Egyptian Literature: Comprising Egyptian tales, hymns, litanies, invocations, the Book of the Dead, and cuneiform writings
Religion
Egyptian Literature: Comprising Egyptian tales, hymns, litanies, invocations, the Book of the Dead, and cuneiform writings
Egyptian literature -- Translations into English
“Then I bowed, in my obeisance, and I touched the ground before him.
‘Behold now that which I have told thee before. I shall tell of thy
presence unto Pharaoh, I shall make him to know of thy greatness, and I
will bring to thee of the sacred oils and perfumes, and of incense of the
temples with which all gods are honored. I shall tell, moreover, of that
which I do now see (thanks to him), and there shall be rendered to thee
praises before the fulness of all the land. I shall slay asses for thee in
sacrifice, I shall pluck for thee the birds, and I shall bring for thee
ships full of all kinds of the treasures of Egypt, as is comely to do unto
a god, a friend of men in a far country, of which men know not.’
“Then he smiled at my speech, because of that which was in his heart, for
he said to me: ‘Thou art not rich in perfumes, for all that thou hast is
but common incense. As for me I am Prince of the land of Punt, and I have
perfumes. Only the oil which thou sayest thou wouldst bring is not common
in this isle. But, when thou shalt depart from this place, thou shalt
never more see this isle; it shall be changed into waves.’
“And, behold, when the ship drew near, according to all that he had told
me before, I got me up into an high tree, to strive to see those who were
within it. Then I came and told to him this matter; but it was already
known unto him before. Then he said to me: ‘Farewell, farewell; go to thy
house, little one, see again thy children, and let thy name be good in thy
town; these are my wishes for thee.’
“Then I bowed myself before him, and held my arms low before him, and he,
he gave me gifts of precious perfumes, of cassia, of sweet woods, of kohl,
of cypress, an abundance of incense, of ivory tusks, of baboons, of apes,
and all kinds of precious things. I embarked all in the ship which was
come, and, bowing myself, I prayed God for him.
“Then he said to me, ‘Behold thou shalt come to thy country in two months,
thou shalt press to thy bosom thy children, and thou shalt rest in thy
tomb.’ After this I went down to the shore unto the ship, and I called to
the sailors who were there. Then on the shore I rendered adoration to the
master of this isle and to those who dwelt therein.
“When we shall come, in our return, to the house of Pharaoh, in the second
month, according to all that the serpent has said, we shall approach unto
the palace. And I shall go in before Pharaoh, I shall bring the gifts
which I have brought from this isle into the country. Then he shall thank
me before the fulness of all the land. Grant them unto me a follower, and
lead me to the courtiers of the King. Cast thy eye upon me, after that I
am come to land again, after that I have both seen and proved this. Hear
my prayer, for it is good to listen to people. It was said unto me,
‘Become a wise man, and thou shalt come to honor,’ and behold I have
become such.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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