Translated by C. W. Goodwin, M.A.
This hymn is inscribed upon a hieratic papyrus, No. 17, in the collection of papyri at the Museum of Boulaq. A fac-simile of the papyrus has been published by M. Marriette (“Les papyrus Egyptiens du Musée de Boulaq,” fo. Paris 1272, pls. 11-13). It is not a very long composition, being contained in eleven pages of moderate size, and consisting of only twenty verses. It has the advantage of being nearly perfect from beginning to end, written in a legible hand, and free from any great difficulties for the translator.
From the handwriting of the papyrus it may be judged to belong to the nineteenth dynasty, or about the fourteenth century b.c. It purports to be only a copy, and the composition itself may be very much earlier.
In the original the beginning of each verse is indicated by rubricated letters; each verse is also divided into short phrases [pg 350] by small red points; these are indicated in the translation by colons.
This translation has just been published with exegetical notes in the “Transactions of the Society of Biblical Archæology,” vol. ii, p. 250.
Hymn to Amen-Ra
1 Praise to Amen-Rā:
the Bull in An[544] Chief of all gods:
the good god beloved:
giving life to all animated things: