Egyptian Literature Part 36

He is beneficent in will and words: he is the praise of the great G.o.ds and the love of the small G.o.ds.

His sister took care of him, by dissipating his enemies,

14 repelling (bad) luck; she sends forth her voice by the virtues(453) of her mouth: wise of tongue, no word of hers fails. She is beneficent in will and speech: It is Isis the beneficent, the avenger of her brother: she unrepiningly sought him:

15 she went the round of the world lamenting him: she stopped not till she found him: she shadowed with her wings; her wings caused wind, making the invocation of her brother's burial;

16 she raised the remains of the G.o.d of the resting heart: she extracted his essence: she had a child, she suckled the baby in (loneliness) secret; none know where that happened.

The arm (of the child) has become strong in the great dwelling

17 of Seb.(454) The G.o.ds are joyous at the arrival of Osiris, son of Horus intrepid, justified, son of Isis, heir of Osiris. The divine Chiefs join him: the G.o.ds recognize the Universal Lad himself. The Lords of justice there united

18 to watch over iniquity and sit in Seb's great dwelling are giving authority to its Lord.(455) The reign of justice belongs to him. Horus has found his justification; given to him is the t.i.tle of his father, he appears with the royal fillet,

19 by the orders of Seb. He takes the royalty of the two worlds; the crown of the _superior_ region is fixed on his head. He judges the world as he likes: heaven and earth are below the place of his face: he commands mankind; the intelligent beings, the race of the Egyptians, and the northern barbarians.(456) The circuit

20 of the solar disk is under his management, the winds, the waters, the wood of the plants and all vegetables. A G.o.d of seeds, he gives all herbs and the abundance of the ground. He affords plentifulness(457) and gives it to all the earth.

21 All men are in ecstasy, hearts in sweetness, bosoms in joy; everybody is in adoration. Everyone glorifies his goodness: mild is his love for us; his tenderness environs (our) hearts: great is his love in all bosoms. The

22 Son of Isis has justice rendered him: his foe falls under his fury, and the evil-doer at the sound of his voice: the violent is at his final hour, the Son of Isis, father avenger, approaches him.

23 Sanctifying, beneficent is his name; veneration finds its place: respect immutable for his laws: the path is open, the footpaths are opened: both worlds are at rest: evil flies and earth becomes fecundant peaceably under its Lord. Justice is confirmed

by its Lord who pursues iniquity.

24 Mild is thy heart, O Ounnefer, son of Isis! he has taken the crown of the Upper region: to him is acknowledged his father's authority in the great dwelling of Seb: Phra when speaking, Thoth in writing,

25 the divine Chiefs are at rest.

What thy father Seb has commanded for thee, let that be done according to his word.

(This Egyptian "So be it" ends the hymn. Below this is the usual formula.)

Oblation to Osiris living in the west, Lord of Abydos: may he allow funereal gifts: bread, liquor, oxen, geese, clothes, incense, oil, all gifts of vegetation:

To make the transformations, to enjoy the Nile, to appear as a living soul, to see the solar disk every morning: to go and to come in the Ru-sat: that the soul may not be repulsed in the Neter-Kher. To be gratified(458) among the favored ones, in presence of Ounnefer, to take the aliments presented on the altars of the great G.o.d, to breathe the delicious air and to drink of the rivers current. To the steward of the flocks of Ammon, Amen-mes, justified "Son of Lady Hen-t, justified, his consort, who loves him ..."

(The name of Nefer-t-aru, which ought to end the phrase, has been completely chiselled out.)

Travels Of An Egyptian In The Fourteenth Century B.C.

From a Papyrus in the British Museum

Translated by M. F. Chabas and M. C. W. Goodwin

The "Travels of an Egyptian" has first been translated into English by M.

C. W. Goodwin ("Cambridge Essays," 1858, p. 267-269), from a hieratic papyrus in the British Museum, published in fac-simile by the trustees (Fo. 1842, pl. 35-61). In 1866, M. F. Chabas, availing himself of the collaboration of M. Goodwin, published a full translation of the same in French ("_Voyage d'un Egyptien en Syrie, en Phenicie_," etc., 4to, 1866), including a copy of the hieratic text with a double transcription into hieroglyphic and Coptic types, and a perpetual commentary. Objections were made by M. H. Brugsch ("_Revue Critique_," Paris, 1868, _Aout et Septembre)._ But M. Chabas strongly vindicated his views in an additional work, "_Voyage d'un Egyptien-Reponse a la Critique_," Chalons, 1868, 4to, since which the matter seems to be settled among Egyptologists. The debate was, however, unimportant in regard to geographical information, as it bore merely on the point to ascertain whether the narrative refers to an actual journey really effected by the Egyptian officer named a Mohar, or a model narrative of a supposed voyage drawn from a previous relation of a similar trip extant at the time.

TRAVELS OF AN EGYPTIAN

_Section 1_

18.3 Thy letter which is full of _lacunae_ is loaded with pretentious expressions: such is the retribution of those who wish to understand it; it is a charge

18.4 which thou hast charged at thy will. "I am a scribe, a Mohar," hast thou repeated: let us respect thy word and set off.

18.5 Thou hast put horses to the chariots; thy horses are as swift as jackals: their eyes flash; they are like a hurricane bursting; thou takest

18.6 the reins, seizest the bow: we contemplate the deeds of thy hand. I send thee back the Mohar's portrait: and make thee know

18.7 his actions. Didst thou not then go to the country of the Kheta? Hast thou not seen the land of Aup? Knowest thou not Khatuma, Ikatai

18.8 likewise? how is it? The Tsor of Sesortris, the city of Khaleb on its vicinity?-

19.1 How goes it with its ford? Hast thou not made an expedition to Qodesh and Tubakkhi? Hast thou not gone to the Shasous?

19.2 with the auxiliary body? Hast thou not trampled the road of Pamakar the sky(459) was dark on the day when

19.3 there flourished the cypresses, the oaks and cedars, which reached up to heaven: there are many lions, wolves, and hyenas

19.4 which the Shasous track on all sides. Didst thou not ascend the mountain of Shaoua? Hast thou not travelled, thy arms

19.5 placed on the back of thy car separated from its harness by the horses drawing it?

19.6 Oh! come to ... barta. Thou hastenest to get there: thou crossest

19.7 its ford. Thou seest a Mohar's trials. Thy car

19.8 is placed in thy hand: thy strength fails. Thou arrivest at the night: all thy limbs

19.9 are knocked up: thy bones are broken, thou fallest asleep from excess of somnolence: thou wakest up-

20.1 'Tis the hour when sad night begins: thou art absolutely alone. Comes there not a thief to rob the

20.2 things left aside: he enters the stable: the horses are agitated: the thief goes back in the night

20.3 carrying away thy clothes. Thy servant awakes in the night; he perceives the thief's actions: he takes away the rest,

20.4 he goes among the bad ones; and joins the tribes of the Shasous: and transforms himself to an Asiatic.

20.5 The enemy comes to plunder, he finds only the wreck: Thou wakest, dost thou not find them