LONGING FOR MEMPHIS 4 страница

Hymn to Ra, CHAPTER ONE

the Rising Sun Divisons 1-9

From chapter 15 of the papyrus of Ani.

Ancient Egyptian literature is known for numerous religious prayers to the gods. The papyrus of Ani is one of the most extensive collections of the New Kingdom Book of the Dead. The hymn of chapter 15 honors the course of the sun across the sky, in the context of the sun god, Rê.

Adoration of Rê in his rising from the horizon

until he comes to rest in [life]. [the west]

Words spoken by the osiris, the scribe Ani:

Be praised, O Rê, in your rising, Atum-Horakhty!

Let your perfections be worshipped with my eyes,

and let your sunlight be within my bosom.

May you proceed in your own peace in the Night Boat,

your heart rejoicing in a following breeze within the Day Barque.

How delightful is the crossing of the skies among the peaceful dead

with all your enemies fallen!

The unwearying stars give praise to you,

the indestructible stars adore you,

You who go to rest in the horizon of the Western Mountains,

beautiful as the Sun each day,

beautiful, enduring, as my Lord

Hymn to Amun CHAPTER ONE

Divisions 1-9

In honor of one of the great Egyptian gods, Amun. Unlike Rê, that shines from the sky, Amun is here seen as hidden and inward, and his petitioner presumes a close relationship with the god.

HYMN TO AMUN

A pilot who knows the waters,

that is Amun,

a steering oar for the helpless,

One who gives food to the one who has not,

who helps the servant of His house to prosper.

I do not take myself a great man as protector,

nor do I mingle with the men of means;

I do not place my portion under the strong arm of someone wealthy in a noble household.

My Lord is my protector,

I know His strength;

He aids with ready arm and caring look,

and, all alone, is powerful,

Amun, who knows what kindness is

and hears the one who cries to Him;

Amun, King of the Gods,

strong Bull who glories in His power.

Lament to Amun CHAPTER ONE

Divisions 1-10

A prayer found on a papyrus of circa 1200 BC (Samson, during the volcanic era of cooler temps), describing a world gone wrong, and asking the god Amun to help with escape from it.

LAMENT TO AMUN

Come to me, father Amun,

protect me in this bitter year of confrontation.

God shines in the sun;

yet he will not shine, winter crowds hard upon summer.

Months happen backwards;

disheveled hours lurch drunken by.

Those cut down in high places cry out to you, Amun;

the beaten in alleyways seek you;

And the new generation at the breasts of its nurses wails,

‘‘Give us our living space, O Father! ’’

God find in his heart to return, bringing peace,

bringing air, the clean breeze before him.

Or let him grow me the wings of protection

to soar like his sky-ship high beyond earth.

These words came on the poisoned air,

spoken by herdsmen in fields and marshes,

10.

by those who beat clothes on the banks of the river,

by district police deserting their precincts,

by horned beasts on our burning deserts.

The Exile of Sinuhe CHAPTER ONE

Divisions 1-25

The story of a trusted courtier that runs away from an attempted coup, escaping into Syria-Palestine, where he lives out most of his life exiled from his Egyptian roots. The story has him slowly working his way back to esteem and prominence. Later in life, he returns to Egypt where he is warmly welcomed by his former king and the royal family that he once served.

Many of the foundational values of ancient Egyptian civilization are in the story. Written during the 12th Dynasty in the 1900s BC, the generation of Nahor, Abram's father. The story obviously was a basis for the Bible story of Jacob, when he spends his life working for his deceitful uncle Laban, circa 1750 BC. The epics of Joseph is recalled too, and Moses' flight too. .

THE EXILE OF SINUHE

The man of ancient family, chief of his town,

who bore the goddess’ seal for Lower Egypt,

the only Friend of the pharaoh,

senior overseer of waterways,

viceroy for Asian lands,

trusted adviser to the king,

one he esteemed, the courtier Sinuhe.

It is he who speaks:

I was a good and faithful servant of my lord,

attendant in the harem of the lady of noble blood, most highly favored,

when theKing’s wife Senusert was seated on the throne,

the Daughter of Amenemhat in the city of Qa-nefer,

with Queen Neferu, gone long ago to bliss.

Regnal Year 30, in the 3rd Month of the Sping rainy season of Inundation,

Day 7, was the Day of Ascension,

when the god mounts toward his last horizon,

King of the Sedge and the Bee, (the northern and southern kingdoms)

Sehetep-ib-Rê,

10.

that he might soar to heaven, and be one with the Sun,

flesh of the god mingling with God who made him.

11.

The Royal City is silent, the heart without consolation,

the Great Paired Gates are sealed;

12.

Courtiers crouch, head bent on knee,

the people groan with grief.

13.

Now see the situation:

14.

his Majesty passed on to Heaven,

and the army was to the west, in the Libyan desert,

with his eldest son commanding,

the beneficent god, Crown Prince Senusert,

15.

sent to punish barbarian lands, and destroying all who would live among Libyans,

he was now returning with what he had taken,

16.

doomed slaves from those desert tribes and unnumbered cattle and livestock.

17.

The council of royal advisers of the palace sent word to the western side

in order to inform the king’s son what had transpired in his father’s chamber.

18.

The envoys found him upon the march,

having gone under cover of darkness.

19.

Not a moment at all did he linger:

20.

the Falcon,

he flew with his followers never letting his army know.

21.

Somehow word reached the King’s other sons, (those with the prince on this expedition)

22.

and someone called one son aside in the dark while I was standing right there.

23.

I heard his very voice while he spoke treason,

while I stood on the rising ground close by!

24.

My heart then hung undone, fear paralyzed my arms,

a shuddering shook my body,

25.

yet I made good retreat, and scurried off to find fit place to hide,

within some bushes that screened the road from the fugitive.

The Exile of Sinuhe CHAPTER TWO

Divisions 26-50

THE EXILE OF SINUHE

26.

Then I continued on upstream,

for I hardly meant to stop by the royal residence,

27.

I feared civil disorder,

nor would I long outlive the late king.

28.

I wandered the Maaty Canal,

crossing it nearby Sycamore,

and touched down on Sneferu’s Island;

29.

I spent the day resting there at the edge of the cultivation

and set out bright the next dawn,

startling a man standing square in my path

who bowed low with respect, for he was afraid.

30.

At last the dinner hour came on,

and I had gained the landing near Cattleford.

31.

I crossed the Nile in a rudderless boat blown on the breath of the west wind.

32.

and faded from sight east of the quarry,

moving south of the lady of Red Peak.

33.

Then I offered the road to my feet,

turning north, and skirted the Walls of the Ruler,

built to ward off vile Asiatics and discourage bedouin wanderers.

34.

I took to crouching down in the brush

for fear of seeing the sentry who was up on the wall, on duty,

and continued on and on through the night.

35.

Day dawned, and I had reached Peten,

alit on an isle of the Great Salt Sea.

36.

Thirst fell, it drove me on;

I was choking, my throat clogged with dust;

37.

and I said, ‘‘So this is the taste of death! ’’

and steadied my heart for the end.

38.

Yet then I heard the lowing of cattle and I saw blest Asiatics!

39.

The chief of that crew knew me (a man who often went down into Egypt),

so he gave me water to drink and afterward boiled me milk.

40.

I returned with him to his nomad people,

and splendid it was, all they did for me!

41.

Land gave me to land once I set out for Byblos,

cutting the ties behind;

42.

Then I turned east toward the Qedem hills,

staying a year and a half in that region.

43.

Then Amunenshi fetched me away (he was ruler of Upper Retenu), saying,

44.

‘‘You would do well with me

and you would hear the accents of Egypt. ’’

45.

He broached this knowing my reputation (he had already heard of my skill);

46.

and native Egyptians vouched for me of those who were with him there.

47.

Then he went on,

‘‘How in the world have you come this far?

48.

Has something occurred at the palace? ’’

49.

And I replied,

‘‘Sehetep-ib-Rê has gone to his last horizon.

50.

One cannot know what happens after. ’’

The Exile of Sinuhe CHAPTER THREE

Divisions 51-85

THE EXILE OF SINUHE

51.

And I added (wide of the truth) that I had returned with the army from Libya,

‘‘They told the news of the coup to me, and my heart shook,

my heart drove me out on the wide ways of flight.

52.

I was not spat upon, nor did they lay charges against me.

53.

I know not what brings me here to this land;

it was a miracle of God,

54.

as if a Delta man should find himself up-River

or a bewildered marshman in the Nubian sand! ’’

55.

At that he mused before me,

“What will poor Egypt do lacking his help,

that late and splendid god?

56.

Respect for him pervades the world

like fear of our Great Lady in a year of plague. ’’

57.

Thus he said, and thus I answered him, ‘

‘Surely his son is risen to the palace,

taking, himself, his father’s heritage:

58.

‘‘For he is a god indeed, without an equal,

no other came to be before him,

59.

Lord of wisdom,

wise in counsel, potent in commanding words;

60.

Envoys come and go to do his bidding,

and he it is subdues the foreign lands:

61.

The father stays behind within the palace, the son reporting:

what is ordered, it is done.

62.

‘‘He is a warrior too, of royal deeds,

brave, with no likenesses among mankind.

63.

He can be seen in splendor scattering foreign hordes once he has joined the heat of battle;

64.

He forces down the bow, unnerves the hand

rebels cannot muster strength for opposition;

65.

He is hawk-eyed, skull-splitting,

none make a stand near him.

66.

‘‘Wide-striding, he shoots down the coward runaway

and there’s an end to all who show their heels.

67.

Unflinching under pressure of assault, he faces forward

never turns his back!

68.

Steadfast he eyes the surging multitude

nor lets the villains gain his center;

69.

Eager, he harries the Easterners,

boasting, herds the barbarians.

70.

‘‘Let him merely seize the shield to enter battle,

he never need do twice the deed of devastation!

71.

There are none who escape his arrow,

none who can draw his bow.

72.

Foreign cohorts flee before him as from the vengeance of the Mighty Goddess;

73.

Fighting in his absence ends,

he cannot linger for the stragglers.

74.

‘‘Yet he is dearly loved,

great of the people’s affection,

75.

taking the throne as his own with their blessing:

76.

His citizens treasure him more than their own flesh,

set him above their own god.

77.

They pass down the roadways singing with joy in him now he is king;

78.

yet he took this land while still with his mother,

his eye on the kingdom before he was born.

79.

‘‘He shall make Egypt’s children be many and multiply,

yet he is one, the one given of God.

80.

Egypt enjoys all he inherited,

now he shall broaden her far-flung borders:

81.

He shall go forth and take the lands of the south,

never think twice of the northern nations;

82.

He is sent by God to smite Asiatics

and grind the desert tribes into dust.

83.

‘‘Write him!

Make sure he knows your name!

84.

And do not weigh the distance to his Majesty

that he may help you as his father did.

85.

He cannot fail to aid a country asking his protection. ’’

The Exile of Sinuhe CHAPTER FOUR

Divisions 86-110

THE EXILE OF SINUHE

86.

Amunenshi then replied to me,

87.

‘‘Egypt surely will be well;

she knows his guiding hand.

88.

Yet you are here, so you shall stay with me;

and I shall do you good. ’’

89.

And so he set me down,

honored among his children,

and wed me to his oldest girl,

90.

And let me have my choice of all his districts

picked from the very best of what was his

up at the border with the neighboring country:

91.

It was a splendid land, called Yaa.

92.

Figs were there, along with grapevines,

wine flowed more plentiful than water.

93.

A land of honey,

endless with olives, and fruits of every kind bent down its branches.

94.

And there was barley there, and emmer;

the land lay well, luxuriant with livestock.

95.

Greatness and power indeed reached out to me

because of his affection.

96.

Then he set me to rule the people in that choicest and best of places.

97.

They furnished me food day by day and wine was a daily pleasure,

with always cooked meat or roast duck or dishes of desert game.

98.

They snared for me and they fished for me,

swelling the catch of my own greyhounds;

99.

And they filled me with numberless sweets,

with milk and abundance of baked goods.

100.

I spent untold years there;

my sons grew to powerful men each leading his own people.

101.

The envoy speeding north or south toward home,

he stopped awhile with me.

102.

Indeed, all mankind knew my courtesy:

103.

I gave the thirsty one to drink,

I set the lost upon his way,

I helped him whom thieves had wrecked.

104.

Now, the Asiatics fell to insurrection baiting rulers of the upland counties;

and I was totally opposed to all their scheming.

105.

So my good lord of Retenu,

he had me spend more years acting as marshal of his forces;

and each hill district flocked to me for refuge.

106.

Then I swept down upon those Asian hordes,

and doom descended on their wells and pastures.

107.

I took their cattle, carried off their farmers;

108.

I seized their harvests and I killed their people

with my strong arm, with my bow,

my tactics and my skillful strategy.

109.

I stood there splendid in my master’s heart,

for he esteemed me; and now he knew that I was brave.

110.

He made me foremost among all his offspring having seen my strong arm prosper.

The Exile of Sinuhe CHAPTER FIVE

Divisions 111-135

THE EXILE OF SINUHE

111.

Then came a doughty chief of Retenu to taunt me,

and to goad me from my tent;

112.

He was supreme, a champion without contenders,

since he had overmanned them, every one.

113.

He said he wanted single combat with me

fully expecting he would lay me low,

114.

Intending to carry off my cattle under the evil urging of his tribe.

115.

The other lord, my chief, he begged a word with me,

I protesting that I did not know the man:

116.

‘‘I am certainly no friend of his that I could wander free in his encampment!

117.

Does it look like I could force his private chamber

having breached his wall and stormed his citadel?

118.

He is elated because he sees me happily embarked on your affairs.

119.

Surely I am like the lead bull of a roving band chanced in the middle of a settled herd:

120.

The hero of the native stock attacks him while other longhorns nudge and menace.

121.

Is ever man of humble origin esteemed in the capacity of master?

122.

No desert wanderer joins with a Delta farmer!

and who would grow papyrus in the mountains?

123.

Is there a bull aching to test the champion

who dares to sound retreat for fear he might not equal him?

124.

If this chief’s lust be all to fight,

let him speak out what weighs upon his mind.

125.

Can God be ignorant of what this man has planned?

126.

The question is, my good lord,

How can we know? ’’

127.

I spent the night testing my bow, cutting and truing arrows,

made some practice passes with my dagger and readied all my gear.

128.

Day dawned; and all Retenu was gathered,

for they had irritated and inflamed its peoples

and gathered districts sympathetic to their cause

129.

O, they indeed had staged this confrontation!

130.

He made his entrance there where I was standing,

for I had made myself available to him.

131.

The thoughts of all burned fierce with anguish for me,

women and men murmured in a foreign tongues;

each heart had pity on me, asking,

132.

‘‘Is there another hero able to do battle with him,

to stand against his shield, his axe, his armful of such deadly missiles? ’’

133.

Then I strode forth amidst his flying weaponry which I let pass me harmless by,

his arrows bit thin air,

one following the other uselessly.

134.

And then he made his charge fully intending there to have me dead;

he neared me and I shot him,

my arrow bedding in his neck;

135.

He groaned, he fell upon his face,

and I dispatched him with his battle-axe.

The Exile of Sinuhe CHAPTER SIX

Divisions 136-165

THE EXILE OF SINUHE

136.

I roared my victory shout over his prostrate form

while each vile Asian howled, and gave thanks to Montu, Lord of Battle,

while his inept supporters wept for him.

137.

Our friend and master, Amunenshi, he embraced me in his arms.

138.

At that I carried off this hero’s goods and took his herds,

what he had planned to do to me I did to him.

139.

I made my own whatever filled his tent

and stripped his campsite bare.

140.

Honor and power and glory were mine from that deed;

141.

only the far horizon bounded my heaped-up riches;

droves of my cattle, uncounted, covered the hills,

142.

thus does God ever act toward a man of good will,

he does not nurse anger against one who has wandered astray to the wrong land.

143.

And this day proves His heart is washed clean!

144.

A fugitive once fled from his neighborhood;

now the word of me thunders back home.

145.

One trusted to stay once crept away hungry;

today I give bread to my neighbor.

146.

A man abandoned his own land in nakedness;

I am one who shines in fine linen.

147.

A man went himself for want of a messenger;

I am a man rich in servants.

148.

Splendid my tent here, and wide my domain,

yet I still have dreams of the palace.

149.

‘‘Lord of all gods, who ordered this flight,

I pray you send me home!

150.

Surely you will let me see the place my heart would dwell.

151.

What better than my body’s union with that earth where I was born?

152.

Come, seek me out,

153.

that a good deed may be done,

and let God give me peace.

154.

‘‘And may He act likewise to dignify the end of one He has afflicted;

155.

May His heart pity one He has condemned

to let life leak away on arid hills.

156.

Is it today indeed that He is reconciled?

157.

Let Him then hear the prayer of one afar!

158.

Let the sojourner cease to range the land of his exile;

let him go back to the country whence God brought him.

159.

‘‘And may the King of Egypt be at peace with me

that I may live within the heartland of his mercy,

160.

and greet my Lady who is in his palace,

and hear tidings of her children.

161.

Then would my very self grow young again!

162.

For now old age is come,

and misery, alone it drives me on;

163.

my eyelids fall, my arms are heavy,

feet fail to follow the exhausted heart.

164.

‘‘O God, be near me for the final journey

that they may guide me to the City of Forever ( )

to follow faithfully the Mistress of Us All.

165.

Then would she tell me it is well with all her children,

that she will while away eternity with me. ’’

The Exile of Sinuhe CHAPTER SEVEN

Divisions 166-195

THE EXILE OF SINUHE

166.

At last it reached his Majesty’s attention,

he of the Sedge and the Bee,

King Kheper-ka-Rê,

about the state that my affairs were in.

167.

And his Majesty sent such a message to me

— accompanied by largesse of the Crown—

168.

As warmed the heart of this his loyal subject like that of any ruler of a foreign country;

and each prince and princess in the palace with him made sure I heard their news.

169.

Copy of the order brought to this loyal subject concerning his return to Egypt:

170.

‘‘The Horus, Life of the Dynasty,

Two Ladies, Life of the Dynasty,

Golden Horus, Life of the Dynasty,

171.

He of the Sedge and the Bee, (north and south kingdoms)

King Kheper-ka-Rê, Son of the Sun,

Senusert, alive through worlds and time,

172.

the Order of the King for my servant, Sinuhe:

173.

‘‘Item.

174.

This edict of the King is brought you to comment on

your transmigration of the lands which go forth east from Qedem to the hills:

175.

‘‘Land gives you to land goaded by phantoms in your fevered brain.

176.

What have you done that one should act against you?

177.

You did not blaspheme that your words should drive you off;

178.

Nor did you ill-speak in the hall of elders that your phrases should rise up to haunt you.

179.

This foolish notion, it made you leave your senses!

nothing like that was ever in my heart against you.

180.

‘‘She, your Heaven in the palace,

lives here still and flourishes today;

181.

Her canopy of love is spread like sky, protecting earth;

her children prosper in the audience chamber.

182.

Now, be assured to have whatever they will give you

so that you may live henceforth on their affection.

183.

‘‘Make your return to Egypt to see once more the home wherein you grew,

to kiss your native land before the towering Twin Doors,

be reunited with my loyal Friends.

184.

‘‘By now old age is come upon you,

manhood cut loose and drifts away;

185.

so think today upon the day of burial,

your passage into light:

186.

‘‘You shall be granted days of darkness with sweet oils,

a linen shroud woven by gentle Taiyt’s hands;

187.

For you they slowly step the last cortege upon that day of mooring, union with the planet:

188.

The coffin all of gold, the mask of heaven’s blue,

the very sky above you caught in the covered shrine;

189.

Oxen draw and singers sing as they precede you,

the dance for those at rest is danced at your last door;

190.

For you they consecrate the funeral banquet

and sacrifice is made upon your altars;

191.

Your pillars rise, cut from the fine white limestone,

close to the very bosom of my Family.

192.

No death of yours shall be on foreign soil,

nor shall mere Asiatics make you into dust;

193.

Never shall you lie wrapped in a sheepskin

that might serve as your enclosure wall.

194.

Death is duration longer than wandering this world;

195.

have care for your eternal body, and come home! ’’

The Exile of Sinuhe CHAPTER EIGHT

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