Opening the text

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

The name of the author Enna is well known. He wrote the “Romance of the
Two Brothers” and other works preserved in the “Select Papyri,” and
partially translated by Mr. Goodwin, in “Cambridge Essays,” 1858, p. 257,
and M. G. Maspero, in “_Genre épistolaire chez les anciens Egyptiens_,”
Paris, 1872.

A translation of this hymn was published by Maspero (“_Hymne au Nil_”), in
1868, with an introduction and critical notes of great value.

The attention of the reader is specially called to the metrical structure
of this poem. The stanzas, containing upon an average ten couplets, are
distinctly marked in the original, the first word in each being written in
red letters; hence the origin of rubricated MSS. Each clause also has a
red point at the close. The resemblance with the earliest Hebrew poems has
been pointed out by the translator in the “Introduction to the Book of
Psalms,” and in the “Notes on Exodus,” in the “Speaker’s Commentary on the
Bible.”


    HYMN TO THE NILE

    I. _Strophe_
    _Adoration of the Nile_

    1 Hail to thee O Nile!
    2 Thou showest thyself in this land,
    3 Coming in peace, giving life to Egypt:
    4 O Ammon, (thou) leadest night unto day,(472)
    5 A leading that rejoices the heart!
    6 Overflowing the gardens created by Rā.(473)
    7 Giving life to all animals;
    8 Watering the land without ceasing:
    9 The way of heaven descending:(474)
    10 Lover of _food_, bestower of corn,
    11 Giving light to every home, O Ptah!

    II.

    1 Lord of fishes, when the inundation returns
    2 No fowls fall on the cultures.(475)
    3 Maker of spelt; creator of wheat:
    4 who maintaineth the temples!
    5 Idle hands he loathes(476)
    6 For myriads, for all the wretched.
    7 If the gods in heaven are grieved,(477)
    8 Then sorrow cometh on men.

    III.

    1 He maketh the whole land open to the oxen,(478)
    2 And the great and the small are rejoicing;
    3 The response of men at his coming!(479)
    4 His likeness is Num!(480)
    5 He shineth, then the land exulteth!
    6 All bellies are in joy!
    7 Every creature receives nourishment!
    8 All teeth get food.

    IV.

    1 Bringer of food! Great lord of provisions!
    2 Creator of all good things!
    3 Lord of terrors(481) and of choicest joys!
    4 All are combined in him.
    5 He produceth grass for the oxen;
    6 Providing victims for every god.
    7 The choice incense is that which he supplies.
    8 Lord in both regions,
    9 He filleth the granaries, enricheth the storehouses,
    10 He careth for the state of the poor.

    V.

    1 He causeth growth to fulfil all desires,
    2 He never wearies of it.
    3 He maketh his might a buckler.(482)
    4 He is not graven in marble,(483)
    5 As an image bearing the double crown.
    6 He is not beheld:
    7 He hath neither ministrants nor offerings:
    8 He is not adored in sanctuaries:
    9 His abode is not known:
    10 No shrine is found with painted figures.(484)

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

Opening the text

Religion

Egyptian Literature: Comprising Egyptian tales, hymns, litanies, invocations, the Book of the Dead, and cuneiform writings

Egyptian literature -- Translations into English

The name of the author Enna is well known. He wrote the “Romance of the
Two Brothers” and other works preserved in the “Select Papyri,” and
partially translated by Mr. Goodwin, in “Cambridge Essays,” 1858, p. 257,
and M. G. Maspero, in “_Genre épistolaire chez les anciens Egyptiens_,”
Paris, 1872.

A translation of this hymn was published by Maspero (“_Hymne au Nil_”), in
1868, with an introduction and critical notes of great value.

The attention of the reader is specially called to the metrical structure
of this poem. The stanzas, containing upon an average ten couplets, are
distinctly marked in the original, the first word in each being written in
red letters; hence the origin of rubricated MSS. Each clause also has a
red point at the close. The resemblance with the earliest Hebrew poems has
been pointed out by the translator in the “Introduction to the Book of
Psalms,” and in the “Notes on Exodus,” in the “Speaker’s Commentary on the
Bible.”


    HYMN TO THE NILE

    I. _Strophe_
    _Adoration of the Nile_

    1 Hail to thee O Nile!
    2 Thou showest thyself in this land,
    3 Coming in peace, giving life to Egypt:
    4 O Ammon, (thou) leadest night unto day,(472)
    5 A leading that rejoices the heart!
    6 Overflowing the gardens created by Rā.(473)
    7 Giving life to all animals;
    8 Watering the land without ceasing:
    9 The way of heaven descending:(474)
    10 Lover of _food_, bestower of corn,
    11 Giving light to every home, O Ptah!

    II.

    1 Lord of fishes, when the inundation returns
    2 No fowls fall on the cultures.(475)
    3 Maker of spelt; creator of wheat:
    4 who maintaineth the temples!
    5 Idle hands he loathes(476)
    6 For myriads, for all the wretched.
    7 If the gods in heaven are grieved,(477)
    8 Then sorrow cometh on men.

    III.

    1 He maketh the whole land open to the oxen,(478)
    2 And the great and the small are rejoicing;
    3 The response of men at his coming!(479)
    4 His likeness is Num!(480)
    5 He shineth, then the land exulteth!
    6 All bellies are in joy!
    7 Every creature receives nourishment!
    8 All teeth get food.

    IV.

    1 Bringer of food! Great lord of provisions!
    2 Creator of all good things!
    3 Lord of terrors(481) and of choicest joys!
    4 All are combined in him.
    5 He produceth grass for the oxen;
    6 Providing victims for every god.
    7 The choice incense is that which he supplies.
    8 Lord in both regions,
    9 He filleth the granaries, enricheth the storehouses,
    10 He careth for the state of the poor.

    V.

    1 He causeth growth to fulfil all desires,
    2 He never wearies of it.
    3 He maketh his might a buckler.(482)
    4 He is not graven in marble,(483)
    5 As an image bearing the double crown.
    6 He is not beheld:
    7 He hath neither ministrants nor offerings:
    8 He is not adored in sanctuaries:
    9 His abode is not known:
    10 No shrine is found with painted figures.(484)

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

Egyptian Literature: Comprising Egyptian tales, hymns, litanies, invocations, the Book of the Dead, and cuneiform writings

Egyptian Literature: Comprising Egyptian tales, hymns, litanies, invocations, the Book of the Dead, and cuneiform writings

No reviews yet