And as for the wonderful things, and all the products of all the countries, and the best of the wonderful products of Punt, which His Majesty presented to Amen, Lord of the Apts, for the life, strength, and health of His Majesty, and with which he filled the house of this holy god, for Amen had given him Egypt because he knew that he would rule it wisely (?), behold, it was I who registered them, because I was of strict integrity. My favour was permanent before [His Majesty], it never diminished, and he conferred more distinctions on me than on any other official about him, for he knew my integrity in respect of him. He knew that I carried out works, and that I covered my mouth (i.e. held my tongue) concerning the affairs of his palace. He made me the director of his palace, knowing that I was experienced in affairs. I held the seal of the Two Treasuries, and of the store of all the precious stones of every kind that were in the God-house of Amen in the Apts,[1] which were filled up to their roofs with the tribute paid to the god. Such a thing never happened before, even from the time of the primeval god. His Majesty commanded to be made a silver-gold ... for the Great Hall of the festivals. [The metal] was weighed by the heqet measure for Amen, before all the people, and it was estimated to contain 88½ heqet measures, which were equal to 8592½ teben.[2] It was offered to the god for the life, strength, and health of Maātkarā, the ever living. I received the sennu offerings which were made to Amen-Rā, Lord of the Apts; these things, all of them, took place in very truth, and I exaggerate not. I was vigilant, and my heart was perfect in respect of my lord, for I wish to rest in peace in the mountain of the spirit-bodies who are in the Other World (Khert-Neter). I wish my memory to be perpetuated on the earth. I wish my soul to live before the Lord of Eternity. I wish that the doorkeepers of the gates of the Tuat (Other World) may not repulse my soul, and that it may come forth at the call of him that shall lay offerings in my tomb, that it may have bread in abundance and ale in full measure, and that it may drink of the water from the source of the river. I would go in and come out like the Spirits who do what the gods wish, that my name may be held in good repute by the people who shall come in after years, and that they may praise me at the two seasons (morning and evening) when they praise the god of my city.
[1] The temples of Karnak and Luxor.
[2] The teben = 90.959 grammes.
The Autobiography of Thaiemhetep, the Daughter of Herānkh
This remarkable inscription is found on a stele which is preserved in the British Museum (No. 1027), and which was made in the ninth year of King Ptolemy Philopator Philadelphus (71 B.C.). The text opens with a prayer to all the great gods of Memphis for funerary offerings, and after a brief address to her husband's colleagues, Thaiemhetep describes in detail the principal incidents of her life, and gives the dates of her birth, death, &c., which are rarely found on the funerary stelæ of the older period. Thaiemhetep was an important member of the semi-royal, great high-priestly family of Memphis, and her funerary inscription throws much light on the theology of the Ptolemaic Period.
1. Suten-ta-hetep,[1] may Seker-Osiris, at the head of the House of the Ka of Seker, the great god in Rāqet; and Hap-Asar (Serapis), at the head of Amentet, the king of the gods, King of Eternity and Governor of everlastingness; and Isis, the great Lady, the mother of the god, the eye of Rā, the Lady of heaven, the mistress of all the gods; and Nephthys, the divine sister of Horus, the 2. avenger of his father, the great god in Rāqetit; and Anubis, who is on his hill, the dweller in the chamber of embalmment, at the head of the divine hall; and all the gods and goddesses who dwell in the mountain of Amentet the beautiful of Hetkaptah (Memphis), give the offerings that come forth at the word, beer, and bread, and oxen, and geese, and incense, and unguents, and suits of apparel, and good things of all kinds upon their altars, to the Ka of 3. the Osiris, the great princess, the one who is adorned, the woman who is in the highest favour, the possessor of pleasantness, beautiful of body, sweet of love in the mouth of every man, who is greatly
