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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

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 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:
    to all fair cattle:
    Hail to thee Amen-Rā, Lord of the thrones of the earth:
    Chief in Aptu:(545)
    the Bull of his mother in his field:
    turning his feet toward the land of the South:
    Lord of the heathen, Prince of Punt:(546)
    the Ancient of heaven, the Oldest of the earth:
    Lord of all existences, the Support of things, the Support of all
                things.

    2 The ONE in his works, _single_ among the gods:
    the beautiful Bull of the cycle of gods:
    Chief of all the gods:
    Lord of truth, Father of the gods:
    Maker of men, Creator of beasts:
    Lord of existences, Creator of fruitful trees:
    Maker of herbs, Feeder of cattle:
    Good Being begotten of Ptah, beautiful youth beloved:
    to whom the gods give honor:
    Maker of things below and above, Enlightener of the earth:
    sailing in heaven in tranquillity:
    King Rā true speaker, Chief of the earth:
    Most glorious one, Lord of terror:
    Chief creator of the whole earth.

    3 Supporter of affairs above every god:
    in whose goodness the gods rejoice:
    to whom adoration is paid in the great house:
    crowned in the house of flame:
    whose fragrance the gods love:
    when he comes from Arabia:
    Prince of the dew, traversing foreign lands:
    benignly approaching the Holy Land.(547)

    4 The gods attend his feet:
    while they acknowledge his Majesty as their Lord:
    Lord of terror most awful:
    greatest of spirits, mighty in ...:
    bring offerings, make sacrifices:
    salutation to thee, Maker of the gods:
    Supporter of the heavens, Founder of the earth.

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

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 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:
    to all fair cattle:
    Hail to thee Amen-Rā, Lord of the thrones of the earth:
    Chief in Aptu:(545)
    the Bull of his mother in his field:
    turning his feet toward the land of the South:
    Lord of the heathen, Prince of Punt:(546)
    the Ancient of heaven, the Oldest of the earth:
    Lord of all existences, the Support of things, the Support of all
                things.

    2 The ONE in his works, _single_ among the gods:
    the beautiful Bull of the cycle of gods:
    Chief of all the gods:
    Lord of truth, Father of the gods:
    Maker of men, Creator of beasts:
    Lord of existences, Creator of fruitful trees:
    Maker of herbs, Feeder of cattle:
    Good Being begotten of Ptah, beautiful youth beloved:
    to whom the gods give honor:
    Maker of things below and above, Enlightener of the earth:
    sailing in heaven in tranquillity:
    King Rā true speaker, Chief of the earth:
    Most glorious one, Lord of terror:
    Chief creator of the whole earth.

    3 Supporter of affairs above every god:
    in whose goodness the gods rejoice:
    to whom adoration is paid in the great house:
    crowned in the house of flame:
    whose fragrance the gods love:
    when he comes from Arabia:
    Prince of the dew, traversing foreign lands:
    benignly approaching the Holy Land.(547)

    4 The gods attend his feet:
    while they acknowledge his Majesty as their Lord:
    Lord of terror most awful:
    greatest of spirits, mighty in ...:
    bring offerings, make sacrifices:
    salutation to thee, Maker of the gods:
    Supporter of the heavens, Founder of the earth.

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

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