Egyptian Literature Part 39

II.

1 Lord of fishes, when the inundation returns 2 No fowls fall on the cultures.(475) 3 Maker of spelt; creator of wheat: 4 who maintaineth the temples!

5 Idle hands he loathes(476) 6 For myriads, for all the wretched.

7 If the G.o.ds in heaven are grieved,(477) 8 Then sorrow cometh on men.

III.

1 He maketh the whole land open to the oxen,(478) 2 And the great and the small are rejoicing; 3 The response of men at his coming!(479) 4 His likeness is Num!(480) 5 He shineth, then the land exulteth!

6 All bellies are in joy!

7 Every creature receives nourishment!

8 All teeth get food.

IV.

1 Bringer of food! Great lord of provisions!

2 Creator of all good things!

3 Lord of terrors(481) and of choicest joys!

4 All are combined in him.

5 He produceth gra.s.s for the oxen; 6 Providing victims for every G.o.d.

7 The choice incense is that which he supplies.

8 Lord in both regions, 9 He filleth the granaries, enricheth the storehouses, 10 He careth for the state of the poor.

V.

1 He causeth growth to fulfil all desires, 2 He never wearies of it.

3 He maketh his might a buckler.(482) 4 He is not graven in marble,(483) 5 As an image bearing the double crown.

6 He is not beheld: 7 He hath neither ministrants nor offerings: 8 He is not adored in sanctuaries: 9 His abode is not known: 10 No shrine is found with painted figures.(484)

VI.

1 There is no building that can contain him!(485) 2 There is no counsellor(486) in thy heart!

3 Thy youth delight in thee, thy children: 4 Thou directest(487) them as King.

5 Thy law is established in the whole land, 6 In the presence of thy servants in the North:(488) 7 Every eye is satisfied with him:(489) 8 He careth for the abundance of his blessings.

VII.

1 The inundation comes, (then) cometh rejoicing; 2 Every heart exulteth: 3 The tooth of the crocodiles, the children of Neith(490) 4 (Even) the circle of the G.o.ds who are counted with thee.

5 Doth not its outburst water the fields, 6 Overcoming mortals (with joy): 7 Watering one to produce another.(491) 8 There is none who worketh with him; 9 He produces food without the aid of Neith.(492) 10 Mortals he causes to rejoice.

VIII.

1 He giveth light on his coming from darkness:(493) 2 In the pastures of his cattle 3 His might produceth all: 4 What was not, his moisture bringeth to life, 5 Men are clothed to fill his gardens: 6 He careth for his laborers.

7 He maketh even and noontide, 8 He is the infinite Ptah and Kabes.(494) 9 He createth all works therein, 10 All writings, all sacred words, 11 All his implements in the North.(495)

IX.

1 He enters with words the interior of his house,(496) 2 When he willeth he goeth forth from his mystic fane.

3 Thy wrath is destruction of fishes.(497) 4 Then(498) men implore thee for the waters of the season.

5 "That the Thebaid may be seen like the Delta.

6 That every man be seen bearing his tools, 7 No man left behind his comrade!

8 Let the clothed be unclothed, 9 No adornments for the sons of n.o.bles, 10 No circle of G.o.ds in the night!"

11 The response (of the G.o.d) is refreshing water, 12 Filling all men with fatness.

X.

1 Establisher of justice! men rejoice 2 With flattering words to worship(499) thee, 3 Worshipped together with the mighty water!

4 Men present offerings of corn, 5 Adoring all the G.o.ds: 6 No fowls fall on the land.(500) 7 Thy hand is adorned with gold,(501) 8 As moulded of an ingot of gold, 9 Precious as pure lapis lazuli,(502) 10 Corn in its state of germination is not eaten.(503)

XI.

1 The hymn is addressed to thee with the harp; 2 It is played with a (skilful) hand to thee!

3 The youths rejoice at thee!

4 Thy own children.

5 Thou hast rewarded their labor.

6 There is a great one adorning the land; 7 An enlightener, a buckler in front of men, 8 Quickening the heart in depression.

9 Loving the increase of all his cattle.

XII.

1 Thou shinest in the city of the King; 2 Then the householders are satiated with good things, 3 The poor man laughs at the lotus.(504) 4 All things are perfectly ordered.

5 Every kind of herb for thy children.

6 If food should fail, 7 All enjoyment is cast on the ground, 8 The land falls in weariness.

XIII.

1 O inundation of Nile, offerings are made to thee: 2 Oxen are slain to thee: 3 Great festivals are kept for thee; 4 Fowls are sacrificed to thee; 5 Beasts of the field are caught for thee 6 Pure flames are offered to thee; 7 Offerings are made to every G.o.d, 8 As they are made unto Nile.

9 Incense ascends unto heaven, 10 Oxen, bulls, fowls are burnt!

11 Nile makes for himself chasms in the Thebaid;(505) 12 Unknown is his name in heaven, 13 He doth not manifest his forms!

14 Vain are all representations!(506)

XIV.

1 Mortals extol (him), and the cycle of G.o.ds!

2 Awe is felt by the terrible ones; 3 His son(507) is made Lord of all, 4 To enlighten all Egypt.(508) 5 Shine forth, shine forth, O Nile! shine forth!

6 Giving life to men by his oxen: 7 Giving life to his oxen by the pastures!

8 Shine forth in glory, O Nile.

The Solemn Festal Dirge Of The Egyptians

Translated by C. W. Goodwin, M.A.

This dirge or hymn, which is that alluded to by Herodotus,(509) is contained in one of the "Harris Papyri" (No. 500), the same from which I have already translated the "Story of the Doomed Prince." The first line of the hymn ascribes it to the authorship of King Antuf, one of the Pharaohs of the eleventh dynasty. The papyrus itself is, however, of the time of Thothmes III, eighteenth dynasty, but that is no reason why all the texts in the MSS. should be of the latter date. The translation here given was printed by myself for the first time in the "Transactions of the Society of Biblical Archaeology," Vol. III, part 1, but the hieroglyphic text remains yet to be published. A fragment of another copy of this identical hymn is to be found in the "_Monumens __ du Musee de Leide_,"

part iii, pl. 12, and from it several words which were wanting in the Harris papyrus have been restored.