Ancient Egyptian Poetry
The Leiden Hymns (ca. 1238 B.C.)
Love Songs (1300-1100 B.C.)
How Splendidly You Ferry the
Skyways

Horus, god of the sun,
intercedes in human
life to give light and
hope.
God, the Master Craftsman
“My love is one and only, without
peer…”

Nefertiti (1370-1330 B.C)

Wife of Akhenaten,
and stepmother of
Tuhankhamen—icon
of ideal beauty.
“Love, how I’d like to
slip down by the
pond…”

Hathor, mother
goddess, goddess of
love. Each morning
she lures the sun,
Horus, into the sky.
(c. 2700 B.C.)
“Why, just now, must you question
your heart?”

Ancient Egyptian
wall painting of a
couple enjoying the
scent of flowers
(date uncertain)
“I was simply off to see Nefrus, my
friend…

…just to sit and chat
at her place (about
men), /When there,
hot on his horses,
comes Mehy (oh god,
I said to myself, it’s
Mehy)…

“I think I’ll go home
and lie very still,
feigning terminal
illness. / Then the
neighbors will troop
over and stare, my
love, perhaps, among
them. / How she’ll
smile while the
specialists snarl in
their teeth!—she
knows perfectly well
what ails me.”