Isle of Fire

Isle of Fire
A Tour of the Egyptian Further World

Volume One
YakovRabinovich
Copyright 2004 by Invisible Books. All rights reserved. Students and teachers of
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to
Brett Rutherford
author of Poems from Providence, Whippoorwill Road, and
The Gods As They Are On Their Planets,
an entirely great and nearly unknown poet
through his generosity with time, technology and expertise
the foremost benefactor of this press
through his love for Egypt, an inspiration to me
to undertake and persevere in the study of hieroglyphs
my friend for more than 25 years
this book is affectionately dedicated
Contents
Introduction
About this Translation...................................................................9
Recommended Further Reading..................................................11
The Exotic Character of Egyptian Myth......................................14
Part One:
The Passage to the Other World
The Shipwrecked Sailor................................................................21
For the Egyptian, the Other World was located both under the ground
and in the sky. It opened onto our world at many point: tombs, temples,
the horizon, and of course in the here be monsters regions of the
unexplored world. This Middle Egyptian tale of a voyage to the Island of
the Ka is a fine example of the dangerous passage motif: the journey to
the Center is never without its perils.
Sa-Nehet (Sinuhe)........................................................................38
An adventure story which is included here for its sensual description of
funeral rites. I know of nothing which so vividly conveys the Egyptian
romance of burial.
Coffin Text 4.................................................................................84
May earth open its mouth to receive you . . .
Isle of Fire
Part Two:
Cosmology
Book of the Dead 15c....................................................................88
Among the stars: late survival of a motif.
Part Three:
Rebirth
Coffin Text 6.................................................................................92
The souls birth into the world of the dead compared to the emergence
of the new moon and the Niles flooding.
Coffin Text 335a glossed..............................................................94
With its references to baptism and circumcision, this is a very valuable
document on the symbolism of birth and initiation in Egypt.
Part Four:
Gaining Magic Powers
Pyramid Text 273-4.....................................................................108
The famous Cannibal Hymn. One of the more archaic pieces to
survive, this gory, horrific paen to the original unification of Egypt is a
general favorite.
Coffin Text 5...............................................................................120
You who are deceased! take over the sky . . .
Table of Contents
Part Five:
Perils of the Other World
Coffin Text 335b.........................................................................124
Powerful description of dismemberment and decay, prime perils to the
Egyptian soul, whose existence depended on the bodys preservation.
Book of the Dead 7....................................................................128
Spell to hold at bay Apophis, the serpent who personifies death and
nothingness.
Part Six
Daily Life in the World of the Dead
Coffin Text 472............................................................................132
Spell to program a schwabty. A vivid glimpse of the corve labor
expected of all Egyptians.
Book of the Dead 15b..................................................................136
Sorrows of the dead.
Part Seven
Anatomy of the Soul
Book of the Dead 15a..................................................................142
A valuable description of the functions of ak, ba and ka.
Book of the Dead 42...................................................................148
A very rich account of the soul and its transformations, equating it with
Time itself. It also contains a remarkable identification of the human
body with the pantheon: a piece of cosmic humanism in the magnum
miraculum est homo spirit.
Isle of Fire
Part Eight
Mythscape
Coffin Text 335a bare text...........................................................158
Nominally about the souls successful passage into the world of the dead,
this very popular spell offers a birds-eye view of the cosmos from its
creation. Particularly interesting are the mentions of the Phoenix, and of
Hathor as the great wader. The Glossed version is given above under
Rebirth.
The Case of Horus versus Seth....................................................161
A bawdy Late Egyptian new years play, which gives the fullest account
we have of the the battle for kingship between Horus and Seth.
Coffin Text 160...........................................................................234
Seths reintegration into the pantheon as guardian of Ra against the
serpents of darkness.
Isle of Fire: Introduction
About This Translation

This book is a work in progress, to be republished in expanded versions.
The present text, periodically updated, will be available at all times,
without charge, on the internet at www.invisiblebooks.com. Since the book is
unfinished, the somewhat unbalanced emphases of its content will (I
hope) be pardoned. The provision of good texts and translations of the
material seemed so pressing a need that I thought it a poor prudence to
wait many years till the entire opus reached completion. This version
differs from its predecessor (Sept. 2004) by the inclusion of the Late
Egyptian tale Horus versus Seth. Also, the first chapter of the Amduat has
been made part of a separate volume which contains the first half of that
composition. The second half of the Amduat should follow sometime. On
completion of the Amduat, I shall continue to expand the present volume
with more material from the Pyramid and Coffin texts, as well as Late
Egyptian and Coptic sources. This first volume will expand into three
tomes, leading into the two-volume Amduat translation.
The focus of this anthology is the Egyptian Further World. One very
appealing term they used for this was The Isle of Fire. I am selecting
texts solely with an eye to what will provide the best understanding of this
mythic realm. Thus I have eschewed works of purely historical or literary
interest.
I have translated the material in my usual manner, writing notes and
glosses directly into the text. The Egyptologist will, on comparison of the
translations with the glyphs, see clearly what I am doing. The opacity of
the completely word-for-word translations offered by other scholars is
sufficient justification for this proceeding. Both the literal and the literary
styles of translation have their value. The former is to be preferred for
citation in a scholarly article or as a help to students struggling through the
text, dictionary in hand. The latter, the literary style, can be the best and
most concise commentary on the texts meaning, and it is certainly the only
style that can be offered to the non-specialist for pleasure and edification.
Sadly, scholars tend to forget that the purpose of our work is to
communicate and to share it with the world, not merely talk shop amongst
ourselves.
Particularly as regards the best known of the funerary literature (the
Pyramid Texts, the Coffin Texts, and the Book of the Dead), Egyptian religious
writing presents certain unique problems to the translator. Frequently the
spells make somewhat contradictory assertions. (E.g., I am Atum. Atum
is my protector.) The logic here is partial and the meaning is cumulative,
as in dreams or poetry. The translations are as clear as I could make them,
but I stopped short of adding a distinctness foreign to Egyptian thought.
9
About This Translation

Nor did I add a distinctness which betrays the scholarship: names and
epithets of places and deities which are no longer intelligible I have left in
all their frustrating mystery. Where anything useful was known, I wove
that information into the text. So the reader may trust that, in this
translation at least, anything that seems obscure well and truly is.
The only names left bare are those like Atum or Osiris, where general
knowledge, or the context, suffice to clarify. Egyptian names are given in
a close approximation of the Egyptian form, except where the Greek
form (e.g., Osiris for Weseyer) is too entrenched to be displaced. At times
I put in glosses merely for the convenience of the non-specialist, and
these are indicated by parentheses. The experienced reader can skip the
parenthetical material. The slight awkwardness this involves seemed
preferable to making the majority of my readers use a glossary. The
rubrics which precede and follow many of the spells are sometimes
incorporated into them to enhance clarity, but otherwise I have not
reorganized the material, and gaps are indicated with (. . .).
In all cases I have established the text myself by careful comparison,
and synthesized an edited version, in hieroglyphics. My versions include
punctuation and paragraphing, in the manner standard for centuries in
the publication of Classical texts. Such a treatment is now due for
Egyptian, since the syntax is at last adequately understood.
The transcription in algebraic style is a new system devised by
myself, which represents the uniquely Egyptian letters by adding
numerals. Thus the four H sounds are represented by h, h2, h3, h4. This
seemed the best solution for a legible transcription which could be
printed out by anyones computer. The transcriptions are there primarily
to aid students, who want to be able to look up the words. Also I often
give a slightly fuller writing in the transcription where there is ambiguity.
Usually this means the addition of a w for a participle or a stative. I do
this sporadically, for the sake of making the reading easier for students.
More consistent is the writing of the j of weak verbs in their conjugated
forms: this is omitted only when the second letter duplicates, or where it
becomes a y.
I would finally note that I am, like so many humanities scholars of my
generation, in exile from academe. I am thus working independently,
without benefit of funding, or the assistance of colleagues. Thus I will be
particularly grateful to anyone who brings errors to my attention.
12
Recommended Further Reading

Middle Egyptian Grammar
The classical form of the Egyptian language is best learned from James
Hochs Middle Egyptian. This is a sensible and practical adaptation of
Polotskys Standard Theory, and rapidly brings the student to where he
can make critical use of Gardiner.
Sir Alan Gardiners Egyptian Grammar is a book you will absolutely
need. Though outdated as regards the entire verbal system, the rest is
sound, and even what is wrong is presented with such a wealth of
quotation that the book preserves its value. Ideally, after mastering
Hoch, you should read through Gardiner with a pencil, correcting as you
go. Gardiner was also a brilliant scholar and a splendid stylist. His
old-school formal English is a pleasure to read.
Late Egyptian Grammars:

A word of warning in advance: all of these books suffer to varying
degrees from pointlessly descriptive linguistics jargon. The study of Late
Egyptian is still in the same disorder as Middle Egyptian before Hoch did
his fiat lux.
There is really only one good teaching grammar: Francois Neveus
La Langue des Ramses. It is well organized, beautifully laid out, and concise.
One needs a very sound grounding in Middle Egyptian to make use of
this, but it is a marvelous piece of work. Still, it suffers from the general
flaws of the genre and may well prove challenging to those without
considerable linguistic attainments.
The standard treatment available in English is Jaroslav Cernys A
Late Egyptian Grammar. There is also Frandsens Outline of the Late
Egyptian Verbal System (out of print). I am doubtful, though, whether one
could actually learn late Egyptian from these two English language books
alone.
Dictionaries
Faulkners Middle Egyptian is still the best in English, but it is far excelled
by Rainer Hannigs Groes Handwrterbuch gptisch-Deutsch. This covers
not only Middle but also Late Egyptian, which is darned handy since
Leskos L. E. dictionary is out of print and near impossible to come by.
The two companion volumes, one German-Egyptian and one arranged
by topic like a thesaurus, are well worth having. One warning: Hannig has
a rather peculiar way of organizing the headings when it comes to the last
letter, so one is rarely sure when a final letter is going to be ignored and
13
Recommended Further Reading

the word listed near its more primordial form, or if it comes later as an
independent word. This can lead to a bit of page-flipping. Having
Faulkner on hand to find the word fast saves much time.
Finally, I should note that the beginner will find all his dictionary
work greatly assisted by Gardiners grammar because of the excellent
pictorial key to the glyphs. Without this I dont know how youd sort out
some of the more abbreviated writings. Hannigs adaptation of this at the
back of his dictionary, though nice, is not adequate.
As you may have gathered, you need to know German to read
Egyptian. So much of the important scholarship is in this language that
one would do better to master German first.
Secondary Sources
Best general history of Egypt: John A Wilsons The Culture of Ancient
Egypt. This should be supplemented by James Henry Breasteds A
History of Egypt, a larger work which fills in indispensable details of social
history.
Best works on mythology: George Harts A Dictionary of Egyptian
Gods and Goddesses, a handy little guide; Hans Bonnets, Reallexikon der
gyptischen Religionsgeschichte, an indispensable encyclopedia, out of print
for 30 years or so; R.J. Rundle Clarks Myth and Symbol in Ancient Egypt, a
really brilliant study. Reinhold Merkelbachs numerous works about
Egypts influence on the late Classical world cannot be adequately
praised. I mention in particular: Roman und Mysterium in der Antike, and Isis
Regina-Zeus Sarapis. Both of these are fundamental, groundbreaking
works. The first was greeted with bleats of dismay by Classicists and is no
better accepted now than it was 40 years ago. Which says something, and
spares me the trouble of saying it. Bentley Laytons The Gnostic Scriptures,
A New Translation is the one of the best books Ive ever seen on
Gnosticism, and provides a dazzling vista of Egyptian religions latest
development, which recapitulates many themes that were there from the
beginning. Finally, Erik Hornungs books have at last begun to appear
in English. His Valley of the Kings is a beautiful art book and a tantalizing
treatment of the mythscape.
As for translations into English: Raymond Faulkner for the
Pyramid and Coffin texts and The Book of the Dead; Miriam
Lichtheim, and most recently R. B. Parkinson, for the literary ones.
Parkinson has an updated bibliography on the editions and full endnotes
that are often very helpful. Also, some of his solutions to the more
difficult readings are truly brilliant. Very admirable are the translations
offered by John Wilson in the relevant sections of Pritchards Ancient
Near Eastern Texts, which have the best and most concise notes you will
find anywhere. None of these translations, however, is any fun to read as
14

literature. You have to read through them to divine what the original
may have been like. Their main value is as a guide to the student
struggling for the bare meaning of the glyphs.
15
The Exotic Character of Egyptian Myth

Ancient Egypt, protected on every side by deserts and seas, developed in
safety and isolation for the three thousand years of its history. It never
experienced invasion and the large-scale introduction of a new
population as did Sumer, Greece, Rome and India, all of which were
literally submerged by invaders who imposed their language on the
populace. Egypt, like a tidal pool, untroubled by the nearby flow of
history, developed as a static and pellucid world, neither experiencing nor
exerting influence. The few exceptions to this rule, like the Hyksos
invasion or the influence on archaic Greek sculpture, were just that,
exceptions.
Thus Egypts mythology never developed in the extravagant way
others did. From the start to the finish of its history, Egyptian myth was
only concerned with the events of the beginning, and reduced almost
everything to two symbols: the sun and the grain.
Like all peoples, the Egyptians envisioned a religious cosmos which
mirrored the physical, and the central fact of life in cloudless Egypt was
the course of the sun. Certain subsidiary images were drawn from the
Nile. For example, the appearance of land from the Niles subsiding
waters seemed so well to express the rise of order from chaos that the
pyramids were built as emblems of an original hill of land that surfaced
from the waves of chaos. But nothing approached the rising sun, in
adequacy or completeness, as an emblem of the creation.
Second only to the sun was the grain, on which life depended. The
vicissitudes of the plant, yearly slain, buried and re-arisen, formed the
pattern of the god Osiris, a type well known to us from Attis, Tammuz,
Dionysus and Jesus.
There are certain movements discernible in Egyptian religious
history, but they are little more than shifts of emphasis. The hieroglyphic
record begins around 3,000 B.C.E., and in that first millennium, the
Pyramid Age, the kingship was established whereupon arose priesthoods
and nobles whose power increased at the pharaohs expense. During this
time Atum of Heliopolis became the foremost god, though it is not
entirely clear whose interests this favored.
After a short age of chaos (the First Intermediate Period) the
kingdom reestablished itself and made its presence felt throughout the
Near East in the second millennium B.C.E. The new and leading role of
Egypt in world events was echoed by the god Amun, another sun god like
Atum, who took his place at the head of the pantheon. During this
period, less absolutely monarchic than the Pyramid Age, the funeral rites
which had once been exclusive to the king became the province of the
nobles as well.
14

The most spectacular development in Egyptian religious history
came here, in the middle of the second millennium BC: the attempt by
Akhenaten to make the Aten (an aspect of the Sun) the sole god.
Afterwards Amun returned to power, where he remained.
In the last millennium of Egyptian history the country was made
tributary to Ethiopia, Assyria, Persia, Greece and Rome. (A true
conquest, altering cultural patterns, would not come until the Arabs.)
This period saw the relative democratization of the social and religious
world, and the production of the Book of the Dead, which put all the
benefits of royal immortality within everyones reach.
But for all the above-noted developments, the shape of Egyptian
belief remained fairly static, just as did the language, which was virtually
unchanged by 3,000 years of history. The sun god was the supreme deity
at all times, with various alterations of name, and he provided the most
important patterns for existence. This means that we have to go about
studying the Egyptian myths in a different way than we are accustomed
to.
Rather than looking for trends and developments, which really
hardly exist for Egypt in the way they do for, say, Israel or Rome, we need
to understand the constant factors, most of which have gone wholly
unappreciated, and none of which have been given their due weight.
Egyptian mythology needs to be studied thematically more than
historically.
Egypt is, in a sense, the India of the west. Whatever was once
believed and practiced there was so always, and the latest documents take
up themes from the earliest. Nothing is discarded, nothing is excluded.
It is equally important to understand that Egypt is African, not Greek.
Let me first disassociate myself from the silly racist theorizing that thinks
it a very important matter to know just how black the skin of the
Egyptians was. Egypt is African, well and truly, and I mean by African
not the superficial matter of melanin, but the style and content of
thought. (Admittedly, the features I shall enumerate below occur
elsewhere as well, but their combination and emphasis here make for a
distinctively African style).
As a preliminary, we need to bear in mind that we are taught to view
Greek myths as normative, and this is very mistaken. Greek myths are
from a relatively late phase in modernization and desacralization, a phase
where many of the gods have been re-understood as humans and the
myths are turning into fairy tales. Its rather like the stage of German
mythology evinced by the Brothers Grimm collection. This is why there
are so many human heroes in Greek myth and why it seems so colorful
and fast-moving. Everything is being telescoped down into folklore.
Since the Egyptian myths are, like all African mythology, archaic and
traditional, they tell about cosmos and culture. Here, the realm of the
17
The Exotic Character of Egyptian Myth

personal and the subjective is omitted. The gods are primary characters,
and humans have little to do with the action (why would they in a sacred
history of the most important existential events?) This accounts for the,
to our ears, wierdly matter-of-fact tone of the myths. Compared to
African mythology, which isnt interested in the personal, Greek myth
appears mawkishly sentimental.
Next, because this is Africa, we are dealing largely with the realm of
animal fable, like the Uncle Remus stories, the Anansi cycle, or the tales
of Bouqui and Ti Malice. Animal fable is an area of special richness in
African culture, just as animals are the special richness of the African
landscape. If we appreciate this, Egyptian mythology will make more
sense and show its real depth. The contendings of Horus and Seth will
make fullest sense only when we understand that squabbles between the
falcon and the jackal over slain animals were an everyday feature of the
Egyptian landscape.
Other specially African features include the predominance of dialogue.
In Egyptian, as in all African myths, dialogue has a prominence that
European literature reserves for plays. The special African sensitivity to
the spoken word is well known, not only to anthropologists, but to
anyone whos attended a Black Baptist church service, listened to a James
Brown record, or used an up-to-date American slang expression. We are
used to highly descriptive narratives, such as we find in European novels.
The African style is more interested in the expression and the gesture.
The non-descriptive non-naturalistic style of Egyptian and African
narrative is well paralleled by African sculpture. (The realism of Egyptian
sculpture is not an argument against this, for this realism was more
apparent than real, the forms are highly idealized and made symmetrical
in ways that look right to us because they were borrowed by the
Greeks.)
Egypt did finally have an important influence on the west, though
this has been ignored (or denied) to date by Egyptologists. The most
important is the effect of Akhenatens monotheism on Moses, which I
will defend in detail elsewhere, but which Freud established as a serious
theory in Moses and Monotheism. The other great influences are both from
the Greek period, in western Gnostic mythology, whose account of the
beginning has a clear debt to the Egyptian Ennead. Also, the Hellenistic
novel (whence ours developed) is structurally dependent on Egyptian
myth, as Reinhold Merkelbach has demonstrated in Roman und Mysterium.
But these influences were not particularly interactive ones, so they may
be passed over in our consideration of Egyptian myth in itself.
18
Part One
The Passage To
the Other World
The Shipwrecked Sailor

Introduction
This tale comes from the early part of the Middle Kingdom (2052-1570
B.C.E.). A period of feudal anarchy (the First Intermediate Period,
2190-2052 B.C.E.) had just passed. Now came the recentralization of the
state under the pharaohs at Thebes. Restored stability permitted the
reestablishment of foreign trade, and mercantile ventures were carried on
into lower Nubia, the Red Sea, Somaliland, Crete and Lebanon.
Punt was the name which Egyptians used for the Arabian and African
coasts of the Red Sea, whence they obtained exotic luxury goods,
particularly myrrh. The mystique of the region was comparable to that of
Araby the Blest" for Europeans of the age of exploration. Earlier
parallel lands of wonder would be the setting for the Sinbad cycle and for
the Odyssey. On the periphery of the known world, known only by its
incense and perfumes and through travelers tales, Punt was a region of
marvels and magic islands.
The very beginning of the tale is gone (though possibly only a line or
two is lost). The context seems to be this: an official returns to Egypt
after an unsuccessful mercantile mission, fearful of his reception by
Pharaoh. One of the sailors attempts to cheer him with his own tale of
shipwreck and miraculous rescue. Nothing is missing from the body or
conclusion of the narrative, and the shaggy dog story ending is
intentional. The Egyptians were much given to moralizing and proverb
quoting. No doubt the average Egyptian was well tired of it. The officials
pert refusal to draw the expected moral uplift from the tale must have
been quite a crowd pleaser.
The story is well told, and the melancholy giant snake, with his
plaintive praise of family life, is a very memorable figure. The value of the
work for us is primarily as an instance of how the Egyptians of this period
saw the world: as a place where fairy-tale creatures lived just beyond the
horizon, a cosmos unmapped and still suffused with the marvelous.
23
Isle of Fire: Part One

Then the officials loyal retainer said: Be of good heart, my lord! Look,
weve made it back to the palace: the mooring posts been hammered into
the riverbank and the ships tied up securely by the bow. The men have
hugged one another in joy and relief, praising and thanking the gods. Our
crews home safe, without the loss of a single fighting man, though we
went as far as Wawat (in Northern Nubia), we passed Es-en-Mewet (an
island in the first cataract). Our journey was secure and now weve
reached our own land. Listen to me, prince. Im only stating the plain
truth. Bathe, splash some water on your face, make a good showing when
pharaoh calls you to report. Youll be collected when you speak to the
king, youll answer without stammering. Most times a mans tongue is all it
takes to save him, and a well-chosen word covers well a fault.
Youre just indulging your bitterness. Im tired of trying to talk you
into sense. Let me tell you about something similar that happened once to
me. Id shipped out to the royal mining regions in the Sinai, went out to
sea in a boat 200 feet long and 70 feet wide with 120 of Egypts finest
aboard. They were lion-brave in facing either storm at sea or armies on
land, able to read the weather signs of a wind before it rose, of a tempest
before it darkened the sky.
D2d.jn s2msw jqr: Wd2a jb.k, h2aty-a2! Mk ph2.n.n h4nw; s2spw h3rpw,
h2wjw mnjt, h2att rdj.tj h2r ta, rdjw h2knw, dwaw nt2r, s nb h2r h2pt snw.f. Jswt.n.
jj.tj a2d2.tj, nn nhw n ms2a2.n. Ph2.n.n Wawat, snj.n.n Snmt, mk rf.n jj.n m h2tp:
ta.n, ph2.n sw. Sd2m r.k nj, h2aty.j, jnk s2w m h2aw. Ja2j tw, jmj mw h2r
d2ba2w.k. Jh3 ws2b.k ws2d.tw.k. Mdw.k n nsw jb.k m a2.k. Ws2b.k nn njtjt. Jw
r n s nh2m.f sw. Jw mdw.f dj.f t2am n.f h2r.
Jrr.k m h3rt jb.k! Srwd pw d2d n.k. Sd2d.j rf n.k mjtt jry h3prw m-a2.j d2s.j.
S2m.kwj r bjaw n jty, haj.kwj r wad2-wr m dpt nt mh2 s2t md2wy m aw.s, mh2 h2m
m wsh3.s, sqdw s2t md2wy jm.s m stpw n Kmt. Ma.sn pt, ma.sn ta, ma2ka-jb.sn r
maw, sr.sn d2a2 n jjt.<f>, ns2ny n h2prt.f.
24
Passage to the Other World: The Shipwrecked Sailor
25

But a squall came on while we were on the high seas, and before we
had a chance to make land howling winds arose, bringing on 15 foot
waves. The mast took their impact for meand the ship sank. Not one
of the crew survived. A wave carried me to an island in the middle of the
sea. There I passed three days alone, with only my anxieties for company.
I constructed a hut for myself and there I lay, with nothing but my
shadow to keep me warm.
Then I figured it was time I stretched my legs, I needed to see if the
isle had anything I could put in my mouth. What I found was figs and
grapes, and vegetables of all kinds, sycamore fruit in various stages of
ripeness, wild cucumbers fine as a farmer would grow, and also fish and
birds. After Id satisfied my hunger, I still had armloads of what Id
gathered and these I piled neatly on the ground. I cut myself a fire drill to
kindle a flame and this I used to make an offering to the gods.
Then I heard a sound like thunder at first I thought it must be the
roar of oncoming waves, but trees were crashing and the ground shook.
When I peeked through my fingers I saw a serpent coming: it was easily
fifty feet in length with a three or four foot beard, its body covered with
gold scales, with eyebrows of lapis lazuli it was coiling itself up to face
me.
D2a2 prj.w jw.n m wad2-wr, tp-a2 sah2.n ta, faj.tw t2aw jrj.f wh2myt, nwyt
jmj.f nt mh2 h3mn. Jn h3t h2wj n.j st. A2h2a.n dpt mt.tj. Ntyw jm.s, n spj wa2 jm.
A2h2a2.n rdj.kwj r ta jn waw n wad2-wr; jrj.n.j hrw h3mt wa2.kwj, jb.j m snw.j.
Sd2r.kwj m h4nw n kap n h3t. Qnj.n.j s2wyt.
A2h2a2.n dwn.n.j rdwy.j r rh2 djt m r.j. Gmj.n.j dabw jarrwt jm, jaqwt nbt
s2psst, kaw jm h2na2 nqa2wt, s2spwt my jrywt, rmw jm h2na2 apdw. Nn ntt nn st
m h4nw.f. A2h2a2.n ssaj.n.j wj, rdj.n.j r ta n wr h2r a2wy.j. S2djt.j d2a sh3pr.n.j
h3t, jrj.n.j sb-n-sd2t n nt2rw.
A2h2a2.n sd2m.n.j h3rw qrj, jb.kwj waw pw n wad2-wr, h3t h2r gmgm, ta h2r
mnmn. Kfj.n.j h2r.j gmj.n.j h2faw pw, jw.f m jjt! Nj-sw mh2 ma2ba, h3bswt.f wr.s r
mh2 sn, h2a2w.f sh3rw m nbw, jnh2wy.fy m h3sbd ma2a. A2rq sw r h3nt.
26
27

He opened his great mouth for me: I was on my belly trembling
before him. He said: Who brought you, who brought you to this island,
wretched man? Who brought you? If you keep me waiting for an answer
youll find nothing remains of you but ashes, there wont be enough of
you left to put a question to.
I babbled back: I hear you speaking to me, but I cant put your words
together to make sense of them. I know Im here before you, but Im too
terrified to even remember who I am.
Then he took me in his mouth, brought me to his home, set me down
without a scratch, safe, completely uneaten. He opened his mouth at me
again. I threw myself on my belly before him.
Then he said to me: Who brought you, who brought you, unhappy
man, who brought you to this isle in the ocean? Far off, surrounded by
water, no man could have swum here.
Raising my arms in the gesture of adoration as if addressing a god, I
answered: Its like this: I set sail for the Sinai mining region on my kings
business, in a ship 200 feet long and 70 wide. One hundred and twenty of
Egypts finest were on board. They were lion-brave in facing either
storms at sea or armies on land, able to read the weather signs of a wind
before it rose or a tempest before it darkened the sky. Each one was
stronger of arm and more courageous of heart than the next. There
wasnt a fool among them.
Jw wpj.n.f r.f r.j jw.j h2r h4t.j m bah2.f. D2d.f n.j: Nm jnj tw sp-sn, nd2s, nm
jnj tw? Jr wdf.k m d2d n.j <nm> jnj tw r jw pn, rdj.j rh3.k tw jw.k m ss h3pr.tj m nty
n ma.tw.f.
Jw mdw.k n.j, nn wj h2r sd2m st. Jw.j m bah2.k, h3m.n.j wj.
A2h2a2.n rdj.f wj m r.f, jt2j.f wj r st.f nt snd2m, wah2.f wj nn dmjt.j, wd2a.kwj,
nn jt2jt jm.j. Jw wpj.n.f r.f r.j. Jw.j h2r h4t.j m bah2.f. A2h2a2.n d2d.n.f n.j: Nm
jnj tw sp-sn, nd2s? Nm jnj tw r jw pn n wad2 wr nty gswy.fy m nwy?
A2h2a2.n ws2b.n.j n.f st, a2wy.j h3am m bah2.f. D2d.j n.f: Jnk pw haj.kwj r
bja m wpt jty m dpt nt mh2 s2t md2wy m aw.s, mh2 h2m m wsh3.s, sqdw s2t md2wy
jm.s m stpw n Kmt. Ma.sn pt, ma.sn ta, ma2ka-jb.sn r majw. Sr.sn d2a2 n jjt.f,
ns2ny n h2prt.f. Wa2 jm nb, ma2ka jb.f, nh3t a2.f r snw.f. Nn wh3a m h2r-jb.sn.
28
29

But a squall came on while we were on the high seas, and before we
had a chance to make land howling winds arose, bringing on fifteen foot
waves. The mast took their impact, then the ship sank. Of all who were on
board, not a one survived, except me, whom you see here now. No one
brought me I was carried here from the wreck by an ocean wave.
Then he said: Dont fear, dont fear, poor man, dont pale and
tremble, youve made it to me. Some god saved your life when he brought
you to this magic island. It is an island of Ka, the vital generous force that
gives growth to all that lives. The island lacks for nothing, its full of every
good thing.
You will pass the months here until you have completed four
moons, then a ship will come from your home, manned by sailors whom
you know, you will return with them. You will not die in a foreign land.
Happy the man whose sufferings become a tale he may tell, when all his
pain has passed.
Let me tell you about something that happened to me, right on this
island. I lived here with my brothers and sisters and our children together
we numbered 75 serpents, all of them my dear kin. Im not even going to
mention my little daughter, whose birth came in answer to a prayer.
D2a2 prj.w jw.n m wad2-wr, tp-a2 sah2.n ta faj.tw t2aw jrj.f wh2myt, nwyt
jmj.f nt mh2 h3mn. Jn h3t h2wj n.j st. A2h2a.n dpt mt.tj; ntyw jm.s, n spj wa2 jm
h2r-h3w.j, mk wj r gs.k. A2h2a2.n jnj.kwj r jw pn jn waw n wad2-wr.
D2d.jn.f n.j: M snd2w mj sp sn, nd2s, m aytw-h2r.k ph2.n.k wj. Mk nt2r
rdj.n.f a2nh3.k, jnj.f tw r jw pn n ka. Nn ntt nn st m h4nw.f. Jw.f mh2 h4r nfrt nbt.
Mk tw r jrjt abd h2r abd r kmt.k abd fdw m h4nw n jw pn. Jw dpt r jyt m h4nw
sqdw jm.s rh3w.n.k. S2m.k h2na2.sn r h4nw, mt.k m njwt.k. Rs2 wy sd2d dptw.n.f
snj h3t mr.
Sd2d.j rf n.k mjtt jry h3pr m jw pn. Wn.n.j jm.f h2na2 snw.j, h4rdw m qab.sn.
Km.n.n h2faw sfh3yw djw, msw.j h2na2 snw.j. Nn sh2a.j n.k sat ktt jnjt n.j m ss2a.
30
31

Then a star fell on us and they all vanished in its flame. By merest
chance I wasnt there with them when they burned. I wasnt there but
when I found them, all one heap of ashes, then I died too. Losing them
was really nothing less than death.
Now, if youre as brave a man as you look, pull yourself together!
You will hold your children in your arms again, youll kiss your wife, see
your house theres nothing more beautiful and good than these
things. Youll make it home, be back with your brothers and sisters.
I was outstretched before him, flat on my belly, touching the ground
with my forehead. I answered: I will make report of your power to my
sovereign, make your greatness known in the palace. I will see to it that
you are sent precious resin, rare fragrant oil, incense and spice, as well as
the holy incense of our temples that placates all the gods. I will relate
everything that has befallen me, the eyewitness account of your magic
powers. The gods will be thanked for your existence, in the capital,
before all the princes and officials of the land. I will slaughter cattle and
offer them on altars to you, I will wring the necks of birds in sacrifice. I
will send you ships laden with all the finest products of Egypt, as is done
for a foreign god, hitherto unknown, who has shown favor to us in a
distant land.
A2h2a2.n sba hajw, prj.n na m h3t m a2.f. H3pr.n {rs} nn wj h2na2
a2m.n.sn. Nn wj m h2r-jb.sn. A2h2a2.n.j mt.kwj n.sn, gmj.n.j st m h4ayt wa2t.
Jr qnj.{n.}k, d2ar jb.k! Mh2.k qnj.k m h4rdw.k, snj.k h2mt.k, ma.k pr.k.
Nfr st r h3t nbt. Ph2.k h2nw, wn.k jm.f m qab snw.k.
Wn.kwi rf dma.kwj h2r h4t.j dmj.n.j satw m bah2.f. D2d.j rf n.f: Sd2d.j
baw.k n jty, dj.j ss2a.f m a2a.k, dj.j jnj.tw n.k jbj h2knw jwdnb h4sayt snt2r n
gsw-prw sh2tpw 1 nt2r nb jm.f. Sd2d.j rf h3prwt h2r.j m mawt.n.j m baw.k.
Dwa-nt2r.tw n.k m njwt h3ft-h2r qnbwt ta r d2r.f. Sft.j n.k jh2w m sbj-n-sd2t.
Ws2n.{n.}j n.k apdw, dj.j jnj.tw n.k h2aw atpw h4r s2spw n Kmt mj jrrt n nt2r
mrrw rmt2 m ta wa n rh3 sw rmt2.
I can only take this to be an imperfect participle: incense of the temples, which
placate every god with it.
32
33

Then he laughed at me and my solemn declarations, which seemed
very silly to him. He said: Myrrh and holy incense are not so common in
Egypt that you can spare them. I am, however, the ruler of Punt, and the
worlds myrrh supply comes from me. The precious oil you promise to
bring is the principal product of this island. Further, I dont believe you
can plan on sending me anything, for as soon as you leave this island it
will vanish into the waves never again to be seen.
Then that ship came, just as he had prophesied. I went and climbed to
the top of a tree and saw what sort of men were on it. I returned to report
what Id learned, only to find he already knew. Then he said to me: Safe
journey, safe journey, poor man, to your home. You will see your
children. Make a good report of me in your city, thats my one demand of
you.
I prostrated myself before him, lifting my arms to him in worship.
Then he gave me a load of myrrh, precious oils, incense, spice, kohl and
other cosmetics, giraffe tails, holy incense in chunks, elephant tusks,
dogs, long-tailed monkeys, baboons, every noble and excellent good
imaginable.
So I loaded this onto the ship and once more prostrated myself to
him in adoration. He told me: You will reach home in two months, you
will hold your children in your arms, you will live and flourish in your
home to a good age and enjoy a fine burial.
A2h2a2.n sbt2.n.f jm.j m nn d2d.n.j n.f m nf m jb.f. D2d.f n.j: N wr n.k
a2ntyw, h3prt nb snt2r. Jnk js h2qa Pwnt, a2ntyw n.j jmy sw. H2qnw pf d2d(w).n.f
jnjt.f, bw pw wr n jw pn. H3pr js jwd.k tw r st tn, nn sp ma.k jw pn h3pr(w) m nwy.
A2h2a2.n dpt tf jj.ty my srt.n.f h3ntw. A2h2a2.n s2m.kwj, rdj.n.(j) wj h2r h3t
qa sja.n.j ntyw m hnw.s. A2h2a2.n s2m.kwj r smjt st. Gmj.n.j sw rh3(w) st.
A2h2a2.n d2d.n.f n.j Snb.tj sp-sn, nd2s, r pr.k. Ma.k h4rdw.k. Jmj rn.j nfr m
njwt.k. Mk h4rt.j pw jm.k.
A2h2a2.n rdj.n(.j) wj h2r h4t.j, a2wy.j h3am(w) m bah2.f. A2h2a2.n rdj.n.f
n.j sbjt m a2ntyw, h2knw, jwdnb, h4sayt, tjs2ps, s2aa2s, msdmt, sdw nw ma2ma2w,
mrryt a2at nt snt2r, nd2h2yt nt abw, t2smw, gwfw, kyw, s2psst nbt nfrt.
A2h2a2.n atp.n.j st r dpt tn. H3pr.n rdj.kwj 1 h2r h4t.j r dwa-nt2r n.f.
A2h2a2.n d2d.n.f n.j: Mk tw r spr r h4nw n abd sn. Mh2.tw knj.k m h4rdw.k,
rnpy.k m h4nw, qrs.tw.k.
1 The text reads rdj.tw.j, which is not really possible: a vivid shift to the present
doesnt fit. The emendation of the bread loaf to the handled basket fits easily and makes
the tense sequence work.
34
35

I descended to the shore, approached the ship, called to the crew to
raise anchor, and there on the sand I raised a shout of thanks to that
islands kind lord the whole crew joined me in it. We sailed north up
the Red Sea, making for Thebes, passing the deserts of Arabia on our
right and the land of Nubia on our left. Exactly as foretold we reached the
royal palace at the end of two months. I was brought into his majestys
presence and delivered all the gifts Id brought from the magic island. The
king thanked the gods for my return, in the presence of the whole court. I
was made one of his majestys retainers and endowed with a household of
servants. Thats how it worked out for me after I returned, when I set foot
on solid Egypt after all my adventures. Listen to me, its good for a man to
be open to advice.
The official, having heard the entire tale, replied: Friend, dont try
and give me your mature and sensible view of things. Whats the point of
giving fresh water to a bird at dawn on the morning hell be slaughtered?
A2h2a2.n haj.kwj r mryt n haw dpt tn. A2h2a2.n.j h2r jas2 n ms2a2 nty m
dpt tn, rdj.n.j h2knw h2r mryt n nb n jw pn, ntwyw jm.s r mjtt jry. Na2jt pw jrj.n.n m
h3d r h4nw n jty. Spr.n.n r h4nw h2r abd sn mj d2dt.n.f nbt. A2h2a2.n a2q.kwj
h2r jty, ms.n.j n.f jnw jnjw.n.j m h4nw n jw pn. A2h2a2.n dwa-nt2r.n.f r.j h3ft-h2r
qnbt ta r d2r.f. A2h2a2.n rdj.kwj r s2ms2w, sah2.kwj m tpw.f
Ma wj r-sa sah2.j ta, r-sa ma.j dpt.n.j. Sd2m r.k [n r.j]. Mk nfr sd2m n rmt2t!
A2h2a2.n d2d.n.f n.j: M jrj(w) jqr, h3nms.j. Jn-m rdj.{t} mw n apdw h2d2-ta
n sft.f dwa?
36
37
Sa Nehet
Sa-Nehet
Introduction
A few lines into our story we learn that the hero, Sa-Nehet, lived in
the time of Es-en-Weseret, whose regnal dates are 1918-1875 B.C.E.. For
this reason the composition is generally placed after this latters death,
which means its probably from the mid 19th century B.C.E. That makes it
a later Middle Kingdom composition, from the 12th dynasty.
There are a great many extant copies of this tale, which testifies to its
popularity a popularity which may be hard to understand on the basis
of the heretofore available English translations.
In fact, this tale is a tour de force, switching nimbly from literary genre to
literary genre, showing a dazzling mastery of each. It opens as a
tombstone autobiography, an extended epitaph, a mode which it follows
with elegance and dignity. The body of the narrative is in brisk, terse
prose, as befits an adventure story (a style which I was not always able to
reproduce, since it is upon me to weave in explanations and glosses as
well). This is in turn relieved by passages of highly competent if
somewhat formal poetry. The most impressive feature of the work is its
use of proverb. Proverbial wisdom was an essential part of an officials
education in the ancient near east, and here we see it in action as Sa-Nehet
quotes his way through his dealings with Amunenshi.
The tale of Sa-Nehet shows a real though not profound acquaintance
with Bedouin culture, and the characterization of Amunenshi gracious
and calculating, generous and suspicious is the vividly real depiction of
a type yet to be met with in the Nile to Oxus region.
The interest of the story is not however Sa-Nehets travels, or even
his combat with the Goliath-like desert warrior, though these exotic and
adventurous touches were enjoyed by the contemporary audience. The
fascination lies rather in Sa-Nehets Ulysses-like ability to present himself
to and reinvent himself for every person who may have power over him,
from Amunenshi to Pharaoh. Sa-Nehet was a model of skill and address,
a true diplomat, such as anyone who wished to rise in a monarchy had to
be. It is to bring this out that the story deploys its range of tones and
styles.
For the historian of religion the most valuable datum here is the portrayal
of burial. In the modern west death is hidden like a shameful secret. The
sensuous description of burial given in the kings letter of invitation is
invaluable for correctly understanding the Egyptian view of death, and
indeed Egypt itself. This nation viewed itself as the great Necropolis,
capitol of the world of the dead. As low as the Egyptian opinion was of
38
life in barbarian lands, far more intense was the horror they felt at the
thought of burial there. Egypt itself was the populous city of eternity, the
very Manhattan of death. Life and even more Death in Egypt was
infinitely desirable.
41
Sa-Nehet
The noble lord, minister of Egypts laws and land, prince among the
savage Bedouin of Canaan, beloved of his sovereign, trusted and true,
Sa-Nehet, may he rest in peace, left this account of his career as his fitting
epitaph:
I was a warrior of my master the king, resident at court and member
of the royal household, servant of that most noble and gracious lady
Queen Neferew (peace be upon her!), wife of King Es-en-Weseret (who
now rests in his pyramid at Henem-Sewet) and daughter of King
Amun-em-hat (who now sleeps in his tomb at Qa-Neferew.)
My story begins about 1875 B.C.E., in the first half of the Twelfth
dynasty, in the thirtieth year after Amun-em-hat had renewed the world
by his coronation, in the third month of the Niles autumnal flooding, on
the seventh day of the month, when
King Amun-em-hat, now a god, ascended to the further world;
this lord of Egypt, he soared to heaven, rejoined Ra;
the divine earthly king became one with his creator.
The royal apartments were silent, everyone was dazed,
the great gates of the palace were sealed.
Courtiers sat on the ground, head on knees,
all the nobles moaned.
Jry-pa2t h2atj-a2, sab ad2-mr, jty m taw stjw, rh3 nsw maa2 mry.f, s2msw
Sa-Nht: d2d.f:
Jnk s2msw s2msw nb.f, bak n jpat nsw, jrt pa2t wrt h2swt, h2mt nsw S-n-wsrt m
H4nm-Swt, sat nsw Jmn-m-H2at m Qa(j)-Nfrw, Nfrw, nbt jmah3.
H2a2t-sp ma2ba, abd h3mt ah3t, sw sfh3:
(J)ar 1 nt2r r ah3t.f;
n-sw-bjt (Sh2tp-Jb-Ra2), sh2r.f r pt,
h4nm(w) m jtn,
h2a2w-nt2r abh3(w) m jr(j) sw.
Jw h4nw m sgr, jbw m gmw,
rwty wrty h3tmw;
s2nyt m tp h2r masty,
pa2t m jmw.
42
Passage to the Other World: Sa Nehet
1 First instance here of the emphatic second tense. The frequency of this structure
is one of the most striking features of the tale. (The emphatic second tense isnt always
particularly emphatic, although it does reliably shift the emphasis away from the verb
and onto the circumstances surrounding the action.) Though this is the authors
favored structure, virtually all the other means of avoiding an introductory particle are
employed as well, e.g., statives, fronted nouns, predicate adjectives, &c. By avoiding
introductory particles, the author achieves a terse, abrupt tone, such as we would
associate with a military dispatch or a hard-boiled detective novel. It creates a mood
of high but understated drama.
43

Shortly before his death, Amun-em-hat had sent his army against the
Libyans. Es-en-Weseret, his eldest son, was commander of the
expedition. Hed been dispatched to ravage the land and its people, and
he was now on his way back, having taken many of the inhabitants
captive, as well as seizing immense herds of their cattle.
At this point a certain faction at court sent messengers to the western
border, to Es-en-Weseret, informing him of the events at the palace:
King Amun-em-hat was dead (and apparently assassinated). The envoys
reached Es-en-Weseret at sunset, on the return march. Hearing the news,
he didnt hesitate a second. He knew exactly what to do. He gave orders
that the army was not to be informed, and flew back to the palace fast as a
falcon, taking with him only his personal bodyguards.
Envoys came from Es-en-Weseret at the palace. All the other royal
princes were still with the army, without any idea of what had occurred.
The envoys summoned one prince to return with them for an appearance
before the throne.
(Es-en-Weseret had seized power, and now he was going to execute
anyone whod had a part in the killing of Amun-em-hat, and probably
anyone he thought might later challenge him for the crown.) I happened to
be standing nearby when the royal envoy delivered his message. I knew
what this invitation to appear before his majesty meant. As I listened, my
body went rigid and my brain shut off. I felt terror in every cell. I bolted, ran
to find a place to hide. I lay on the ground under a clump of bushes until the
army had passed and there were no more travelers on the road.
Jst rf sb(j).n h2m.f ms2a2 r ta T2mh2w, sa.f smsw m h2ry jry, nt2r nfr
S-n-Wsrt. Tj-sw hab(w) r h2w(j)t h3swt, r sqr jmyw T2h2nw. Tj-sw h2m jj.f, jn(j).n.f
sqrw-a2nh3 n T2h2nw, mnmnt nbt nn d2rw.sn. Smrw nw stp-sa hab.sn r gs jmnty r
rdjt rh3 sa nsw ss2m h3pr(w) m a2h4nwty. Gm(j).n sw wpwtyw h2r wat. Ph.n.sn sw r
tr n h3awy. N sp sjn.n.f rsj. Bjk ah4(j).f h2na2 s2msw.f nn rd(j)t rh3 st ms2a2.f.
Jst hab(w) r msw nsw wnw m-h3t m ms2a2 pn. Njs.n.tw n wa2 jm. Jst wj
a2h2a2.kwj sd2m.n.j h3rw.f. Jw.f h2r mdt, jw.j m a2rw. Psh3 jb.j, ss2 a2wy.j, sda
h3r(w) m a2t.j nbt. Nfa2.n.j wj m nfnft r h2h2y n.j st dgt. Rdjt.j 1 wj jmjtw baty r jwdt
wat s2msw.s.
Rdjt.j is a narrative infinitive, of which we shall see many more; r jwdt wat s2msw.s is
literally until the roads separating its travelers.
44
45

I proceeded southwards, though Id no intention of going as far as
the capital, Thebes. I expected there would be fighting there between
Es-en-Weserets supporters and whatever factions thought they had a
chance at making their own man king. I didnt expect to survive that,
whoever won. I went south, passed the Truth canal near Giza and
Hathors great sycamore tree and shrine. My plan was to continue south
till I got beyond the delta, so I could cross the Nile at a single ford. I
reached the Happy Fields Funeral Estate, a park-necropolis temple
complex founded back in the Fourth dynasty (27th to 26th centuries BCE,
a good 600 years before my time). There I passed the night at the edge of
a field. I rose at daybreak.
Early as it was, I still ran into a man who happened to be on the road.
He scared me out of my wits with his Good morning! By evening Id
reached the crossing at Oxenford and I set out over the Nile in a shallow,
rudderless skiff. The west wind filled its sail and so it brought me to the
eastern shore. I proceeded now northeast, skirting the quarries near the
fertile knolls called the Red Hills of Hathor. I kept on northwards, to
where Egypt ends and the Sinai peninsula begins. Finally I reached Fort
Royal, a border outpost built to keep Bedouin and other sand rovers in
their place and out of Egypt. I curled up to sleep in some underbrush
where the soldier on watch-duty wouldnt notice me.
At nightfall I continued on. The sun was rising when I reached Peten.
I was now out of Egypt and on the Sinai. Id left fertile ground behind for
rocks and sand. When I reached the salt marsh at Kem Wer, I paused in
my flight. Thats when thirst caught up with me, and when it did it tackled
me, brought me to my knees. I was totally dehydrated, my tongue was
stuck and my throat wouldnt open. I thought to myself: So this is what
death tastes like. But suddenly I found myself coming out of my daze,
picking myself up Id heard the sound of cattle lowing and saw, in the
distance, Bedouin! And they saw me, alone and helpless. But their sheikh,
who had been in Egypt, recognized me, and so he gave me water,
prepared me a dish made from yoghurt (which was as much as my
stomach could have handled) and I went with him back to his tribe.
Jrt.j s2mt m h3ntyt. N ka(j).j spr r h4nw pn, h3mt.n.j h3pr h2aa2yt. Nn d2d
a2nh3 r-sa.f. Nm(j).n.j Maa2ty m haw Nht. Sma.n.j m Jw-Snfrw. Wrs2.n.j m a2d2
n sh3t. H2d2.n.j wn hrw, h3p(j).n.j s a2h2a2(w) m r wat. Twr.n.f wj smd2(w) n.f!
H3pr.n. tr n mswt, sah2.n.j r Dmj-Ngaw. D2a(j).n.j m wsh3t nn h2mw.s m swt n
jmnty. Sn(j).n.j h2r jabty jkw m h2ryt Nbt-d2w-ds2r. Rd(j)t.j wat n rdwy.j m h3d.
Dm(j).n.j Jnbw H2qa, jryw r h3sf styw r ptpt nmyw s2a2y. Ss2p.n.j ksw m bat m
snd2 maa wrs2y tp jnb jmy hrw.f.
Jr(j)t.j s2mt r tr n h3awy. H2d2.n ta ph2.n.j Ptn; h3n(j).kwj r ta n Km-Wr.
H3r.n. jbt, as.n.f wj; ntb.kwj, h3h3 h3m(w). D2d.n.j: Dpt mwt nn. T2s.j jb.j,
saq.j h2a2w.j,1 sd2m.n.j h3rw nmj n mnmnt. Gmh2.n. wj styw! Sja.n wj mt2n jm pa
wnn h2r Kmt. A2h2a2.n rd(j).n.f n.j mw, psjf.n.f n.j jrtt, s2m.n.j h2na2.f n wh2yt.f.
46
An abrupt transition to the present, for the sake of vividness.
47

They were most kind, but I passed on from land to land, seeking
somehow to recover my fortunes. I went up as far as Byblos on the coast
of Lebanon, then further inland into the Qedem region. Id been there a
year and a half when Amunenshi, ruler of northern Canaan, summoned
me to his court.
Youre going to like this place, he told me. Its no backwaterwe
speak Egyptian here! This was an invitation to stay at his court. He had a
number of Egyptians in his retinue, and it was they whod recommended
me to him as a man of character and experience.
What brought you to Canaan? asked Amunenshi, Did something
happen in the palace? Now wed gotten to the point, and I had to
address it nimbly.
King Amun-em-hat the First passed on to glory, and no one knew
precisely under what circumstances and, I thought to myself, if
Amunenshi ever did, it wouldnt be from me. I was returning from the
Libyan expedition when the news reached me. My mind went blank, I
was sick to my stomach with grief and fear. All I could think of was to
run.
Not that I needed to. I wasnt even thought of in relation to the
kings death, much less discussed, blamed, spat upon or even grumbled
at. No herald was summoning me to appear and explain. I really dont
know what sent me fleeing here from Egypt. Looking back, it seems like
some god made it happen. I was, as the proverb goes,
bewildered as a man from the delta marshes would be
to find himself all the way up the Nile
where the first cataract pours down the mountain;
lost as a man from the Nile-mouth lagoons
in the wooded hills of Nubia.
Nfr jr(j)t.n.sn, rd(j).n wj h3ast n h3ast. Fh3.n.j r Kpnj, hs(j).n.j r Qdm. Jr(j).n.j
rnpt gs jm jn(j).n wj A2mwnns2j. H2qa pw n Rt2nw H2rt. D2d.f n.j: Nfr tw
h2na2.j. Sd2m.k r n Kmt! D2d.n.f nn rh3.n.f qd.j, s2saw.j. Mtr.n wj rmt2 Kmt
ntyw jm h2na2.f. A2h2a2.n d2d.n.f n.j: Ph2.n.k h2r sy-jss2t? Jn jw wn h3prt m
h4nw? A2h2a2.n d2d.n.j n.f:
N-sw-bjt (Sh2tp-Jb-Ra2) wd2aw r ah3t, n rh3.n.tw h3prt h2r.s. D2d.n.j
swt m jwms. Jj.n.j m ms2a2 ta T2mh2, wh2m.tw n.j: 1 jb.j adw, h2a2ty.j ntf(w) m
h4t.j. Jn(j).n.f wj h2r wawt wa2rt, n wfa.tw.j, n psg.tw r h2r.j, n sd2m.j t2s-h2wrw, n
sd2m.tw rn.j m r wh2mw. N rh3.j jn(j).t wj r h2ast tn. Jw mj sh3r nt2r.
Mj maa sw jdh2y m Abw,
s n h4at m ta Styw.
1
Another historical present.
48
49

Amunenshi now spoke in low and reverent tones, as though I were
an envoy from Pharaoh.
And what is the state of your country, he asked, deprived of that
powerful god Amun-em-hat? All foreign lands feared him like the
plagues Sekmet sends in a year when shes angry.
I drew myself up, looked him in the eye, and improvised this poem in
reply:
Be at ease, his son has ascended the throne,
entered the palace, his fathers rightful heir,
a god, without his fellow in the firmament,
supreme in knowledge, wise in strategy,
peerless as a leader.
He it was who conquered barbarian lands:
his father remained in the palace
while this one made decrees realities.
Hes a hero who achieves with his own right arm,
a force without parallel
when he moves on foreign bowmen,
when he faces down opponents.
A2h2a2.n d2d.n.f h3ft.j: Wnn jrf ta pf mj-m m h3mt.f, nt2r pf mnh3, wnnw
snd2.f h3t h3aswt mj Sh3mt rnpt jdw? D2d.kwi r.j n.f:
Nh2mn sa.f a2q(w) r a2h2,
it2j.n.f jwa2t nt jt.f,
nt2r pw grt nn snw.f,
nn ky h3pr h4r-h2at.f;
nb sajt pw, jqr sh3rw,
mnh3 wd2wt,
prjt hajt h3ft wd2.f.
Ntf dar h3swt;
jw jt.f m h4nw a2h2.f
smj.f s2ajt.n.f h3pr.
50
Nh3t pw grt jrj m h3ps2.f,

pr-a2, nn twt n.f
maa.tw.f, haj.f r pd2t,
h4a2m.f r d2ayw.
51

He could wrestle a bull to the ground by its horns:
no arm he grabs has any strength left.
He works off his rage by shattering skulls,
no enemy battle line holds against him,
no one near hims left standing.
The ground flees beneath his far-striding feet and the enemy turns to
run,
anyone who tries to escape him is as good as cornered already.
Theres nothing more stubborn than he is leading a charge,
he never turns back he makes others retreat.
Seeing the enemy massed just makes him braver,
it doesnt occur to him to pause;
when he sees a foreign army his eyes light up,
its his joy to rush upon enemy archers.
He grabs his shield, hes already beating them down,
he doesnt need to strike twice to kill.
No one escapes his arrow,
no one grabs away his bow.
Wa2f a2b pw, sgnn drwt,
n t2s.n h3rw skw.
Ja2j-h2r pw ts2 wpwt,
n a2h2a2.n.tw m haw.f.
Pd2 nmtt pw skj.f bhaw,
nn ph2wy n dd n.f sa.
A2h2a2-jb pw m at sasa,
a2n pw n rdj.n.f sa.f.
Wmt-jb pw maa.f a2s2at,
n rdj.n.f h2ms h2a jb.f.
Wdj-h2r pw ma.f Jabtyw
rs2w.f pw hajt.f r pd2t.
T2aa.f jkm.f, tjtj.f,
n wh2m.n.f a2 h4db.f.
Nn wn rwj ah2aw.f.
Nn jth2 pd2t.f.
52
53

Barbarians run to escape from his hands
which fight with all the power of Hathor herself.
For him the engagements the same as the outcome:
once he begins, he has no further concern.
Hes a kind, most gracious lord
who conquers hearts no less than lands:
the capital loves him more than life,
worships him more than their city god.
Men outdo women in praising him.
Hes king, a title he claimed in the womb:
hes pursued nothing else since the day he was born.
Hes prospered all things born in his time,
this unexampled man, this gift of the gods!
Glad indeed, the country he rules;
he broadens its borders, expands its lands.
Hell seize Nubia and the other southern countries,
Syria and Canaan are beneath his notice,
he was born to thrash the bands of Bedouin,
to trample all who travel the sands.
Bha pd2t a2wy.fy
mj baw n Wrt.
A2h2a2.f, h3mt.n.f ph2wy,
n saw.n.f n spyt.
Nb jmat pw, a2a bnrt
jtj n.f m mrwt,
mrj sw njwt.f r h2a2w.sn,
h2a2j st1 jm.f r nt2r.sn.
Swa t2ayw h2mwt
h2r rnwt jm.f.
Jw.f m nsw jt2j.n.f m swh2t,
jw h2r.f r.s d2r msjt.f.
Sa2s2a pw msyt h2na2.f,
wa2 pw n dd nt2r:
rs2 wy ta pn h2qa(w).n.f.
Swsh3 tas2w pw.
54
Jw.f r jt2t taw rsyw.

Nn kaj.f h3swt mh2tywt;
jrj.n.tw.f r hwjt styw,
r ptpt nmyw s2a2.
1 Either we emend this to .s, referring back to njwt, or we take it as a dependent
pronoun after a participle (h2a2jw) used as a predicate adjective. Lectio difficilior praeferenda,
not that it makes much difference here, though.
55

Write to him, make yourself known to him as one who, though
distant, is solicitous for his majesty. He will not tire of doing good to a
land that looks to him. He supports countries loyal to him as the Nile
supports each boat that entrusts itself upon it.
Amunenshi then replied, in yet more awed tones, as though in the
presence of Pharaoh himself:
How happy then is Egypt, which knows his potence close up! But
look, while you are with me, I will do good things for you.
He treated me as though I were his heir; he married me to his eldest
daughter, gave me the choicest part of his lands, that is, of his outlying
lands which formed the border with other princedoms. I selected a region
called Ya-a. It had figs and grapes, in fact it was so fertile it had more wine
than water. Rich in honey, plentiful in trees yielding oil, it produced fruits
of every kind. The land had limitless emmer wheat and barley, as well as
all the cattle one could wish.
I found myself, as Amunenshis favorite, extremely well provided for.
Hed made me chieftain of the clans residing in Ya-a, so daily the people
brought me bread, an ongoing supply of wine, cooked beef and grilled
fowl, not to mention wild goat. They hunted for me, presented me their
catch, and I also had whatever game I cared to bring down myself with my
dogs. Of course there was no lack of dairy products, milk, yoghurt, cheese
and the like.
Hab n.f! Jmj rh3.f rn.k m s2njy wajw r h2m.f. Nn tm.f jrjw bw nfr n h3ast
wnnty.sy h2r mw.f.
D2d.jn.f h3ft.j: H3r h2m Kmt nfrt ntt.s rh3.tj rwd2.f! Mk tw a2a: wnn.k
h2na2.j, nfr jrjt.j n.k.
Rdj.n.f wj m h2at h4rdw.f; mnj.n.f wj m sat.f wrt; rdj.n.f stp.j n.j m h3ast.f, m stp
n wnt h2na2.f h2r tas2.f n kt h3ast. Ta pw nefer, Jaa rn.f. Jw dabw jm.f h2na2
jarrwt, wr n.f jrp r mw, a2a bjt.f, a2s2a baq.f, dqr nb h2r h2tw.f. Jw jt jm h2na2 bdt
nn d2rw, mnmnt nbt.
A2a grt dmjt n.j m jj(t) n mrwt.j1. Rdjt.f wj m h2qa wh2yt m stp n h3ast.f, jrj(w)
n.j a2qw mjnt, jrp m h4rt hrw, jwf psj(w), apd m as2r(w) h2rw r a2wt h3ast. Jw
grg.tw n.j. Jw wah2.tw n.j h2rw r jnw n t2smw.j. Jw jrj.<tw> n.j [ ] a2s2aw, jrtt m
pst nbt.
A little tricky. dmjt n.j : a passive participle, what was brought to me; m jj(t) is
another active participle, as a thing which came; n mrwt.j for love of me.
56
57

Thus I passed many years. Sons were born to me, grew to be warriors,
each one a clan chieftain. Whenever an envoy headed south for Egypt, he
stopped with me I entertained all travelers. I gave water to the thirsty,
set the lost back on their path, rescued those robbed by bandits. When
the Bedouin tested me, making raids to see how secure my rule was, I
responded with organized sorties. Amunenshi, as prince of Northern
Canaan, had me spend many a campaign season in charge of his army.
Any region I set out against, I defeated so the people didnt dare return to
their oases and grazing grounds. I plundered their flocks, carried off their
dependents as slaves, seized their stored provisions. I slew their men with
my own right arm, my bow, my troops, my superior tactics. Amunenshi
valued me highly, loved me, for he saw how brave I was. Recognizing my
courage and address, he preferred me to his own sons.
Came a warrior out of Canaan,
summoned me from my tent.
A hero, no one like him,
none approached him no one dared!
Hed in mind a fight with me,
planned out how hed beat me down,
drive my cattle off. Hed deal with me
while his whole tribe watched.
Jrj.n.i rnpwt a2s2wt, h4rdw.j h3prw m nh3tw, s nb m dar wh2yt.f. Wpwty h3dj
h2ntj r h4nw, abj.<n.>f h2r.j. Jw sab.<n.>j rmt2t nbt. Jw.j dj.<n>.j mw n jb,
rdj.n.j tnm h2r wat, nh2m.n.j a2wa(w). Styw waj(w) r s2tm, r h3sf h2qaw h3aswt,
d2aj.n.j s2mt.sn. Jw h2qa pn n rt2nw, dj.<n.>f jry.j rnpt a2s2wt m t2sw n ms2a.f.
H3ast nbt rwjt.n.j r.s, jrj.n.j hd{j} jm.s dr.tw h2r smw h4nmwt.s. H2aq.n.j
mnmnt.sn jnj.n.j h4rw.s, nh2m<.n.j> wnmnt.sn. Sma.n.j rmt2t jm.s m h3ps2.j, m
pd2t.j, m nmtwt.j, m sh3rw.j jqrw. Ah3.n.<j> m jb.f, mrj.n.f wj rh3.n.f qnn.j.
Rdj.n.f wj m h2at hrdw.f ma.n.f rwd a2wy.j.
Jwt nh3t n Rt2nw
mt2a.f wj m jmaw.j.
Pry pw nn snw.f,
dr.n.f s1 r d2r.s.
D2d.n.f a2h2a.f h2na2.j
h3mnt.n.f hwjt.f wj.
Kaj.n.f h2aq mnmnt
h4r sh2 n wh2yt.f.
58
1 dr.n.f s Its not very clear what the s is. Either he cleared it, the land, (sc. of rivals) to
its limits, or he drove away them (read st for s), that is, his rivals, to the limits (sc. of the
land). I would favor the latter.
59
Amunenshi conferred with me to ascertain how this situation had

arisen. I told him:
I dont even know who he is. Im not a friend of his who drops by his
camp for an afternoon visit, much less a thief whos climbed over his
fences at night to help himself to the cattle pens. What we have here is
someone who doesnt like seeing me carry out your orders. I am, as the
proverb goes, like
The bull of one herd, who strays among another bulls cows:
that second herds bull attacks, murderous,
making for him with lowered horns . . .
Nor can we expect hell acquiesce in my control of this region, even
though I represent you:
What servants ever respected in the measure his master is?
On top of that, he resents me for being a foreigner:
Bow-hunting nomads never bond with farmers from the marshland,
papyrus will never take root in dry rock and sand.
Negotiations no possibility. Hes already made a public challenge,
now hes far beyond considering the risks.
Does a brave fight-loving bull turn tail?
Does he lose heart pondering the odds?
If hes determined to fight, let him think hell win! The god who made
this happen knows whats to be, much better than this man does!
H2qa pf nd2nd2.f h2na2.j. D2d.kwj: N rh3.j sw, n jnk tr smay.f wst2n
a2fay.f. Jn ntt pw wn.n.j sa.f, snb.n.j jnbt.f. Rqt-jb pw h2r maa.f wj h2r jrjt jpwt.k.
Nh2mn wj1
Mj ka n wd2w h2r jb ky jdr
hd sw ka n wd2w,
ngaw h2r amm r.f . . .
Jn jw wn twa mrjrw n s2aw n tp h2ry?
Nn pd2ty sma m jdh2y.
Ptr2 smn dyt r d2w?
60
Jn jw ka mr.f a2h2a,
pry, mrjt.f wh2m sa
m h2ryt nt mh3a.f sw?
Jr wnn jb.f r a2h2a, jmj d2d.f h3rt jb.f! Jn jw nt2r h3m s2ajt.n.f, rh3.f ntt pw mj
m?
1
Here we have a series of proverbs which were clearly meant to make Sa-Nehets
case. Memorization of proverbs was a standard part an administrators training, and the
skillful deployment of them was the equivalent of citing authorities, facts and statistics
for us. I have given glossing contexts for what would have been their obvious application
to this situation.
2 A less elliptical writing of this line would be: ptr ntt smn &c.
61

I spent the night stringing and testing my bow, deciding what arms
and armor to use, polishing my dagger, making sure it slid easily out of
the sheath, and generally making myself look splendid. At dawn all
Canaan was there, every indigenous tribe had gathered, along with those
of the bordering countries, utterly fascinated by the fight.
I advanced to the middle of the plain, and waited for him there,
motionless, while he came at me. Everyone feared the worst. Men and
women shivered to watch. Sick with dread, my allies thought: Whos
strong enough to meet this new heros shield and battle-axe?
I stood there, courting his attack, till his whole armful of spears had
hit the ground around me without effect. I taunted and dodged till his
every javelin had hissed uselessly past me, one by one. Then he charged,
thinking this would surely have some impact. I waited till he came very
close and shot him with my bow: my arrow struck him right in the throat.
Screaming, he fell on his face. I dispatched him with his own battle-axe,
one blow to the neck, like slaughtering a bull. I set my foot on his back
and gave my war-cry while the Bedouin howled with grief and rage. I
chanted praise to Egypts war god Montu. The dead mans people
grieved. King Amunenshi ran up and embraced me.
Then I seized my enemys possessions, plundered all his herds. I did
to him exactly what hed planned on doing to me. I took what was in his
tent, stripped his whole camp. Much wealth fell to me, a broad heap of
loot along with all of his cattle!
Sd2r.n.<j>, qas.n.j pd2t.j, wdj.n.j ph2aw.j, a2n.n.j ss2 n bagsw.j, sh4kr.n.j
h3a2w.j.1 H2d2.n ta, (r)t2nw jy.tj. D2db.n.s wh2y(w)t.s, sh2w.n.s h3swt nt gs.sn,2
kaj(w) n sa2h2a pn.
Jwt pw jrj(t).n.f n.j a2h2a2.kwj: dj.n.j wj m haw.f. H2aty nb mah4(w) n.j,
h2mwt t2ayw a2a2{j}(w), jb nb mr(w) n.j, d2d.sn: Jn jw wn ky nh3t a2h2a2(.f) r.f
a2h2a2.n jkm.f mjnb.f?3 H2pt.f nswt h3r(w) m-h3t spr.n.j h3a2w.f: rdj.n.j swa
h2r.j a2h2aw.f sp-n-jwtt, wa2 h2r h4n m wa2. A2h2a2.n jrj.n.f aa2y, h3mt.n.f
h2wtf wj. H4a2m.n.f wj, stj.n.j sw, a2h2aw.j mn(w) m nh2bt.f. Sbh2.n.f, h3r.n.f h2r
fnd.f. Sh3r.n.j sw m mjnb.f, wdj.n.j js2nn.j h2r jat.f, A2amw nbw h2r nmj(t). Rdj.n.j
h2knw n Mnt, mrw h2b(w) n.f. H2qa pn Amwnns2j rdj.n.f wj r h2pt.f.
A2h2a2.n jnj.n.j h3t.f, h2aq.n.j mnmnt.f, kajt.n.f jrjt n.j, jrj.n.j st r.f, jt2j.n.j
ntt m jmaw.f, kfj.n.j a2fay.f. A2a n.j jm, wsh3 n.<j> m a2h2a2, a2s2a n.j (m)
mnmnt.
1 I would suggest that these are to be taken as a series of wechselsatzen, depending on
sd2r.n.j : the unusual construction would be to emphasize that he spent the whole night
anxiously doing these things over and over. Given the pyrotechnic overemployment of
the sd2m.n.f in this story, I think we can add to the list this hypertrophy of the wechselsatz.
2 This is a punning use of 2 for the ending .sn: we go from the s to the sn suffix as
the subject changes from Rt2nw to a generalized them.
62
Literally: Could another strong man stand up to him when his shield and axe have
been raised? The difficulties of previous translators come from breaking off the quote
at r.f.
63

This is a poem I composed shortly thereafter:
Then I am forgiven
by whatever god had found fault with me.
Though I erred from the right path
all the way to a foreign desert,
today that god is satisfied.
Troubled times sent me fleeing,
there are those now in the court who know
that I, the fugitive, was true.
I had to sneak away, frightened and hungry,
now I give bread to my neighbor at his need.
Im a man who abandoned his homeland, barely clothed,
now I wear linen, fine and white.
Then I did all the footwork myself,
had no one I could send,
now Ive a household full of servants.
Ive a beautiful house, on a wide estate!
but all my thoughts are still where I used to be,
in the palace of Egypts king.
H3r jrj.t(w) nt2r r h2tp
n t2sj(w).n.f jm.f.
Thjw.n.f r kt h3st,
jw mjn jb.f ja2j(w).
Wa2r 1 wa2r n haw.f,
jw mtr.j m h4nw;
saa say n h2qr,
jw dj.j t n gsy.j;
rwjw s ta.f n h2awt,
jnk h2d2 paqt;
bta s n gaw hab(w).f,
jnk a2s2a mrt;
nfr pr.j, wsh3 st.j,
sh3aw.j m a2h2!
1 This array of contrasts is to be taken as a series of subordinate 2nd tense clauses
followed by their main clauses. The use of the present tense throughout, quite
permissible in poetry, sharpens the contrast between past and present circumstances to
the point of paradox.
64
65

I prayed:
Whichever god you are who ordained that flight of mine, may you
now at last be satisfied and return me to the palace! Surely you wouldnt
refuse me a glimpse of that place I think of all day and night long.
If only my corpse could be buried in the land where I was born, that
one favor would outweigh all else. This is my only prayer. O let me be
lucky in this! May the god be gracious, let him make good at least the end
of a man he has well tormented. May his mind conceive a sympathy for
one hes driven out to live in the desert wastes.
Can it be that today hell be content to hear an exiles prayer, and let
this refugee turn back to the land hes trudged so far from, the place he
was torn away from by a god?
May Pharaoh be gracious to me, may I live in his favor! How Id love
to greet again the queen, hear news of the royal children!
If only I were young again for now old age has come, my eyesight
blurs, my arms are weak, my legs no longer keep up, even my mind is
tired. The end of my troubles is close. I pray my bodys remaining
strengths enough to bring me back to Egypt, capital of Eternity, to serve
once more the queen of the world. Ah, to hear her praise me to her
children, to have her watch over me as once she did, like Nut (the night
sky) who draws the comforting starry dark over the tired world.
Nt2r nb s2ajw wa2rt tn: h2tp.k, dj.k wj r h4nw! Smwn.k r rdjt ma.j bw wrs2w
jb.j jm!
Ptr wrt r a2b.tw h4at.j m ta msj.kwj jm.f? Mj-m-sa pw!1 H3pr sp nfr! Dj n.j
nt2r h2tp! Jrj.f mj h3t, r smnh3 ph2wy n sfn(w).n.f. Jb.f mr(w) n dqr(w).n.f r anh3
h2r h3ast.
Jn mjn rf ntt.f h2tp(w), sd2m.f n nh2 n waj wd2b.f-a2 r h2w(w).n.f-ta jm.f, r bw
jnj(w).n.f sw jm?2
H2tp n.j nsw n Kmt! A2nh3.j m h2tp.f! Nd2.j-h3rt h2nwt ntt m a2h2.f, sd2m.j
jpwt nt h4rdw.s.
Jh3 rnpy h2a2w.j! ntt jaw haj(w), wgg as.n.f wj, jrty dns(w), a2wy.j nw(w), rdwy.j
fh3n.n.sn s2ms, jb wrd(w), tkn wj swd2a. Sbj.sn wj r njwt nh2h2. S2ms.j nbt-r-d2r.
Jh3 d2d.s n.j nfrt n msw.s, sbj.s nh2h2 h2r.j.3
1 Literally this is my come-on-account-of: a colorful idiom as noun to use Hochs
phrase. A prayer to a god might begin Come (sc. to my aid) on account of. . .
2 Literally: Does this really mean that he is so gracious today as to hear the prayer of
someone far off who shall then turn to (the place) which he roamed-the-earth from it, to
the place which (the god) took him from it?
3 Lit., May she pass eternity over me. That is, may she protect me like a coffin-lid
(the interior of which was customarily painted with Nut and her starry sky).
66
67

And now Pharaoh Es-en-Weseret I, son of Amun-em-hat I whose
death began my adventures, was informed of my situation. His majesty
sent me a messenger with a letter, bringing with him royal gifts to gladden
the king's unworthy servant. He was treating me as though I were the
ruler of a foreign land! The royal children sent messages as well, catching
me up on all that had happened with them. This is a copy of the royal
dispatch Es-en-Weseret sent me to summon me back to Egypt:
It began with full formality, listing the great names a pharaoh assumes
on his accession:
From the earthly embodiment of Horus, the present king
Ank-Meswet (Reborn-and-Now-Alive), fostered by the two goddesses
of upper and lower Egypt, victorious god who in his name Heper-Ka-Ra
(Ra-Regenerates-All) unites Egypt, heir of the sun gods last
incarnation Amun-em-Hat (Amun-is-Greatest), Es-en-Weseret
(Devotee-of-the Most-Powerful-Goddess): may he live forever and
ever: a royal dispatch to the kings follower Sa-Nehet:
Behold: this order is sent you from the king to inform you that your
circuit of many countries, your passage from Qedem to Canaan, the way
one land handed you on to the next, was entirely your idea. What had you
done that anyone should act against you? You made no intemperate
utterance that would require punishment, you offered no advice in the
council of courtiers which called for reproof. The mania of flight took
away your good judgment it was never my wish for you.
The queen, who has ever watched over you like the goddess of the
night sky, is here and well today, crowned with sovereignty; her children
keep their places of eminence in the throne room. Heap up for yourself
the treasures they would give you, live on the bounty they intend for you,
come back to Egypt! See the palace where you grew up, greet again its
great gates, be once more a member of the court.
Jst2 rf dd(w) n h2m n-sw-bjt (H3pr-Ka-Ra2), ma2a-h3rw, h2r ss2m pn nty wj
h4r.f. Wn-jn h2m.f hab.f n.j h4ry awt-a2 nt h3r nsw swaj.f jb n bak jm mj h2qa
h3ast nbt, msw nsw nty m a2h2 h2r rdjt sd2m.j wpwt.sn. Mjty n wd2 jny n bak jm
h2r jrjt.f r Kmt:
H2r: A2nh3-Mswt; Nbty: A2nh3-Mswt; N-Sw-Bjt: H3pr-Ka-Ra; Sa Ra2:
Jmn-m-H2at; anh3 d2t r nh2h2: wd2 nsw n s2msw Sa-Nht:
Mk jnj.tw n.k wd2 pn n nsw r rdjt rh3.k ntt ph4r.n.k1 h3aswt, prjt m Qdm n
Rt2nw, dd.tw h3ast n h3ast, h4r sh2 n jb.k n.k. Ptr jrjt.n.k jrj.tw r.k? N wa2a.k
h3sf.tw mdw.k, n mdw.k m sh2 n srw jtn.tw t2sw.k. Sh3r pn, jnj.n.f jb.k. Nn tf m
jb.(j) r.k.
Pt.k tn ntt m a2h2, mn.s rwd.s mjn, kap tp.s2 m nsjyt n ta, msw.s m a2-h4nwty.
Wah2.k s2pssw n dd.sn n.k, a2nh3.k m awt-a2.sn. Jrj n.k jwt r Kmt! Ma.k h4nw
h3pr(w).n.k jm.f, sn.k ta r rwty wrty, h4nm.k m smrw.
68
1 ph4r.n.k,
like dd.tw h3ast, is a 2nd tense explicative dependent on h2r sh2 n jb.k n.k.
Kap tp.s is to be taken as a passive participle acting as a predicate adjective:
covered is her head with royalty.
2
69

You are at the beginning of old age, when manly strength begins to
wane. Its time to take thought for the day of burial, the passing into
blessedness. I have ordained for you, when your sun shall set at last, an
evening sweet with embalming oils and bandages fine as those which
Tayet (goddess of weaving) would make. On the day of burial well give
you a stately funeral procession, a gilded mummy-case, its face inlaid with
lapis, the inside of the lid painted with an image of Nut (the goddess of
the night sky). A funeral wagon, a shrine on wheels, will be provided,
drawn by oxen, musicians and singers marching before it. The liturgy for
the dead will be performed at the entrance to your mausoleum and a
sacrifice will be performed before its door.
Your tomb with its white stone pillars will stand among the graves of
the royal family. You will not die in a foreign land, nor be interred by
Canaanite barbarians, buried with a rams hide for a coffin. Youve
trudged across the world long enough: think of what will become of your
corpse. Return!
I was with my tribe when the royal message reached me. While it was
being read to me I prostrated myself, flat on my belly, right on the ground. I
rubbed the dirt on my chest in token of reverent self-abasement. I ran
though the camp shouting: What compares to this, the great grace shown a
servant whose mind misled him all the way to the ends of the earth?
Wonderful, great beyond telling, this kindness which rescues me from death!
Your majestys beneficence lets me end my days, returned in person, to the
palace!
Copy of my response to that letter from the king:
Jw mjn js s2aa2 n.k tnj, fh3 n.k baawt. Sh3a n.k hrw n qrs, sbjt r jmah3.
Wd2.tw n.k h3awy m sft2, wtaw m a2wy Tayt, jrj.tw n.k s2ms-wd2a2 hrw sma-ta,
wj m nbw tp m h3sbd, pt h2r.k. Dj.tw mst2pt, jh2w h2r jth2.k, s2ma2w h4r h2at.k.
Jrj.tw h3bb nnjw r r js.k, njs.tw n.k dbh2t-h2tp, sft2.tw r r-a2ba.k.
Jwnw.k h3wsjw m jnr h2d2 m qab msw nsw. Nn wn mwt.k h2r h3ast. Nn bs tw
A2amw. Nn dj.tw.k m jnm n sr jrj.tw d2r.k. Jw na aw n h2wjt ta, mh2j h2r h4at,
jwt.k!
Spr.n wd2 pn r.j a2h2a2.kwj m jb wh2yt.j. S2dj.n.tw.f n.j, dj.n.j wj h2r h4t.j,
dmj.n.j sat2w, dj.n.j sw ss2(w)1 h2r s2nbt.j. Dbn.n.j a2fay.j h2r nhm r d2d: Jrj.tw
nn mj-m n bak thj.n jb.f r h3aswt d2rd2rywt? H3r h2m nfr wah2-jb nh2m wj m-a2
mwt. Jw ka.k r rdjt jry.i ph2wy.j, h2a2w.j m h4nw.
Mjt n smj n wd2 pn: bak n a2h2 Sa-Nht d2d:
70
1 A slightly odd construction to Anglophone ears. Sss2(w) is a stative: I placed it,

spread, upon my chest.
71

His majestys servant Sa-Nehet replies:
It is with the greatest happiness and most sublime joy that I receive
your letter.
Whereas your discerning soul has fully fathomed that flight made by
your servant in his ignorance, O majesty of the twin lands, you whom Ra
loves, whom Montu Lord of Thebes praises, as do Amun who establishes
the throne of Egypt, Sobek-Ra, Horus, Hathor, Atum and the nine gods,
Horus in his aspect of Sopdu-nefer-baw-Semseru who guards Egypts
eastern border, and the cobra goddess who dwells in Buto (may she
protect you as the uraeus of your crown!) as well as the primordial gods
who float above the waters of chaos, and Horus-Min who rules the
deserts of Syria, Wereret goddess of the Sudan, Nut, Horus-wer-Ra the
uncle of that Horus whom Isis bore, and all the gods of blessed Egypt and
the Greek Islands may they keep the breath of life in your nostrils, may
they fortify you with all good gifts, may they grant you eternal and
limitless everlasting existence forever and endlessly! May the fear of you
increase in all the islands of the Mediterranean as well as all cultivated and
desert lands, may all the sun surveys in his course be subdued to you! This
is the prayer of an unworthy servant to his lord and savior.
O master of wisdom, knower of men, may you discern through your
imperial insight that your worthless slave is terrified even to mention his
flight. It seems a thing beyond my power to relate. But you, great god,
who see and know all like Ra, fully comprehend your servant who offers
himself up to you with a willing heart. Your servant is in your hands, you
who graciously deign to think of him at all, he is yours to do with as you
will. Your majesty is as conquering Horus, your victorious arms reach all
lands. In witness of this, let the king order to be brought before him the
defenders of Qedem, the inhabitants of fertile Geshur, the ruler of Minos
in Crete: these princes are known to fame only because they have
flourished through your love I will not even mention Canaan which
belongs to you like a loyal dog.
M h2tp nfr wrt. Rh3.tw wa2rt tn jrjt.n bak jm m h3m.f jn ka.k, nt2r nfr nb
tawy, mrjw Ra, h2sjw Mnt2w nb Wast, Jmn nb gst tawy, Sbk-Ra2, H2r,
H2wt-H2r, Jtm h2na2 psd2t.f, Spdw-nfr-baw-Smsrw, H2r jabty, Nbt Jmt (h4nm.s
tp.k), d2ad2at tpt Nwn, Mnw-H2r h2r jb h3aswt, Wrrt nbt Pwnt, Nwt, H2r wr
Ra2, nt2rw nbw ta-mry h3aswt jww nw wad2-wr: dj.sn a2nh3 was r fnd.k, h4nm.sn
tw m awt-a2.sn, dj.sn n.k nh2h2 nn d2rw.f, d2t nn h2nty.s. Wh2m snd2.k m taw
h3aswt, wa2f(w) 1 n.k s2njt jtn! Nh2 pw n bak jm n nb.f s2dj m jmnt.
Nb sja sja rh3yt, sja.f m h2m n stp-sa wnt bak jm snd2 d2d st. Jw mj h3t a2a
wh2m st. Nt2r a2a mjty Ra2 h2r ss2sa bak dj n.f d2s.f! Jw bak jm m a2 nd2 r h2r.f,
dj.tw2 h4r sh3r.f. Jw h2m.k m H2r jt2j nh3t, a2wy.ky r taw nbw. Wd2 grt h2m.k
rdj.tw jnj.tw mkj m Qdm, h3ntyw-s2 m h3nty Ks2, Mnws m taw Fh3nw: h2qaw pw
mtrw rnw.sn h3prw m mrwt.k. Nn sh3a.j Rt2nwn.k jmy sy mjtt t2smw.k.
72
Wa2f(w) is a prospective sd2m.w.f passive: a construction commonly used in old

religious texts to express wishes.
2 Either we supply an f (dj.tw<.f>), or we take this as may it (the entire situation) be
placed under your direction.
73

As for the flight of your servant, it was not premeditated, it wasnt
even in my mind, I didnt anxiously plan it, I didnt understand it meant I
was losing my home. It seems to me now like images from dreams, Im
bewildered as a man from the delta marshes would be
to find himself all the way up the Nile
where the first cataract pours down the mountain;
lost as a man from the Nile-mouth lagoons
in the wooded hills of Nubia.
It wasnt that I dreaded anything, no one chased me, no one spoke
against me, no herald called my name to summon me to judgment, but
my entire body shuddered, my legs ran, my imagination led me, the god
who ordained my flight drew me on. I was never a rash and arrogant man.
But a man aware of where on earth he is will always be somewhat fearful
(how not?) since Ra has spread the awe of you throughout Egypt and the
terror of you through every foreign land. Whether I am in the palace or in
this place, I know that all the horizon embraces is yours. The sun only
rises out of love for you, the water of rivers is drunk only if you please,
one breathes the air of heaven only with your permission. Your servant is
ready to leave all his holdings to his own children he has begotten in this
place your servant has been sent for! May his majesty do as seems to
him good! The very breath in my nostrils depends on you alone.
May Ra, Horus and Hathor always favor your majesty, may Montu,
lord of Thebes, who loves you, cause you to live forever.
Js wa2rt tn jrjt.n bak, n h3mt.tw.s, nn sy m jb.j, n qmd.j s(y), n rh3.j jwd.j r st. Jw
mj ss2m rswt,
. . . mj maa sw jdh2y m Abw,
s n h4at m ta Styw.
N snd2.j, n sh3s.tw m sa.j, n sd2m.j t2s-h2wrw, n sd2m.tw rn.j m r wh2mw,
wpw-h2r {nfn}d2df 1 h2a2w.j, rdwy.j h2r hwhw, jb.j h2r h3rp.j, nt2r s2aj wa2rt tn
h2r st2a.j. N jnk js qa sa h3nt. Snd2 s rh3 ta.f, dj.n Ra2 snd2.k h3t ta, hrw.k m
h3ast nbt. M wj m h4nw, m wj m st tn, ntk js h2bs ah3t tn. Wbn jtn m mrwt.k, mw
m jtrw swr.tw.f mrj.k, t2aw m pt h3nm.tw.f d2d.k. Jw bak jm r swd2{t}t2aw{t}.j
jrjw.n bak jm m st tn. Jwt pw jryt r bak jm. Jrr h2m.k m mrr.f. A2nh3.tw m t2aw n
dd.k. Mrj Ra2, H2r, H2wt-H2r fnd.k pw s2pss, mrjrw Mnt2w nb Wast, a2nh3.f
d2t.
1 This is probably a corruption. The verb d2df means: bristle up (hair), shudder
(body), get gooseflesh. We should delete the meaningless nfn and be left with an
infinitive construct.
74
75

His majestys summons permitted a days delay there in Ya-a to
apportion my property to my children, I gave my eldest son charge of my
tribe all my possessions and my alliances passed into his hands, along
with my followers, livestock and fine fruit-bearing trees.
Then this servant of Pharaoh proceeded along the Horus road (the
kings highway leading to Egypt from Canaan). When I reached its
terminus, in the northern delta, I was met by the commander of the
border patrol. He sent a message to inform his majesty in the palace at
Thebes. His majesty dispatched a high official to meet me.
This was his excellency the superintendent of royal farmlands. He
sailed down the Nile followed by ship after ship laden with royal presents
for the Bedouin lords who were accompanying me on my long journey
down the length of Canaan.
I called each chieftains name in turn and saw him honored with
appropriate gifts. The superintendents large kitchen staff was endlessly
attentive to the needs of these dignitaries. The next day, when the wind
rose, I began the voyage up-Nile all the way fresh bread was made and
fresh beer strained on a cook-ship for us. We arrived at Yetchi-Taw, just
below the delta, where the king had a palace.
Very very early, when it just began to be light out, a summons came
for me; ten men had been sent with no other task than to bring me to the
palace. I bowed down, touching the ground with my forehead as I passed
between the sphinxes before the palace gates. The royal children stood in
the shadows of the doorway arches watching me be led in. Courtiers who
had been summoned on the double conducted me down the pillared hall
to the throne room.
I found the king on his great throne set in a golden recess in the wall.
As for me, I threw myself on my belly on the floor before him, arms
outstretched in adoration. Seeing me lie on the ground mindless with awe,
the great god spoke to me in friendly tones. I was like a man in sudden
darkness, without the power to move, paralyzed, incapable. If I could
have thought at all I would have thought I was already dead.
Rdjt{w} jry.j hrw m Jaa h2r swd2{t} h3t.j n msw.j, sa.j smsw m-sa wh2yt.j:
wh2yt, h3t.j nbt m a2.f, d2t.j mnmnt.j nbt dqr.j, h3t.j nb bnr. Jwt pw jrj(t).n.bak jm
m h3ntyt, h2db.n.j h2r H2r-Wawt. T2sw jm nty m-sa ph4rt hab.f wpwt r h4nw r rdjt
rh3.tw. Rdj.n h2m.f jwt jmy-r sh3tyw mnh3 n pr nsw, a2h2a2w at2pw h3t.f h4r
awt-a2 nt h3r nsw n styw jw m sa.j h2r sbjt.j r H2r-Wawt. Dm.n.j wa2 jm nb m rn.f.
Jw wpdw nb h2r jrt.f. Spr.n.j faj.n{.j}t2aw. S2bb a2th3 tp-maa2.j r ph2t.j dmj n
Jt2j-Taw.
H2d2.n rf ta dwaw dwaw. Jw jw.n jas2<.n> n.j s1 md2 m jwt, s md2 m s2mt
h2r st2a.j r a2h2. Dhn(.n).j ta jmjtw s2spw, msw nsw a2h2a2.w m wmt h2r jrt
h3sfw.j, smrw st2aw r wah3j h2r rdjt.j h2r wat a2-h4nwtj. Gmj.n.j h2m.f a2-w-s h2r
st wrt m wmt nt d2am. Wn.kwj rf dwn.kwj h2r h4t.j.
76
H3m.n.j wj m bah2.f, nt2r pn h2r ws2d.j h3nmw. Jw.j mj s jt2j.tw m jh3h3w.

Ba.j sbj.w, h2a2w.j ad.w, h2a2ty.j n ntf m h4t.j rh3.j a2nh3 r mwt.
1
The s serves as the subject of the preceding two sd2m.n.f's as well.
77

His majesty said to one of the courtiers: Lift him to his feet so he
may speak to me. Then his majesty addressed me: So, youve come,
youre here. Though you trudged around the world making your escape,
still old age has managed to grab you! The years have caught up with you,
and youve realized that a proper burials no trivial matter it was worth
the trip back to avoid a crude funeral at the hands of primitives. But
standing there silent will stand you in no good stead! (Here he chuckled
at his own wit.) Youve been addressed, and yet you dont respond?
Terrified of punishment, I made reply briefly, as a scared man would,
all my eloquence forgotten: What has my lord said to me? What can I
say? none of it was my doing; no, it was all brought about by some
god. I feel now that same terror in my belly, the very fear that doomed me
to flight and exile. Here I stand before you, my life is yours. May your
majesty do as seems to him good.
Then he had the royal children brought in. His majesty said to the
queen: Behold, Sa-Nehet has come, a Canaanite, the nomads turned
him into a Bedouin! She gave a loud shriek the royal children joined
in her cry. They asked the king: It isnt really him, is it, my lord? The
king replied: Thats really him. Now the royal daughters brought out
their menats (ropes of loud beads hanging from a handle), and their
sistrums (bronze rattles); they held these out to his majesty, clashing and
clattering in the rhythm of a hymn to Hathor:
The beautiful crown of Egypt is yours, king you are and king you will
long remain.
Hathor, queen of the sky, has placed her diadem on your royal head;
Hathor the golden will ever grant you life and breath;
the lady of the stars, Hathor, embraces you forever.
D2d.jn h2m.f n wa2 m nn n srw: T2sj sw, jmj mdw.f n.j. D2d jn h2m.f: Mk
tw jw.tj, h2wj.n.k h3aswt, jrj.n.<k> wa2rwt, hd.n jm.k tnj, ph2.n.k jawy. Nn s2rr,
ja2b.tw h4at.k, nn bs.k jn pd2tyw. M jrj(w) r.k sp sn gr.1N mdw.k dm.tw rn.k?
Snd2 n h3sf, ws2b.n.j st m ws2b snd2w: Ptr d2dt.(n) n.j nb.j? Jh3 ws2b.j, nn
jrjt.j. A2 n nt2r pw! H2r wn.s m h4t.j mj sh3pr wa2rt s2ayt. Mk wj m bah2.k.
Ntk a2nh3. Jrj h2m.k m mrr.f.
Rdj(w).jn st2a.tw msw nsw. D2d.jn h2m.f n h2mt nsw: Mt2, Sa-Nht, jw m
A2am, qma n Styw! Wdj.s sbh2 a2a wrt, msw nsw m dnjwt wa2t. D2d.jn.sn h3ft
h2m.f: N ntf pw m maa2t jty nb.j? D2d.jn h2m.f: Ntf pw m maa2t. Jst rf
jnj.n.sn mnjwt.sn sh3mw.sn ss2s2wt.sn m a2.sn. Ms.n.sn st n h2m.f.
A2wy.ky r nfrt, nsw wah2,
h4krt nt nbt pt:
dj nbw(t) a2nh3 rf n fnd.k,
h4nm tw nbt sbaw!
78
The ambiguous writing gr is either futher or silence: a deliberate pleasantry,

which the king underlines with sp sn.
79

The crown of Southern Egypt sails North, the crown of Northern
Egypt sails South (no mere crowns but independent deities),
here in your palace theyve become one, your coronation joined
them.
The royal cobra, Wadjet, is your crown, shell rear up from your
forehead, scanning for enemies,
for you are a king who has kept the poor and humble from harm.
Peace be with you, you are Ra, lord of the two lands!
Shouts of joy to you, as to Amun lord of all things!
Relax your bow bent to fire, lay aside your arrow,
give back the breath of life to this gasping man.
Make today a great festival for us,
give us this Bedouin born in Egypt,
make real this mirage of a man.
If he fled, it was because he feared you;
if he left the country, it was because he held you in awe;
you are our confidence, no face that faces you pales,
dont let the eye that eyes you be blinded by fear.
His majesty answered: He will neither fear nor have reason to fear.
He shall be a member of my court and take his place among the nobles.
Go now to the dawn pavilion and see to his needs.
H3dj S2ma2s, h3ntj mh2ws,
sma(w), twt(w) m rn (n) h2m.k.
Dj.tw wad2t m wpt.k
sh2rj.n.k twaw m d2wt.
H2tp n.k, Ra2 nb tawy!
Hnw n.k mj Nb-r-D2r!
Nft a2b.k, sfh3 s2sr.k.
Jmj t2aw n nty m jtmw,
jmj n.n h4nt tn nfrt,
mtn sa pn,
Sa-Mh2yt,
pd2ty msj(w) m ta mry:
jrj.n.f wa2rt n snd2.k,
rwj.n.f ta n h2rw.k;
nn ayt-h2r n maa h2r.k,
nn snd2 jrt dgjt n.k!
80
D2d.jn h2m.f: Nn snd2.f, n dj(w).f r h2rw. Jw.f r smr m-m srw rdj.tw.f m-qab
s2nwt. Wd2a.tn r a2-h4nwty dwat r jrjt a2h2a2w.f.
81

The royal children gave me their hands and I withdrew from the inner
palace. We emerged triumphantly through the great gates. I was installed
in a princely house with all manner of fine things in it. It had a bath as
grand as a temples pool, and the place was as full of precious objects as a
royal treasury: there was clothing made from linen fine as Pharaohs own,
myrrh, and perfumes used only by the king and his favorite courtiers;
servants were in every room to attend to my needs.
The years were lifted from me. I was shaved, my hair was cut and
arranged. The dust was given back to the desert, along with the robes of a
sand-farer. I was robed in delicate cloth, annointed with perfume; I slept
in a bed, on sheets. I returned the sand to those who call it home, I left
tree oil to those who anoint themselves with it.
I was given a lordly home: it had a lotus pond such as befits a member
of the court. A troop of artisans were set to renovating it, all with new-cut
timber. I was brought meals from the palace three or four times a day,
besides the special delicacies the royal children sent me without fail and
always.
Prjt.j rf m h4nw a2-h4nwty, msw-nsw h2r rdjt <n.>j a2w.sn. S2m.n(.n) m-h3t
rwty wrty. Rdj.kwj r pr sa-nsw s2pssw jm.f: sqbbwy jm.f, a2h4mw nw ah3t, h3tmt
jm.f nt pr-h2d2, h2bsw nw ss2rw nsw, a2ntyw tpt nsw srw mrr(w).f,1 m a2t nbt wdpw
nb h2r jrt.f.
Rdj(t)2 swa rnpt h2r h2a2w.j. T2aw.kwj. A2a2b s2nj.j. Jw rdj(w) sbt n h3aswt,
h2bsw (n) nmjw-s2a2. Sd.kwj m paqt, gs.kwj m tpt, sd2r.kwj h2r h2nkyt. Dj.n.j
s2a2 n jymyw.f, mrh2t n h3t n wrh2(w) jm.s.
Jw rdjw n.j pr n nb, s2, m wn m-a2 smr. Jw h2wtyw a2s2aw h2r qd.f, h3t.f nb
srwd2(w) m mawt. Jw jnj(w) n.j s2abw m a2h2 sp h3mt sp fdw n hrw, h2rw-r ddt msw
nsw nn at nt jrjt abw.
1 Imperfect relative verb" perfumes and unguents of the king and the courtiers
whom he favors.
2 If these three sentences are correct as written (not at all certain, as we have only
one manuscript for this passage, and where we have more the variations are
considerable), I would take them as two narrative infinitives with an independent stative
between.
82
83

A stone tomb was built for me in the midst of the royal burial
complex. A master pyramid-builder laid out its walls, fine artists drew the
reliefs and glyphs on the walls, and master sculptors carved them in. The
overseer of construction for the royal necropolis saw to the works
completion. All the furnishings appropriate to a tomb were placed within
my grave. Ka-priests were appointed to manage the sacrifices offered to
feed my soul. My tomb was properly established as a mortuary temple; it
had a garden and a surrounding estate whose fields would supply materials
for sacrifice and for the maintenance of the temple staff. It was exactly the
arrangement which would be made for a high noble of the court. A statue
of me was made for the tomb, gold, with its clothing wrought in electrum
it was his majesty himself who ordered this. No man of common blood
ever had the like done for him! I remained in his majestys favor until I
made the final voyage from which no man sails back.
Jw h3wsj.w n.j mr m jnr m qab mrw. Jmy-r mdh2w pss2.n.f satw qdw.f, ss2-qdw
h2r ss2 jm.f, jmy-r qnwty h2r h3tjt jm.f jmy-r kat nty h2r h2rt h2r d2ajt r.s. H3a2w
nb ddw r rwd2, jrj.w h4rt.f jm. Rdj.w n.j h2mw-ka, jrj.w n.j s2-h2rt, ah2wt jm.f
m-h3ntj r dmj.s mj jrrt n smr tpy. Jw twt.j sh4r(.w) m nbw, snd2wt.f m d2am. Jn
h2m.f rdj jrj.tw.f. Nn s2waw jry n.f mjtt. Jw.j h4r h2swt nt h3r nsw r jwt hrw n
mnj(t).
84
85

Coffin Text 4
May earth open its mouth to receive you, may Geb open his jaws to
accept you underground,
may you eat the bread of funeral offerings, may you always receive
them abundantly,
may you walk the great stairway that leads down to On, city of Atum
and the nine gods.
May your cold form rekindle its body heat there, may you transform
into a young god, handsome and strong,
may you have power over your enemies, the brightly-colored
underworld snakes
as they try to attack, to execute you
on that day of judgement when you enter the further world.
May the great ones there stand up for you, may the scribes of the
court, cross-legged on their mats, tremble before you!
may you knot together the necks of the hostile serpents in the city of
Atum and the nine!
Wn n.k ta r.f, sns2 n.k Gb a2rty.fy h2r.k,
wnm.k ta.k, ss2p.k ba2h2t.k,
swd2a.k r rwdw wr, jwt.k r njwt wrt;
sty.k n.k srf.k r ta, h3pr.k m nt2r rnpw nfr jm,
sh3m.k m h3ftywt.k, m jrrywt r.k,
m msddywt.k, jr.sn wd2a2-mdw h3ft.k m hrw pn;
a2h2a2 n.k wrw.sn, sda n.k ss2w hryw tmaw.sn tp-a2wy.k,
t2s n.k tpw sabwt m Jwnw!
86
Passage to the Other World: Coffin Text 4
87
Part Two
Cosmology
Isle of Fire: Part Two

Book of the Dead 15c
This brief but cosmic spell is particularly interesting because of the final line. The
stars as the home of souls is a conception that antedates the Pyramid Texts, it takes us
back to the nomads who joined the settled Egyptians before history began. The survival
of the motif over three millennia later, in the final flowering of late Egyptian piety, shows
that in religiously arch-conservative Egypt, whatever was once done, was always done.
An adoration of Ra as he rises with his crew in the solar barque on the

eastern horizon.
To be recited by the deceased:
O disk of brightness, radiant circle, you who rise from the horizon
every day:
may your gleaming reach the face of the deceased,
may his eyes open to adore you in the morning, may he content you
with evening hymns,
may his ba rise up with you into the dawn sky
at daybreak, when your journey underground ends.
May he help you moor the Night Barque to the eastern horizon
and pass with you to the Day Barque, hold a pole to shove it off into
the paling blue!
May his soul be one the with the circumpolar stars
that never know weariness, the stars that never set.
Dwaw Ra2 h3ft wbn.f m ah2t jabtt nt pt h2na2 jmyw-h3t.f:
wsjr X d2d.f:
J jtn pwy, nb stwt, wbn m ah3t ra2 nb:
psd2.k m h2r n wsjr X,
dwa.f tw m dwayt, sh2tp.f tw m ms2rw,
pry ba n wsjr X h2na2.k r pt,
wd2y.f m Ma2nd2t, mny.f m msktt,
abh3.f m jh3mw-wrd m pt.
90
Cosmology: Book of the Dead 15
91
Part Three
Rebirth
Isle of Fire: Part Three

Coffin Text 6
What is so sublime as the rites in honor of the new moon
when it returns to the height of the night sky, reborn?
This is the time when you are set free from deaths grip, like a
trembling fearful bird when the fowlers hand releases it,
when your wings are lifted,
and youre set to soar for the far horizon of existence, where friends
await you!
May Sothis breast-feed you there, O new born into the afterlife
Sothis, the star Sirius, who heralds the Niles rise to feed the thirsty acres;
may Sothis be your nurse in the land beyond all horizons!
May Isis kneel over you and wash your newborn form, may she set you
on the good path of those who are judged innocent
in the face of any enemies whod accuse you before the judges of
Tomb-world,
on the blessed day when you pass beyond.
Wr abdw ny qaa pt,1 psd2ntyw,
sfh3.tw d2ba2 hr.k, drw dawt.k.
d2r srd.tw swt r ah3t, r bw nty rh3w tw jm.
Snq.k tw mwt.k Spdt, mna2t.k js jmyt ah3t;
pag tw Ast h2r.k, ss2p.s tw,
jry.s n.k wawt nfrwt maa2-h3rw
r h3ftyw, h3ftywt jry.sn wd2a2-mdw h3ft.k
m h4rt-nt2r m hrw pn nfr.
1 Literally,
of the high one of the sky, that is, the moon.
94
Rebirth: Coffin Text 6
95

Coffin Text 335a glossed
The never-omitted glosses are rambling notes, nearly as old as the spell itself.
Generally useless as clarifications, the contain a wealth of curious and valuable lore. The
original spell is given here in quotes: it is translated in full, without glosses, in Part Seven
of this book.
Here begins a spell containing:

songs of praise, tales of the gods,
how to come and go from the grave, while existing as a transfigured
spirit in the paradisal west,
how to visit the daylight world as a ba, transforming oneself into any
form desired,
and enjoy again the pleasures of life, such as sitting in ones tent and
playing board games.
This is to be recited by the deceased after his death. It is also
advantageous for a living person to read this aloud.
I am Atum while he was still submerged in Nun (the waters of
Chaos), when he was all unexhausted potential, before any possibility had
been limited to what is.
I am Ra at the moment when his rays first shoot out from the
horizon, when he resumes his brilliant government of all that hes
created.
This is Atum-Ra as he was when he first began to rule the world hed
made, when he manifested as its radiant king. This was before heaven had
become separate from earth. Nut (the sky) still lay on top of Geb (the
earth) as his lover. Later on, Shu (the air) would lift Nut up to the height
she now occupies, where she would give birth to the stars. All this took
place before the civil war of the gods.
I am that great and self-created god . . .
The god who created himself is Nun (the waters of Chaos). Or
perhaps Ra.
H2at-a2 m st2sw sh3aw,
prjt hajt m h4rt-nt2r ah3 m jmnt,
prjt m hrw, jrjt h3prw m h3prw nbw mryw.f,
h2ba2 snt, h2mst m sh2,
prt m ba a2nh3y,
jn X m-h3t mny.f. Jw ah3 n jrr st tp ta.
Jnk Jtm m wnn.j wa2.kwj m Nnw.
Jnk Ra2 m h3aw.f tpyw, wbn.f m ah3t,
96
Rebirth: Coffin Text 335a glossed
s2aa2.f h2qa jrt.n.f.

Pty rf sw? Ra2 pw m s2aa2.f h2qa jrt.n.f.
S2aa2 Ra2 pw h3a2jt m nsw jrjt.n.f, m wnn n h3prt st2sw S2w. Jw.f h2r qaw
jmy H3mnw1 jst rdyw n.f msw bds2t mm nt2rw jmyw H3mnw.
Jnk nt2r a2a h3pr d2s.f,
Pty rf sw? Nt2r a2a h3pr d2s.f, mw Nnw pw, jt n2trw.
Ky d2d: Ra2 pw.
1 Hermopolis: an ancient religious center of Middle Egypt. The reference does
more to glorify the city than to clarify the hillock.
97

who invented all the names for what he himself is, master of the nine
gods,
Ra named all the parts of his body. This gave them a quasi-independent
status and they became the nine gods of the pantheon.
who yields to no other deity.
This refers to Atum-Ra, the solar disk, at his rising in the eastern
heavens.
I own Yesterday, I know Tomorrow.
Yesterday is Osiris and night; Tomorrow is Ra and day, the day when
the enemies of Osiris were annihilated and his son Horus became king.
This became the date of the Though-Dead-Yet-I-Live festival, which
commemorates the burial of Osiris by his father Ra.
I ordered the warship of the gods to be built.
This is Neshmet, the barque which carried slain Osiris in triumph to
the world of the dead where he became its king.
I know the name of the great god who is in it.
qma rnw.f, nb psd2t,
Pty rf sw? Ra2 pw m qma.f rnw a2wt.f. H3pr nn pw n nt2rw jmyw h3t.f.
jwty h3sfw.f m nt2rw.
Pty rf sw? Jtm pw jmy jtn.f.
Ky d2d: Ra2 pw wbn.f m ah3t jabtt nt pt.
Nnk sf, jw.j rh3.kwj dwa:
Pty rf sw? Jr sf, Wsjr pw: jr dwa, Ra2 pw, ra2 pwy h2tm.tw h3ftyw nw nb-r-d2r,
h2na2 sh2qa.tw sa.f H2r.
Ky d2d: Ra2 pw n Jw.n mn wyn, dhn.tw qrst pw nt Wsjr jn jt.f Ra2.
jr.n.tw a2h2at nt2rw h3ft wd2.j,
98
Pty rf sy? Ns2mt pw.

jw.j rh3.kwj nt2r pw a2a nty jm.s.
99

This refers to Osiris. Another tradition views this god-steered
warship as the ba, the visible form, of Ra. Its name is Ras Praise, and it
is our sun.
This is the form in which Ra copulates, that is, the form in which he
personally promotes the worlds fecundity.
I am the Phoenix, the great heron,
the bird of emergence. First creature to appear on the primordial hill
that rose from (the waters of) Nuns chaos. I look back over all that
was, I recall each detail.
The phoenix is Osiris. All that was is the world of the dead. Or we
might say that all that was refers to eternity and everlasting. Eternity is
the totality of bygone days, and everlasting means the nights.
I am Min (the harvest god) when he emerges from earth. I have put
on his head dress, two stiff, erect feathers.
The identification with Min refers to Horus the Avenger of his
Father, and his yearly emergence from the earth alludes to Horus annual
rebirth. The two feathers of the head dress represent Isis and Nephthys,
who turned themselves into kites and flew off to perch on Horus head.
An alternate interpretation makes these plumes the two great uraeus
serpents that adorn the crown of Atum.
I left my city and country, I went down to the world of the dead,
there I am with my father Atum every day and always,
Pty rf sw? Wsjr pw.
Ky d2d: H2knw Ra2 rn.f: ba pw n Ra2 nkw.f jm.f d2s.f.
Jnk bnw pw nty m Jwnw, jry sjpty ny ntt wn.
Pty rf sw? Wsjr pw; ntt wn R-St2aw pw.
Ky d2d: Jr ntt wn, nh2h2 pw h2na2 d2t. Jr nh2h2, hrw pw; jr d2t, grh2 pw.
Jnk Mnw m prw.f. Jw rd(j).n.j s2wty.j m tp.j.
Pty rf sw? Pty rf s2wty.fy?
Jr Mnw, H2r pw nd2-jt.f. Jr prw.f, msw.f pw. Jr s2wty.fy m tp.f, s2mt pw jrt.n
Ast h2na2 Nbt-H2wt jr.n.sn st r tp.f m wn.sn drty.
Ky d2d: Ja2rty pw wrty a2aty jmyty h2at Jtm.
100
Jj.n.j m njwt.j, pr.n.j m ta.j,

haa.j r spat, wnn.j h2na2 jt.j Jtm
m h4rt-nt2r hrw nt ra2 nb;
101

This describes the souls trip to the western horizon, home of Atum,
who is the setting sun.
for my sins and wrongdoings are chased off, driven from me,
This separation from sin is, so to speak, the cutting of the umbilical
so the deceased may be reborn.
any crime of mine is taken away.
This is the bathing of the newborn soul in the two sacred pools
outside the temple in Herakleopolis, where Ra himself dwells. This
occurs on the day when people make the great offering to Ra. The names
of the pools are Liquid Infinity and Ocean: the one purifies, the other
vindicates,
I go a road I recognize,
the one that leads to the island of the blessed dead.
I travel to the horizon of existence, to the land of bright,
transfigured souls,
I come through the holy portal.
This is the route taken by Atum when he sets, finally leading back to
the Eastern Reeds where he re-arises each morning, the reborn sun.
Pty rf st? Ah3t pw nt Jtm.
drw jwyt.j, h3srw dwt.j,
Pty rf st? S2a2d h4paw pw n X.
sh2rw jsft jryt.j,
Pty rf st? Wa2b.tw.j pw hrw msj.tw.j m ss2wy wrwy a2awy nty m Nnj-Nsw, hrw
a2abt rh3yt n nt2r pw a2a nty jms.
Pty rf sw? Ra2 pw d2s.f.
Pty rf ss2wy? H2h2 rn ny wa2, Wa2d2-Wr rn ny ky. S2 pw n h2smn h2na2 s2
n ma2at.
s2m.j h2r wat rh3t.n.j tp-m jw n ma2atyw,
spr.j r ta ah3tyw, pr.j m sba d2sr.
Pty rf st? Wat s2mt.n Jtm h2r.s h3ft wd2a.f r sh3t-jarw.
102
103

The Eastern Reed Marsh is a land of pleasure that brings forth food
for the gods. It is somewhere along the Red Sea to the east of Egypt, and
somewhere beyond the grave.
The holy portal is also called the gate of Shu. Shu (the air) holds Nut
(the sky) up over Geb (the earth), and his portal is the horizon. On the
journey of the dead, this portal is the entrance into the afterlife.
O my ancestors,
reach me your hands, you who brought me into being!
The word for ancestor, who is before, and the word before are
written with the glyph for penis, since a mans penis stand out before him.
So we can deduce from the spelling of the word ancestors here that the
text alludes to the gods Hu (Command) and Sia (Thought). These came
into existence from the drops of blood that fell when Ra-Atum
circumcised himself. Now these two, Hu and Sia, are Atums constant
companions.
I helped Thoth restore the eye of Horus when Seth had wounded it,
on the day that pair fought for the kingship.
This eye is the moon, attacked every month by the forces of darkness.
The moons changes mime eternally how Osiris died and Horus restored
him. The moon is one of Horus eyes. It was injured during the his battle
with Seth in which Seth threw dung in Horus face, and Horus in turn tore
off Seths testicles.
I calmed the rage (nesheni) of Atums right eye, the sun, by freeing it
of an irritating eyelash hair (sheni).
Pty rf st? Sh3t-jarw pw mst rf d2faw n nt2rw h2a karw. Jr grt sba pwy d2sr, sba
pw n st2sw S2w.
Ky d2d: Sba pw n Dwat.
Jmyw bah2, jmj n.j a2wy.tn! Jnk pw h3pr jm.tn.
Pty rf st? Snf pw ha(j)w m h2nn n Ra2 m wat.f r jrt s2a2t.f d2s.f. A2h2a.n h3pr
nt2rw jmyw bah2 Ra2: H2w pw h2na2 Sja, wnnw m h3t jt Jtm m h4rt nt ra2 nb.
Jw mh2.n.j jrt m-h3t h4qs.s hrw pn ny a2h2a rh2wy.
Pty rf sw? Hrw pw a2h2.a n H2r jm.f h2na2 Sts2 m wdt.f sd2aw m h2r n H2r,
m jt2t H2r h4rwy Sts2.
104
Jw t2s.n.j s2ny m wd2at m tr ns2ny.
105

This allusion depends on puns. Atums eye, the sun, was angry (sheni ).
Appropriately, for he had sent it off to punish wicked mankind. When
justice had been scorchingly performed, Thoth calmed down the eye,
brushing back into place an eyelash hair (sheni ) that was irritating it. Then
he sent it back to Ra, content and none the worse.
One can also read this as an allusion to a much earlier event. Before
the creation, when Atum still floated in the waters of primordial chaos, he
created Shu and Tefnut and sent them off to explore, dispatching his eye
along with them to light their way. But the eye missed its partner, and thus
it was sick with loneliness when it returned. Thoth, whose saliva is a
magical medicine, put it right by spitting on it.
I saw the birth of rising Ra, the dawn, Yesterdays child,
I saw him emerge from between the thighs of Hathor:
Hathor, the great wader, who slogged up from the waters of Chaos
to become our sky, like a cow wading out of the Nile.
Hathor is the sky, bestriding our world, one leg on each cardinal
point. Because she stands in Egypts water-clear air as a cow might stand
in the the Niles air-clear water, she is called the great wader.
Another view is that the passage refers only to the sun, the great eye of
Ra, which is called the great wader because it surfaces in the dawn sky as
if emerging from watery depths.
Pty rf sy? Jrt pw wnmt nt Ra2 m s2nyt.s rf m h3t hab.f sy. Jn grt D2h2wty jt2
s2ny jm.s jnt.f sy a2-w-s. nn bag.s nb.
Ky d2d: Wnn jrt.f pw mr h2r wnn.s rmyt n snwt.s. A2ha2.n jn D2h2wty psg r.s.
Jw ma.n.j Ra2 pwy, msy m sf r h3pdw Mh2t-Wrt.
Wd2a.f, wd2a.j, t2s-ph4r . . .
Pty rf st? Nwy pw ny nwyt nt pt.
Ky d2d: Twt pw n jrt Ra2 dwayt r mst.f ra2 nb. Jr grt Mh2t-Wrt, Wd2at pw nt
ra2 nb.
(No further portion of the glossed version can be clearly interpreted.)
106
107
Part Four
Gaining Magic Powers
Isle of Fire: Part Four

Pyramid Text 273-4
This is a propaganda poem of the 1st dynasty: it describes the original unification of
the country. Southern Egypt conquered the north, making the kingdom of the two
lands, and inaugurating the long series of Egyptian dynasties.
Hilly southern Egypt, without the rich farmlands of the delta, depended more on
hunting and herding, and its astral pantheon reflected this circumstance. Its neighbor to
the north, in the fertile valley, practiced agriculture and so had a highly cthonic
pantheon. The contrast, not to say conflict, is fully brought out in our poem.
The idea of absorbing power by eating its possessor is as archaic and universal as
possible, and this is the classic, unabashed example of it.
To my knowledge, I am the first to place this poem in its obvious historical context.
It has long been overlooked, due to the usual scholarly squeamishness.
Let the sky itself be clouded over, let the very stars be darkened,
let a global shudder earthquake across the worlds nine nations.
The bones of Aker, two-headed lion, guardian of the round flat
earths outer rim
let Akers bones be shaken! Every single moving thing stands still
when the king has manifested, a powerful ghost, a ba,
who lives on the gods who made him, who feeds on the goddesses
who fostered him.
The king is a master of cunning, his own mother didnt realize his true
nature.
His magnificence lights the sky, his power fills the horizon like the
setting sun, Atum,
like Atum, his father, androgynous total Atum, who both begot and
birthed him,
yet he is stronger than Atum!
The kings vital spirits, his kas and hemewsets, stand behind him and
sustain him;
gods in the form of serpents are a live crown for his head,
like a cobra looming, neck spread, above his forehead,
leading him, scanning for enemies,
like a dazzling ba, like a fiery eye that scorches when it looks.
The kings head is set on his neck like an archer on a battlement.
Jgp pt, jh2y sbaw,
nmnm psd2t-pd2wt, sda qsw Akr:
grr.sn, gnmw, ma.n.sn nsw X h3jw, ba,
m nt2r a2nh3 m jtw.f, ws2b m mwt.f.
Nsw X pw nb sabwt, h3mj.w.n mwt.f rn.f.
Jw s2psw nsw X m pt.
110
Gaining Magic Powers: Pyramid Text 273-4
Jw wsr.f m ah3t mj Jtm jt.f msj sw.

Jw msj.n.f sw, wsr sw r.f.
Jw kaw nsw X h2a.f. Jw h2mwswt.f h4r rdwy.fy.
Jw nt2rw.f tp.f. Jw ja2rwt.f m wpt.f.
Jw ss2mwt nsw X m h3at.f, ptrt, ba, ah3t ntb.s.
Jw wsrwt nsw X h2r mkt.f.1
Puns on wsrt, neck, and wsrwt, powers, as on mkt, right place, and mkt, protection.
111

The king is the bull of heaven, who bellows out thunder, his heart full
of rage,
he lives off the life force of all the gods,
he eats up their hearts, their lungs, their livers, when these are full of
magic,
when the gods return, renewed, from the Isle of Fire.
The king is ready, hes connected to all his spirit powers,
he manifests as this great creature: prime minister of Hell
with full authority over its officials, for he shares the throne of Hell with (the
earth god) Geb.
It is the king who will judge the dead, accompanied by Hells chief
executioner
He-who-must-not-be-named, on the day the revered gods are slaughtered.
The king orders sacrifices, he alone controls them.
The king eats humans, feeds on gods.
He has them presented on an altar to himself.
He has agents to do his will. He fires off the orders!
Nsw X pw ka pt, nhd m jb.f,
anh3 m h3pr n nt2r nb,
wnm wsmw.sn, jww,
mh2w1 h4t.sn m h2kaw m jw nsjsj (=nsrsr).
Nsw X pw a2prw, ja2b ah3w.f.
Jw nsw X h3a2(j) m wr pw nb jmjw-st-a2,
h2ms.f sa.f r Gb. Jn nsw X wd2a2 mdw.f
h2na2 Jmn-rn-f hrw pw n rh3s smsw.
Nsw X pw nb h2tpt, t2s a2qa.2
Nsw X pw jrj awt.f d2s.f.
Nsw X pw wnm rmt2w, a2nh3 m nt2rw.
Nsw X pw nb jnw h3aa2 wpwt.
1
2
Past passive sd2m.w.f

Who knots the cord, a boating term, equivalent to who is in control.
112
113

The cauldron-demon Grab-Em-By-The-Hair lassos and catches
victims for him,
the demon Head-Raised-Like-An-Angry-Cobras brings them under
control, then guards them,
the demon Out-for-Blood ties them to the slaughter block.
The moon god Khonsu, pendulum of heaven, precise divider of
months,
Khonsu, most mathematical aspect of Thoth,
Khonsu, precise as a knife-edge in the service of his masters,
slits them open and pulls out their guts.
Hes the officer sent by the king to carry out the sentence.
Its Shemsu, red-stained god of the winepress, wholl cut the bodies
up,
he cooks them into an offering-meal for the king, roasts them over
an open fire in the evening.
The king eats their magic, he gulps down their souls,
the adults he has for breakfast,
the young are lunch,
the babies he has for supper,
the old ones are too tough to eat, he just burns them on the altar as an
offering to himself.
Its the circumpolar stars, unsetting lords of the northern sky, who
light his fire
under the pots for the gods, filled with their chiefs thigh-meat.
The stars bustle like kitchen-boys to serve the king
as the kettles are filled with the tender legs of the slaughtered wives of
the gods.
Jn H3ma2-Wpwt-Jmy-Kh2aw sph2 sn n nsw X.
Jn D2sr-Tp saa sn n nsw X h3sf.n.f sn.
Jn H2ry-T2rwt (= t2r) qas sn n nsw X.
Jn H3nsw, mds nbw, d2ad sn n nsw X
s2dy.f n.f jmyt h4t.sn:
wpwty pw hab.w nsw X r h3sf.
Jn S2smw rh3s.f sn n nsw X,
fss (= psj) n.f jh3t jm.sn m ktwt ms2rwt.
Nsw X pw wnm h2kaw.sn, ja2m (= a2m) a2h3w.sn.
Jw wrw.sn n js2t.f (=jh3t.f) dwat.
Jw h2ryw-jb.sn n ms2rwt.f.
114
Jw s2rrw.sn n js2t h3awj.

Jw jaw.sn jawt.sn n kapt.f.
Jn a2aw mh2tyw pt wdjw.f sd2t
r wh2awt h4ryt.sn, m h3ps2w nw smsw.sn.
Jw ph4r jmyw-pt n nsw X
s2sr.tw n.f ktwt m rdw nw h2mwt.sn.
115

The king has traveled from the eastern horizon to the western one,
hes journeyed all through both the banks that make up rivered Egypt,
but hes the greatest power hes found, a force beyond all forces;
Hes the falcon of falcons, most rapacious and holy of all,
if he finds anyone in his path he eats him raw.
The home of the king is the place the sun rises, hes foremost among
the spirits and gods.
His servants are infinite: immense the number of his worshippers.
He was given all power in heaven and earth by Rigel, the brightest star
in Orion,
brightest in the whole southern sky, Rigel, father of the gods.
The king shines out anew in the sky, victorious, a rising sun,
he wears the white crown of Southern Egypt, hes king of the gods,
enthroned on the horizon.
He snapped the spines, pulled out the hearts of the gods.
He ate the red crown of Northern Egypt, gulped down its goddess
the great cobra Wadjet,
he embodies the countrys unity, swallows it up in one-ness.
Jw dbn.n.f pty tmty. Jw ph4r.n.f jdbwy,
nsw X pw sh3m wr, sh3m m sh3mw;
nsw X pw a2s2m (=ah4m), a2s2m a2s2mw wrw,
gmy(w).f m wat.f, wnm.f n.f sw mwmw.
Jw mkt nsw X m h2at sa2h2w nbw jmyw ah3t.
Nsw X pw nt2r smsw r smsw.
Jw ph4r n.f h3aw. Jw wdn n.f s2wt.
Jw rdj.w n.f a2 sh3m wr jn Sah2 jt nt2rw.
Jw wh2m.n nsw X h3a2w m pt. Jw.f snb.w nb m ah3t.
Jw h2sb.n.f t2sw bqsw,
jw jt2j.n.f h2atyw nt2rw.
Jw wnm.n.f Ds2rt. Jw a2m.n.f Wad2t.
116
117
Hes eaten the perceptive power the gods had in their sensory organs,
their life he absorbed from their hearts, their magic he ate with their
brains. These content him.
The king licks his lips, savoring the silty richness of Lower Egypts
papyrus swamps. Hes conquered, absorbed that kingdom.
Hes deliciously gorged as the fields when the Nile floods. His belly is
filled with all the gods magic.
No one will snatch away the kings powers or rank, hell hold them
always.
He has swallowed the intelligence of every god.
The lifetime of the king is eternity, everlasting is his reign,
his title is is Does-What-He-Wants-To-Do-And Does-Nothing-HeDoesnt-Like,
dweller in the distance, lord of the horizon, forever and ever.
Now he has digested the physical power, the ba, of the gods, and he
controls their ak, their occult forces.
Fed full with the flesh of gods and the broth boiled out of their bones,
now he controls their ak, he leaves them nothing but their shadows.
Ws2b nsw X m smaw saaw.1
Htp.f m a2nh3 m h2atyw h2kaw.sn jst2.
{Fjw nsw X nsb.f sbs2w jmyw ds2rt}.2
Jw wah3j.f. Jw h2ka.sn m h4t.f.
Nn nh2m m sa2h2w nw nsw X m a2.f.
Jw a2m.n.f. sja n nt2r nb.
A2ha2w pw n nsw X nh2h2h,
d2r pw d2t m sa2h2.f pn n
Mrr(w).f jrr(w).f msd2d2d(w).f n jrr(w).f
jmy d2rw a2h3t, d2t r nh2h2.
1 The lungs were seen as sense organs. See line 56 of the widely translated Memphite
Theology on the Shabaka stone.
2 Quite unclear. I wouldnt be surprised if fjw were originally Jw.f, which would
parallel the next line. Or even jwf, meat, which could give the reading Jwf nsw nsb.w.f
sbs2w ds2rt, for the meat of the king, which he eats, is the sbs2w of Upper Egypt. Since
no one knows what sbs2w are, one can only conjecture. The reading fjw, is disgusted, is
very unlikely to be right in the context of the kings gourmandise, especially since the
next word is nsb.f he licks up.My translation posits an original Jw.f and assumes (with
Sethe) that sbs2w is part of the crown.
118
Sk (=jst2) ba.sn m h4t nsw X, ah3w.sn h3r nsw X

{m h2aw jh3t r nt2rw} krrt.n nsw X m qsw.sn. 1
Sk ah3.sn h3r nsw X, s2wt.sn m a2 jryw.sn.
1 This is a little garbled, and no one has any great ideas about what to do with the r;
still, the overall sense seems clear enough.
119

These last lines are probably a later addition to make this astral poem less incongruous
for inclusion in a pyramid:
Among the gods the king shines forth like the sun,
and like the sun he endures,
for no evil man will be able to dig up his tomb
nor loot the chosen place of the Pharaoh X,
no, not one of all wholl live in this land
henceforth, forever and ever.
Jw nsw X m nn h3a2j h3a2j, jmn jmn.
n sh3m jr(j)w jrwt m h3bs
st jb nt nsw X m anh3w m ta pn d2t r nh2h2.
120
121

Coffin Text 5
You who are deceased! take over the sky, claim the earth as your
inheritance!
Who could take the sky away from that young and beautiful god you
are,
you who are Ra, eldest of the gods; you who are Horus, heir of Osiris;
you, declared innocent by the underworld courtall the hexes of
your enemies annulled?
Ha Wsjr X: jt2 n.k pt, jwa2 n.k ta!
Nm jrf nh2m.w.f pt tn m-a2.k, m nt2r pn rnpj nfr,
Ra2 js, smsw nt2rw, H2r js stj Wsjr,
maa2-h3rw r h3ftyw.k, h2mwt-ra?
122
Gaining Magic Powers: Coffin Text 5
123
Part Five
Perils of the Other World
Isle of Fire: Part Five

Coffin Text 335b
I omit the glosses that accompany this spell, which are mere lists of names and obscure
epithets, along with the opaque final ten lines.
O Ra, you who hatch every morning from the skys blue shell, rising
as the sun disk,
glinting gold from the horizon, you who make the sky dazzle like
polished bronze,
without peer among the gods, you who sail the open heavens, the vast
vault held up by Shu (god of the air),
who set the winds in motion by the fiery breath of your mouth, who
make the Two Lands (Upper and Lower Egypt) resplendent:
protect me from that god whose shape is so strange,
whose eyebrows are the arms of the balance that weighs the heart on
the day every thief is called to account,
who ropes the wicked and drags them to his chopping block, the
slaughterer of souls;
save me from the assassins, the sharp-clawed butchers! Dont give me
up to their flint knives,
dont let me go down into their cauldrons, dont let me walk into their
slaughterhouse!
I know all of your names! On earth I walk with Ra, and when I finally
moor lifes boat it will be beside Osiris!
Dont let them make me a sacrificial animal to roast on their altar! I am a
follower of the Lord of All Things (Osiris).
I will become a victorious Horus, fly up like a falcon! I shall be like the
goose who heralded all existence, whose great creative ONK! transformed the
primordial silence!
I will exist through all the eternities like Neheb-Kaw,
the two-headed serpent, who was the Chaos ocean before Atum
separated himself out of it,
the original unity of being, to which all things shall return.
Jj Ra2 jmy swh2t.f, wbn m jtn.f,
psd2 m ah3t.f, nbw h2r bja.f,
jwty snw.f m nt2rw, sqdd h2r st2sw S2w,
dd t2aw m hh n r.f, sh2d tawy m ah3w.f
Nh2m.k wj m-a2 nt2r pw s2ta jrw, wnn jnh2wy.fy m a2wy mh3at hrw pf n h2sb
a2wa, dd sph2w n jsftyw r nmt.f, dnd baw;
Nh2m.k wj m nw n jry-st2aw, jmnh2yw spdw d2ba2w! Nn sh3m dsw.sn jm.j,
nn h2ay.j r wh2awt.sn, nn a2q.j r jatt.sn, h2r-ntt rh3.kwj rnw.t2n, h2r-ntt jnk
wd2a.j tp ta h3r Ra2, mnj.j h3r Wsjr.
Nn h3pr a2abt.sn jm.j n na n h2ryw ah3w.sn. Jw.j m s2ms n nb-h3t, a2h4y.j m
bjk, ngg.j m smn, sky.j nh2h2 mj Nh2b-Kaw!
126
Perils of the Other World: Coffin Text 335B
127

O Ra-Atum, king in the palace of the gods, save me from the hand of
that god who lives by slaughter, with the head of a dog but the body of a
man, the one who lives in the middle of the lake of fire, who gulps down
the shadows that once had bodies, stealer of souls, the god Decay, eater
of myriads, invisible and stinking.
J Ra2-Jtm, jmy h2wt-a2at, jty nt2rw nbw, nh2m.k wj m-a2 nt2r pw anh3 m
h3ryt, nty h2r.f m t2sm, jnm.f m rmt2; jmy qab pw n s2 nsrt, a2m s2wt, h3np
h2atjw, wdd st2j, n ma.n.tw.f.
128
Perils of the Other World: Coffin Text 335B
129

Book of the Dead 7
Spell to be recited over a wax doll of Apep
the serpent long as the fall into nonexistence.
This spell allows one to tread on the ugly neck of that monster
who is neck from the neck down.
O thing of wax, mere image of Apophis, the soul-snatcher who feeds
on those weak ones,
the dead souls whose life force is exhausted, I will not tire and
become your prey,
because your poison, the weariness of the dead, hasnt penetrated my
body
my body is the body of Atum! If I dont weaken, your venom
wont enter me.
I am one with Atum when he still floated alone in Nun, the waters of
chaos, before any of his strength had gone into creating the cosmos.
I am Atum at his most inexhaustible the potence and potential of
all that is to be.
This is my magic protection and its older and greater than all the
gods together!
There isnt even a name for who I am, and since I have no name, no
one can use it to magically control me. I am holy, royal, more so than all
the millions of beings I go among.
R n jwt h2r t2s qsn ny A2app: d2d-mdw jn X:
J wa2 mnh2, jt2(j) m a2wa, a2nh3 m nnyw!
Nn nny.j n.k, nn gnn.j n.k, n a2q mtwt.k m a2wt.j: a2wtj a2wt Jtm.
Jr tm gnnw.j n.k, nn a2q gmwt.k m a2wt.j jptn.
Jnk Jtm h2r-h3nt Nnw. Jw mkt.j m nt2rw nbw d2t.
Jnk ss2ta-rn: d2sr-st r h2h2 jnk jmytw.
Spr n.j h2na2 Jtm. Jnk nty n jp.tw.f, wd2a.kwy sp sn.
130
Perils of the Other World: Book of the Dead 7
131
Part Six
Daily Life
in the World of the Dead
Isle of Fire: Part Six

Coffin Text 472
Note: there is no etymology for the word schwabty.
Spell for causing a schwabty to do work for its owner in the

underworld. To be recited over the schwabty, which will be made either
of tamarisk or thorn wood. This shall be carved to resemble its owner as
he appeared in life, and placed in the tomb.
Look upon this man, ye gods, transfigured souls and spirits of the
dead,
for he has acquired force, seized his moment, taken on royal
authority,
hes a pharaoh, ruling mankind, controlling them like cattle.
They were created to serve him. The gods themselves ordained it.
Now, schwabty:
If, in the world of the dead, X is ordered to perform the yearly stint of
public work all Egyptians owe their pharaoh,
be it to move bricks, level off a plot of ground, re-survey land when
the Nile-flood recedes or till new-planted fields,
you will say: Here I am! to any functionary who should come
looking for X while he is trying to enjoy his meal of funerary offerings.
Take up your hoe, schwabty, your pick, your demarcation pegs, your
basket, just as any slave would for his master.
O schwabty made for X, if X is called for his obligations to the state
you will pipe up: Here I am! whether X is summoned to oversee
workers in the new-planted fields, tend to irrigation, move sand from
East to West or vice versa
Here I am! you will say and take his place.
R n rdjt jry s2wabty kat n nb.f m h4rt-nt2r:
Ma sw jr-t2n, nt2rw ah3w mtw jmyw pt ta,
jt2.n.f. ph2ty.f at.f, jt2.n.f n.f nsty.f,
h2qa.n.f. m a2wt jrt n X pn h3ft wd2 nt2rw.
Jr jp.tw X pn r jwa n d2bt, r drdrw n wa2rt, n sph4r wd2b, r sh3rt sh3wt mawt n
nsjw jmy haw.f,
Mk wj! ka.k n wpwty nb jwt.f n X pn m snw.f,
T2a n.k jmrt.k, h2nn.k, nbaw.k, h2nkw.k m a2.k, my jrt h4rd nb n nb.f.
134
Daily Life in the World of the Dead: Coffin Text 472
J s2wabty jry n X pn, jr jp.tw X pn n h4rt.f . . . Mk wj! ka.k.

Jr jp.tw X pn r nwa jrrw jm n sh3rt sh3wt mawt, r srdt wd2b, r h4nt s2aj jmnty
dyw n jabtt, t2s-ph4r, Mk wj! ka.k n.f r.s.
135

D2d-mdw h2r ss2m n nb, n tpj-ta, jrw m jsr m nbs, djw m kar n ah3.
136
Daily Life in the World of the Dead
137

Book of the Dead 15b
An adoration of Ra, falcon lord of both horizons, as he sets in the
western one:
Greetings to you, Ra, in your aspect of Atum (the complete), the
setting sun, at the end of your solar falcon flight,
holy god, self-creator, primordial, he who is since the beginning!
Shouts of joy meet you, maker of the gods, you who hold up the sky
for the passage of sun and moon
which are your eyes, you who made earth to be the great hall of your
radiance,
you whose light lets man see man.
Mesketet (the barque of morning) feels its heart expand with joy as it
carries you across the day sky;
Mandjet (the night barque) rejoices in turn to carry you beneath the
earth, across that under-sky.
Nun is satisfied, its chaos remains in abeyance; your crew is at ease
because each time you cross the border of light and darkness
the bright uraeus on your crown shoots down your enemies, and the
serpent Apophis winds itself back in fear.
May you always be as beautiful as you are now, may your mother Nut
each evening take your setting self
into her arms which are the night sky.
May your heart be glad as you set foot on Manu (the western
mountain).
The noble dead rejoice as you send the first rays down
into the eternal dead-zone of Osiris,
your power penetrates their graves. The painted coffin-lids slide
open. The dead stiffly lift their arms in adoration, greeting your beams.
They tell you all their problems, because you are the one who shines
for them;
the lords of hell are happy as well, your red gleam sweetens even
these.
In the sunset west, the land of death, eyes open at your glance, dead
faces smile again at the sight of you,
Dwa Ra2 H2r-ah3ty m htp.f m ah3t jmntt nt pt:
J-nd2-h2r.k Ra2 m htp.f, Tm-H2r-Ah3ty, nt2r nt2ry, h3pr d2s.f, pawty, h3pr
m h2at.
Hnw n.k, jrj nt2rw, ah3j pt r h2pt jrty.fy, jrj ta r sh3w jah3w.f r rdjt ma s nb snnw.f.
138
Daily Life in the World of the Dead: B. D. 15B
Jw Msktt m aw-jb, Ma2nd2t m ha2y nmj.n.sn n.k; Nnw m htp, jst.k htp.tj,
sh3r.n ah3t ja2rt h3ftyw.k, nh2m.n n.k nmtt A2app.
Nfr.tj m Ra2 ra2 nb; h2pt tw mwt.k Nwt; htp.k, jb.k aww m ah3t nt Manw,
jmtayw (=mtw) s2psw m ha2jw sh2d2.k jm n nt2r aa2 Wsjr h2qa d2t;
nbw qrswt m t2ph2wt.sn, a2wy.sn m jat n ka.k,
d2d.sn n.k sprw.sn nbw m-h3t jr.k psd2.k n.sn;
nbw Dwat, jbw.sn nd2mw, sh2d2.n.k jmaw;
jmntyw, jrwt.sn swsh3w n maa.k, h2a2a2 jbw.sn maa.sn tw,
139

because you listen to their complaints, to all the sorrows of the dead.
You take away their pain, you make things right again.
You'll give them back the breath in their nostrils as they touch the
mooring rope
to draw you to that further shore, when you dock on Mt. Manu.
May Ra always be this beautiful when his mother Nut takes him
into her arms which are the night sky.
sd2m.k.sn, nmh2w n nty m d2bat; dr.k hamw.sn, h3sf d2w.sn.
Dj.k t2aw r fndw.sn ss2p.sn h2att nt wja.k m ah3t Manw.
Nfr.tj Ra2 ra2 nb qnj tw mwt.k Nwt.
140
Daily Life in the World of the Dead: B.D. 15B
141
Part Seven
Anatomy of the Soul
Isle of Fire: Part Seven

Book of the Dead 15a
This spell is particularly valuable for its description of the souls three aspects. The ak or
shining one, ascends to the sky. The ka, represented in the glyphs as a pair of arms
extended in a gesture of giving, is the part of the soul that resides in the grave. It is the
buried ancestor imparting paternal protection, an earth-merged entity that bestows
fertility. Finally there is the ba, represented as a bird with a human head. This is the
vehicular form of the soul, that in which it moves about in our daylit world like a ghost.
This complex and compartmentalized view of the soul is to some degree universal.
The Roman genius, lar and manes correspond roughly to the ak, ka and ba. Even we
desacralised moderns are no tidier. We can talk of a dead person having a soul which
survives the body on another plane, the enduring influence of someones spirit, and
even the existence of ghosts, without ever feeling these differing conceptions need to be
harmonized.
An adoration of Ra who rises on the horizon,

when he makes his ba, the visible form of his soul, rise like a powerful
ghost from the underworld
his ba, the shining spectre of Ra that is our physical sun; when he
raises himself, rejoicing in the power of his ka;
an adoration of Ra, his ba and his ka, when he has the sun-boats
steersman shove off from the east and head out into deep sky
while addressed in these words by the deceased:
Hail Ra!
Hail to your ba!
Hail to your ka!
The deceased knows your name, and the names of your ba and your
ka in all their aspects.
Dwa Ra2 wbn.f m ah3ty, swas2.f ba.f, sh2tp.f kaw.f, rd(j).f ss2 h3rp-wja
h3ft njs jn Wsjr X.
J.nd2-h2r.k Ra2, sp fdw!
J.nd2-h2r.k ba.k, sp sfh3!
J.nd2-h2r.k kaw.k, r sp md2-fdw!
Jw wsjr X maa2-h3rw rh3.f rn.k,
jw.f rh3.f rnw nw ba.k,
jw.f rh3.f rnw nw ka.k.
144
Anatomy of the Soul: Book of the Dead 15a
145

Shining Ra, in your celestial aspect, as an ak,
you are Atum within the sky,
an old man as you set on the horizon,
a judge within your palace which is the heavens,
a king enthroned in the sunset,
and when you've sunk west into the underworld, a king down there as
well.
Atum, ancient one, who first dawned from Nun, from the black deep
of her primordial night.
The deceased knows the names of your ba, the form in which you
travel our world the sun:
ba pure of body,
health-embodying ba,
ba bright and unharmed,
ba of magic,
ba who causes himself to appear,
male ba,
ba whose warm energy encourages coupling.
The deceased, may he rest in peace, knows the names of your ka, the
aspect of your soul that abides in the ground:
Mk ntk ah3w, Tm jmy pt, smsw jmy ah3t, sd2m jmy h2wt-a2at, nsw jmy ah3t
jmy dwat, nh3h3 jmy Nnw.
Jw wsjr X rh3.f rnw ba.k:
ba wa3b h2a2w; ba wd3a h2aw; ba ah3 wd2a; ba h2ka; ba jr qj; ba t2ay; ba
snk!
Jw wsjr X rh3.f rnw nw ka.k:
146
147

nourishing ka,
ka of food,
lordly ka,
ka the ever-present helper,
ka which is a pair of kas begetting more kas,
healthy ka,
sparkling ka,
victorious ka,
ka the strong,
ka that strengthens the sun each day to rise from the world of the dead,
ka of shining resurrection,
powerful ka,
effective ka.
ka h2w; ka d2fa; ka s2ps; ka s2ms; kawy jr kaw; ka wd2a; ka t2h2n; k nh3t;
ka wsr; ka wbn; ka psd2; ka was2; ka spd!
148
149

Book of the Dead 42
A spell for withstanding the judgement of the dead each dawn,
the sunrise-red slaughter of the forces of darkness
which Ra enacts every morning as he rises from his Island of Fire in
the Eastern Sea.
This spell affords protection on the Island of Fire, because it is
recited in Neni-Nesew, city of Ras sacred tamarisk tree,
Neni-Nesew, where the solar eye once slew rebellious mankind,
where Horus once fought with Seth,
Neni-Nesew, which the Greeks call Herakleopolis, city of solar
victories!
This spell is being read by the deceased.
Land of Ras tamarisk, White Crown of Egypts cities, White Crown
on the statue of Ra, splendid as his standard carried in procession, city of
Neni-Nesew which means Son of Upper Egypts King, I am become
that Horus, that prince for whom the city is named.
O Yebew-Weret, guardian of the slaughter-site of Ras Day of
Judgement,
today you have said and said again: The butcher-block of justice is
ready you know what to expect.
(line unintelligible)
I am Ra, ever honored, the ruler, the god who dwells in
Neni-Nesews sacred tamarisk. How much greater is Today than
Yesterday, how much greater is who I am than who I was!
Long live this day, long live Today!
R n h3sf s2a2t jrrt m Nnj-Nsw: d2d mdw jn X:
Ta n h3t, h2d2t nt twt, jat h4nt, jnk h3y!
Ya jbw-wrt,
jw d3d.n.k mjn a2prw nmt m rh3t.n.k.
Jnk Ra2, mn h2swt, t2sw, nt2r m h4nw jsr: nfr wy jtn r sf!
Wd2a.tw, wd2a.tw hrw pn!
150
Anatomy of the Soul: Book of the Dead 42
151

I am the supreme god, comprising within my total being all the other
deities. I am invulnerable in every part of my body.
My hair flows in ripples, it is the chaos-waters of Nun;
my shining face is risen Ra;
my eyes are clear as the day-sky itself, which is Hathor;
my acute ears are the jackal god Wepwawet;
my nose presides over my face, it is Amun presiding over the city
Kasew;
my lips are the wide-mouthed jackal god Anubis;
my sharp teeth are the scorpion goddess Sereqet;
my neck is beautiful Isis;
my arms are Knum, lord of the city Djedet, who sculpted the world
into being;
my throat is Neith from the city of Sas, warrior wife of Seth, and my
spine is Seth himself;
my penis is the resurrecting Osiris;
my upper body is the entire pantheon honored in the city of
Hery-Aha;
my chest is the god called most radiant;
my belly and back are the sinewy lion goddess Sekmet;
my buttocks are round and perfect as the eye of Horus;
my thighs and calves are Nut, the night sky;
my lower legs are Ptah the creator, these sustain the whole cosmos
that I am;
my fingers and toes are living sacred cobras of royal authority.
I have no limb that lacks its deity, but Thoth himself, the god of
Writing and Knowledge, is the spell that protects my entire body.
Jw s2nyw.j m Nnw,
jw h2r.j m Ra2,
jw jrty.j m H2wt-H2r nbt pt,
jw msd2rwy.j m Wp-Wawt,
jw fnd.j m H3nt-H3as,
jw spty.j m Jnpw,
jw jbh2wy.j m Srqt,
jw nh2bt.j m Ast,
jw a2wy.j m H4nmw nb Dd2t,
jw s2na2.j m Njt nbt Saw,
jw psd2.j m Sth3,
jw h2nn.j m Wsjr,
jw jwf.j m nbw H4ry-A2h2a,
jw s2nbt.j m a2a s2fs2ft,
jw h4t.j jat.j m Sh3mt,
152
jw h3pdwy.j m jrt H2r,

jw mnty.j ssty.j m Nwt,
jw rdwy.j m Pth2,
jw d2baw.j sah2w.j m a2ra2rwt a2nh3wt.
Nn a2t jm.j s2wt m nt2r, D2h2wty m sa jwf.j tm.
153

I am Ra, each days sun. I will not be seized by the arms or grabbed by
the hands. There is no man or god, transfigured spirit or lost soul, no
noble, commoner or priest who can steal anything from me; I emerge
safe, because no one knows my secret name.
I am Yesterday, I see the countless years that have passed, for I am
one who has traveled the road whose guards are judgers of the dead. I am
Osiris, I own eternity. I know the longing to exist again in time, to change
and become! (line unintelligible)
I am Wedjat, the closed eye of the creator asleep in the waters of
Chaos, the great egg from which all existence hatched. One with Wedjat,
though lightless Im alive. Wedjat protects me. I have gone forth as the
sun goes forth, to shine, I have set again in darkness, but I still live.
I am one with Wedjat, enthroned. (line unintelligible) I am become a
Horus who strides through the ages; that I should rule, so enthroned, was
ordained for me. Whether I wake and speak or am silent and dormant, I
reign with precise justice.
Behold, my mode of being has been inverted, transformed! I am
Osiris Wenen-Nefer, the kindly one, generous lord of underearth, whose
wealth is inexhaustible, season after season, who discloses his gifts one by
one.
Jnk Ra2 n hrw nb. Nn h3fa2.tw.j h2r a2wy.j, nn t2aw.tw.j h2r drty.j. Nn rmt2,
nt2rw, a2h3w, mwt, pa2t nb, rh3yt nbt, h3nmmt nbt a2wa jm.j. Jnk prjw, wd2a,
h3mmw rn.f.
Jnk sf, maa h2h2 n rnpwt, rn.j sbb m wat hryw sjpw. Jnk nb d2t: hwy-a wj jp.kwj
mj h3prj! (. . .)
Jnk jmy Wd2at, swh2t.j, rdjw n.j anh3.j m-a2.s. Jnk jmy wd2at, m a2h4nt: jw.j
m mkt.s; pr.n.j, wbn.n.j, a2q.n.j, anh3.j.
Jnk jmy Wd2at, st.j m nst.j (. . .). Jnk H2r h3nd h2h2; wd2w n.j nst.j h2qa.j sy.
Mk r.j mdw.j gr.j, a2qa wj.
Mk, jrw.j sh3d.w. Jnk Wnn-Nfr: tr m tr, h4rt.f jm.f; wa2 m wa2 ph4r.f.
154
155

I exist within the Wedjat. Nothing bad or wrong will happen to me,
nothing will disrupt me.
I am Wedjat, the suns eye, I open the gates of the sky, I rule from the
solar throne, I decide who shall be born this day. Yesterday is a door
closed. Today, the portal of the present, is the only gate through which a
child can come into the world. I am this Today, through all generations. I
am your protector, humanity, for all time.
Do you exist, creatures of heaven and earth, of south and north, of
east and west? It is because my scary power is active in your bodies. I am
he whose eye is the sun, who creates with a glance. I will not experience
death again, rather, my activity will ever sustain your forms and I will
cause my own continuance. (line unintelligible)
Where are you now, sky? earth? Lying together in the night of Time,
the first sunrise separated you, making Nut (goddess of the night sky)
turn pale and rise while Geb (the earth god) was left outstretched green
beneath. I am that sun. I am called He-Who-Overcomes-All-DangerAnd-Harm because my words have power over you all.
I am he who rises and lights up wall after wall, each thing in
succession. There will not be a day that lacks its owed illumination. Pass
on, O creatures, pass on, O world! Listen! I have ordered you to! I am the
cosmic lotus that rose shining from Nuns black primordial waters, and
my mother is Nut, the night sky. O you who made me, I have already
arrived, I am the great ruler of Yesterday, the power of command is in my
hand.
None who try to know me will understand me, none who try to grasp
me will touch me. O egg of light from which I hatched, I truly am the
Horus falcon who rules over all time, the risen solar bird whose fire sears
the faces of my malicious enemies . . .
Jnk jmy Wd2at. Nn h3pr h3t nbt r.j bjnt d2wt: h4nnw, nn sw r.j.
Jnk wpjw sba m pt, jnk h2qa nst, wpp mswt m hrw pn. Nn h3nw h2ww h2r
mt2n n sf; jnk hrw pn, rmt2 m rmt2. Jnk pw mkt.t2n n h2h2.
Jn-jw.t2n wn.tjwny ptyw, tatyw, rsyw, mh2tyw, jabtyw, jmntyw? Snd2.j m
h4t.t2n! Jnk nbjw m jrt.f, nn mt.j m wh2m, at.j m h4wt.t2n, jrw.j m h3nt.j (. . .)
Pt t2ny? Ta t2ny? Msw snnw, n sma.sn. Snj sw rn.j, m h3t nbt d2wt, wrw
mdw.j mdwj.j n.t2n.
Jnk wbn, psd2, jnb m jnb, wa2 m wa2. Nn hrw s2w m jrwt.f. Snj, sp sn, snj, sp
sn! Mk, d2d.j n.k: Jnk wnb prjw m Nnw, mwt.j pw Nwt. Ja qma wj! Jnk jwty h3nd.f,
t2sw a2a m h4nw sf. Jw a2 t2s m h4nw drt.j
Nn rh3 wj, rh3.ty.fy wj; nn h3fa2 wj, h3fa2.ty.fy wj. Ja swh2t, sp sn, jnk H2r
h3nty h2h2, hh.j r h2rw.sn, s2ryw-jbw.sn r.j (. . .)
156
157
Part Eight
Mythscape
Isle of Fire: Part Eight

Coffin Text 335a bare
I am Atum while he was still submerged in Nun (the waters of chaos),
when he was all unexhausted potential, before any possibility had been
limited to what is.
I am Ra at the moment when his rays first shoot out from the horizon,
when he resumes his brilliant government of all that hes created.
I am that great and self-created god who invented all the names for what
he himself is, master of the nine gods, who yields to no other deity.
I own Yesterday, I know Tomorrow.
I ordered the warship of the gods to be built. I know the name of the
great god who is in it.
I am that god. I am Osiris, and the boat is Neshmet, it carries me to my
kingdom among the dead.
I am Osiris. I am dead as yesterday, and being dead I can see the future.
I am the Phoenix, the great heron,
the bird of emergence, first creature to appear on the primordial hill
that rose from (the waters of) Nuns chaos. I look over all that will be, I
oversee each detail.
I am Min (the harvest god) when he emerges from earth. I have put on
his headdress, two tall feathers, stiff and erect, like new shoots.
I left my city and country, descended to the west, the place of graves,
with my father Atum, the setting sun, each day,
for my sins and wrongdoings are chased off, driven from me,
any crime of mine is taken away. I go a road I recognize,
the one that leads to the island of the blessed dead.
I travel to the horizon of existence, to the land of bright, transfigured
souls,
I come through the holy portal. O my ancestors,
reach me your hands, you who brought me into being!
Jnk Jtm m wnn.j wa2.kwj m Nnw.
Jnk Ra2 m h3aw.f tpyw, wbn.f m ah3t,
s2aa2.f h2qa jrt.n.f.
Jnk nt2r a2a h3pr d2s.f, qma rnw.f,
nb psd2t, jwty h3sf.f m nt2rw.
Nnk1 sf, jw.j rh3.kwj dwa:
jr.n.tw a2h2at nt2rw h3ft wd2.j, jw.j rh3.kwj nt2r pw a2a jm.s.
Jnk bnw pw nty m Jwnw,2 jrj sjpty ny ntt wn.
Jnk Mnw m prw.f. Jw rdj.n.j s2wty.j m tp.j.
160
Mythscape: Coffin Text 335a bare
Jj.n.j m njwt.j, pr.n.j m ta.j,

haa.j r spat, wnn.j h2na2 jt.j Jtm
m h4rt-nt2r hrw nt ra2 nb;
dr(w) jwyt.j,3 h3sr(w) dwt.j, sh2rw jsft jrt.j,
s2m.j h2r wat rh3t.n.j tp-m jw n ma2atyw,
spr.j r ta ah3tyw, pr.j m sba d2sr.
Jmyw bah2, jmj n.j a2wy.tn. Jnk pw h3pr jm.tn.
1
= ny jnk
Jwnw is the site of the bnbn stone; the bnw bird is associated with this place both
mythologically and etymologically through the common root bnn, stand out, stick up.
3variant of jwt.
2
161

I helped restore the eye of Horus when Seth had wounded it, on the day
that pair fought for the kingship.
That eye is the moon, attacked every month by Seth and the forces of
darkness;
the moon, whose changes mime eternally how Osiris died and Horus
restored him.
I cleared away the storm-clouds that obscured the sun, which is Horus
right eye,
I brushed aside the thunderheads as one would an irritating eyelash hair.
I saw the birth of rising Ra, the dawn, Yesterdays child,
I saw him emerge from between the thighs of Hathor:
Hathor, the great wader, who slogged up from the waters of Chaos
to become our sky, like a cow wading out of the Nile.
She bestrides our world, one leg resting on each cardinal point,
her belly speckled with the moon and stars.
Ra is well and so am I. As I am, so he is. Our being coincides,
for I am numbered among Horus warriors . . . .
I am the cat that split the holy tree in the city of Ra.
Ra is that cat. As cats attack snakes, Ra fights the serpent Apophis
each dawn.
(The sky-goddess) Nut is a tree on the horizon, a tree that holds up
the whole heavens in her branches.
Every day when Ra is reborn, he cuts his way free of that tree.
I am the cat Ra whose claws slay Apophis, who cuts his way clear
from the tree of night.
As it is every dawn, so it was at the first
when sovereign Ra annihilated the forces of darkness . . . .
Jw mh2.n.j jrt m-h3t h4qs.s hrw pn ny a2h2a rh2wy.
Jw t2s.n.j s2ny m wd2at m tr ns2ny.
Jw ma.n.j Ra2 pwy, msy m sf r h3pdw Mh2t wrt.
Wd2a.f, wd2a.j, t2s-ph4r, h2r ntt jnk wa2 m nw n jmyw-h3t H2r . . .
(30 lines of involved obscurities)
Jnk mjw pw ps2n js2d m Jwnw
grh2 pwy n h2tm h3ftyw nb-r-d2r jm.f . . .
(brief gloss omitted)
162
Mythscape: Coffin Text 335a bare
163
The Case of Horus Versus Seth

The Text and the Tale
Horus versus Seth is a twelfth century B.C.E. manuscript, written in Late
Egyptian. This is the simpified, vernacular language which replaced
Classical Egyptian, even as a literary medium, in the New Kingdom
(eighteenth to sixteenth centuries B.C.E.) It is a particularly good text for
students of Late Egyptian because of its excellent manuscript, basic
syntax, and entertaining content.
I believe this was the text of a popular temple drama performed at
harvest time at the city of Sas, home of the fertility goddess Neith,
mistress of floodwaters. She, not Ra or Osiris, is the supreme deity in this
tale. To her the gods go twice for final arbitration of the case. Even Osiris
does no more than enforce her decision. And the final judgement of the
gods is given in Xos, the city next to Sas, at harvest time when the fields
gleamed white with grain. The play probably had a narrator and masked
actors, and performance with puppets is by no means to be ruled out.
To understand our tale, we must start by putting aside the hysterical
prudery that has so far ruled out any thorough discussion. The
appropriateness of treating this as a serious document of mythology, and not
as a a facetious or skeptical tale, is clear at once from the style of the writing,
which is, though sophisticated, quite without irony. This impression is
reinforced by the very typography of the document. The determinative for
god, the temple-pennant which ordinarily follows the name of any deity,
has been in nearly every case replaced with the falcon-determinative of
Horus. This is true even with the name Seth. The scribes who copied this
work clearly felt that the descriptions of Horus struggles with Seth contained
dangerous energies. These forces had to be controlled by a graphic insistence
that Horus would indeed triumph. Evidently, the Egyptians took our
document very seriously, and to their opinion ours must defer.
Further, the tale begins with the unequivocal statement that this is an
account of enormous beings, great and ancient deities from the time of
the begining. There is no reason not to take the narrator at his word. The
case of Horus versus Seth concerns the laws of nature, the cycles of death
and rebirth on which life depends. We find this expressed in the punning
title of the piece. Wepet, the Judgement, of the case of Horus vs. Seth, is
the same word in the expression for New Year, the Wepet Renpet, literally
the opening or division of the year. All these meanings come from
the verb wepey which can signify (variously) to open, inaugurate, part,
separate, divide, judge, discern or distinguish. To fully convey the title's
162
Mythscape: Horus vs. Seth

meaning, we would probably have to translate it as something rather
cumbrous, like The New Year's Day Judgement of Horus versus Seth.
Waters of Renewal
In Egypt, the principal rhythm of life is the annual inundation of the Nile.
Young Horus must succeed his deceased father to guarantee the
continuance of this cycle. From the very start of the story, Ra refers the
case to the deities who supervise the annual flooding, Ba-Neb-Djedy and
Ptah-Ta-Tenen. They in turn refer the decision to Neith. Neith is the
force of life in its liquid origins: the waters of her womb were the
chaos-ocean from which the first things arose. Evidently this is a case
whose verdict is to be declared by nature itself. If the kingship goes to the
right claimant, the floods will come. Otherwise, the cosmos is destroyed,
it returns to pre-creation chaos. As Neith puts it in section V, I will
become angry and the sky will crash down to earth. In a matter so
momentous, success must be a foregone conclusion, as the gods in
council acknowlege in section III, when they say the case has already been
decided in the courtroom named Thus-The-World-Is-Ordered.
The significance of water as a force of world renewal is not specific to
Egypt: one finds it world-wide in myths of the flood (Noahs, Deucalions,
Utnapishtims) from which the earth re-emerges purified and new. The
rebirth symbolism of Baptism is a late and sophisticated version of the motif.
A Time Outside Time

The action of the tale becomes fully intelligible only when viewed in
relation to the clebration of the New Year in archaic societies. The New
Year, in this context, is not a matter of mere calendrical calculation, but
the turning point in the agricultural year when the taboo on the new
harvest is lifted and it may be safely reaped and eaten. Two well-known
examples are the Hebrew Rosh HaShanah and the Babylonian Akitu.
The Egyptian New Years Day, Wepet Renpet, the Opening of the
Year, began at a point of dramatic agricultural importance: the
appearance of the star Sirius, which marked the final harvest of the year,
and the beginning of the season of the inundation, on which the irrigation
and fertilization of the fields for the next year depended. (Note that the
New Year of the modern west is an exception to the norm, and has come
about only as a result of many reforms of the calendar, particularly Julius
Caesars, which moved the new year from its normative place, in March,
to December. A vestige of the old agricultural calendar of the Romans
165

survives in the holiday of Lent, which is in origin, like the Jewish Passover
and Yom Kippur, a taboo on grain until the earliest harvest is in.)
Our story depends in very considerable detail on Egypts calendar
and cycle of seasons, so we must look at these even more closely. The
Egyptian year was divided into twelve months of thirty days each. These
360 days were then increased with five intercalary days to bring the total
to 365. The extra days recieved a legendary explantion, which Plutarch
gives in full in his essay On Isis and Osiris.
Nut, the sky goddess, slept with the earth god Geb against the wishes
of Ra. He cursed her to bear her offspring neither in any month nor in
any year, that is, never. Thoth gambled with the Moon (who always has
fragmentary measures of time handy) and won enough time to make up
the five days that stand outside the regular calendar and complete the
year. On each of these intercalary days Nut gave birth to a deity: first
Osiris, then Horus, Seth, Isis and Nephthys.
This is what is alluded to by Ba-Neb-Djedy in section VIII,
describing Seth as the brother, not the uncle, of Horus. Since the story
takes place in the intercalary days just before the New Year, the variant
tradition is technically in effect. This is also a non-time, when the normal
ordering of the cosmos (the separation of heaven and earth, Nut and
Geb,) is anulled, and otherwise bridled forces are given free rein. Thus we
have here the struggles between Horus and Seth. I shall discuss the
abridgment of order motif in more detail below. Here it suffices to
note how it helps determine the setting of the tale in the intercalary days.
Seth alludes to the myth of the five days as well, in section XIII. The
phrase which I have translated elder kinsman there for the sake of
simplicity, actually reads older brother.
The contest Seth proposes, the submersion contest, also confirms
the placement of this story at the New Year. Each Egyptian year
consisted of three seasons, Aket, Inundation, when the Nile flooded;
Peret, Emergence, when the floodwaters withdrew, and Shemew,
Lack-Water, the spring-summer months. Seths challenge to Horus is
to remain underwater for at least three months. This seems a clear
reference to the first season of the new year, Inundation, when a flood
which covered the land entirely for a full three months would make for a
very successful irrigation.
New Years Combats

The New Years rituals of all archaic societies have a common and
underlying agenda: to renew the forces of nature by putting an end to the
present cycle of time. They typically include a period of symbolic chaos
which abrogates precisely those limits (such as time and law) that have
166

exhausted the forces of creation. Afterwards the calendar may be begun
anew, with all its potential fresh.
The story before us includes nearly every important New Years
motif: the only ones lacking are purification and expiation of sins (as in
the case of the scapegoat ritual of the Hebrew New Year). The
explanation for this is that we are looking at tale for the carnival, not the
lenten, part of the observances. Our story represents the festival of
renewal, the Rosh HaShanah if you like, not the Yom Kippur, the taboo that
precedes the Sukkoth or Harvest Home.
The renewal of the forces of nature was, in the ancient near east, the
proper duty of the king, who personally represented the chief god of his
country. Typically, he would repeat the cosmogonic act at the New Year
to bring new vigor to his nation and his own reign. Thus the Babylonian
king reenacted Marduks (the storm gods) victory over the chaos-dragon
of the ocean, Tiamat. The Egyptian equivalent would have been Horus
victory over Seth.
Ceremonial combats, mock battles, races and other competitions are
the activities by which the society as a whole enjoys a limited participation
in the myth of a battle with chaos and a re-assertion of order: our tale
includes a swimming match, a boat race, and a bloody brawl between the
would-be kings.
Rude Jokes
Beyond the repetition of the cosmogonic act, the New Year must refresh
existence by temporarily and symbolically anulling the restrictions that
harness daily life. One means is the abrogation of morality, as in the
Roman Saturnalia. The bawdry that characterizes the tale as a whole is a
fine example of this. This scene deserves particular notice: Hathors
coochie dance before Ra in section VII. The hidden sun is lured into
shining out again (i.e., the dormant forces of nature are revived) by
Hathors ritual rudeness. It may fairly be likened to the jokes of Iambe
before the grieving harvest goddess in the Hymn to Demeter. (Iambe
personifies obscene songs which, in Greek, are characteristically made in
the bouncy iambic meter.)
An even more precise parallel to Hathors friskiness is found in the
eighth century Japanese Kojiki (Record of Ancient Things.) This, the
oldest text in Japanese, gives an account of the nations origins. In
Chapter seventeen of Book One the sun goddess Ama-Terasu-Opo-MiKame, offended by her brother Susa-No-Wos outrageous behavior,
withdraws into a cave. Night covers the world until the divine
dancing-girl Ame-No-Uzume-No-Mikoto performs a bump-and-grind
with a bucket for a drum, in which she shows her breasts and pulls down
167

her skirt, exposing her genitals. The 800 myriad deities laugh and the
sun-goddess peeps out to see what the fun is.
The Dead Return

The abrogation of time is signalized not only by sexual license. It may also
find expression at the outer limit of existence, Death. Then it entails a
symbolic return of the dead. This of course strikes at the very heart of
time. Nothing brings home to us the irrevocability of events more than
death. The return of the dead motif is familiar from the Mexican Day
of the Dead (moved from its original harvest setting in August to bring it
into line with the Catholic feast of All Saints). Other examples are North
American Halloween, and even the tradition of Christmastide ghost
stories, of which the best known example is Dickens A Christmas Carol,
with its allegory of poverty turned into abundance. Some of that storys
annual popularity is due no doubt to its unconscious fulfullment of a
ritual function in our secularized society.
The equivalent in our story is Osiris threat to send the fierce-faced
punishers of the dead to drag the gods down to hell. This expresses the
return of the dead motif with a violent thoroughness that more than
makes up for its brevity.
168

Further Reading
In this brief preface I can do no more than suggest the broad outlines of
how this tale might be interpreted. Interested readers are referred to
Mircea Eliades The Myth of the Eternal Return, parts VI and VII of Frazers
Golden Bough, and Theodor Gasters Thespis.
169
Horus versus Seth

I
The tale of how a decision was reached in the case of Horus versus Seth,
those two mysterious entities, those enormous beings, great and ancient
deities from the time of the Beginning:
Now a young god was seated before Ra the lord of all, demanding the
royal title of his father Osiris Osiris, beautiful as the dawn, the son of
Ptah, Osiris whose visage illuminates the underworld. As this young god,
Horus, was making his claim, Thoth brought to Ra, great and ancient
chief of Heliopolis, the Wedjat. This magic object, which looks like a
human eye and also like that of a falcon, is the spiritual essence of the sun,
of the kingship and of all well-being. Whoever holds it rules Egypt.
Shu said to his father Ra: Right should rule over might: make it so,
order that the kingship be given to Horus.
Thoth said: Thats a million times right!
Isis gave a great shriek, for she was very, very delighted; she came
before Ra and said: O North wind, travel West, beyond the sunset to the
land of the dead! There cheer the heart of good King Osiris with this
news.
Shu said: The passing on of the Wedjat to Horus seems right to the
gods.
Wpt H2r h2na2 Sth3
(1:1-1:9)
H3pr.n ta wpt H2r h2na2 Sth3, s2taw, h3prw aa2w, srw wrw j.h3prw:
Jst jr wa2 n msw nt2ryw h2ms_ m bah2 nb-r-d2r h2r wh3a ta jawt jt.f Wsjr nfr
ha2w, sa Pth2, sh2d2 jmntt m jnh2.f, jw D2h2wty h2r h3rp wd2at n sr wr jmy jwnw.
D2d.jn Sw, 1 sa Ra2, m bah2 Jtm sr wr jmy Jwnw: Maa2t nbt wsr: (j.)jr sw m
d2d: Jmj ta jawt n H2r.
D2d.jn D2h2wty n ta psd2t: Maa2tyt m h2h2 n sp!
A2h2a2.n Ast h2r a2s2 sgb a2a, jw.s rs2w.tw r-jqr sp-sn, jw.s jj.tj m-bah2
nb-r-d2r, jw.s h2r d2d: Mh2yt: r jmntt! Snd2m jb n Wnn-Nfr a2-w-s.
D2d.jn S2w sa Ra2: Pa h3rp wd2at maa2t n psd2t.
1 The continuative forms wn.jn.f h2r sd2m, a2h2a.n sd2mf., and a2h2a2.n.f h2r sd2m, all
of which essentially mean then, are used here arbitrarily, or perhaps, in a way that
would have made sense only in a storytellers live performance. Accordingly, the
170
division into paragraphs, like the punctuation, is for the convenience of the modern
reader, and does not always match the syntax. In the translation, the divisions are
brought into line with English usage.
171

Ra, lord of all things, said: Whats that supposed to mean? Are the
lot of you going to make my decision for me?
The minor war god Onuris said: Let the royal ring be put on Horus
finger and the White Crown of Upper Egypt on his head!
Ra remained silent for a long moment, furious with the gods.
II
Seth the son of Nut said: Have him dragged outside with me so I can
show you my power, let me wrestle with him in front of the gods. Since it
doesnt look like this will be settled by words, my hands will take what
your tongues wont give.
Then Thoth said to Seth: Dont you think we can recognize the lie
here? Are we giving the crown of Osiris to you even though Osiris son
Horus stands here waiting for it?
Then Ra became really furious his intention was to give the
kingship to Seth, Nuts powerful son.
Meanwhile Onuris bellowed at the whole pantheon: What are we
going to do?
The great lord of Heliopolis, Ra, said: Have someone fetch
Ba-Neb-Djedy, the ram-headed god of Mendes, that great and vigorous
deity: let him decide between the young fellows wholl be king.
D2d.jn. nb-r-d2r: Ja jh3 pay.tn jrjt-sh3rw (m) wa2.tn?
A2h2a2.n Jnj-H2rt-H2r h2r d2d: Nh2m.tw mns2 n H2r, mtw.tw djt h2d2t
h2r tp.f.
A2h2a2.n nb-r-d2r h2r gr m at a2at, jw.f qnd.tw n tay psd2t!
(1:9-2:3)
Wn.jn Sth3 sa Nwt h2r d2d: Jmj h3aa2.tw.f r bnr jrm.j dj.j ptr.k d2rt.j, jw.f (r)
t2aw m d2rt.f m-bah2 ta psd2t, jw bw rh3.tw mdwt nbt kfjt.f.
A2h2a2.n D2h2wty h2r d2d n.f: Jn jw.n r rh3 pa grg? Jst2 j.jrj.<t>w djt ta
jawt n Wsjr n Sth3 jw sa.f a2h2a2(.w)?
A2h2a2.n Pa-Ra2-H2r-Ah3ty (h2r) qnd.tw n jqr sp-sn; jst jb n Pa-Ra2 r djt
ta jawt n Sth3 a2a ph2ty sa Nwt. Jw Jn-H2rt-H2r (h2r) as2 sgb a2a r h2r n ta
psd2t r d2d: Jh2 pa nty jw.n (r) jrj(t).f?
Wn.jn Jtm smsw wrw jmy Jwnw h2r d2d: Jmj as2.tw Ba-Nb-D2dy, nt2r a2a
a2nh3, wd2a2.f pa a2d2d sn.
172
173

III
Then Ba-Neb-Djedy was brought from Setchet, where they call him
Knum. There, in his temple at the first cataract, he controls the level of
the flooding Nile. Ba-Neb-Djedy came accompanied by Ptah-Ta-Tenen,
lord of the Niles rich silt and clay. These two were told:
Judge the two young fellows so they can stop their constant
squabbling.
Ba-Neb-Djedy replied: We shouldnt make a recommendation
without knowing all the facts. Let a letter be sent to great Neith, the divine
mother, goddess of war and creation! Whatever she says, well do.
The gods replied: Why do you hesitate to pronounce on the case? It was
already decided in the courtroom called Thus-The-World-Is-Ordered,
back in primordial times.
But honoring the suggestion of Ba-Neb-Djedy, the gods turned to
Thoth there in front of Ra and said: God of scribes and knowledge,
write a letter to Neith, the divine great mother, in the name of Ra, lord of
all, the great bull of Heliopolis.
Thoth said: I will , I will, oh yes indeed, to be sure! He sat down on
his mat and took up his brush and ink-pot to write.
(2:3-2:9)
Wn.jn.tw (h2r) jnj Ba-Nb-D2dy nt2r aa2 h2ry jb St2t m bah2 Jtm h2na2
Pth2-Ta-Tnn, jw.f (h2r) d2d n.w: (J).wd2a2 pa ad2d sn rwj.tn sn mjna a2h2a2
t2tt2t.w ra2 nb.
A2h2a2.n ws2b Ba-Nb-D2dy nt2r a2a a2nh3 {m} <n> d2dt.n.f: M dj.tw
jry.n sh3r m h3mt.n. Jmj hab.tw wh3a n Njt, wrt mwt nt2rt. Jr pa nty jw.s (r) dd twf,
jw.n (r) jrjt.f.
Wn.jn ta psd2t h2r d2d n Ba-Nb-D2dy nt2r a2a a2nh3: J.jrj.tw wpjt tww m
sp tpy m ta wsh3t {Wa2} (Wat) Maa2t.
Wn.jn ta psd2t h2r d2d n D2h2wty m bah2 Nb-r-D2r: Jh3 jry.k wh3a n Njt
mwt nt2rt h2r rn n Nb-r-D2r Ka-h2ry-Jb-Jwnw.
Wn.jn D2h2wty h2r d2d: Jry.j, mk jry.j sp sn!
Wn.jn.f (h2r) h2ms r jrt pa wh3a.
174
175

IV
The letter went: From Ra, the King of Egypt, whom Thoth loves, Lord
of the Two Lands, who resides in his temple at Heliopolis, the solar orb
who illumines the country with his glance, who fills it with fertility like the
Nile,
in full acknowledgement of the majesty of Neith, the divine and
primordial great mother, who shone upon the first created face that ever
saw this world may you live, be well, and remain forever young
I, Ra, active manifestation of the universal Deity and lord of all, the
Bull of Heliopolis, Egypts good king, I say that I, your unworthy servant,
spend my nights worrying about this matter of who shall inherit from
Osiris, and all my days taking counsel with Egypt on his behalf. Ive been
at it for more years than a crocodile lives.
What should we do for these two persons, Horus and Seth, who
have been wrangling in court for eighty years now? Write to us with your
instructions!
(2:9-3:1)
Jw.f h2r d2d: N-Sw-Bjt Ra2-Jtm, mry D2h2wty, nb tawy, Jwnwy, pa Jtn sh2d2
tawy m jnh2.f, pa H2a2py wr h2r mh2, Ra2-H2r-Ah3ty
jw Njt wrt mwt nt2rt (i.)sh2d2 h2r tpy, a2nh3.tw snb.tw rnpj.tw,
Ba a2nh3 n nb-r-d2r, Ka m Jwnw, m nsw nfr n Ta Mry, r-nty: Bak jm (h2r)
sd2r h2r tp Wsjr, h2r nd2nd2 tawy ra2 nb, jw Sbk wd2a2._, r nh2h2. Jh3 pa nty
jw.n r jrjt twf n pa rmt2 sn nty h3mnyw n rnpt r tay jw.sn m ta qnbt, h3r bn twtw (h2r)
rh3 wd2a2.w, m pa s sn. Jh3 hab.t n.n pa nty jw.n r jrj.f .
176
177

V
Neiths reply was: Give Osiris office to his son Horus. Cease to
multiply these great, lying, inappropriate wrongs, or I will become angry
and the sky will crash down to earth! Let this be told to Mr. Ra as well:
Double Seths inheritance! Give him your daughters Anat and Astarte,
goddesses of Canaan. But place Horus on the throne of his father
Osiris.
(3:1-3:5)
Wn.jn Njt wrt mwt nt2rt (h2r) hab wh2a n ta psd2t r d2d: Jmj ta jawt n Wsjr n sa.f
H2r. M jrj(w) jrj.tw na spw a2aw n grg nty bn st r stw, m-r-pw jw.j (r) qnd, mtw ta pt
t2h2n (r) pa jwtn. Mtw.tw d2d n nb-r-d2r ka h2ry-jb Jwnw: J-qab Sth3 m h3t.f. Jmj
n.f A2nt A2strt tay.k s2rytwt sn, mtw.k djt H2r r ta st n jt(.f) Wsjr.
178
179

VI
Neiths letter was brought to the gods as they sat in the hall named
Long-Horned-Horus Prevails. It was given to Thoth. He read it before
Ra and the gods, who said with one voice This goddess is right!
The lord of all things, Ra, became angry at Horus as a result of this,
and said to him: Youre a puny weakling, the job of kingships too big for
you. Youre just a little boy with sour milk-breath from sucking your
mothers tit.
Then Onuris began to rage, and the whole divine senate with him. A
minor demon named Baba pulled himself up to his full height and said to
Ra: Oh, who cares what you think, youre nothing but an implausible old
superstition.
Ra was terribly hurt by this. He lay down on his back, with his heart
just aching.
The gods left, shouting at Baba: Leave us, what you have done is a
terrible, awful crime Then they retired to their tents.
(3:5-3:13)
A2h2a2.n pa wh3a n Njt wrt mwt nt2rt spr.w r ta psd2t jw.w h2ms._ m ta wsh3t
H2r-H3nty-A2bw, jw.tw (h2r) djt pa wh3a m drt D2h2wty.
A2h2a2.n D2h2wty (h2r) a2s2.f m bah2 Nb-r-D2r h2na2 ta psd2t r-d2r.s
jw.sn (h2r) d2d m r wa2: Ma2at tay nt2rt!
Wn.jn Nb-r-D2r qnd.tw n H2r, jw.f h2r d2d n.f: Tw.k h2wrw m h2a2w.k
h3r tay jawt a2a.tj r.k, pa a2d2d bjn dpt r.f.
A2h2a2.n Jnj-H2rt-H2r qnd.tw m h2h2 n sp, m-mjtt ta psd2t r d2r.s m
ma2bayt, jw Baba pa nt2r h2r dwn.f, jw.f h2r d2d n Pa-Ra2-H2r-Ah3ty Kar.k
s2w.y.
A2h2a2.n Pa-Ra2-H2r-Ah3ty s2nn._ (n) ta ws2byt j.d2dy n.f jw.f nma2.f h2r
psd2.f, jw jb.f {r} d2w._ a2a wr.
A2h2a2.n ta psd2t prj.sn r-bnr, jw.sn (h2r) a2s2-sgb a2a r h2r n Baba pa nt2r,
jw.sn h2r d2d: Prj n.k r bnr! Pay bta j.jrjw.k a2a r jqr! jw.sn s2m._ r nay.sn jmaw.
180
181

VII
The supreme god passed a day lying on his back in his pavilion, all alone,
his feelings brutally wounded. Now after a long while the tree-goddess
Hathor came along, stood before the lord god her father, lifted her skirt,
bent over and wiggled her ass and cunt at him.
This made the great god laugh. He got up, went back to his seat
among the pantheon and said to Horus and Seth: Lets hear what you
two have to say for yourselves.
(3:13-4:3)
A2h2a2.n pa nt2r a2a h2r jrt wa2 hrw jw.f nma2 h2r psd2.f m pay.f sh2, jw jb.f r
d2w a2a wr(t), jw.f <m> wa2.f. H3r jr <h2r> sa at a2at, wn.jn H2wt-H2r
Nbt-Nht-Rsy(t) h2r jjt, jw.s h2r a2h2a2 m-bah2 jt.s nb-r-d2r. Jw.s (h2r) kfj.
ph2wy kat.s r h2r.f. A2h2a2.n pa nt2r a2a (h2r) sbj jm.st. Wn.jn.f h2r dwn.f, jw.f
(h2r) h2ms r-h2na2 ta psd2t a2at, jw.f h2r d2d n H2r h2na2 Sth3: J-d2d
r.wy.tn!
182
183

VIII
Powerful Seth, the son of Nut, said: Me, Im Seth, strongest god in the
pantheon, Im the one who re-slays Apophis, Ras eternal enemy, each
day. To do this, I stand at my post in the prow of the solar barque, and no
other god can. I will inherit the title from Osiris.
The gods said: Seth, the son of Nut, is right!
Onuris and Thoth shouted: Are we really going to award the royal
title to the uncle while the son and heir stands before us?
Then Ba-Neb-Djedy said: Are we really going to award the royal title
to this child? Ive heard it said that Seth standing before us is actually
Horus older brother, and thus the legitimate heir.
At this the assembled gods shrieked in front of Ra and answered
Ba-Neb-Djedy: What kind of worthless nonsense is this youre saying?
If we gave weight to every obscure variant tradition in Egyptian
mythology none of us would know who we were.
Horus said to Ba-Neb-Djedy: Its not nice to attack me like this in
front of the gods, calling me this child! Do you all mean to rob me of my
own fathers title.
(4:3-4-13)
Wn.jn Sth3 a2a ph2ty sa Nnw h2r d2d: Jr jnk, jnk Sth3 a2a ph2ty {tw} m h4nw
<ta> psd2t, h3r tw.j (h2r) sma pa {pa} h3fty n Pa-Ra2 m-mnt, jw.j m h2at n
Wja-n-H2h2, jw nn rh3 nt2r nb jrj.f; jw.j (r) s2sp ta jawt n Wsjr.
Wn.jn.sn h2r d2d: Ma2aty Sth3 sa Nwt!
Wn.jn Jn-Hry-H2r h2na2 D2h2wty (h2r) a2s2 sgb a2a r d2d: J.jrj.tw djt ta
jawt n sn-mwt jw sa n h4t a2h2a._?
D2d.jn Ba-Nb-D2dy nt2r a2a a2nh3 {d2d}: Jst2 j.jrj.tw rdjt ta jawt n pa
a2d2d jw Sth3 pay.f sn a2a a2h2a._?
A2h2a2.n ta psd2t (h2r) a2s2 sgb a2a r h2r n Nb-r-D2r, jw.sn h2r d2d n.f:
Jh3 na mdwt jd2d.k nty bn s2aw sd2m.w?
D2d.jn H2r sa Wsjr: Bn nfr jwna, pay gbjt twj m bah2 ta psd2t! Mtw.tw
nh2m{.tw}ta jawt n jt(j) Wsjr m-dj.j?
184
185

Here Isis became angry with the gods on her sons behalf, and she
swore this solemn oath before them: By the life of my mother, the
All-Mother Neith, goddess of the primordial waters, and by the life of
Ptah-Ta-Tenen, god of the first land mass to emerge from Neiths
world-birthing flood yes, by Ptah-Ta-Tenen who wears the two tall
plumes, before whom all gods bow, these matters shall be laid before Ra
lord of Heliopolis, and before Kepri in the Solar Barque. The supreme
gods will decide, not this debating club.
The whole pantheon said to her: Dont get mad! Whoever the true
heir is will be given his rights, and all you have said shall be done.
A2h2a2.n Ast qnd.tj r ta psd2t, jw.s h2r jrjt a2nh3-n-nt2r m bah2 ta psd2t m
d2d: Anh3 mwt.j Njt nt2rt, a2nh3 Pth2-Ta-Tnn qaj-s2wty (j).wa2f-a2bwy nw
nt2rw, jw.tw (r) wah2 nay mdwt m-bah2 Jtm sr wr jmy Jwnw, mjtt H3prj
h2ry-jb-wja.f.
A2h2a2.n d2d n.s ta psd2t: M jrj(w) h2d2nw, jw.tw (r) rdjt ma2at n ma2aty,
jw.tw (r) jrjt pa d2d.t nb.
186
187

IX
Then Seth became very angry on account of their yielding to Isis the great
divine mother. He said: I am going to take my forty-five hundred pound
scepter and kill one of you gods each day.
Then swearing an oath in the name of Ra, Seth continued: And I will
not try my case before this tribunal as long as Isis sits on it.
Thereupon Ra said to them all: Cross over to the island in the midst
of the river, let their claims be settled there without interference, and tell
Nemty the ferryman not to bring over any woman who even looks like
Isis.
The pantheon went to the isle in mid-river, and there they sat down to
eat bread.
(4:13-5:6)
A2h2a2.n Sth3 sa Nwt qnd.tw r ta psd2t m-d2r d2d.sn na mdwt n Ast wrt nt2rt
mwt. A2h2a2.n Sth3 h2r d2d n.sn: Jw.j (r) t2aw pay.j d2a2mt n fdw h3a djw s2t n
nmst mtw.j h4db wa2 jm.tn m mnt.
A2h2a Sth3 h2r jrjt a2nh3 n nb-r-d2r r-d2d: Bn jw.j r sh3n m ta qnbt jw Ast
jm.s.
A2h2a2.n Pa-Ra2-H2r-Ah3ty h2r d2d n.sn: D2ay.tn r pa jw h2ry-jb,
mtw.tn wpt.w jm, mtw.tn d2d n Nmty, pa mh4nty: M jri(w) d2ay st-h2mt nbt m snt
n Ast.
A2h2a2.n ta psd2t d2a.y r pa jw h2ry-h2b, jw.w h2ms._ h2r wnm a2qw.
188
189

X
Meanwhile Isis came over to Nemty, who sat beside his boat: she
transformed herself into an old human woman who walked all bent over.
She wore a small gold signet ring on her hand, and said to him:
Im here to have you ferry me across to that isle in mid-river; Ive
brought a bowl of porridge for the little boy there. Hes been looking
after his fathers herds there for five days now and he must be very
hungry.
Nemty said: They told me not to ferry any woman across.
Oh, they only meant Isis when they said that to you if you dont
take Isis, that more than suffices! said Isis with a grin.
For Nemty a rhyme was as good as a reason, so he said: What will
you give me to take you over?
Ill give you this cake . . .
What do I care about your cake? They told me not to ferry any
woman at all am I going to ignore my orders for a cake?
Ill give you the gold ring on my hand, this signet ring here.
Give me the ring.
So she gave him the ring and he ferried her to the isle in mid river.
(5:6-6:2)
Wn.jn Ast jj.tw, jw.s spr.w r Nmty pa mh4nty jw.f h2msj._ spr.w r pay.f wja, jw jrj.s
h3pr.s m wa2 n jawt n rmt2 jw {j.}s2m{t}.s m ksks jw wa2 h3tm s2ry n nbw r drt.s,
jw.s h2r d2d n.f:
J.jrj.j jyt n.k r-d2d d2ay.k wj n pa jw h2ry-jb, pa-wn j.jrj.j jyt h4ryt pa t2ab n
nd2 r pa a2d2d s2rj, jw.f m-sa nh2y jawt m pa jw h2ry-jb djw r pa hrw, jw.f h2qr._.
Jw.f h2r d2d n.s: D2d.tw n.j: m jrj d2ay st-h2mt nbt.
Jw.s h2r d2d n.f: J.jrj.tw d2d twf n.k h4r st-r n Ast, pay j.d2d.k.
Jw.f h2r d2d n.s: Jw.t (r) djt n.j jh3 d2ajt twt r pa jw h2r jb?
A2h2a2.n d2d n.f Ast: Jw.j (r) djt n.k tay wh3at.
Wn.jn.f h2r d2d n.s: Jw st (r) jh3 n.j, tay.t wh3at? J.jrj.j d2ajt.t r pa jw h2ry-jb,
jw d2d.tw n.j: m jrj d3ajt st-h2mt nbt, r d2baw tay.t2 wh3at?
Wn.jn.s h2r d2d n.f: Jw.j (r) djt n.k pa h3tm n nbw nty m drt(j).
Jw.f h2r d2d n.s: Jmj tw pa h3tm n nbw.
Jw.s h2r djt.f n.f. Wn.jn.f (h2r) d2ajt st r pa jw h2ry-jb.
190
191

XII
Once there she proceeded on foot till she found herself under the trees.
Looking around she saw the gods: they were eating their bread with Ra in
his tent.
Then Seth looked up and saw her approaching in the distance. Isis
spoke magic words and transformed herself into a young girl with a
beautiful body more beautiful in fact than any woman in the country.
Seth fell greatly, terribly, painfully in love with her. As he sat there with the
gods eating bread under the sun gods tent, his kilt made a second little tent
right there in his lap. He got up and went to intercept her before anyone
else saw her.
Seth stood behind a sycamore tree and called out to her: Im over
here, close by, you beautiful girl!
(6:2-7:1)
H3r-jr st m na2j(t) h4ry na s2nw. Wn.jn.s (h2r) nw jw.s (h2r) ptr ta psd2t jw.sn
h2ms._ h2r wnm a2qw m-bah2 nb-r-d2r m pay.f sh2. A2h2a2.n Sth3 (h2r) nw jw.f
(h2r) ptr.s jw.s dy jj.tj, wa.tj. Wn.jn.s h2r s2njt m h2ka.s, jw.s (h2r) jrjt h3pr.s m wa2
s2rj(t) nfrt n h2a2w.s jw nn wn mj-qd.s m pa ta r d2r.f. A2h2a.n.f h2r mrjt st r d2w
a2a {n} wr.
Wn.jn Sth3 h3r dwn.f jw.f h2ms._ h2r wnm a2q r h2na2 ta psd2t a2at, jw.f
(h2r) s2mt r h2at.s, jw bwpwy{t} wa2 ptr.s h2r .f. Wn.jn.f (h2r) a2h2a2 n h2a wa2
nht, jw.f (h2r) a2s2 n.s, jw.f h2r d2d n.s: Twj dy m-dj.t2, s2rjt nfrt.
192
193

She said to him: Great lord! consider this:
I was the wife of a cattle herder, and I bore him one child, a boy.
When my man died, the boy began to look after his fathers cattle, his
inheritance. Then a stranger showed up, sat down by my cattle-pen, and
heres how he spoke to my child: Im going to beat you, then Ill take your
cattle, your inheritance from your father, and then Im throwing you out.
Thats how he spoke to my boy! Now Im asking you, will you
defend him?
Seth said: How can the rightful possession of the cattle be given to a
stranger while the mans son is right there?
Then Isis transformed herself into a kite and flew off; she perched at
the top of an acacia tree and called to Seth: Now its your turn to cry!
You said it with your own mouth! Youre so smart you knew how to
pronounce your own verdict! What more do want?
Jw.s (h2r) d2d n.f: Kay pay.j nb: jr jnk, wn.j m h2mt m dj wa2 mnjw jw.j h2r
msj n.f wa2 sa t2ay, jw pay.j hay mwt._, jw pa a2d2d (h2r) h3pr m-sa na a2wt1 n
pay.f jt. H3r jr wa2 rmt2 d2rd2r jw._ , jw.f h2ms._ m pay.j jhw, h2r.f mjna h2r d2d
n pay.j s2rj: Jw.j (r) qnqn.k mtw.j nh2m na a2awt n pay.k jt, mtw.j h3aa2.k r bnr r
waj h3r.f h2r d2d n.f. H3r jb.j r djt jry.k n.f nh3tw.
A2h2a2.n Sth3 h2r d2d n.s: J.jrj.tw djt na a2wt n pa rmt2 d2rd2r jw pa s2rj
n pa a2h2atj a2h2a._?
A2h2a2.n Ast h2r h3pr.s m wa2 d2rt jw.s pa.tj jw.s h2ms._ h2r d2ad2a n wa2
s2nd2t, jw.s (h2r) a2s2 n Sth3, jw.s h2r d2d n.f: J.rmj n.k! Jn {m} r.k j.d2d st
d2s{.k}(.f). Jn ss2sa.k (j).wpj twk d2s.k. Jh3 r.k a2n?
There is an ongoing pun: a2wt, herd, and jawt, office (i.e., the kingship.)
194
195

XII
Seth stood up weeping, and went in tears to where Ra was.
But Ra also said: What more do you want?
Seth said: That awful person, that Isis, came to me again so she could
cheat me like she always does. She changed herself into a beautiful girl to
catch my eye, and said:
As for me, I was the wife of a cattle herder who died, and I bore him
one child, a boy, who now tends the little herd that used to be his fathers.
One day a stranger followed my son back to my cattle-pen, where my son
was, and I gave him food, but after he had been with us many days this
drifter said to my son:
Im going to beat you, then Ill take your fathers cattle theyll be
mine!
Thats just what he said to my defenseless little boy!
And that, said, Seth, was Isis story to me.
(7:1-8:1)
A2h2a2.n.f a2h2a._ (h2r) rmj. Wn.jn Pa-Ra2-H2r-Ah3ty h2r d2d n.f: Jh3 r.k
a2n?
Wn.jn Sth3 h2r d2d n.f: Ta rmt2t bjnt jj.tj r.j a2n. Jrj.s bag jm.j m a2n; jw jrj.s
h3pr.s m wa2 n s2rj(wt) nfr(w)t r h2r.j, jw.s h2r d2d n.j:
Jr jnk wn.j m h2mt m-dj wa2 mnjw jh2w, jw.f mwt._, jw.j (h2r) msj n.f wa2 sa
t2ay, jw.f m-sa nhy a2wt n pay.f jt, jw wa2 rmt2 d2rd2r qj._ r pay.j jhw r h2na2 pay.j
s2rj, jw.j (h2r) djt n.f a2qw. H3r jr m-h3t hrw qnw h2r sa nn wn.jn pa qjw h2r d2d n
pay.j s2rj:
Jw.j (r) qnqn.k {wj} mtw.j nh2m na a2wt n pay.k jt, mtw.w h3pr m dj.j
h3r.f h2r d2d n pay.j s2rj! j.n.s n.j.
196
197

Ra asked: And what did you say?
Seth said: My words were: We cant let the cattle go to a stranger
when the mans son is right there my very words weve got to get a
stick and give that stranger a crack on the head, then throw him out and
put the boy in possession of his fathers estate my very words
Ra said: Now look here, youve pronounced your own sentence
what do you want from me?
Seth said: Have the ferryman Nemty brought! let a heavy
punishment be inflicted on him, ask him why he ferried Isis across, lets
see what he has to say about that!
The ferryman Nemty was brought before the gods, and they deprived
him of his toes.
Nemty stood before the deities and foreswore all contact with gold
from that day to this: Gold is taboo to me and to all who dwell in my
city.
Wn.jn Pa-Ra2-H2r-Ah3ty h2r d2d n.f, Jw.k (h2r) d2d n.s jh3?
A2h2a2.n Sth3 h2r d2d n.f: Jw.j h2r d2d n.s:
Jst2 j.jrj.t dj.tw a2wt n pa rmt2 d2rd2r jw pa s2rj n pa a2h2aty a2h2a2._?
J.n.j n.s: Jw.tw (r) hwj h2r n pa qrj m a2 h3t mtw.tw h3aa2.f r bnr mtw.tw djt pay.t
s2rj r ta st (n) pay.f jt j.n.j n.s.
A2h2a2.n pa Ra2-H2r-Ah3ty h2r d2d n.f: H3r mk (j.)ptr, ntk j.wpj tw
d2s.k. Jh3 h3r.k a2n?
A2h2a2.n Sth3 h2r d2d n.f: Jmj jnj.tw Nmty pa mh4nty, mtw.tw jrjt n.f sbayt
a2at r-d2d: J.jrj.k djt d2aj.s h2r jh3? ka.tw n.f.
Wn.jn.tw h2r jnj Nmty pa mh4nty m bah2 ta psd2t, jw.tw (h2r) rwy
h2at-rdwy.f. A2ha2.n Nmty a2rq.{tw}f r s2aa2 pa hrw m bah2 ta psd2t a2at
r-d2d: Jrjw nbw bwt n njwt.j
198
199

XIII
The gods then shipped across to the Niles western shore and sat
themselves down on the hills at river-valleys edge. When evening came,
Ra and Atum sent a message to the gods saying: What do you hope to
accomplish by sitting there? Look at these boys: do you mean to make
them spend their whole lives in court? When this letter reaches you place
Egypts white crown on the head of Horus the son of Isis, name him
rightful successor to the office of his father Osiris.
Then Seth became most greatly and terribly angry. The gods said to
him: What are you raging about? Surely you dont think we should
disobey the orders of the supreme god Ra?
The white crown was placed on Horus head, and Seth let out a mighty
cry against the gods and said in his indignation: Shall a younger kinsman
be given the title while I, the elder, first in line for the succession, am
passed over? Will you discount my just claim even though Im standing
right here in front of you?
Then Seth swore this oath: The white crown must be withdrawn
from Horus head and thrown into the Nile so I can wrestle Horus for it
beneath the waves.
Ra decreed that it should be so.
(8:1-9:7)
Wn.jn ta psd2t d2a.y r pa rwd2 jmnty, jw.sn h2ms._ h2r pa d2ww. H2r jr <m h3t>
tr rwha, wn.jn Pa-Ra2-H2r-Ah3ty h2na2 Jtm nb tawy jwnw, (h2r) hab n ta psd2t r
d2d: Twtn dj h2ms.tj h2r jrjt jh3 m ra-a2? Jr pa a2d2d sn, jw.tn (r) djt skm.w
a2h2a2.sn m ta qnbt? H3ft spr pay.j wh3a r.tn, jw.tn (r) djt H2d2t h2r tp n H2r sa
Ast, mtw.tn dhn twf r ta st n jt.f Wsjr.
A2h2a2.n Sth3 qnd._ r d2w a2a wr. A2h2a2.n ta psd2t h2r d2d n Sth3:
J.jrj.k qnd h2r jh3?Jst2 bn j.jrj.tw m pa d2d Jtm nb tawy jwnw h2na2
Pa-Ra2-H2r-Ah3ty?
Wn.jn tw h2r smn h2d2t h2r tp n H2r sa Ast. A2h2a2.n Sth3 (h2r) a2s2 sgb
a2a r h2r n ta psd2t, jw.f h2d2nw._ m d2d: J.jrj.tw djt ta jawt n pay.j sn s2rj, jw.j
a2h2a2.kwj m pay.f sn a2a? Wn.jn.f (h2r) jrjt a2nh3 m d2d: Jw.tw (r) rwj H2d2t
h2r tp n H2r sa Ast, mtw.tw h3aa2.f r pa mw jry.j sh3n jrm.f r ta jawt h2qa.
Wn.jn Pa-Ra-H2r-Ah3ty h2r jrj mjtt.
200
201

Seth said to Horus: Come, lets turn ourselves into a pair of
Hippopotami and dive under flood in deepest Nile: whoever surfaces
before three months are up forfeits the kingship.
They dove in together.
Isis sat weeping, saying: Seth will hurt my little Horus! Then she got
a ball of cord, made a slip knot on one end; she took a few ounces of
copper and cast it into a hook, secured this to the end of her cord and
threw it into the water at the spot where Horus and Seth had plunged
under.
First the copper hook tasted the royal flesh of Horus, a tiny fish-hook
caught on the great tough hide of a hippo! He bellowed as if a mighty
spear-head had bit into his vitals: O mommy, O Isis, help! Tell your
hook to let me go! Im your son Horus!
Isis shouted to the copper: Let him go! Hes my little boy, my
Horus The copper hook let Horus go.
A2h2a2.n Sth3 h2r d2d n H2r: Mj jrj.n h3pr<n> m dbw sn mtw.n hrp m pa
mtrw h2ry-jb wad2-wr. H3r jr pa nty r kfj m a2h2a2w n h3mt abdw n hrw nn jw.tw
(r) djt n.f ta jawt.
Wn.jn.sn h2r hrp m pa s sn. A2h2a2.n Ast h2ms._ h2r rmj r-d2d: H4db
Sth3 H2r pay.j s2rj!
Wn.jn.s (h2r) jnj wa2 h2pt s2s n nwt. A2h2a.n.s (h2r) jr wa2 mh3a, jw.s (h2r)
jnj(t) wa2 dbn h2mt, jw.s (h2r) wdh2.f m h3a2w n pa mw, jw.s (h2r) t2s n.f pa mh3a,
jw.s (h2r) h2wjt twf r pa mw r ta st hrp j.jrj.w H2r h2na2 Sth3. A2h2a2.n pa h2mt
h2r dp m h2m n sa.s H2r.
A2h2a2.n H2r (h2r) a2s2 sgb a2a r-d2d: Mj n.j mwt, Ast, tay.j mwt. J.a2s2
n h2mt.t sfh3 jm.j. Jnk H2r sa Ast!
A2h2a2.n Ast (h2r) a2s2 sgb a2a, jw.s h2r d2d n h2mt.s: Sfh3 {twf} jm.f!
Mk sa.j H2r, pay.j s2rj pay. A2h2a2.n pay.s h2mt sfh3.tw jm.f
202
203

Then Isis threw it into the water once again, and this time the tiny
fish-hook was caught in the armored calluses of the second hippo: Seth
bellowed: What did I do to you, Isis my sister? Call to your copper hook,
have it release me! Im your brother, Nut was my mother too!
This made Isis feel terribly sorry for Seth, but not that terribly sorry.
Then Seth called to her again: Do you love this one, who came late into
your life, more than you love your Seth, who grew up with you, the son of
your own mother?
Isis called out to the copper hook: Let go of him. Thats the son of
Isis mother youre biting into! The copper released him.
Wn.jn.s (h2r) wh2m r hwjt twf a2n r pa mw, jw.f h2r dp m h2m n Sth3.
A2h2a2.n Sth3 (h2r) a2s2 sgb a2a m d2d: Jrj.j jh3 r.t, snt.j Ast? J-a2s2 n h2mt.t
sfh3{t} jm.j. Jnk pay.t sn n mwt.t, Ast.
Wn.jn.s h2r s2nn-h2a2ty{.s} n.f r jqr sp sn. A2h2a2.n Sth3 h2r a2s n.s r-d2d:
Jn jw mrw.t pa s d2rd2r r sn n mwt.t Sth3?
A2h2a2.n Ast (h2r) a2s2 n pay.s h2mt m d2d: Sfh3 tw jm.f! Mk sn n mwt n
Ast pa dp.k jm.f. Wn jn pa h2mt (h2r) sfh3 jm.f.
204
205

XIV
Horus was angry with his mother Isis: when he came out of the water his
face was fierce as that of a south Egyptian panther; with his three pound
knife in his hand he removed Isis head, and went up the hills at the Nile
valleys edge, hugging it to him.
Isis changed herself into a statue made of flint which had no head.
Then Ra said to Thoth: Whats this thing thats come here without a
head?
Thoth replied: This, my good lord, is Isis the great, the divine
mother; her little boy Horus has taken away her head.
Ra cried to the gods: Lets go right now and give him a tremendous
punishment.
So the pantheon set out for the mountains to search for Horus. As
for Horus, he was now lying under a certain fruit-bearing tree in an oasis.
(9:7-10:1)
Wn.jn H2r sa Ast qnd.tw r mwt.f Ast, jw.f pry r bnr, jw h2r.f h2sa.w mj aby s2ma2,
jw tay.f h2sqt m drt.f n md2 srs n dbn, jw.f (h2r) rwj d2ad2a n mwt.f Ast, jw.f (h2r)
djt twf m qnj.f, jw.f (h2r) t2sj r pa d2w.
Wn.jn Ast h2r jrjt h3prw.s m wa2 rpwt n ds, jw nn wn m dj.s d2d2a.
A2h2a2.n Pa-Ra2-H2r-Ah3ty h2r d2d n D2h2wty: Jh3 ta nty(t) jj.tj jw nn
wn m dj.s d2d2a?
A2h2a2.n D2h2wty h2r d2d n Pa-Ra2-H2r-Ah3ty: Pay(.j) nb nfr, Ast wr(t)
mwt nt2r(t) tay, jw rwj H2r pay.s s2rj d2ad2a.s.
A2h2a2.n Pa-Ra2-H2r-Ah3ty (h2r) a2s2 sgb a2a, jw.f h2r d2d n ta psd2t:
H2n.n, jry.n n.f sbayt a2at.
Wn.jn ta psd2t h2r t2sy r nay d2ww r wh3a H2r sa Ast. Jst jr H2r, sw sd2r._
h4ry wa2 nht s2nj-ws2a2 m pa ta n wh2at.
206
207

Seth found him, siezed him, threw him back-first against the
mountainside, tore his two eyes from their sockets, and buried them
there. Towards dawn, the pupils of the pair of eyes emerged from
underground as a pair of buds: they were lotuses, and opened their
blossoms.
Seth came and lied to Ra: I didnt find Horus, he said, though find
him he surely had.
Then Hathor went and found Horus lying, crying in the desert; she
took a gazelle, milked it, and said to him: Open your eyes so I can put
this milk in.
He opened his eyes, she applied the milk, both to the right eye and the
left, and said: Open your eyes. He opened his eyes; she examined him
and found him to be quite restored.
She left to tell Ra: I found Horus, Seth had injured his eyes, but I set
him right again. Hes on his way here now.
Wn.jn Sth3 h2r gmj(t) twf jw.f (h2r) s2dj(t) jm.f jw.f (h2r) h2wj(t) twf h2r jat.f
h2r pa d2w, jw.f (h2r) rwy wd2awy.fy m swt.w, jw.f (h2r) tms.w h2r pa d2w; r sh2d2
ta, jw pa bnr sn n jrty.fy h3prw m sh4rrt sn, jw.sn rdw m ss2nnw.
Wn.jn Sth3 h2r jy {n.f}, jw.f h2r d2d n Pa-Ra2-H2r-Ah3ty n-a2d2a:
Bwpwy.j gm H2r, h3r jw gm.f sw.
Wn.jn H2wt-H2r Nbt Nht Rsy(t) h2r s2mt, jw.s (h2r) gm H2r jw.f (h2r) sd2r
h2r rmj(t) h2r ta h3ast. Wn.jn.s (h2r) s2dj m wa2 gh2st, jw.s (h2r) hrj(t) st, jw.s h2r
d2d n H2r: J.wn jrt.k dj.j nhy n jrt2t jm.
Wn.jn.f h2r wn jrt.f, jw.s (h2r) djt n<hy> n jrt2t jm, jw.s h2r djt r ta jmnty(t)
jw.s (h2r) djt r ta smh2y(t), jw.s (h2r) d2d n.f: J.wn jrt(y).k(y), jw.f (h2r) wn jrt.f,
jw.s (h2r) ptr jrt.f. Gm<.s> sw mnq._.
Wn.jn.s (h2r) s2mt r d2d n Pa-Ra2-H2r-Ah3ty: Gmj H2r jw gbj sw Sth3 m
jrt.f h3r jrj.j sa2h2a2.f a2n. Mk sw jw.y.
Excursus: The word for eye used in this episode is wedjat, from the verb wedja, meaning
whole, full, sound, healthy. The Wedjat, drawn as a human eye with a falcon's facial
markings under it, symbolizes the eye of Horus, the sun, the kingship and wellbeing in
general. The Wedjat's component lines, used separately, are the complete Egyptian
system of fractions, and are characteristically used to represent measures of grain.
This episode is to be understood as a riddling reference to the mysteries of agriculture.
The seed is cruelly separated from its source and buried so the new plant may grow; this
in turn is an emblem of the sun's daily rebirth from the underworld; and this in turn is
often likened to the opening of a lotus, as in BD 42, where the speaker says: I am
Wedjat, the sun's eye . . . I am the cosmic lotus that rose shining from Nun's black
primoridal waters . . . The complex allusions in this episode were probably only fully
understood by initiates.
208
209

XV
The gods said: Let Horus and Seth be called, and let them be judged.
They were brought before the gods, and Ra, lord of all, said to Horus
and Seth in the presence of that great divine assembly: Now listen up
and listen well to what Im telling you: eat and drink and try to relax and
stop the ongoing endless squabbling right now!
Seth said to Horus: Lets have a party at my house.
Horus said: Oh boy oh boy, a party! Im ready for that!
That evening when a bed was made up for them, they lay down on it
together it to sleep. But Seth got his cock hard and put in between Horus
thighs from behind. Feeling something there, Horus stuck his hand back
between his thighs and got a palm-full of Seths cum. He ran to tell his
mother: Mommy, come see what Seth did to me
(10:11-11:8)
Wn.jn ta psd2t h2r d2d: Jmy a2s2.tw n H2r h2na2 Sth3 wpj.tw.w. Wn.jn tw
(h2r) jnjt.w m bah2 ta psd2t.
D2d.jn nb-r-d2r m bah2 ta psd2t a2at n H2r h2na2 Sth3: J.s2m tw, (j).sd2m
tw pa d2d.j n.tn: (j)wnm.tn, (j)swr.tn, (j)h2tp n.n! (J)rwj.tn mjna t2tt2t hrw nb sp-sn
sp-sn!
Wn.jn Sth3 h2r d2d n H2r: Mj, jry.n hrw nfr m pay.j pr.
Wn.jn H2r h2r d2d n.f: Jry.j, mk wj, jry.j sp-sn!
H3r-jr m-h3t tr n rwha, jw.tw (h2r) ss2 n.sn, jw.w sd2r_ m pa s sn. H3r-jr m
grh2, jw Sth3 (h2r) djt nh3t h2nn.f jw.f (h2r) djt hnn.f r jwd mnty n H2r. Wn.jn
H2r h2r djt tay.f drt r jwd mnty.f(y) jw.f (h2r) ss2p ta mtwt n Sth3. Wn.jn H2r h2r
s2mt r d2d n mwt.f Ast: My.t2 n.j Ast tay.j mwt, my.t2 ptr.t2 nay jrj Sth3 r.j
210
211

He opened his hand and let her see the cum in it; she screamed, took
her axe, cut off his hand and threw it into the Nile. She got a replacement
hand for him. Then she took some high-grade cooking fat and put it on
Horus cock. She got him hard, placed his member over the mouth of a jar
and he squirted his cum into it.
jw.f (h2r) wn drt.f jw.f h2r djt ptr.s ta mtwt n Sth3, jw.s h2r a2s2 sgb a2a, jw.s
(h2r) t2ay pay.s mjnb jw.s (h2r) s2ad drt.f jw.s (h2r) h3a2a.f r pa mw jw.s (h2r) s2dj
n.f drt m s2aw. Wn.jn.s (h2r) jnj nkt n gnnw nd2m jw.s (h2r) djt twf r h2nn n H2r.
Wn.jn.s (h2r) djt nh3t.f jw.s (h2r) djt twf r wa2 d2ad2aw jw.f (h2r) djt hay tay.f
mtwt r.s.
212
213

XVI
When morning came, she took that cum to Seths garden and asked his
gardener: Which of these plants here does Seth usually eat?
The only plant, said the gardener, that Seth is accustomed to eat is
lettuce.
So Isis poured the cum of Horus on that. Then Seth came along, as
was his daily custom, and ate some lettuce just like he always did. He
became pregnant from Horus cum.
Seth went to Horus and said: Come on, lets get moving, Im going
to challenge you in court.
Horus replied: Ill do that, yesiree!
They arrived together at the tribunal, stood before the awesome
council of the gods, who told them: If you have anything to say on your
own behalf, say it now.
Seth said: Let the kingship, that sublime office, with all its high
prerogatives, be given to me, because this Horus here has served me as a
woman.
The gods gave a cry of horror.
They spit in Horus face!
(11:8-13:1)
Wn.jn Ast h2r s2mt h4ry ta mtwt n H2r m tr n dwaw r pa h2sp n Sth3, jw.s h2r d2d
n pa kary n Sth3: Jh3 m smw pa nty Sth3 h2r wnm.f dj m-dj.k?
A2h2a2.n pa kary h2r d2d n.s: Bw jrj.f wnm smw nb m dj.j h2r a2bw,
jw Ast (h2r) djt mtwt n H2r r.w. Ah2ha2.n Sth3 h2r jy m pay.f sh3r n ra2 nb,
jw.f (h2r) wnm na a2bw nty sw (h2r) wnm.w m dwn sp-sn. A2h2a2.n.f
{a2h2a2}jwr._ m ta mtwt n H2r.
A2h2a2.n Sth3 (h2r) s2m r d2d n H2r: Mj, h2n.n, sh3n.j r h2na2.k m ta
qnbt.
Wn.jn H2r h2r d2d n.f: Jrj.y, mk wj, jry.j sp-sn!
Wn.jn.w (h2r) s2mt r ta qnbt m pa sn, jw.w a2h2a2._ m bah2 ta psd2t a2at,
jw.tw h2r d2d n.w: J.d2d r.t2n.
Wn.jn Sth3 h2r d2d: Jmj dj.tw n.j ta jawt h2qa a2-w-s, pawn jr H2r nty
a2h2a._, jrj.j kat a2h2at r.f.
Wn.jn ta psd2t (h2r) a2s2 sgb a2a; wn.jn.sn h2r bs2j pgs r h2r n H2r!
214
215

Horus laughed at them!
Horus swore a great oath by the life of all the gods, saying:
Everything Seth has said is a lie. Let the cum of Seth be called before the
court as a witness well just see where it answers from. Then let mine
be called lets see where that answers from.
Thoth, master of hieroglyphics, honest scribe of the gods, put his
hand on Horus shoulder and said: Come forth, o jism of Seth! It
answered from the water that was irrigating a cucumber patch.
Then Thoth put his hand on Seths shoulder and said: Come forth, o
jism of Horus!
It answered from Seths tum: Where should I come out?
Thoth said: Come out through his ear.
It answered: Shall I then emerge from his ear like common wax, I
who am slime divine?
Thoth said: Come out then through the top of his head.
So it emerged as a golden sun-disk atop Seths head. Seth got really,
really, terribly angry, and stretched out his hand to sieze the sun-disk.
Thoth snatched it away from him and place it as a glorious crown on
his own head.
The gods said: Horus is vindicated, Seth is a crook.
Wn.jn H2r (h2r) sbt2 jm.sn; wn.jn H2r h2r jrjt a2nh3 n nt2r m d2d: A2d2a
wy pa d2d nb.j Sth3. Jmj a2s2.tw n ta mtwt n Sth3, ptr.n pa nty jws r ws2b jm,
mtw.tw a2s2 n tay.j jnk. Ptr.n pa nty jw.s (r) ws2b jm.
Wn.jn D2h2wty nb mdw nt2r, ss2 maa2ty n psd2t, h2r wah2 drt.f h2r qa2h2 n
H2r, jw.f h2r d2d: Mj r-bnr, ta mtwt n Sth3!
jw.s (h2r) ws2b n.f m pa mw m h4nw ta [bndt.]1 Wn.jn D2h2wty h2r wah2
drt.f h2r qa2h2 n Sth3, jw.f hr2 d2d: Mj.t r-bnr ta mtwt n H2r!
Wn.jn.s h2r d2d n.f: Jw.j r jy(t) t2nj?
Wn.jn D2h2wty h2r d2d n.s: Mj.t r-bnr m msd2r.f.
A2h2a2.n.s h2r d2d n.f: Jst j.jrj.j hay r bnr m msd2r jw jnk mw nt2ry?
Wn jn D2h2wty h2r d2d n s: Mj t(w) r-bnr m wpt.f.
Wn.jn.s (h2r) pry m wa2 n jtnw n nbw h2r tp n Sth3. Wn.jn Sth3 qnd.tw r jqr
sp-sn, jw.f (h2r) awj drt.f r mh2 pa jtn m nbw. Wn.jn D2h2wty h2r nh2m.f m dj.f,
jw.f h2r djt.f m h2a2w h2r tp.f.
Wn.jn ta psd2t h2r d2d: Maa2ty H2r, a2d2a Sth3.
1 An easy emendation for the unintelligible bant with harpoon determinative (T19).
216
217

XVII
When they said that, Seth got really, really, terribly, extremely angry,
raising a frightful great howl.
Seth took a great oath, swearing by the name of Ra: Horus shall not
be given the kingship before you send him off with me to build a couple
of ships out of stone and have a race! Winner take the kingdom!
(This was of course a thing impossible, and Seth hoped thus to defer
decision forever. However . . .)
Horus built himself a boat from cedar, whitewashed it with plaster,
and pushed it off into the water at night when no one in the whole
country could see. The next morning when Seth saw the boat of Horus,
he thought it was really made of stone. He went to the nearest mountain,
cut off a big outjutting cliff, and carved it into a stone boat 240 feet long.
Then the two rivals went down to their boats, in the presence of the
pantheon.
Seths boat sank. So Seth transformed himself into a hippo and
battered Horus ship.
Horus grabbed a weapon and struck Seths royal form with it.
All the gods said to him: Dont whack him with that!
(13:1-13:11)
A2h2a2.n Sth3 qnd.tw r jqr sp-sn, jw.f (h2r) a2s2 sgb a2a m d2r d2d.w Maa2ty
H2r, a2d2a Sth3!
A2h2a.n Sth3 h2r jrjt a2nh3 a2a n nt2r m d2d: Bn jw.tw r djt n.f ta jawt (r)
jrjt twtw h3aa2.f r bnr jrm.j, mtw.{t}n md2h2 n.n nhy n a2h2a2(w) n jnr mtw.{t}n
trr m pa s sn. H3r jr pa nty jw.f {j} (r) t2aw m pay.f jry, jw.tw (r) djt n.f ta jawt h2qa
a2-w-s.
Wn.jn H.r h2r md2h2 n.f wa2 a2h2a2 n a2s2, jw.f (h2r) sqah2.f m qd2, jw.f
(h2r) h3aa2.f r pa mw m tr n rwha, jw bn ptr st rmt2 nb nty m pa ta r d2r.f.
A2h2a2.n Sth3 h2r ptr pa a2h2a2 n H2r, jw.f h2r d2d jnr sw rf jw.f (h2r)
s2mt r pa d2w, jw.f (h2r) s2a2d wa2 dhnt n d2w, jw.f (h2r) md2h2 n.f wa2 a2h2a2
n jnr (n) s2t ma2ba h3mn n mh2.
Wn.j(n).sn (h2r) hay r nay.sn a2h2a2w m bah2 ta psd2t.
Wn.jn pa a2h2a2 n Sth3 h2r hrp m pa mw. A2h2a2 Sth3 h2r jrjt h3prw.f m
wa2 db, jw.f (h2r) rdjt bagj pa a2h2a2 n H2r.
Wn.jn H2r h2r t2aj h2a2w.f, jw.f (h2r) h2wj(t) twf r h2m n Sth3.
Wn.jn ta psd2t h2r d2d n.f: M jrj h2wj(t) twf r.f.
218
219

XVIII
Horus withdrew his fishing spear, placed it in his boat and sailed
downstream to SaVs in the western delta, the home of great Neith,
primordial divine mother a goddess of terrible power.
He said to her: Come, judge between Seth and me, for weve been in
court over this for eighty years now. No one has been able to finally
decide our case, even though a verdict was never given in his favor and
Ive been found right every day a thousand times now he just
disregards what the pantheon says. Ive rebutted his claims in all the
courtrooms I was vindicated in every hall of justice: Way of Truth,
Horus Triumphant, Elysian Fields, Pool of Paradise. From the
names of the courtrooms where Ive won my case against him youd
think Id gone through all of eschatology, youd think one of these would
have been the Last Judgement!
and all the gods told Shu, Ras firstborn, himself a former king
and now protector of the Wedjat (the orb the king holds, which
represents monarchical power and justice), they told Shu himself: Every
one of Horus claims is valid.
(13:11-14:4)
Wn jn.f h2r jnj na h3a2w n pa mw, jw.f (h2r) wah2.w m pay.f a2h2a2, jw.f (h2r)
h3dj r Saw r d2d n Njt wrt nt2rt mwt: Jmj, (j)wd2a2 tw(j) h2na2 Sth3, r nty
h3mnyw n rnpt r tay jw.n m ta qnbt, h3r bn twtw rh3._ wd2a2.n, h3r bw dyt 1 maa2.f
r.j, h3r h3a n sp r pay jw.j maa2._ r.f ra2 nb, h3r jw bn sw (h2r) nw j.d2d nb ta
psd2t. Sh3n.j jrm.f m ta wsh3t Wat Maa2t. Dd.tw maa2.j r.f. Sh3n.j jrm.f m ta
wsh3t H2r H3nty A2bw. Dd.tw maa2(j) r.f. Sh3n.j jrm.f m ta wsh3t Sh3t Jarw.2
Dd.tw maa2.j r.f. Sh3n.j jrm.f m ta wsh3t Pa S2 n Sh3t. Dd.tw maa2.j r.f, jw ta
psd2t (h2r) d2d n S2w sa Ra2: Maa2ty m j.d2dt.f nb(t) H2r sa Ast.
1 The text h3r bn dyt is impossible. Better to emend to a passive n sd2mt.f, the subject of
it would be the prospective maa2.f.
2 Surely this is what is meant by the text Sh3t Anwr.
220
221

XIX
Thoth said to Ra the lord of all: Have a letter sent to Osiris asking him to
judge between these two.
Shu said: Thoths words to us all are right a million times over.
Ra said to Thoth: Sit and write a letter to Osiris, lets find out what
hell say.
Thoth sat down, took up his pen to write. This is how the message
went.
It began with full formality, listing the great names a pharaoh
assumes on his accession:
Osiris, you who are:
The Embodiment of Horus power:
King May-Behes-En-Ef (Lion-Who-Kills-What-He-Wants-To;)
He Who Is Fostered by the Two Goddesses of Upper and Lower
Egypt:
Mekey-Netcherew-Waf-Tawey (Protector-of-the-Gods, Subduerof-All-Egypt;)
The Victorious God:
Gemey-Remetch-Em-Sep-Tepey (Who-in-Primordial-Time-InventedHumankind;)
The Uniter of Egypt: Ka-Em-Jewnew (Bull-of-Heliopolis,)
long may you live!
Osiris, heir of Ptah, the benefactor of the two lands, you who
manifest yourself in glory as the creator of all the other gods,
son of the creator of the universe Ptah, Holy-Monarch-WhoDines-Upon-Plates-of-Faience-and-Drinks-from-Cups-of-Gold, lord
of the burial grounds, long may you live in health and wealth!
(14:5-15:1)
D2d j.jrj.n D2h2wty n Nb-r-D2r: Jmj hab.t{j}<w> wh3a n Wsjr wd2a.f pa
a2d2d sn.
D2d.jn. S2w sa Ra2: Maa2ty m h2h2 n sp pa d2d D2h2wty n ta psd2t.
Wn.jn nb-r-d2r h2r d2d n D2h2wty: (J).h2msj, j.jrj wh3at n Wsjr sd2m.n pa
nty jw.f (r) d2d twf.
Wn.jn D2h2wty h2msj._ r mh2 wh3a n Wsjr m d2d:
Ka: Maj-Bh2s-n.f; Nbty: Mkj-Nt2rw Wa2f-Tawy; H2r Nbw: Gmj-Rmt2m-Sp-Tpy; N-Sw-Bjt: Ka-m-h2ry-jb-Jwnw, a2-w-s; Sa Pth2: Ah3-Tawy-H3a2jm-Jt-Psd2dt.f, Wnm.f-m-Nbw-h2r-T2h2nt, Nb D2sr a2-w.-s.
222
223

May you write to us informing us what to do regarding Horus and
Seth, so that we may not make a decision in ignorance.
It took a great while, but the letter finally arrived in Hell and was
recieved by Osiris, the Embodiment of Horus power, who in his
character of lord of the underworld bears the titles: King
Aa-Tchetef-Neb-Djefa (Great Lord of Superabundant Sustenance) &c.
&c.
When the letter was read before Osiris he gave a great cry. He sent his
reply with the utmost haste to Ra and the rest of the pantheon, saying:
Why is my son Horus being injured deprived of his rights? And
this despite the fact that I created grain for the gods to live on, the barley
and the emmer which would later sustain the rest of creation as well,
when no other god or goddess could even imagine it!
Jh3 hab.k n.n pa nty jw.n r jrj(t).f n H2r h2na2 Sth3 tm.n jrj(t) sh3rw m
h3m.n.
H3r jr m-h3t <hrw qnw> h2r-sa nn, wn.jn pa wh3a h2r spr r nsw sa Ra2
A2a-T2tf-Nb-D2fa. A2h2a2.n.f (h2r) a2s2 sgb a2a m-d2r a2s2<.tw> pa wh3a m
bah2.f Wn.jn.f (h2r) sfh3 twf as sp-sn sp-sn r pa nty Nb-r-D2r jm r-h2na2 ta psd2t r
d2d:
J.jrj.tw gbj sa.j H2r h2r jh3, jw jnk j.jrj <t>wtn m nh3tw? h3r jw jnk j.jrj jt bdt
r sa2nh3 nt2rw mj na a2wt h2r sa nt2rw jw bw gmj sw nt2r nb nt2rt nb(t) r jrj(t).f.
224
225

XX
The letter made its way to where Ra sat with the nine gods in the fields of
Xos which gleamed white with grain (for now it was the time of the
harvest). Then after it was read before them all, Ra said:
Send me a reply to Osiris fast, tell him, with reference to his epistle: If
youd never existed, if youd never been born, thered still be wheat and
barley all the same.
This letter of Ras made its way to Osiris, it was read before him and
he sent a reply to Ra, lord of all, to this effect:
Good, fair and excessively excellent is what you have done on the
advice of the gods Truth has been driven from the earth and sunk in
the depths of Hell! Now take a good look at this policy of yours, and what
will come of it. This place where I am, its full of raging creatures I can
send to do my bidding they fear neither goddess nor god. Ill dispatch
them to bring me the hearts of all evildoers, and then the wicked will find
themselves here beside me!
Thats what Im here for, to judge and punish the wicked. Didnt you
ever wonder why I rest here in the uttermost depths of the West while all
the rest of you stay far from me, out there in the world? Who among you is
more powerful than I? And what you were strong enough to do is wrong.
(15:1-15:8)
A2h2a2.n pa wh3a n Wsjr sprw r pa nty Pa-Ra2-h2r-Ah3ty jm jw.f h2msj._ h2na2
ta psd2t m ta jadt h2d2t m pa H3asww.
A2h2a2.n jw.twtw (h2r) a2s2.f m bah2.f h2na2 ta psd2t jw Pa-Ra2-h2rAh3ty h2r d2d:
Jh3 sfh3{t}.k n.j pa wh3 as sp-sn n Wsjr, mtw.k d2d n.f h2r n pa wh3a: Hana
bw h3pr.k{wj}, hana bw msj.tw.k, jw jt bdt h3prw m ra2-a2.
Wn.jn pa wh3a n nb-r-d2r spr._ r Wsjr jw.tw (h2r) a2s2.f m bah2.f. Wn.jn.f
(h2r) hab n Pa-Ra2-h2r-Ah3ty a2n m d2d:
Nfr r jqr sp-sn pa jrj.k nb, pa gmj ta psd2t m jrjt, jw dd{tw} hrp Maa2t m
h4nw Dwat. Jh3 ptr.k pa sh3r gr ntk! Jr pa ta nty twj jm.f, sw mh._ m wpwty(w)
h2sa-h2r jw bn sn sdnd2w n nt2r nb nt2rt. Jw.j (r) djt pry.sn, mtw.sn jnj h2aty n pa
nty nb (h2r) jrj spw, mtw.tn h3pr{w}dy h2na2.j! Ya jh3 pay.j h3pr{w}dy, h2tp.kwj
h2r jmntt, jw.tn m bnr waj r d2r sp-sn sp-sn? Njm jm.tn jw.f nh3t r.j? H2r mk gm.tn
grg m jrjt.
226
227

When Ptah made the sky great Ptah whose temple dominates
Memphis, lord of life for all Egypt when Ptah created the heavens, did
he not then say to the stars: At the end of each night you will rest in the
West, the realm of King Osiris, and in time all of the gods, all mankind,
noble and humble, they too will come to rest with Osiris.
Thats what Ptah said: in the end, all come to me.
Jst jr m-d2r jry Pth2 a2a rsy-jnb.f nb anh3 tawy ta pt, jst bn d2d.f n na
sbaw nty (m) h4nw.s: J.jrj.tn h2tp{w} (h2r) jmntt r t2nw grh2 m pa nty Wsjr jm?
H3r jr h2r-sa nt2rw, jw pa2t rh3yt (r) h2tp m pa nty tw.k jm m-ra-a2? j.n.f n.j.
228
229

XXI
After a time this letter from Osiris reached Ra and the gods: Thoth took it
and read it out before them all.
They replied: Hes right, hes right in everything he said, the king of
generosity, lord god of food, great Osiris, long may he reign!
Then Seth said: Take us back to the isle in mid-river so I can settle
this with Horus.
He went to the island, but the gods simply declared for Horus
without further contest.
Then Ra, lord of the two lands, whose great temple stands in On, sent
a message to Isis: Bring Seth, bound, his neck and wrists in a wooden
yoke.
Isis brought Seth bound like a common criminal.
Ra said to him: Why did you go off to that island, refusing to accept
the authority of this court, continuing to claim on your own account the
rights that belong to Horus?
Seth said: Quite to the contrary, my good lord. Let Horus the son of
Isis be called, and let the rank and office of his father Osiris be given
him.
(15:8-16:8)
H3r jr m-h3t (hrw qnw) h2r-sa nn, jw pa wh3a n Wsjr spr.w r pa nty nb-r-d2r jm
h2na2 ta psd2t. Wn.jn D2h2wty (h2r) s2sp pa wh3at, jw.f (h2r) a2s2.f m bah2
Pa-Ra2-H2r-Ah3ty h2na2 ta psd2t.
Wn.jn.sn h2r d2d: Maa2ty sp-sn m j.d2dt.f nb(t) pa A2a-T2tf Nb-D2fa
a2-w-s.
Wn.jn Sth3 h2r d2d: Jmj jt2a.t(w).n r pa jw h2ry jb sh3n.j jrm.f.
Wn.jn.f (h2r) s2mt r pa jw h2ry-jb, jw.tw (h2r) djt maa2t H2r r.f. Wn.jn Jtm nb
tawy jwnw (h2r) hab n Ast r-d2d: Jnj Sth3, jw.f h2n.w m qh2.
Wn.jn Ast h2r jnj(t) Sth3 jw.f h2n.w m qh2, jw.f m rmt2-saw.
Wn.jn Jtm h2r d2d n.f: J.jrj.k tm djt wd2a2.tw.tn h2r jh3, jw.k (h2r) nh2m
n.k ta jawt n H2r?
Wn.jn Sth3 h2r d2d n.f: M-bjat, pay.j nb nfr! Jmj a2s2.tw n H2r sa Ast
mtw.tw djt n.f ta jawt n jt.f Wsjr.
230
231

Horus was brought, the white crown of Southern Egypt was placed
on his head, they sat him on his fathers throne and said to him: You are
Egypts good king, the excellent master of the world henceforth and
forever, long may you live!
Then Isis shouted: You are the good king of this land beloved of the
gods! My heart is glad! Your radiant face will shine out over the country!
Great Ptah, templed in Memphis, who makes all Egypt live, said:
What shall be done for Seth, now that Horus has been given his fathers
throne?
Ra said: Let Seth the son of Nut be given to me, to dwell with me as
my son, his voice shall be the thunder in the heavens and all men shall fear
him.
When the coronation of Horus was officially announced throughout
the land, Ra was exceedingly pleased and said to the gods: Let the
country rejoice for Horus the son of Isis!
Isis said:
Wn.jn.tw h2r jnj H2r sa Ast, jw.tw h2r djt H2d2t h2r tp.f, jw.tw (h2r) djt twf r
ta st n jt(.f) Wsjr, jw.tw h2r d2d n.f: Tw.k m nsw nfr n ta mry. Tw.k m nb a2-w-s. n
ta nb r s2aa2 nh2h2 n d2d.
A2h2a2.n Ast (h2r) a2s2 sgb a2a n sa.s H2r m d2d: Tw.k m nsw nfr! Jb.j m
rs2wt. Sh2d2.k ta m jnwy.k(y).
Wn.jn Pth2 pa rsy-jnb.f nb a2nh3 tawy h2r d2d: Jh3 pa nty jw.tw r jrj.f n Sth3,
h3r mk.{s}(t)n ,d2d.tw H2r r st n jt(.f) Wsjr?
Wn.jn Pa-Ra2-H2r-Ah3ty h2r d2d: Jmj dj.tw n.j Sth3 sa Nwt h2ms.f
r-h2na2.j jw.f m dj.j m s2rj, mtw.f h3rw6 m ta pt, mtw.tw snd2 n.f.
Wn.jn.tw h2r s2mt r d2d n Pa-Ra2-H2r-Ah3ty: H2r sa Ast a2h2a2._ m
h2qa a2-w-s.
A2h2a2.n Pa-Ra2 h2r rs2wt r jqr sp-sn, jw.f h2r d2d n ta psd2t: Nhm.tn r ta
sp-sn n H2r sa Ast.
Wn.jn Ast h2r d2d:
232
233

Horus has taken the throne, long live the king!
All the gods are glad, the skies brighten for you,
put wreaths upon your heads in honor of my son
arisen to the kingship of Egypt, long may he live!
All the gods rejoice, the entire land is gleeful
now that theyve seen Horus, the son of Isis,
successor to the throne of Osiris, Lord of Busiris.
And so it all turned out well, and Horus was crowned king in Egypts
capital, Thebes, the city of justice.
H2r a2h2a2._ m h2qa a2-w-s;
ta psd2t m h2b, pt m rs2wt,
t2ay.sn mah2w m-d2r ptr.sn H2r sa Ast
jw.f a2h2a2._ m h2qa a2-w-s a2a n Kmt.
Ta psd2t, jbw.sn hrww,
ta r d2r.f m h2a2wt
m-d2r ptr.sn H2r sa Ast,
jw swd2(.tw) n.f jawt n jt(.f) Wsjr nb D2dw.
Jw.s pw nfr m h4nw Wast st Ma2at.
234
235

Coffin Text 160
Me, I know Baku, the mountain that holds up the western side of the
sky.
Its in Libya, 1,125 feet long and 450 feet wide.
Sobek (the crocodile god) is lord of Baku, enthroned on that
mountains eastern side. His temple there is made of sunset-red
carnelian.
Whats atop that mountain is a fifty-foot-long snake, with five feet of
face formed from living flint.
Me, I know the name of that snake on the peak:
Demolisher. In the evening he turns his gaze against Ra,
then the crew in the solar barque is paralyzed, dire awe holds the
whole sun boat,
then Seth leans forward, facing down the snake. He says these magic
words:
Here, Im in your territory, because this voyage holds its true course,
look at me and back off, shut that angry eye of yours!
I bind you, Im the strong one here. Hide your face before I make you
hide it.
I have big magic and thats what Im using on you.
Jw.j rh3.kwj d2w Bah4w nty pt rhn.s h3r.f.
Wnn.f m T2h2nw, h3t h3mt s2t m a2w.f, h3t s2t md2wy m wsh3.f.
Wnn Sbk nb Bah4w m jabt d2w pf. Wnn h2wt-nt2r.f m h2rst.
Wnn h2faw h2r wpt d2w pf, mh2 ma2ba m aw.f, mh2 hmt h3nt m h2at.f m
d2s.
Jw.j rh3.kwj rn ny h2faw pn tp d2w.f:
Wh2n.f rn.f jr.f, m tr ny ms2rw pna2.h3r.f jrt.f r Ra2,
h3pr.h3r a2h2a2w m jst, sgawt a2at m h4nw sqdwt,
qah2.h3r.sw Sth4 m d2r.f. J! d2d.f m h2kaw,
A2h2a2.j m d2r.k, ma2a sqdwt. Maa, waj, a2h4n r.f jrt.k!
Snh2.n.j tw, jnk t2ay. H2bs tp.k!
D2d2a.kwj, jnk wr h2ka, wdy.n.j.1 r.k.
1 Reading this, with Faulkner, as an odd writing for wdj(w).n.j (the relative verb form.)
236
Mythscape: Coffin Text 160
237

Whats my occult power? Belly-crawler, your vigor comes from your
mountain.
Look at me, Im here, and Ive stolen that force of yours.
I carry power! Ive come to plunder this place at at earths furthest
verge.
Ra favors me, Ra whose home is evening, sky-wandering Ra.
And you, snake, are in the shackles ordained for you long ago
so youd be bound and Ra could set unharmed.
Js2st pw ah3 pw? S2m h2r h4t.f, ph2ty.k n d2w.k,
Mk wj s2m.j r.j, ph2ty.k m a2.j.
Jnk jt2s ph2ty. Jj.n.j a2waj.j akrw.
Ra2 h2tp n.j, jmy ms2rw.f, dbnw pt.
Jw.k m jnt2wt, wd2dt r.k pw m bah2 h2tp Ra2 m a2nh3.
238
Mythscape: Coffin Text 160
239
About the Author

I was born in 1958 in Paterson N.J., home to William Carlos
Williams and Allen Ginsberg. I will pass over the follies of my youth, and
only note that I went on to take a BA from Columbia, and a PhD in
Classics from Brown, which rendered me virtually unemployable, and
for some time not very good company. After almost a decade of waiting
tables, digging ditches, selling idols, writing for a small newspaper, &c.
&c. in Israel, Ireland and New England, the shifting demographic finally
brought demand for my skills, and I am now employed as a High School
Latin teacher in New Jersey.
It is unlikely that I will move to college teaching in the foreseeable
future, since there are presently several hundred applicants for every job
in Classics. Further, High School teaching is, compared to the other jobs
a liberal arts degree fits one for, an extremely good gig, and I would have
to be quite a fool to trade this for an adjunct position in some desolate
place at a third my present salary. Nonetheless, I cherish a faint hope that
someday society may find a better use for my talents than explaining the
rudiments of person, number and tense, or deciding who really needs to
go to the bathroom.
I am the author of a number of books. As often (rarely) as my writing
is noticed by the academic reviewer, it is vilified, which puts to rest any
doubts I may have had about the lasting value of my work.
Tiring at last of the ancient Mediterranean, I have turned my
attention to China, and am presently memorizing thousands of cryptic
little pictures so as to read the traditional Chinese classics. For less
cerebral excitement, I ride a Honda Rebel into the blissful mythic
distance. My current project is running Invisible Books. I am always glad
to hear from interesting people, so dont hesitate to drop me a line,
which may be done through the Invisible Books website.

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Isle of Fire

A Tour of the Egyptian Further World

Isle of Fire: Introduction

About This Translation

About This Translation

Isle of Fire: Introduction

Recommended Further Reading

Late Egyptian Grammars:

Recommended Further Reading

Isle of Fire: Introduction

The Exotic Character of Egyptian Myth

Isle of Fire: Introduction

The Exotic Character of Egyptian Myth

The Shipwrecked Sailor

The Shipwrecked Sailor

Isle of Fire: Part One

The Shipwrecked Sailor

Passage to the Other World: The Shipwrecked Sailor

Isle of Fire: Part One

Passage to the Other World: The Shipwrecked Sailor

Isle of Fire: Part One

Passage to the Other World: The Shipwrecked Sailor

Isle of Fire: Part One

Passage to the Other World: The Shipwrecked Sailor

Isle of Fire: Part One

Passage to the Other World: The Shipwrecked Sailor

Isle of Fire: Part One

Passage to the Other World: The Shipwrecked Sailor

Isle of Fire: Part One

Passage to the Other World: The Shipwrecked Sailor

Isle of Fire: Part One

Passage to the Other World: Sa Nehet

Isle of Fire: Part One

Passage to the Other World: Sa Nehet

Isle of Fire: Part One

Passage to the Other World: Sa Nehet

An abrupt transition to the present, for the sake of vividness.

Isle of Fire: Part One

Another historical present.

Passage to the Other World: Sa Nehet

Isle of Fire: Part One

Passage to the Other World: Sa Nehet

Nh3t pw grt jrj m h3ps2.f,

Isle of Fire: Part One

Passage to the Other World: Sa Nehet

Isle of Fire: Part One

Passage to the Other World: Sa Nehet

Jw.f r jt2t taw rsyw.

Isle of Fire: Part One

Passage to the Other World: Sa Nehet

Isle of Fire: Part One

Passage to the Other World: Sa Nehet

Isle of Fire: Part One

Amunenshi conferred with me to ascertain how this situation had

Passage to the Other World: Sa Nehet

Isle of Fire: Part One

Passage to the Other World: Sa Nehet

Isle of Fire: Part One

Passage to the Other World: Sa Nehet

Isle of Fire: Part One

Passage to the Other World: Sa Nehet

Isle of Fire: Part One

Passage to the Other World: Sa Nehet

Isle of Fire: Part One