Egyptian Literature Part 40

FESTAL DIRGE

1 (Wanting.)

2 The song of the house of King Antuf, deceased, which is (written) in front of

3 the player on the harp.(510) All hail to the good Prince, the worthy good (man), the body is fated(?) to pa.s.s away, the atoms(511)

4 remain, ever since the time of the ancestors.

The G.o.ds who were beforetime rest in their tombs, the mummies

5 of the saints likewise are enwrapped in their tombs.

They who build houses, and they who have no houses, see!

6 what becomes of them.

I have heard the words of Imhotep(512) and Hartatef.(513) It is said in their sayings,

7 After all, what is prosperity?

Their fenced walls are dilapidated.

Their houses are as that which has never existed.

8 No man comes from thence who tells of their sayings, who tells of their affairs, who encourages our hearts.

Ye go

9 to the place whence they return not.(514) Strengthen thy heart to forget how thou hast enjoyed thyself, fulfil thy desire whilst thou livest.

10 Put oils upon thy head clothe thyself with fine linen adorned with precious metals

11 with the _gifts_ of G.o.d multiply thy good things, yield to thy desire, fulfil thy desire with thy good things

12 (whilst thou art) upon earth, according to the dictation of thy heart.

The day will come to thee, when one hears not the voice when the one who is at rest hears not

13 their voices.(515) Lamentations deliver not him who is in the tomb.(516)

14 Feast in tranquillity seeing that there is no one who carries away his goods with him.

Yea, behold, none who goes thither comes back again.

Hymns To Amen

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

These beautiful poems are contained in the "Anastasi Papyri" in the collection at the British Museum. They have been mostly translated in French by M. F. Chabas, from whose interpretation I have occasionally found reason to differ.

The papyrus itself is considerably mutilated, and bears no date, but from the character of the script there can be little doubt that it is of the period of the nineteenth dynasty.

These hymns have been published by myself with exegetical notes in the "Transactions of the Society of Biblical Archaeology," vol. II, part 2, 1873, p. 353; and, as before mentioned, in French by M. Chabas in the "_Melanges Egyptologiques_," 1870, p. 117.

HYMN TO AMEN(517)

1 "O Amen, lend thine ear to him 2 who is alone before the tribunal, 3 he is poor (he is not) rich.

4 The court oppresses him; 5 silver and gold for the clerks of the book, 6 garments for the servants. There is no other Amen, acting as a judge, 7 to deliver (one) from his misery; 8 when the poor man is before the tribunal, 9 (making) the poor to go forth rich."

HYMN TO AMEN(518)

1 "I cry, the beginning of wisdom is the way of Amen,(519) 2 the rudder of (truth).

3 Thou art he that giveth bread to him who has none, 4 that sustaineth the servant of his house.

5 Let no prince be my defender in all my troubles.

6 Let not my memorial be placed under the power 7 of any man who is in the house ... My Lord is (my) defender; 8 I know his power, to wit, (he is) a strong defender, 9 there is none mighty except him alone.

10 Strong is Amen, knowing how to answer, 11 fulfilling the desire of him who cries to him; 12 the Sun the true King of G.o.ds, 13 the Strong Bull, the mighty lover (of power)."

HYMN TO AMEN(520)

1 "Come to me, O thou Sun; 2 Horus of the horizon give me (help); 3 Thou art he that giveth (help); 4 there is no help without thee, 5 excepting thou (givest it).

6 Come to me Tum,(521) hear me thou great G.o.d.

7 My heart goeth forth toward An(522) 8 Let my desires be fulfilled, 9 let my heart be joyful, my inmost heart in gladness.

10 Hear my vows, my humble supplications every day, 11 my adorations by night; 12 my (cries of) terror ... prevailing in my mouth, 13 which come from my (mouth) one by one.

14 O Horus of the horizon there is no other beside like him, 15 protector of millions, deliverer of hundreds of thousands, 16 the defender of him that calls to him, the Lord of An.(523) 17 Reproach me not(524) with my many sins.

18 I am a youth, weak of body.(525) 19 I am a man without heart.

20 Anxiety comes upon me(526) as an ox upon gra.s.s.

21 If I pa.s.s the night in ...(527) and I find refreshment, 22 anxiety returns to me in the time of lying down."

Hymn To Pharaoh

[The previous hymns are addressed to the Supreme Being, under the names of Amen, Horus, and Tum, all identical with the Sun. But for the old Egyptians the ruling Pharaoh of the day was the living image and vicegerent of the Sun, and they saw no profanity in addressing the King in terms precisely similar to those with which they worshipped their G.o.d. The following address or pet.i.tion, which also is found in the "Anastasi Papyri," is a remarkable instance of this:]

HYMN TO PHARAOH(528)

1 "Long live the King!(529) 2 This comes to inform the King 3 to the royal hall of the lover of truth, 4 the great heaven wherein the Sun is.

5 (Give) thy attention to me, thou Sun that risest 6 to enlighten the earth with this (his) goodness.

7 The solar orb of men chasing the darkness from Egypt.

8 Thou art as it were the image of thy father the Sun, 9 who rises in heaven. Thy beams penetrate the cavern.

10 No place is without thy goodness.

11 Thy sayings are the law of every land.

12 When thou reposest in thy palace, 13 thou hearest the words of all the lands.

14 Thou hast millions of ears.

15 Bright is thy eye above the stars of heaven, 16 able to gaze at the solar orb.

17 If anything be spoken by the mouth in the cavern, 18 it ascends into thy ears.