The Literature of the Ancient EgyptiansBudge, E. A. Wallis (Ernest Alfred Wallis), Sir
History
The Literature of the Ancient Egyptians
Budge, E. A. Wallis (Ernest Alfred Wallis), Sir
Egyptian literature -- History and criticism; Egyptian literature -- Translations into English
And I said unto him, "What a shameful thing [to say]! It is not a
beggarly journey whereon I have been despatched by those among whom I
live. And besides, assuredly there is not a single boat that floateth
that doth not belong to Amen. To him belong the sea and the cedars of
Lebanon, concerning which thou sayest, 'They are my property.' In
Lebanon groweth [the wood] for the Boat Amen-userhat, the lord of boats.
Amen-Rā, the King of the Gods, spake and told Her-Heru, my lord, to send
me forth; and therefore he caused me to set out on my journey together
with this great god.[1] Now behold, thou hast caused this great god to
pass nine and twenty days here in a boat that is lying at anchor in thy
harbour, for most assuredly thou didst know that he was resting here.
Amen is now what he hath always been, and yet thou wouldst dare to stand
up and haggle about the [cedars of] Lebanon with the god who is their
lord! And as concerning what thou hast spoken, saying, 'The kings of
Egypt in former times caused silver and gold to be brought [to my father
and father's father, thou art mistaken].' Since they had bestowed upon
them life and health, they would never have caused gold and silver to be
brought to them; but they might have caused gold and silver to be
brought to thy fathers instead of life and health. And Amen-Rā, the King
of the Gods, is the Lord of life and health. He was the god of thy
fathers, and they served him all their lives, and made offerings unto
him, and indeed thou thyself art a servant of Amen. If now thou wilt say
unto Amen, 'I will perform thy commands, I will perform thy commands,'
and wilt bring this business to a prosperous ending, thou shalt live,
thou shalt be strong, thou shalt be healthy, and thou shalt rule thy
country to its uttermost limits wisely and well, and thou shalt do good
to thy people. But take good heed that thou lovest not the possessions
of Amen-Rā, the King of the Gods, for the lion loveth the things that
belong unto him. And now, I pray thee to allow my scribe to be summoned
to me, and I will send him to Nessubanebtet and Thent-Amen, the local
governors whom Amen hath appointed to rule the northern portion of his
land, and they will send to me everything which I shall tell them to
send to me, saying, 'Let such and such a thing be brought,' until such
time as I can make the journey to the South (_i.e._ to Egypt), when I
will have thy miserable dross brought to thee, even to the uttermost
portion thereof, in very truth." That was what I said unto him.
[Footnote 1: _i.e._ the figure of Amen already referred to.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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