It included
Somaliland
in
Africa, and the south of Arabia.
Africa, and the south of Arabia.
Warner - World's Best Literature - v09 - Dra to Eme
, he did not impress men (wrongfully ?
) for the government works,
such as irrigation or road-making.
## p. 5228 (#400) ###########################################
5228
EGYPTIAN LITERATURE
Unique as a mighty hunter, the abode of the heart of the King.
Speaking the right when he judges between suitors, clear of speaking fraud,
knowing how to proceed in the council of the elders, finding the knot in the
skein.
Great of favors in the house of the King, contenting the
heart on the day of making division, careful of his goings to his equals,
gaining reverence on the day of weighing words, beloved of the officials of
the palace.
The cursive forms of writing — hieratic from the earliest times,
demotic in the latest — were those in which records were committed
to papyrus.
This material has preserved to us documents of every
kind, from letters and ledgers to works of religion and philosophy.
To these, again, “literature is a term rarely to be applied; yet the
tales and poetry occasionally met with on papyri are perhaps the
most pleasing of all the productions of the Egyptian scribe.
It must be confessed that the knowledge of writing in Egypt led
to a kind of primitive pedantry, and a taste for unnatural and to us
childish formality: the free play and naïveté of the story-teller is too
often choked, and the art of literary finish was little understood.
Simplicity and truth to nature alone gave lasting charm, for though
adornment was often attempted, their rude arts of literary embellish-
ment were seldom otherwise than clumsily employed.
A word should be said about the strange condition in which most
of the literary texts have come down to us. It is rarely that mon-
umental inscriptions contain serious blunders of orthography; the
peculiarities of late archaistic inscriptions which sometimes produce a
kind of “dog Egyptian” can hardly be considered as blunders, for
the scribe knew what meaning he intended to convey. But it is
otherwise with copies of literary works on papyrus. Sometimes these
were the productions of schoolboys copying from dictation as an
exercise in the writing-school, and the blank edges of these papyri
are often decorated with essays at executing the more difficult signs.
The master of the school would seem not to have cared what non-
sense was produced by the misunderstanding of his dictation, so long
as the signs were well formed. The composition of new works on
the model of the old, and the accurate understanding of the ancient
works, were taught in a very different school, and few indeed
attained to skill in them. The boys turned out of the writing-school
would read and write a little; the clever ones would keep accounts,
write letters, make out reports as clerks in the government service,
and might ultimately acquire considerable proficiency in this kind of
work. Apparently men of the official class sometimes amused them-
selves with puzzling over an ill-written copy of some ancient tale,
and with trying to copy portions of it. The work however was be-
yond them: they were attracted by it, they revered the compilations
## p. 5229 (#401) ###########################################
EGYPTIAN LITERATURE
5229
of an elder age and those which were written by the finger of
Thoth himself”; but the science of language was unborn, and there
was little or no systematic instruction given in the principles of the
ancient grammar and vocabulary. Those who desired to attain emi-
nence in scholarship after they had passed through the writing-school
had to go to Heliopolis, Hermopolis, or wherever the principal uni-
versity of the time might be, and there sit at the feet of priestly
professors; who we fancy were reverenced as demigods, and who
in mysterious fashion and with niggardly hand imparted scraps of
knowledge to their eager pupils. Those endowed with special talents
might after almost lifelong study become proficient in the ancient
language. Would that we might one day discover the hoard of rolls
of such a copyist and writer!
There must have been a large class of hack-copyists practiced in
forming characters both uncial and cursive. Sometimes their copies
of religious works are models of deft writing, the embellishments
of artist and colorist being added to those of the calligrapher: the
magnificent rolls of the Book of the Dead in the British Museum
and elsewhere are the admiration of all beholders. Such manu-
scripts satisfy the eye, and apparently neither the multitude in Egypt
nor even the priestly royal undertakers questioned their efficacy in
the tomb. Yet are they very apples of Sodom to the hieroglyphic
scholar; fair without, but ashes within. On comparing different
copies of the same text, he sees in almost every line omissions, per-
versions, corruptions, until he turns away baffled and disgusted.
Only here and there is the text practically certain, and even then
there are probably grammatical blunders in every copy. Nor is it
only in the later papyri that these blunders are met with. The
hieroglyphic system of writing, especially in its cursive forms, lends
itself very readily to perversion by ignorant and inattentive copyists;
and even monumental inscriptions, so long as they are mere copies,
are usually corrupted. The most ridiculous perversions of all, date
from the Ramesside epoch when the dim past had lost its charm,
for the glories of the XVIIIth Dynasty were still fresh, while new
impulses and foreign influence had broken down adherence to tradi-
tion and isolation.
In the eighth century B. C. the new and the old were definitely
parted, to the advantage of each. On the one hand the transactions
of ordinary life were more easily registered in the cursive demotic
script, while on the other the sacred writings were more thoroughly
investigated and brought into order by the priests. Hence, in spite
of absurdities that had irremediably crept in, the archaistic texts
copied in the XXVIth Dynasty are more intelligible than the same
class of work in the XIXth and XXth Dynasties.
## p. 5230 (#402) ###########################################
5230
EGYPTIAN LITERATURE
In reading translations from Egyptian, it must be remembered
that uncertainty still remains concerning the meanings of multitudes
of words and phrases. Every year witnesses a great advance in
accuracy of rendering; but the translation even of an easy text still
requires here and there some close and careful guesswork to supply
the connecting links of passages or words that are thoroughly under-
stood, or the resort to some conventional rendering that has become
current for certain ill-understood but frequently recurring phrases.
The renderings given in the following pages are with one exception
specially revised for this publication, and exclude most of what is
doubtful. The Egyptologist is now to a great extent himself aware
whether the ground on which he is treading is firm or treacherous;
and it seems desirable to make a rule of either giving the public
only what can be warranted as sound translation, or else of warn-
ing them where accuracy is doubtful. A few years ago such a course
would have curtailed the area for selection to few of the simplest
stories and historical inscriptions; but now we can range over almost
the whole field of Egyptian writing, and gather from any part of it
warranted samples to set before the reading public. The labor, how-
ever, involved in producing satisfactory translations for publication,
not mere hasty readings which may give something of the sense, is
very great; and at present few texts have been well rendered. It is
hoped that the following translations will be taken for what they are
intended, -- attempts to show a little of the Ancient Egyptian mind
in the writings which it has left to us.
We may now sketch briefly the history of Egyptian literature,
dealing with the subject in periods:'-
I. THE ANCIENT KINGDOM, ABOUT B. C. 4500-3000
The earliest historic period — from the Ist Dynasty to the IIId,
about B. C. 4500 — has left no inscriptions of any extent. Some
portions of the Book of the Dead' profess to date from these or
earlier times, and probably much of the religious literature is of
extremely ancient origin. The first book of * Proverbs) in the Prisse
Papyrus is attributed by its writer to the end of the IIId Dynasty
(about 4000 B. C. ). From the IVth Dynasty to the end of the
VIth, the number of the inscriptions increases; tablets set up to the
kings of the IVth Dynasty in memory of warlike raids are found in
the peninsula of Sinai, and funerary inscriptions abound. The pyra-
mids raised at the end of the Vth and during the VIth Dynasty are
found to contain interminable religious inscriptions, forming alınost
1 An asterisk (*) attached to the title of a text indicates that a translation
of part or all of it is printed in the following pages.
## p. 5231 (#403) ###########################################
EGYPTIAN LITERATURE
5231
complete rituals for the deceased kings. Professor Maspero, who has
published these texts, states that they “contain much verbiage,
many pious platitudes, many obscure allusions to the affairs of the
other world, and amongst all this rubbish some passages full of
movement and wild energy, in which poetical inspiration and reli-
gious emotion are still discernible through the veil of mythological
expressions. ” Of the funerary and biographical inscriptions the most
remarkable is that of * Una. Another, slightly later but hardly less
important, is on the facade of the tomb of Herkhuf, at Aswân, and
recounts the expeditions into Ethiopia and the southern oases which
this resourceful man carried through successfully. In Herkhuf's later
life he delighted a boy King of Egypt by bringing back for him from
one of his raids a grotesque dwarf dancer of exceptional skill: the
young Pharaoh sent him a long letter on the subject, which was copied
in full on the tomb as an addition to the other records there. It is to
the Vth Dynasty also that the second collection of *( Proverbs in the
Prisse Papyrus is dated. The VIIth and VIIIth Dynasties have left
us practically no records of any kind.
II.
THE MIDDLE KINGDOM, B. C. 3000 TO 1600
The Middle Kingdom, from the IXth to the XVIIth Dynasty, shows
a great literary developinent. Historical records of some length are
not uncommon. The funerary inscriptions descriptive of character
and achievement are often remarkable.
Many papyri of this period have survived: the * Prisse Papyrus
of Proverbs, a papyrus discovered by Mr. Flinders Petrie with the
*'Hymn to Usertesen III. ,' papyri at Berlin containing a *dialogue
between a man and his soul, the * Story of Sanehat,' the Story of
the Sekhti,' and a very remarkable fragment of another story; besides
the Westcar Papyrus of Tales' and at St. Petersburg the *' 'Ship-
wrecked Sailor. ' The productions of this period were copied in later
times; the royal *( Teaching of Amenemhat,' and the worldly *( Teach-
ing of Dauf' as to the desirability of a scribe's career above any other
trade or profession, exist only in late copies. Doubtless much of the
later literature was copied from the texts of the Middle Kingdom.
There are also *treatises extant on medicine and arithmetic. Por-
tions of the Book of the Dead are found inscribed on tombs and
sarcophagi.
III. THE NEW KINGDOM, ETC.
From the New Kingdom, B. C. 1600-700, we have the *(Maxims
of Any,' spoken to his son Khonsuhetep, numerous hymns to the
gods, including *that of King Akhenaten to the Aten (or disk of the
sun), and the later * hymns to Amen Ra. Inscriptions of every kind,
## p. 5232 (#404) ###########################################
5232
EGYPTIAN LITERATURE
historical, mythological, and funereal, abound. The historical *inscrip-
tion of Piankhy is of very late date. On papyri there are the stories
of the *' Two Brothers,' of the “Taking of Joppa, of the * Doomed
Prince. )
From the Saite period (XXV'Ith Dynasty, B. C. 700) and later, there
is little worthy of record in hieroglyphics: the inscriptions follow an-
cient models, and present nothing striking or original. In demotic we
have the ** (Story of Setna,' a papyrus of moralities, a chronicle some-
what falsified, a harper's song, a philosophical dialogue between a cat
and a jackal, and others.
Here we might end. Greek authors in Egypt were many: some
were native, some of foreign birth or extraction, but they all belong
to a different world from the Ancient Egyptian. With the adapta-
tion of the Greek alphabet to the spelling of the native dialects,
Egyptian came again to the front in Coptic, the language of Christ-
ian Egypt. Coptic literature, if such it may be called, was almost
entirely produced in Egyptian monasteries and intended for edifica-
tion. Let us hope that it served its end in its day. To us the dull,
extravagant, and fantastic Acts of the Saints, of which its original
works chiefly consist, are tedious and ridiculous except for the lin-
guist or the church historian. They certainly display the adjustment
of the Ancient Egyptian mind to new conditions of life and belief;
but the introduction of Christianity forms a fitting boundary to our
sketch, and we will now proceed to the texts themselves.
Francis Le. Enfitt
Mate Griffith
1
LIST OF SELECTIONS
STORIES:
The Shipwrecked Sailor The Doomed Prince
The Story of Sanehat
The Story of the Two Brothers
The Story of Setna
HISTORY:
The Stela of Piankhy
The Inscription of Una
POETRY:
MORAL AND DIDACTIC:
Songs of Laborers
The Negative Confession
Love Songs
The Teaching of Amenemhat
Hymn to Usertesen III. The Prisse Papyrus
Hymn to Aten
From the Maxims of Any
Hymns to Amen Ra
Instruction of Dauf
Songs to the Harp
Contrasted Lots of Scribe and
From an Epitaph
Fellâh
From a Dialogue Between a Reproaches to
Reproaches to a Dissipated Stu-
Man and His Soul
dent
## p. 5233 (#405) ###########################################
EGYPTIAN LITERATURE
5233
THE SHIPWRECKED SAILOR
[One of the most complete documents existing on papyrus is the (Story of
the Shipwrecked Sailor. ) The tale itself seems to date from a very early
period, when imagination could still have full play in Upper Nubia. In it a
sailor is apparently presenting a petition to some great man, in hopes of royal
favor as the hero of the marvels which he proceeds to recount.
The Papyrus, which apparently is of the age of the XIth Dynasty, is pre-
served at St. Petersburg, but is still unpublished. It has been translated
by Professors Golenisheff and Maspero. The present version is taken from
(Egyptian Tales,) by W. M. Flinders Petrie. ]
T"
He wise servant said, “Let thy heart be satisfied, O my lord,
for that we have come back to the country; after we have
long been on board, and rowed much, the prow has at last
touched land. All the people rejoice and embrace us one after
another. Moreover, we have come back in good health, and not
a man is lacking; although we have been to the ends of Wawat?
and gone through the land of Senmut,’ we have returned in
peace, and our land — behold, we have come back to it. Hear
me, my lord; I have no other refuge. Wash thee and turn the
water over thy fingers, then go and tell the tale to the Majesty. ”
His lord replied, “Thy heart continues still its wandering
words! But although the mouth of a man may save him, his
words may also cover his face with confusion. Wilt thou do,
then, as thy heart moves thee. This that thou wilt say, tell
quietly. "
The sailor then answered:-
“Now I shall tell that which has happened to me, to my very
self.
I was going to the mines of Pharaoh, and I went down
on the Sea on a ship of 150 cubits long and 40 cubits wide,
with 150 sailors of the best of Egypt, who had seen heaven and
earth, and whose hearts were stronger than lions. They had said
that the wind would not be contrary, or that there would be
none. But as we approached the land the wind arose, and threw
up waves eight cubits high. As for me, I sized a piece of wood;
but those who were in the vessel perished, without one remain-
ing. A wave threw me on an island, after that I had been three
I Lower Nubia.
2 District about the first cataract.
3 A name often applied to the great river Nile.
IX-328
## p. 5234 (#406) ###########################################
5234
EGYPTIAN LITERATURE
near.
1
days alone, without a companion beside my own heart. I laid me
in a thicket and the shadow covered me. Then stretched I my
limbs to try to find something for my mouth. I found there figs
and grapes, all manner of good herbs, berries and grain, melons
of all kinds, fishes and birds. Nothing was lacking. And I sat-
isfied myself, and left on the ground that which was over, of what
my arms had been filled withal. I dug a pit, I lighted a fire, and
I made a burnt-offering unto the gods.
“Suddenly I heard a noise as of thunder, which I thought to
be that of a wave of the sea. The trees shook and the earth
was moved.
I uncovered my face, and I saw that a serpent drew
He was thirty cubits long, and his beard greater than two
cubits; his body was overlaid with gold, and his color as that
of true lazuli. He coiled himself before me.
“Then he opened his mouth, while that I lay on my face
before him, and he said to me, What has brought thee, what
has brought thee, little one, what has brought thee? If thou
sayest not speedily what has brought thee to this isle, I will
make thee know thyself; as a flame thou shalt vanish, if thou
tellest me not something I have not heard, or which I knew not
before thee. '
« Then he took me in his mouth and carried me to his resting-
place, and laid me down without any hurt. I was whole and
sound, and nothing was gone from me. Then he opened his
mouth against me, while that I lay on my face before him, and
he said, “What has brought thee, what has brought thee, little
one, what has brought thee to this isle which is in the sea, and
of which the shores are in the midst of the waves ? )
"Then I replied to him, and holding my arms low before
him,' I said to him:- 'I was embarked for the mines by the
order of the Majesty, in a ship; 150 cubits was its length, and
the width of it 40 cubits. It had 150 sailors of the best of Egypt,
who had seen heaven and earth, and the hearts of whom were
stronger than lions. They said that the wind would not be con-
trary, or that there would be none. Each of them exceeded his
companion in the prudence of his heart and the strength of his
arm, and I was not beneath any of them. A storm came upon
us while we were on the sea. Hardly could we reach to the
shore when the wind waxed yet greater, and the waves rose even
1 The usual Egyptian attitude of respect to a superior was to stand bent
slightly forward, holding the arms downward.
## p. 5235 (#407) ###########################################
EGYPTIAN LITERATURE
5235
eight cubits.
As for me, I seized a piece of wood, while those
who were in the boat perished without one being left with me
for three days. Behold me now before thee, for I was brought
to this isle by a wave of the sea! !
« Then said he to me, Fear not, fear not, little one, and
make not thy face sad. If thou hast come to me, it is God? who
has let thee live. For it is he who has brought thee to this isle
of the blest, where nothing is lacking, and which is filled with
all good things. See now thou shalt pass one month after
another, until thou shalt be four months in this isle. Then a
ship shall come from thy land with sailors, and thou shalt leave
with them and go to thy country, and thou shalt die in thy town.
Converse is pleasing, and he who tastes of it passes over his
misery I will therefore tell thee of that which is in this isle.
I am here with my brethren and my children around me; we are
seventy-five serpents, children, and kindred; without naming a
young girl who was brought unto me by chance, and on whom
the fire of heaven fell and burnt her to ashes. As for thee, if
thou art strong, and if thy heart waits patiently, thou shalt press
thy infants to thy bosom and embrace thy wife. Thou shalt
return to thy house which is full of all good things, thou shalt
see thy land, where thou shalt dwell in the midst of thy kin-
dred! )
« Then I bowed in my obeisance, and I touched the ground
before him. “Behold now that which I have told thee before. I
shall tell of thy presence unto Pharaoh, I shall make him to
know of thy greatness, and I will bring to thee of the sacred
oils and perfumes, and of incense of the temples with which all
gods are honored. I shall tell moreover of that which I do
see (thanks to him), and there shall be rendered to thee
praises before the fullness of all the land. I shall slay asses for
thee in sacrifice, I shall pluck for thee the birds, and I shall
bring for thee ships full of all kinds of the treasures of Egypt,
as is comely to do unto a god, a friend of men in a far country,
of which men know not. '
“Then he smiled at my speech, because of that which was in
his heart, for he said to me, Thou art not rich in perfumes, for
all that thou hast is but common incense. As for me, I am
1 The polytheistic Egyptians frequently used the term “God” without speci-
fying any particular deity: perhaps, too, in their own minds they did not
define the idea, but applied it simply to some general notion of Divinity.
now
## p. 5236 (#408) ###########################################
5236
EGYPTIAN LITERATURE
prince of the land of Punt,' and I have perfumes. Only the oil
which thou saidst thou wouldst bring is not common in this isle.
But when thou shalt depart from this place, thou shalt never
more see this isle; it shall be changed into waves. '
"And behold, when the ship drew near, attending to all that
he had told me before, I got me up into an high tree, to strive
to see those who were within it. Then I came and told to him
this matter; but it was already known unto him before. Then
he said to me, Farewell, farewell; go to thy house, little one,
see again thy children, and let thy name be good in thy town;
these are my wishes for thee! !
« Then I bowed myself before him, and held my arms low
before him, and he, he gave me gifts of precious perfumes, of
cassia, of sweet woods, of kohl, of cypress, an abundance of
incense, of ivory tusks, of baboons, of apes, and all kinds of
precious things. I embarked all in the ship which was come,
and bowing myself, I prayed God for him.
« Then he said to me, Behold, thou shalt come to thy country
in two months, thou shalt press to thy bosom thy children, and
thou shalt rest in thy tomb! ! After this I went down to the
shore unto the ship, and I called to the sailors who were there.
Then on the shore I rendered adoration to the master of this
isle and to those who dwelt therein.
“When we shall come, in our return, to the house of Pha-
raoh, in the second month, according to all that the serpent
has said, we shall approach unto the palace. And I shall go in
before Pharaoh, I shall bring the gifts which I have brought
from this isle into the country. Then he shall thank me before
the fullness of all the land. Grant then unto me a follower, and
lead me to the courtiers of the king. Cast thine eye upon me
after that I am come to land again, after that I have both seen
and proved this. Hear my prayer, for it is good to listen to
people. It was said unto me, “Become a wise man, and thou
shalt come to honor,' and behold I have become such. ”
This is finished from its beginning unto its end, even as it was
found in a writing. It is written by the scribe of cunning fingers,
Amenia menaa; may he live in life, wealth, and health.
1 Punt was the land of spices » to the Egyptian, and thence, too, the
finest incense was brought for the temple services.
It included Somaliland in
Africa, and the south of Arabia.
## p. 5237 (#409) ###########################################
EGYPTIAN LITERATURE
5237
THE STORY OF SANEHAT
[The story of Sanehat is practically complete. A papyrus at Berlin con-
tains all the text except about twenty lines at the beginning, the whole being
written in about three hundred and thirty short lines. Scraps of the missing
portion were found in the collection of Lord Amherst of Hackney; and these,
added to a complete but very corrupt text of about the first fifty lines, enable
one to restore the whole with tolerable certainty. The story was written
about the time of the XIIth or XIIIth Dynasty, but was known at a much
later period: one extract from the beginning of the tale and one from the
end have been found written in ink on limestone flakes or (ostraca) of about
the XXth Dynasty (about 1150 B. C. ). It seems to be a straightforward rela-
tion of actual occurrences, a real piece of biography. At any rate, it is most
instructive as showing the kind of intercourse that was possible between
Egypt and Palestine about 2500 B. C. ]
keeper of the gate
He hereditary prince, royal seal-bearer, trusty companion,
of the foreigners, true and
beloved royal acquaintance, the attendant Sanehat says:-
I attended my lord as a servant of the king, of the house-
hold of the hereditary princess, the greatly favored, the royal
wife, Ankhet-Usertesen [? ], holding a place at Kanefer, the pyra-
mid of King Amenemhat. '
In the thirtieth year, the month Paophi, the seventh day, the
god’ entered his horizon, the King Sehetepabra flew up to heaven;
he joined the sun's disk, he attended the god, he joined his
Maker. The Residences was silenced, the hearts were weakened,
the Great Portals were closed, the courtiers crouching on the
ground, the people in hushed mourning.
Now his Majesty had sent a great army with the nobles to
the land of the Temehu,“ his son and heir as their commander,
the good King Usertesen. And now he was returning, and had
brought away captives and all kinds of cattle without end. The
Companions of the Court sent to the West Side to let the king
know the state of affairs that had come about in the Audience
1 This paragraph is very difficult to restore and very doubtful.
? 1. e. , the King Sehetepabra Amenemhat I. , whose death is recorded in the
nest clause.
3 The king's city, and so throughout the story.
* The land of the Temehu was in the Libyan desert on the west of Egypt.
5 Usertesen I. , the son and heir of Amenemhat I. , reigned ten years
jointly with his father.
61. e. , the western edge of Lower Egypt.
## p. 5238 (#410) ###########################################
5238
EGYPTIAN LITERATURE
Chamber. ' The messenger found him on the road; he reached
him at the time of evening. “It was a time for him to hasten
greatly (was the message]: Let the Hawk' fly [hither with his
attendants, without allowing the army to know of it. ” And when
the royal sons who commanded in that army sent messages, not
one of them was summoned to audience. Behold, I was standing
(near]; I heard his voice while he was speaking. ' I fled far away,
my heart beating, my arms outspread; trembling had fallen on
all my limbs. I ran hither and thither to seek a place to hide
me, I threw myself amongst the bushes: and when I found a
road that went forward, I set out southward, not indeed thinking
to come to this Residence. I expected that there would be dis-
turbance. I spake not of life after it. ® I wandered across my
estate' [? ] in the neighborhood of Nehat; I reached the island [or
lake] of Seneferu, and spent the day [resting ? ] on the open field.
I started again while it was yet day,* and came to a man stand-
ing at the side of the road. He asked of me mercy, for he
feared me. By supper-time I drew near to the town of Negau.
I crossed the river on a raft without a rudder, by the aid of a
west wind, and landed at the quay [? ] of the quarrymen of the
Mistress at the Red Mountain. ' Then I fled on foot northward,
1
Perhaps this refers to the death of the king, or to the deliberations of
the royal councilors.
? Apparently a term for the king.
8 Sanehat, accidentally hearing the news of the old king's death, which
was kept secret even from the members of the royal family, was overcome
with agitation and fled.
* It was of course night-time.
5 The Royal Residence called Athet-taui lay on the boundary of Upper and
Lower Egypt, between Memphis and the entrance to the Faiyûm, and so in the
direction which Sanehat at first took in his flight from the western edge of the
Delta. One might prefer the word Capital to Residence, but it can hardly be
doubted that Thebes and Memphis were then the real capitals of Egypt.
6 Perhaps the meaning is that Sanehat did not imagine life possible after
the king's death, or it may be “outside the Residence. ” The pronoun for
“it is masculine, and may refer either to the palace or to the king.
? Or possibly «I turned my course,” turning now northward.
8 Or possibly «the next day. ”
. Here the MS. is injured, and some of the words are doubtful. The
quarries are those still worked for hard quartzite at Jebel Ahmar (Red Mount-
ain), northeast of Cairo. The positions of most of the places mentioned in
the narrative are uncertain. Doubtless Sanehat crossed the Nile just above
the fork of the Delta and landed in the neighborhood of the quarries. The
«Mistress) (Heryt), must be a goddess, or the queen.
## p. 5239 (#411) ###########################################
EGYPTIAN LITERATURE
5239
and reached the Walls of the Ruler, built to repel the Sati. ' I
crouched in a bush for fear, seeing the day-patrol at its duty on
the top of the fortress. At nightfall I set forth, and at dawn
reached Peten, and skirted the lake of Kemur. ? Then thirst
hasted me on; I was parched, my throat was stopped, and I said,
« This is the taste of death. ” When I lifted up my heart and
gathered strength, I heard a voice and the lowing of cattle. I
saw men of the Sati; and an alien amongst them — he who is
[now? ] in Egypt —— recognized me. Behold, he gave me water,
and boiled me milk, and I went with him to his camp, — may a
blessing be their portion! One tribe passed me on to another: I
departed to Sun ], and came to Kedem. "
There I spent a year and a month [? ]. But Ammui-nen-sha,
Ruler of the Upper Tenu, took me and said to me:-“Comfort
thyself with me, that thou mayest hear the speech of Egypt. ”
He said thus, for that he knew my character, and had heard of
my worth; for men of Egypt who were there with him bore
witness of me. Then he said to me:-“For what hast thou come
hither ? what is it ? Hath a matter come to pass in the Resi-
dence? The King of the Two Lands, Sehetepabra, hath gone to
heaven, and one knoweth not what may have happened thereon. ”
But I answered with concealment and said:-“I returned with
an expedition from the land of the Temehu; my desire was
redoubled, my heart leaped, there was no satisfaction within me.
This drove me to the ways of a fugitive. I have not failed in
my duty, my mouth hath not uttered any bitter words, I have
not hearkened to any evil plot, my name hath not been heard in
the mouth of the informer. I know not what hath brought me
into this country. ” [And the Ruler Ammui-nen-sha said:]ø «This
1 Asiatics and Bedawîn.
Kemur was one of the Bitter Lakes in the line of the present Suez Canal.
* Possibly one of the three persons proposed as hostages to Egypt below,
p. 5246. The word translated «alien” is uncertain. It may mean a kind of
consul or mediator between the tribes for the purposes of trade, etc. , or sim-
ply a «sheikh. ” Sanebat himself, returned from Egypt in his old age, is
called by the same title, p. 5248.
*Or possibly Adim, i. e. , Edom; and so throughout.
6 Later called Upper Retenu: they were the inhabitants of the high lands
of Palestine. Ammi was a divine name in Ancient Arabia, and the name
Ammi-anshi, found in South-Arabian inscriptions, perhaps of 1000 B. C. , is
almost identical with that of the king who befriended Sanehat.
6 These words appear to have been omitted by the scribe.
## p. 5240 (#412) ###########################################
5240
EGYPTIAN LITERATURE
is like the disposition of God. And now what is that land like if
it know not that excellent god,' of whom the dread was over the
nations like Sekhemt? in a year of pestilence? ” I spake [thus]
to him, and replied to him:—“Nay, but his son hath entered the
palace, and taken the heritage of his father, and he is a god
without an equal, nor was there any other before him [like unto
him]. He is a master of wisdom, prudent in his designs, excel-
lent in his decrees; coming out and going in is at his command.
It was he that curbed the nations while his father remained within
the palace, and he reported the execution of that which was laid
upon him [to perform]. He is a mighty man also, working with
his strong arm; a valiant one, who hath not his equal. See him
when he springeth upon the barbarians, and throweth himself on
the spoilers; he breaketh the horns and weakeneth the hands; his
enemies cannot wield their weapons. He is fearless and dasheth
heads to pieces; none can stand before him. He is swift of going,
to destroy him who fleeth; and none turning his back to him
reacheth his home. He is sturdy of heart in the moment [of
stress); he is a lion that striketh with the claw; never hath he
turned his back. He is stout of heart when he seeth multitudes,
he letteth none repose beyond what his desire would spare. He
is bold of face when he seeth hesitation: his joy is to fall on the
barbarians. He seizeth the buckler, and leapeth forward; he re-
peateth not his stroke, he slayeth, and none can turn his lance;
without his bow being drawn the barbarians flee from his arms
like dogs; for the great goddess hath granted him to war against
those who know not his name; he is thorough, he spareth not
and leaveth naught behind. He is full of grace and sweetness, a
love-winner; his city loveth him more than itself, it rejoiceth in
him more than in its own god; men and women go their ways,
calling their children by his name. For he is a king that took
the kingdom while he was in the egg, and ruled from his birth.
He is a multiplier of offspring. And he is One Alone, the essence
of God; this land rejoiceth in his government. He is one that
enlargeth his borders; he will take the lands of the South, but he
will not design to hold the countries of the North: yet he pre-
pareth to smite the Sati, to crush the Wanderers of the Sand.
When he cometh here, let him know thy name; dispute not, but
11. e. , What does Egypt do without the king ?
2 The goddess of destruction.
## p. 5241 (#413) ###########################################
EGYPTIAN LITERATURE
5241
go over to his command? : for he will not fail to treat well the
country that floateth with his stream. ”
Said he, agreeing to me:- “Verily, Egypt is excellent in its
stream? beyond anything, and it flourisheth; behold, as long as
thou art with me I will do good unto thee. ” He placed me at
the head of his children, he married me with his eldest daughter.
He allowed me to choose for myself from his land, and from the
choicest of what he possessed on the border of the next land. It
was a goodly land; IaaS is its name. Therein were figs and
grapes; its wine was more plentiful than water; abundant was
its honey, many were its oil-trees, and all fruits were upon its
trees; there too was barley and spelt, and cattle of all kinds with-
out end. Great honors also were granted to me, flowing from
his love to me; he set me as sheikh of a tribe in a choice portion
of his country. There were made for me rations of bread, wine
from day to day, cooked meat and roasted fowl, besides wild game
snared for me or brought to me, as well as what my hunting
dogs caught. They made me many dainties, and milk food
cooked in all manner of ways. Thus I passed many years; my
children became valiant men, each one the conqueror of a tribe.
When a messenger came north or went south to the Residence,
he tarried with me; for I gave all men gifts; I gave water to
the thirsty, I set the strayed wanderer on his road, and I
rescued those who were carried off captive. The Sati who went
to war or to repel the kings of the nations, I commanded their
expeditions; for this Ruler of the Tenu made me to spend
many years as captain of his army. Every land to which I
turned I overcame. I destroyed its green fields and its wells, I
captured its cattle, I took captive its inhabitants, I deprived
them of their provisions, and I slew much people of them by
my sword, my bow, my marchings, and my good devices. Thus
my excellence was in his heart; he loved me and he knew my
valor; until he set me at the head of his sons, when he saw the
success of my handiwork.
There came a champion of the Tenu to defy me in my tent;
a bold man without equal, for he had vanquished all his rivals.
He said, “Let Sanehat fight with me. ” He thought to overcome
1 Lit. , «stick. )
? A metaphor for the policy,» «will,” of a king or god.
3 Meaning «reeds » (? ).
4 1. e. , of Pharaoh; see above, p. 5238.
## p. 5242 (#414) ###########################################
5242
EGYPTIAN LITERATURE
1
me; he designed to take my cattle, being thus counseled by his
tribe. This ruler [Ammui-nen-sha) conferred with me.
I said: -
“I know him not. I assuredly am no associate of his; I hold me
far from his place. Have I ever opened his door, or leaped over
his fence? It is perverseness of heart from seeing me doing his
work. Forsooth, I am as it were a stranger bull among the cows,
which the bull of the herd charges, and the strong bull catches!
But shall a wretched beggar desire to attain to my fortune ? A
common soldier cannot take part as a counselor. Then what
pray shall establish the assembly ? ! But is there a bull that
loveth battle, a courageous bull that loveth to repeat the charge
in terrifying him whose strength he hath measured ? If he hath
stomach to fight, let him speak what he pleaseth. Will God for-
get what is ordained for him ? How shall fate be known ? ” The
night long I strung my bow, I made ready my arrows; I made
keen my dagger, I furbished my arms. At daybreak the Tenu
came together; it had gathered its tribes and collected the neigh-
boring peoples. Its thoughts were on this combat; every bosom
burned for me, men and women crying out; every heart was
troubled for me; they said, "Is there yet another champion
to fight with him ? » Then [he took] his buckler, his battle-axe,
and an armful of javelins. But thereon I avoided his weapons,
and turned aside his arrows to the ground, useless. One drew
near to the other and he rushed upon me. I shot at him and my
arrow stuck in his neck; he cried out, and fell upon his nose: I
brought down upon him his own battle-axe, and raised my shout
of victory on his back. All the Asiatics roared, and I and his
vassals whom he had oppressed gave thanks unto Mentu; this
Ruler, Ammui-nen-sha, took me to his embrace. Then I took
his goods, I seized his cattle. What he had thought to do to
me, I did it unto him; I seized that which was in his tent, I
spoiled his dwelling. I grew great thereby, I increased in my
possessions. I abounded in cattle.
May’ the god be disposed to pardon him in whom he had
trusted, and who deserted to a foreign country. Now is his
1 A difficult passage.
? Without any pause or introduction Sanehat begins to quote from his peti-
tion to the King of Egypt. It is difficult to say whether this arrangement is
due to an oversight of the scribe, or is intended to heighten the picturesque-
ness of the narrative by sudden contrast. The formal introduction might well
be omitted as uninteresting. The end of the document with the salutations
is preserved.
## p. 5243 (#415) ###########################################
EGYPTIAN LITERATURE
5243
anger quenched. I who at one time fled away a fugitive, my
guarantee is now in the Residence. Having wandered a starved
wanderer, now I give bread to those around.
such as irrigation or road-making.
## p. 5228 (#400) ###########################################
5228
EGYPTIAN LITERATURE
Unique as a mighty hunter, the abode of the heart of the King.
Speaking the right when he judges between suitors, clear of speaking fraud,
knowing how to proceed in the council of the elders, finding the knot in the
skein.
Great of favors in the house of the King, contenting the
heart on the day of making division, careful of his goings to his equals,
gaining reverence on the day of weighing words, beloved of the officials of
the palace.
The cursive forms of writing — hieratic from the earliest times,
demotic in the latest — were those in which records were committed
to papyrus.
This material has preserved to us documents of every
kind, from letters and ledgers to works of religion and philosophy.
To these, again, “literature is a term rarely to be applied; yet the
tales and poetry occasionally met with on papyri are perhaps the
most pleasing of all the productions of the Egyptian scribe.
It must be confessed that the knowledge of writing in Egypt led
to a kind of primitive pedantry, and a taste for unnatural and to us
childish formality: the free play and naïveté of the story-teller is too
often choked, and the art of literary finish was little understood.
Simplicity and truth to nature alone gave lasting charm, for though
adornment was often attempted, their rude arts of literary embellish-
ment were seldom otherwise than clumsily employed.
A word should be said about the strange condition in which most
of the literary texts have come down to us. It is rarely that mon-
umental inscriptions contain serious blunders of orthography; the
peculiarities of late archaistic inscriptions which sometimes produce a
kind of “dog Egyptian” can hardly be considered as blunders, for
the scribe knew what meaning he intended to convey. But it is
otherwise with copies of literary works on papyrus. Sometimes these
were the productions of schoolboys copying from dictation as an
exercise in the writing-school, and the blank edges of these papyri
are often decorated with essays at executing the more difficult signs.
The master of the school would seem not to have cared what non-
sense was produced by the misunderstanding of his dictation, so long
as the signs were well formed. The composition of new works on
the model of the old, and the accurate understanding of the ancient
works, were taught in a very different school, and few indeed
attained to skill in them. The boys turned out of the writing-school
would read and write a little; the clever ones would keep accounts,
write letters, make out reports as clerks in the government service,
and might ultimately acquire considerable proficiency in this kind of
work. Apparently men of the official class sometimes amused them-
selves with puzzling over an ill-written copy of some ancient tale,
and with trying to copy portions of it. The work however was be-
yond them: they were attracted by it, they revered the compilations
## p. 5229 (#401) ###########################################
EGYPTIAN LITERATURE
5229
of an elder age and those which were written by the finger of
Thoth himself”; but the science of language was unborn, and there
was little or no systematic instruction given in the principles of the
ancient grammar and vocabulary. Those who desired to attain emi-
nence in scholarship after they had passed through the writing-school
had to go to Heliopolis, Hermopolis, or wherever the principal uni-
versity of the time might be, and there sit at the feet of priestly
professors; who we fancy were reverenced as demigods, and who
in mysterious fashion and with niggardly hand imparted scraps of
knowledge to their eager pupils. Those endowed with special talents
might after almost lifelong study become proficient in the ancient
language. Would that we might one day discover the hoard of rolls
of such a copyist and writer!
There must have been a large class of hack-copyists practiced in
forming characters both uncial and cursive. Sometimes their copies
of religious works are models of deft writing, the embellishments
of artist and colorist being added to those of the calligrapher: the
magnificent rolls of the Book of the Dead in the British Museum
and elsewhere are the admiration of all beholders. Such manu-
scripts satisfy the eye, and apparently neither the multitude in Egypt
nor even the priestly royal undertakers questioned their efficacy in
the tomb. Yet are they very apples of Sodom to the hieroglyphic
scholar; fair without, but ashes within. On comparing different
copies of the same text, he sees in almost every line omissions, per-
versions, corruptions, until he turns away baffled and disgusted.
Only here and there is the text practically certain, and even then
there are probably grammatical blunders in every copy. Nor is it
only in the later papyri that these blunders are met with. The
hieroglyphic system of writing, especially in its cursive forms, lends
itself very readily to perversion by ignorant and inattentive copyists;
and even monumental inscriptions, so long as they are mere copies,
are usually corrupted. The most ridiculous perversions of all, date
from the Ramesside epoch when the dim past had lost its charm,
for the glories of the XVIIIth Dynasty were still fresh, while new
impulses and foreign influence had broken down adherence to tradi-
tion and isolation.
In the eighth century B. C. the new and the old were definitely
parted, to the advantage of each. On the one hand the transactions
of ordinary life were more easily registered in the cursive demotic
script, while on the other the sacred writings were more thoroughly
investigated and brought into order by the priests. Hence, in spite
of absurdities that had irremediably crept in, the archaistic texts
copied in the XXVIth Dynasty are more intelligible than the same
class of work in the XIXth and XXth Dynasties.
## p. 5230 (#402) ###########################################
5230
EGYPTIAN LITERATURE
In reading translations from Egyptian, it must be remembered
that uncertainty still remains concerning the meanings of multitudes
of words and phrases. Every year witnesses a great advance in
accuracy of rendering; but the translation even of an easy text still
requires here and there some close and careful guesswork to supply
the connecting links of passages or words that are thoroughly under-
stood, or the resort to some conventional rendering that has become
current for certain ill-understood but frequently recurring phrases.
The renderings given in the following pages are with one exception
specially revised for this publication, and exclude most of what is
doubtful. The Egyptologist is now to a great extent himself aware
whether the ground on which he is treading is firm or treacherous;
and it seems desirable to make a rule of either giving the public
only what can be warranted as sound translation, or else of warn-
ing them where accuracy is doubtful. A few years ago such a course
would have curtailed the area for selection to few of the simplest
stories and historical inscriptions; but now we can range over almost
the whole field of Egyptian writing, and gather from any part of it
warranted samples to set before the reading public. The labor, how-
ever, involved in producing satisfactory translations for publication,
not mere hasty readings which may give something of the sense, is
very great; and at present few texts have been well rendered. It is
hoped that the following translations will be taken for what they are
intended, -- attempts to show a little of the Ancient Egyptian mind
in the writings which it has left to us.
We may now sketch briefly the history of Egyptian literature,
dealing with the subject in periods:'-
I. THE ANCIENT KINGDOM, ABOUT B. C. 4500-3000
The earliest historic period — from the Ist Dynasty to the IIId,
about B. C. 4500 — has left no inscriptions of any extent. Some
portions of the Book of the Dead' profess to date from these or
earlier times, and probably much of the religious literature is of
extremely ancient origin. The first book of * Proverbs) in the Prisse
Papyrus is attributed by its writer to the end of the IIId Dynasty
(about 4000 B. C. ). From the IVth Dynasty to the end of the
VIth, the number of the inscriptions increases; tablets set up to the
kings of the IVth Dynasty in memory of warlike raids are found in
the peninsula of Sinai, and funerary inscriptions abound. The pyra-
mids raised at the end of the Vth and during the VIth Dynasty are
found to contain interminable religious inscriptions, forming alınost
1 An asterisk (*) attached to the title of a text indicates that a translation
of part or all of it is printed in the following pages.
## p. 5231 (#403) ###########################################
EGYPTIAN LITERATURE
5231
complete rituals for the deceased kings. Professor Maspero, who has
published these texts, states that they “contain much verbiage,
many pious platitudes, many obscure allusions to the affairs of the
other world, and amongst all this rubbish some passages full of
movement and wild energy, in which poetical inspiration and reli-
gious emotion are still discernible through the veil of mythological
expressions. ” Of the funerary and biographical inscriptions the most
remarkable is that of * Una. Another, slightly later but hardly less
important, is on the facade of the tomb of Herkhuf, at Aswân, and
recounts the expeditions into Ethiopia and the southern oases which
this resourceful man carried through successfully. In Herkhuf's later
life he delighted a boy King of Egypt by bringing back for him from
one of his raids a grotesque dwarf dancer of exceptional skill: the
young Pharaoh sent him a long letter on the subject, which was copied
in full on the tomb as an addition to the other records there. It is to
the Vth Dynasty also that the second collection of *( Proverbs in the
Prisse Papyrus is dated. The VIIth and VIIIth Dynasties have left
us practically no records of any kind.
II.
THE MIDDLE KINGDOM, B. C. 3000 TO 1600
The Middle Kingdom, from the IXth to the XVIIth Dynasty, shows
a great literary developinent. Historical records of some length are
not uncommon. The funerary inscriptions descriptive of character
and achievement are often remarkable.
Many papyri of this period have survived: the * Prisse Papyrus
of Proverbs, a papyrus discovered by Mr. Flinders Petrie with the
*'Hymn to Usertesen III. ,' papyri at Berlin containing a *dialogue
between a man and his soul, the * Story of Sanehat,' the Story of
the Sekhti,' and a very remarkable fragment of another story; besides
the Westcar Papyrus of Tales' and at St. Petersburg the *' 'Ship-
wrecked Sailor. ' The productions of this period were copied in later
times; the royal *( Teaching of Amenemhat,' and the worldly *( Teach-
ing of Dauf' as to the desirability of a scribe's career above any other
trade or profession, exist only in late copies. Doubtless much of the
later literature was copied from the texts of the Middle Kingdom.
There are also *treatises extant on medicine and arithmetic. Por-
tions of the Book of the Dead are found inscribed on tombs and
sarcophagi.
III. THE NEW KINGDOM, ETC.
From the New Kingdom, B. C. 1600-700, we have the *(Maxims
of Any,' spoken to his son Khonsuhetep, numerous hymns to the
gods, including *that of King Akhenaten to the Aten (or disk of the
sun), and the later * hymns to Amen Ra. Inscriptions of every kind,
## p. 5232 (#404) ###########################################
5232
EGYPTIAN LITERATURE
historical, mythological, and funereal, abound. The historical *inscrip-
tion of Piankhy is of very late date. On papyri there are the stories
of the *' Two Brothers,' of the “Taking of Joppa, of the * Doomed
Prince. )
From the Saite period (XXV'Ith Dynasty, B. C. 700) and later, there
is little worthy of record in hieroglyphics: the inscriptions follow an-
cient models, and present nothing striking or original. In demotic we
have the ** (Story of Setna,' a papyrus of moralities, a chronicle some-
what falsified, a harper's song, a philosophical dialogue between a cat
and a jackal, and others.
Here we might end. Greek authors in Egypt were many: some
were native, some of foreign birth or extraction, but they all belong
to a different world from the Ancient Egyptian. With the adapta-
tion of the Greek alphabet to the spelling of the native dialects,
Egyptian came again to the front in Coptic, the language of Christ-
ian Egypt. Coptic literature, if such it may be called, was almost
entirely produced in Egyptian monasteries and intended for edifica-
tion. Let us hope that it served its end in its day. To us the dull,
extravagant, and fantastic Acts of the Saints, of which its original
works chiefly consist, are tedious and ridiculous except for the lin-
guist or the church historian. They certainly display the adjustment
of the Ancient Egyptian mind to new conditions of life and belief;
but the introduction of Christianity forms a fitting boundary to our
sketch, and we will now proceed to the texts themselves.
Francis Le. Enfitt
Mate Griffith
1
LIST OF SELECTIONS
STORIES:
The Shipwrecked Sailor The Doomed Prince
The Story of Sanehat
The Story of the Two Brothers
The Story of Setna
HISTORY:
The Stela of Piankhy
The Inscription of Una
POETRY:
MORAL AND DIDACTIC:
Songs of Laborers
The Negative Confession
Love Songs
The Teaching of Amenemhat
Hymn to Usertesen III. The Prisse Papyrus
Hymn to Aten
From the Maxims of Any
Hymns to Amen Ra
Instruction of Dauf
Songs to the Harp
Contrasted Lots of Scribe and
From an Epitaph
Fellâh
From a Dialogue Between a Reproaches to
Reproaches to a Dissipated Stu-
Man and His Soul
dent
## p. 5233 (#405) ###########################################
EGYPTIAN LITERATURE
5233
THE SHIPWRECKED SAILOR
[One of the most complete documents existing on papyrus is the (Story of
the Shipwrecked Sailor. ) The tale itself seems to date from a very early
period, when imagination could still have full play in Upper Nubia. In it a
sailor is apparently presenting a petition to some great man, in hopes of royal
favor as the hero of the marvels which he proceeds to recount.
The Papyrus, which apparently is of the age of the XIth Dynasty, is pre-
served at St. Petersburg, but is still unpublished. It has been translated
by Professors Golenisheff and Maspero. The present version is taken from
(Egyptian Tales,) by W. M. Flinders Petrie. ]
T"
He wise servant said, “Let thy heart be satisfied, O my lord,
for that we have come back to the country; after we have
long been on board, and rowed much, the prow has at last
touched land. All the people rejoice and embrace us one after
another. Moreover, we have come back in good health, and not
a man is lacking; although we have been to the ends of Wawat?
and gone through the land of Senmut,’ we have returned in
peace, and our land — behold, we have come back to it. Hear
me, my lord; I have no other refuge. Wash thee and turn the
water over thy fingers, then go and tell the tale to the Majesty. ”
His lord replied, “Thy heart continues still its wandering
words! But although the mouth of a man may save him, his
words may also cover his face with confusion. Wilt thou do,
then, as thy heart moves thee. This that thou wilt say, tell
quietly. "
The sailor then answered:-
“Now I shall tell that which has happened to me, to my very
self.
I was going to the mines of Pharaoh, and I went down
on the Sea on a ship of 150 cubits long and 40 cubits wide,
with 150 sailors of the best of Egypt, who had seen heaven and
earth, and whose hearts were stronger than lions. They had said
that the wind would not be contrary, or that there would be
none. But as we approached the land the wind arose, and threw
up waves eight cubits high. As for me, I sized a piece of wood;
but those who were in the vessel perished, without one remain-
ing. A wave threw me on an island, after that I had been three
I Lower Nubia.
2 District about the first cataract.
3 A name often applied to the great river Nile.
IX-328
## p. 5234 (#406) ###########################################
5234
EGYPTIAN LITERATURE
near.
1
days alone, without a companion beside my own heart. I laid me
in a thicket and the shadow covered me. Then stretched I my
limbs to try to find something for my mouth. I found there figs
and grapes, all manner of good herbs, berries and grain, melons
of all kinds, fishes and birds. Nothing was lacking. And I sat-
isfied myself, and left on the ground that which was over, of what
my arms had been filled withal. I dug a pit, I lighted a fire, and
I made a burnt-offering unto the gods.
“Suddenly I heard a noise as of thunder, which I thought to
be that of a wave of the sea. The trees shook and the earth
was moved.
I uncovered my face, and I saw that a serpent drew
He was thirty cubits long, and his beard greater than two
cubits; his body was overlaid with gold, and his color as that
of true lazuli. He coiled himself before me.
“Then he opened his mouth, while that I lay on my face
before him, and he said to me, What has brought thee, what
has brought thee, little one, what has brought thee? If thou
sayest not speedily what has brought thee to this isle, I will
make thee know thyself; as a flame thou shalt vanish, if thou
tellest me not something I have not heard, or which I knew not
before thee. '
« Then he took me in his mouth and carried me to his resting-
place, and laid me down without any hurt. I was whole and
sound, and nothing was gone from me. Then he opened his
mouth against me, while that I lay on my face before him, and
he said, “What has brought thee, what has brought thee, little
one, what has brought thee to this isle which is in the sea, and
of which the shores are in the midst of the waves ? )
"Then I replied to him, and holding my arms low before
him,' I said to him:- 'I was embarked for the mines by the
order of the Majesty, in a ship; 150 cubits was its length, and
the width of it 40 cubits. It had 150 sailors of the best of Egypt,
who had seen heaven and earth, and the hearts of whom were
stronger than lions. They said that the wind would not be con-
trary, or that there would be none. Each of them exceeded his
companion in the prudence of his heart and the strength of his
arm, and I was not beneath any of them. A storm came upon
us while we were on the sea. Hardly could we reach to the
shore when the wind waxed yet greater, and the waves rose even
1 The usual Egyptian attitude of respect to a superior was to stand bent
slightly forward, holding the arms downward.
## p. 5235 (#407) ###########################################
EGYPTIAN LITERATURE
5235
eight cubits.
As for me, I seized a piece of wood, while those
who were in the boat perished without one being left with me
for three days. Behold me now before thee, for I was brought
to this isle by a wave of the sea! !
« Then said he to me, Fear not, fear not, little one, and
make not thy face sad. If thou hast come to me, it is God? who
has let thee live. For it is he who has brought thee to this isle
of the blest, where nothing is lacking, and which is filled with
all good things. See now thou shalt pass one month after
another, until thou shalt be four months in this isle. Then a
ship shall come from thy land with sailors, and thou shalt leave
with them and go to thy country, and thou shalt die in thy town.
Converse is pleasing, and he who tastes of it passes over his
misery I will therefore tell thee of that which is in this isle.
I am here with my brethren and my children around me; we are
seventy-five serpents, children, and kindred; without naming a
young girl who was brought unto me by chance, and on whom
the fire of heaven fell and burnt her to ashes. As for thee, if
thou art strong, and if thy heart waits patiently, thou shalt press
thy infants to thy bosom and embrace thy wife. Thou shalt
return to thy house which is full of all good things, thou shalt
see thy land, where thou shalt dwell in the midst of thy kin-
dred! )
« Then I bowed in my obeisance, and I touched the ground
before him. “Behold now that which I have told thee before. I
shall tell of thy presence unto Pharaoh, I shall make him to
know of thy greatness, and I will bring to thee of the sacred
oils and perfumes, and of incense of the temples with which all
gods are honored. I shall tell moreover of that which I do
see (thanks to him), and there shall be rendered to thee
praises before the fullness of all the land. I shall slay asses for
thee in sacrifice, I shall pluck for thee the birds, and I shall
bring for thee ships full of all kinds of the treasures of Egypt,
as is comely to do unto a god, a friend of men in a far country,
of which men know not. '
“Then he smiled at my speech, because of that which was in
his heart, for he said to me, Thou art not rich in perfumes, for
all that thou hast is but common incense. As for me, I am
1 The polytheistic Egyptians frequently used the term “God” without speci-
fying any particular deity: perhaps, too, in their own minds they did not
define the idea, but applied it simply to some general notion of Divinity.
now
## p. 5236 (#408) ###########################################
5236
EGYPTIAN LITERATURE
prince of the land of Punt,' and I have perfumes. Only the oil
which thou saidst thou wouldst bring is not common in this isle.
But when thou shalt depart from this place, thou shalt never
more see this isle; it shall be changed into waves. '
"And behold, when the ship drew near, attending to all that
he had told me before, I got me up into an high tree, to strive
to see those who were within it. Then I came and told to him
this matter; but it was already known unto him before. Then
he said to me, Farewell, farewell; go to thy house, little one,
see again thy children, and let thy name be good in thy town;
these are my wishes for thee! !
« Then I bowed myself before him, and held my arms low
before him, and he, he gave me gifts of precious perfumes, of
cassia, of sweet woods, of kohl, of cypress, an abundance of
incense, of ivory tusks, of baboons, of apes, and all kinds of
precious things. I embarked all in the ship which was come,
and bowing myself, I prayed God for him.
« Then he said to me, Behold, thou shalt come to thy country
in two months, thou shalt press to thy bosom thy children, and
thou shalt rest in thy tomb! ! After this I went down to the
shore unto the ship, and I called to the sailors who were there.
Then on the shore I rendered adoration to the master of this
isle and to those who dwelt therein.
“When we shall come, in our return, to the house of Pha-
raoh, in the second month, according to all that the serpent
has said, we shall approach unto the palace. And I shall go in
before Pharaoh, I shall bring the gifts which I have brought
from this isle into the country. Then he shall thank me before
the fullness of all the land. Grant then unto me a follower, and
lead me to the courtiers of the king. Cast thine eye upon me
after that I am come to land again, after that I have both seen
and proved this. Hear my prayer, for it is good to listen to
people. It was said unto me, “Become a wise man, and thou
shalt come to honor,' and behold I have become such. ”
This is finished from its beginning unto its end, even as it was
found in a writing. It is written by the scribe of cunning fingers,
Amenia menaa; may he live in life, wealth, and health.
1 Punt was the land of spices » to the Egyptian, and thence, too, the
finest incense was brought for the temple services.
It included Somaliland in
Africa, and the south of Arabia.
## p. 5237 (#409) ###########################################
EGYPTIAN LITERATURE
5237
THE STORY OF SANEHAT
[The story of Sanehat is practically complete. A papyrus at Berlin con-
tains all the text except about twenty lines at the beginning, the whole being
written in about three hundred and thirty short lines. Scraps of the missing
portion were found in the collection of Lord Amherst of Hackney; and these,
added to a complete but very corrupt text of about the first fifty lines, enable
one to restore the whole with tolerable certainty. The story was written
about the time of the XIIth or XIIIth Dynasty, but was known at a much
later period: one extract from the beginning of the tale and one from the
end have been found written in ink on limestone flakes or (ostraca) of about
the XXth Dynasty (about 1150 B. C. ). It seems to be a straightforward rela-
tion of actual occurrences, a real piece of biography. At any rate, it is most
instructive as showing the kind of intercourse that was possible between
Egypt and Palestine about 2500 B. C. ]
keeper of the gate
He hereditary prince, royal seal-bearer, trusty companion,
of the foreigners, true and
beloved royal acquaintance, the attendant Sanehat says:-
I attended my lord as a servant of the king, of the house-
hold of the hereditary princess, the greatly favored, the royal
wife, Ankhet-Usertesen [? ], holding a place at Kanefer, the pyra-
mid of King Amenemhat. '
In the thirtieth year, the month Paophi, the seventh day, the
god’ entered his horizon, the King Sehetepabra flew up to heaven;
he joined the sun's disk, he attended the god, he joined his
Maker. The Residences was silenced, the hearts were weakened,
the Great Portals were closed, the courtiers crouching on the
ground, the people in hushed mourning.
Now his Majesty had sent a great army with the nobles to
the land of the Temehu,“ his son and heir as their commander,
the good King Usertesen. And now he was returning, and had
brought away captives and all kinds of cattle without end. The
Companions of the Court sent to the West Side to let the king
know the state of affairs that had come about in the Audience
1 This paragraph is very difficult to restore and very doubtful.
? 1. e. , the King Sehetepabra Amenemhat I. , whose death is recorded in the
nest clause.
3 The king's city, and so throughout the story.
* The land of the Temehu was in the Libyan desert on the west of Egypt.
5 Usertesen I. , the son and heir of Amenemhat I. , reigned ten years
jointly with his father.
61. e. , the western edge of Lower Egypt.
## p. 5238 (#410) ###########################################
5238
EGYPTIAN LITERATURE
Chamber. ' The messenger found him on the road; he reached
him at the time of evening. “It was a time for him to hasten
greatly (was the message]: Let the Hawk' fly [hither with his
attendants, without allowing the army to know of it. ” And when
the royal sons who commanded in that army sent messages, not
one of them was summoned to audience. Behold, I was standing
(near]; I heard his voice while he was speaking. ' I fled far away,
my heart beating, my arms outspread; trembling had fallen on
all my limbs. I ran hither and thither to seek a place to hide
me, I threw myself amongst the bushes: and when I found a
road that went forward, I set out southward, not indeed thinking
to come to this Residence. I expected that there would be dis-
turbance. I spake not of life after it. ® I wandered across my
estate' [? ] in the neighborhood of Nehat; I reached the island [or
lake] of Seneferu, and spent the day [resting ? ] on the open field.
I started again while it was yet day,* and came to a man stand-
ing at the side of the road. He asked of me mercy, for he
feared me. By supper-time I drew near to the town of Negau.
I crossed the river on a raft without a rudder, by the aid of a
west wind, and landed at the quay [? ] of the quarrymen of the
Mistress at the Red Mountain. ' Then I fled on foot northward,
1
Perhaps this refers to the death of the king, or to the deliberations of
the royal councilors.
? Apparently a term for the king.
8 Sanehat, accidentally hearing the news of the old king's death, which
was kept secret even from the members of the royal family, was overcome
with agitation and fled.
* It was of course night-time.
5 The Royal Residence called Athet-taui lay on the boundary of Upper and
Lower Egypt, between Memphis and the entrance to the Faiyûm, and so in the
direction which Sanehat at first took in his flight from the western edge of the
Delta. One might prefer the word Capital to Residence, but it can hardly be
doubted that Thebes and Memphis were then the real capitals of Egypt.
6 Perhaps the meaning is that Sanehat did not imagine life possible after
the king's death, or it may be “outside the Residence. ” The pronoun for
“it is masculine, and may refer either to the palace or to the king.
? Or possibly «I turned my course,” turning now northward.
8 Or possibly «the next day. ”
. Here the MS. is injured, and some of the words are doubtful. The
quarries are those still worked for hard quartzite at Jebel Ahmar (Red Mount-
ain), northeast of Cairo. The positions of most of the places mentioned in
the narrative are uncertain. Doubtless Sanehat crossed the Nile just above
the fork of the Delta and landed in the neighborhood of the quarries. The
«Mistress) (Heryt), must be a goddess, or the queen.
## p. 5239 (#411) ###########################################
EGYPTIAN LITERATURE
5239
and reached the Walls of the Ruler, built to repel the Sati. ' I
crouched in a bush for fear, seeing the day-patrol at its duty on
the top of the fortress. At nightfall I set forth, and at dawn
reached Peten, and skirted the lake of Kemur. ? Then thirst
hasted me on; I was parched, my throat was stopped, and I said,
« This is the taste of death. ” When I lifted up my heart and
gathered strength, I heard a voice and the lowing of cattle. I
saw men of the Sati; and an alien amongst them — he who is
[now? ] in Egypt —— recognized me. Behold, he gave me water,
and boiled me milk, and I went with him to his camp, — may a
blessing be their portion! One tribe passed me on to another: I
departed to Sun ], and came to Kedem. "
There I spent a year and a month [? ]. But Ammui-nen-sha,
Ruler of the Upper Tenu, took me and said to me:-“Comfort
thyself with me, that thou mayest hear the speech of Egypt. ”
He said thus, for that he knew my character, and had heard of
my worth; for men of Egypt who were there with him bore
witness of me. Then he said to me:-“For what hast thou come
hither ? what is it ? Hath a matter come to pass in the Resi-
dence? The King of the Two Lands, Sehetepabra, hath gone to
heaven, and one knoweth not what may have happened thereon. ”
But I answered with concealment and said:-“I returned with
an expedition from the land of the Temehu; my desire was
redoubled, my heart leaped, there was no satisfaction within me.
This drove me to the ways of a fugitive. I have not failed in
my duty, my mouth hath not uttered any bitter words, I have
not hearkened to any evil plot, my name hath not been heard in
the mouth of the informer. I know not what hath brought me
into this country. ” [And the Ruler Ammui-nen-sha said:]ø «This
1 Asiatics and Bedawîn.
Kemur was one of the Bitter Lakes in the line of the present Suez Canal.
* Possibly one of the three persons proposed as hostages to Egypt below,
p. 5246. The word translated «alien” is uncertain. It may mean a kind of
consul or mediator between the tribes for the purposes of trade, etc. , or sim-
ply a «sheikh. ” Sanebat himself, returned from Egypt in his old age, is
called by the same title, p. 5248.
*Or possibly Adim, i. e. , Edom; and so throughout.
6 Later called Upper Retenu: they were the inhabitants of the high lands
of Palestine. Ammi was a divine name in Ancient Arabia, and the name
Ammi-anshi, found in South-Arabian inscriptions, perhaps of 1000 B. C. , is
almost identical with that of the king who befriended Sanehat.
6 These words appear to have been omitted by the scribe.
## p. 5240 (#412) ###########################################
5240
EGYPTIAN LITERATURE
is like the disposition of God. And now what is that land like if
it know not that excellent god,' of whom the dread was over the
nations like Sekhemt? in a year of pestilence? ” I spake [thus]
to him, and replied to him:—“Nay, but his son hath entered the
palace, and taken the heritage of his father, and he is a god
without an equal, nor was there any other before him [like unto
him]. He is a master of wisdom, prudent in his designs, excel-
lent in his decrees; coming out and going in is at his command.
It was he that curbed the nations while his father remained within
the palace, and he reported the execution of that which was laid
upon him [to perform]. He is a mighty man also, working with
his strong arm; a valiant one, who hath not his equal. See him
when he springeth upon the barbarians, and throweth himself on
the spoilers; he breaketh the horns and weakeneth the hands; his
enemies cannot wield their weapons. He is fearless and dasheth
heads to pieces; none can stand before him. He is swift of going,
to destroy him who fleeth; and none turning his back to him
reacheth his home. He is sturdy of heart in the moment [of
stress); he is a lion that striketh with the claw; never hath he
turned his back. He is stout of heart when he seeth multitudes,
he letteth none repose beyond what his desire would spare. He
is bold of face when he seeth hesitation: his joy is to fall on the
barbarians. He seizeth the buckler, and leapeth forward; he re-
peateth not his stroke, he slayeth, and none can turn his lance;
without his bow being drawn the barbarians flee from his arms
like dogs; for the great goddess hath granted him to war against
those who know not his name; he is thorough, he spareth not
and leaveth naught behind. He is full of grace and sweetness, a
love-winner; his city loveth him more than itself, it rejoiceth in
him more than in its own god; men and women go their ways,
calling their children by his name. For he is a king that took
the kingdom while he was in the egg, and ruled from his birth.
He is a multiplier of offspring. And he is One Alone, the essence
of God; this land rejoiceth in his government. He is one that
enlargeth his borders; he will take the lands of the South, but he
will not design to hold the countries of the North: yet he pre-
pareth to smite the Sati, to crush the Wanderers of the Sand.
When he cometh here, let him know thy name; dispute not, but
11. e. , What does Egypt do without the king ?
2 The goddess of destruction.
## p. 5241 (#413) ###########################################
EGYPTIAN LITERATURE
5241
go over to his command? : for he will not fail to treat well the
country that floateth with his stream. ”
Said he, agreeing to me:- “Verily, Egypt is excellent in its
stream? beyond anything, and it flourisheth; behold, as long as
thou art with me I will do good unto thee. ” He placed me at
the head of his children, he married me with his eldest daughter.
He allowed me to choose for myself from his land, and from the
choicest of what he possessed on the border of the next land. It
was a goodly land; IaaS is its name. Therein were figs and
grapes; its wine was more plentiful than water; abundant was
its honey, many were its oil-trees, and all fruits were upon its
trees; there too was barley and spelt, and cattle of all kinds with-
out end. Great honors also were granted to me, flowing from
his love to me; he set me as sheikh of a tribe in a choice portion
of his country. There were made for me rations of bread, wine
from day to day, cooked meat and roasted fowl, besides wild game
snared for me or brought to me, as well as what my hunting
dogs caught. They made me many dainties, and milk food
cooked in all manner of ways. Thus I passed many years; my
children became valiant men, each one the conqueror of a tribe.
When a messenger came north or went south to the Residence,
he tarried with me; for I gave all men gifts; I gave water to
the thirsty, I set the strayed wanderer on his road, and I
rescued those who were carried off captive. The Sati who went
to war or to repel the kings of the nations, I commanded their
expeditions; for this Ruler of the Tenu made me to spend
many years as captain of his army. Every land to which I
turned I overcame. I destroyed its green fields and its wells, I
captured its cattle, I took captive its inhabitants, I deprived
them of their provisions, and I slew much people of them by
my sword, my bow, my marchings, and my good devices. Thus
my excellence was in his heart; he loved me and he knew my
valor; until he set me at the head of his sons, when he saw the
success of my handiwork.
There came a champion of the Tenu to defy me in my tent;
a bold man without equal, for he had vanquished all his rivals.
He said, “Let Sanehat fight with me. ” He thought to overcome
1 Lit. , «stick. )
? A metaphor for the policy,» «will,” of a king or god.
3 Meaning «reeds » (? ).
4 1. e. , of Pharaoh; see above, p. 5238.
## p. 5242 (#414) ###########################################
5242
EGYPTIAN LITERATURE
1
me; he designed to take my cattle, being thus counseled by his
tribe. This ruler [Ammui-nen-sha) conferred with me.
I said: -
“I know him not. I assuredly am no associate of his; I hold me
far from his place. Have I ever opened his door, or leaped over
his fence? It is perverseness of heart from seeing me doing his
work. Forsooth, I am as it were a stranger bull among the cows,
which the bull of the herd charges, and the strong bull catches!
But shall a wretched beggar desire to attain to my fortune ? A
common soldier cannot take part as a counselor. Then what
pray shall establish the assembly ? ! But is there a bull that
loveth battle, a courageous bull that loveth to repeat the charge
in terrifying him whose strength he hath measured ? If he hath
stomach to fight, let him speak what he pleaseth. Will God for-
get what is ordained for him ? How shall fate be known ? ” The
night long I strung my bow, I made ready my arrows; I made
keen my dagger, I furbished my arms. At daybreak the Tenu
came together; it had gathered its tribes and collected the neigh-
boring peoples. Its thoughts were on this combat; every bosom
burned for me, men and women crying out; every heart was
troubled for me; they said, "Is there yet another champion
to fight with him ? » Then [he took] his buckler, his battle-axe,
and an armful of javelins. But thereon I avoided his weapons,
and turned aside his arrows to the ground, useless. One drew
near to the other and he rushed upon me. I shot at him and my
arrow stuck in his neck; he cried out, and fell upon his nose: I
brought down upon him his own battle-axe, and raised my shout
of victory on his back. All the Asiatics roared, and I and his
vassals whom he had oppressed gave thanks unto Mentu; this
Ruler, Ammui-nen-sha, took me to his embrace. Then I took
his goods, I seized his cattle. What he had thought to do to
me, I did it unto him; I seized that which was in his tent, I
spoiled his dwelling. I grew great thereby, I increased in my
possessions. I abounded in cattle.
May’ the god be disposed to pardon him in whom he had
trusted, and who deserted to a foreign country. Now is his
1 A difficult passage.
? Without any pause or introduction Sanehat begins to quote from his peti-
tion to the King of Egypt. It is difficult to say whether this arrangement is
due to an oversight of the scribe, or is intended to heighten the picturesque-
ness of the narrative by sudden contrast. The formal introduction might well
be omitted as uninteresting. The end of the document with the salutations
is preserved.
## p. 5243 (#415) ###########################################
EGYPTIAN LITERATURE
5243
anger quenched. I who at one time fled away a fugitive, my
guarantee is now in the Residence. Having wandered a starved
wanderer, now I give bread to those around.
