AHIS 380 ANCIENT EGYPTIAN RELIGION
ANCIENT EGYPTIAN RELIGION:
AN ANTHOLOGY OF PRIMARY SOURCES
compiled by Boyo G. Ockinga
A)
HYMNS AND PRAYERS
SUN HYMNS
TEXT 1
From Some pre-Amarna Sun-Hymns
Hail to you Re at your rising, Atum at your
beautiful setting!
When you appear you gleam upon the back
of your mother,
having appeared in glory as king of the
gods.
Nut greets you,
Maat embraces you at all times,
You traverse the sky in joy,
the sea of knives having become calm,
the enemy having fallen, his arms bound,
after knives have severed his spine.
Re is with a favourable wind,
The night-bark has destroyed him who
attacked it,
The Southerners and Northerners tow you,
The Westerners and Easterners adore you.
Text: H.M. Stewart, "Some Pre-Amarnah SunHymns" in: JEA 46 (1960) 86.
Translation: B.G. Ockinga.
TEXT 2
from Book of the Dead – Chapter 15
Praise to you Harakhte he is (also) Khepri, who created himself.
How beautiful is your rising on the horizon,
When you brighten the Two Lands with your
rays!
All the gods rejoice when they see you as
King of heaven,
The Mistress, Wenut, secure upon your
head,
The Southern and Northern (crown) on your
brow,
she has taken her place upon your
forehead.
Thoth is steadfast at the prow of your bark,
destroying all your enemies.
The dwellers of the netherworld come forth
when you approach to behold your beautiful
image.
Translation: B.G. Ockinga.
TEXT 3
from the
Stela of the Brothers Suti and Hor
(British Museum EA 826)
(1) Adoration of Amun when he rises as
Harakhti by the overseer of the works of
Amun, Suti (and) the overseer of the works
of Amun, Hor. They say:
First Hymn
Hail to you, Re, perfect each day,
Who rises at dawn without failing,
Khepri who wearies himself with toil!
Your rays are on the face, yet unknown,
Fine gold does not match your splendour;
Self-made you fashioned your body,
Creator uncreated.
Sole one, unique one, who traverses
eternity,
[Remote one]1 with millions under his care;
Your splendour is like heaven's splendour,
Your colour brighter than its hues.
When you cross the sky all faces see you,
When you set you are hidden from their (5)
sight;
Daily you give yourself at dawn,
Safe is your sailing under your majesty.
In a brief day you race a course,
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The Lord of the Two Lands, Nebmare,3
given life.
My lord made me controller of your
monuments,
Because he knew my vigilance.
I was a vigorous controller of your
monuments,
One who did right (maat) as you wished.
For I knew you are content with right,
You advance him who does it on earth.
I did it and you advanced me,
You made me favoured on earth in Ipetsut,4
One who was in your following when you
appeared.5
I was a true one who abhors falsehood,
Who does not trust the words of a liar.
But my brother, my likeness, his ways I
trust,
He came from the womb with me the same
day.
The overseer(s) of Amun's works in
Southern Ipet,6 Suti, Hor.
Hundred thousands, millions of miles;
A moment is each day to you,
It has passed when you go down.
You also complete the hours of night,
You order it without pause in your labour.
Through you do all eyes see,
They lack aim when your majesty sets.
When you stir to rise at dawn,
Your brightness opens the eyes of the
herds;
When you set in the western mountain,
They sleep as in the state of death.
Second Hymn
Hail to you, Aten of daytime,
Creator of all, who makes them live!
Great falcon, brightly plumed,
Beetle who raised himself.
Self-creator, uncreated,
Eldest Horus within Nut,
Acclaimed (10) in his rising and setting.
Maker of the earth's yield,
Khnum and Amun of mankind,
Who seized the Two Lands from great to
small.
Beneficent mother of gods and men,
Craftsman with a patient heart,
Toiling long to make them countless.
Valiant shepherd who drives his flock,
Their refuge, made to sustain them.
Runner, racer, courser,
Khepri of distinguished birth,
Who raises his beauty in the body of Nut.
Who lights the Two Lands with his disk.
The Two Lands' Oldest who made himself,
Who sees all that he made, he alone.
Who reaches the ends of the lands every
day,
In the sight of those who tread on them.
Rising in heaven formed as Re,
He makes the seasons with the months,
Heat as he wishes, cold as he wishes.
He makes bodies slack, he gathers them
up,2
Every land rejoices at his rising,
Every day gives praise to him.
When I was in charge on the west side,
He was in charge on the east side.
We controlled great monuments in Ipet-sut,
At the front of Thebes, the city of Amun.
May you give me old age in your city,
My eye (beholding) your beauty;
A burial in the west, the place of heart's
content,
As I join the favoured ones who went in
peace.
May you give me sweet breeze when I land,
And [garlands]7 on the day of the wag-feast.
Notes
1. What is written is Hry wAwt, "who is above
the ways", but perhaps Hryw, "remote", was
intended.
2. Or: "when he embraces them"? But a
contrast with slackness is more plausible.
3. Amenhotep III. The two brothers were
architects in the service of this king.
4. Karnak.
5. When the statue of Amun appeared in a
festival procession.
6. Luxor.
7. The sSdw received on a feast day must be
decorative ribbons, scarves, or garlands
rather than wrappings.
Prayers
The overseer of works, Suti; the overseer
of works, (15) Hor. He says:
I was controller in your sanctuary,
Overseer of works in your very shrine,
Made for you by your beloved son,
Text: Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature, II, 87–
89.
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TEXT 4
A Hymn to Amun-Re
Papyrus Boulaq 17 (Cairo Museum)
Date: 18th Dynasty (1550–1350 B.C.).
The Beautiful of Face who comes (from)
God's Land.5
The gods fawn (at) his feet,
According as they recognise his majesty as
their lord,
The lord of fear, great of dread,
Rich in might, terrible of appearances,
Flourishing in offerings and making
provisions.
Jubilation to you who made the gods,
Raised the heavens and laid down the
ground!
Adoration of Amun-Re, the Bull Residing in
Heliopolis, chief of all gods, the good god,
the beloved, who gives life to all that is
warm and to all good cattle.
(I)
Hail to you, Amun-Re,
Lord of the Thrones of the Two Lands,
Presiding over Karnak,
Bull of His Mother1, Presiding over His
Fields!
Far-reaching of stride, presiding over
Upper Egypt,
Lord of the Madjoi and ruler of Punt,2
Eldest of heaven, first-born of earth,
Lord of what is, enduring in all things,
enduring in all things.
Unique in his nature like the fluid of the
gods,
The goodly bull of the Ennead, chief of all
gods,
The lord of truth and father of the gods.
Who made mankind and created the
beasts,
Lord of what is, who created the fruit tree,
Made herbage, and gave life to cattle.
The goodly demon whom Ptah made,
(III)
The End
He who awakes in health, Min-Amun,6
Lord of eternity, who made everlasting-ness,
Lord of praise, presiding over [the Ennead],
Firm of horns, beautiful of face,
Lord of the uraeus-serpent, lofty of plumes,
Beautiful of diadem, and lofty of White
Crown.
The serpent-coil and the Double Crown,
these are before him,
The aromatic gum which is in the palace,
The Double Crown, the head-cloth, and the
Blue Crown.
Beautiful of face, when he receives the atefcrown,
He whom the crowns of Upper and Lower
Egypt love,
Lord of the Double Crown, when he
receives the ames-staff,
Lord of the mekes-scepter, holding the flail.7
The goodly ruler, crowned with the White
Crown,
The lord of rays, who makes brilliance,
To whom the gods give thanksgiving,
Who extends his arms to him whom he
loves,
(But) his enemy is consumed by a flame.
It is his Eye that overthrows the rebels,
That sends its spear into him that sucks up
Nun,
(II)
The goodly beloved youth to whom the
gods give praise,
Who made what is below and what is
above,
Who illuminates the Two Lands
And crosses the heavens in peace:
The King of Upper and Lower Egypt: Re,
the triumphant3,
Chief of the Two Lands,
Great of strength, lord of reverence,
The chief one, who made the entire earth.
More distinguished in nature than any
(other) god,
In whose beauty the gods rejoice,
To whom is given jubilation in the Per-wer,
Who is given ceremonial appearance in the
Per-nezer,4
Whose fragrance the gods love, when he
comes from Punt,
Rich in perfume, when he comes down
(from) Madjoi,
(IV)
And makes the fiend disgorge what he has
swallowed.8
Hail to you, O Re, lord of truth!
Whose shrine is hidden,9 the lord of the gods,
Khepri in the midst of his barque,
Who gave commands, and the gods came
into being.10
Atum, who made the people,
Distinguished their nature, made their life,
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And separated colours, one from another.
Who hears the prayer of him who is in
captivity,
Gracious of heart in the face of an appeal to
him.
Saving the fearful from the terrible of heart,
Judging the weak and the injured.
Lord of Perception, in whose mouth
Command is placed.11
For love of whom the Nile has come,
Possessor of sweetness, greatly beloved;
When he comes, the people live.
He who gives scope to every eye that may
be made in Nun,12
Whose loveliness has created the light,
who made [all] that is,
[The] solitary sole [one],
who made what exists,
From whose eyes mankind came forth,
And upon whose mouth the gods came into
being.17
He who made herbage [for] the cattle,
And the fruit tree for mankind,
Who made that (on which) the fish in the
river may live,
And the birds soaring in the sky.
He who gives breath to that which is in the
egg,
Gives life to the son of the slug,
And makes that on which gnats may live,
And worms and flies in like manner;
Who supplies the needs of the mice in their
holes,
And gives life to flying things in every tree.
Hail to you, who did all this!
Solitary sole one, with many hands.18
(V)
In whose beauty the gods rejoice;
Their hearts live when they see him.
The End.
O Re, adored in Karnak,
Great of appearances in the House of the
Benben,13
The Heliopolitan, lord of the New Moon
Feast,
For whom the Sixth-Day and Quarter Month
feasts are celebrated.14
The Sovereign—life, prosperity, health—
lord of all gods;
[They] behold him in the midst of the
horizon,
The overlord of men of the silent land,15
Whose name is hidden from his children,
In this his name of Amun.16
Hail to you, who are in peace!
Lord of joy, terrible of appearances,
Lord of the uraeus-serpent, lofty of plumes,
Beautiful of diadem, and lofty of White
Crown.
The gods love to see you with the Double
Crown fixed upon your brow.
The love of you is spread throughout the
Two Lands,
When your rays shine forth in the eyes.
The good of the people is your arising;
The cattle grow languid when you shine.
The love of you is in the southern sky;
(VII)
Who spends the night wakeful, while all men
are asleep,
Seeking benefit for his creatures.
Amun, enduring in all things,
Atum and Harakhti ....
Praises are thine, when they all say:
"Jubilation to you, because you weary
yourself with us!
Salaams to you, because you created us!"
Hail to you for all beasts!
Jubilation to for every foreign country ...
To the height of heaven, to the width of
earth,
To the depth of the Great Green Sea!
The gods are bowing down to your majesty
And exalting the might of him who created
them,
Rejoicing at the approach of him who begot
them.
They say to you: "Welcome in peace!
Father of the fathers of all the gods,
Who raised the heavens and laid down the
ground,
Who made what is and created what exists;
Sovereign—life, prosperity, health—and
chief of the gods!
(VI)
The sweetness of you is in the northern sky
The beauty of you carries away hearts;
The love of you makes arms languid;
Thy beautiful form relaxes the hands;
And hearts are forgetful at the sight of you.
You are the sole one,
(VIII)
We praise your might, according as you
made us.
Let (us) act for you, because you brought us
forth.
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We give you thanksgiving because you has
wearied thyself with us!"
Hail to you, who made all that is!
Lord of truth and father of the gods,
Who made mortals and created beasts,
Lord of the grain,
Who made (also) the living of the beasts of
the desert.
Amun, the bull beautiful of countenance,
The beloved in Karnak,
Great of appearances in the House of the
Benben,
Taking again the diadem of Heliopolis,
Who judges the Two in the great broad
hall,19
The chief of the Great Ennead.
The solitary sole one, without his peer,
Presiding over Karnak,
The Heliopolitan, presiding over his Ennead,
And living on truth every day.
The horizon-dweller, Horus of the east,
From whom the desert creates silver and
gold,
Genuine lapis lazuli for love of him,
That dragon, his (power of) motion is taken
away.
The gods are in joy,
The crew of Re is in satisfaction,
Heliopolis is in joy,
For the enemies of Atum are overthrown.
Karnak is in satisfaction, Heliopolis is in joy,
The heart of the Lady of Life is glad,24
For the enemy of her lord is overthrown.
The gods of Babylon are in jubilation,25
They who are in the shrines are salaaming,
When they see him rich in his might.
The daemon of the gods,
The righteous one, Lord of Karnak,
In this your name of Maker of
Righteousness;
The lord of provisions, bull of offerings,
In this your name of Amun, Bull of His
Mother;
Maker of all mankind,
Creator and maker of all that is,
(XI)
In this your name of Atum-Khepri,26
Great falcon, festive of bosom,
Beautiful of face, festive of breast,
Pleasing of form, lofty of plume,
On whose brow the two uraei flutter.
To whom the hearts of mankind make
approach,
To whom the people turn about;
Who makes festive the Two Lands with his
comings forth.
Hail to you, Amun-Re, Lord of the Thrones
of the Two Lands,
Whose city loves his rising!
It has come (to its end) ...
(IX)
Benzoin and various incenses from Madjoi,
And fresh myrrh for your nostrils …
Beautiful of face when coming (from)
Madjoi!
Amun-Re, Lord of the Thrones of the Two
Lands,
Presiding over Karnak,
The Heliopolitan, presiding over his harem!
The End.
The sole king, like the fluid of the gods,
With many names, unknown in number,20
Rising in the eastern horizon,
And going to rest in the western horizon;
Who overthrows his enemies,
(Re)born early every day.
Thoth lifts up his two eyes,21
And satisfies him with his effective deeds.
The gods rejoice in his beauty,
He whom his apes exalt.22
Lord of the evening barque and the morning
barque;
They cross Nun in peace for you.
Thy crew is in joy,
When they see the overthrow of the rebel,23
His body licked up by the knife.
Translation: J.A. Wilson, in: ANET, 365–367.
Notes
1
As sun-god, Amun-Re recreated himself
every day.
2
Regions to the south and southeast of
Egypt.
3
Written as though Amun-Re were a former
pharaoh.
4
The Per-Wer, "Great House", was the
religious capital of Upper Egypt at el-Kab;
the Per-nezer was the counterpart for
Lower Egypt at Buto.
5
"God's Land" was the east generally, the
land of the rising sun. The countries south
and east of Egypt were the incensebearing lands.
6
Amun had strong derivative ties with the
old god of procreation Min of Koptos.
(X)
Fire has devoured him;
His soul is more consumed than his body.
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7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
The text describes Amun-Re with the
various accoutrements of an Egyptian
pharaoh.
The eye of the sun repulsed the Apophisdragon, which tried to check the journey of
the sun.
A play on Amun and Amen "hidden,
secret".
A play on Khepri and kheper "come into
being".
Sia "Perception", and Hu "Authoritative
Command", were personified forces of
creative rule.
Nun was the primeval waters out of which
life came. "Every eye" is figurative for
"everybody".
The sacred pyramidion stone in Heliopolis.
The relation of the sun-god to these moon
festivals is not very clear.
The necropolis. Or, "men who are silent",
i.e. submissive?
See n.9 above.
A reference to the myth that mortals came
into being as the tears of the creator-god,
gods as his spittle.
Since he was alone at creation, he needed
many hands for his work.
As supreme god, he presided over the trial
between Horus and Seth.
Cf. the myth of the names of Re.
Sun and moon.
At dawn apes warm themselves in the
sun's rays.
cf. n.8 above.
Epithet of a goddess, here probably the
Eye of the Sun.
Egyptian Babylon was a town near
modern Cairo.
Ta-tem "all mankind": a pun for Atum;
sekheper "creator": a pun for Khepri.
secret Ba, to whom honour is given!
He rejoices, he has appeared in glory,
he is honoured above [all] gods,
(10) (…)
His Ba has illuminated the lands,
he has penetrated the netherworld, opening
that
which is on the back of the earth; (…)
(15) (...) after he appeared in glory,
one sees since he is born.
His torch is in the heavens,
his flame illuminates the earth,
he has surrounded his throne with fire.
(20) He has elevated himself above every
god,
far too high, too mysterious to reach him,
his rays, they come down to [the earth],
driving out [darkness and storm].
Great of might, he lifted up the heavens,
(25) having stretched out heaven and earth
on their foundations.
He has gathered together the firmament
and guided the stars, (…)
(...) he has (...) the faces upon that which
he has created.
The Lord of millions, who bears the gods,
(30) more primeval than the gods, senior of
the primeval ones,
builder of builders, nurse of nurses,
Khnum who created the Khnums,
effective counsellor of what exists, intelligent
one,
lord of what is, who started all development,
bull of his mother, engenderer of his father.
(…)
(35) he created mankind from his divine eye,
and expectorated the gods from his mouth.
TEXT 5
Hymn to Amun-Re in the Temple of
Darius, El-Hibe
He [appeared?] as a child, rejuvenated at its
time,
[glorious] child of the Ogdoad,
youth who renews [himself],
(40) gleaming one in his "coiled one".
he is the egg, who (…) as a god..
He has made his image great to lift up his
perfection,
He has formed his shape as he pleases,
he made himself pleasing of appearance,
(45) awesome in his majesty,
more majestic than all gods,
He created himself in his own creating,
he built himself as a great image;
there was no father who sired him, no
mother who was pregnant with his seed;
Although the most complete version of the
text is of the mid- first millennium, there are
earlier texts that contain parts of the hymn;
its composition is probably to be dated to
the Ramesside Period.
(1) A great, secret hymn to Amun-Re spoken
by the eight primeval gods:
Greetings you sole one, who makes himself
into millions,
whose length and breadth have no limits,
equipped image, self created,
(5) uraeus with mighty flame,
great of magic, mysterious of forms,
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(50) the noble form, who revealed himself as
god,
the father of fathers and mother of mothers.
made a connection from their mouths to
their anuses;
the eyes (…) the heart controls their hands.
He thought of his majesty in his great name,
lo, those who issued forth from him, they
thought of him as their guardian and keeper,
in his great name "holy of forms",
(60) he who created the earth,
who started creation before anything
created had been created;
lasting of insight, knowing of mind,
to whom nothing is ever hidden(?).
He took counsel with his heart as
he planned all this,
he designed heaven and earth
while devising the creation of the caves
under his throne. (…)
in the form of the command of this secret
god,
(65) as his counsel for the founding of the
two lands.
He let the geese fly up in the air,
and they alight upon the breath of his
mouth.
He put the fish into the waters,
and gave life to their nose in the water.
(…)
He [withdrew] himself to the sky and beheld
what was created,
and one sees through his sight.
He is distant in his splendour of light and yet
likewise in this land,
his two eyes they [penetrate] into the desert
lands.
(100) Great lotus blossom, (…)
his light pours gold(?) over(?) his fields.
Bird of prey, who gleams with his flame,
who travels in his two eyes.
He withdrew himself to his heaven in
brilliance,
(105) his sun-disk gleams day by day.
His Ba belongs to the sky and rises in the
horizon,
so that he provides for heaven, earth and
netherworld.
He sits and determines his fates,
and his plan is realised immediately.
He speaks to his heart, (…)
he cares for all that exists.
He lifted up the sky, made firm on its
supports,
firm and stable with his sun-disk.
He (founded) this great earth, and the ocean
stretches out to embrace it.
He built mankind, cattle and wild animals,
whatever flies up and alights, Fish and
plants.
(70)
He who is carried in the womb by night and
born in the morning,
when it is light he is where he was
yesterday.
(110) He who enters the mouth and comes
forth from the buttocks,
who hides himself on the back of his mother
who rises without tiring,
so that he may shine on the lands and
islands,
runner who courses about for eternity,
(115) who does not cease to shine day by
day.
He who appears over the back of the earth
by the sea of knives,
who crosses the heavens in the morning
and the evening.
Life of millions who is pleased with maat,
who lightens the earth and drives out the
darkness.
He created the bulls to impregnate the
cows,
and opens their bodies to give birth,
(so that now) the bulls impregnate the cows,
he creating their sperm in their bones.
He let their sustenance grow in their lands
on fruit trees which sprang up out of his (…)
He separated the lands and determined
their boundaries,
and they eat from the provisions.
He created the hill countries for the
foreigners with their sustenance,
their appearance differentiated from one
another;
he turned their (…), coloured their skin,
led their tongues...
opened their noses, gave breath to their
throats,
Gleaming Horus, lord of the evening
barque,
ruler, lord of the morning barque,
with brilliant manifestations in the barque of
millions,
(120)
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whom the twin Huhs and the twin sisters
raise,
one of Edfu, who gleams in the horizon
(125) on the arms of Huh and Hauhet;
his barque(?) has opened up(?) the secrets,
leading him upon the ways of the sky
goddess;
lord of the perambulation, who shields
himself,
the breath of life is the breath that comes
from his mouth.
The secret Ba with faces in the form of rams,
with four heads on one neck,
with 777 pairs of ears,
with millions and millions of eyes,
with hundreds of thousands of horns.
The Lord-to-the-Limit is come, strong of
majesty,
more royal than gods and men;
serene falcon with coloured feathers,
sparrow-hawk who is satisfied with Maat,
beetle who engenders appearances,
secret Ba amongst the gods.
He has revealed eternity and premeditated
endless time,
his capability exceeds every capability.
He created the heavens under his
supervision,
and traverses them so as to illumine the
earth for his children.
He travels south and north and views that
which he has created,
his two eyes shine upon the two lands:
his left eye is in the night, when he is the
moon,
(135) so as to differentiate the times of day,
months and years;
his sun is during the day, his moon by night,
he does not fail eternally;
he remains for millions and millions,
his kingship stretches to the ends of time.
(130)
Norman de Garis Davies, The Temple of Hibis in el
Khargeh Oasis (New York, 1953).
TEXT 6
from Teaching for King Merikare
Well tended is mankind - god's cattle,
He made sky and earth for their sake,
He subdued the water monster,
He made breath for their noses to live.
5 They are his images, who came from his
body,
He shines in the sky for their sake;
He made for them plants and cattle,
Fowl and fish to feed them.
He slew his foes, reduced his children,
10 When they thought of making rebellion.
He makes daylight for their sake,
He sails by to see them.
He has built (135) his shrine around them,
When they weep he hears.
15 He made for them rulers in the egg,
Leaders to raise the back of the weak.
He made for them magic as weapons
To ward off the blow of events,
Guarding them by day and by night.
20 He has slain the traitors among them,
As a man beats his son for his brother's
sake,
For god knows every name.
1
Bringer of the inundation, he has broken
open the springs,
he has let the water stream out of his
cavern,
it rises and falls at his wish,
one who pours forth is he, who drinks up
again at his wish.
The south wind travels north, the north wind
south,
the east and west winds are in his nostrils.
The storms have their days, the stars their
duty
according to the command of this august
god,
the king of upper & lower Egypt, Amun-Re,
life-prosperity-health, the self-created,
he of the horizon, the eastern Horus,
(150) he who rises with brilliant rays,
more glorified than gods and men.
He has hidden his name as "Amun",
he has withdrawn himself in his
manifestation as his "sun";
he flies up as a falcon, he ascends to the
sky-goddess,
he gleams on the mountain of Baku.
Divine spirit who [....]
he has made his body bright with rays of
light.
Text: Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature, I, 106.
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The Two Lands are in festivity.
Awake they stand on their feet,
30 You have roused them;
Bodies cleansed, (5) clothed,
Their arms adore your appearance.
The entire land sets out to work,
All beasts browse on their herbs;
35 Trees, herbs are sprouting,
Birds fly from their nests,
Their wings greeting your ka.
All flocks frisk on their feet,
All that fly up and alight,
40 They live when you dawn for them.
Ships fare north, fare south as well,
Roads lie open when you rise;
The fish in the river dart before you,
Your rays are in the midst of the sea.
HYMN TO THE ATON
TEXT 7
The Great Hymn to the Aton
from the Tomb of Ay (Amarna no. 25)
(1) Adoration of Re-Harakhti-who-rejoicesin-the-horizon. In-his-name-Shu-who-isAten, living forever; the great living Aten
who is in jubilee, the lord of all that the Disk
encircles, lord of sky, lord of earth, lord of
the house-of-Aten in Akhet-Aten: (and of)
the King of Upper and Lower Egypt, who
lives by Maat, the Lord of the Two Lands,
Neferkheprure, Sole-one-of-Re; the Son of
Re who lives by Maat, the Lord of Crowns,
Akhenaten, great in his lifetime; (and) his
beloved great Queen, the Lady of the Two
Lands, Nefer-nefru-Aten Nefertiti, who lives
in health and youth forever. The Vizier, the
Fanbearer on the Right of the King, --- [Ay];
he says:1
Who makes seed grow in women,
Who creates people from sperm;
Who feeds the son in his mother's womb.
Who soothes him to still his tears.
Nurse in the womb,
50 Giver of breath,
To nourish all that he made
When he comes from the womb to breathe,
On the day of his birth,
You open wide his mouth,
55 You supply his needs.
When the chick in the egg speaks in the
shell.
You give him breath within to sustain him;
When you have made him complete,
To break out of the egg.
60 He comes out from the egg,
To announce his completion,
Walking on his legs he comes from it.
45
1 Splendid
you rise in the horizon of heaven,
O living Aten, creator of life!
When you have dawned in the eastern
horizon,
You fill every land with your beauty.
5 You are beauteous, great, radiant,
High over every land:
Your rays embrace the lands,
To the limit of all that you made.
Being Re, you reach their limits.2
10 You bend them (for) the son whom you
love;
Though you are far, your rays are on earth,
Though one sees you, your strides are
unseen.
When you set in the western horizon,
Earth is in darkness as if in death;
15 One sleeps in chambers, heads covered,
One eye does not see another.
Were they robbed of their goods,
That are under their heads,
People would not remark it.
20 Every lion comes from its den,
All the serpents bite;3
Darkness hovers, earth is silent,
As their maker rests in the horizon.
How many are your deeds,
Though hidden from sight.
65 O Sole God beside whom there is none!
You made the earth as you wished, you
alone.
All peoples, herds, and flocks;
All upon earth that walk on legs,
All on high that fly on wings,
70 The lands of Khor (Syria) and Kush,
The land of Egypt.
You set every man in his place,
You supply their needs:
Everyone has his food,
75 His lifetime is counted.
Their tongues differ in speech,
Their characters likewise;
Their skins are distinct,
For you distinguished the peoples.4
Earth brightens when you dawn in the
horizon,
25 When you shine as Aten of daytime;
As you dispel the dark,
As you cast your rays,
9
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You made Hapy in dat,5
You bring him when you will,
To nourish the people,
For you made them for yourself.
Lord of all who toils for them,
85 Lord of all lands who shines for them,
Aten of daytime, great in glory!
All distant lands, you make them live,
You made a heavenly Hapy descend for
them;
(10) He makes waves on the mountains like
the sea,
90 To drench their fields and their towns.
How excellent are your ways, O Lord of
eternity!
A Hapy from heaven for foreign peoples,
And all lands' creatures that walk in legs,
For Egypt the Hapy who comes from dat.6
The King who lives by Maat, the Lord of the
Two Lands,
Neferkheprure, Sole-one-of-Re,
The Son of Re who lives by Maat, the Lord
of crowns,
Akhenaten, great in his lifetime;
125 (And) the great Queen whom he loves,
the Lady of the Two Lands,
Nefer-nefru-Aten Nefertiti, living forever.
80
Translation: Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature,
II, 96–100.
Notes
1
Though the hymn was undoubtedly
composed for recitation by the king,
inscribed in the tomb of Ay, it was adapted
to recitation by the courtier.
2
The sentence consists of a wordplay on ra
"sun", and ra "end, limit".
3
This is one of several passages that recall
similar formulations in Psalm 104 and have
led to speculations about possible interconnections between the Hymn to the Aten
and Psalm 104. The resemblances are,
how-ever, more likely to be the result of the
generic similarity between Egyptian hymns
and biblical psalms. A specific literary
interdependence is not probable.
4
The Hymn to the Aten expresses the
cosmopolitan and humanist outlook of the
New Kingdom at its purest and most
sympathetic. All peoples are seen as the
creatures of the sun-god, who has made
them diverse in skin colour, speech, and
character. Their diversity is described
objectively, without a claim of Egyptian
superiority. On the theme of the
differentiation of languages see S.
Sauneron, BIFAO 60 (1960), 31–41.
5
The netherworld.
6
Hapy, the inundating Nile, emerges from the
netherworld to nourish Egypt, while foreign
peoples are sustained by a "Nile from
heaven" who descends as rain.
7
Several obscure sentences containing
corruptions and a lacuna.
95 Your rays nurse all fields,
When you shine they live, they grow for you;
You made the seasons to foster all that you
made,
Winter to cool them, heat that they taste
you.
You made the far sky to shine therein,
100 To behold all that you made;
You alone, shining in your form of living
Aten,
Risen, radiant, distant, near.
You made millions of forms from yourself
alone,
Towns, villages, fields, the river's course;
105 All eyes observe you upon them,
For you are the Aten of daytime on high.
(…).7
You are in my heart,
There is no other who knows you,
110 Only your son, Neferkheprure, Sole-oneof-Re.
Whom you have taught your ways and your
might.
(Those on) earth come from your hand as
you made them,
When you have dawned they live,
When you set they die;
115 You yourself are lifetime, one lives by
you.
All eyes are on (your) beauty until you set,
All labour ceases when you rest in the west;
When you rise you stir [everyone] for the
King,
Every leg is on the move since you founded
the earth.
120 You rouse them for your son who came
from your body,
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HYMNS TO OSIRIS
The tomb owners bow down, the ancestors
rejoice when they see him,
Those yonder fear him,
The Two Lands united give him praise at the
approach of his majesty.
40.Glorified noble one, chief of the nobles,
Enduring of office, established of rule,
Perfect power of the ennead.
Gracious of countenance, whom his viewers
love,
Who places his fear in all lands so that they
pronounce his name in public.
45 To whom the isles offer,
Lord of remembrance in heaven and earth.
Plentiful of jubilation at the Wag-festival,
For whom acclamation is made by the Two
Lands in unison.
Great one, foremost of his brethren,
50 Eldest of the ennead,
Who establishes maat throughout the two
shores,
Who places the son on the seat of his
father.
Favoured one of his father Geb,
Whom his mother Nut loves.
55 Great of strength when he fells the foe,
Strong of arm when he slaughters his
enemy,
Who places the fear of him in his enemies,
Who reaches to the furthest boundaries of
evil.
Firm-hearted when he treads down the
enemy.
60 Whom Geb left the kingship of the Two
Lands when he saw his excellence.
He decreed him the leadership of the lands,
Because of the success of the deeds which
he did.
This land is in his hand,
65 Its water, its air, its herbage, all its cattle,
All that flies, all that alights,
Its snakes, its game,
They being presented to the son of Nut.
The Two Lands being content because of it.
70 He who has arisen upon the throne of his
father,
Like Re when he rises in the horizon,
He placing light upon the face of darkness.
He has illumined the air with his double
plume,
He has flooded the Two Lands like the sun
in the morning.
75 His White Crown, it has pierced the sky,
It mingling with the stars.
Guide of every god,
Effective of decrees,
TEXT 8
Stela of Amenmose: Hymn to Osiris
(Louvre C 286)
Praise of Osiris by the Overseer of the cattle
of [Amun, Amun]-mose (and) the mistress of
the house, Nefertari. He says:
1 Praise to you Osiris, lord of eternity,
king of the gods,
Many named, holy of manifestations (xpr.w),
Secret of forms (ir.w) in the temples.
Splendid of ka is he, foremost one of
Busiris,1
2
5 Great of possessions in Letopolis,
3
Lord of praise in Anedjt ,
Foremost of provisions in Heliopolis,
Lord of remembrance in Maaty,4
Secret ba, lord of Qerere,5
10 Holy one in Memphis,
Ba of Re, his very body,
Who rests in Herakleopolis,6
Splendid of praise in Naret,7
which came into being in order to lift up his
ba.
8
15 Lord of the great mansion in Hermopolis,
9
Great of Terror in Shas-hotep,
Lord of eternity, chief of Abydos,
Who is upon his throne in the Sacred Land,
Enduring of name in the mouth of the
people,
20 Primeval god of the Two Lands,
Perfect of provisions and food,
Chief of the Ennead,
Efficacious spirit amongst the spirits,
To whom Nun presented his waters,
25 For whom the north wind travels north,
For whose nostrils the heavens bring forth
air (,,,) for the satisfaction of his heart,
At whose wish plants grow,
For whom the field brings forth sustenance,
Whom the heavens and its stars obey,
30 For whom the great portals open.
Lord of jubilation in the southern sky,
One who is praised in the northern sky,
the imperishable (circumpolar) stars being
(…)under his supervision.
His places are the never-wearying ones
(planets?).
35 For whom an offering goes forth at the
decree of Geb,
The ennead praise him, those in the
netherworld do obeisance,
11
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Favoured one of the great ennead,
80 Whom the lesser ennead loves.
Whose sister made his protection,
She who removed the enemies,
And halted the misdeeds of the disturber,
Through the power of her utterance.
85 Excellent of tongue, her word does not fail;
Effective of speech, Isis, the powerful,
Protectress of her brother,
Who searched for him, who was not weary,
Who travelled around this land mourning,
90 She not resting until she found him.
Who made shade with her plumage,
Who created air with her two wings.
Who rejoiced, who moored her brother,
Who raised the inertness of the wearyhearted,
95 Who received his seed and made his
heir,
Who suckled the child in privacy,
His place unknown,
Who inducted him, his arm being strong, in
the hall of Geb,
The ennead rejoicing: "Welcome, son of
Osiris,
100 Horus, firm of heart, justified,
The son of Isis, heir of Osiris!"
The council of maat having been assembled
for him,
the ennead of the Lord to the Limit himself,
the lords of justice who are united in it,
105 those who reject sin,
who sit in the hall of Geb,
to give the office to its (rightful) owner,
the kingship to the one to whom it rightfully
belongs,
Horus was found justified.
110 The office of his father having been given
to him,
He came forth, invested by the command of
Geb,
He received the rulership of the two banks,
The white crown fastened upon his head,
The land having been reckoned to him as
his possession,
115 Heaven and earth being under his
supervision,
Mankind, commoners, nobles, the sun folk
of Heliopolis, Egypt and the isles
having been assigned to him,
All that the sun encircles being under his
counsel,
120 The north wind, the river, the flood, fruits
trees, and all plants.
Neper, he provides all herbage,
Djefa of the field, he brings forth satiety,
Giving of himself in all lands.
Everyone is happy, hearts are at ease,
125 Hearts rejoice, everyone exalts,
Everyone praises his perfection:
"How sweet is his love before us!
His grace, it surrounds the hearts!"
Great is the love of him in every body,
130 They have presented to the son of Isis
his enemy,
He being fallen because of his offence,
evil having been done against the unruly
one,
The one who committed offence,
his misdeed having overtaken him.
135.The son of Isis, he has avenged his
father,
His name having been made holy.
Majesty, it has taken rest upon its throne,
Honour being firmly anchored according to
its laws.
The way is passable, the roads are open,
140 How content are the two banks!
Evil has perished, the accuser is gone,
The land is at peace under its lord,
maat is established for its lord,
the back being turned to sin.
145 May you be joyful, Wennefer!
The son of Isis, he has received the white
crown,
the office of his father having been
presented to him in the hall of Geb,
Re speaking, Thoth recording, the council
satisfied, your father Geb having decreed in
your favour, and one having acted
according to what he said.
Notes
1
Original cult centre of Osiris in the E. Delta
2
Modern Ausim, NW of Cairo at entrance to
Delta, capital of Nome 2.
3.
9th Lower Egyptian nome.
4.
Hall of Two Truths where judgement of dead
takes place.
5
The "caves", the dwelling place of the dead.
6
Ihnasiya el-Medina, 80 km sth of Memphis.
7
Emblem of None 20 of Upper Egypt, whose
capital was Heracleopolis
8
El-Ashmunein, opposite Amarna
9
^As-sHtp, locality south of Asiut in Upper
Egypt, modern el-Shutb.
Text: A. Moret, "La légende d'Osiris à l'époque
thébaine d'après l'hymne à Osiris du Louvre" in:
BIFAO 30 (1931), 725–750, 3 pls.
Translation: B.G. Ockinga.
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May you let the ba come forth by day to see
Aten,5 and listen to his daily prayer as a
spirit whom you made spirit.
May you command me to follow you always
as one of your favourites, For I am a just
one of God since being on earth, I satisfy
him with maat every day. I have shunned
wrongdoing before him, I never [did evil]
since my birth; indeed I am a gentle one
before God, one wise, one calm, who listens
to maat.
May you let me be in the crew of the
neshmet-bark6 at its feast in the region of
Peqer;6a
For the ka of the Prince, Sole Companion,
King's Deputy before the Two Lands, Royal
Scribe, Haremhab, justified.
HYMNS TO THOTH
TEXT 9
Adoration of Thoth (TT 192)
Adoring Thoth by the Royal Scribe and
Steward, Kheruef, justified; he says:
Hail to you, Lord of divine words, the one
who is over the secrets of heaven and
earth, the great god of primeval times.
Primaeval one who causes writings to
speak, who refurbishes domains and
provides for the temples. One who teaches
the gods about their natures and every
craft and its use, and the lands and the
boundaries likewise thereof."
Text: Urk IV, 1875.4–11.
Translation: B.G. Ockinga.
The Hymn to Thoth
On the scroll, in 22 columns
TEXT 10
Prayers on a Statue of Horemheb
(New York, MMA 23.10.1)
Adoration of Thoth, Son of Re, Moon,
Of beautiful rising, lord of appearances, light
of the gods,
By the Prince, Count,
Fan-bearer on the King's right,
Great Troop-commander,
Royal Scribe, Horemheb, justified, he says:
(1)
The Prayer on the statue base
(left side)
A royal offering to Thoth, lord of writing, Lord
of Ashmunein, who determines maat, who
embarks Re in the night-bark,
May you let the speech be answered for its
rightness.
I am a righteous one toward the courtiers,
If a wrong is told me,
(My) tongue is skilled to set it right.
I am the recorder of royal laws,
Who gives directions to the courtiers,
Wise in speech, there's nothing I ignore.
I am the adviser of everyone,
Who teaches each man his course,
Without forgetting my charge.
I am one who reports to the Lord of the Two
Lands,
Who speaks of whatever was forgotten,2
Who does not ignore the words of the Lord.
I am the herald of the council,
Who does not ignore the plans of his
majesty;
For the ka of the Prince, Royal Scribe,
Horemheb, justified.
"Hail to you, Moon, Thoth,
Bull in Ashmunein, dweller in Hesret,6b
Who makes way for the gods!7
Who knows the secrets,
Who records their expression,
Who distinguishes one speech from
another,
Who is judge of everyone.
Keen-faced in the Ship-of-millions,8
Courier of mankind,
Who knows a man by (5) his utterance,
Who makes the deed rise against the doer.
Who contents Re, Advises the Sole Lord,
Lets9 him know whatever happens;
At dawn he summons in heaven,
And forgets not yesterday's report.
Who makes safe the night-bark,
Makes tranquil the day-bark,
With arms outstretched in the bow of the
ship.
Pure-faced when he takes the stern-rope,
As the day-bark rejoices in the night-bark's
joy,10
At the feast of crossing the sky.
Who fells the fiend,11
Sunders the western horizon.
(right side)
A royal offering to Ptah South-of-his-Wall,
Sakhmet, the beloved of Ptah,
Ptah-Sokar, lord of Shetit,3
Osiris, lord of Rostau:4
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AHPG 861 / AHIS 380 Ancient Egyptian Religion – Selection of Primary Sources
The Ennead in the night-bark worships
Thoth. They say (10) to him:
'Hail, [Son of] Re,
Praised of Re, whom the gods applaud!'
They repeat what your ka wishes,
As you make way for the place of the bark,
As you act against that fiend:
You cut off his head, you break his ba,
You cast (15) his corpse in the fire,
You are the god who slaughters him.
Nothing is done without your knowing,
Great one, son of a Great one, who came
from her limbs,
Champion of Harakhti,
Wise friend in Heliopolis,
Who makes the place of the gods,
Who knows the secrets,
Expounds their words.
6
6a
6b
7
8
9
10
11
12
Let us give praise12 to Thoth,
Straight plummet in the scales,
Who repulses evil,
Who accepts him who leans not on crime,
The vizier who settles cases,
Who changes turmoil to peace;
The scribe of the mat who keeps the book,
Who punishes crime,
Who accepts the 'submissive',
Who is sound of (20) arm,
Wise among the Ennead,
Who relates what was forgotten.
Counsellor to him who errs,
Who remembers the fleeting moment,
Who reports the hour of night,
Whose words endure forever,
Who enters the netherworld,
Who knows those in it,
And records them in the list.
the sun-hymn of Haremhab on his stela in
the British Museum (No. 551), which also
dates from the reign of Tutankhamun, the
word ìtn has the divine determinative (see
Urk. IV, 2095.7)
The bark of Osiris.
Region of Abydos in which the tomb of
Osiris was believed to be situated.
The necropolis of Hermopolis (Ashmunein).
Literally, "opens a place for the gods."
The sun-bark.
The scribe reverted to the second person
and wrote "you let him know."
The sentence division is problematical. My
rendering differs from that of Winlock and
Helck.
The serpent Apophis.
The form "let us" in the invitation to praise
god, so common in biblical psalms, is rare in
Egyptian hymns, where the usual forms are
"I will" or "ye shall."
Text: Urk IV, 2089–2094.
Translation: Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature,
II, 100–103.
TEXT 11
Prayer to Thoth
Papyrus Anastasi V.9.2–10.2
Come to me Thoth, noble Ibis,
God who loves Khemenu (Ashmunein),
Letter-writer of the ennead,
Great One who dwells in Heliopolis.
Come to me and give me counsel,
Make me skilful in your profession.
Better is your profession than all professions,
It makes men great,
He who masters it is found fit to hold office.
I have seen many whom you have helped,
They are now among the Thirty
(magistrates),
They are strong and wealthy through your
help.
You are the one who offers advice,
You are one who advises the orphan.
Fate and fortune are with you,
Come to me and give me advice,
I am a servant of your temple.
Let me recount your brave deeds wherever I
am,
Then the masses will say: "Great are they, the
deeds of Thoth!" Then they will come and
bring their children to place them in your
profession, a profession that pleases the lord
of strength.
Notes
1
The text on the left side of the base consists
of tristichs. After the introduction, each
tristich is composed of a tripartite period
introduced by the phrase "I am." The same
device is employed in the biographical stela
of Intef son of Sent (British Museum 581;
see my Ancient Egyptian Literature, I, 120–
123.)
2
Or: "Who speaks to him who is forgetful"?
3
Sanctuary of Sokar at Sakkara, also term for
the netherworld in general.
4
The Giza sanctuary of Sokar, also term for
the necropolis and often specifically that of
Giza.
5
Though written without the divine
determinative, the sun-disk, itn, has
probably retained its personified meaning. In
14
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Text: Gardiner, Late Egyptian Miscellanies (Brussels,
1937), 60.
Translation: B.G. Ockinga.
(Other translation: Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian
Literature, II, 113).
You arm will be sustained by Month, Lord
of Thebes;
You will take the north wind as it goes
south by your house;
You will see the shining of the sun in rays
of gold by the upper gateway of the lord of
awe (Amun);
HYMN TO HATHOR
TEXT 12
Praising Hathor
from Papyrus Chester Beatty I
You will see the gods houses at the 4
(sides) of your house;
You will receive the offerings that come
forth from their offering tables;
You will moisten your throat with water
when your priests bring this libation;
Your endowment priests, they will make
invocation offerings to you of all good
things, food offerings daily, wine, beer,
milk, burnt offerings at nightfall.
I praise the Golden One (Hathor),
I worship her majesty,
I extol the mistress of heaven,
I give adoration to Hathor,
Praises to my mistress.
I called to her and she heard my plea,
She sent my mistress to me.
She came by herself to see me,
O great wonder that happen to me!
I was joyful, exulting, elated,
When they said "Look, here she is!"
As she came the young men bowed
Out of great love for her.
I make devotions to my goddess,
That she may give me my sister as a gift.
Three days now that I pray to her name,
Five days since she went from me!
May your ba alight from heaven to your
house every day, at the voice of your
priestly singer, as you hear the incantation
of your chamberlain setting things for your
ka,
men adoring you, women worshipping you,
those who are and those who are not
praising your kindness since you make
them whole, you make them live, you
having renewed your father's creation.
Translation: Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature,
II, 184.
They bring you their produce, they give you
their gifts, they consecrate to you their
goods, that you may eat the offering cakes
and drink the beer, together with your
brothers, the senior gods, and present the
excellent spirits with your leftovers.
HYMN TO IMHOTEP
TEXT 13
Temple of Ptah – Fourth Door (Karnak)
The learned ones praise god for you,
foremost your brother, whom you love and
who loves you, Imhotep, Son of Apis. He is
with you, he does not depart from you, your
bodies are united as one; your Bas receive
the things you love, which your son Caesar
Augustus (Tiberius) presents to you.
Praise to you, gracious god, Imhotep, Son
of Ptah!
Come to your house, your temple in
Thebes, that its people may see you in joy,
that you may receive offerings in it and
breathe in incense, that your body may be
refreshed with libations!
It is your favoured place, that you love,
It is more beneficial for you than your
(other) places.
Text: Urk. VIII, 145.
Translation: B.G. Ockinga.
You will see Amun at the seasons feasts,
since your place is near his.
You will join life in the western necropolis,
it is opposite your house at the western
mountain.
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AHPG 861 / AHIS 380 Ancient Egyptian Religion – Selection of Primary Sources
HYMNS OF PERSONAL PIETY
Mighty of power, more greatly loved than
any god.
TEXTS 14 A–E
Prayers of the pre-Amarna period
found in Western Thebes, written in
Hieratic on limestone ostraca (now in the
Cairo Museum)
Notes
1
In procession, probably, although this may
be a reference to the solar aspect of the god
and refer to his "going forth" each morning,
i.e. the rising of the sun.
2
Lit. "pains".
Text: G. Posener, "La piété personelle avant l'âge
Amarnien" in: Revue d'Egyptologie 27(1975),195–
210.
Translation: B.G. Ockinga.
TEXT 14D
Ostracon CG 12217 rto. (Cairo Museum)
TEXT 14A
Ostracon CG 12202 rto (Cairo Museum)
Because your strength [is greater than that
of any god] I have placed you in my heart.
[With you as?] protector, behold [I] will not
fear (…)
(…) eternal lord, Amun, the harvest, behold
(…) your harvest.
It is you who are my inundation (…)
Amun-Re, great of power, Lord of mercy,
You have caused me to see the day like the
night.1
May you brighten (my) eye.
Return, Amun-Re!
You are the well-beloved, you alone are
the one
who turns back from his power.
TEXT 14E
Ostracon CG 12189 rto. (Cairo Museum)
The rest of the text is too damaged.
Note
1
i.e. Amun has plunged the suppliant into
"darkness", a metaphor for misfortune.
I tell everyone about your might,
I recognise your power and magnify (…)
I give you praise (…)
TEXT 14B
Ostracon CG 12202 vso. (Cairo Museum)
TEXT 15
Stele of Intef from TT 164
(Chicago Oriental Institute 14053)
Amun, come to me in peace,
that I may see
the beauty of your face,
the beautiful face of Amun,
which the whole land sees. People would
see you rather than a rousing feast,1
rather than all wonderful sensual delights.
Giving praise to Amun-Re, doing obeisance
to the Lord of the gods, by the great
confidant of the Lord of the two lands, the
scribe of recruits, Intef.
He says: Praise be to you, Amun-Re,
who gives birth to himself every hour,
who comes forth from his mother daily,
who goes to rest in her at his hour.
You traverse your two heavens in triumph,
your crew rejoicing in your following.
Note
1
Lit. "drunkenness"; this should be understood
in the context of the Biblical understanding of
wine "cheering man's heart".
NN he says:
Praise be to you Amun-Re, the just one,
without an equal;
Maat is in your presence, from you she has
issued,
It is you who brought her into being,
according to your command,
Who pervades the two lands by night as by
day,
TEXT 14C
Ostracon CG 12212 (Cairo Museum)
Amun-Re, the guardian of all the poor;
through his going forth1 he has lifted up my
sorrows.2
May he give sustenance to him who has
chosen him,
Amun-Re, Lord of might, my Lord,
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so as to vivify that which came forth from
his eye.1)
I have come before you free of wrong-doing,
without having done wrong to people.
Year 3, 3rd month of the inundation,
day 10 (under) the King of Upper and Lower
Egypt, Lord of the Two Lands, Ankhkheperu-re, beloved of [Nefer-kheperu-re?],
the Son of Re, Nefer-neferu-aten, beloved
of Wa-en-[re?]
NN he says,
Praise be to you Amun-Re,
Perfect Ba, eldest of the gods,
Mother to him who places him in his heart,
But who turns his back on him who neglects
his city.2
I have come into your presence that I may
follow your Ka,
That I may honour your love,
May you place me upon the path of the lord
of eternity,
Without turning aside from your leading.
1 Giving
praise to Amun, doing obeisance to
Wennefer, by the Wab-priest and Scribe of
Offerings of Amun, in the temple of Ankhkheperu-re in Thebes, Pawah, born of Itefseneb; he says:
5"I
long to see you, Lord of the persea tree,
when your neck is garlanded!
You give satiety without eating,
you give drunkenness without drinking!
Notes:
1
2
I long to see you, joy of my heart,
Amun, the protector of the poor.
You are the father of the motherless,
the husband of the widow.
Humankind was believed to have been
formed from the tears of the creator god.
i.e. Thebes.
10
Text: J. Assmann, Sonnenhymnen in thebanischen
Gräbern, Theben I, (Mainz 1983), 228–230.
English translation: B.G. Ockinga.
They are happy, who call on your name;
it is like the taste of life,
15 it is like the taste of bread for a child,
(like) a garment for the naked,
like the smell of fragrant trees in the hot
season.
TEXT 16
Hymn of Pawah to Amun and Osiris
You are like (…)
You are like the taste of (…) the ruler,
20 the breath of [life?] for him who was
imprisoned.
The hymn is written in Hieratic in the tomb
of Pairy (TT 139). Its particular interest lies
in its date; it was written in Year 3 of the
reign of Smenkhkare, Akhenaten's
successor.
J. Assmann says of this hymn (Ägyptische
Hymnen und Gebete, Zürich/München
1975, p. 596):
"The text belongs to the genre
'literature'. We have taken it out of this
group and placed it at the beginning of
the section [of prayers of personal piety]
because it is the oldest example of this
tradition of non-cultic lyrical prayers. It
most closely reflects the historical
conditions under which this genre of
prayers developed, the closing of the
temples and the persecution of the old
gods during the Amarna period. There
can be no doubt that the genesis of the
text goes back to the period of
persecution, although it was recorded in
the period immediately following (cf. the
title of Pawah)."
Turn back to us, Lord of Eternity!
You were here before anything came into
being, you will be here for ever.
25 You
have caused me to see darkness,
which you give,
grant me light, that I may see you!
As your Ka endures, as your beautiful
beloved face endures,
you will come from afar,
you will let this servant, the scribe Pawah,
see.
30 Grant him, that Re may establish him!
O how good it is, to follow you, Amun,
the great Lord of him who seeks him!
He will find that you cast out fear.
Give joy to the hearts of the people,
35 how joyful is the person who sees you,
Amun,
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he is in festival every day!
The Hymn
1. Giving praise to Amun:
I make for him adorations to his name,
I give him praises to the height of heaven
and over the expanse of the earth,
5. recount his might to those faring
upstream
and to those faring downstream!
Text: A.H. Gardiner, "The Graffito from the Tomb of
Pere", in: JEA 14 (1928), 10–11, pls 5–6.
Translation: B.G. Ockinga.
TEXT 17
Stele of the Viceroy Huy
Huy was Tutankhamun's Viceroy in Nubia.
In this text he addresses the king in a
prayer. The inscription is written on a very
small, poorly executed stele, suggesting
that his gesture was one of selfabasement; he places himself in the
company of the poor, the humble, who in
Egypt are traditionally regarded as the
pious and devout.1 In the text, the king is
addressed like a god.
Beware of him!
Herald him to son and daughter,
to great and small,
10. Proclaim him to generation (after)
generation
not yet come into being!
Proclaim him to the fish in the waters,
and to the birds in the sky,
Herald him to those who are ignorant of
him,
15. and to those who know him!
Beware of him!
Be gracious,2 my lord Nefer-kheperu-re!
I see darkness by day, which you have made.
Shine for me, that I may see you,
That I may proclaim your power to the fish
in the river (…)
You are Amun, Lord of the silent one,
Who comes at the voice of the poor.
I called to you when I was distressed,
20. And you came and rescued me.
You give breath to the deprived,
You rescued me, who was suffocated.
Notes
1
This is not just the case in Egypt, we find
similar sentiments in the Old Testament and
in the Sermon on the Mount: "Blessed are
the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of
God" (Mathew 5).
2
Lit. "Come in peace".
You are Amun, Lord of Thebes,
Who rescues him who is in the
netherworld,
25. For you are one who [answers]
When one calls to you,
You are he who comes from afar.
Text: Urk. IV,2076.1-5.
Translation: B.G. Ockinga.
TEXT 18
Stele of Nebre (Berlin 20377)
Made by the Draughtsman of Amun in the
Place of Truth (the necropolis), Nebre,
justified, son of the Draughtsman in the
Place of Truth, Pay, justified, to the name
of his Lord, Amun Lord of Thebes, who
comes at the voice of the poor.
Text above and behind the god
Amun-Re, Lord of Karnak,
The great god who presides over Karnak,
The August god who hears prayer,
Who comes at the voice of him who is in
distress,
Who gives breath to him who is wretched.
One made for him adorations to his name
because of the greatness of his strength;
One made supplications to him in his
presence,
35. before the whole land,
On behalf of the Draughtsman Amunnakht, justified,
As he lay sick unto death,
He being in the power of Amun because of
his cow.
Above Nebre
Giving praise to Amun-Re,
The Lord of Karnak,
Who presides over Karnak;
Kissing the ground to Amun of Thebes, the
great god,
The lord of the sanctuary great and fair,
That he may let my eyes see his beauty;
For the ka of the draughtsman of Amun,
Nebre, justified.
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I found that the Lord of the Gods came as
the north wind,
40. a sweet breeze before him;
He rescued the Draughtsman of Amun,
Amun-nakht, justified, son of the
Draughtsman of Amun in the Place of
Truth, Nebre, justified, born of the lady of
the house, Pashed, justified. He says:
beware of the moon, the merciful, who can
avert this.
Text: M.Tosi / A.Roccati, Stele e altre epigrafi di Deir
el Medina (Turin, 1972) no. 50044 (pp. 78, 279).
Translation: B.G. Ockinga.
TEXT 20
Inscription of Simut Kiki (TT 409)
45. Although the servant was ready to sin,
The Lord is ready to be merciful.
The Lord of Thebes does not spend the
whole day angry,
If he is angry it is (only) for a moment,
nothing remaining.
The breeze returns to us in mercy,
50. Amun returns on his breeze.
By your Ka, you will be merciful,
and we will not repeat (it) again!
By the Draughtsman in the Place of Truth,
Nebre, justified.
In his tomb in Thebes Simut records his
decision to leave all his property to the
goddess Mut, and tells how he came to
make it:
"There was a man of Southern Heliopolis,
a true scribe in Thebes, Simut the name
his mother (gave him), Kiki one called him.
Now his god taught him, he instructed him
in his teaching, he placed him upon the
way of life, so as to protect him. God
acknowledged him when he was a child
and goodly sustenance was ordained him.
Then he considered himself, how to find for
himself a protector. He found Mut to be at
the head of all the gods;
fate and good fortune are in her hands, the
time of life and breath are at her command,
all that occurs is at her behest. So he said,
`Behold, I give her my property, all that I
will attain, for I have recognised her
usefulness with my (own) eyes, her unique
effectiveness. She made a breathing space
for me in (the midst of) the fray, she
sheltered me at a moment of danger. She
came, a (cool) breeze before her, when I
called upon her name.
I was a weakling of her town, a pauper, a
vagabond of her city; I came to my wealth
so that she would become rich, in
exchange for the breath of life, not one of
(my) kindred shall share it (i.e. his wealth),
it is for her in peace."
He said:
55. I will make this stele to your name, and
I will perpetuate for you these hymns upon
it, should you rescue for me the Draftsman
Amun-nakht. Thus I said to
you, and you heard me. Behold, I have
done what I said. You are Lord to him
who calls to him, who is pleased with
truth, the Lord of Thebes.
Made by the Draughtsman Nebre, and his
son, the scribe Khay.
Text: A. Erman, "Hymnen an das Diadem der
Pharaonen" in: APAW, Phil.-Hist. Klasse (Berlin,
1911), 1086ff.
Translation: B.G. Ockinga.
Other translations: Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian
Literature, II, 105–107; J.A. Wilson, in: ANET, 380–
381.
TEXT 19
Stele of Huy (Turin 50044)
The text continues with a prayer to Mut,
requesting that she grant Simut a goodly
burial, since he has no son who could see
to it for him; she is addressed as the `eye
of the sun', the sun goddess, and he asks
that she grant him life in the hereafter.
The long text ends with a hymn to the
goddess:
Huy is depicted in prayer before the god
Thoth.
He says:
I am the man who made a false oath to the
Moon regarding the piece of timber, so that
he made me see the greatness of his
strength in the presence of the whole land.
I proclaim your power to the fish in the
river, to the birds in the sky; they will say to
the children of their children:
"I rejoice at your strength,
as you are greater than any (other) god;
My heart is filled with my mistress,
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so that I do not fear men;
When I lie down I can sleep,
for I have a protectress.
TEXT 22
Stele of the Scribe of the Necropolis,
Amun-nakht
(British Museum EA 374)
He who takes Mut as a protector, (…) no
god can attack him;
he is a favourite of the king of his time,
until he reaches the state of veneration (i.e.
dies). (…)
He who takes Mut as a protector,
no evil can reach him;
he is protected every day,
until he reaches the cemetery.
(…)
He who takes Mut as a protector,
how good is his lifetime!
The favour of the king embraces him,
him, who has placed her in his heart.
"Praises to your Ka, Meretseger, Mistress
of the West,"
by the Scribe in the Place of Truth, Amunnakhte, justified.
He says:
"Praise be to you in peace, Lady of the
West, the Mistress
who turns to mercy!
You cause me to see darkness by day,
I will tell others of {her} <your> might,
Be merciful toward me in your mercy!"
Text: H.R. Hall, Hieroglyphic Texts from Egyptian
Stelae, &c., in the British Museum, VII ( London,
1925) pl. 29.
Translation: B.G. Ockinga.
He who takes Mut as a protector,
he is born a favoured one;
good is ordained him at birth
until he reaches the state of veneration.
He who takes Mut as a protector,
how blessed is he who yearns for her! No
god can cast him down,
being one who does not know death.
TEXT 23
Prayer of Ramesses III to Amun
From the temple of Ramesses III in Karnak
The beginning of the outpouring of praise
and honour to the Lord of the gods, which
the majesty of the King of Upper and Lower
Egypt, Lord of the Two Lands, User-maat-re
Meri-amun, the Son of Re, Lord of Diadems,
Ramesses, Ruler of Heliopolis, made for his
august father, Amun-Re, Lord of the thrones
of the Two Lands:
"I speak, my Lord and my God,
I let you hear my words in your presence,
while you are silent and the whole Ennead
bows before you
(…) rejoicing before your beautiful visage.
I begin to speak of your greatness as Lord
of the gods,
as Ba with hidden faces and great of awe,
whose name is secret and whose image is
hidden,
whose character was unknown at the
beginning
when you appeared from the primaeval
waters,
when you rose in brilliance,
when you shone for every eye that was in
darkness.
Your skin is light,
your fiery breath the life-flame,
all costly stones cover your body,
your limbs are breath to every nose,
one breathes of you in order to live,
your taste is the Nile,
Text: KRI III, 336–339.
Translation: B.G. Ockinga.
TEXT 21
Stele of the draughtsman of Amun, Pay
Giving praise to Khons-in-Thebes,
Neferhotep, Horus, Lord of joy:
I give him praises, I pacify his Ka every
day, that he may be gracious to me.
Behold, you cause me to see the darkness
which you make!
Be merciful to me that I may tell of it!
How pleasant it is when you show mercy,
Khons, to a pauper of your city
Text: M. Tosi / A. Roccati, Stele e altre epigrafi di
Deir el Medina (Turin, 1972) no. 50052 (pp. 87–88,
283).
English Translation: B.G. Ockinga.
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AHPG 861 / AHIS 380 Ancient Egyptian Religion – Selection of Primary Sources
one anoints oneself with the brilliance of
your rays."
Horakhty the Far Strider when he crosses
the sky: he is Horakhty.
Hail to you in your rule of Busiris,
the weret-crown is firm on your head:
you are the Sole One who makes his own
protection, and you rest in Busiris.
Hail to you, lord of the naret-tree;
Sokar is placed on his sledge,
the rebel who did evil is driven off,
and the sacred eye is set at rest in its place.
The text continues in this vein, describing
the god's character. Ramesses then says
that he knows Amun and recognises that he
surpasses all other gods. The hymn
continues with a statement concerning the
benefits that Amun bestows on the person
who worships and obeys him.
"I have found that he who walks in your
ways is fortunate,
he who has seen your courtyard possesses
health and life.
(…) everyone who comes to your city, when
his back is turned(? i.e. he leaves ?) you
cause him to say,
'How fortunate (is) he who cleaves to you!'
He who submits to your power, he thinks of
him who satisfies him,
(…) when he sleeps you waken him;
he who finds protection under (…) you
[place] every land under his sandals;
he who says `My father!' to you, he is lord of
the nine bows,
you subdue them for him in a moment, while
he rests;
anyone who offers incense before you, he
will not be blown away, his throne is
established in peace;
anyone who utters your name, you are his
shepherd,
you place him upon the water of his journey;
he who fills his heart with you, his heart is
sweet,
lo, it is true, your eye is upon him every day,
you prosper everyone who is submissive to
you."
Translation: R.O. Faulkner, The Ancient Egyptian
Book of the Dead (London, 1985) 40.
TEXT 25
Book of the Dead: Chapters 141–142
Knowing the names of Osiris in his every
seat where he may desire to be.
To be said by Osiris NN:
To Wennefer, to Osiris of the Region of
Life, to Osiris the Lord of life;
To Osiris the Lord of the Universe, to Osiris
presiding over the Harpoon Nome, to Osiris
Orion, to Osiris the Guardian, to Osiris
Presiding over the Houses; to Osiris in the
Southern and Northern Chapels (of Sais),
to Osiris the Creator of Millions, to Osiris
the Soul, sovereign of the palanquin, to
Osiris Ptah the Lord of Life; to Osiris
presiding over Rosetau, to Osiris Dwelling
in the Waste Land; to Osiris in the Busirite
Nome (…)
Text: from E.A.W. Budge, The Book of the Dead.
The Chapters of Coming forth by Day (London,
1898), 317–327.
Translation: B.G. Ockinga.
TEXT 26
From The Litany of the Sun
Text: from KRI V, 221–225.
Translation: B.G. Ockinga.
1 Praise be to you, Re,
you with exalted power,
Lord of the caverns with hidden shapes, who
sets in secrecy,
transforming himself into Deba-Demedj.
B) LITANIES
TEXT 24
Book of the Dead – Chapter 15
2 Praise be to you Re,
you with exalted power,
Khepri who beats his wings,
the one who sets in the netherworld,
transforming himself into "He who comes
forth from his body".
Hail to you, starry one in Heliopolis;
Sun-folk in Kheraha;
Wenti, more powerful than the gods;
Mysterious One in Heliopolis.
Hail to you, Heliopolitan in Iun-des;
Great One;
4 Praise
21
be to you, Re,
AHPG 861 / AHIS 380 Ancient Egyptian Religion – Selection of Primary Sources
you with exalted power,
who allows the earth to see,
who shines for the westerners.
(5) He who was without sustenance is now
a possessor of wealth,
he who was poor is now a possessor of
clients;
He gives success to him who was
unsuccessful,
he who suffered need is now Lord of a
village.
6 Praise be to you, Re,
you with exalted power,
unique one, with awesome visage,
he who unites himself with his body.
7 Praise be to you, Re,
you with exalted power,
whose eye calls out and whose head
addresses,
the one who gives the bas breath...
Text: G. Fecht, "Schicksalsgöttin und König in der
'Lehre eines Mannes für seinen Sohn' " in: ZÄS 105
(1978), 37, §5.
English translation B.G.Ockinga.
TEXT 28
from the Stela of Sehetep-ib-Re
(Cairo 20538):
The "Loyalist Teaching"
8 Praise
be to you, Re,
you with exalted power,
who reaches his ba,
who destroys his enemies,
who commanded that the damned be
punished (…)
(9) I say a great thing, I let you hear,
I let you know counsel everlasting.
Right conduct of life, passing the lifetime in
peace;
Worship King Nimaatre, ever-living, in (11)
your bodies.
Cleave to His Majesty in your hearts!
He is Sia in the hearts,
His eyes seek out every body.
He is Re by whose rays one sees,
Who lights the Two Lands more than the
sun-disk,
Who makes verdant (13) more than great
Hapy,
He has filled the Two Lands with life force.
Noses turn cold when he starts to rage,
When he is at peace one breathes air.
He gives food to those who serve him,
He nourishes him who treads (15) his path.
The king is sustenance, his mouth is
plenty,
He who will be is his creation.
He is the Khnum of everybody,
Begetter who makes mankind.
He is Bastet who guards the Two Lands,
He who worships (17) him is sheltered by
his arm.
He is Sakhmet to him who defies his
command,
He whom he hates will bear distress.
Fight for his name, respect his oath,
Then you stay free of <betrayal>.1
The king's beloved will be (19) honoured,
His majesty's foe has no tomb,
His corpse is cast into the water.
Do this, then you prosper,
It serves2 you forever!
73 Praise be to you, Re,
you with exalted power,
Lord of the bas,
who is within his pyramidion-house,
chief of the gods of the vestibule ...
74 Praise be to you, Re,
you with exalted power,
gleaming one, you of the obelisk,
greatest god, who holds together time.
75 Praise be to you, Re,
you with exalted power,
lord of darkness, who speaks as a corpse,
ba, who calls to those in the caverns;
you are the body of the Lord of Darkness.
Text: E. Hornung, Das Buch von der Anbetung des
Re im Westen (Sonnenlitanei), (Geneva, 1975).
Translation: B.G. Ockinga.
C ) TEXTS
ILLUSTRATING
KINGSHIP
TEXT 27
from the Middle Kingdom:
The Teaching of a Man for his Son
(1) He transforms the ignorant into one
knowledgeable,
the rejected has become one, who is
beloved;
He lets the humble surpass the great,
the last is now the first,
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When you tell the water,
30 "Come up to the mountain!",
Nun comes out immediately at your word.
Notes
1.
The precise meaning of sp.n bgsw is not
known.
2.
gmi "find", in the sense of "find useful".
For you are the embodiment of Re,
Khepre in his true form.
You are the living image on earth
35 of your father Atum in Heliopolis.
Translation: Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature I,
128.
TEXT 29
from the Kuban Stela: Eulogy to
Ramesses II (Grenoble Museum 1,33).
Hu is in your mouth,
Sia is in your heart;
your tongue is the chapel of Maat,
upon your lips sits a god.
40 Your words occur day by day,
one acts according to your mind (heart)
just as for Ptah, the creator of crafts.
You will remain for ever and one will act
according to your counsel,
45 all that you say will be obeyed, O king our
lord!
1You
are like Re in all that you have done,
what your heart desires happens.
When you plan a wish at night,
in the morning it has already been realised.
We behold the fullness of your wondrous
deeds,
since you appeared as king of the two
lands.
We did not hear, we did not see,
yet they have occurred just as they are.
All that issues from your mouth,
10 is like the words of Harakhte.
Your tongue is a balance, your lips are more
accurate than the most accurate measure of
Thoth.
5
Text: Kitchen, Ramesside Inscriptions II, 353–360.
Translation: B.G. Ockinga
TEXT 30
from The Great Dedicatory Inscription of
Ramesses II for the Temple of Sethos I
(Abydos):
Eulogy to Ramesses II
Is there a distant land that you do not know?
Who is as knowledgeable as you?
15 Where is the place that you have not
seen?
There is no foreign land that you have not
trodden.
1 We come to you, Lord of heaven, lord of
earth,
living Re of the whole land,
Lord of lifetime, constant of movement,
Atum of mankind;
5 Lord of fate, who creates destiny
(Renenet),
Khnum, who gives birth to mankind,
who gives life to every nose and causes the
Ennead to live,
All matters come to your ears,
since you administer this land.
You made plans while you were still in the
egg,
20 in your office of princely child.
Pillar of heaven, beam of the earth,
Judge who keeps the two lands in order,
10 Lord of provisions, plentiful of grain,
Where he treads Renenutet is present,
He who creates the great and builds the
poor,
Whose word creates food;
Splendid lord, who wakes when all sleep;
15 Whose strength protects Egypt.
Mighty against the foreign lands,
Who returns having conquered
Whose sword protects Egypt.
The affairs of the two banks were reported
to you
while you were still a child wearing the lock
of youth.
No monument was built without your
command,
no decision taken without your knowledge.
You were "chief mouth" of the army,
when you were a youth of 10 years.
Every work that was conducted,
it was your hand which laid the foundation.
25
Who loves Maat and lives off her,
It is his laws that protect the two banks.
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Great of years, mighty of victories,
Whose terror has subdued the foreign
lands.
TEXT 32
Eulogy of Neferhotep (from TT 49)
Addressing King Ay:
1"You are a god who knows all hearts,
who searches everyone,
Blessed is he, who stands before you,
Who hears your teaching and places it in
his heart,
5 His sun is risen.
As long as he obeys that which the perfect
ruler ordains,
he will enter into (…)
You remain for ever, perfect ruler,
You are knowledgeable like the one Southof-his-wall (Ptah),
and discerning like Thoth,
10 For you recognise him, who is beneficial
to his lord, who loves His Majesty,
You allow him to associate with the great,
the courtiers,
he being at the head of the court."
Our sovereign, our Lord, living Re,
Through whose mouth Atum speaks.
See, we are here before you,
That you may ordain us the life that you
give.
Pharaoh, the breath of our noses,
Everyone lives when you shine for them.
Text: KRI II, 326.11–327.4.
Translation: B. Ockinga.
TEXT 31
Hymn on the Accession of Merenptah
from Papyrus Sallier I
1 Rejoice, the whole land!
The good times have come!
The Lord has arisen in all the lands,
correctness has gone down to its (proper)
place
5 The King of Upper and Lower Egypt,
Great of Kingship like Horus,
Ba-en-Re Mery-Amun, Life, Prosperity,
Health
Who constrains Egypt with festivals,
The Son of Re, most beneficent of kings,
10 Mer-en-Ptah, Hetep-her-Maat, Life,
Prosperity, Health,
All you righteous ones, come and see,
Maat has expelled falsehood,
The wicked have fallen on their faces,
All the greedy are downcast,
15 The water rises and does not subside,
The inundation rises high,
The days are long, the nights have hours,
The moon comes at the right time,
The gods are pacified and content,
20 One lives in joy and wonder.
Text: (N. de G. Davies, The Tomb of Nefer-hotep at
Thebes (New York, 1933), pl. 1.XI–XII.
Translation: B.G. Ockinga.
TEXT 33
Abu Simbel: Inscription of Ramesses II
(Stela C 22)
The king speaks in the first person:
"Hear what I say to you, all people,
you great ones upon earth, all you troops!
I am Re, Lord of Heaven, who is upon
earth,
I do beneficial things for you, just as he has
done.
I am an effective protector for him, who
obeys him (i.e. the king),
(But) there is no steering with the wind for
him who neglects my affairs!"
Text: A.H. Gardiner, Late Egyptian Miscellanies
(Brussels, 1937), 86–87.
Translation: B.G. Ockinga.
Text: KRI II, 320.9–11.
Translation: B.G. Ockinga.
TEXT 34
Hymn
from a Cycle of Hymns to Sesostris III
Hymn III
(1) How great is the lord of his city:
he is Re, little are a thousand other men!
How great is the lord of his city:
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he is a canal that restrains the river's flood
water!
How great is the lord of his city:
he is a cool room that lets a man sleep till
dawn.
How great is the lord of his city:
he is a walled rampart of copper of Sinai!
(5) How great is the lord of his city:
he is a shelter whose hold does not fail!
How great is the lord of his City:
he is a fort that shields the timid from his
foe!
How great is the lord of his city: he is an
overflowing shade, cool in summertime!
How great is the lord of his city: he is a
warm corner, dry in wintertime!
How great is the lord of his city: he is a
mountain that blocks the storm when the
sky rages!
(10) How great is the lord of his city: he is
Sakhmet to foes who tread on his frontier!
TEXT 36
Cycle of Hymns to Sesostris III
(on papyrus) from Hymn I
Hail to you, Kha-kau-re, our Horus, divine of
form! (…)
Who subdues foreign lands by a motion of
his hands,
Who slays bowmen without a blow of the
club,
Shoots the arrow without drawing the string,
Whose terror strikes bowmen in their land,
Fear of whom smites the Nine Bows.
(…)
from Hymn II
How the gods rejoice,
You have strengthened their offerings!
How your people rejoice!
You have made their frontiers.
How your forebears rejoice,
You have enriched their portions.
How Egypt rejoices in your strength,
You have protected its customs. (…)
Translation: Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature, I,
199–200.
from Hymn III
How great is the Lord of his city,
he is Re, little are a thousand other men!
How great is the Lord of his city,
he is a canal that restrains the river's flood
water!
How great is the Lord of his city,
he is a cool room that lets a man sleep until
dawn!
How great is the Lord of his city,
he is a walled rampart of copper of Sinai!
How great is the Lord of his city,
he is a shelter whose hold does not fail! (…)
TEXT 35
from the Loyalist Teaching
Stele of Sehetep-ib-re
(Cairo Museum 20538, from Abydos)
He is Sia in the hearts,
His eyes seek out every body.
He is Re by whose eyes one sees,
Who lights the two lands more than the
sun-disk,
Who makes verdant more than great Hapy,
He having filled the land with life-force.
Noses turn cold when he starts to rage,
When he is at peace one breathes air.
He gives food to those who serve him,
He nourishes him who treads his path.
The king is sustenance, his mouth is
plenty,
He who will be is his creation.
He is the Khnum of everybody,
Begetter who makes mankind.
He is Bastet who guards the Two Lands,
He who worships him is sheltered by his
arm.
He is Sakhmet to him who defies his
command,
He whom he hates will bear distress.
from Hymn IV
(…)
He came and ruled the Black Land
he took the Red Land to himself;
He came and guarded the Two Lands;
he gave peace to the Two Shores.
He came and nourished the Black Land,
he removed its needs.
Translation: Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature, I,
198–200.
Translation: Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature, I,
128.
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(10) I journeyed to Yebu, I returned to the
Delta. Having stood on the land's borders I
observed its interior. I reached the borders
of the strongholds by my strength and my
feats.
I was grain-maker, beloved of Nepri. Hapy
honoured me on every field. None hungered
in my years. None (III, 1) thirsted in them.
One sat because I acted and spoke of me, I
had assigned everything to its place.
I subdued lions, I captured crocodiles,
I repressed those of Wawat,
I captured the Medjai,
I made the Asiatic do the dog walk.
TEXT 37
from
The Teaching of a Man for his Son
from the Stela of Sehetep-ib-Re (Cairo
Museum 20538, from Abydos)
I say a great thing, I let you hear, I let you
know counsel everlasting, Right conduct of
life, passing the lifetime in peace:
Worship King Ny-maat-re, ever-living, in (11)
your bodies, Cleave to His Majesty in your
hearts! He is Sia in the hearts, His eyes
seek out every body.
He is Re, by whose rays one sees,
who lights the Two Lands more than the
sun-disk, who makes verdant (13) more than
great Hapy.
He has filled the Two Lands with life force.
Noses turn cold when he starts to rage,
When he is at peace one breathes air.
He gives food to those who serve him,
He nourishes him who treads (15) his path.
(9)
I built myself a house decked with gold,
Its ceiling of lapis lazuli,
Walls of silver, floors of [acacia wood],
(5) Doors of copper, bolts of bronze,
Translation: Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature, I,
137.
TEXT 39
from Luxor Temple (18th Dynasty)
The King as Sun-Priest
The king is sustenance, his mouth is plenty.
He who will be is his creation.
He is the Khnum of everybody, Begetter
who makes mankind.
He is Bastet who guards the Two Lands, He
who worships (17) him is sheltered by his
arm.
He is Sakhmet to him who defies his
command, He whom he hates will bear
distress.
King NN praises Re at dawn,
at his coming forth,
as he opens up his primordial egg and
climbs to heaven as Khepri:
He enters at the mouth;
he comes forth from the thighs
at his manifestations of the east of heaven,
as his father Osiris raises him,
as the arms of Heh and Hehet receive him,
as he comes to rest in the Morning bark.
Fight for his name, respect his oath. Then
you stay free of betrayal. The king's beloved
will be (19) honoured, His majesty's foe has
no tomb. His corpse is cast into the water.
Do this, then you prosper. It serves you
forever!
King NN knows this secret speech which
the eastern Souls say, as they sing
acclamations to Re as he rises and
appears in the horizon; as they open the
bolts for him in the portals of the eastern
horizon, so that he shall sail on the ways of
the sky.
He knows their secret images, their forms,
their towns which are in God's land.
He knows the place where they stand at
Re's setting forth.
He knows that speech which the crews say
when they drag the bark of the HorizonDweller.
He knows the manifestations of Re and his
forms which are in the flood.
Translation: Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature, I,
128.
TEXT 38
from
The Teaching of Amenemhet
Had women ever marshalled troops? Are
rebels nurtured in the palace? Does one
release water that destroys the soil And
deprives people of their crops? No harm
had come to me since my birth. No one
equalled me as a doer of deeds.
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He knows this secret portal, through which
the great god comes forth.
He knows he who is in the Morning Bark,
the great leader in the Evening bark.
He knows your fields in the horizon, your
courses which are in heaven.
TEXT 41
From the Tomb of Panehsy (Amarna 6)
(1) Praise be to you, my god,
who created me,
who determined good for me,
who formed me,
who gave me sustenance,
who provided for me by his ka.
Re has placed King NN in the land of the
living for eternity and all time;
for judging men,
for making the gods content,
for creating Truth, for destroying evil.
(5) The ruler who made me amongst men,
who let me associate with his favoured
ones, so that I was known by all,
I being raised up from amongst the least,
Who made me rich when I was poor.
He gives offerings to the gods,
and invocation offerings to the blessed
spirits.
The name of king NN is in heaven like Re.
He lives in joy, like Re Harakhte,
at seeing whom the patricians rejoice,
for whom the folk make jubilations, in his
form of Youth.
(10) All around me do obeisance to me
(now ?) that I have become a favoured one
who he made.
My village comes to me at all times
I thereby being magnified, by command of
the Lord of Truth.
The coming forth of Re as Khepri.
I speak out praises to the height of heaven;
(15) praising the Lord of the Two Lands,
Akhenaten:
Lord of fate, who grants life,
Lord of commands, Light of all lands,
at the sight of whom one lives;
Nile for all mankind,
(20) through whose ka one is sated;
god, who makes the great and builds up
the poor,
breath for every nose, through whom one
breathes!
Translation: R. Parkinson, Voices from Ancient
Egypt. An Anthology of Middle Kingdom Writings
(London, 1991) 38-40.
TEXT 40
From the Tomb of Maya (Amarna no. 14)
(1) I am one who was poor on my father's
and my mother's side,
the ruler built me, he let me become
someone;
through his Ka he (created ?) me,
When I was one who possessed nothing.
(5) He let many people (servants) accrue to
me,
my companions he made numerous.
He caused my people (serfs) to provide for
me,
I becoming the Lord of a village;
He made it possible that I consort with the
great, the courtiers,
(10) when I was amongst the least.
He gave me provisions and food daily
When I pleaded for the bread which he
gives.
Text: M. Sandman, Texts from the Time of
Akhenaten (Brussels, 1938) 24.
Translation: B.G. Ockinga.
Other translation: W. Murnane, Texts from the
Amarna Period in Egypt (Atlanta, 1995), 171.
D) MYTHOLOGICAL
TEXTS
TEXT 42
The Destruction of Humankind
Text: M. Sandman, Texts from the Time of
Akhenaten (Brussels, 1938) 61.
Translation: B.G. Ockinga.
Other translation: W. Murnane, Texts from the
Amarna Period in Egypt (Atlanta, 1995), 145
(1) It happened [in the time of the majesty
of] Re, the god who created himself, after
he had been king of mankind and the gods.
Then mankind plotted against him, his
majesty having grown old, his bones being
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silver, his flesh gold, his hair true lapis
lazuli. His majesty perceived the plotting of
mankind against him, so his majesty said
to his followers: "Summon to me my Eye,
and Shu, Tefnut, Geb, Nut, and the fathers
and mothers who were with me when I was
in the primeval waters (Nun), and also the
god Nun; let he bring his courtiers (5) with
him. But bring them stealthily, that mankind
may not see, lest they lose heart. Come
with them (the gods) to the Palace that
they may give their counsel. In the end I
will return to Nun, to the place where I
came into being."
swift, the speedy, that they may run like a
body's shadow!" The messengers were
brought immediately. Then the majesty of
this god said: "Go to Elephantine and bring
me red ochre in great quantity!" The red
ochre was brought to him, and the majesty
of this god ordered the Wearer of the Side
Lock in Heliopolis to grind the ochre, while
maidservants crushed barley for beer.
Then the red ochre was put into the
beer-mash, and it became like human
blood; and seven thousand jars of beer
were made. Then the majesty of the King
of Upper and Lower Egypt, Re came
together with the gods to see this beer.
These gods were brought, and the gods
were lined up on his two sides, bowing to
the ground before his majesty, that he
might make his speech before the eldest
father, who made mankind, the king of the
people. They said to his majesty: "Speak to
us, that we may hear it." Then Re said to
Nun: "O eldest god in whom I came into
being, and ancestor gods, look, mankind,
which issued from my Eye, is plotting
against me. Tell me what you would do
about it; behold, I am searching. I would
not slay them until I have heard what you
might (10) say about it.
Now when the day of (20) slaughtering
mankind by the goddess dawned, on
{their}<her> days of travelling south, then
majesty of Re said: "It is good; I shall save
mankind by it!" Then Re said: "Carry it to
the place where she plans to slay
mankind!" Then majesty of King Re rose
early before dawn, so as to have this
sleeping draught poured out. Then the
fields were flooded three palms high with
the liquid by the power of the majesty of
this god. When the goddess came in the
morning she found them flooded, and it
was good in her eyes. She drank and it
pleased her heart. She returned drunk not
having perceived mankind. Then the
majesty of Re said to the goddess:
"Welcome in peace, O gracious one!" Thus
beautiful women came into being in the
town of Imu.
Then spoke the majesty of Nun: "My son
Re, god greater than the one who made
him, more august than his creators, sit on
your throne! Great is the fear of you! Your
Eye is on those who scheme against you."
Then the majesty of Re said: "Look, they
are fleeing to the desert, their hearts afraid
that I might speak to them." They said to
his majesty: "Let your Eye go and smite
them for you, those schemers of evil!" No
Eye is better to smite them for you. May it
go down as Hathor!"
Text: Hornung, Der Ägyptische Mythos von der
Himmelskuh, OBO 46, (Freiburg / Göttingen, 1982).
Translation: B.G. Ockinga.
Other translations: Erman, Literature, 47–49; J.A.
Wilson, in: ANET, 10–11; Piankoff, The Shrines of
Tut-Ankh-Amon (New York, 1955 /1962), 27–29.
The goddess returned having slain
mankind in the desert, and the majesty of
this god said: "Welcome in peace, Hathor,
Eye who did what I came for!" Then the
goddess said: "As you live for me, I have
overpowered mankind, and it was pleasant
to my heart." Then the majesty of Re said:
"I shall have power over them as king (15)
by diminishing them." Thus the Powerful
One (Sakhmet) came into being, the
beer-mash of the night, so as to wade in
their blood as far as Heracleopolis. Then
Re said: "Summon to me messengers, the
TEXT 43
The Story of Horus and Seth
Papyrus Chester Beatty I, rto
(1,1) [This is] the judging of Horus and
Seth, they of mysterious forms, mightiest of
existing princes and lords. A [divine] youth
was seated before the Lord-to-the-Limit,
claiming the office of his father Osiris, he of
beautiful appearances, [the son of] Ptah,
who brightens [the netherworld] with his
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lustre, while Thoth presented the Eye to
the great prince of On.1
presence of the Lord-to-the-Limit: "Write a
letter to Neith the Great, the divine mother,
in the name of the Lord-to-the-Limit, the
Bull of On." And Thoth said: "I will, I will."
He sat down to write the letter, which said:
"The King of Upper and Lower Egypt:
Re-Atum, beloved of Thoth; The Lord of
the Two Lands, the Heliopolitan; the Aten
who illumines the Two Lands with his
lustre; the Hapy mighty in his rising:
Re-Harakhti; to Neith the Great4, the divine
mother, who shone on the first face, who is
alive, hale, and young. The living Ba of the
Lord-to-the-Limit, the Bull of On who is the
good King of Egypt, (says) as follows: I
your servant spend the night on behalf of
Osiris taking counsel for the Two Lands
every day, while Sobek endures forever.
What shall we do about these two people,
who for eighty years now have been before
the tribunal, and (3,1) no one knows how to
judge between the two? Write us what we
should do!"
Then spoke Shu, the son of Re, before
[Atum], the great prince of On: "Right rules
might. Do it by saying: 'Give the office to
Horus."' Then Thoth said to the Ennead:
"That is right a million times!" Then Isis
uttered a loud shout and was overjoyed.
She [stood] before the Lord-to-the-Limit
and said: "Northwind, go west, give the
news to Wennofer!"2 Then said Shu, the
son of Re: "Presenting the Eye (to Horus)
seems right to the Ennead." Said the Lordto-the-Limit: "What is this, your making
decisions on your own?" Then [Onuris']
said: "He (Thoth) shall take the royal
name-ring to Horus, and the White Crown
shall be placed on his head!" Then the
Lord-to-the-Limit was silent for a long
moment, for he was angry with the
Ennead.
Then Seth, the son of Nut, spoke: "Let him
be sent outside with me, and I shall let you
see my hand prevailing over his hand in
the presence of the Ennead, since one
knows no other means [of] dispossessing
him." Then Thoth said to him: "Do we not
know what is wrong? Shall one give the
office of Osiris to Seth while his son Horus
is there?" Then Pre-Harakhti became
exceedingly angry, for it was Pre's wish
(2,1) to give the office to Seth, great of
strength, the son of Nut. And Onuris
uttered a loud cry before the Ennead,
saying: "What shall we do?" Then said
Atum, the great prince of On: "Summon
Ba-neb-djed,3 the great living god, that he
may judge between the two youths."
Then Neith the Great, the divine mother,
sent a letter to the Ennead, saying: "Give
the office of Osiris to his son Horus, and
don't do those big misdeeds that are out of
place. Or I shall get angry and the sky will
crash to the ground! And let it be said to
the Lord-to-the-Limit, the Bull of On:
Double Seth's possessions. Give him Anat
and Astarte, your two daughters. And place
Horus on the seat of his father!"
The letter of Neith the Great, the divine
mother, reached the Ennead as they sat in
the hall "Horned-Horus," and the letter was
placed in the hand of Thoth. Then Thoth
read it aloud before the Lord-to-the-Limit
and the whole Ennead. And they said with
one voice: "This goddess is right!"
Thereupon the Lord-to-the-Limit became
angry at Horus and said to him: "You are
feeble in body, and this office is too big for
you, you youngster whose breath smells
bad." Then Onuris became angry a million
times and so was the Ennead, the Council
of Thirty.5 The god Baba6 got up and said
to Pre-Harakhti: "Your shrine is empty!"7
Then Pre-Harakhti felt offended by the
answer given him, and he lay down on his
back, his heart very sore. Then the Ennead
came out, shouting loudly at Baba and
saying to him: "Go away; you have
They brought Ba-neb-djed, the great god
who dwells in Setit, before Atum, along
with Ptah-Tatenen. He said to them:
"Judge between the two youths, so that
they will stop wrangling here every day!"
Then Ba-neb-djed, the great living god,
replied to what he had said: "Let us not
decide in ignorance. Have a letter sent to
Neith the Great, the divine mother. What
she will say, we will do."
Then the Ennead said to Ba-neb-djed, the
great living god: "They have been judged
once already in the hall "Way-of-Truth."
And the Ennead said to Thoth in the
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committed a very great crime!" And they
went to their tents.
The great god spent a day (4,1) lying on
his back in his pavilion, his heart very sore
and he was alone. After a long while,
Hathor, Lady of the southern sycamore,
came and stood before her father, the
Lord-to-the-Limit. She uncovered her
nakedness before him; thereupon the great
god laughed at her. He got up and sat with
the great Ennead; and he said to Horus
and Seth: "Speak for yourselves!"
'Do not ferry across any woman who looks
like Isis."' So the Ennead crossed over to
the Island-in-the-Midst, and they sat down
to eat bread.
Isis came and approached Nemty, the
ferryman, as he was sitting near his boat.
She had changed herself into an old
woman who walked with a stoop, and a
small signet ring of gold was on her hand.
She said to him: "I have come to you in
order that you ferry me across to the
Island-in-the-Midst. For I have come with
this bowl of flour for the young boy who is
tending some cattle on the
Island-in-the-Midst these five days, and he
is hungry." He said to her: "I have been
told: 'Don't ferry any woman across."' She
said to him: "It was on account of Isis that
this was said to you." He said to her: "What
will you give me for ferrying you across to
the Island-in-the-Midst?" Isis said to him: "I
will give you this cake." He said to her:
"What is it to me, your cake? Shall I ferry
you across to the Island-in-the-Midst when
I was told, 'Ferry no woman across,' in
exchange for your cake?" (6,1) Then she
said to him: "I will give you the signet ring
of gold that is on (my hand." He said to her:
"Give me the signet ring of gold." She gave
it to him, and he ferried her across to the
Island-in-the Midst.
Then Seth, great of strength, the son of
Nut, said: "I, I am Seth, greatest of strength
among the Ennead. For I slay the enemy of
Pre every day, standing in the prow of the
Bark-of-Millions, and no other god can do
it. I should receive the office of Osiris!"
Then they said: "Seth, the son of Nut, is
right." Then Onuris and Thoth cried aloud,
saying: "Shall one give the office to the
uncle while the bodily son is there?" Then
Ba-neb-djed, the great living god, said:
"Shall one give the office to the youngster
while Seth, his elder brother, is there?"8
Then the Ennead cried out aloud to the
Lord-to-the-Limit and said to him: "What
are these words you spoke which are not
worthy of being heard?"9 Then said Horus,
the son of Isis: "It is not good to defraud
me before the Ennead and to take the
office of my father Osiris away from me!"
And Isis was angry with the Ennead, and
she took an oath by the god before the
Ennead, saying: "As my mother lives, the
goddess Neith, and as Ptah-Tatenen lives,
the tall-plumed horn-curber of gods, these
matters shall be laid before Atum, the great
prince of On, and also Khepri in his bark!"
Then the Ennead said to her: "Don't be
angry. Right will be given to him who is
right. All that you said shall be done."
Now as she walked under the trees, she
looked and saw the Ennead as they sat
eating bread before the Lord-to-the-Limit in
his pavilion. And Seth looked and saw her
coming from afar. Thereupon she
pronounced a spell of hers and changed
herself into a young girl of beautiful body,
the like of which did not exist in the whole
land. Then he desired her very much.
Seth got up from sitting and eating bread
with the great Ennead and went to meet
her, while no one but himself had seen her.
He stood behind a sycamore, called to her,
and said to her: "I am here with you,
handsome girl!" She said to him: "Let me
tell, my great lord: As for me, I was the wife
of a herdsman and I bore him a son. My
husband died, and the boy began to tend
the cattle10 of his father. But then a
stranger came. He sat down in my stable
and spoke thus to my child: 'I shall beat
you, I shall take your father's cattle, and I
Then Seth, the son of (5,1 ) Nut, was angry
with the Ennead because of the words they
had said to Isis the Great, the divine
mother. And Seth said to them: "I shall take
my sceptre of 4,500 pounds and kill one of
you each day!" And Seth took an oath by
the Lord-to-the-Limit, saying: "I shall not
contend in court as long as Isis is in it!"
Then Pre-Harakhti said to them: "Cross
over to the Island-in-the-Midst and judge
them there. And tell Nemty, the ferryman:
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shall throw you out!' So he spoke to him.
Now I wish to make you his defender."
Then Seth said to her: "Shall one give the
cattle to the stranger while the man's son is
here?" Thereupon Isis changed herself into
a kite, flew up, and sat on top of an acacia.
She called to Seth and said to him: "Weep
for yourself! Your own mouth has said it.
Your own cleverness (7,1) has judged you!
What do you want?"
shall place the White Crown on the head of
Horus, son of Isis, and appoint him to the
position of his father Osiris."
Thereupon Seth became exceedingly
angry, and the Ennead said to him: "Why
are you angry? Should one not act
according to the word of Atum, Lord of the
Two Lands, the Heliopolitan, and PreHarakhti?" Then the White Crown was
placed on the head of Horus, son of Isis.
And Seth cried out aloud to the Ennead in
anger and said: "Shall the office be given
to my young brother while I, his elder
brother, am here?" And he took an oath,
saying: "The White Crown shall be
removed from the head of Horus, son of
Isis, and he shall be thrown into the water!
I shall yet contend with him for the office of
ruler!" Then Pre-Harakhti acted
accordingly.
Then he began to weep; and he want to
where Pre-Harakhti was and wept.
Pre-Harakhti said to him: "What do you
want?" Seth said to him: "That evil woman
came to me again. She has cheated me
again. She had changed herself into a
beautiful girl before me, and she said to
me: 'I was the wife of a herdsman who is
dead. I had born him a son; he tended the
cattle of his father. Then a stranger
intruded in my stable to be with my son,
and I gave him food. And many days after
this the intruder said to my son: "I shall
beat you; I shall take your father's cattle; it
shall be mine." Thus he spoke to my son.'
So she said to me." Then Pre-Harakhti said
to him: "What did you say to her?" And
Seth told him: "I said to her: 'Shall one give
the cattle to the stranger while the man's
son is there?' So I said to her. 'One must
beat the intruder with a stick, and throw
him out, and set the son in the place of his
father.' So I said to her."
Seth said to Horus: "Come, let us change
ourselves into two hippopotamuses and
plunge into the depth in the midst of the
sea. And he who emerges in the course of
three whole months, he shall not receive
the office." So they plunged together. Then
Isis sat down weeping and said: "Seth will
kill Horus, my son!" She took a quantity of
yarn and made a rope. She took a deben
of copper and cast it into a harpoon. She
tied the rope to it and threw it into the water
at the spot where Horus and Seth had
plunged. (9,1) Then the weapon bit into the
body of her son Horus. And Horus cried out
aloud, saying: "Come to me, mother Isis,
my mother! Tell your weapon to let go of
me! I am Horus, son of Isis!" Then Isis
cried out aloud and said to her weapon:
"Let go of him! He is Horus my son." And
the weapon let go of him.
Then Pre-Harakhti said to him: "Now look,
you yourself have judged yourself. What do
you want?" Seth said to him: "Let Nemty,
the ferryman, be brought, and let a great
punishment be done to him, saying: 'Why
did you ferry her across?' So one shall say
to him." Then Nemty, the ferryman, was
brought before the Ennead, and they
removed his toes. And (8,1) Nemty
forswore gold to this day before the great
Ennead, saying. "Gold shall be an
abomination to me in my town ! "
Then she threw it again into the water, and
it bit into the body of Seth. And Seth cried
out aloud, saying: "What have I done to
you, my sister Isis? Call to your weapon to
let go of me! I am your maternal brother, O
Isis!" Then she felt very sorry for him. And
Seth called to her, saying: "Do you love the
stranger more than your maternal brother
Seth?" Then Isis called to her weapon,
saying: "Let go of him! It is the maternal
brother of Isis whom you are biting." And
the weapon let go of him.
The Ennead crossed over to the western
shore and sat on the mountain. Now when
evening had come, Pre-Harakhti and Atum,
Lord of the Two Lands, the Heliopolitan,
wrote to the Ennead, saying: "Why are you
sitting here again? Are you going to make
the two youths spend their lifetime in the
court? When my letter reaches you, you
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Thereupon Horus, son of Isis, was angry
with his mother Isis. He came out, his face
fierce like that of a leopard and his knife of
16 deben in his hand. He cut off the head
of his mother Isis, took it in his arms, and
went up the mountain. Then Isis changed
herself into a statue of flint without a head.
And Pre-Harakhti said to Thoth: "Who is
she who is coming and has no head?"
Thoth said to Pre-Harakhti: "My good lord,
she is Isis the Great, the divine mother. Her
son Horus has cut off her head." Then
(10,1) Pre-Harakhti cried out aloud and
said to the Ennead: "Let us go and punish
him severely!" So the Ennead went up into
the mountains to search for Horus, son of
Isis.
inserted it between the thighs of Horus.
And Horus placed his hands between his
thighs and caught the semen of Seth. Then
Horus went to tell his mother Isis: "Come,
Isis my mother, come and see what Seth
did to me." He opened his hand and let her
see the semen of Seth. She cried out
aloud, took her knife, cut off his hand and
threw it in the water. Then she made a new
hand for him. And she took a dab of sweet
ointment and put it on the member of
Horus. She made it become stiff, placed it
over a pot, and he let his semen drop into
it.
In the morning Isis went with the semen of
Horus to the garden of Seth and said to the
gardener of Seth: "What plants does Seth
eat here with you?" The gardener said to
her: "The only plant Seth eats here with me
is lettuce." Then Isis placed the semen of
Horus on them. Seth came according to his
daily custom and ate the lettuces which he
usually ate. Thereupon he became
pregnant with the semen of Horus.
As for Horus, he was lying under a
shenusha-tree in the oasis country. Then
Seth found him, seized him, and threw him
on his back on the mountain. He removed
his two eyes from their places and buried
them on the mountain. Toward morning his
two eyeballs became two bulbs, and they
grew into lotuses. And Seth came and told
Pre-Harakhti falsely: "I did not find Horus,"
although he had found him. Then Hathor,
Mistress of the southern sycamore, went
and found Horus as he lay weeping on the
desert. Thereupon she caught a gazelle,
milked it, and said to Horus: "Open your
eyes, that I may put this milk in." He
opened his eyes and she put the milk in.
She put it in the right eye; she put it in the
left eye; she said to him: "Open your eyes!"
He opened his eyes. She looked at them;
she found them healed. Then she went to
tell Pre-Harakhti: "I found Horus deprived
of his eyes by Seth, but I restored him.
Now here he comes."
Then Seth went and said to (12,1) Horus:
"Come, let us go, that I may contend with
you in the court." And Horus said to him: "I
will, I will." So they went to the court
together. They stood before the great
Ennead, and they were told: "Speak!" Then
Seth said: "Let the office of ruler be given
to me, for as regards Horus who stands
here, I have done a man's deed to him."
Then the Ennead cried out aloud, and they
spat out before Horus. And Horus laughed
at them; and Horus took an oath by the
god, saying: "What Seth has said is false.
Let the semen of Seth be called, and let us
see from where it will answer. Then let
mine be called, and let us see from where
it will answer."
Then the Ennead said: "Horus and Seth
shall be summoned and judged!" So they
were brought before the Ennead. The Lordto-the-Limit spoke before the great Ennead
to Horus and Seth: "Go and heed what I
tell you: Eat, (11,1) drink, and leave us in
peace! Stop quarrelling here every day!"
Thoth, lord of writing, true scribe of the
Ennead, laid his hand on the arm of Horus
and said: "Come out, semen of Seth!" And
it answered him from the water in the midst
of the marsh. Then Thoth laid his hand on
the arm of Seth and said: "Come out,
semen of Horus!" And it said to him:
"Where shall I come out?" Thoth said to it:
"Come out of his ear." It said to him:
"Should I come out of his ear, I who am a
divine seed?" Then Thoth said to it: "Come
out from the top of his head." Then it came
Then Seth said to Horus: "Come, let us
have a feast day at my house." And Horus
said to him: "I will, I will." Now when
evening had come, a bed was prepared for
them, and they lay down together. At night,
Seth let his member become stiff and he
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out as a golden sun-disk on the head of
Seth. Seth became very angry, and he
stretched out his hand to seize the golden
sun-disk. Thereupon Thoth took it away
(13,1) from him and placed it as a crown
upon his (own) head. And the Ennead said:
"Horus is right, Seth is wrong." Then Seth
became very angry and cried out aloud
because they had said: "Horus is right,
Seth is wrong."
Seth took a great oath by the god, saying:
"He shall not be given the office until he
has been dismissed with me, and we shall
build ships of stone and race each other.
He who wins over his rival, he shall be
given the office of ruler." Then Horus built
himself a ship of pine, plastered it over with
gypsum, and launched it on the water in
the evening, while no one in the whole land
saw it. And Seth looked at the ship of
Horus and thought it was of stone. He went
to the mountain, cut off a mountain peak,
and built himself a ship of stone of 138
cubits. Then they went into their ships in
the presence of the Ennead. Thereupon
the ship of Seth sank in the water. Seth
changed himself into a hippopotamus and
wrecked the ship of Horus. Then Horus
seized his weapon and hit the body of
Seth. Then the Ennead said to him: "Do
not hit him."
between the two youths." And Shu, son of
Re, said: "Right a million times is what
Thoth has said to the Ennead." Then the
Lord-to-the-Limit said to Thoth: "Sit down
and write a letter to Osiris, that we may
hear what he has to say." So Thoth sat
down to compose a letter to Osiris as
follows: "The Bull: Hunting Lion; Two
Ladies: Protector of gods, Curber of the
Two Lands; Gold Horus: Inventor of
mankind in the beginning; King of Upper
and Lower Egypt: Bull who dwells in On;
Son of Ptah: Benefactor of the Two
Shores, who arose as father of his Ennead,
who lives on gold and all precious glazes:
Life, prosperity, health! Write us what we
should do about Horus and Seth, so that
we do not take action in ignorance!"
Many days after this, the letter reached the
King, the son of Re, Great in Bounty, Lord
of Sustenance. He cried out aloud when
the letter was read before him. He replied
in great haste to where the Lord-to-theLimit was with the Ennead, saying: "Why is
my son Horus being defrauded when it was
I who made you strong? It was I who made
barley and emmer to nourish the gods, and
the cattle after the gods, while no god or
goddess was able to do it!"
The (15,1) letter of Osiris arrived at the
place where Pre-Harakhte was, as he sat
with the Ennead in the White Field at Xois.
It was read to him and the Ennead, and
Pre-Harakhte said: "Answer this letter of
Osiris for me quickly, and tell him
concerning his letter: 'If you had not
existed, if you had not been born, barley
and emmer would yet exist!" '
So he took his sailing gear, placed it in his
boat, and journeyed downstream to Sais to
tell Neith the Great, the divine mother: "Let
me be judged with Seth! For it is now
eighty years that we are in the court, (14,1)
but they don't know how to judge between
us. He has not been vindicated against me;
and a thousand times now I have been in
the right against him day after day. But he
pays no attention to what the Ennead says.
I have contended with him in the hall
"Way-of-Truth." I was found right against
him. I have contended with him in the hall
"Horned-Horus." I was found right against
him. I have contended with him in the hall
"Field-of-Rushes." I was found right against
him. I have contended with him in the hall
"Field-Pool." I was found right against him.
The Ennead has said to Shu, son of Re:
'Horus, son of Isis, is right in all that he has
said."'
Thoth spoke to the Lord-to-the-Limit: "Have
a letter sent to Osiris, that he may judge
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The letter of the Lord-to-the-Limit reached
Osiris and was read before him. Then he
wrote to Pre-Harakhti again, saying: "Very
good is all you have done and what the
Ennead has found to do! Maat has been
made to sink into the netherworld! Now you
pay attention to this matter! The land in
which I am is full of savage-looking
messengers who fear no god or goddess. If
I send them out, they will bring me the
heart of every evildoer, and they will be
here with me!12 What good is my being
here, resting in the west, while all of you
are outside? Who among you is mightier
than I? But they have invented wrongdoing!
When Ptah the Great, South-of-his-Wall,
Lord of Memphis, created the sky, did he
not say to the stars in it: 'You shall go to
rest in the west every night, in the place
where King Osiris is? And after the gods all
mankind shall also go to rest where you
are!' So he said to me."
South-of-his-Wall, Lord of Memphis: "What
shall we do for Seth, now that Horus has
been placed on the seat of his father?"
Then PreHarakhte said: "Let Seth, son of
Nut, be given to me to dwell with me and
be my son. And he shall thunder in the sky
and be feared."
They came to say to Pre-Harakhte: "Horus,
son of Isis, has risen as Ruler." Then Pre
rejoiced greatly and said to the Ennead:
"Jubilate throughout the land, jubilate
throughout the land for Horus, son of Isis!"
And Isis said:
"Horus has risen as Ruler, life, prosperity,
health! The Ennead is in feast, heaven in
joy! They take garlands seeing Horus, son
of Isis Risen as great Ruler of Egypt. The
hearts of the Ennead exult, the entire land
rejoices As they see Horus, son of Isis
Given the office of his father, Osiris, lord of
Busiris."
Colophon: It has come to a good ending in
Thebes, the place of truth.
(Many days) after this, the letter of Osiris
arrived at the place where the Lord-to-theLimit was with the Ennead. Thoth received
the letter and read it to Pre-Harakhte and
the Ennead. Then they said: "He is right,
he is right in all he says, the Great in
Bounty, the Lord of Sustenance!" Then
Seth said: "Let us be taken to the
Island-in-the-Midst that I may contend with
him!" And he went to the Island-in-theMidst. But Horus was declared in the right
against him.
Notes
1
The Lord-to-the-Limit is the sun-god Re (or
Pre) in all his manifestations which include
Re-Harakhte, Atum, and Khepri. In this tale,
however, Pre-Harakhte and Atum are in
some instances viewed as one person and
in some others as two distinct personalities.
The Sacred Eye that Thoth presents to the
sun-god is a complex symbol which here
signifies the kingship of Egypt.
2
Name of Osiris.
3
Or, "Ba, lord of Mendes"; he is the ram-god
of the Delta town of Mendes, the metropolis
of the Sixteenth Nome of Lower Egypt. By
calling him a dweller in Setit (the island
Sehel in the first cataract) he is associated
with the southern ram-god Khnum.
4
Emending iw to n.
5
The Ennead is sitting as the supreme
tribunal of Egypt, called the Council of
Thirty.
6
Or, Bebon; a deity associated with Seth; see
P. Derchain, RdE, 9 (1952), 23–47.
7
This apparently means: "Go home."
8
In the dominant form of the myth, Osiris and
Seth were brothers. But in an even older
tradition, Horus and Seth were brothers.
The two traditions are intermingled here.
9
The passage appears to be garbled, for the
sun-god has not spoken.
10
The tale that Isis tells Seth plays on the
words for "cattle" and "office" which sound
alike.
Then Atum, Lord of the Two Lands, the
Heliopolitan, sent to Isis, saying: "Bring
Seth bound in fetters." So Isis brought Seth
bound in fetters as a prisoner. Atum said to
him: "Why have you resisted being judged
and have taken for yourself the office of
Horus?" Seth said to him: "Not so, my good
lord. Let Horus, son of Isis, be summoned,
and let him be given the office of (16,1) his
father Osiris!"
They brought Horus, son of Isis. They
placed the White Crown on his head. They
placed him on the seat of his father Osiris
and said to him: "You are the good King of
Egypt! You are the good lord of all lands for
ever and ever!" Then Isis uttered a loud
shout to her son Horus, saying: "You are
the good King! My heart rejoices that you
will brighten the earth with your lustre!"
Then said Ptah the Great,
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AHPG 861 / AHIS 380 Ancient Egyptian Religion – Selection of Primary Sources
11
12
Osiris is addressed as king of Egypt with a
royal titulary of five names .
The netherworld over which Osiris rules
includes a place of punishment.
Atum speaks:
Your place is for your son Horus. Thus said
Atum.
Translation: Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature,
II, 214–223.
NN speaks:
But will he send out the great ones?
TEXT 44
Book of the Dead Chapter 175
Spell for not dying again
Atum speaks:
He rules (on) your throne and will inherit
the throne in the island of flames.
O Thoth, what is this that has happened
through the children of Nut? That have
done violence, they have created an
uproar, they have done wrong, they have
created rebellion, they have made
slaughter, they have created imprisonment!
They have made that which is great small
in all that I have done. Show greatness,
Thoth! So said Atum.
NN speaks:
Decree that I may see his equal; my face
will see the face of the Lord of All. What is
the period of (my) life, so he (NN ) said.
Atum speaks:
You will be for millions of millions (of
years), a lifetime of millions (of years). I will
cause him to send out the elders and I will
destroy all that I have made. This land will
go into the primeval waters, into the flood
as its original state. I will remain, together
with Osiris, having made my transformation
into other snakes which people do not
know and gods have not seen. How good
is that which I have done for Osiris, more
than for all (other) gods! I have given him
the desert (necropolis) while his son Horus
is the heir upon his throne in the island of
flames. I have made his (Osiris) place in
the bark of millions of years while Horus
remains upon his serekh (throne) so as to
found his monuments.
Thoth replies:
You will not see wrong nor will you suffer it.
Reduce their years, cut short their months
because they have done secret damage to
all that you have done.
The deceased (NN) speaks:
I am your palette, Thoth, I have brought
you up your water pot, I do not belong to
those who have done secret wrong, wrong
will not be done to me.
Speech of NN:
O Atum, why do I go to the desert? It has
no water, it has no air, it being very deep
and limitless?
Atum speaks:
Live in it in peace of mind.
NN speaks:
But the ba (soul) of Seth is sent out more
than all the gods.
NN speaks:
But there is no (sexual) passion there!
Atum speaks:
I have caused his ba which is in the bark to
be restrained so that the body of the god
(the sun god in the bark) may be feared.
Atum speaks:
I have given spirit-being in place of water,
air and (sexual) passion; peace of mind in
place of bread and beer - so says Atum.
Translation: R.O. Faulkner, The Ancient Egyptian
Book of the Dead, (London, 1985), 175.
Amendments: B.G. Ockinga.
NN speaks:
And seeing your face?
Atum speaks:
I will not allow that you suffer lack
NN speaks:
But every god has gone to his place in the
bark of millions (of years)!
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AHPG 861 / AHIS 380 Ancient Egyptian Religion – Selection of Primary Sources
opponent, a female opponent who might
oppose themselves against me—just as
you were released and were delivered from
your son Horus. For it is the fire I have
entered and it is the water I have come
forth from. I will not land into the trap of this
day! It is as somebody who has become
young and innocent that I have spoken.
O Re, speak on behalf of your own self!
Osiris, cry out on behalf of what has come
forth from you! He has spoken on behalf of
his own self, Osiris has cried out on behalf
of what went forth from him. You have
indeed saved me from anything evil, bad or
ominous, from the influence of a god, the
influence of a goddess, from a male dead,
from a female dead and so on.
A true means, (proven) an infinite number
of times.
E) MAGICAL TEXTS
TEXT 45
a. Another Spell, for speeding up the
childbirth of Isis
from Papyrus Leiden I, 348, vs. 11.2–8
O Re and Aton! Gods who are in heaven,
gods who are in the land of the west and
council of the gods who judge this entire
land, council of the gods who are in the
palace of Heliopolis, and those who are in
Letopolis - see! Now Isis is suffering from
her behind as a pregnant woman - her
months have already been completed
according to the (right) number - in
pregnancy with her son Horus, the avenger
of his father! If she spends her time without
giving birth, you will be dumbfounded, oh
Ennead. For then there will be no heaven,
for then there will be no earth, for then
there will be no five additional days to the
year, for then there will be no offerings for
any of the gods in Heliopolis. Then
weariness will occur in the southern sky,
and a disturbance will break out in the
northern sky, a lamenting in the shrine. The
sunlight will not appear, the inundation will
not flow when he should flow forth at his
time!
It is not I who have said it, it is not I who
have repeated it—it is Isis that has said it,
it is she that has repeated it to you. For she
has already spent a time without her son
Horus being born, the avenger of his
father. Take care of the child-bearing of NN
born of NN in the same manner!
J.F. Borghouts, Ancient Egyptian Magical Texts
(Leiden, 1978) 49.
c. Isis invokes heaven to succour her
son Horus
from the Metternich Stela (Metropolitan
Museum of Art, New York)
Horus has been bitten in the field of
Heliopolis, to the north of Hetepet, while
his mother Isis was in the upper rooms,
making libations to her brother Osiris.
Horus sent out his cry to the horizon.
Listen to me, you who belong to the heron!
Jump up then, doorkeepers who belong to
the holy ished-tree, at the voice of Horus!
Send out a cry of lament for him, give an
order to heaven to heal Horus, so serve his
interest for life. Let there be spoken to my
lord Thoth, who is in Iat-khusi: ‘Will you lie
down? Go in to the lord of sleep (Osiris),
for my son Horus is being oppressed! Take
all things with you from there to combat the
poison that is in all the limbs of Horus, the
son of Isis - and all that is in all the limbs of
the sufferer likewise!’
J.F. Borghouts, Ancient Egyptian Magical Texts
(Leiden, 1978) 40.
b. Another Spell for releasing any
bandage
Papyrus Ebers, 1, 12-2.1
Released is someone released by Isis Horus was released by Isis from the evil
done to him by his brother Seth when the
latter killed his father Osiris.
O Isis, great of magic, may you release
me, may you deliver me from anything evil,
bad or ominous, from the influence of a
god, the influence of a goddess, from a
male dead, a female dead, from a male
J.F. Borghouts, Ancient Egyptian Magical Texts
(Leiden, 1978) 70–71.
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F) TEMPLE TEXTS
ON THE TEMPLE RITUAL
TEXT 47
The Daily Temple Ritual
from Papyrus Berlin 3055
ON THE THEOLOGY OF THE CULT
IMAGE
TEXT 46 A–C
Various Temple Texts
(I,1) The beginning of the utterances of the
sacred rituals, which are performed for the
temple of Amun-Re, king of the gods, every
day by the chief wab-priest on duty.
from
a. The Temple of Horus at Edfu
He comes down from heaven day by day
in order to see his image upon his great
throne.
He descends upon his image
and units himself with his cult image.
(I,2) Utterance for striking the fire:
Words to be spoken: “Welcome, welcome
in peace, eye of Horus, glorious, hale and
youthful in peace. It shines like Re in the
horizon, having previously hidden the
power of Seth. It is the Eye of (4) Horus
who takes him and fetches him, being put
in its place for Horus. Horus is triumphant
because of his eye; the Eye of Horus
drives off the enemies (5) of Amun-Re, lord
of the thrones of the two lands, from all
their places. A royal offering: I am pure.”
from
b. The Temple of Hathor at Dendera
She flies down from heaven (…)
in order to enter into the horizon (akhet) of
her Ka on earth,
she alights upon her body, she unites
herself with her form.
(III,5) Utterance for breaking the clay:
Words spoken: “The clay is broken,
opened are the cool waters, drawn are the
(bodily) conduits of Osiris. I have not come
to drive off the god from his throne, I have
come to place the god upon his throne. Be
established upon your great throne, AmunRe lord of the thrones of the two lands. I
am one whom the gods inducted. A royal
offering: I am pure.”
She unites herself with her figures
which are carved in her sanctuary.
She alights upon her form, which is carved
onto the wall.
from
c. The Osiris chambers in Dendera
Osiris (…) comes as a spirit (akh)
in order to unite himself with his figure in
his sanctuary.
He flies down from heaven as a sparrowhawk
with brilliant feathers, the Bas of the gods
accompanying him.
He descends like a falcon to his chamber
in Dendera (...)
He enters his splendid chamber in peace,
together with the Bas of the gods who are
with him.
He sees his secret image, drawn in its
place,
his figure carved on the wall;
then he enters into his secret figure,
alights on his image (…),
and the Bas of the gods take up position
beside him.
(III,8) Utterance for loosening the seal.
Words spoken: “The finger of Seth is drawn
out of the eye of Horus; it is well. The finger
of Seth is loosed from the Eye of Horus; it
is well. The leather (strings) are loosed
behind the god. Amun-Re lord of the
thrones of the two lands, receive your two
feathers and your white crown as the Eye
of Horus, the right as the right, the left as
the left. Your beauty is yours, Amun-Re
lord of the thrones of the two lands. Naked
one, you are clothed; clothed, you are
clothed. I am truly a priest. It is the king
who sent me to see the god.”
Text: A. Moret, Le rituel du culte divin journalier en
Egypte (Paris, 1902) 7, 9, 37, 42.
Translation: B.G. Ockinga .
Texts: S. Morenz Egyptian Religion (London, 1960)
Ch. VII: 137–182.
English translation: B.G. Ockinga.
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AHPG 861 / AHIS 380 Ancient Egyptian Religion – Selection of Primary Sources
father of the Two Lands, who created the
one who created him and fashioned the
one who fashioned him. The souls of
Heliopolis were gathered to form him, to
make a king for eternity, a Horus who
remains forever. A good ruler who
performed benefactions for his father
(Amun) and all the gods, he making what
was ruined to endure as a monument for
the ages (5) of eternity, expelling deceit
throughout the Two Lands, justice being
set up [so that] it might make lying to be an
abomination of the land, as (in) its first
time.1
TEXT 48
from
The Ritual for Amenophis I
Spell for meat upon the fire
The breast is the eye of Horus, the thigh is
the testicles of Seth. (As) <Horus> is
content with his eyes, (as) Seth is content
with his testicles, (so) king Djeser-ka-re,
son of Re, Amenophis, is content with
these choice meats.
H.H. Nelson "Certain Reliefs at Karnak and Medinet
Habu and the Ritual of Amenophis I" in: JNES 8
(1949) 209.
Now when his majesty appeared as king,
the temples of the gods and goddesses
from Elephantine [down] to the marshes of
the Delta [had...and] gone to pieces. Their
shrines had become desolate, had become
mounds overgrown with [weeds]. Their
sanctuaries were as if they had never
been. Their halls were a footpath. The
land was topsy-turvey,2 and the gods
turned their backs upon this land. If [the
army was] sent to Djahi to extend the
frontiers of Egypt, no success of theirs
came at all. If one prayed to a god to seek
counsel from him, he would never come [at
all]. If one made supplication to a goddess
similarly, she would never come at all.
Their hearts were hurt in their bodies, (10)
(so that) they did damage to that which had
been made.
Spell for (…) with beer
[The ey]e of Horus is refreshed [for him],
the testicles [of Seth are refreshed for him].
(As) Horus is content [with his two eyes],
(as) Seth is content [with his two testicles]
(so) Amun-Re, [foremost of Ipet-]sut, is
content [with these choice meats, as] a gift
[to you from the king], lord of the two lands,
[Men]mare, [son of Re], Lord of
Appearances, Seti-mer-en-amun, [given
life], stability, good fortune, like Re
[forever].
Nelson, in: JNES 8 (1949) 211.
POST-AMARNA RESTORATION
TEXT 49
Tutankhamun's Restoration Stela
Cairo Museum CG 34183
Now after days had passed by this,3 [his
majesty] appeared [upon] the throne of his
father. He ruled the regions of Horus; the
Black Land and the Red Land4 were under
his authority, and every land was bowing
down to the glory of him.
[Year 1] 4th month of Akhet (inundation)
day 19 under the majesty of the Horus
Strong Bull, perfect of births, the Two
Ladies Perfect of laws, who pacifies the
Two Lands, Horus of Gold Who lifts up
(wears) the crowns and satisfies the gods,
The King of Upper and Lower Egypt […]
Son of Re […] to whom life is given like Re
eternally, beloved of [Amun-Re], lord of the
thrones of the Two Lands, at the head of
Karnak; Atum, the lord of the Two Lands,
the Heliopolitan; Re-Harakhte; Ptah, South
of his Wall, the Lord of Ankh-tawy
(Memphis); and Thoth, lord of divine words;
arisen [on the] Horus [throne of the living]
like his father Re, daily. The Perfect [God],
Son of Amun, Child of the Bull of his
Mother (Amun-Kamutef); useful seed;
glorious egg that Amun himself fashioned;
Now when his majesty was in his palace
which is in the House of Aa-kheper-ka-Re,5
like Re in the heavens, then his majesty
was conducting the affairs of this land and
the daily needs of the Two Banks. So his
majesty deliberated plans with his heart,
searching for any beneficial deed, seeking
out acts of service for his father Amun, and
fashioning his august image of genuine
fine gold. He surpassed what had been
done previously. He fashioned his father
Amun upon thirteen carrying-poles, his holy
image being of fine gold, lapis lazuli,
[turquoise], and every august costly stone,
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AHPG 861 / AHIS 380 Ancient Egyptian Religion – Selection of Primary Sources
whereas the majesty of this august god
had formerly been upon eleven carryingpoles. He fashioned Ptah, South-of-HisWall, Lord of Life of the Two Lands, his
august image being of fine gold, [upon]
eleven [carrying-poles], his holy image
being of fine gold, lapis lazuli, turquoise,
and every august costly stone, whereas the
majesty of (15) this august god had
formerly been on [x+]3 carrying-poles.6
The hearts of the gods and goddesses who
are in this land are in joy; the possessors
of shrines are rejoicing; the regions are in
jubilee and exultation throughout the
[entire] land: - the good [times] have come!
The Ennead of gods who are in the Great
House,10 (raise) their arms in praise; their
hands are filled with jubilees [for] (25) ever
and ever; all life and satisfaction are with
them for the nose of the Horus who repeats
births,11 the beloved son [of Amun], ..., for
He fashioned him in order that He (Himself)
might be fashioned.12 ...
Then his majesty made monuments for the
gods, [fashioning] their cult-statues of
genuine fine gold from the highlands,
building their sanctuaries anew as
monuments for the ages of eternity,
established with possessions forever,
setting for them divine offerings as a
regular daily observance, and provisioning
their food-offerings upon earth. He
surpassed what had been previously, [he]
went beyond what had [been done] since
the time of the ancestors. He has inducted
priests and wab-priests from the children of
the nobles of their towns, (each) the son of
a known man, whose (own) name is
known. He has increased their [property]
in gold, silver, bronze, and copper, without
limit in [any respect].7 He has filled their
workhouses with male and female slaves,
the product of his majesty's capturing [in
every foreign country]. All the [property] of
the temples has been doubled, tripled, and
quadrupled in silver, [gold], lapis lazuli,
turquoise, every (kind of) august costly
stone, royal linen, white linen, fine linen,
olive oil, gum, fat, (20) ... incense, benzoin,
and myrrh, without limit to any good thing.
His majesty—life, prosperity, health—has
built their barques upon the river of new
cedar from the terraces, of the choicest
(wood) of Negau,8 worked with gold from
the highlands. They make the river shine.
Notes
1
Although the entire context was inevitably
framed with reference to the restoration
after the Amarna heresy, these same
expressions were used about the accession
of any pharaoh, who had a responsibility to
restore order (ma'at "truth, justice") as order
had been given by the gods.
2
A compound expression, seni-meni "was
passed-by-and-sick".
3
This was phrase from story telling, and is
not to be taken literally. It is an example of
the vulgarisation of the formal language
under the influence of the Amarna
movement and of empire.
4
Egypt itself was the land of the fertile black
soil; the desert was the Red Land.
5
Thutmose I (about 1525–1495 BC). From
another inscription, this estate seems to
have been at Memphis, a religious centre
which has unusual prominence in a text
located at Karnak.
6
What is referred to here is the portable
barque of the god, in which the deity's
image was carried in procession. The larger
the barque, the more carrying poles were
needed. On the distinction between the
"august image" (tit shepset) and the "holy
image" (tit djesret), see B. Ockinga,
Göttinger Miszellen 137 (1993), 77.
7
In this sentence and the following, "their"
refers to the gods.
8
Negau lay in or near Lebanon, a region of
coniferous woods.
9
The use of the first person singular in this
sentence suggests that it was a quotation
from a royal decree for the immunity of
temples from taxes. The expenses of the
slaves and musicians whom the pharaoh
gave to the temples were charged against
the royal estate and not against the temples.
10
Since this is the home of the Ennead, it is
probably the Temple of Heliopolis.
11
Pictorially a god held the hieroglyph of life to
the nose of the king; or he might hold strings
of "year" or "jubilee" hieroglyphs for the
king's long life.
His majesty—life, prosperity, health— has
consecrated male and female slaves,
women singers and dancers, who had
been maidservants in the palace. Their
work is charged against the palace and
against the ... of the Lord of the Two
Lands. I cause that they be privileged and
protected to (the benefit of) my fathers, all
the gods, through a desire to satisfy them
by doing what their ka wishes, so that they
may protect Egypt.9
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AHPG 861 / AHIS 380 Ancient Egyptian Religion – Selection of Primary Sources
12
Amun made Tut-ankh-Amun the divine king
in order that Amun might be advanced.
TEXT 52
from Coffin Texts – Chapter 1130
Translation: J.A. Wilson, in: ANET, 251–252.
Words spoken by him whose names are
secret, the Lord of All, who said to those
who stilled the storm when the entourage
sailed:
SOLAR CULT
TEXT 50
from the Chapel to Re in Medinet Habu
Go in peace! I will relate to you the four
good deeds which my own heart did for me
within the coiled one (Ouroboros) in order
that falsehood might be silenced. I have
done four good deeds within the portal of
Lightland, I made the four winds that
everyone might breathe in his time; That is
one of the deeds. I made the great flood,
so that the poor as well as the great might
be strong; That is one of the deeds. I made
everyone equal to his fellow and forbade
them to do wrong, But their hearts
disobeyed what I had said; That is one of
the deeds. I have made their hearts not
forget the west, so that offerings are
brought to the gods of the nomes; That is
one of the deeds. I have created the gods
from my sweat, and mankind from my
tears.
The baboons who proclaim Re when this
god is born at the third hour of the morning,
they rise up for him after he has come into
being. When they are in the two shrines of
this god at his rising in the eastern horizon
of heaven, they dance for him, they clap for
him, they sing for him, they shriek for him.
When this great god arises in the eyes of
the people, the sun-folk hear words of
jubilation. The dwellers of the desert
(baboons?) proclaim Re in triumph, that he
may give life, prosperity and health to the
King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Ramesses
(III).
Translation: W. Murnane, United with Eternity. A
Concise Guide to the Monuments of Medinet Habu
(Chicago, 1980) 50.
Translation: B.G. Ockinga.
G) MONOTHEISM /
POLYTHEISM
TEXT 53
from
Coffin Texts – Chapter 80
TEXT 51
from
The Admonitions of an Egyptian Sage
Why does he seek to fashion <men> when
the timid is not distinguished from the
violent? If he would bring coolness upon
the heat, one would say: "He is the
herdsman of all; there is no evil in his
heart. His herds are few but he spends the
day herding them." There is fire in their
hearts! If only he had perceived their
nature in the first generation! Then he
would have smitten the evil, stretched out
his arm against it, would have destroyed
their seed and their heirs! But since giving
birth is desired, grief has come and misery
is everywhere. (...) Where is he today?
Is he asleep? Lo, his power is not seen!
a. Thus said Atum: Tefnut is my living
daughter, she is together with her brother
Shu. "Life" is his name, "Maat" is her
name. I will live together with my two
children, I will live together with my twins, I
being in their midst, the one behind me the
other below me. As life slept with my
daughter "Maat", I raised myself upon
them, their arms being about me.
b. Thus said Atum to Nun: I am on the
flood-waters, being very weary. It is my son
who lives and lifts up my heart, he
nourishes my heart, he has gathered
together these very weary members of
mine.
Nun said to Atum: Kiss your daughter
Maat, put her at your nose, that your heart
may live, for she will not be far away from
you. Maat is your daughter and your son is
Shu whose name lives. Eat of your
Text: Papyrus Leiden 344, rto. Translation:
Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature, I, 159–60.
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AHPG 861 / AHIS 380 Ancient Egyptian Religion – Selection of Primary Sources
daughter Maat; it is your son Shu who will
raise you up.
the solitary one, who made what exists,
from whose eyes mankind came forth,
and upon whose mouth the gods came into
being.
He who made herbage for the cattle,
and the fruit tree for mankind,
who made that on which the fish in the river
may live,
and the birds soaring in the sky.
He who gives breath to that which is in the
egg,
gives life to the son of the slug,
and makes that on which gnats may live,
and worms and flies in like manner;
who supplies the needs of the mice in their
holes,
and gives life to flying things in every tree."
c. While I was alone in Nun (the primeval
waters) in a state of inertia, when there
was no place to stand or sit, when
Heliopolis had not yet been founded that I
might dwell in it, when my throne had not
yet been put together that I might sit on it;
before I had made Nut that she might be
above me, before the first generation (of
gods) had been born, before the primaeval
Ennead had come into being, they (i.e. Shu
and Tefnut/Maat) dwelt with me.
d. The falcons live on birds,
the jackals from foraging about,
the pigs from the desert,
the hippopotami from the marshes,
the crocodiles on fish, mankind on grain,
the fish from the water of the Nile,
according to the commands of Atum.
I lead them, I give them life, through this
my mouth which is the life in their nostrils;
I guide my breath into their throats,
I knit on their heads through this
authoritative word in my mouth,
which my father Atum gave me when
coming forth from the eastern horizon.
I give life to the fish and the worms on the
back of the earth-god,
I am the life that is under the sky-goddess.
For complete Hymn see Text 4.
Text: Papyrus Boulaq 17 (Cairo CG 58038).
Translation: Wilson in ANET, 365–66 passim.
TEXT 55
from TT 65
Your two eyes are sun and moon,
your head is the heavens,
your feet are the netherworld
Assmann, "Primat und Transzendenz", 15.
(Piehl, Inscriptions.hiéroglyphiques, I, 140).
TEXT 56
from the Temple of Hibis
Translation: B.G. Ockinga.
His body is the wind,
the heavens rest on his head,
the primeval waters bear his secret.
TEXT 54
from a Hymn to Amun-Re
Amun is "Eldest of Heaven, Firstborn of
earth", "Goodly bull of the Ennead, chief of
all the gods, the lord of truth (i.e. maat) and
father of all the gods".
N. de Garis Davies, The Temple of Hibis, III, pl. 33.
(Assmann, ÄHG no. 130.26–28)
TEXT 57
from the Temple of Hibis
He is "more distinguished in nature than
any god".
He is greeted with the words:
"Jubilation to you who made the gods,
raised the heavens and laid down the
ground!"
You are the heavens, you are the earth,
you are the netherworld, you are the
waters you are the air between them.
N. de Garis Davies, The Temple of Hibis, III, 205–06.
He is the one "who gave commands, and
the gods came into being", and is "Atum,
who made the people".
He is "the sole one, who made all that is,
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AHPG 861 / AHIS 380 Ancient Egyptian Religion – Selection of Primary Sources
TEXT 58
from Egyptian magical papyri
(2nd–4th century AD)
TEXT 61
from
TT 194 (time of Ramesses II) and TT 23
(time of Merenptah)
You, whose tireless eyes are sun and
moon (...)
whose head is the heavens, whose body is
the air, whose feet is the earth; the waters
about you are the ocean: agathos daimon,
who creates, sustains and nourishes
everything, the whole of the inhabited earth
and the whole cosmos.
Greetings, Amun-Re, who hides his
character from the gods! (...)
You have transformed yourself into air, so
as to give it to the noses, so that one might
live, as you desire. (...)
The Nile surges up in its cave, ready to
flow forth from you.
The sky bears your BA and lifts up your
radiance,
the netherworld contains your corpse and
harbours your body,
this land carries your image, one praises
and glorifies your name.
Your being is neheh (unending time),
djet (eternal duration) is your image,
your KA (life force) is everything that
happens.
Assmann, "Primat und Transzendenz", 7.
TEXT 59
God fills the tri-partite world with his 3
constituents "BA", "IMAGE" and "BODY"
(Amun) the great god, Lord of heaven,
earth, netherworld, water and mountains,
who lifted up the sky and secured it on its
supports so as to make his horizon secret
for his BA;
who created this land brought forth all that
is in it for his serene IMAGE;
who made the netherworld dark and
boundless so as to hide his BODY (dt) in it.
Assmann, "Primat und Transzendenz", 13–14.
(Assmann, ÄHG no. 98).
English translation: B.G. Ockinga.
TEXT 62
from
Papyrus Leiden I, 350
Urk . VIII, 10 ( §12b).
Assmann, "Primat und Transzendenz", 12.
He is Harakhte in the sky, his right eye is
the day, his left eye the night (...) his body
is Nun (the primeval waters), that which is
in it is the Nile, which produces everything
and gives life to all that is; his breath is the
air for all noses.
TEXT 60
Bes Pantheos – from a magical papyrus
The Bes with the seven heads: he
embodies the BAs (= divine powers) of
Amun-Re (...) the Lord of heaven, earth,
netherworld, water and mountains, who
keeps his name hidden from the gods, the
mighty one of a million cubits, the strong of
arm, who secured the sky on his head, (...)
from whose nose the air issues forth so as
to vivify all noses, who rises as the sun to
illuminate the earth, from the fluids of
whose body the Nil flows so as to give life
to all mouths. (…)
Assmann, "Primat und Transzendenz", 14.
(Assmann, ÄHG no. 141).
TEXT 63
from Papyrus Leiden I, 350
His BA is in the sky,
his body is in the west (netherworld),
his image is in Thebes and carries his
crowns.
Text: Brooklyn 47.218.156.
Assmann, "Primat und Transzendenz", 12.
Assmann, "Primat und Transzendenz", 14.
(Assmann, ÄHG no. 138).
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"the one who cares for him who honours
him,
who turns about, so as to heal suffering.
For he looks upon mankind and there is
none, whom he does not know; he listens
to millions of them."
No god knows his true form.
His image is not revealed in the writings, it
is not taught.
He is too secret, that his majesty might be
revealed,
too great, that one might ask after him, too
powerful, that one might know him.
One drops dead on the spot out of terror if
one knowingly or unknowingly speaks out
his secret name; there is no god who can
call him by it.
Divinely powerful one who hides his name
like his secret.
J. v. Beckerath, RdE 20 (1968), 7–36.
English translation: B.G. Ockinga.
Assmann, ÄHG no. 138.
English translation: B.G. Ockinga.
TEXT 65
from Papyrus Leiden I, 350
TEXT 68
from Hymn of Ramesses III
The "Eight" were your first transformation,
so that you completed these, you being
alone.
Your body was secret amongst the
primaeval ones,
you hid yourself as Amun at the head (=
origin) of the gods.
You transformed yourself into Tatenen,
so as to bring forth the primaeval gods in
your primaeval time.
Your beauty raised itself as "Bull of his
mother",
you removed yourself to the sky, remaining
as the sun.
a. The god is addressed as:
"Ba (divine power) with hidden faces and
mighty majesty,
who has hidden his name and keeps his
image secret,
whose being was not known at the
beginning of time."
TEXT 64
from Stela C256 (Louvre):
Hymnus der 'Stele der Verbrannten'
The god whose eyes are sun and moon,
whose body is the wind and whose sweat
is the Nile [see Text 71] is also
b. Yet the god is visible everywhere in the
cosmos:
"Your skin is the light, your breath is the
fire of life,
all precious stones are gathered on your
body.
Your limbs are the breath of life at every
nose,
one breathes you in order to live,
one tastes you as the Nile,
one anoints oneself with the brilliance of
your eye,
one walks about upon you in your form as
Geb (the earth god)."
Assmann, "Primat und Transzendenz", 30.
(Assmann, ÄHG no. 135).
English translation: B.G. Ockinga.
TEXT 66
from Papyrus Leiden I, 350 (IV, 21–22).
All gods are three: Amun, Re and Ptah,
who have no equal.
He hides his name as Amun, he appears
as Re, his body is Ptah.
Text: extract from KRI V, 221–225.
TEXT 69 A–D
a. Every god is your image
Assmann, "Primat und Transzendenz", 31.
pLeiden I 350, IV.1.
b. No god is devoid of your image.
TEXT 67
from Papyrus Leiden I, 350 (IV, 17–19).
from TT 6
c. My transformations (kheperu) are all
gods.
Amun is one, who has hidden himself from
them, he who hides himself from the gods
so that one does not know his character.
He is more distant than the heavens,
deeper than the netherworld.
from various papyri: pTurin (Pleyte / Rossi
132,11); pChester Beatty XI rto 2,4; Černý /
Gardiner, Hieratic Ostraca I, 2 rto 8.
d. Every god is your shadow .
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pLeiden I 344 vso X, 9–10.
of Lower Egypt, up to the place in which his
father was drowned (g) which is "Division-of-the-Two-Lands." Thus Horus stood over
one region, and Seth stood over one region.
They made peace over the Two Lands at
Ayan. That was the division of the Two
Lands.
(10a) Geb's words to Seth: "Go to the place
in which you were born." (10b) Seth: Upper
Egypt. (11a) Geb's words to Horus: "Go to
the place in which your father was
drowned." (11b) Horus: Lower Egypt. (12a)
Geb's words to Horus and Seth: "I have
separated you.
(12b) --- Lower and Upper Egypt.
(12c) Then it seemed wrong to Geb that the
portion of Horus was like the portion of Seth.
So Geb gave to Horus his inheritance, for
he is the son of his firstborn son.3
(13a) Geb's words to the Nine Gods: "I have
appointed (13b) Horus, the firstborn." (14a)
Geb's words to the Nine Gods: "Him alone,
(14b) Horus, the inheritance." (15a) Geb's
words to the Nine Gods: "To this heir, (15b)
Horus, my inheritance. " (16a) Geb's words
to the Nine Gods: "To the son of-my son,
(16b) Horus, the Jackal of Upper Egypt ---.
(17a) Geb's words to the Nine Gods: "The
firstborn, (17b) Horus, the
Opener-of-the-ways."4 (18a) Geb's words to
the Nine Gods: "The son who was born --(18b) Horus, on the Birthday of the
Opener-of-the-ways."
(13c) Then Horus stood over the land. He is
the uniter of this land, proclaimed in the
great name: Ta-tenen, South-of-his-Wall,
Lord of Eternity. Then sprouted (14c) the
two Great Magicians upon his head.5 He is
Horus who arose as king of Upper and
Lower Egypt, who united the Two Lands in
the Nome of the Wall, the place in which the
Two Lands were united.6
(15c) Reed and papyrus were placed on the
double door of the House of Ptah. That
means Horus and Seth, pacified and united.
They fraternised so as to cease quarrelling
(16c) in whatever place they might be, being
united in the House of Ptah, the "Balance of
the Two Lands" in which Upper and Lower
Egypt had been weighed.
TEXT 70
The Memphite Theology
(British Museum EA 498 "Shabaka Stone)
Note: the text is now considered to be of
Ramesside date (rather than of the Old
Kingdom as suggested in Lichtheim's
introduction.) The section headings are not
in the original text.
Historical Introduction
(1–2 horizontally) The living Horus: Who
prospers the Two Lands; the Two Ladies:
Who prospers the Two Lands; the Golden
Horus: Who prospers the Two Lands; the
King of Upper and Lower Egypt: Neferkare;
the Son of Re: Sha[baka], beloved of
Ptah-South-of-his-Wall, who lives like Re
forever.l
This writing was copied out anew by his
majesty in the House of his father
Ptah-South-of-his-Wall, for his majesty
found it to be a work of the ancestors which
was worm-eaten, so that it could not be
understood from beginning to end. His
majesty copied it anew so that it became
better than it had been before, in order that
his name might endure and his monument
last in the House of his father
Ptah-South-of-his-Wall throughout eternity,
as a work done by the Son of Re [Shabaka]
for his father Ptah-Tatenen, so that he might
live forever.
Introduction to the Theology
(3) /// [King of Upper and Lower Egypt] is
this Ptah, who is called by the great name:
[Ta-te]nen [South-of-his-Wall, Lord of
eternity] ---. (4) --- [the joiner] of Upper and
Lower Egypt is he, this uniter who arose as
king of Upper Egypt and arose as king of
Lower Egypt. (5) --- (6) --- "self-begotten,"
so says Atum: "who created the Nine
Gods."2
Horus and Ptah Are One
(7) [Geb, lord of the gods, commanded] that
the Nine Gods gather to him. He judged
between Horus and Seth; (8) he ended their
quarrel. He made Seth king of Upper Egypt
in the land of Upper Egypt, up to the place in
which he was born, which is Su. And Geb
made Horus king of Lower Egypt in the land
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This is the land (17c) ---- the burial of Osiris
in the House of Sokar. (18c) --- Isis and
Nephthys without delay, (19) for Osiris had
drowned in his water. Isis [and Nephthys]
looked out, [beheld him and attended to
him]. (20a) Horus speaks to Isis and
Nephthys: "Hurry, grasp him ---." (21a) Isis
and Nephthys speak to Osiris:
(53) Heart took shape in the form of Atum,
Tongue took shape in the form of Atum. It is
Ptah, the very great, who has given [life] to
all the gods and their Kas through this heart
and through this tongue, (54) from which
Horus had come forth as Ptah, from which
Thoth had come forth as Ptah.]8
Thus heart and tongue rule over all the
limbs in accordance with the teaching that it
(the heart, or: he, Ptah) is in every body and
it (the tongue, or he, Ptah) is in every mouth
of all gods, all men, all cattle, all creeping
things, whatever lives, thinking whatever
it/he wishes and commanding whatever it/he
wishes.9
"We come, we take you ---."
(20b) --- [They heeded in time] and brought
him to (21b) [land. He entered the hidden
portals in the glory of the lords of eternity]. --. [Thus Osiris came into] the earth (22) at
the royal fortress, to the north of [the land to
which he had come. And his son Horus
arose as king of Upper Egypt, arose as king
of Lower Egypt, in the embrace of his father
Osiris and of the gods in front of him and
behind him.]7
(23) There was built the royal fortress [at the
command of Geb ---]. (24a) Geb speaks to
Thoth: --- (25a–30a) Geb speaks to Thoth: -- (31a–35a) --- (25b-26b) [Geb] speaks to
Isis: --- (27b) Isis causes [Horus and Seth]
to come. (28b) Isis speaks to Horus and
Seth: "[Come] ---." (29b) Isis speaks to
Horus and Seth: "Make peace ---." (30b)
Isis speaks to Horus and Seth: "Life will be
pleasant for you when ---." (31b) Isis speaks
to Horus and Seth: "It is he who dries your
tears ---." (32b–35b) --- (36–47) ---
(55) His (Ptah's) Ennead is before him as
teeth and lips. They are the semen and the
hands of Atum. For the Ennead of Atum
came into being through his semen and his
fingers. But the Ennead is the teeth and lips
in this mouth which pronounced the name of
every thing, from which Shu and Tefnut
came forth, (56) and which gave birth to the
Ennead.10
Sight, hearing, breathing, they report to the
heart, and it makes every understanding
come forth. As to the tongue, it repeats what
the heart has devised.11 Thus all the gods
were born and his Ennead was completed.
For every word of the god came about
through what the heart devised and the
tongue commanded.
Ptah the Supreme God
(48) The gods who came into being in Ptah:
(49a) Ptah-on-the-great-throne ------.
(50a) Ptah-Nun, the father who [made]
Atum.
(51a) Ptah-Naunet, the mother who bore
Atum.
(52a) Ptah-the-Great is heart and tongue of
the Nine [Gods].
(49b) [Ptah] --- who bore the gods.
(50b) [Ptah] --- who bore the gods.
(5Ib) [Ptah] --(52b) [Ptah] --- Nefertem at the nose of Re
every day.
(53) There took shape in the heart, there
took shape on the tongue the form of Atum.
For the very great one is Ptah, who gave
[life] to all the gods and their kas through
this heart and through this tongue, (54) in
which Horus had taken shape as Ptah, in
which Thoth had taken shape as Ptah.
(57) Thus all the faculties were made and all
the qualities determined, they that make all
foods and all provisions, through this word.
<Thus justice is done> to him who does
what is loved, <and punishment>l2 to him
who does what is hated. Thus life is given to
the peaceful, death is given to the criminal.
Thus all labour, all crafts are made, the
action of the hands, the motion of the legs,
(58) the movements of all the limbs,
according to this command which is devised
by the heart and comes forth on the tongue
and creates the performance of every
thing.13
Thus it is said of Ptah: "He who made all
and created the gods." And he is Ta-tenen,
who gave birth to the gods, and from whom
every thing came forth, foods, provisions,
divine offerings, all good things. Thus it is
Alternative rendering (53–54):
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AHPG 861 / AHIS 380 Ancient Egyptian Religion – Selection of Primary Sources
recognised and understood that he is the
mightiest of the gods. Thus Ptah was
satisfied after he had made all things and all
divine words.
3
(59) He gave birth to the gods,
He made the towns,
He established the nomes,
He placed the gods in their (60) shrines,
He settled their offerings,
He established their shrines,
He made their bodies according to their
wishes.
Thus the gods entered into their bodies,
0f every wood, every stone, every clay,
Every thing that grows upon him
(61) In which they came to be.
Thus were gathered to him all the gods and
their Kas,
Content, united with the Lord of the Two
Lands.l4
4
5
6
Memphis the Royal City
The Great Throne that gives joy to the heart
of the gods in the House of Ptah is the
granary of Ta-tenen, the mistress of all life,
through which the sustenance of the Two
Lands is provided, (62) owing to the fact that
0siris was drowned in his water. Isis and
Nephthys looked out, beheld him, and
attended to him. Horus quickly commanded
Isis and Nephthys to grasp Osiris and
prevent his drowning (i.e., his submerging).
(63) They heeded in time and brought him
to land. He entered the hidden portals in the
glory of the lords of eternity, in the steps of
him who rises in the horizon, on the ways of
Re at the Great Throne. (64) He entered the
palace and joined the gods of Ta-tenen
Ptah, lord of years.
7
8
9
Thus Osiris came into the earth at the Royal
Fortress, to the north of the land to which he
had come. His son Horus arose as king of
Upper Egypt, arose as king of Lower Egypt,
in the embrace of his father Osiris and of the
gods in front of him and behind him.l5
10
Notes
1
The titulary of the king is repeated with
Sokar substituted for Ptah.
2
This much damaged section appears to be
a summary of Ptah's claims to supremacy:
He is identical with the old Memphite
earth-god Ta-tenen. He is king of Egypt
11
46
because Horus is a manifestation of Ptah.
And he is the self-begotten creator of all the
other gods.
This section narrates, and enacts, the
division of the rule of Egypt between Horus
and Seth, which had been decided by the
earth-god Geb. The division is viewed as a
temporary settlement, subsequently
replaced by the union of the Two Lands
under the sole rule of Horus who now
appears as son of Osiris and grandson of
Geb. By viewing the origin of kingship as a
two-stage process, the narration blends two
distinct traditions: that of Horus and Seth as
the original rulers of Lower and Upper
Egypt, respectively; and that of Osiris, son
of Geb and sole ruler of Egypt until slain by
Seth, after which event the kingship over all
of Egypt was awarded by the gods to his
son Horus.
The jackal-god Wep-waut ("Openerof-the-ways") was often identified with
Horus.
The crowns of Upper and Lower Egypt.
This section stresses the identity of Horus
and Ptah, an equation essential to the claim
of Ptah's kingship. The "Wall" is the "White
Wall," i.e. Memphis.
The body of the slain Osiris had floated
downstream and was brought ashore at
Memphis, thereby making Memphis the
most sacred spot, and rightly cast as the
place in which the Two Lands were joined.
The restorations of the lacunae are made
from lines 62-64, where this narrative is
repeated.
The first rendering of this difficult passage is
based on Sethe's translation; the alternative
rendering reflects that of Junker. Sethe's
interpretation seems to me less strained. In
any case, the passage expounds the central
doctrine of this Memphite theology: Path,
the god of Memphis, outranks Atum of
Heliopolis and all the other gods.
Junker's rendering of this passage, to which
I have given preference, differs from that of
other scholars in that he took wnt=f to refer
to heart and tongue respectively rather than
to Ptah. In his view, this section embodies a
"Naturlehre" which was not originally a part
of the theology of Ptah.
Though not phrased as an outright
repudiation of the Heliopolitan doctrine,
according to which Atum created the gods
through onanism, the Memphite theology
attempts to supersede it by teaching that
Ptah created the gods through commanding
speech.
These two sentences have perhaps been
misplaced by the copying scribe, for they
AHPG 861 / AHIS 380 Ancient Egyptian Religion – Selection of Primary Sources
12
13
14
15
seem to belong more naturally at the end of
line 54.
Some such restoration is usually inserted
here, for it looks as if the scribe omitted
something.
The correct reading of irrt sm n xt nb was
given by Grdseloff in Arch. Or., 20 (1952),
484–486.
To Sethe and Junker this section appeared
incongruous because, with the account of
creation just completed, the text reverts to
certain details of creation. It seems to me
that the incongruity disappears if one
realises that this section is not a
continuation of the narrative but a celebration of creation by means of a poetic
hymn. The poem of praise, by which the
narration of an action is summed up, makes
an early appearance in the Autobiography of
Weni, and becomes a major feature of
Egyptian literature.
Since "in front" and "behind" also mean
"before" and "after," the sentence has been
variously rendered. Reasons for preferring
the temporal rendering were adduced by R.
Anthes in ZÄS, 86 (1961), 83.
About Amun of Thebes
His sweat is the Nile, his eyes the light, his
nose the wind.
Urk. VIII, 53 (§65c).
Assmann, "Primat und Transzendenz", 10–11..
TEXTS FROM INDIA
TEXT 72
from Mahabharata (III,V, 12960ff)
Fire is my mouth, the earth my feet, sun
and moon my eyes, heaven is my head,
the firmament and the regions of the
heavens my ears.
from Bhagvadgita (11th Song)
The sun and moon are your eyes, your
face shines like fire, you fill the cosmos
with your light.
from Mundaka-Upanishad (II,3–4)
His head is fire, his eyes moon and sun,
the heavenly regions his ears, his voice the
Veda-revelation, the wind is his breath, his
heart the world, the earth is made of his
feet, he is the inner self (atman) in all
being.
Translation: Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature, I,
51–57.
Geo Widengren, Religionsphänomenologie (Berlin /
New York, 1969), 94–97.
Assmann, "Primat und Transzendenz", 8.
GRAECO-ROMAN EGYPTIAN TEXTS
TEXT 71
About Sobek-Re of Kom Ombo
ANCIENT GREEK TEXTS
When you open your eyes it becomes day,
when you close them it becomes night.
TEXT 73
from Macrobius: Oracle of Sarapis
(Saturnalia)
Edfou VIII, 131.
He who expels darkness with his "divine"
eyes; when he opens his "living" eyes it
becomes day, when he closes them it
becomes night.
The heavenly cosmos is my head, my belly
is the ocean, the earth my feet. My ears
reach up into the air, my eye is the farreaching light of the sun.
Edfou I, 112.
Assmann, "Primat und Transzendenz", 9.
Your "living" eyes shoot flames, your
"healthy" eyes disperse the darkness, your
nose is the wind from which noses breathe.
TEXT 74
from Eusebius:
the Egyptian "proton on theiotaton"
(first divine being)
Edfou I, 16–17.
The great god, from whose eyes the two
disks emerge, whose right eye shines by
day and whose left eye shines at night; his
two "great" eyes cast out darkness. Out of
whose mouth the air, out of whose nose
the north wind comes, from whose sweat
the Nile flows.
Had it looked up, it would have filled the
universe with light in its first-created space,
had it, however, closed its eyes, darkness
would have fallen.
Assmann, "Primat und Transzendenz", 10.
Junker, ZÄS 67 (1931), 54–55.
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AHPG 861 / AHIS 380 Ancient Egyptian Religion – Selection of Primary Sources
in Lake Moeris, the lion living in the city
called Leontopolis, and many other
creatures of this kind, though the details
are easy enough to relate, they will
scarcely be believed by any who have not
witnessed them. For these hallowed beings
pass their lives in consecrated enclosures,
where many prominent men attend on
them, serving them the most sumptuous
foods; they constantly offer them the finest
wheaten flour, or groats boiled in milk,
besides all manner of sweetmeats mixed
with honey, as well as boiled or roasted
flesh of goose; and they catch many birds
and throw them to the carnivorous animals,
and in general they take great pains to
provide the dearest fare. They are ever
treating their charges to warm baths,
anointing them with the most luxurious
unguents, burning all sorts of fragrant
incense before them, and providing them
with the most lavish bedding and with
goodly ornaments. They are very solicitous
that their beasts may obtain sexual
gratification as nature demands; besides
this, for each of the animals they keep the
most handsome females of the same
species, which they call its concubines,
and these too they attend with the greatest
care and expense. And whenever any one
of these divine animals dies, they lament
its passing in the same way as those who
have lost a beloved child; and they bury it
not merely to the best of their ability, but at
an expense far exceeding the value of their
property. For example, after the death of
Alexander, and just after Ptolemy son of
Lagus had taken control of Egypt, the Apis
of Memphis happened to die of old age;
whereupon the man who had charge of it
spent for the funeral every bit of the great
wealth he had accumulated, and in
addition he borrowed fifty talents of silver
from Ptolemy. And even in our own day
some of the caretakers of these animals
have expended no less than a hundred
talents on their obsequies.
H) MISCELLANEOUS
TEXTS
TEXT 75
from The Teaching for King Merikare
Well tended is mankind - god's cattle,
He made sky and earth for their sake,
He subdued the water monster,
He made breath for their noses to live.
They are his images, who came from his
body, he shines in the sky for their sake;
He made for them plants and cattle,
Fowl and fish to feed them.
He slew his foes, reduced his children,
When they thought of making rebellion.
(…) He has slain the traitors among them,
As a man beats his son for his brother's
sake (...)
Text: Papyrus Leningrad 1116A, Papyrus Moscow
4658, Papyrus Carlsberg 6. Translation:
Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature, I, 106.
TEXT 76
Late Ramesside Letter No. 43:
Butehamun to Shedsuhor
(…) the servant in the Place of Truth (…) in
life, prosperity, and health and in the favour
of Amun-Re, King of the gods. We tell
Amun-Re, King of the Gods, to bring you
back saved (shed) from all danger which is
in the land above in which you are living.
Write to us about your condition, whether
you are alive. And write to us about the
condition of the scribe of the Necropolis
Tjaroy through the policeman Hadnakht.
And assist Tjaroy in the boat. And look
after him ... the evening vigilantly. And be a
pilot for him; then Amun shall be a pilot for
you. See, man is like today.
E. Wente, Late Ramesside Letters, 76–77.
85 We must add to what has been said
TEXT 77
from Diodorus Siculus, Histories
above an account of the circumstances
surrounding the sacred bull called Apis.
For whenever one has died and has been
buried in splendour, the priests concerned
with these matters seek out a young bull
whose bodily markings are similar to those
of its predecessor. When they find it, the
84 (…) Now, as for the circumstances
surrounding the Apis bull of Memphis or
the Mnevis bull of Heliopolis, or the facts
about the he-goat at Mendes, the crocodile
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AHPG 861 / AHIS 380 Ancient Egyptian Religion – Selection of Primary Sources
people put away their mourning, and the
priests whose duty it is conduct the bull calf
first to Nilopolis, where they keep it forty
days; then they put it aboard a state barge
with a gilded stall and convey it as a deity
to the temple of Hephaestos in Memphis.
And during the said forty days, only women
may look upon it, and these stand before it
and pull up their clothes to reveal the
generative parts of their bodies. But at all
other times it is absolutely forbidden for
women to enter the presence of this
divinity.
Now some explain the reason for the
sanctity of this bull by claiming that at
death the soul of Osiris migrated to one of
these animals and continues to do so until
this day, at each of his manifestations
passing into a younger bull. But others
assert that, after Typhon had murdered
Osiris, Isis collected all the fragments of his
body and put them in a wooden bull draped
with fine linen; and that also because of
this the city of Busiris received its name.
They also tell many other stories about the
Apis, but we know it would be tiresome to
relate each one of them singly and in
detail.
were defeated in many battles by the
neighbouring peoples, until they conceived
the idea of carrying ensigns before the
divisions of their host. Therefore, they
continue, the leaders fashioned images of
the animals which they have now come to
worship, and bore them elevated upon
javelins; and in this way every soldier was
able to recognise his own unit in the line of
battle. And since the good order resulting
from these images contributed in large
measure to their victories, they began to
believe that the animals themselves were
the cause of their safety. Therefore, since
men wished to show gratitude to them,
they made it a custom never to slay the
creatures which they had represented by
images in those times, but rather to adore
them and render unto them the care and
honour mentioned above.
87 The third explanation they put forth
concerning this question is the service that
each of the animals provides for the benefit
of mankind and the life of the community.
For the cow bears labourers and ploughs
the yielding earth. The sheep drops lambs
twice a year, and its wool provides clothing
both decorative and protective, while its
milk and cheese supply foods as pleasant
as they are bountiful. The dog is useful
both for hunting and for guarding;
wherefore they depict the god whom they
call Anubis with the head of a dog, to show
that he was one of the bodyguards of Isis
and Osiris. And some say that the dogs
which guided Isis in her search for Osiris
not only protected her from wild beasts and
from the people she encountered, but also,
being sympathetic to her plight, joined with
howling in her search. It is for this reason
that dogs lead the solemn procession
during the Isis Festival.
86 Everything the Egyptians do in their
veneration of the sacred animals is strange
and unbelievable, and this presents great
difficulties to anyone investigating its
causes. Their priests hold certain secret
doctrines concerning these matters, which
we explained earlier in our discussion of
their gods. But most of the Egyptians
allege one of the following three
explanations, the first of which is wholly
fabulous and quite in keeping with
old-fashioned simplicity of beliefs: for they
say that the first gods who existed were
few in number and oppressed by the
multitudes and by the lawlessness of
earthborn men; but that they escaped this
savagery and cruelty by adopting the forms
of various animals. Later, however, when
they had come to be masters of the
universe, they showed their gratitude to the
agents of their earlier deliverance by
sanctifying those species of animals which
they had imitated, teaching men how to
care luxuriously for the living and perform
funeral rites for the dead. The second
reason they offer is that the Egyptians of
old, through lack of discipline in their army,
Translation: E. Murphy, The Antiquities of Egypt
(New Brunswick, London, 1990), 106 –110.
TEXT 78
Book of the Dead – Chapter 100
I have sung hymns to the sun,
I have joined with the baboons, who sing
praises,
I am one of them.
I have acted as the counterpart of Isis,
I have strengthened her incantations.
I have tied the rope,
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AHPG 861 / AHIS 380 Ancient Egyptian Religion – Selection of Primary Sources
I have warded off Apophis,
I have put a stop to his progress.
TEXT 81
from
The Obelisk of Queen Hatshepsut
(Karnak Temple)
Text: E.A.W. Budge, The Book of the Dead. The
Chapters of the Coming Forth by Day (London,
1898), 210–212.
Translation: B.G. Ockinga.
I have done this with a loving heart for my
father Amun. Initiated in his secret of the
beginning, acquainted with his beneficient
might, I did not forget whatever he had
ordained. My majesty knows his divinity. I
acted under his command, it was he who
led me, I did not plan a work without his
doing. It was he who gave directions, I did
not sleep because of his temple, I did not
stray from what he commanded. My heart
was Sia before my father, I entered into the
plans of his heart. I did not turn my back to
the city of the Lord to the Limit, rather did I
turn my face toward it. I know that Karnak
is the horizon on earth, the august hill of
the beginning, the sacred eye of the Lord
to the Limit, his favoured place that bears
his perfection that gathers in his followers.
TEXT 79
The stele of the lady Taimhotep
Date: reign of Cleopatra VII
(British Museum EA 147)
“The heart of the High Priest (her husband)
rejoiced over it greatly. I was pregnant by
him three times but did not bear a male
child, only three daughters.
I prayed together with the High Priest to the
majesty of the god great in wonders,
effective in deeds, who gives a son to him
who has none: Imhotep Son of Ptah. He
heard our pleas, he hearkened to his
prayers.
The majesty of this god came to the High
Priest in a revelation (i.e. a dream).
He said, ‘Let a great work done in a holy of
holies of Ankhtawi, the place where my
body is hidden. As a reward for it I shall
give you a male child.’ When he awakened
from this he kissed the ground to the
august god. He gave the orders to the
prophets, the initiates, the priests and to
the sculptors of the gold-house also. He
ordered them to carry out an excellent work
in the holy of holies. They did as he had
said. He performed the opening of the
mouth for the august god. He made a
great sacrifice of all good things. He
rewarded the sculptors on behalf of the
god. He gladdened their heart with all
good things. In return he (the god) made
me conceive a male child."
Translation: Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature,
II, 27.
TEXT 82
from
Kadesh Battle Inscription: "Poem"
(Ramesses II ) – on fragments of two
Hieratic papyri
His majesty spoke:
"What is this, father Amun?
Is it right for a father to ignore his son? Are
my deeds a matter for you to ignore? Do I
not walk and stand at your word?
I have not neglected an order that you
gave.
Too great is he, the great Lord of Egypt, to
allow aliens to step on his path!
What are these Asiatics to you, O Amun,
the wretches ignorant of god?"
Translation: Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature,
III, 62.
TEXT 80
The names of the Aten
Earlier form:
"Re-Harakhte, who rejoices in the horizon
in his name of light (Shu) which is in the
sun'".
Later form:
"Ruler of the Horizon, who rejoices in the
horizon in his name “rays (light) which
emanate(s) from the Aton (sun-disk)".
Translation: Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature,
II, 65.
50
AHPG 861 / AHST 361 Ancient Egyptian Religion – Selection of Primary Sources – Bibliography
ASPECTS OF ANCIENT EGYPTIAN RELIGION.
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Parkinson, R., Voices from Ancient Egypt. An Anthology of Middle Kingdom Writings (London, 1991).
Piankoff, A., The Shrines of Tut-Ankh-Amon (New York, 1955 /1962).
Posener, G., "La piété personelle avant l'âge Amarnien" in: Revue d'Egyptologie 27 (1975),195–210.
Widengren, G., Religionsphnomenologie (Berlin / New York, 1969).
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(ANET) (Princeton, 1969) 325–330.
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Table of Contents
Text 1
Text 2
Text 3
Text 4
Text 5
Text 6
Text 7
Text 8
Text 9
Text 10
Text 11
Text 12
Text 13
Text 14
Text 15
Text 16
Text 17
Text 18
Text 19
Text 20
Text 21
Text 22
Text 23
Text 24
Text 25
Text 26
Text 27
Text 28
Text 29
Text 30
Text 31
Text 32
Text 33
Text 34
Text 35
Text 36
Text 37
Text 38
Text 39
Text 40
Text 41
Text 42
Text 43
Text 44
Text 45
Text 46
Text 47
Text 48
Text 49
Text 50
Text 51
Text 52
Text 53
Text 54
Text 55
Text 56
Text 57
Text 58
Some pre-Amarna Sun-Hymns
Book of the Dead – Chapter 15 (1)
Stela of the Brothers Suti and Hor
A Hymn to Amun-Re
Hymn to Amun-Re in the Temple of Darius, el-Hibe
From the Teaching for King Merikare (1)
The Great Hymn to the Aton
Stela of Amenmose: HYmn to Osiris
Adoration of Thoth (TT 192)
Prayers on a Statue of Horemheb
Prayer to Thoth
Praising Hathor
Temple of Ptah – Fourth Door
Prayers of the pre-Amarna period
Stele of Intef from TT 164
Hymn of Pawah to Amun and Osiris
Stele of the Viceroy Huy
Stele of Nebre
Stele of Huy
Inscription of Simut Kiki (TT 409)
Stele of the draughtsman of Amun, Pay
Stele of the Scribe of the necropolis, Amun-nakht
Prayer of Ramesses III to Amun
Book of the Dead – Chapter 15 (2)
Book of the Dead – Chapters 141–142
From the Litany of the Sun
From the Teaching of a Man for his Son (1)
The "Loyalist Teaching" (1)
From the Kuban Stele: Eulogy to Ramesses II
From the Temple of Sethos I: Eulogy of Ramesses II
Hymn on the Accession of Merenptah
Eulogy of Neferhotep (TT 49)
Abu Simbel: Inscription of Ramesses II
From a Cycle of Hymns to Sesostris III (1)
From the "Loyalist Teaching" (2)
From a Cycle of Hymns to Sesostris III (2)
From the Teaching of a Man for his Son (2)
From the Teaching of Amenemhet
The King as Sun-Priest
From the Tomb of Maya (Amarna no. 14)
From the Tomb of Panehesy (Amarna no. 6)
The Destruction of Humankind
The Story of Horus and Seth
Book of the Dead – Chapter 175
Spells
Various Temple Texts
The Daily Temple Ritual
The Ritual for Amenophis I
Tutankhamun's Restoration Stele
From the Chapel to Re in Medinet Habu
The Admonitions of an Egygptian Sage
From Coffin Texts – Chapter 1130
From Coffin Texts – Chapter 80
From a Hymn to Amun-Re
From TT 65
From the Temple of Hibis (1)
From the Temple of Hibis (2)
From the Egyptian Magical Papyri
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AHPG 861 / AHST 361 Ancient Egyptian Religion – Selection of Primary Sources – Bibliography
Text 59
Text 60
Text 61
Text 62
Text 63
Text 64
Text 65
Text 66
Text 67
Text 68
Text 69
Text 70
Text 71
Text 72
Text 73
Text 74
Text 75
Text 76
Text 77
Text 78
Text 79
Text 80
Text 81
Text 82
"Ba", "Image" and "Body"
From a Magical Papyrus: Bes Pantheos
Texts from TT 194 and TT 23
From Papyrus Leiden I, 350 (1)
From Papyrus Leiden I, 350 (2)
From Stele Louvre C256
From Papyrus Leiden I, 350 (3)
From Papyrus Leiden I, 350 (IV, 21-22)
From Papyrus Leiden I, 350 (IV, 17-19)
From a Hymn of Ramesses III
God, image and transformations
The Memphite Theology
About Sobek-Re of Kom Ombo
Text from India
Text from Ancient Greece (1)
Text from Ancient Greece (2)
From the Teaching for King Merikare (2)
Late Ramesside Letter no. 43
From Diodorus Siculus, Histories
Book of the Dead – Chapter 100
The Stele of the Lady Taimhotep
The Names of the Aten
The Obelis of Queen Hatschepsut
"Poem" from the Kadesh Battle Inscription
Index
Abu Simbel 33
Abydos 35
Abydos 37
Accession 31
Admonitions 51
Amarna no. 14 40
Amarna no. 25 7
Amarna no. 6 41
Amenemhet 38
Amenmose 8
Amenophis I 48
Amun 16, 23
Amun of Thebes 71
Amun-nakht, scribe 22
Amun-Re 5, 54
Aton 7, 80
Aton, Great Hymn 7
Ba 59
Beer 48
Berlin 22037 18
Bes 60
Bhavadgita 72
BM EA 147 79
BM EA 374 22
BM EA 498 70
BM EA 826 3
Body 59
Book of the Dead
Ch. 15 2, 24
Ch. 100 78
Ch. 141-142 25
Ch. 175 44
Butehamun 76
C22 33
Cairo 20538 28
Cairo 20538 35
Cairo 20538 37
CG 12189 14
CG 12202 14
CG 12212 14
CG 12217 14
CG 34183 49
Chicago OI14053 15
Childbirth 45
Cleopatra VII 79
Coffin Texts 52, 53
Darius 5
Dendera 46b, 46c
Destruction of Humankind 42
Diodorus Siculus 77
Edfu 46a
El-Hibe 5
Eulogy 30, 32
Eusebius 74
Grenoble 1.33 29
Hathor 12, 46b
Hatshepsut 81
Hibis 56, 57
Horemheb 10
Horus 43, 45c
Horus and Seth 43
Horus at Edfu 46
Huy, viceroy 17
Huy 19
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AHPG 861 / AHST 361 Ancient Egyptian Religion – Selection of Primary Sources – Bibliography
Image 59, 69
India 72
Intef 15
Isis 45
Kadesh 82
Karnak 13, 23
Kheperu 69
King 39
Kom Ombo 71
Kuban Stele 29
Late Ramesside Letter 76
Litany of the Sun 26
Louvre C 256 64
Louvre C286 8
Loyalist Teaching 28, 35
Luxor Temple 39
Macrobius 73
Magical papyrus 58, 60
Mahabharata 72
Maya 40
Meat 48
Medinet Habu 50
Memphite Theology 70
Merenptah 31
Merikare 6, 75
Metternich Stele 45c
MMA 45c
MMA 23.10.1 10
Mundaka-Upanishad 72
Nebre 18
Neferhotep 32
Obelisk 81
Osiris 46c
Osiris 8, 16
Ostraca 14
Panehsy 41
Pawah 16
Pay, draughtsman 21
pAnastasi V 11
pBerlin 3055 47
pBoulaq 17 4
pChester Beatty I 12
pChester Beatty I,rto 43
pEbers 45b
pLeiden I, 348 45
pLeiden I, 350 62, 63, 65, 66, 67
pre-Amarna 1, 14
pSallier I 31
Proton on theiotaton 74
Ptah 13
Ramesses II 29, 30, 33, 82
Ramesses III 23, 68
Re 50
Restoration Stele 49
Sage 51
Saturnalia 73
Sehetep-ib-Re 28, 35
Sehetep-ib-Re 35
Serapis 73
Sesostris III 34, 36
Seth 43
Sethos I 30
Shabaka Stone 70
Shedsuhor 76
Simut Kiki 20
Sobek-Re 71
Sun hymns 1
Sun-priest 39
Suti and Hor 3
Taimhotep 79
Teaching of a Man for his Son 27, 37
Teaching of Amenemhet 38
Teachings 6
Temple ritual 47
Thoth 9, 10, 11
Transformations 69
TT23 61
TT49 32
TT65 55
TT164 15
TT192 9
TT194 61
TT409 20
Turin 50044 19
Turin 50052 21
Tutankhamun 49
Viceroy Huy 17
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