The Instruction Of Ptahhetep
[This is another collection of proverbs, in sixteen pages, and with the rubrics marked. Small fragments from a duplicate copy of this book of proverbs show considerable variation from the Prisse text, and prove the corruptness and uncertainty of the latter. It is however quite complete. We are able to give a list of the contents of the sections, most of which are very brief, and to append to the headings translations of a considerable proportion of the whole. Further study will doubtless throw light on much that is still obscure.
General Title and Introduction: The wazîr Ptahhetep addresses the King, and recounts the evils of old age.[268] Having received the command to take his son into his office of wazîr, he desires to teach him the rules of conduct observed in the time when the gods reigned over Egypt. The King approves, and bids him commence his instruction.]
Instruction of the governor of the royal city, and wazîr Ptahetep, before the majesty of King Assa, who liveth forever and ever
The governor of the royal city, and wazîr Ptahhetep, saith:—
"O King my lord, years come on, old age befalleth, decrepitude arriveth, weakness is renewed, he lieth helpless day by day; the two eyes are contracted, the ears are dull, strength diminisheth from weariness of heart; the mouth is silent and speaketh not, the heart is closed and remembereth not yesterday; ... good becometh evil, all taste departeth; old age is evil for man in every way: the nose is stopped and breatheth not, standing and sitting are [alike] weary [?].
"It hath been commanded the servant[269] to make a successor.[270] Let me tell unto him the sayings of those who obeyed,[271] the conduct of them of old, of them who obeyed the gods; would that the like may be done to thee,[272] that ill may be banished from among the Rekhyt, and the two lands serve thee."
Said the Majesty of this god:—
"Teach him according to the words of former days; let him do what is admirable for the sons of the nobles, so that to enter and listen unto his words will be the due training of every heart; and that which he saith shall not be a thing producing satiety."
[Title and aim of the proverbs.]
Beginning of the proverbs of good words spoken by the ha-prince,[273] the father of the god who loves the god,[274] the King's eldest son of his body, the governor of the city and wazîr, Ptahhetep, as teaching the ignorant to know according to the rule of good words, expounding the profit to him who shall hearken unto it, and the injury to him who shall transgress it. He saith unto his son:—
1. [Be not proud of thy learning: there is always more to learn.]
"Let not thy heart be great because of thy knowledge; converse with the ignorant as with the learned: the boundary of skill is not attainable; there is no expert who is completely provided with what is profitable to him: good speech is hidden more than the emeralds[275] that are found by female slaves on the pebbles."
2. [Silence will be the best weapon against a more able debater than thyself.]
"If thou findest a debater[276] in his moment,[277] persuading the heart[278] as more successful than thyself: droop thy arms, bend thy back, let not thy heart challenge him; then he will not reach unto thee.[279] Be sparing of evil words, as if declining to refute him in his moment. He will be called ignorant of things, while thy heart restraineth its wealth."[280]
3. [Refute the bad arguments of an equal in debate.]
"If thou findest a debater in his moment, thine equal, who is within thy reach, to whom thou canst cause thyself to become superior: be not silent when he speaketh evil; a great thing is the approval of the hearers, that thy name should be good in the knowledge of the nobles."[281]
4. [A feeble debater can be left to refute himself.]
"If thou findest a debater in his moment, a poor man, that is to say, not thine equal, let not thine heart leap out at him when he is feeble. Let him alone, let him refute himself, question him not overmuch.[282] Do not wash the heart[283] of him who agreeth with [?] thee: it is painful, despising the poor, ... thou strikest him with the punishment of nobles."[284]
5. [A leader of men should use his authority for justice.]
"If thou art a guide, commanding the conduct of a company, seek for thyself every good aim, so that thy policy may be without error;[?] a great thing is justice, enduring and surviving[285]; it is not upset since the time of Osiris; he who departs from the laws is punished and ... It is the modest[?] that obtain wealth; never did the greedy[?] arrive at their aim; he saith, 'I have captured for mine own self;' he saith not, 'I have captured by [another's'] command.' The end of justice is that it endureth long; such as a man will say, 'It is from [?] my father.'"
6. [Be not a disturber of the peace.]
"Make not terror amongst men;[286] God punisheth the like. There is the man that saith, 'Let him live thereby who is without the bread of his lips.' There is the man that saith, 'Strong is he who saith, I have captured for myself what I have recognized.' There is the man who saith, 'Let him smite another who attaineth, in order to give to him who is in want:' never did violence among men succeed: what God commandeth cometh to pass. Then[287] thou mayest live in a palace; pleasure cometh, and people give things freely."
7. [Behavior to a patron.]
"If thou art a man of those who sit at the place of a greater man than thyself, take what he giveth with thy hand to thy nose;[288] thou shalt look at what is before thee; pierce him not with many glances; it is abomination to the soul for them to be directed at him. Speak not unto him until he calleth: one knoweth not the evil at heart [that it causeth]; thou shalt speak when he questioneth thee, and then what thou sayest will be good to the heart. The noble who hath excess of bread, his procedure is as his soul[289] commandeth; he will give to him whom he praiseth: it is the manner of night-time.[290] It befalleth that it is the soul that openeth his hands. The noble giveth; it is not that the man winneth [the gift]. The eating of bread is under the management of God: it is the ignorant that rebelleth [?] against it."
8. [Behavior of a man sent on business from one lord to another.]
"If thou art a man that entereth, sent by a noble to a noble, be exact in the manner of him who sendeth thee; do the business for him as he saith. Beware of making ill feeling by words that would set noble against noble, in destroying justice; do not exaggerate it; but the washing of the heart shall not be repeated in the speech of any man, noble or commoner: that is abomination of the soul."
9. [Gain thy living at thy business; do not sponge on relations, nor hunt legacies.]
"If thou plowest, labor steadily in the field, that God may make it great in thine hand; let not thy mouth be filled at thy neighbor's table. It is a great thing to make disturbance of the silent. Verily he who possesseth prudence is as the possessor of goods: he taketh like a crocodile from the officials. [?] Beg not as a poor man of him who is without children, and make no boast of him. The father is important when the mother that beareth is wanting, and another woman is added unto her:[291] a man may produce a god such that the tribe shall pray [to be allowed] to follow him."
10. [If unsuccessful, take work under a good master; be respectful to those who have risen in the world.]
"If thou failest, follow a successful man; let all thy conduct be good before God. When thou knowest that a little man hath advanced, let not thine heart be proud towards him by reason of what thou knowest of him; a man who hath advanced, be respectful to him in proportion to what hath arrived to him; for behold, possessions do not come of themselves, it is their [the gods'] law for those whom they love: verily he who hath risen, he hath been prudent for himself, and it is God that maketh his success; and he would punish him for it if he were indolent."
11. [Take reasonable recreation.]
"Follow thy heart the time that thou hast; do not more than is commanded; diminish not the time of following the heart; that is abomination to the soul, that its moment[292] should be disregarded. Spend not [on labor] the time of each day beyond what [is necessary] for furnishing thy house. When possessions are obtained, follow the heart; for possessions are not made full use of if [the owner] is weary."
12. [Treatment of a son.]
"If thou art a successful man and thou makest a son by God's grace [?], if he is accurate, goeth again in thy way and attendeth to thy business on the proper occasion, do unto him every good thing: he is thy son to whom it belongeth, that thy Ka begat: estrange not thy heart from him; inheritance [?] maketh quarrels. [?] If he err and transgress thy way, and refuseth [?] everything said while his mouth babbleth vain words...."
13. [Be patient in the law court.]
"If thou art in the council hall, standing and sitting until thy going [forward], that hath been commanded for thee on the earliest day: go not away if thou art kept back, while the face is attentive to him who entereth and reporteth, and the place of him who is summoned is broad.[293] The council hall is according to rule, and all its method according to measure. It is God that promoteth position; it is not done to those who are ready of elbows."
14. [Make friends with all men.]
15. [Report progress, whether good or evil, to your chief.]
16. [A leader with wide instructions should pursue a far-sighted policy.]
17. [A leader should listen to complaints.]
18. [Beware of women.]
"If thou wishest to prolong friendship in a house into which thou enterest as master, as brother, or as friend, [in fact in] any place that thou enterest, beware of approaching the women: no place in which that is done prospereth. The face is not watchful in attaining it. A thousand men are injured in order to be profited for a little moment, like a dream, by tasting which death is reached."...
19. [Keep from injustice or covetousness.]
"If thou desirest thy procedure to be good, take thyself from all evil: beware of any covetous aim. That is as the painful disease of colic. He who entereth on it is not successful. It embroileth fathers and mothers with the mother's brothers, it separateth wife and husband. It is a thing that taketh to itself all evils, a bundle of all wickedness. A man liveth long whose rule is justice, who goeth according to its [the rule's] movements. He maketh a property thereby, while a covetous man hath no house."
20. [Be satisfied with a fair share.]
"Let not thine heart be extortionate about shares, in grasping at what is not thy portion. Let not thy heart be extortionate towards thy neighbors: greater is the prayer to a kindly person than force. Poor is he that carrieth off his neighbors [by violence] without the persuasion of words. A little for which there hath been extortion maketh remorse when the blood[294] is cool."
21. [Pay attention to thy wife when thou hast attained a competence.]
"If thou art successful and hast furnished thine house, and lovest the wife of thy bosom, fill her belly, clothe her back. The medicine for her body is oil. Make glad her heart during the time that thou hast. She is a field profitable to its owner."...
22. [Entertain visitors with thy means.]
23. [Do not repeat scandal [?].]
24. [Talk not of unfamiliar things in the council.]
25. [Advice to an able speaker.]
"If thou art strong, inspiring awe by knowledge or by pleasing, speak in first command; that is to say, not according to [another's] lead. The weak man [?] entereth into error. Raise not thine heart, lest it be cast down. Be not silent. Beware of interruption and of answering words with heat [?].... The flames of a fiery heart sweep away the mild man, when a fighter treadeth on his path. He who doth accounts all day long hath not a pleasant moment; he who enjoyeth himself all day long doth not provide his house. The archer will hit his mark even as he that worketh the rudder, at one time letting it alone, at another pulling; he that obeyeth his heart [conscience?] shall command."
26. [Do not add to others' burdens.]
27. [Teach a noble what will profit him.]
28. [Deliver an official message straightforwardly.]
29. [Call not to remembrance favors that you have bestowed, when the recipient has ceased to thank you.]
30. [Advice to one that has risen in the world.]
"If thou gainest great after small things and makest wealth after poverty, so that thou art an example thereof in thy city, thou art known in thy nome and thou art become prominent: do not wrap up [?] thy heart in thy riches that have come to thee by the gift of God,... another like unto thee to whom the like hath fallen."
31. [Obedience to chief.]
"Bend thy back to thy chief, thy superior of the king's house, on whose property thine house dependeth, and thy payments[295] in their proper place. It is ill to be at variance with the chief. One liveth [only] while he is gracious."...
32. [Against lewdness.]
33. [Judge a friend's character at first hand.]
"If thou seekest the character of a friend, mind thou, do not ask; go to him, occupy thyself with him alone so as not to interfere with his business. Argue with him after a season, test [?] his heart with an instance of speech."...
34. [Be cheerful to friends.]
"Let thy face be shining the time that thou hast: verily that which cometh out of the store doth not enter again; but bread is for apportionment, and he that is niggardly is an accuser, empty of his belly. It befalleth that a quarrelsome man is a spoiler of things; do it not unto him who cometh unto thee. The remembrance of a man is of his kindliness in the years after the staff [of power?]."[296]
35. [Importance of credit.]
"Know[297] thy tradesman when thy affairs are unsuccessful; thy good reputation with thy friend is a channel well filled; it is more important than a man's wealth. The property of one belongeth to another. A profitable thing is the good reputation of a man's son to him. The nature is better than the memory."[?]
36. [Punish for an example, instruct for the principle.]
37. [Treat kindly a seduced woman.]
"If thou makest a woman ashamed, wanton of heart, whom her fellow townspeople know to be under two laws,[298] be kind to her a season; send her not away, let her have food to eat. The wantonness of her heart appreciateth guidance."
38. [Advantage of obedience to rule.]
"If thou hearkenest to these things that I tell thee, and all thy behavior is according to what precedeth,[299] verily they have a true course. They are precious, their memory goeth in the mouth of men by reason of the excellence of their phrasing; and each saying is carried on; it is not destroyed out of this land ever; it maketh a rule to advantage by which the nobles may speak. It is a teaching for a man that he may speak to the future. He that heareth them becometh an expert. A good hearer speaketh to the future of what he hath heard. If good fortune befalleth by reason of him who is at the head of affairs, it is to him good forever, and all his satisfactoriness remaineth to eternity. It is he who knoweth that blesseth his soul[300] in establishing his excellence upon earth: he who knoweth hath satisfaction of his knowledge. A noble[301] taketh his right course in what his heart and his tongue provide; his lips are correct when he speaketh, his eyes in seeing, his ears just in hearing; a profitable thing for his son is doing right, free from wrong.
"It is a profitable thing for the son of one who hath hearkened [to instruction] to hearken [to his father], entering and listening to a hearkener. A hearkener becometh a person hearkened to, good in hearkening and good in speech; a hearkener possesseth what is profitable: profitable to the hearkener is hearkening. Hearkening is better than anything: it befalleth indeed that love is good, but twice good is it when a son receiveth what his father saith: old age cometh to him therewith. He who loveth God hearkeneth, he who hateth God doth not hearken: it is the heart that maketh its possessor hearken or not hearken, and the Life, Prosperity, and Health[302] of a man is his heart. The hearkener heareth what is said. He that loveth to hear doeth according to what is said. Twice good is it for a son to hearken to his father. How happy is he to whom these things are told! A son, he shineth as possessing the quality of hearkening. The hearkener to whom they are told, he is excellent in body. He that is pious-and-well-pleasing[303] to his father, his memory is in the mouth of the living who are upon earth, whoever they shall be."
39. [The docile son.]
"If the son of a man receive what his father saith, no plan of his shall fail. [He whom] thou teachest as thy son, or the listener that is successful in the heart of the nobles, he guideth his mouth according to what he hath been told. He that beholdeth is as he that obeyeth, i. e., a son[304]; his ways are distinguished. He faileth that entereth without hearing. He that knoweth, on the next day is established; he who is ignorant is crushed."[305]
40. [The ignorant and unteachable man is a miserable failure.]
Letter of Dioscorides to Dorian, from a Manuscript on papyrus, found in a sealed clay vessel in an Egyptian tomb.
Written in the IIIrd century B.C.
41. [The handing down of good precepts.]
"The son of a hearkener is as an Attendant of Horus[306]: there is good for him when he hath hearkened; he groweth old, he reacheth Amakh[307]; he telleth the like to his children, renewing the teaching of his father. Every man teacheth as he hath performed; he telleth the like to his sons, that they may tell again to their children.[308] Do what is admirable; cause not thyself to be mocked;[?] establish truth that thy children may live. If virtue entereth, vice departeth: then men who shall see such-like shall say, 'Behold, that man spoke to one who hearkened!' and they shall do the like; or 'Behold, that man was observant.' All shall say, 'They pacify the multitude; riches are not complete without them.'[309] Add not a word, nor take one away; put not one in the place of another. Guard thyself against opening the lacunæ[?] that are in thee. Guard thyself against being told, 'One who knoweth is listening; mark thou. Thou desirest to be established in the mouth of those who hear[310] when thou speakest. But thou hast entered on the business of an expert; thou speakest of matters that belong to us, and thy way is not in its proper place.'"
42. [Speak with consideration.]
"Let thy heart be overflowing, let thy mouth be restrained: consider how thou shalt behave among the nobles. Be exact in practice with thy master: act so that he may say, 'The son of that man shall speak to those that shall hearken. Praiseworthy also is he who formed him.'
"Apply thine heart while thou art speaking, that thou mayest speak things of distinction; then the nobles who shall hear will say, 'How good is that which proceedeth out of his mouth!'"
43. [Obedience to the master.]
"Do according to that thy master telleth thee. How excellent [to a man] is the teaching of his father, out of whom he hath come, out of his very body, and who spake unto him while he was yet altogether in his loins! Greater is what hath been done unto him than what hath been said unto him. Behold, a good son that God giveth doeth beyond what he is told for his master; he doeth right, doing heartily [?] in his goings even as thou hast come unto me, that thy body may be sound, that the King may be well pleased with all that is done, that thou mayest spend years of life. It is no small thing that I have done on earth; I have spent 110 years[311] of life while the King gave me praises as among the ancestors, by my doing uprightly to the King until the state of Amakh.[312]"
This is its arrival
like that which was found in the writing.
Translation of F. Ll. Griffith.
[The following extracts are reproduced from the German of Professor Erman's translation.]
FROM THE 'MAXIMS OF ANY'
"Keep thyself from the strange woman who is not known in her city. Look not upon her when she cometh, and know her not. She is like unto a whirlpool in deep water, the whirling vortex of which is not known. The woman whose husband is afar writeth unto thee daily. When none is there to see her, she standeth up and spreadeth her snare; sin unto death is it to hearken thereto." Hence he who is wise will renounce her company and take to himself a wife in his youth. A man's own house is "the best thing," and also "she will give unto thee a son who shall be as the image of thyself."...
[Thy debt to thy mother.]
Thou shalt never forget thy mother and what she hath done for thee, "that she bore thee, and nurtured thee in all ways." Wert thou to forget her then might she blame thee, "lifting up her arms unto God, and he would hearken unto her complaint. For she carried thee long beneath her heart as a heavy burden, and after thy months were accomplished she bore thee. Three long years she carried thee upon her shoulder and gave thee her breast to thy mouth." She nurtured thee, nor knew offense from thine uncleanness. "And when thou didst enter the school and wast instructed in the writings, daily she stood by the master with bread and beer from her house."
[Be not drunken with beer.]
Drink not beer to excess! That which cometh forth from thy mouth thou canst no longer speak. Thou fallest down, thou breakest thy limbs, and none stretcheth out a hand to thee. Thy companions drink on; they arise and say, "Away with this one who hath drunken." When one cometh to seek thee, to seek counsel of thee, he findeth thee lying in the dust like a little child.
[Of inward piety.]
"Clamor is abhorrent to the sanctuary of God; let thy prayers for thyself come forth out of a loving heart, whose words remain secret, that he may grant thee thy needs, may hear thy prayer, and accept thine offering."
[Of diligence and discretion.]
Be diligent; "let thine eye be open that thou mayest not go forth as a beggar, for the man who is idle cometh not to honor." Be not officious and indiscreet, and "enter not [uninvited] into the house of another; if thou enter at his bidding thou art honored. Look not around thee, look not around thee in the house of another. What thine eye seeth, keep silence concerning it, and tell it not without to another, that it be not in thee a crime to be punished by death when it is heard." Speak not overmuch, "for men are deaf to him who maketh many words; but if thou art silent thou art pleasing, therefore speak not." Above all be cautious in speech, for "the ruin of a man is on his tongue. The body of a man is a storehouse, which is full of all manner of answers. Wherefore choose thou the good and speak good, while the evil remaineth shut up within thy body."
[Of manners.]
Behave with propriety at table and "be not greedy to fill thy body." And "eat not bread while another standeth by and thou placest not thy hand on the bread for him. The one is rich and the other is poor, and bread remaineth with him who is open-handed. He who was prosperous last year, even in this may be a vagrant.[?]" Never forget to show respect, "and sit not down while another is standing who is older than thou, or who is higher than thou in his office."
Revised from the German of Adolf Erman.
INSTRUCTION OF DAUF
When Dauf the sage of Sebennytus went up to the Royal Residence with his son Pepy to take him to the "Court Writing-School," he admonished him "to set his heart upon writing, to love it as his mother, for there is naught that surpasseth it." He thereupon composes a poem in praise of the profession, to the disparagement of all other callings:—
"Behold, there is no profession that is not under rule;
Only the man of learning himself ruleth."
And then,
"Never have I seen the engraver an ambassador,
Or the goldsmith with an embassy;
But I have seen the smith at his work
At the mouth of his furnace;
His fingers were as crocodile [hide],
He stank more than fish-roe.
"A craftsman who plieth the chisel
Is wearied more than he who tilleth the soil;
Wood is his field, and bronze his implement;
At night—is he released?
He worketh more than his arms are able;
At night he lighteth a light."
Etc., etc.
[The praise of learning was a favorite subject with pedagogue and parent. According to other sages] "the unlearned whose name no man knoweth, is like unto a heavy-laden ass, driven by the scribe," while "he who hath set learning in his heart" is exempt from labor "and becometh a wise noble." "The rank of a scribe is princely; his writing outfit and his papyrus roll bring comfort and wealth." "The scribe alone guideth the labor of all men; but if labor in writing is hateful to him, then the goddess of good fortune is not with him."
"O scribe, be not lazy, be not lazy, else thou shalt be soundly chastised; give not thy heart to vain desires, or thou wilt come to ruin. Book in hand, read with thy mouth, and take the advice of those who know more than thyself. Prepare for thyself the office of a noble, that thou mayest attain thereto when thou art become old. Happy is the scribe clever in all his offices. Be strong and diligent in daily work. Pass no day idly, or thou wilt be flogged, for the ears of a boy are on his back, and he heareth when he is flogged. Let thine heart hear what I say; it will bring thee to fortune. Be strong in asking advice; do not overlook it in writing; be not disgusted at it. Therefore let thine heart hear my words; thou shalt find fortune thereby."
Revised from the German of Adolf Erman.
CONTRASTED LOTS OF SCRIBE AND FELLÂH
[The following is a sample of the warnings to young men to stick to the business of the scribe and not be led away by the charms of out-door life, always so dear to the Egyptian.—Date XIXth Dynasty, or earlier.]
It is told to me that thou hast cast aside learning, and givest thyself to dancing; thou turnest thy face to the work in the fields, and castest the divine words behind thee.
Behold, thou rememberest not the condition of the fellâh, when the harvest is taken over. The worms carry off half the corn, and the hippopotamus devours the rest; mice abound in the fields, and locusts arrive; the cattle devour, the sparrows steal. How miserable is the lot of the fellâh! What remains on the threshing-floor, robbers finish it up. The bronze ... are worn out, the horses [oxen?] die with threshing and plowing. Then the scribe moors at the bank who is to take over the harvest;[313] the attendants[314] bear staves, the negroes carry palmsticks. They say, "Give corn!" But there is none. They beat [the fellâh] prostrate; they bind him and cast him into the canal, throwing him headlong. His wife is bound before him, his children are swung off; his neighbors let them go, and flee to look after their corn.
But the scribe is the leader of labor for all; he reckons to himself the produce in winter, and there is none that appoints him his tale of produce. Behold, now thou knowest!
Translation of F. Ll. Griffith.
REPROACHES TO A DISSIPATED STUDENT
XIXth Dynasty
They tell me that thou forsakest books,
And givest thyself up to pleasure.
Thou goest from street to street;
Every evening the smell of beer,
The smell of beer, frightens people away from thee,
It bringeth thy soul to ruin.
Thou art like a broken helm,
That obeyeth on neither side.
Thou art as a shrine without its god,
As a house without bread.
Thou art met climbing the walls,
And breaking through the paling:
People flee from thee,
Thou strikest them until they are wounded.
Oh that thou didst know that wine is an abomination,
And that thou wouldst forswear the Shedeh drink!
That thou wouldst not put cool drinks within thy heart,
That thou wouldst forget the Tenreku.
But now thou art taught to sing to the flute,
To recite [?] to the pipe,
To intone to the lyre,
To sing to the harp,
[and generally to lead a life of dissipation.]
Revised from the German of Adolf Erman.
FOOTNOTES
[1] The italicized phrases represent the principal names of the King.
[2] The temple of Karnak.
[3] Horus as the winged disk of the sun, so often figured as a protecting symbol over the doors of temples.
[4] The coloration or configuration of his limbs indicated to the learned in such matters his victorious career. Mentu was the god of war.
[5] The southern boundary of the Egyptian empire.
[6] Baka, Meama, Buhen were in Nubia.
[7] The castor-oil plant (Ricinus communis).
[8] The underworld.
[9] The fellâhîn herdsmen of the time seem to have clubbed together into gangs, each of which was represented by a ganger, and the whole body by a superintendent of the gangs.
[10] Corvée work for the government.
[11] I. e., he did not impress men (wrongfully?) for the government works, such as irrigation or road-making.
[12] An asterisk (*) attached to the title of a text indicates that a translation of part or all of it is printed in the following pages.
[13] Lower Nubia.
[14] District about the first cataract.
[15] A name often applied to the great river Nile.
[16] The usual Egyptian attitude of respect to a superior was to stand bent slightly forward, holding the arms downward.
[17] The polytheistic Egyptians frequently used the term "God" without specifying any particular deity; perhaps, too, in their own minds they did not define the idea, but applied it simply to some general notion of Divinity.
[18] Punt was the "land of spices" to the Egyptian, and thence, too, the finest incense was brought for the temple services. It included Somaliland in Africa, and the south of Arabia.
[19] This paragraph is very difficult to restore and very doubtful.
[20] I. e., the King Sehetepabra Amenemhat I., whose death is recorded in the next clause.
[21] The king's city, and so throughout the story.
[22] The land of the Temehu was in the Libyan desert on the west of Egypt.
[23] Usertesen I., the son and heir of Amenemhat I., reigned ten years jointly with his father.
[24] I. e., the western edge of Lower Egypt.
[25] Perhaps this refers to the death of the king, or to the deliberations of the royal councilors.
[26] Apparently a term for the king.
[27] Sanehat, accidentally hearing the news of the old king's death, which was kept secret even from the members of the royal family, was overcome with agitation and fled.
[28] It was of course night-time.
[29] The Royal Residence called Athet-taui lay on the boundary of Upper and Lower Egypt, between Memphis and the entrance to the Faiyûm, and so in the direction which Sanehat at first took in his flight from the western edge of the Delta. One might prefer the word Capital to Residence, but it can hardly be doubted that Thebes and Memphis were then the real capitals of Egypt.
[30] Perhaps the meaning is that Sanehat did not imagine life possible "after the king's death," or it may be "outside the Residence." The pronoun for "it" is masculine, and may refer either to the palace or to the king.
[31] Or possibly "I turned my course," turning now northward.
[32] Or possibly "the next day."
[33] Here the MS. is injured, and some of the words are doubtful. The quarries are those still worked for hard quartzite at Jebel Ahmar (Red Mountain), northeast of Cairo. The positions of most of the places mentioned in the narrative are uncertain. Doubtless Sanehat crossed the Nile just above the fork of the Delta and landed in the neighborhood of the quarries. The "Mistress" (Heryt), must be a goddess, or the queen.
[34] Asiatics and Bedawin.
[35] Kemur was one of the Bitter Lakes in the line of the present Suez Canal.
[36] Possibly one of the three persons proposed as hostages to Egypt below, p. 5246. The word translated "alien" is uncertain. It may mean a kind of consul or mediator between the tribes for the purposes of trade, etc., or simply a "sheikh." Sanehat himself, returned from Egypt in his old age, is called by the same title, p. 5248.
[37] Or possibly Adim, i. e., Edom; and so throughout.
[38] Later called Upper Retenu: they were the inhabitants of the high lands of Palestine. Ammi was a divine name in Ancient Arabia, and the name Ammi-anshi, found in South-Arabian inscriptions, perhaps of 1000 B.C., is almost identical with that of the king who befriended Sanehat.
[39] These words appear to have been omitted by the scribe.
[40] I. e., What does Egypt do without the king?
[41] The goddess of destruction.
[42] Lit, "stick."
[43] A metaphor for the "policy," "will," of a king or god.
[44] Meaning "reeds" (?).
[45] I. e., of Pharaoh; see above, p. 5238.
[46] A difficult passage.
[47] Without any pause or introduction Sanehat begins to quote from his petition to the King of Egypt. It is difficult to say whether this arrangement is due to an oversight of the scribe, or is intended to heighten the picturesqueness of the narrative by sudden contrast. The formal introduction might well be omitted as uninteresting. The end of the document with the salutations is preserved.
[48] A phrase for the queen.
[49] The narrator.
[50] The scribe has written Amenemhat by mistake for Usertesen.
[51] Or Adim; see above, p. 5239, note.
[52] The queen, his exalted mistress.
[53] Taking part in the councils of the king and in the administration of the kingdom.
[54] This seems to refer to the so-called false door, representing the entrance to the underworld. All that precedes refers to burial with great ceremony.
[55] I. e., of the king's command. The absence of any concluding salutation is noticeable.
[56] The Ka or "double" was one of the spiritual constituents of man; but "thy Ka" is merely a mode of address to the exalted Pharaoh.
[57] I. e., the uræus or cobra.
[58] In this long array of gods, Mentu and Amen rank next to Ra. They were both worshiped at Thebes, which was then probably capital of the whole country. It certainly was so in the next dynasty, during which this tale was presumably written down. It is curious that Ptah the god of Memphis does not appear.
[59] The place of the dead.
[60] As dogs do the bidding of their master and spare his property.
[61] As a man of Natho (the marshes in the north of the Delta) dreams that he is at Elephantine (the rocky southern frontier).
[62] The second is the name of the southernmost nome of Egypt, that of Elephantine, which has practically no corn-land. It was probably made fruitful by artificial irrigation, with culture of plants, trees, and vines.
[63] So the MS., and it conveys a fair meaning; but perhaps the original ran, "Behold, thou art in the palace and I am in this place yet," etc.
[64] Or, "Now thy servant hath finished."
[65] Sanehat's own territory; see p. 5241.
[66] A frequent phrase for the writer or narrator, especially common in letters.
[67] "Nodding and touching my forehead" is perhaps the real translation of some difficult words here paraphrased.
[68] Probably the Residence; more commonly called Athet-taui, but here abbreviated in name.
[69] Or perhaps "very early."
[70] This probably means "four men behind me and the same number in front," either conducting Sanehat or more probably carrying him in a litter.
[71] Instead of Egyptian priests.
[72] These instruments rattled or clattered as they were waved or beaten together.
[73] A form of Hathor.
[74] Samehit "son of the north," is a play on the name Sanehat, "son of the sycamore."
[75] The treasury containing silver, gold, clothing, wine, and valuables of all kinds.
[76] Meaning "wanderers on the Sand," Bedawin.
[77] The Hathors were seven goddesses who attended the birth of a child in order to tell its fate. They somewhat correspond to the fairy godmothers of later fairy tales.
[78] Syria.
[79] The Egyptians shaved their heads and wore wigs, as a matter of cleanliness in a hot climate.
[80] The sun.
[81] Ra Harakhti was the chief of this Ennead. Khnumu, one of his companion gods, was the craftsman, sometimes represented as fashioning mankind upon the potter's wheel.
[82] I. e., in the matter of the trees.
[83] "To make a good day"—to keep holiday, to hold festival.
[84] This apparently means that he was enrolled as one to be educated as a learned scribe.
[85] I. e., as we should say, "he did nothing in the world but walk in the cemetery of Memphis," etc.
[86] The realm of Osiris as god of the dead.
[87] It is difficult to locate this lake in accordance with the actual geography of Egypt.
[88] A frequent phrase for extreme delight or amazement.
[89] There seems to be some reference to past history in this.
[90] An idiomatic phrase like "he caused his hand to go after the roll" for "put out his hand to take the roll," p. 5272.
[91] Wax was the regular material used for the manufacture of models which were intended to be used in the practice of magic.
[92] The place of embalmment.
[93] A similar method is still employed by Arab doctors and wizards. To heal a disease a formula is written out and then washed off the paper in a bowl of water, which is given to the patient to drink.
[94] Cf. Job i., 12.
[95] I. e., above him.
[96] An expression for death, like our "gone home."
[97] I. e., "May he live as long as the Sun god."
[98] The presence of names compounded with the name of Anher, god of Sebennytus, indicates that the story was written during or after the supremacy of that city, at the end of the native rule.
[99] Setna Kha-em-uast was high priest of Ptah.
[100] Evidently a strong expression, to show the instantaneous and powerful effect of the amulets in drawing him out of the ground.
[101] This choice of symbols of submission is not yet explained.
[102] Compare the expression noted on p. 5265.
[103] The first month of the inundation season and of the Egyptian year. This is the date of the first events recorded, not of the dedication of the stela: the "command" is parenthetical.
[104] The same expression occurs further on, and evidently refers to the personal activity of the king.
[105] Neter was probably Iseum in the centre of the Delta, and so a nomarchship quite separate from Tafnekht's extensive territory in the west. The list following the name of Tafnekht seems to name localities representative of the VIIth(?), VIth, Vth, IVth(?), IIId(?), and Ist nomes in Lower Egypt, in their proper order; the last, Mennefer, being Memphis. These would form literally the whole western side of Lower Egypt "from the coast to Athet-taui." Athet-taui (Lisht?) was a city marking the boundary of Upper and Lower Egypt.
[106] Mêdûm, El Lahûn, Crocodilopolis in the Faiyûm, Oxyrhynkhos, Diknâsh, all—except perhaps the last—in order from north to south.
[107] He crossed over to the east bank and went northward, the cities on his road throwing open their gates to him. With the exception of the last, Per-nebt-tep-ah [Aphroditopolis], the modern Atfih opposite Mêdûm, they are difficult to identify positively.
[108] I. e., Heracleopolis Magna, a very powerful city on the edge of the western desert, left in the rear on Tafnekht's expedition up the river. Its king was named Pefaui Bast. Its modern name is Ahnâs.
[109] Lit., "he hath made himself into a tail-in-the-mouth." [!]
[110] The precise extent of Piankhy's dominion at this time is uncertain.
[111] Hûr, opposite Beni Hasan.
[112] The notion intended to be conveyed is that of a dog at heel.
[113] Oxyrhynkhos itself was already in the hands of Tafnekht; the Hermopolite nome, including Hûr, Nefrus, etc., lay immediately south of it.
[114] The pronoun "he" is used much too freely in this inscription: occasionally it is impossible to decide to whom it refers.
[115] Hermopolis.
[116] Libyans, mercenaries or otherwise. The XXIId Dynasty was probably Libyan, and as will be seen from subsequent notes, Libyan influence was still strong in the time of Piankhy.
[117] This would seem to be a quotation taken from some address to an earlier king. Thothmes III., for instance, attributed his successes to Amen.
[118] The great temple of Amen at Karnak.
[119] Our equivalent term would be "sheet-anchor."
[120] In Ethiopia.
[121] The title "chief of the Me" seems to mean "captain of the Libyan troops." The list contains the names of princes of Lower Egypt only, with the exception of Nemart of Hermopolis Magna, in Upper Egypt.
[122] The feather was a Libyan badge of rank.
[123] Tafnekht is here given most of his principal titles, including the sacerdotal ones of high priest of Neith in Sais, and of Ptah in Memphis. With the rise of Sais, Neith had become the leading deity of Lower Egypt, ranking even above Ptah. The priests at Gebel Barkal doubtless took a special pride in the overthrow of the protégé of Neith and Ptah by Piankhy, the worshiper of Amen.
[124] Or "beaten sorely and grievously."
[125] Here should be the numbers of the slain.
[126] "Khmenu," "Unu," "Hare-city," are all names of Hermopolis Magna, the capital of Nemart's petty kingdom.
[127] Evidently a torchlight procession from Karnak to Luxor (Southern Apt).
[128] The return procession to Karnak.
[129] The third month of the season of inundation. Of course a year would then have elapsed, since the date given in the first line of the inscription.
[130] Oxyrhynkhos.
[131] Tehneh(?)
[132] Tafnekht, stripped of his grandeur after his defeat at Heracleopolis, is reduced to the rank of "Chief of the Me in Sais."
[133] The first month of the season of inundation, and of the Egyptian year.
[134] Hermopolis.
[135] To be taken of course in a general sense, referring to the majestic and terrible aspect of the King.
[136] I. e., "It has taken a full year," etc.
[137] Or, "They were sorely and grievously beaten with blows."
[138] I. e., the King.
[139] Here there is a lacuna of sixteen short lines in the inscription.
[140] Apparently Piankhy is addressing Nemart.
[141] The meaning is not clear; but there seems to be a reference to the diminution of the adult population by prolonged wars.
[142] Khmenu means eight. Thoth, in late times at any rate, combined the powers of the eight gods who accompanied him. He was sometimes called "twice great," sometimes "eight times great" = 23, an arithmetical term especially indicated by the Greek name [Greek: Hermês Trismhegistos].
[143] A "jubilee" after a thirty-years' reign; the expression is therefore equivalent to wishing the King a thirty-years' reign. The soldiers represent the King as the god Horus come to claim his own land.
[144] Music, dancing, etc.
[145] An oath.
[146] Karnak.
[147] The underworld.
[148] The stars of the northern hemisphere; see Maspero's 'Dawn of Civilization' p. 94. By Harakhti, the sun is probably meant.
[149] The mouth of the barrier, i. e., the entrance into the Faiyûm. The name El Lahûn is derived from Rahent; and the city Per-sekhem-kheper-ra, "The house of Usorkon I.," must have been at or close to the modern village of El Lahûn.
[150] Set, the god of physical strength.
[151] Athet-taui (Lisht?) was the boundary of Upper and Lower Egypt, and probably lay in both of them. "The gods who are in this city" of the next paragraph are doubtless kings of the XIIth Dynasty as presiding deities of the place, this royal Residence having apparently been founded by Amenenhat I. Compare p. 5238.
[152] Ra, the first King of Egypt, was fabled to have resided at Heliopolis; Shu his son and successor at Memphis. The city is called sometimes Anbuhez, "white wall," sometimes Men-nefer, after the pyramid of Pepy I.
[153] "South of his wall," an epithet of Ptah, god of Memphis.
[154] It is difficult to see what is meant by this. Possibly Tafnekht was proposing to bribe the Northern chiefs into continuing the war, by giving up his recently acquired claims as suzerain.
[155] Or "very early."
[156] Perhaps "Let us put these things at intervals."
[157] The boats were floating on a level with the top of the quay.
[158] I. e., no single one of the assailants was injured in the slightest degree.
[159] Meaning of course "at the boundary between Upper and Lower Egypt."
[160] By waving the wand of sanctification therein.
[161] The sacred name of Memphis, supposed to be the origin of the name [Greek: hAiguptos]—"Egypt."
[162] I. e., to re-establish the order of the temple services, etc.
[163] A chamber set apart for the sacred toilet; see also below, p. 5290.
[164] Or "very early."
[165] Kheraha was on the site of old Cairo, known to the classical authors as Babylon. The cave mentioned is not now known.
[166] On, Heliopolis. Here was a sacred well of water ("The Cool Pool"), supposed to spring from Nu, the primeval waters in heaven and earth, and not to be derived from Hapi or the Nile. Tradition relates that it was at this same well, still pointed out at Matariyeh, that the Blessed Virgin washed the Child on her arrival in Egypt.
[167] Or "mishaps." This seems to have been a sort of Te Deum.
[168] The Benben was a pyramidal stone, sacred to Ra or representing him. It was shaped like the top of an obelisk.
[169] The boats in which the Sun god traversed the heavens during forenoon and afternoon respectively.
[170] I. e., the King.
[171] Or "very early."
[172] Athribis.
[173] The land was divided among kings, nomarchs, and, apparently, Libyan chiefs entitled to wear a feather. The kings had their viziers; the nomarchs and chiefs had their subordinate chiefs, etc. "Royal acquaintances" were persons related to the royal families.
[174] I. e. the linen was of various degrees of fineness, or as we also say technically, of various "counts"; meaning that there are so many threads more or less in any given square of stuff.
[175] An oath.
[176] First we have two kings, six nomarchs and high Libyan chiefs; after these, two under-chiefs are mentioned, and then four nomarchs in the first and second nomes of Lower Egypt, which are separated as having belonged to Tafnekht's kingdom.
[177] Site unknown.
[178] Tafnekht was on an island in the Mediterranean, and therefore heard the news of the surrender of the Northern princes only after some time had elapsed.
[179] Nubti-Set, the god of valor. Mentu was the god of battle.
[180] "Kedt-weight," really 140 grains.
[181] Lit., "beer-room."
[182] Or "on the second day."
[183] As symbols of regal power.
[184] Perhaps this means ceremonially unclean.
[185] The first words are lost. The girdle was probably assumed at about the age of twelve.
[186] As a rule, each king seems to have built his pyramid in the desert behind his principal residence. The latter was often founded by the king, but might serve for some of his successors, who would then build their pyramids near his. The pyramid field of Memphis is very ancient, and many of the earlier kings must have resided there; but curiously enough the name Mennefer, Memphis, is taken from that of the pyramid of Pepy I., here referred to.
[187] Perhaps schools of law, etc.
[188] These quarries, at the modern Turra, have been the source of fine white limestone down to the present day. They were exactly opposite Memphis in the eastern hills.
[189] Probably this means the arrangement of a body-guard or performance of the ritual for the King's amuletic and religious protection.
[190] "The Asiatics who dwell upon the sand" i. e., Bedawin.
[191] Elephantine.
[192] The Eastern and Western borders of Lower Egypt.
[193] These names probably mean "the halting-station for the night," and "the bedchamber of halting-station for the night"; evidently garrisoned posts on the main desert routes.
[194] Arertet, Meza, Aam, Wawat, Kaau, were all in Nubia, and at no great distance from Egypt. The Meza were afterwards regularly drawn upon for soldiers and police. The Kaau are more generally called Setu.
[195] I. e., the land of the Libyans.
[196] "Horus Lord of Truth" was the Ka name of King Sneferu [the first king of the IVth Dynasty, not much less than 4000 B.C.]. Probably this expedition went toward the Sinaitic peninsula.
[197] Sea-coast, perhaps of the Red Sea.
[198] Lit. "made the officership making the standard."
[199] Or "for the mistress of the pyramid"; i. e., for the queen buried in her husband's pyramid.
[200] Elephantine.
[201] The month Epiphi.
[202] The Nile being low.
[203] Apparently the passage of the Nile was blocked for boats at five different places about the first cataract, and Una had cleared the channel at his own expense as a free service to the King.
[204] "Loose," i. e., take the bird out of the snare to carry home to her mother.
[205] Kha-kau-ra, "Glory of the Kas of the Sun," was the principal name that Usertesen III., following the custom of the Pharaohs, adopted on his accession to the throne. "Horus, Divine of Beings," was the separate name for his royal Ka assumed at the same time. The Ka of a person was his ghostly Double, before and after death, and to the Egyptian this shadowy constituent of the whole being had a very distinct existence.
[206] I. e., Upper and Lower Egypt.
[207] To the Egyptian the world was inhabited by nine races of men.
[208] Sekhemt, a goddess represented with the head of a lioness, the embodiment of the devastating power of the Sun and of the wrath of Ra. See p. 5240.
[209] "Pat" seems to be a name for mankind, or perhaps for the inhabitants of Egypt.
[210] We speak of the "head" as the seat of the intellect; to the Egyptians it was the "heart."
[211] Ancestor worship being universal in Egypt, the endowments for funerary services and offerings for the deceased kings must have been very large.
[212] The "Double Crown" was that of Upper and Lower Egypt.
[213] The Reed and the Hornet were the symbols of Upper and Lower Egypt respectively.
[214] The "Black Land" is the alluvial of Egypt, the "Red Land" is its sandy border.
[215] "Rekhyt," like "Pat," seems to be a designation of the Egyptians. To "open the throat" of a man is to give him life by enabling him to breathe.
[216] A "good burial" after a "long old age" was a characteristic wish of the Egyptians.
[217] The Aten is the name of the visible sun rather than of an abstract Sun god. It is pictured as a radiant disk, the rays terminating in human hands, often resting beneficently on the figure of the worshiper, bestowing upon him symbols of life, or graciously accepting his offerings.
[218] See note, p. 5303. The word occurs in these translations often, but not with any very definite meaning.
[219] The Nile here stands for the main sources of water: that in heaven giving rain on the mountains and fields, that in the "deep" or "underworld" giving rise to springs, wells, and rivers.
[220] "Fairest of the Forms of Ra, the Only One of Ra," is the title which Akhenaten took when first he ascended the throne, and which he continued to bear all through his reign, notwithstanding his reform.
[221] Amen was god of Thebes; and under the XVIIIth Dynasty, when Thebes was the capital of the whole country and Egypt was at the height of her power, Amen took the first place in the national pantheon. He was then identified with Ra the Sun god, perhaps to make him more acceptable to the nation at large. Hence a hymn to Amen Ra was practically a hymn to the supreme Sun god.
[222] Compare the seven-line stanza in the inscription of Una, above, p. 5298.
[223] Mezau and Punt were on and about the east coast of Africa, in Nubia and Somaliland.
[224] The supreme god was surrounded by eight other gods, and together they formed an Ennead, or group of nine.
[225] Ptah was the great god of Memphis, the ancient capital of the country.
[226] Or the "Land of the Gods," a name for the lands of the East, and especially for "Punt."
[227] I. e., the kings, who were always reckoned divine, and as ruling by divine right.
[228] I. e., "make holiday."
[229] Title of a priest of Amen.
[230] God of the setting sun.
[231] An expression of utter bewilderment; lit., "I know not the estate which is upon me."
[232] To these thinkers, thirst (since the presence of water would induce putrefaction of the body) and suffocation were the chief material sufferings of the dead.
[233] From this curious expression it is evident that the Egyptians considered it necessary that a deity should be visibly represented by statue or animal, in order that he should receive the offerings presented to him. They never personified a god of Death, only a god of the Dead.
[234] The sunshine may be taken for granted in Egypt.
[235] Our "on the verge of intoxication" is an almost identical expression, but without a poetical significance.
[236] A slight correction of the original would give "in captivity" (kidnapped).
[237] The advantages of the life beyond seem to consist in being like gods and in full communion with the greatest of them, Ra.
[238] This closing speech of the soul is barely intelligible.
[239] Or perhaps "my kindred."
[240] Or what is "unprofitable" or "treason."
[241] This and the two following asseverations seem rather to read: "I have not caught animals by a bait of their herbage." "I have not trapped birds by a bait of 'gods' bones.'" "I have not caught fish by a bait of fishes' bodies."
[242] Lit., "in its moment."
[243] I. e., "I am not hot of speech."
[244] Compare the story of Sanehat (above, p. 5237 seq.) for an indication of the place which Amenemhat retained for himself in the government of the kingdom during the joint rule. "He [Usertesen] curbs the nations while his father remains in his palace, and he [Usertesen] accomplisheth for him what is commanded him."
[245] Compare 2 Timothy ii. 15.
[246] "To exist" often means to have a solid position.
[247] A proverbial word for nullity, worthlessness.
[248] Egypt, the lassoed ox, helpless in the hands of its oppressors, is now free, but fails to appreciate its good fortune.
[249] Perhaps this means that Amenemhat lay still but ready to rise instantly and fight.
[250] "Me voilà!"—after drawing the picture of his helpless state, surprised alone in the night.
[251] "I. e., "be thy counselor."
[252] A difficult passage.
[253] Meaning doubtful.
[254] I. e., upon others in consequence of me.
[255] Elephantine and Natho are often named as the extreme north and south points of Egypt; compare the Biblical "from Dan even unto Beersheba."
[256] Or perhaps "its centre."
[257] I. e., "surpassed the record," or perhaps "reached the boundaries."
[258] The kings of the XIIth dynasty paid much attention to agriculture and irrigation. Barley was the representative cereal, Nepra was the Corn goddess. In the following clause the Nile is represented as a prisoner in the King's power: or possibly as begging him "for every hollow" to enter and inundate it.
[259] I. e., "obedient to his commands," a common figure. The Wawat and Mezay were in Nubia, the Setiu in the Northeast to Syria.
[260] The rendering of this section is very doubtful.
[261] Or, "and the seal to its proper place, even as the acclamations in the bark of Ra ordain for thee." Ra the Sun god was the royal god essentially, and his approval was doubtless required to establish a claim to the throne. He was believed to travel through the sky in a boat.
[262] I. e., "Tell us thy name, thou who dost not answer when spoken to," or "Let thy name be henceforth 'Mum-when-spoken-to.'"
[263] I. e., the proverbs; but possibly this expression may mean "on his death-bed."
[264] I. e., obey them strictly.
[265] I. e., they were pleasing to them.
[266] Arrived at his destination; i. e., died.
[267] =Our "Finis."
[268] From the last paragraph of the book, we learn that he had reached the Egyptian limit of long life, viz., 110 years: the figure is doubtless to be taken in a general sense.
[269] I. e., the speaker or writer.
[270] The word for successor seems to read, "staff of old age"; but this is not quite certain. Very likely the son would take over the active work of the viziership, while his father gave him counsel: this was frequently done in the sovereignty.
[271] Or those who are listened to.
[272] I. e., that the ancient rules may be observed by the present generation of the King's subjects. The first kings of Egypt were supposed to have been the gods.
[273] This high title occurs also in the Inscription of Una, and frequently in the Piankhy Stela, where it has been translated "nomarch."
[274] "The god" is probably here the King. The curious title "father of the god" is well known; it would seem to represent a person who stood ceremonially in the relation of father to a god or person. Thus in later times we have "fathers" of the god Amen, etc. But at this period "the god" seems to have meant the King, and the "father of the god" may have been the guardian or tutor of the King. Some may even see in it the expression of an actual paternal relationship, as the principles of the succession to the Egyptian throne are not understood.
[275] Rather, green feldspar, which was largely used as an ornament.
[276] Perhaps a professional orator, sophist, or the like.
[277] I. e., when he is at his occupation; in the heat of argument.
[278] Perhaps "bold of heart."
[279] Or, "it shall not hurt thee."
[280] This is very uncertain. Its morality hardly accords with that of the rest of the book. Perhaps the youth is recommended to wait, even when he is called ignorant, until his heart has obtained full command of his knowledge and can successfully employ it in his argument.
[281] As we speak of "the education of a gentleman."
[282] Flatter (?).
[283] A frequent phrase, but the meaning of it is obscure.
[284] I. e., "in a gentlemanly manner"; but the last half of this section is obscure.
[285] A remarkable word used here in regard to the contest between justice and injustice; in the next phrase there is a reference to the myth of Osiris and Set, in which good, in the persons of Osiris and Horus, survives evil in the person of Set.
[286] This seems to refer to the profession of brigand and pillager.
[287] By God's favor.
[288] Perhaps a gesture expressing humble acquiescence.
[289] Lit., Ka in Egyptian.
[290] As uncertain as groping in the dark.
[291] Be not sure of the childless man's estate. He can take a second wife and disappoint you.
[292] The time appointed to it for its own activity, or as we should say, its "day."
[293] Room is made for him.
[294] Lit., belly.
[295] Salary in kind.
[296] The second text gives "Let thy face [be shining] when thou makest a feast. Verily that which cometh out of the store doth not enter [?], but bread is apportioned; he that is niggardly of face is remorseful; [?] his belly is empty. He that remembereth a man is kind unto him in the years after the staff [of power?]." The last expression may mean "after the loss of authority."
[297] Variant "beseech." The meaning of the section is not certain.
[298] To be in an ambiguous position. (?)
[299] Or "then all thy ways shall have the lead."
[300] Ba, in Egyptian: the person who has learned good conduct (the ignorant cannot) pours benediction upon the soul of him who set the example of it, when he finds himself profited on earth by the practice thereof.
[301] The word presupposes education, as often.
[302] A frequent collocation of words; as for instance, following the mention of a royal person.
[303] Amakh. See note to Section 41.
[304] The words "a son" seem inserted.
[305] Or "is fit only for hard manual labor."
[306] I. e., one of the loyal adherents of Horus the son of Osiris in his war against the evil Set.
[307] The blessed state of well-earned repose and rewards, both in this world and in the next, after faithful service.
[308] This is the reading furnished by the fragments in the British Museum for an unintelligible passage in the Prisse.
[309] "Them" is difficult to assign to any antecedent definitely; perhaps "without their advice how to behave and employ the wealth" is meant.
[310] Or "those who are listened to," "instructors."
[311] This was the ideal length of life in Egypt. The figure must not be taken too literally.
[312] See note to Section 41, previous page.
[313] That is, for the government.
[314] Lit., doorkeepers—i. e., of the official cabin.