as
one who is a recluse, when my oil, also my bread, also my
clothes were brought me, I never put [thee] in another
place, saying: "What would become of the woman;" and
I never was rude to thee, and behold, thou didst not recognize the good I did thee, and I of the things
which thou didst. And when thou didst sicken of the
sickness which thou hadst, I went to the chief physician,
and he prescribed, and he did what thou toldest him to do.
And when I went to follow PHARAOH 1. h. s. to the South,
whereas my wont was to be reunited with thee, while I
made my stay of eight months, I never ate, never drank in
the way of a man. And when I reached Memphis, I asked
leave from PHARAOH, 1. h. s., and I did what they were
doing to thee, I wept extremely with my people in front of
my dwelling, I gave clothes and linen for thy embalming,
and I caused many clothes to be made, and there was
nothing good I did not cause to be done for thee. And
behold, I passed three years and I never entered
the house, and I used not to cause that to be done which
was ordinary, and behold, I acted thus because of thee!
And behold, I do not know any more good from evil, and
thou shalt be judged with me! And behold, as long as the lamentations lasted in
the house, I never went in to PHARAOH 1. h. s.
{p.127}
INSCRIPTION OF QUEEN HATASU ON
THE BASE OF THE GREAT OBELISK
OF KARNAK
TRANSLATED BY
P. LE PAGE RENOUF.
HATASU (commonly, but erroneously called Hat-shepu, Hashepu, or Hashop,1 by very excellent
scholars) was the daughter of King Thothmes I of
___________
1 The untenableness of these readings is manifest on the mere inspection
of the variants of the name (see Lieblein, Dictionnaire de Noms Hieroglyphiques, p. 105). The syllabic sign, which in this proper name, as in the
simple adjective, is written either with or without s, as a phonetic complement, cannot possibly at this time have had the value
s'ep (not s'eps) which
was given to it in the base period. This very obelisk furnishes examples of
the simple adjective without the complementary s: netar pen as, "this august
God;" as't as, "the venerable persea," where it would be absurd to read
s'ep.
When the Egyptians of the base period used this sign in writing the word
s'efs, they added the s, not as a phonetic complement (which it could not
possibly be), but as an independent letter necessary for the completion of
the word.
{p.128} the eighteenth dynasty, and the sister of Thothmes II
and Thothmes III. She was raised to the throne by
her father, who associated her with him, as appears
from one of his inscriptions, in which he gives her the
royal name Mat-ka-ra, and calls her Queen of the
South and of the North.1 She married her brother Thothmes II, by whom she had a daughter, called Hatasu like herself, who became the wife of her uncle
Thothmes III. After the death of her father she
reigned as sole sovereign, but Thothmes II after a
time was recognized as having a share in the
sovereignty, and he finished by throwing off her
authority, and caused her name to be hammered out
of the royal inscriptions. She recovered her authority
after his death, and ruled conjointly with Thothmes
III, but after the twenty-fourth year of the latter his
name alone appears on the monuments, and he
_______
1 The Sun-god's path from East to West was supposed to divide space
into Two Worlds, that of the South and that of the North. The King of
Egypt, as son and heir of the Sun-god, claimed to be ruler of the Two
Worlds that is, of the entire universe.
{p.129} showed his resentment against her by striking her
name out of the inscriptions.
The monuments of this queen are among the most
beautiful productions of Egyptian art, and the obelisk
from which the following inscription is taken is with
out its rival in form, colour, and beauty of engraving.
The inscription has been published in part in Burton's Excerpta Hieroglyphica (pl. 50); more completely
in Prisse's Monuments (pl. 18) and in Lepsius Denkmaler (Abth. III, pl. 22). Some parts of it
have unfortunately suffered injury, and it is most
desirable that the accuracy of the text should be
verified by some scholar who is conscious of the
difficulties which the existing copies present to the
translator. I am unable to say whether or not this
was done by the late M. de Rouge, who gave a translation of this inscription in his lectures of 1872. (See
Melanges d'Archeologie Egyptienne et Assyrienne,
tome III, p. 90.) There are passages of this translation which cannot be considered as exactly giving the
sense of the original represented in our copies. But {p.130}
this original presents such extremely unusual grammatical constructions that I am disposed to suspect
the accuracy of the text, and I have retained M.
de Rouge's version, which, if not made upon a more
correct text, at least furnishes the best solution which
so eminent a scholar has discovered of these difficulties. I have, however, not hesitated to make such
corrections as appeared to be necessary.
SOUTH SIDE
1 Live the HORUS,1 abounding in divine gifts,2 the Mistress
of diadems, rich in years, the golden HORUS, goddess of
diadems, Queen of Upper and Lower Egypt; MAT-KA
RA, daughter of the Sun, HATASU, consort of AMON, living
for ever and ever, daughter of AMON, dwelling in his
heart,
2 his only one, who hath been formed for him; glorious
image of the universal Lord; whom the spirits of Heliopolis have created. Her beauty hath taken hold of the
Two Worlds as he hath done. He hath formed her to
bear his diadems,
3 the form of forms like CHEPERA, the crowned of all the
crowned, like the god of both horizons, pure egg which hath
come forth in glory, nursed by URIT-HEKAIU,3 Mistress
of diadems, crowned by AMON himself
4 upon his throne in Hermonthis. He hath selected her
for the protection of Egypt, and for securing the victory
to the Pat and the Rechit, HORUS the avenger of her
father, the elder of his mother's husband,
5 whom RA hath engendered to produce a glorious seed
upon earth, and to give happiness to the Hamemet. His
_______
1 L'Horus vivante, Rouge. But the position of the word
anχ before the
god's name proves it to be a verb (vivat!), not an adjective or participle.
2 Ka, "genius," in the classical and mythological sense, was from very early
times used also in the more modern sense of "genius" considered as a divine
gift.
3 Urit-hekaiu, "great in words of power," a title given to Isis, the queen
by incantations and spells. The nursing of Horus is attributed to Isis.
Nephthys and Ap-uat (commonly but erroneously called Apheru).
{p.132} living image, the Queen of the South and of the North
MAT-KA-RA the smu-metal1 of kings,
6 she hath made this as a monument to her father AMON,
lord of the thrones of the Two Worlds, dwelling in the
Apt; and hath made for him two great obelisks of hard
granite of the South, the summit of each is of the smu-metal (the tribute)
7 of the best quality of all countries; they are seen at a
distance of many leagues, the Two Worlds are bathed
in their splendours. The sun's disk shines between them
as when it rises from the horizon of heaven.
8 I have done this from a heart full of love for my divine
father AMON. I have entered upon the way in which
he conducted me from the beginning, all my efforts were
according to his mighty spirits, I have not opposed
anything which he hath predestined.
WEST
1 My Majesty knoweth his might,2 and I have therefore
acted according to his command. He hath directed me,
I have not ordered the works.
_______
1 The metal, which, from the uses to which it was applied, appears to
me to be copper, is supposed by Dr. Lepsius to be electrum, whilst M. Chabas holds it to be a mere synonym of gold.
2 Ma majeste connait sa divinite, Rouge. The queen in this part of the
inscription uses masculine pronouns; but in this phrase there is a false
concord, if the masculine suffix after neferer applies to "my Majesty,"
which has the feminine ending. And the word for "divinity" is nowhere
else written neterer.
3 Je n'ai rien fait sans lui. Rouge. The original both in Prisse and
Lepsius baffles translation. If the two words an em were transposed, the
{p.133}
2 he it is who hath given the regulations, there was no
wisdom of mine for his temple, I have not transgressed
his ordinances, my heart was full of the intelligence of my father. I have
entered
3 into his designs, I have not neglected the business of
the Universal Lord, I have on the contrary applied
myself to it, for I know that Thebes is a heaven upon
earth,
4 it is the august staircase of the beginning of time, it is
the ut'at1 of the Universal Lord, his heart's throne, which
sustains his glories and holds within it all who accompany
him. The king himself, he saith,
5 I make this known to the Hamemet2 who will live in
________
construction would be identical with em an reχa, "I know not," in the first
line on the north side. Here em (like the Greek on) is used to introduce a
quotation, and is omitted in translation.
1 Ut'at. The ut'at of the sun was said to be complete or full when one
of the vertical points of his yearly course was reached.
2 Pait reχit, translated "hommes purs" by M. de Rouge. The explanations
hitherto given of the words pait reχit and
hamemet (sometimes hatnemu) are
far from satisfactory. That the words denote human beings (of both sexes)
is most probable. But they neither mean "men" simply, nor classes of the
population, such as "hommes e'claires" "initiated," &c. There is an
enumeration in Todt., 42, 11, of "men, gods, glorified beings (χu), the
damned, the pait, the reχit, the
hamemet, &c." The pait are distinctly
mentioned as inhabiting the nether world, either the Aukerti, as in the
hymn to Amon (Boulaq, v. 3) or the Tuat (Rhind Papyri, 31, 9, hieratic text).
The demotic text corresponding to the last reference clearly signifies "those
who have gone before." The hamemet, on the other hand, are not less
distinctly spoken of as living in a time later than the present; see, e.g., in
this very inscription, the 5th line on the western side of the obelisk. The
king is crowned lord and master of the reχit (Dumichen,
Hist. Insch.,
pi. 39; Zeitschr. f. ägypt. Spr. 1874, taf. i, 1. 10, n), "in face of the
Hamemet." I believe that these three classes of beings are the generations
past, present and future.
{p.134} the double period,1 and whose hearts will inquire after
this monument which I have made for my father,
6 and who will talk inquiringly as they gaze upon it.
I who sit in the palace remember who hath made me;
7 my heart hath hastened to make for him two obelisks
of smu-metal, whose tops reach into the sky in the august
hall of columns which is between
8 the two great pylons of the King, the victorious Bull,
the King of the South and of the North, RA-CHEPER-KA-RA,2 the triumphant the words of men now
living.
NORTH
1 When they see my monument in the course of years,
and speak of what I have done, beware of saying "I know
not, I know not."
2 This has been done by covering the stone with gold all
over. It is thus that it has been done, I swear it by
the love of RA and the favour of
3 my father AMON, who invigorateth my nostrils with life
and strength. I bear the white crown, I am diademed
with the red crown; the two HORUS gods have united
for me
4 the two divisions. I rule over this land like the son
of Isis, I am victorious like the son of NUT. The Sun-god RA reposes in the Sekti3 boat, he rests in
5 the Atet boat, he consorts with his two mothers, the
Uraeus goddesses in the divine ship; the earth is fixed,
______
1 Henti, a period of a hundred and twenty years; here "the time to
come."
2 Thothmes I.
3 The sekti is the morning boat of the Sun-god, atct the evening boat.
The forms ma-sekti and ma-atet are also found.
{p.135} the heaven is made stable. He hath granted that I
should be for ever like him who changeth not.1 I rest
6 in life like Atmu. I have (offered) the two obelisks
wrought with smu-metal to father AMON with the intent
that
7 my name should remain permanent in this temple for
ever and ever. They are of a single stone of granite,
without any joining
8 or division in them. My Majesty began to work at
this in the 15th year,2 and the first day of Mechir till the
16th year and the last day of Mesori, making seven months
since the beginning of it in the mountain.
EAST
1 I have made them for him in satisfaction of heart, for
it is the King of all the gods to whom I pray. I have
had them covered with smu-metal which I have put
2 upon the top of them I ignore the talk of
men; my own mouth is perfect in all that cometh forth
from it; I do not retract what I have said.
3 Listen ye, therefore; I have put smu-metal upon them
(till the extremity) measured in ingots and sacs. It is I
who have proclaimed the quantity, so that
4 the Two Worlds may see, and that the ignorant man as
well as the wise may know it. No one who heareth this
can contradict what I have said,
5 but will say, "She hath been established as truthful before
her father," and the god knows that which is within me.
______
1 Osiris Sahu.
2 The years of a king count, not from the 1st Thoth, but from the day of
his coronation.
{p.136} AMON, the Lord of thrones, he hath granted that I should
reign
6 over Egypt and the Red Land because of this. I am
not revolted against in all the plains; all the countries
are subject to me. He hath made my bounds
7 as far as the limits of heaven; the course of the sun's
disk is at my service; he hath given it to her who is
before him; he knoweth that I offer it to him, I his
daughter
8 who exist in truth and glorify him. He it was who
destined me to favour before my father, the living, the
stable, the strong, upon the throne of HORUS and of all
the living, like the Sun-god for ever.
{p.137}
SEPULCHRAL INSCRIPTION OF PANEHSI
TRANSLATED BY
E. L. LUSHINGTON, D.C.L., LL.D.
THE following inscription was found in a tomb
near Memphis, and formed part of the Passa-lacqua collection at Berlin. It was first published by
Dr. Brugsch in his Monumens de l'Egypte, pt. 3,
with an accompanying translation, and later by Dr. Reinisch, in his Aegyptische Chrestomathie, pl. 15.
It contains a hymn to the Sun-god Ra, put into the
mouth of the deceased Panehsi, designated as scribe
or registrar of the table in Royal Apt, which Brugsch {p.138}
in his Dict. Geogr., p. 21, explains as the quarter of the
royal harem at Memphis. Something is lost from the
upper end of the tablet, which may have once had a
figure of Panehsi presenting himself with suppliant
gestures before Osiris the judge of the dead, attended
by members of his family. The monument is dedicated by his son Apherumes,1 himself a scribe
attached to the Court, making his father's name live,
as he expresses it, in a conventional formula of frequent occurrence in sepulchral monuments. A few
characters only in two or three places have become
illegible.
The hymn abounds in reiterated phrases, constantly
found in similar compositions, descriptive of the Sun-god's triumphal progress through heaven, showering
blessings on the earth, and visiting with his penetrating radiance the under-world. His boat of morning,
_________
1 This name formerly read as above, but the god's title, Apheru, is now
usually accepted as Apmatennu, or Apmatu.
{p.139} Sekti, and boat of evening, Aat, receive the god each at its appointed season. The Egyptian notion of a vessel conveying the sun on the other side of the earth from west to east during the hours of night, may have been familiarized to the Greeks, if not earlier, at least in the time of Psammetichus, and it was readily accepted as congenial to their versatile imagination. The first poem indeed in which it is said to occur, the epic Titanomachia of an unknown author, might point to a remoter date for its introduction; but the earliest evidence preserved to us in the elegies of Mimnermus comes very near to this epoch. This poet sang how "Helios has toil allotted to him for all days, and no rest for his steeds or himself after rosy-fingered morn has climbed the sky; for his much-loved hollow couch of costly gold, made by Hephaestus hands, upheld by wings, bears him through the wave on the topmost flood, sleeping by snatches, from the region of Hesperides to the land {p.140} of Aethiopes, where his swift car and horses stand till early dawn may arrive, when he mounts another carriage." Later poets took up the fancy, and told how Helios lent his golden bowl, that was wont to bear himself, for Hercules to traverse in it the waste of ocean, on his daring raid upon Geryon's herds in Erytheia. Many of them may have had no suspicion of the source whence the original idea sprung, before it passed into distant regions; nor might modern readers have guessed its birthplace if the Egyptian language had not been recovered.
{p.141}
SEPULCHRAL INSCRIPTION OF PANEHSI
(Adoration to RA) when he sets in the western
horizon of heaven,
by one skilled scribe of the sacrificial table
in royal APT, PANEHSI. Saith,
Hail RA, (maker of) mankind, TUM HARMACHIS,
one god living by truth, maker of beings,
author of existences, of beasts and men, proceeding from
thy (his) eye,
lord of heaven, lord of earth,
maker of subjects and rulers,
lord universal, bull of the cycle of gods,
King of the upper sky, lord of gods,
Sovran Prince over cycle of gods and goddesses,
self-formed double essence that was in the beginning.
Homage to thee, maker of gods, TUM,
creator of intelligences, lord of delight,
mighty one of loves, illumining all mankind living;
I give thee adoration in the evening;
propitiated, thou reposest in life,
the sekti is in gladness of heart,
the aat in exultation,
they conduct thee through the abyss in peace,
thy crew rejoicing;1 thy radiant eye divine has
overthrown thy foe, repelling the advance of APAP,
Thou reposest gracious with glad heart
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1 Seχer-n
χut-k χefti-k; for the sense here given to \ut, the deified eye of
Ra, cf. Naville, Lit., p. 57.
{p.142} in the horizon of MANU,
where thou shinest on the gracious god,
lord of eternity, ruler of the nether world,
thou givest illumination to beings there departed:
they see thy glories,
the dwellers of the hollows in their recesses,
their arms are uplifted in adoration to thy form.
Spirits of the West rejoice when thou beamest on them,
the lords of the deep are glad at heart
when thou illuminest the West,
their eyes open to see thee,
their heart delights as they behold
with acclamation thy form above them;
faultless their divine limbs are born,
thou framest them in their completeness;
thou risest, thou destroyest their ills,
thou settest to refresh their limbs,
they adore as thou arrivest to them,
they occupy the front of thy bark
as thou settest in the horizon of MANU,
renewed as RA each day.
Grant thou that my soul may be among them,
may thy radiance beam on my frame,
may I see the sun's orb amid those enlightened spirits of
Hades,
who sit before UNNEFER, tending with careful regard
the form of the Osirian scribe
of the sacrificial table in royal APT, PANEHSI.
A kneeling figure, with hands raised in attitude of
devotion, faces the last four lines of the inscription:
in front of it are the words:
{p.143}
By his son, giving life to his name,
Scribe of the divine book of the lord of the Two Lands,
the protector1 residing at the royal palace, APHERUMES, justified.
________
1 "The protector," sotep sa, often applied to the King, a phrase of which
the exact force is perhaps still undetermined.
This page last updated: 29/06/2009