[The previous hymns are addressed to the Supreme Being, under the names of Amen, Horus, and Tum, all identical with the Sun. But for the old Egyptians the ruling Pharaoh of the day was the living image and vicegerent of the Sun, and they saw no profanity in addressing the King in terms precisely similar to those with which they worshipped their god. The following address or petition, which also is found in the “Anastasi Papyri,” is a remarkable instance of this:]
Hymn to Pharaoh[528]
1 “Long live the King![529]
2 This comes to inform the King
3 to the royal hall of the lover of truth,
4 the great heaven wherein the Sun is.
5 (Give) thy attention to me, thou Sun that risest
6 to enlighten the earth with this (his) goodness.
7 The solar orb of men chasing the darkness from Egypt.
8 Thou art as it were the image of thy father the Sun,