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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/7386-h.zip b/7386-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..3211fab --- /dev/null +++ b/7386-h.zip diff --git a/7386-h/7386-h.htm b/7386-h/7386-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..194a358 --- /dev/null +++ b/7386-h/7386-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,3771 @@ +<?xml version="1.0" encoding="us-ascii"?> + +<!DOCTYPE html + PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd" > + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> + <head> + <title> + EGYPTIAN TALES, First Series + </title> + <style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve"> + + body { margin:5%; text-align:justify} + P { text-indent: 1em; margin-top: .25em; margin-bottom: .25em; } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; } + hr { width: 50%; text-align: center;} + .foot { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; text-indent: -3em; font-size: 90%; } + blockquote {font-size: 97%; font-style: italic; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + .mynote {background-color: #DDE; color: #000; padding: .5em; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 95%;} + .toc { margin-left: 10%; margin-bottom: .75em;} + .toc2 { margin-left: 20%;} + div.fig { display:block; margin:0 auto; text-align:center; } + .figleft {float: left; margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 1%;} + .figright {float: right; margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 1%;} + .pagenum {display:inline; font-size: 70%; font-style:normal; + margin: 0; padding: 0; position: absolute; right: 1%; + text-align: right;} + pre { font-style: italic; font-size: 90%; margin-left: 10%;} + +</style> + </head> + <body> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Egyptian Tales, First Series, IVth To XIIth +Dynasty, by W. M. Flinders Petrie + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Egyptian Tales, First Series, IVth To XIIth Dynasty + Translated From The Papyri, Second Edition + +Author: W. M. Flinders Petrie + +Editor: W. M. Flinders Petrie + +Illustrator: Tristram Ellis + +Release Date: January, 2005 [EBook #7386] +Last Updated: May 20, 2016 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK EGYPTIAN TALES *** + + + + +Produced by Eric Eldred and David Widger + + + + + +</pre> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h1> + EGYPTIAN TALES, <br /><br /> IVth TO XIIth DYNASTY, FIRST SERIES, <br /> + SECOND EDITION + </h1> + <h2> + TRANSLATED FROM THE PAPYRI + </h2> + <h2> + EDITED BY W. M. FLINDERS PETRIE, D.C.L., LL.D.., PH.D., HON. F.S.A. + (SCOT.) + </h2> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h3> + ILLUSTRATED BY TRISTRAM ELLIS + </h3> + <h3> + LONDON, 1899 + </h3> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <div class="fig" style="width:50%"> + <img src="images/p1-2.jpg" alt="p1-2.jpg" width="100%" /><br /> + </div> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <blockquote> + <p> + PG Editor's Note: This early contribution to Project Gutenberg has been + reproofed with many corrections of spelling, scannos and punctuation. + The html file has received many hours of work to make the illustrations + visible and the file conform to WCA standards. A great deal more work is + needed to bring this file to prsent day PG standards. I have hopes + another volunteer will find a print copy of this work which can be + scanned and digitized to produce a file to replace this, as yet, + unsatisfactory edition. DW + </p> + </blockquote> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font17">CONTENTS</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font4">PAGE ...1</span> <span class="font13 c3">INTRODUCTION</span></p> + <p> + <span class="font13 c3">TALES OF THE MAGICIANS</span> <span + class="font13 c3">KHAFRA'S TALE ...10</span> + </p> + <p> + BAUFRA'S TALE ...16 + </p> + <p> + HORDEDEF'S TALE ...22 + </p> + <p> + REMARKS ...46 + </p> + <p> + <span class="font13 c3">THE PEASANT AND THE WORKMAN ...61</span> + </p> + <p> + REMARKS ...75 + </p> + <p> + <span class="font13 c3">THE SHIPWRECKED SAILOR ...81</span> + </p> + <p> + REMARKS ...93 + </p> + <p> + <span class="font13 c3">THE ADVENTURES OF SANEHAT ...97</span> + </p> + <p> + REMARKS ...127 + </p> + <p> + <span class="font13 c3">INDEX ...143</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font16">LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font4">PAGE</span> <span class="font11 c4"><i>Frontispiece</i> + THE STEWARD AND THE WAX CROCODILE...13</span> + </p> + <p> + ZAZAMANKH FINDING THE JEWEL...19 + </p> + <p> + HORDEDEF LEADING DEDI TO THE SHIP...23 + </p> + <p> + DEDI ENCHANTING THE DUCK ...29 + </p> + <p> + THE GODDESSES AND KHNUMU COMING TO RA-USER ...35 + </p> + <p> + THE GODDESSES HIDING THE CROWNS ...39 + </p> + <p> + THE HANDMAID LISTENING TO THE FESTIVITY ...43 + </p> + <p> + IN THE SEKHET HEMAT ....6l + </p> + <p> + THE TRESPASS ....63 + </p> + <p> + THE BEATING OF THE SEKHTI ...71 + </p> + <p> + GOING TO WAWAT ...81 + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14">viii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font6 c5">PAGE: THE INQUIRY ...85</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font8 c6">BRETHREN AND CHILDREN ...88</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font8 c6">THE FAREWELL &bull; ...91</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font8 c6">THE FLIGHT ...99</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font8 c6">THE CROSSING ...100</span> + </p> + <p> + THE RESCUE ...101 + </p> + <p> + <span class="font8 c6">SANEHAT MEETING THE TENU ...106</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font8 c6">THE COMBAT ...109</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font8 c6">EGYPTIAN MESSENGERS ARRIVING &bull; ...113</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font8 c6">THE SONG OF THE PRINCESSES ...123</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font8 c6">THE SHAVING OF SANEHAT ...126</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h2> + INTRODUCTION + </h2> + <p> + <span class="font14 c7">IT is strange that while literature occupies so + much attention as at present, and while fiction is the largest division of + our book-work, the oldest literature and fiction of the world should yet + have remained unpresented to English readers. The tales of ancient Egypt + have appeared collectively only in French, in the charming volume of + Maspero's "Contes Populaires" ; while some have been translated into + English at scattered times in volumes of the "Records of the Past." But + research moves forward ; and translations that were excellent twenty years + ago may now be largely improved, as we attain more insight into the + language.</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font15">2 INTRODUCTION</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c7">For another reason also there is a wide ground for + the present volume. In no case have any illustrations been attempted, to + give that basis for imagination which is all the more needed when reading + of an age and a land unfamiliar to our ideas. When following a narrative, + whether of real events or of fiction, many persons—perhaps most—find + themselves unconsciously framing in their minds the scenery and the beings + of which they are reading. To give a correct picture of the character of + each of the various ages to which these tales belong, has been the aim of + the present illustrations. A definite period has been assigned to each + tale, in accordance with the indications, or the history, involved in it; + and, so far as our present knowledge goes, all the details of life in the + scenes here illustrated are rendered in accord with the period of the + story.</span> <span class="font14 c7">To some purely scholastic minds it + may seem presumptuous to intermingle translations of notable documents + with fanciful</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14">INTRODUCTION 3</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c7">illustrations. But, considering the greater + precision with which in recent years we have been able to learn the + changes and the fashions of ancient life in Egypt, and the essentially + unhistorical nature of most of these tales, there seems ample reason to + provide such material for the reader's imagination in following the + stories; it may-give them more life and reality, and may emphasise the + differences which existed between the different periods to which these + tales refer.</span> <span class="font14 c7">It will be noticed how the + growth of the novel is shadowed out in the varied grounds and treatment of + the tales. The earliest is purely a collection of marvels or fabulous + incidents of the simplest kind. Then we advance to contrasts between town + and country, between Egypt and foreign lands. Then personal adventure, and + the interest in schemes and successes, becomes the staple material; while + only in the later periods does character come in as the groundwork. The</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14">4 INTRODUCTION</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c7">same may be seen in English literature—first + the tales of wonders and strange lands, then the novel of adventure, and + lastly the novel of character.</span> <span class="font14 c7">In + translating these documents into English I have freely used the various + translations already published in other languages; but in all cases more + or less revision and retranslation from the original has been made. In + this matter I am indebted to Mr. F. LI. Griffith, who has in some cases—as + in Anpu and Bata—almost entirely retranslated the original papyrus. + The material followed in each instance will be found stated in the notes + accompanying the tales. As to the actual phraseology, I am alone + responsible for that. How far original idiom should be retained in any + translation is always a debated question, and must entirely depend on the + object in view. Here the purpose of rendering the work intelligible to + ordinary readers required the modifying of some idioms and the + paraphrasing of others. But so far</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14">INTRODUCTION 5</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c7">as possible the style and tone of the original has + been preserved, and whatever could be easily followed has been left to + speak for itself. In many plainnesses of speech the old Egyptian resembled + the modern Oriental, or our own forefathers, more than ourselves in this + age of squeamishness as yet unparalleled in the world. To avoid offence a + few little modifications of words have been made; but rather than give a + false impression by tampering with any of the narrative, I have omitted + the sequel of the last tale and given only an outline of it. The diction + adopted has been the oldest that could be used without affectation when + dealing with the early times. It has been purposely modified in the later + tales; and in the last —which is of Ptolemaic authorship—a + modern style has been followed as more compatible with the later tone of + the narrative.</span> <span class="font14 c7">For the illustrations Mr. + Tristram Ellis's familiarity with Egypt has been of good</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14">6 INTRODUCTION</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c7">account in his life-like scenes here used. For + each drawing I have searched for the material among the monuments and + remains of the age in question. The details of the dresses, the + architecture, and the utensils, are all in accord with the period of each + tale. In the tale of Setnau two different styles are introduced. Ahura is + probably of the time of Amenhotep III., whereas Setnau is a son of Ramessu + II.; and the change of fashion between the two different dynasties has + been followed as distinctive of the two persons, one a <i>ka</i> or double + of the deceased, the other a living man. To the reader who starts with the + current idea that all Egyptians were alike, this continual change from one + period to another may seem almost fanciful. But it rests on such certain + authority that we may hope that this little volume may have its use as an + object-lesson in practical archaeology.</span> <span class="font14 c7">The + use and abuse of notes is a matter of dispute. To be constantly + interrupted in</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font13">INTRODUCTION 7</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font13 c7">reading by some needless and elementary + explanation is an impertinence both to the author and the reader: the one + cannot resent it, the other therefore resents it for both. But what is to + be deemed needless entirely depends on the reader: I have been asked in + what country Pompei is, as it is not in the English Gazetteer. Rather than + intrude, then, on the reader when he is in high discourse with the + ancients, I humbly set up my interpreter's booth next door; and if he + cares to call in, and ask about any difficulties, I shall be glad to help + him if I can. Not even numbers are intruded to refer to notes; for how + often an eager reader has been led off his trail, and turned blithely to + refer to 37 or 186 only to find, "See J. Z. xxxviii. 377,'' at which he + gnashed his teeth and cursed such interruptions. So those to whom the + original tales are obscure are humbly requested to try for some profit + from the remarks after them, that have been gleaned by the translator.</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14">8 INTRODUCTION</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c7">Much might be said by a "folk-lorist"—in + proportion to his ardour. But as there are folk-lorists and folk-lorists, + and the schools of Rabbi Andrew and Rabbi Joseph write different targums, + I have left each to make his own commentary without prejudice.</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font16">TALES OF THE MAGICIANS</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c7">ONE day, when King Khufu reigned over all the + land, he said to his chancellor, who stood before him, "Go call me my sons + and my councillors, that I may ask of them a thing." And his sons and his + councillors came and stood before him, and he said to them, "Know ye a man + who can tell me tales of the deeds of the magicians?"</span> <span + class="font14 c7">Then the royal son Khafra stood forth and said, "I will + tell thy majesty a tale of the days of thy forefather Nebka, the blessed; + of what came to pass when he went into the temple of Ptah of Ankhtaui."</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14">TALES OF THE MAGICIANS</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14">KHAFRA'S TALE</span> <span class="font14 c7">"His + majesty was walking unto the temple of Ptah, and went unto the house of + the chief reciter Uba-aner, with his train. Now when the wife of Uba-aner + saw a page, among those who stood behind the king, her heart longed after + him; and she sent her servant unto him, with a present of a box full of + garments.</span> <span class="font14 c7">"And he came then with the + servant. Now there was a lodge in the garden of Uba-aner; and one day the + page said to the wife of Uba-aner, 'In the garden of Uba-aner there is now + a lodge; behold, let us therein take our pleasure.' So the wife of + Uba-aner sent to the steward who had charge over the garden, saying, 'Let + the lodge which is in the garden be made ready.' And she remained there, + and rested and drank with the page until the sun went down.</span> <span + class="font14 c7">"And when the even was now come the</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14">KHAFRA'S TALE</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c7">page went forth to bathe. And the steward said, 'I + must go and tell Uba-aner of this matter.' Now when this day was past, and + another day came, then went the steward to Uba-aner, and told him of all + these things.</span> <span class="font14 c7">"Then said Uba-aner, 'Bring + me my casket of ebony and electrum.' And they brought it; and he fashioned + a crocodile of wax, seven fingers long: and he enchanted it, and said, + 'When the page comes and bathes in my lake, seize on him.' And he gave it + to the steward, and said to him, 'When the page shall go down into the + lake to bathe, as he is daily wont to do, then throw in this crocodile + behind him.' And the steward went forth bearing the crocodile.</span> + <span class="font14 c7">"And the wife of Uba-aner sent to the steward who + had charge over the garden, saying, 'Let the lodge which is in the garden + be made ready, for I come to tarry there.'</span> <span class="font14 c7">"And + the lodge was prepared with all good things; and she came and made merry + therein with the page. And when the even</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14">12 TALES OF THE MAGICIANS</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c7">was now come, the page went forth to bathe as he + was wont to do. And the steward cast in the wax crocodile after him into + the water; and, behold ! it became a great crocodile seven cubits in + length, and it seized on the page.</span> <span class="font14 c7">"And + Uba-aner abode yet seven days with the king of Upper and Lower Egypt, + Nebka, the blessed, while the page was stifled in the crocodile. And after + the seven days were passed, the king of Upper and Lower Egypt, Nebka, the + blessed, went forth, and Uba-aner went before him.</span> <span + class="font14 c7">"And Uba-aner said unto his majesty, 'Will your majesty + come and see this wonder that has come to pass in your days unto a page?' + And the king went with Uba-aner. And Uba-aner called unto the crocodile + and said, 'Bring forth the page.' And the crocodile came forth from the + lake with the page. Uba-aner said unto the king, 'Behold, whatever I + command this crocodile he will do it.' And his majesty said, 'I pray you + send back</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <div class="fig" style="width:50%"> + <img src="images/p1-2.jpg" alt="p1-2.jpg" width="100%" /><br /> + </div> + <p> + <span class="font5">THE STEWARD AND THE WAX CROCODILE</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14">KHAFRA'S TALE 15</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c7">this crocodile." And Uba-aner stooped and took up + the crocodile, and it became in his hand a crocodile of wax. And then + Uba-aner told the king that which had passed in his house with the page + and his wife. And his majesty said unto the crocodile, 'Take to thee thy + prey.' And the crocodile plunged into the lake with his prey, and no man + knew whither he went.</span> <span class="font14 c7">"And his majesty the + king of Upper and Lower Egypt, Nebka, the blessed, commanded, and they + brought forth the wife of Uba-aner to the north side of the harem, and + burnt her with fire, and cast her ashes in the river.</span> <span + class="font14 c7">"This is a wonder that came to pass in the days of thy + forefather the king of Upper and Lower Egypt, Nebka, of the acts of the + chief reciter Uba-aner."</span> <span class="font14 c7">His majesty the + king of Upper and Lower Egypt, Khufu, then said, "Let there be presented + to the king Nebka, the blessed, a thousand loaves, a hundred draughts of + beer,</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14">16 TALES OF THE MAGICIANS</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c9">an ox, two jars of incense; and let there be + presented a loaf, a jar of beer, a jar of incense, and a piece of meat to + the chief reciter Uba-aner; for I have seen the token of his learning." + And they did all things as his majesty commanded.</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14">BAUFRA'S TALE</span> <span class="font14 c7">The + royal sou Bau-f-ra then stood forth and spake. He said, "I will tell thy + majesty of a wonder which came to pass in the days of thy father Seneferu, + the blessed, of the deeds of the chief reciter Zazamankh. One day King + Seneferu, being weary, went throughout his palace seeking for a pleasure + to lighten his heart, but he found none. And he said, <i>'</i>Haste, and + bring before me the chief reciter and scribe of the rolls Zazamankh'; and + they straightway brought him. And the king said, 'I have sought in my + palace for some delight, but I have found none.' Then said Zazamankh to + him, 'Let</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14">BAUFRA'S TALE 17</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c7">thy majesty go upon the lake of the palace, and + let there be made ready a boat, with all the fair maidens of the harem of + thy palace; and the heart of thy majesty shall be refreshed with the + sight, in seeing their rowing up and down the water, and seeing the goodly + pools of the birds upon the lake, and beholding its sweet fields and + grassy shores; thus will thy heart be lightened. And I also will go with + thee. Bring me twenty oars of ebony, inlayed with gold, with blades of + light wood, inlayed with electrum; and bring me twenty maidens, fair in + their limbs, their bosoms and their hair, all virgins; and bring me twenty + nets, and give these nets unto the maidens for their garments.' And they + did according to all the commands of his majesty.</span> <span + class="font14 c7">"And they rowed down the stream and up the stream, and + the heart of his majesty was glad with the sight of their rowing. But one + of them at the steering struck her hair, and her jewel of new malachite + fell 3</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14">18 TALES OF THE MAGICIANS</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c7">into the water. And she ceased her song, and rowed + not; and her companions ceased, and rowed not. And his majesty said, 'Row + you not further?' And they replied, 'Our little steerer here stays and + rows not.' His majesty then said to her, 'Wherefore rowest thou not?' She + replied, 'It is for my jewel of new malachite which is fallen in the + water.' And he said to her, 'Row on, for behold I will replace it.' And + she answered, 'But I want my own piece back in its setting.' And his + majesty said, 'Haste, bring me the chief reciter Zazamankh,' and they + brought him. And his majesty said, Zazamankh, my brother, I have done as + thou sayedst, and the heart of his majesty is refreshed with the sight of + their rowing. But now a jewel of new malachite of one of the little ones + is fallen in the water, and she ceases and rows not, and she has spoilt + the rowing of her side. And I said to her, "Wherefore rowest thou not?" + and she answered to me, "It is for my jewel of new</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <div class="fig" style="width:50%"> + <img src="images/p1-3.jpg" alt="p1-3.jpg" width="100%" /><br /> + </div> + <p> + <span class="font5">ZAZAMANKII FINDING THE JEWEL</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14">BAUFRA'S TALE 21</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c7">malachite which is fallen in the water." I replied + to her, "Row on, for behold I will replace it"; and she answered to me, <i>"</i>But + I want my own piece again back in its setting."' Then the chief reciter + Zazamankh spake his magic speech. And he placed one part of the waters of + the lake upon the other, and discovered the jewel lying upon a shard; and + he took it up and gave it unto its mistress. And the water, which was + twelve cubits deep in the middle, reached now to twenty-four cubits after + he turned it. And he spake, and used his magic speech; and he brought + again the water of the lake to its place. And his majesty spent a joyful + day with the whole of the royal house. Then rewarded he the chief reciter + Zazamankh with all good things. Behold, this is a wonder that came to pass + in the days of thy father, the king of Upper and Lower Egypt, Seneferu, of + the deeds of the chief reciter, the scribe of the rolls, Zazamankh." Then + said the majesty of the king of</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14">22 TALES OF THE MAGICIANS</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c7">Upper and Lower Egypt, Khufu, the blessed, "Let + there be presented an offering of a thousand cakes, one hundred draughts + of beer, an ox, and two jars of incense to the king of Upper and Lower + Egypt, Sene-feru, the blessed; and let there be given a loaf, a jar of + beer, and a jar of incense to the chief reciter, the scribe of the rolls, + Zazamankh; for I have seen the token of his learning." And they did all + things as his majesty commanded.</span> <span class="font14">HORDEDEF'S + TALE</span> <span class="font14 c7">THE royal son Hordedef then stood + forth and spake. He said, "Hitherto hast thou only heard tokens of those + who have gone before, and of which no man knoweth their truth But I will + show thy majesty a man of thine own days." And his majesty said, "Who is + he, Hordedef?" And the royal son Hordedef answered, "It is a certain man + named Dedi, who dwells at Ded-</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <div class="fig" style="width:50%"> + <img src="images/p1-4.jpg" alt="p1-4.jpg" width="100%" /><br /> + </div> + <p> + <span class="font5">HORDEDEF LEADING DEDI TO THE SHIP</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14">HORDEDEF'S TALE 25</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c7">sneferu. He is a man of one hundred and ten years + old; and he eats five hundred loaves of bread, and a side of beef, and + drinks one hundred draughts of beer, unto this day. He knows how to + restore the head that is smitten off; he knows how to cause the lion to + follow him trailing his halter on the ground; he knows the designs of the + dwelling of Tahuti. The majesty of the king of Upper and Lower Egypt, + Khufu, the blessed, has long sought for the designs of the dwelling of + Tahuti, that he may make the like of them in his pyramid."</span> <span + class="font14 c7">And his majesty said, "Thou, thyself, Hordedef, my son, + bring him to me." Then were the ships made ready for the king's son + Hordedef, and he went up the stream to Dedsneferu. And when the ships had + moored at the haven, he landed, and sat him in a litter of ebony, the + poles of which were of cedar wood overlayed with gold. Now when he drew + near to Dedi, they set</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14">26 TALES OF THE MAGICIANS</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c7">down the litter. And he arose to greet Dedi, and + found him lying on a palmstick couch at the door of his house; one servant + held his head and rubbed him, and another rubbed his feet.</span> <span + class="font14 c7">And the king's son Hordedef said, "Thy state is that of + one who lives to good old age; for old age is the end of our voyage, the + time of embalming, the time of burial. Lie, then, in the sun, free of + infirmities, without the babble of dotage: this is the salutation to + worthy age. I come from far to call thee, with a message from my father + Khufu, the blessed, for thou shalt eat of the best which the king gives, + and of the food which those have who follow after him; that he may bring + thee in good estate to thy fathers who are in the tomb."</span> <span + class="font14 c7">And Dedi replied to him, "Peace to thee! Peace to thee! + Hordedef, son of the king, beloved of his father. May thy father Khufu, + the blessed, praise thee, may he advance thee amongst the elders, may thy + <i>ka</i> prevail</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14">HORDEDEF'S TALE 27</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c7">against the enemy, may thy soul know the right + road to the gate of him who clothes the afflicted; this is the salutation + to the king's son." Then the king's son, Hordedef, stretched forth his + hands to him, and raised him up, and went with him to the haven, giving + unto him his arm. Then said Dedi, "Let there he given me a boat, to bring + me my youths and my books." And they made ready for him two boats with + their rowers. And Dedi went down the river in the barge in which was the + king's son Hordedef. And when he had reached the palace, the king's son, + Hordedef, entered in to give account unto his majesty the king of Upper + and Lower Egypt, Khufu, the blessed. Then said the king's son Hordedef, "O + king, life, wealth, and health! My lord, I have brought Dedi." His majesty + replied, "Bring him to me speedily." And his majesty went into the hall of + columns of Pharaoh (life, wealth, and health), and Dedi was led before + him. And his majesty</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14">28 TALES OF THE MAGICIANS</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c7">said, "Wherefore is it, Dedi, that I have not yet + seen thee?" And Dedi answered, "He who is called it is that comes; the + king (life, wealth, and health) calls me, and behold I come," And his + majesty said, "Is it true, that which men say, that thou canst restore the + head which is smitten off?" And Dedi replied, "Truly, I know that, O king + (life, wealth, and health), my lord." And his majesty said, "Let one bring + me a prisoner who is in prison, that his punishment may be fulfilled." And + Dedi said, "Let it not be a man, O king, my lord; behold we do not even + thus to our cattle." And a duck was brought unto him, and its head was cut + off. And the duck was laid on the west side of the hall, and its head on + the east side of the hall. And Dedi spake his magic speech. And the duck + fluttered along the ground, and its head came likewise; and when it had + come part to part the duck stood and quacked. And they brought likewise a + goose before him, and he did</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <div class="fig" style="width:50%"> + <img src="images/p1-5.jpg" alt="p1-5.jpg" width="100%" /><br /> + </div> + <p> + <span class="font5">DEDI ENCHANTING THE DUCK</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14">HORDEDEFS TALE 31</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c7">even so unto it. His majesty caused an ox to be + brought, and its head cast on the ground. And Dedi spake his magic speech. + And the ox stood upright behind him, and followed him with his halter + trailing on the ground.</span> <span class="font14 c7">And King Khufu + said, "And is it true what is said, that thou knowest the number of the + designs of the dwelling of Tahuti?" And Dedi replied, "Pardon me, I know + not their number, O king (life, wealth, and health), but I know where they + are." And his majesty said, "Where is that?" And Dedi replied, "There is a + chest of whetstone in a chamber named the plan-room, in Heli-opolis; they + are in this chest." And Dedi said further unto him, "O king (life, wealth, + and health), my lord, it is not I that is to bring them to thee." And his + m'jesty said, "Who, then, is it that shall bring them to me?" And Dedi + answered to him, "It is the eldest of the three children who are in the + body of Rud-didet who</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14">32 TALES OF THE MAGICIANS</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c7">shall bring them to thee." And his majesty said, + "Would that it may be as thou sayest! And who is this Rud-didet?" And Dedi + replied, "She is the wife of a priest of Ra, lord of Sakhebu. And she has + conceived these three sons by Ra, lord of Sakhebu, and the god has + promised her that they shall fulfil this noble office (of reigning) over + all this land, and that the eldest of them shall be high priest in + Heliopolis." And his majesty's heart became troubled for this; but Dedi + spake unto him, "What is this that thou thinkest, O king (life, wealth, + health), my lord? Is it because of these three children? I tell thee thy + son shall reign, and thy son's son, and then one of them." His majesty + said, "And when shall Rud-didet bear these? "And he replied, "She shall + bear them on the 26th of the month Tybi." And his majesty said, "When the + banks of the canal of Letopolis are cut, I will walk there that I may see + the temple of Ra, lord of Sakhebu." And</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14">HORDEDEF'S TALE 33</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c7">Dedi replied, "Then I will cause that there be + four cubits of water by the banks ot the canal of Letopolis." When his + majesty returned to his palace, his majesty said, "Let them place Dedi in + the house of the royal son Hordedef, that he may dwell with him, and let + them give him a daily portion of a thousand loaves, a hundred draughts of + beer, an ox, and a hundred bunches of onions." And they did everything as + his majesty commanded.</span> <span class="font14 c7">And one day it came + to pass that Rud-didet felt the pains of birth. And the majesty of Ra, + lord of Sakhebu, said unto Isis, to Nebhat, to Meskhent, to Hakt, and to + Khnumu, "Go ye, and deliver Rud-didet of these three children that she + shall bear, who are to fulfil this noble office over all this land; that + they may build up your temples, furnish your altars with offerings, supply + your tables of libation, and increase your endowments." Then went these + deities; their fashion they made as that of dancing-4</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14">34 TALES OF THE MAGICIANS</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c7">girls, and Khnumu was with them as a porter. They + drew near unto the house of Ra-user, and found him standing, with his + girdle fallen. And they played before him with their instruments of music. + But he said unto them, "My ladies, behold, here is a woman who feels the + pains of birth.'' They said to him, "Let us see her, for we know how to + help her." And he replied, "Come, then." And they entered in straightway + to Rud-didet, and they closed the door on her and on themselves. Then Isis + stood before her, and Nebhat stood behind her, and Hakt helped her. And + Isis said, "O child, by thy name of User-ref, do not do violence." And the + child came upon her hands, as a child of a cubit; its bones were strong, + the beauty of its limbs was like gold, and its hair was like true lapis + lazuli. They washed him, and prepared him, and placed him on a carpet on + the brickwork. Then Meskhent approached him and said, "This is a king who + shall</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <div class="fig" style="width:50%"> + <img src="images/p1-6.jpg" alt="p1-6.jpg" width="100%" /><br /> + </div> + <p> + <span class="font5">THE GODDESSES AND KHNUMO COMING TO RA-USER</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14">HORDEDEF'S TALE 37</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c7">reign over all the land." And Khnumu gave strength + to his limbs. Then Isis stood before her, and Nebhat stood behind her, and + Hakt helped her. And Isis said, "O child, by thy name of Sah-ra, stay not + in her." Then the child came upon her hands, a child of a cubit; its bones + were strong, the beauty of its limbs was like gold, and its hair was like + true lapis lazuli. They washed him, and prepared him, and layed him on a + carpet on the brickwork. Then Meskhent approached him and said, "This is a + king who shall reign over all the land." And Khnumu gave strength to his + limbs. Then Isis stood before her, and Nebhat stood behind her, and Hakt + helped her. And Isis said, "O child, by thy name of Kaku, remain not in + darkness in her." And the child came upon her hands, a child of a cubit; + its bones were strong, the beauty of its limbs was like gold, and its hair + was like true lapis lazuli. And Meskhent approached him and said, "This is + a king who</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14">38 TALES OF THE MAGICIANS</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c7">shall reign over all the land." And Khnumu gave + strength to his limbs. And they washed him, and prepared him, and layed + him on a carpet on the brickwork.</span> <span class="font14 c7">And the + deities went out, having delivered Rud-didet of the three children. And + they said, "Rejoice! O Ra-user, for behold three children are born unto + thee." And he said unto them, "My ladies, and what shall I give unto ye? + Behold, give this bushel of barley here unto your porter, that ye may take + it as your reward to the brew-house." And Khnumu loaded himself with the + bushel of barley. And they went away toward the place from which they + came. And Isis spake unto these goddesses, and said, "Wherefore have we + come without doing a marvel for these children, that we may tell it to + their father who has sent us?" Then made they the divine diadems of the + king (life, wealth, and health), and laid them in the bushel of barley. + And they caused the clouds to come with wind and</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <div class="fig" style="width:50%"> + <img src="images/p1-7.jpg" alt="p1-7.jpg" width="100%" /><br /> + </div> + <p> + <span class="font5">THE GODDESSES HIDING THE CROWN</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14">HORDEDEF'S TALE 41</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c7">rain; and they turned back again unto the house. + And they said, "Let us put this barley in a closed chamber, sealed up, + until we return northward, dancing." And they placed the barley in a close + chamber.</span> <span class="font14 c7">And Rud-didet purified herself, + with a purification of fourteen days. And she said to her handmaid, "Is + the house made ready?" And she replied, "All things are made ready, but + the brewing barley is not yet brought." And Rud-didet said, "Wherefore is + the brewing barley not yet brought? " And the servant answered, " It would + all of it long since be ready if the barley had not been given to the + dancing-girls, and lay in the chamber under their seal." Rud didet said, + "Go down, and bring of it, and Ra-user shall give them in its stead when + he shall come," And the handmaid went, and opened the chamber. And she + heard talking and singing, music and dancing, quavering, and all things + which are performed for a king in his chamber. And she returned and told + to</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14">42 TALES OF THE MAGICIANS</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c7">Rud-didet all that she had heard. And she went + through the chamber, but she found not the place where the sound was. And + she layed her temple to the sack, and found that the sounds were in it. + She placed it in a chest, and put that in another locker, and tied it fast + with leather, and layed it in the store-room, where the things were, and + sealed it. And Ra-user came returning from the field; and Rud-didet + repeated unto him these things; and his heart was glad above all things; + and they sat down and made a joyful day.</span> <span class="font14 c7">And + after these days it came to pass that Rud-didet was wroth with her + servant, and beat her with stripes. And the servant said unto those that + were in the house, "Shall it be done thus unto me? She has borne three + kings, and I will go and tell this to his majesty King Khufu the blessed." + And she went, and found the eldest brother of her mother, who was binding + his flax on the floor. And he said to</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <div class="fig" style="width:50%"> + <img src="images/p1-8.jpg" alt="p1-8.jpg" width="100%" /><br /> + </div> + <p> + <span class="font5">THE HANDMAID LISTENING TO THE FESTIVITY</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14">HORDEDEF'S TALE 45</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c7">her, "Whither goest thou, my little maid?" And she + told him of all these things. And her brother said to her, "Wherefore + comest thou thus to me? Shall I agree to treachery? " And he took a bunch + of the flax to her, and laid on her a violent blow. And the servant went + to fetch a handful of water, and a crocodile carried her away.</span> + <span class="font14 c7">Her uncle went therefore to tell of this to + Rud-didet; and he found Rud-didet sitting, her head on her knees, and her + heart beyond measure sad. And he said to her, "My lady, why makest thou + thy heart thus?" And she answered, "It is because of this little wretch + that was in the house; behold she went out saying, 'I will go and tell + it.'" And he bowed his head unto the ground, and said, "My lady, she came + and told me of these things, and made her complaint unto me; and I laid on + her a violent blow. And she went forth to draw water, and a crocodile + carried her away."</span> <span class="font14 c7"><i>(The rest of the tale + is lost.]</i></span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14">46 TALES OF THE MAGICIANS</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14"><i>REMARKS</i> The tales or the magicians are only + preserved in a single copy, and of that the beginning is entirely lost. + The papyrus was brought from Egypt by an English traveller, and was + purchased by the Berlin Museum from the property of Lepsius, who had + received it from the owner, Miss Westcar: hence it is known as the Westcar + papyrus. It was written probably in the XIIth Dynasty, but doubtless + embodied tales, which had been floating for generations before, about the + names of the early kings. It shows us probably the kind of material that + existed for the great recension of the pre-monu-mental history, made in + the time of Seti I. Those ages of the first three dynasties were as long + before that recension as we are after it; and this must always be + remembered in considering the authority of the Egyptian records.</span> + <span class="font14 c7">This papyrus has been more thoroughly</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14">REMARKS 47</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c7">studied than most, perhaps more than any other. + Erman has devoted two volumes to it; publishing the whole in photographic + facsimile, transcribed in hieroglyphs, transcribed in the modern alphabet, + translated literally, translated freely, commented on and discussed word + by word, and with a complete glossary of all words used in it. This + exhaustive publication is named "Der Marchen des Papyrus Westcar." + Moreover, Maspero has given a current translation in the "Contes + Populaires," 2nd edit. pp. 53-86.</span> <span class="font14 c7">The + scheme of these tales is that they are all told to King Khufu by his sons; + and as the beginning is lost, eight lines are here added to explain this + and introduce the subject. The actual papyrus begins with the last few + words of a previous tale concerning some other magician under an earlier + king. Then comes the tale of Khafra, next that of Bau-f-ra, and lastly + that of Hor-dedef.</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14">48 TALES OF THE MAGICIANS</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c7">It need hardly be said that these tales are quite + fictitious. The king and his successor Khafra are real, but the other sons + cannot be identified; and the confusion of supposing three kings of the + Vth Dynasty to be triplets born early in the IVth Dynasty, shows what very + vague ideas of their own history the Egyptians had when these tales were + formed. This does not prevent our seeing that they embodied some very + important traditions, and gives us an unequalled picture of the early + civilisation.</span> <span class="font14 c7">In the earliest tale or the + three there seems at first sight merely a sketch of faithlessness and + revenge. But [Page 10] there is probably much more in it. To read it + aright we must bear in mind the position of woman in ancient Egypt. If, in + later ages, Islam has gone to the extreme of the man determining</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14">REMARKS 49</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c7">his own divorce at a word, in early times almost + the opposite system prevailed. All property belonged to the woman; all + that a man could earn, or inherit, was made over to his wife; and families + always reckoned back further on the mother's side than the father's. As + the changes in historical times have been in the direction of men's + rights, it is very unlikely that this system of female predominance was + invented or introduced, but rather that it descends from primitive times. + In this tale we see, then, at the beginning of our knowledge of the + country, the clashing of two different social systems. The reciter is + strong for men's rights, he brings destruction on the wife, and never even + gives her name, but always calls her merely "the wife of Uba-aner." But + behind all this there is probably the remains of a very different system. + The servant employed by the mistress seems to see nothing outrageous in + her proceed-5</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14">50 TALES OF THE MAGICIANS</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c7">ings; and even the steward, who is on the master's + side, waits a day or two before reporting matters. When we remember the + supremacy in properly and descent which women held in Egypt, and then read + this tale, it seems that it belongs to the close of a social system like + that of the Nairs, in which the lady makes her selection—with + variations from time to time. The incident of sending a present of + clothing is curiously like the tale about a certain English envoy, whose + proprieties were sadly ruffled in the Nair country, when a lady sent him a + grand shawl with an intimation of her choice. The priestesses of Amen + retained to the last this privilege of choice, as being under divine, and + not human protection; but it seems to have become unseemly in late times.</span> + <span class="font14 c7">The hinging of this tale, and of those that follow + it, upon the use of magic, shows how thoroughly the belief in magic</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font15">REMARKS 51</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font15 c7">powers was ingrained in the Egyptians. Now such a + belief implies the presence of magicians, and shows how familiar must have + been the claim to such powers, and the practising of the tricks of + witchcraft, so prevalent in Africa in modern times. The efficacy of a + model, such as this crocodile of wax, is an idea continually met with in + Egypt. The system of tomb furniture and decoration, of <i>ka</i> statues, + of <i>ushabtis</i> or figures to work for the deceased, and the models + placed in foundation deposits, all show how a model was supposed to have + the efficacy of an actual reality. Even in the latest tale of all (written + in Ptolemaic times), Setnau makes a model of a boat and men, to be sunk in + the river to work for him. The reconversion of the crocodile to wax, on + being taken up by the magician, reminds us of the serpent becoming again a + rod when taken up by Aaron.</span> <span class="font14 c7">The punishment + of burning alive is very</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14">52 TALES OF THE MAGICIANS</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c7">rarely, if ever, mentioned in Egyptian history, + though it occurs in modern Egyptian tales: and it looks as if it were + brought in here rather as a dire horror for the climax than as a probable + incident. The place of the penalty, in front of the harem, or the private + portion of the palace, was evidently for the intimidation of other ladies.</span> + <span class="font14 c7">At the close of each tale, King Khufu, to whom it + is told, orders funerary offerings by the usual formula, to be presented + in honour of the king under whom the wonder took place. On the tablets of + the tombs in the early times, there is usually recorded the offering—or, + rather, the pious desire that there should be offered—thousands of + loaves, of oxen, of gazelles, of cranes, &c., for a deceased person. + Such expression cost no more by the thousand than by the dozen, so + thousands came to be the usual expression in all ordaining of offerings.</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14">REMARKS 53</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c7">We are so accustomed to think of tedium as + something modern, that it seems strange to find in the oldest tales [Page + 16] in the world how the first king of whom we know anything was bored by + his pleasures. A reward for discovering a new pleasure is the very basis + of the tale of Sneferu; and the wise man's remedy of a day in the country + is still the best resource, though all that we know as human history has + tried its experiments in enjoyment since then. The flavour of the ballet + thrown in, by the introduction of the damsels of the household clad in + fishing nets, is not yet obsolete in modern amusements; and even in this + century Muhammed Ali had resource to the same way of killing time, as he + was rowed about by his <i>harem,</i> but on an artificial lake.</span> + <span class="font14 c7">The use of two large oars for steering explains + the detail of the story. The oars were one on each side of the stern, and</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14">54 TALES OF THE MAGICIANS</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c7">were each managed by a steerer. From the tale we + see that the steerer led the song of the rowers, and if the leader ceased, + all that side of the boat ceased also.. The position of the lost jewel + upon the hair shows that it was in a fillet set with inlaying, like that + seen on early figures, such as Nefert at Medum, who wears a fillet of + rosettes to retain the hair; and the position of the steering oar attached + to a post, with the handle rising high in the air, explains how it could + strike the fillet and displace the jewel.</span> <span class="font14 c7">The + last tale is really double, a tale within a tale. It begins with the + wonders done by</span> <span class="font14 c16">Dedi, and then goes on + with the [Page 22]</span> <span class="font14 c7">history or the children + about whom</span> <span class="font14 c7">he prophesied to Khufu.</span> + <span class="font14 c7">The village of Dedi was probably near Medum, as in + the temple of Sneferu at Medum an offering was found presented by a + worshipper to the gods of Ded-sneferu:</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14">REMARKS 55</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c7">hence the background which is here given for the + scene of Hordedef leading old Dedi. The translation of "the designs of the + dwelling of Tahuti" is not certain; but the passage seems to refer to some + architectural plan which was desired for the pyramid.</span> <span + class="font14 c7">The story of Rud-didet is remarkable historically. She + is said to be wife of the priest of Ra, her children are sons of Ra, and + they are the first three kings of the Vth dynasty, and supplanted the line + of Khufu. This points to the Vth Dynasty having been a priestly + usurpation; and on looking at its history we see two confirmations of + this. The title "Son of Ra" is so common in most ages in Egypt that it is + taken for granted, and is applied in lists to any second cartouche; but it + is not found until well into the Vth Dynasty; the earlier kings were not + descendants of Ra, and it is only on arriving at this dynasty, which + claimed descent from Ra, through the wife</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14">56 TALES OF THE MAGICIANS</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c7">of the priest of Ra, that we find the claim of + each king to be a "son of Ra." Another confirmation of this priestly + descent is the abundance of priesthoods established for the kings of the + Vth Dynasty; a care which agrees with their having a priestly origin; + while in the tale it is particularly said that they would build up the + temples, furnish the altars with offerings, supply the tables of + libations, and increase the religious endowments.</span> <span + class="font14 c7">The names of the three children are a play upon the + names of the first three kings of the Vth Dynasty. User-kaf is made into + User-ref; Sahu-ra is written Sah-ra; and Kaka is Kaku; thus making + allusions to their births. The comparison of the hair to true lapis lazuli + seems very strange; but there is often a confusion between black aind blue + in uneducated races, and <i>azrak</i> means either dark blue or green, or + black, at present in Arabic. Lapis lazuli is brought in to the name of the + queen of Ramessu</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14">REMARKS 57</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c7">VI., who was called "gold and lazuli," <i>Nub-khesdeb;</i> + recalling the comparison here of personal beauty to these precious + materials.</span> <span class="font14 c7">It is noticeable here that in a + tale of the Vth Dynasty, certainly written as early as the XlIth Dynasty, + we find professional dancers commonly recognised, and going on travels + through the country, with a porter.</span> <span class="font14 c7">From + this tale we also learn that Egyptian women underwent a purification of + fourteen days, during which they kept apart and did not attend to any + household matters. The mistress of the house here inquires if the + preparations are made for the feast on her return to household affairs; + and hears then how the beer cannot be made for lack of the barley.</span> + <span class="font14 c7">The securing of the sack is just in accord with + the remains of this early period; the use of boxes, of thongs of leather + for tying and of clay sealings for securing property, were all familiar + matters in the XlIth Dynasty, as we learn from Kahun.</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14">58 TALES OF THE MAGICIANS</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c7">The present close of the tale is evidently only a + stage in it, when the treacherous maid meets with the common doom of the + wicked in Egyptian romance. How it was continued is a matter of + speculation, but Khufu ought certainly to reappear and to order great + rewards for Dedi, who up to this has only had maintenance on his requisite + scale provided for him. Yet it is imperative that the children shall be + saved from his wrath, as they are the kings of the Vth Dynasty. There may + be a long episode lost of their flight and adventures.</span> <span + class="font14 c7">One reference to a date needs notice. The 25th of the + month Tybi is said to be the predicted birthday of the children; and Khufu + refers to going to Sakhebu about that time apparently, when the banks of + the canal are cut and the land was drying after the inundation, whereon + Dedi threatens that the water shall still be deep there. This points to + 25th Tybi being about the close of the inundation. This would be about</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14">REMARKS 59</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c7">the case both in the beginning of the IVth + Dynasty, and also in the XIIth Dynasty, when the papyrus was perhaps + written: hence there is nothing conclusive to be drawn from this allusion + so far. But when we compare this tale with those following, we see good + ground for its belonging to a time before the XIIth Dynasty The following + tale of the peasant and the workman evidently belongs to the IXth or Xth + Dynasties, when Herakleopolis was the capital, and Sanehat is certainly of + the XIIth Dynasty. Yet in those we see character and incident made the + basis of interest, in place of the childish profusion of marvels of the + Tales of the Magicians. It seems impossible not to suppose that they + belong to very different ages and canons of taste; and hence we cannot + refer the crudities ot the Khufu tales to the time of the far more + elaborate and polished recital of the adventures of Sanehat in the XIIth + Dynasty. Being thus obliged to suppose an earlier date for these tales, + the</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14">60 TALES OF THE MAGICIANS</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c7">allusion to the month Tybi throws us back to a + very early period—the IVth Dynasty —for their original + outlines. Doubtless they were modified by reciters, and probably took + shape in the Vth or VIth Dynasties; but yet we must regard them as + belonging practically to the age to which they refer.</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font5">IN THE SEKHET HEMAT</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font16">IXTH DYNASTY</span> <span class="font12"><i>THE + PEASANT AND THE WORKMAN</i> THERE dwelt in the Sekhet Hemat—or salt + country—a peasant called the Sekhti, with his wife and children, his + asses and his dogs; and he trafficked in all good things of the Sekhet + Hemat to Henenseten. Behold now he went with rushes, natron, and salt, + with wood and pods, with stones and seeds, and all good products of the + Sekhet Hemat. And this Sekhti journeyed to the south unto Henenseten; and + when he came to the lands of the house of Fefa, north of</span> <span + class="font6">61</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font15">62 SEKHTI AND HEMTt</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c7">Denat, he found a man there standing on the bank, + a man called Hemti—the workman—son of a man called Asri, who + was a serf of the High Steward Meruitensa. Now said this Hemti, when he + saw the asses of Sekhti, that were pleasing in his eyes, "Oh that some + good god would grant me to steal away the goods of Sekhti from him!"</span> + <span class="font14 c7">Now the Hemti's house was by the dyke of the + tow-path, which was straitened, and not wide, as much as the width of a + waist cloth: on the one side of it was the water, and on the other side of + it grew his corn. Hemti said then to his servant, "Hasten I bring me a + shawl from the house," and it was brought instantly. Then spread he out + this shawl on the face of the dyke, and it lay with its fastening on the + water and its fringe on the corn.</span> <span class="font14 c7">Now + Sekhti approached along the path used by all men. Said Hemti, "Have a + care, Sekhti! you are not going to trample on my clothes! "Said Sekhti, "I + will do</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <div class="fig" style="width:50%"> + <img src="images/p1-9.jpg" alt="p1-9.jpg" width="100%" /><br /> + </div> + <p> + <span class="font5">THE TRESPASS</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14">PEASANT AND THE WORKMAN 65</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c7">as you like, I will pass carefully." Then went he + up on the higher side. But Hemti said, "Go you over my corn, instead of + the path?" Said Sekhti, "I am going carefully; this high field of corn is + not my choice, but you have stopped your path with your clothes, and will + you then not let us pass by the side of the path?" And one of the asses + filled its mouth with a cluster of corn. Said Hemti, "Look you, I shall + take away your ass, Sekhti, for eating my corn; behold it will have to pay + according to the amount of the injury." Said Sekhti, "I am going + carefully; the one way is stopped, therefore took I my ass by the enclosed + ground, and do you seize it for filling its mouth with a cluster of corn? + Moreover, I know unto whom this domain belongs, even unto the Lord Steward + Meruitensa. He it is who smites every robber in this whole land; and shall + I then be robbed in his domain?"</span> <span class="font14 c7">Said + Hemti, "This is the proverb which men speak: 'A poor man's name is only + his 6</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14">66 SEKHTI AND HEMTI</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c7">own matter.' I am he of whom you spake, even the + Lord Steward of whom you think." Thereon he took to him branches of green + tamarisk and scourged all his limbs, took his asses, and drave them into + the pasture. And Sekhti wept very greatly, by reason of the pain of what + he had suffered. Said Hemti, "Lift not up your voice, Sekhti, or you shall + go to the Demon of Silence." Sekhti answered, "You beat me, you steal my + goods, and now would take away even my voice, O demon of silence! If you + will restore my goods, then will I cease to cry out at your violence."</span> + <span class="font14 c7">Sekhti stayed the whole day petitioning Hemti, but + he would not give ear unto him. And Sekhti went his way to Khenensuten to + complain to the Lord Steward Meruitensa. He found him coming out from the + door of his house to embark on his boat, that he might go to the judgment + hall. Sekhti said, "Ho! turn, that I may please thy heart with this + discourse. Now at this time let</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c18">PEASANT AND THE WORKMAN 67 one of thy followers + whom thou wilt, come to me that I may send him to thee concerning it." The + Lord Steward Meruitensa made his follower, whom he chose, go straight unto + him, and Sekhti sent him back with an account of all these matters. Then + the Lord Steward</span> + </p> + <div class="fig" style="width:50%"> + <img src="images/p1-10.jpg" alt="p1-10.jpg" width="100%" /><br /> + </div> + <div class="fig" style="width:50%"> + <img src="images/p1-11.jpg" alt="p1-11.jpg" width="100%" /><br /> + </div> + <p> + <span class="font14 c7">Meruitensa accused Hemti unto the nobles who sat + with him; and they said unto him, "By your leave: As to this</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14">68 SEKHTI AND HEMTI</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c7">Sekhti of yours, let him bring a witness. Behold + thou it is our custom with our Sekhtis; witnesses come with them; behold, + that is our custom. Then it will be fitting to beat this Hemti for a + trifle of natron and a trifle of salt; if he is commanded to pay for it, + he will pay for it." But the High Steward Meruitensa held his peace; for + he would not reply unto these nobles, but would reply unto the Sekhti.</span> + <span class="font14 c7">Now Sekhti came to appeal to the Lord Steward + Meruitensa, and said, " O my Lord Steward, greatest of the great, guide of + the needy:</span> <span class="font11 c21">When thou embarkest on the lake + of truth,—</span> <span class="font11 c21">Mayest thou sail upon it + with a fair wind;</span> <span class="font11 c21">May thy mainsail not fly + loose.</span> <span class="font11 c21">May there not be lamentation in thy + cabin;</span> <span class="font11 c21">May not misfortune come after thee.</span> + <span class="font11 c21">May not thy mainstays be snapped;</span> <span + class="font11 c21">Mayest thou not run aground.</span> <span + class="font11 c21">May not the wave seize thee;</span> <span + class="font11 c21">Mayest thou not taste the impurities of the river;</span> + <span class="font11 c21">Mayest thou not see the face of fear.</span> + <span class="font11 c22">May the fish come to thee without escape; Mayest + thou reach unto plump waterfowl.</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14">PEASANT AND THE WORKMAN 6q</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font11 c21">For thou art the orphan's father, the widow's + husband, The desolate woman's brother, the garment of the motherless.</span> + <span class="font11">Let me celebrate thy name in this land for every</span> + <span class="font11">virtue.</span> <span class="font11 c22">A guide + without greediness of heart; A great one without any meanness.</span> + <span class="font11 c22">Destroying deceit, encouraging justice; Coming to + the cry, and allowing utterance.</span> <span class="font11 c21">Let me + speak, do thou hear and do justice; O praised! whom the praised ones + praise.</span> <span class="font11 c22">Abolish oppression, behold me, I + am overladen, Reckon with me, behold me defrauded."</span> <span + class="font14 c7">Now the Sekhti made this speech in the time of the + majesty of the King Neb-ka-n-ra, blessed. The Lord Steward Meruitensa went + away straight to the king and said, "My lord, I have found one of these + Sekhti, excellent of speech, in very truth; stolen are his goods, and he + has come to complain to me of the matter."</span> <span class="font14 c7">His + majesty said, "As thou wishest that I may see health! lengthen out his + complaint, without replying to any of his</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14">70 SEKHTI AND HEMTI</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c7">speeches. He who desireth him to continue speaking + should be silent; behold, bring us his words in writing, that we may + listen to them. But provide for his wife and his children, and let the + Sekhti himself also have a living. Thou must cause one to give him his + portion without letting him know that thou art he who is giving it to + him."</span> <span class="font14 c7">There were given to him four loaves + and two draughts of beer each day; which the Lord Steward Meruitensa + provided for him, giving it to a friend of his, who furnished it unto him. + Then the Lord Steward Meruitensa sent the governor of the Sekhet Hemat to + make provision for the wife of the Sekhti, three rations of corn each day.</span> + <span class="font14 c7">Then came the Sekhti a second time, and even a + third time, unto the Lord Steward Meruitensa; but he told two of his + followers to go unto the Sekhti, and seize on him, and beat him with + staves. But he came again unto him, even unto six times, and said—</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <div class="fig" style="width:50%"> + <img src="images/p1-12.jpg" alt="p1-12.jpg" width="100%" /><br /> + </div> + <p> + <span class="font5">THE BEATING OF THE SEKHTI</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font17">PEASANT AND THE WORKMAN 73</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font11 c21">"My Lord Steward-Destroying deceit, and + encouraging justice; Raising up every good thing, and crushing every evil; + As plenty comes removing famine, As clothing covers nakedness, As clear + sky after storm warms the shivering; As fire cooks that which is raw, As + water quenches the thirst; Look with thy face upon my lot; do not covet, + but</span> <span class="font11 c21">content me without fail; do the right + and do not</span> <span class="font11 c21">evil."</span> <span + class="font14 c7">But yet Meruitensa would not hearken unto his complaint; + and the Sekhti came yet, and yet again, even unto the ninth time. Then the + Lord Steward told two of his followers to go unto the Sekhti; and the + Sekhti feared that he should be beaten as at the third request. But the + Lord Steward Meruitensa then said unto him, "Fear not, Sekhti, for what + thou has done. The Sekhti has made many speeches, delightful to the heart + of his majesty and I take an oath—as I eat bread, and as I drink + water—that thou shalt be remembered to eternity." Said the Lord + Steward, "Moreover, thou shalt be satis-</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14">74 SEKHTI AND HEMTI</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c7">fied when thou shalt hear of thy complaints." He + caused to be written on a clean roll of papyrus each petition to the end, + and the Lord Steward Meruitensa sent it to the majesty of the King + Neb-ka-n-ra, blessed, and it was good to him more than anything that is in + the whole land: but his majesty said to Meruitensa, "Judge it thyself; I + do not desire it."</span> <span class="font14 c7">The Lord Steward + Meruitensa made two of his followers to go to the Sekhet Hemat, and bring + a list of the household of the Sekhti; and its amount was six persons, + beside his oxen and his goats, his wheat and his barley, his asses and his + dogs; and moreover he gave all that which belonged unto the Hemti to the + Sekhti, even all his property and his offices, and the Sekhti was beloved + of the king more than all his overseers, and ate of all the good things of + the king, with all his household.</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14">REMARKS 75</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14"><i>REMARKS</i> Of the tale of the peasant and the + workman three copies, more or less imperfect, remain to us. At Berlin are + two papyri, Nos. 2 and 4, containing parts of the tale, published in + facsimile in the "Denkmaler" of Lepsius vi. 108-110 and 113; while + portions of another copy exist in the Butler papyrus; and lately fragments + of the same have been collated in the collection of Lord Amherst of + Hackney. These last have been published in the Proceedings of the Society + of Biblical Archaeology, xiv. 558. The number of copies seem to show that + this was a popular tale in early times; it certainly is of a more advanced + type than the earlier tales of magic, though it belongs to a simpler style + than the tales which follow. It has been translated partially by Chabas + and Goodwin, and also by Maspero, but most completely by Griffith in the + Proceedings of the Society of Biblical Archaeology, referred to above.</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14">76 SEKHTI AND HEMTI</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c7">The beginning of the tale is lost in all the + copies, and an introductory sentence is here added in brackets, to explain + the position of affairs at the opening of the fragment. The essence of the + tale is the difference in social position between the Sekhti, or peasant, + and the Hemti, or workman—the <i>fellah</i> and the client of the + noble; and the impossibility of getting justice against a client, unless + by some extraordinary means of attracting his patron's attention, is the + basis of the action. There is not a single point of incident here which + might not be true in modern times; every turn of it seems to live, as one + reads it in view of country life in Egypt.</span> <span class="font14 c7">The + region of the tale is Henenseten, or Herakleopolis, now Ahnas, a little + south of the Fayum. This was the seat of the IXth and Xth Dynasties, + apparently ejected from Memphis by a foreign invasion of the Delta; and + here it is that the High Steward lives and goes to speak to the king. The + district of the Sekhti is indicated by his travelling</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14">REMARKS 77</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c7">south to Henenseten, and going with asses and not + by boat. Hence we are led to look for the Sekhet Hemat, or salt country, + in the borders of the Fayum lake, whence the journey would be southward, + and across the desert. This lake was not regulated artificially until the + XIIth Dynasty; and hence at the period of this tale it was a large sheet + of water, fluctuating with each rise and fall of the Nile, and bordered by + lagoons where rushes would flourish, and where salt and natron would + accumulate daring the dry season of each year. At the present time the + lake of the Fayum is brackish, and the cliffs which border it contain so + much salt that rain pools which collect on them are not drinkable. The + paths and roads of Egypt are not protected by law as in Western countries. + Each person encroaches on a path or diverts it as may suit his purpose, + only checked by the liberties taken by passers-by in trespassing if a path + be insufficient. Hence, it is very usual to see a house built over half of + a path,</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14">78 SEKHTI AND HEMTI</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c7">and driving the traffic into the field or almost + over the river bank. In this case the Hemti had taken in as much of the + path as he could, and left it but a narrow strip along the top of the + canal bank. The frequent use of the public way for drying clothes, or + spreading out property, gave the idea of choking the way altogether, and + leaving no choice but trespassing on the crops. No sooner does a donkey + pause, or even pass, by a field of corn than he snatches a mouthful, and + in a delay or altercation such as this the beast is sure to take the + advantage. Donkeys carrying loads by cornfields are usually muzzled with + rope nets, to prevent their feeding; and even sheep and goats are also + fended in the same way.</span> <span class="font14 c7">The proverb, "A + poor man's name is only his own matter," refers to the independent <i>fellah</i> + having no patron or protector who will take up and defend his name from + accusations, as the interests of clients and serfs would be protected. + This being the case,</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14">REMARKS</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font1">79</span> <span class="font14 c7">Hemti therefore + seizes on the property, and drives the asses into his own pasture field.</span> + <span class="font14 c7">The scene of Meruitensa laying the case before the + nobles who sat with him is interesting as showing that even simple cases + were not decided by one judge, but referred to a council. Similarly, Una + lays stress on the private trial of the queen being confided to him and + only one other judge. Apparently, referring cases to a bench of judges was + the means of preventing corruption.</span> <span class="font14 c7">The + speeches of the Sekhti were given at full length in the papyrus, but owing + to injuries we cannot now entirely recover them; they are all in much the + same strain, only the first and last are translated here, and the others + are passed over. The style of these speeches was evidently looked on as + eloquent in those days, and this papyrus really seems to show the time + when long-drawn comparisons and flowery wishes were in fashion. It is far + different from later compositions, as it is also from the earlier simple</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14">80 SEKHTI AND HEMTI</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c9">narration of crude marvels in the tales of the + magicians.</span> <span class="font14 c9">The close of the tale is + defective, but from the remains it appears to have ended by the gift of + the Hemti's property to the oppressed Sekhti and the triumph of the + injured peasant.</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <div class="fig" style="width:50%"> + <img src="images/p1-13.jpg" width="308" height="99" alt="p1-13.jpg" /><br /> + </div> + <p> + <span class="font5">GOING TO WAWAT</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c25">XIITH DYNASTY <i>THE SHIPWRECKED SAILOR</i> THE + wise servant said, " Let <i>thy</i> heart be satisfied, O my lord, for + that we have come back to the country; after we have long been on board, + and rowed much, the prow has at last touched land. All the people rejoice, + and embrace us one after another. Moreover, we have come back in good + health, and not a man is lacking; although we have been to the ends of + Wawat, and gone through the land of Senmut, we have returned in peace, and + our land—behold, we have come back to it. Hear me, my 7 81</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14">82 THE SHIPWRECKED SAILOR</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c7">lord; I have no other refuge. Wash thee, and turn + the water over thy ringers; then go and tell the tale to the majesty."</span> + <span class="font14 c7">His lord replied, "Thy heart continues still its + wandering words! but although the mouth of a man may save him, his words + may also cover his face with confusion. Wilt thou do then as thy heart + moves thee? This that thou wilt say, tell quietly "</span> <span + class="font14 c7">The sailor then answered, "Now I shall tell that which + has happened to me, to my very self I was going to the mines of Pharaoh, + and I went down on the sea on a ship of 150 cubits long and 40 cubits + wide, with 150 sailors of the best of Egypt, who had seen heaven and + earth, and whose hearts were stronger than lions. They had said that the + wind would not be contrary, or that there would be none. But as we + approached the land the wind arose, and threw up waves eight cubits high. + As for me, I seized a piece of wood; but those who were in the vessel + perished, without one remaining. A wave</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14">THE SHIPWRECKED SAILOR 83</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c7">threw me on an island, after that I had been three + days alone, without a companion beside my own heart. I laid me in a + thicket, and the shadow covered me. Then stretched I my limbs to try to + find something for my mouth. I found there figs and grapes, all manner of + good herbs, berries and grain, melons of all kinds, fishes and birds. + Nothing was lacking. And I satisfied myself; and left on the ground that + which was over, of what my arms had been filled withal. I dug a pit, I + lighted a fire, and I made a burnt-offering unto the gods.</span> <span + class="font14 c7">"Suddenly I heard a noise as of thunder, which I thought + to be that of a wave of the sea. The trees shook, and the earth was moved. + I uncovered my face, and I saw that a serpent drew near. He was thirty + cubits long, and his beard greater than two cubits; his body was as + overlayed with gold, and his colour as that of true lazuli. He coiled + himself before me.</span> <span class="font14 c7">"Then he opened his + mouth, while that I</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14">84 THE SHIPWRECKED SAILOR</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c7">lay on my face before him, and he said to me, + 'What has brought thee, what has brought thee, little one, what has + brought thee? If thou sayest not speedily what has brought thee to this + isle, I will make thee know thyself; as a flame thou shalt vanish, if thou + tellest me not something I have not heard, or which I knew not, before + thee.'</span> <span class="font14 c7">"Then he took me in his mouth and + carried me to his resting-place, and layed me down without any hurt. I was + whole and sound, and nothing was gone from me. Then he opened his mouth + against me, while that I lay on my face before him, and he said, 'What has + brought thee, what has brought thee, little one, what has brought thee to + this isle which is in the sea, and of which the shores are in the midst of + the waves?'</span> <span class="font14 c7">"Then I replied to him, and + holding my arms low before him, I said to him, 'I was embarked for the + mines by the order of the majesty, in a ship, 150 cubits was its length,</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <div class="fig" style="width:50%"> + <img src="images/p1-14.jpg" alt="p1-14.jpg" width="100%" /><br /> + </div> + <p> + <span class="font5">THE INQUIRY</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14">THE SHIPWRECKED SAILOR 87</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c7">and the width of it 40 cubits. It had 150 sailors + of the best of Egypt, who had seen heaven and earth, and the hearts of + whom were stronger than lions. They said that the wind would not be + contrary, or that there would be none. Each of them exceeded his companion + in the prudence of his heart and the strength of his arm, and I was not + beneath any of them. A storm came upon us while we were on the sea. Hardly + could we reach to the shore when the wind waxed yet greater, and the waves + rose even eight cubits. As for me, I seized a piece of wood, while those + who were in the boat perished without one being left with me for three + days. Behold me now before thee, for I was brought to this isle by a wave + of the sea.'</span> <span class="font14 c7">"Then said he to me, 'Fear + not, fear not, little one, and make not thy face sad. If thou hast come to + me, it is God who has let thee live. For it is He who has brought thee to + this isle of the blest, where nothing is lacking, and which is filled with + all good</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c27">88 THE SHIPWRECKED SAILOR things. See now, thou + shalt pass one month</span> + </p> + <div class="fig" style="width:50%"> + <img src="images/p1-15.jpg" alt="p1-15.jpg" width="100%" /><br /> + </div> + <p> + <span class="font14 c7">after another, until thou shalt be four months in + this isle. Then a ship shall come from thy land with sailors, and thou + shalt leave with them and go to thy country, and thou shalt die in thy</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c7">town.</span> <span class="font14 c7">'"Converse is</span> + </p> + <div class="fig" style="width:50%"> + <img src="images/p1-16.jpg" alt="p1-16.jpg" width="100%" /><br /> + </div> + <p> + <span class="font5">BRETHREN AND CHILDREN</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14">pleasing,</span> <span class="font14">and he who + tastes of it passes over his misery.</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14">THE SHIPWRECKED SAILOR 89</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c7">I will therefore tell thee of that which is in + this isle. I am here with my brethren and my children around me; we are + seventy-five serpents, children, and kindred; without naming a young girl + who was brought unto me by chance, and on whom the fire of heaven fell, + and burnt her to ashes.</span> <span class="font14 c7">"'As for thee if + thou art strong, and if thy heart waits patiently, thou shalt press thy + infants to thy bosom and embrace thy wife. Thou shalt return to thy house + which is full of all good things, thou shalt see thy land, where thou + shalt dwell in the midst of thy kindred.'</span> <span class="font14 c7">"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 honoured. I shall tell, moreover, of that which I do + now see</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14">90 THE SHIPWRECKED SAILOR</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c7">(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.'</span> + <span class="font14 c7">"Then he smiled at my speech, because of that + which was in his heart, for he said to me, <i>'</i>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 + sayedst thou wouldest 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.'</span> <span class="font14 c7">"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</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14">THE SHIPWRECKED SAILOR 91</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c7">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.'</span> + </p> + <div class="fig" style="width:50%"> + <img src="images/p1-17.jpg" alt="p1-17.jpg" width="100%" /><br /> + </div> + <p> + <span class="font5">THE FAREWELL</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c7">"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</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14">92 THE SHIPWRECKED SAILOR</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c7">abundance of incense, of ivory tusks, of baboons, + of apes, and all kind of precious things. I embarked all in the ship which + was come, and bowing myself, I prayed God for him.</span> <span + class="font14 c7">"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.</span> <span class="font14 c7">"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 then unto me a follower, and lead me to the courtiers + of</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14">REMARKS 93</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c7">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 honour,' and behold I have become such."</span> + <span class="font14 c7">This is finished from its beginning unto its end, + even as it was found in a writing. It is written by the scribe of cunning + fingers Ameni-amen-aa; may he live in life, wealth, and health!</span> + <span class="font14"><i>REMARKS</i> This tale is only known in one copy, + preserved in the Hermitage collection at St. Petersburg. The papyrus has + not yet been published, either in facsimile or transcription. But two + translations of it have appeared by M. Golenischeff: from the earlier a + modified translation is given by Maspero in the "Contes Populaires," 2nd + edit., pp. 133-146, and the later translation is in M. Golenischeff's + excellent</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14">94 THE SHIPWRECKED SAILOR</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c7">"Inventaire de la collection Egyptienne (Ermitage + Imperial)," p. 177-182.</span> <span class="font14 c7">The tale is that of + a returned sailor, speaking to his superior and telling his adventures, to + induce him to send him on with an introduction to the king. At first his + master professes to disbelieve him, and then the sailor protests that this + happened to himself, and gives his narrative. The idea of an enchanted + island, which has risen from the waves and will sink again, is here found + to be one of the oldest plots for a tale of marvels. But the construction + is far more advanced than that of the tales of the magicians. The family + of serpents and the manner of the great serpent is well conceived, and + there are many fine touches of literary quality: such as noise as of + thunder, the trees shaking and the earth being moved at the appearance of + the great serpent—the speeches of the serpent and his threat—the + sailors who had seen heaven and earth—the contempt of the serpent + for his offerings.</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14">REMARKS 95</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c7">"As for me, I am prince of the land of Punt, and I + have perfumes"—and the scene of departure. All of these points show + a firm hand and practised taste, although there is still a style of + simplicity clinging to it which agrees well to its date in the XIIth + Dynasty.</span> <span class="font14 c7">The great serpent is not of a type + usual in Egyptian designs. The human-headed uraeus is seldom bearded; and + the best example of such a monster is on an Ethiopian temple, where a + great uraeus has human arms and a lion's head. The colours again repeat + the favourite combination expressive of splendour—gold and lazuli. + Though lazuli is very rare in early times, yet it certainly was known in + the XIIth Dynasty, as shown by the forms of some beads of lazuli.</span> + <span class="font14 c7">The slaughter of asses in sacrifice is a very + peculiar offering, and no sign of this is found in any representations or + groups of offerings.</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14">96 THE SHIPWRECKED SAILOR</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c9">The colophon of the copyist at the end shows by + the style of the name that it belongs to the earlier part of the XIIth + Dynasty, and if so, the composition might be referred to the opening of + foreign trade under Sankhkara or Amenemhat I.</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font16">XIITH DYNASTY</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font12"><i>THE ADVENTURES OF SANEHAT</i> THE hereditary + prince, royal seal-bearer, confidential friend, judge, keeper of the gate + of the foreigners, true and beloved royal acquaintance, the royal follower + Sanehat says:—</span> <span class="font14 c7">I attended my lord as + a follower of the king, of the house of the hereditary princess, the + greatly favoured, the royal wife, Ankhet-Usertesen, who shares the + dwelling of the royal son Amenemhat in Kanefer.</span> <span + class="font14 c7">In the thirtieth year, the month Paophi, the seventh day + the god entered his horizon, the king Sehotepabra flew up to heaven and + joined the sun's disc, the follower of the god</span> <span class="font0">97</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14">98 THE ADVENTURES OF SANEHAT</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c7">met his maker. The palace was silenced, and in + mourning, the great gates were closed, the courtiers crouching on the + ground, the people in hushed mourning.</span> <span class="font14 c7">His + majesty had sent a great army with the nobles to the land of the Temehu + (Lybia), his son and heir, the good god king Usertesen as their leader. + Now he was returning, and had brought away living captives and all kinds + of cattle without end. The councillors of the palace had sent to the West + to let the king know the matter that had come to pass in the inner hall. + The messenger was to meet him on the road, and reach him at the time of + evening: the matter was urgent. "A hawk had soared with his followers." + Thus said he, not to let the army know of it Even if the royal sons who + commanded in that army send a message, he was not to speak to a single one + of them. But I was standing near, and heard his voice while he was + speaking. I fled far away, my heart beating, my arms</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font3">THE ADVENTURES OF SANEHAT 99</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c9">failing, trembling had fallen on all my limbs. I + turned about in running to seek a place to hide me, and I threw myself + between two bushes, to wait while they should pass by.</span> + </p> + <div class="fig" style="width:50%"> + <img src="images/p1-18.jpg" alt="p1-18.jpg" width="100%" /><br /> + </div> + <p> + <span class="font5">THE FLIGHT</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c7">Then I turned me toward the south, not from + wishing to come into this palace—for I knew not if war was declared—nor + even thinking a wish to live after this sovereign.</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14">100 THE ADVENTURES OF SANEHAT</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c7">I turned my back to the sycamore, I reached + Shi-Seneferu, and rested on the open field. In the morning I went on and + overtook a man, who passed by the edge of the road. He asked of me mercy, + for he feared me. By the evening I drew near to Kher-ahau (? old Cairo), + and I crossed the river on a</span> + </p> + <div class="fig" style="width:50%"> + <img src="images/p1-19.jpg" alt="p1-19.jpg" width="100%" /><br /> + </div> + <p> + <span class="font5">THE CROSSING</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c7">raft without a rudder. Carried over by the west + wind, I passed over to the east to the quarries of Aku and the land of the + goddess Herit, mistress of the red mountain (Gebel Ahmar). Then I fled on + foot, northward, and reached the walls of the prince, built to repel the + Sati. I crouched in a bush</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14">THE ADVENTURES OF SANEHAT 101</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c7">for fear of being seen by the guards, changed each + day, who watch on the top of the fortress. I took my way by night, and at + the lighting or the day I reached Peten, and turned me toward the valley + of Kemur. Then thirst hasted me on; I dried up, and my throat narrowed, + and I said, "This is the</span> + </p> + <div class="fig" style="width:50%"> + <img src="images/p1-20.jpg" alt="p1-20.jpg" width="100%" /><br /> + </div> + <p> + <span class="font5">THE RESCUE</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c7">taste of death." When I lifted up my heart and + gathered strength, I heard a voice and the lowing of cattle. I saw men of + the Sati, and one of them—a friend unto Egypt—knew me. Behold + he gave me water and boiled me milk, and I went with him to his camp; they + did me good, and one tribe passed me on to another. I passed on</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14">102 THE ADVENTURES OF SANEHAT</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c7">to Sun, and reached the land of Adim (Edom).</span> + <span class="font14 c7">When I had dwelt there half a year Amu-an-shi—who + is the prince of the Upper Tenu —sent for me and said: "Dwell thou + with me that thou mayest hear the speech of Egypt." He said thus for that + he knew of my excellence, and had heard tell of my worth, for men of Egypt + who were there with him bore witness of me. Behold he said to me, "For + what cause hast thou come hither? Has a matter come to pass in the palace? + Has the king of the two lands, Sehetep-abra gone to heaven? That which has + happened about this is not known." But I answered with concealment, and + said, "When I came from the land of the Tamahu, and my desires were there + changed in me, if I fled away it was not by reason of remorse that I took + the way of a fugitive; I have not failed in my duty, my mouth has not said + any bitter words, I have not heard any evil counsel, my name has not come + into</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14">THE ADVENTURES OF SANEHAT 103</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c7">the mouth of a magistrate. I know not by what I + have been led into this land." And Amu-an-shi said, "This is by the will + of the god (king of Egypt), for what is a land like if it know not that + excellent god, of whom the dread is upon the lands of strangers, as they + dread Sekhet in a year of pestilence." I spake to him, and replied, + "Forgive me, his son now enters the palace, and has received the heritage + of his father. He is a god who has none like him, and there is none before + him. He is a master of wisdom, prudent in his designs, excellent in his + decrees, with good-will to him who goes or who comes; he subdued the land + of strangers while his father yet lived in his palace, and he rendered + account of that which his father destined him to perform. He is a brave + man, who verily strikes with his sword; a valiant one, who has not his + equal; he springs upon the barbarians, and throws himself on the spoilers; + he breaks the horns and weakens the hands, and those whom he</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14">104 THE ADVENTURES OF SANEHAT</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c7">smites cannot raise the buckler. He is fearless, + and dashes the heads, and none can stand before him. He is swift of foot, + to destroy him who flies; and none who flees from him reaches his home. + His heart is strong in his time; he is a lion who strikes with the claw, + and never has he turned his back. His heart is closed to pity; and when he + sees multitudes, he leaves none to live behind him. He is a valiant one + who springs in front when he sees resistance; he is a warrior who rejoices + when he flies on the barbarians. He seizes the buckler, he rushes forward, + he never needs to strike again, he slays and none can turn his lance; and + when he takes the bow the barbarians flee from his arms like dogs; for the + great goddess has given to him to strike those who know her not; and if he + reaches forth he spares none, and leaves nought behind. He is a friend of + great sweetness, who knows how to gain love; his land loves him more than + itself, and rejoices in him more than in its own</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14">THE ADVENTURES OF SANEHAT 105</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c7">god; men and women run to his call. A king, he has + ruled from his birth; he, from his birth, has increased births, a sole + being, a divine essence, by whom this land rejoices to be governed. He + enlarges the borders of the South , but he covets not the lands of the + North; he does not smite the Sati, nor crush the Nemau-shau If he descends + here, let him know thy name, by the homage which thou wilt pay to his + majesty. For he refuses not to bless the land which obeys him."</span> + <span class="font14 c7">And he replied to me, "Egypt is indeed happy and + well settled; behold thou art far from it, but whilst thou art with me I + will do good unto thee." And he placed me before his children, he married + his eldest daughter to me, and gave me the choice of all his land, even + among the best of that which he had on the border of the next land. It is + a goodly land, laa is its name. There are figs and grapes; there is wine + commoner than water; abun-</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font3">106 THE ADVENTURES OF SANEHAT</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c7">dant is the honey, many are its olives; and all + fruits are upon its trees; there is barley and wheat, and cattle of kinds + without end. This was truly a great thing that he granted me, when the + prince came to invest me, and</span> + </p> + <div class="fig" style="width:50%"> + <img src="images/p1-21.jpg" alt="p1-21.jpg" width="100%" /><br /> + </div> + <p> + <span class="font5">SANEHAT MEETING THE TENU</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c7">establish me as prince of a tribe in the best of + his land. I had my continual portion of bread and of wine each day, of + cooked meat, of roasted fowl, as well as the wild game which I took, or + which was brought to me,</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14">THE ADVENTURES OF SANEHAT 107</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c7">besides what my dogs captured. They made me much + butter, and prepared milk of all kinds. I passed many years, the children + that I had became great, each ruling his tribe. When a messenger went or + came to the palace, he turned aside from the way to come to me; for I + helped every man. I gave water to the thirsty, I set on his way him who + went astray, and I rescued the robbed. The Sati who went far, to strike + and turn back the princes of other lands, I ordained their goings; for the + Prince of the Tenu for many years appointed me to be general of his + soldiers. In every land which I attacked I played the champion, I took the + cattle, I led away the vassals, I carried off the slaves, I slew the + people, by my sword, my bow, my marches and my good devices. I was + excellent to the heart of my prince; he loved me when he knew my power, + and set me over his children when he saw the strength of my arms.</span> + <span class="font14 c7">A champion of the Tenu came to defy</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14">108 THE ADVENTURES OF SANEHAT</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c7">me in my tent: a bold man without equal, for he + had vanquished the whole country. He said, "Let Sanehat fight with me;" + for he desired to overthrow me, he thought to take my cattle for his + tribe. The prince counselled with me. I said, "I know him not. I certainly + am not of his degree, I hold me far from his place. Have I ever opened his + door, or leaped over his fence? It is some envious jealousy from seeing + me; does he think that I am like some steer among the cows, whom the bull + overthrows? If this is a wretch who thinks to enrich himself at my cost, + not a Bedawi and a Bedawi fit for fight, then let us put the matter to + judgment. Verily a true bull loves battle, but a vain-glorious bull turns + his back for fear of contest; if he has a heart for combat, let him speak + what he pleases. Will God forget what He has ordained, and how shall that + be known?" I lay down; and when I had rested I strung my bow, I made ready + my arrows, I loosened my poignard, I</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14">THE ADVENTURES OF SANEHAT 109</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c7">furbished my arms. At dawn the land of the Tenu + came together; it had gathered its tribes and called all the neighbouring + people, it spake of nothing but the fight. Each heart burnt for me, men + and women crying out; for each heart was troubled for</span> + </p> + <div class="fig" style="width:50%"> + <img src="images/p1-22.jpg" width="36" height="76" alt="p1-22.jpg" /><br /> + </div> + <div class="fig" style="width:50%"> + <img src="images/p1-23.jpg" alt="p1-23.jpg" width="100%" /><br /> + </div> + <p> + <span class="font5">THE COMBAT</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c7">me, and they said, "Is there another strong one + who would fight with him? Behold the adversary has a buckler, a battle + axe, and an armful of javelins." Then I drew him to the attack; I turned + aside his arrows, and they struck the ground in vain. One drew</span> + <span class="font2">I</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14">110 THE ADVENTURES OF SANEHAT</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c7">near to the other, and he fell on me, and then I + shot him. My arrow fastened in his neck, he cried out, and fell on his + face: I drove his lance into him, and raised my shout of victory on his + back. Whilst all the men of the land rejoiced, I, and his vassals whom he + had oppressed, gave thanks unto Mentu. This prince, Amu-an-shi, embraced + me. Then I carried off his goods and took his cattle, that which he had + wished to do to me, I did even so unto him; I seized that which was in his + tent, I spoiled his dwelling. As time went on I increased the richness of + my treasures and the number of my cattle.</span> <span class="font14"><i>Petition + to the king of Egypt.</i> "Now behold what the god has done for me who + trusted in him. Having once fled away, yet now there is a witness of me in + the palace. Once having fled away, as a fugitive,———now + all in the palace give unto me a good name. After that I had been</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14">THE ADVENTURES OF SANEHAT 111</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c7">dying of hunger, now I give bread to those around. + I had left my land naked, and now I am clothed in fine linen. After having + been a wanderer without followers, now I possess many serfs. My house is + fine, my land wide, my memory is established in the temple of all the + gods. And let this flight obtain thy forgiveness; that I may be appointed + in the palace; that I may see the place where my heart dwells. How great a + thing is it that my body should be embalmed in the land where I was born! + To return there is happiness. I have made offering to God, to grant me + this thing. His heart suffers who has run away unto a strange land. Let + him hear the prayer of him who is afar off, that he may revisit the place + of his birth, and the place from which he removed.</span> <span + class="font14 c7">"May the king of Egypt be gracious to me that I may live + of his favour. And I render my homage to the mistress of the land, who is + in his palace; may I hear the news of her</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14">112 THE ADVENTURES OF SANEHAT</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c7">children. Thus will my limbs grow young again. Now + old age comes, feebleness seizes me, my eyes are heavy, my arms are + feeble, my legs will not move, my heart is slow. Death draws nigh to me, + soon shall they lead me to the city of eternity. Let me follow the + mistress of all (the queen, his former mistress); lo! let her tell me the + excellencies of her children; may she bring eternity to me."</span> <span + class="font14 c7">Then the majesty of King Kheper-ka-ra, the blessed, + spake upon this my desire that I had made to him. His majesty sent unto me + with presents from the king, that he might enlarge the heart of his + servant, like unto the province of any strange land; and the royal sons + who are in the palace addressed themselves unto me.</span> <span + class="font14 c7"><i>Copy of the decree which was brought—to me who + speak to you</i>—<i>to lead me back into Egypt.</i> "The Horus, life + of births, lord of the</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14">THE ADVENTURES OF SANEHAT 113</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c7">crowns, life of births, king of Upper and Lower + Egypt, Kheper-ka-ra, son of the Sun, Amen-em-hat, ever living unto + eternity. Order for the follower Sanehat. Behold this order of the king is + sent to thee to instruct thee of his will.</span> + </p> + <div class="fig" style="width:50%"> + <img src="images/p1-24.jpg" alt="p1-24.jpg" width="100%" /><br /> + </div> + <p> + <span class="font5">EGYPTIAN MESSENGERS ARRIVING</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c7">Now, although thou hast gone through strange lands + from Adim to Tenu, and passed from one country to another at the wish of + thy heart—behold, what hast thou done, or what has been done against + thee, that is amiss? Moreover, thou reviledst not; 9</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14">114 THE ADVENTURES OF SANEHAT</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c7">but if thy word was denied, thou didst not speak + again in the assembly of the nobles, even if thou wast desired. Now, + therefore, that thou hast thought on this matter which has come to thy + mind, let thy heart not change again; for this thy Heaven (queen), who is + in the palace is fixed, she is flourishing, she is enjoying the best in + the kingdom of the land, and her children are in the chambers of the + palace.</span> <span class="font14 c7">"Leave all the riches that thou + hast, and that are with thee, altogether. When thou shalt come into Egypt + behold the palace, and when thou shalt enter the palace, bow thy face to + the ground before the Great House; thou shalt be chief among the + companions. And day by day behold thou growest old; thy vigour is lost, + and thou thinkest on the day of burial. Thou shalt see thyself come to the + blessed state, they shall give thee the bandages from the hand of Tait, + the night of applying the oil of embalming. They shall follow thy funeral,</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14">THE ADVENTURES OF SANEHAT 115</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c9">and visit the tomb on the day of burial, which + shall be in a gilded case, the head painted with blue, a canopy of cypress + wood above thee, and oxen shall draw thee, the singers going before thee, + and they shall dance the funeral dance. The weepers crouching at the door + of thy tomb shall cry aloud the prayers for offerings: they shall slay + victims for thee at the door of thy pit; and thy pyramid shall be carved + in white stone, in the company of the royal children. Thus thou shalt not + die in a strange land, nor be buried by the Amu; thou shalt not be laid in + a sheep-skin when thou art buried; all people shall beat the earth, and + lament on thy body when thou goest to the tomb."</span> <span + class="font14 c9">When this order came to me, I was in the midst of my + tribe. When it was read unto me, I threw me on the dust, I threw dust in + my hair; I went around my tent</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font3">116 THE ADVENTURES OF SANEHAT</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c9">rejoicing and saying, "How may it be that such a + thing is done to the servant, who with a rebellious heart has fled to + strange lands? Now with an excellent deliverance, and mercy delivering me + from death, thou shall cause me to end my days in the palace."</span> + <span class="font14"><i>Copy of the answer to this order.</i> "The + follower Sanehat says: In excellent peace above everything consider of + this flight that he made here in his ignorance; Thou, the Good God, Lord + of both Lands, Loved of Ra, Favourite of Mentu, the lord of Thebes, and of + Amen, lord of thrones of the lands, of Sebek, Ra, Horus, Hathor, Atmu, and + of his fellow-gods, of Sopdu, Neferbiu, Samsetu, Horus, lord of the east, + and of the royal uraeus which rules on thy head, of the chief gods of the + waters, of Min, Horus of the desert, Urrit, mistress of Punt, Nut, + Harnekht, Ra, all the gods of the land of Egypt, and of the isles of the + sea. May they give life and peace to</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14">THE ADVENTURES OF SANEHAT 117</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c7">thy nostril, may they load thee with their gifts, + may they give to thee eternity without end, everlastingness without bound. + May the fear of thee be doubled in the lands of the deserts. Mayest thou + subdue the circuit of the sun's disc. This is the prayer to his master of + the humble servant who is saved from a foreign land.</span> <span + class="font14 c7">"O wise king, the wise words which are pronounced in the + wisdom of the majesty of the sovereign, thy humble servant fears to tell. + It is a great thing to repeat. O great God, like unto Ra in fulfilling + that to which he has set his hand, what am I that he should take thought + for me? Am I among those whom he regards, and for whom he arranges? Thy + majesty is as Horus, and the strength of thy arms extends to all lands.</span> + <span class="font14 c7">"Then let his Majesty bring Maki of Adma, + Kenti-au-ush of Khenti-keshu, and Tenus from the two lands ol the Fenkhu; + these are the princes who bear witness of</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font3">118 THE ADVENTURES OF SANEHAT</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c7">me as to all that has passed, out of love for + thyself. Does not Tenu believe that it belongs to thee like thy dogs. + Behold this flight that I have made: I did not have it in my heart; it was + like the leading of a dream, as a man of Adehi (Delta) sees himself in Abu + (Elephantine), as a man of the plain of Egypt who sees himself in the + deserts. There was no fear, there was no hastening after me, I did not + listen to an evil plot, my name was not heard in the mouth of the + magistrate; but my limbs went, my feet wandered, my heart drew me; my god + commanded this flight, and drew me on; but I am not stiff-necked. Does a + man fear when he sees his own land? Ra spread thy fear over the land, thy + terrors in every strange land. Behold me now in the palace, behold me in + this place; and lo! thou art he who is over all the horizon; the sun rises + at thy pleasure, the water in the rivers is drunk at thy will, the wind in + heaven is breathed at thy saying.</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14">THE ADVENTURES OF SANEHAT 119</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c9">"I who speak to thee shall leave my goods to the + generations to follow in this land. And as to this messenger who is come + even let thy majesty do as pleaseth him, for one lives by the breath that + thou givest. O thou who art beloved of Ra, of Horus, and of Hathor; Mentu, + lord of Thebes, desires that thy august nostril should live for ever."</span> + <span class="font14 c7">I made a feast in Iaa, to pass over my goods to my + children. My eldest son was leading my tribe, all my goods passed to him, + and I gave him my corn and all my cattle, my fruit, and all my pleasant + trees. When I had taken my road to the south, and arrived at the roads of + Horus, the officer who was over the garrison sent a messenger to the + palace to give notice. His majesty sent the good overseer of the peasants + of the king's domains, and boats laden with presents from the king for the + Sati who</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font3">120 THE ADVENTURES OF SANEHAT</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c7">had come to conduct me to the roads of Horus. I + spoke to each one by his name, and I gave the presents to each as was + intended. I received and I returned the salutation, and I continued thus + until I reached the city of Thetu.</span> <span class="font14 c7">When the + land was brightened, and the new day began, four men came with a summons + for me; and the four men went to lead me to the palace. I saluted with + both my hands on the ground; the royal children stood at the courtyard to + conduct me: the courtiers who were to lead me to the hall brought me on + the way to the royal chamber.</span> <span class="font14 c7">I found his + Majesty on the great throne in the hall of pale gold. Then I threw myself + on my belly; this god, in whose presence I was, knew me not. He questioned + me graciously, but I was as one seized with blindness, my spirit fainted, + my limbs failed, my heart was no longer in my bosom, and I knew the + difference</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14">THE ADVENTURES OF SANEHAT 121</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c7">between life and death. His majesty said to one of + the companions,"Lift him up, let him speak to me." And his majesty said, + "Behold thou hast come, thou hast trodden the deserts, thou hast played + the wanderer. Decay falls on thee, old age has reached thee; it is no + small thing that thy body should be embalmed, that the Pedtiu shall not + bury thee. Do not, do not, be silent and speechless; tell thy name; is it + fear that prevents thee?" I answered in reply, "I fear, what is it that my + lord has said that I should answer it? I have not called on me the hand of + God, but it is terror in my body, like that which brings sudden death. Now + behold I am before thee; thou art life; let thy majesty do what pleaseth + him."</span> <span class="font14 c7">The royal children were brought in, + and his majesty said to the queen, "Behold thou Sanehat has come as an + Amu, whom the Sati have produced."</span> <span class="font14 c7">She + cried aloud, and the royal children</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14">122 THE ADVENTURES OF SANEHAT</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c9">spake with one voice, saying, before his majesty, + "Verily it is not so, O king, my lord." Said his majesty, "It is verily + he." Then they brought their collars, and their wands, and their sistra in + their hands, and displayed them before his majesty; and they sang—</span> + <span class="font10 c21">"May thy hands prosper, O king; May the ornaments + of the Lady of Heaven continue. May the goddess Nub give life to thy + nostril; May the mistress of the stars favour thee, when thou</span> <span + class="font10 c21">sailest south and north. All wisdom is in the mouth of + thy majesty; Thy uraeus is on thy forehead, thou drivest away the + miserable.</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font10 c21">Thou art pacified, O Ra, lord of the lands; They + call on thee as on the mistress of all. Strong is thy horn, Thou lettest + fly thine arrow. Grant the breath to him who is without it; Grant good + things to this traveller, Samehit the Pedti,</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font10 c21">born in the land of Egypt, Who fled away from + fear of thee, And fled this land from thy terrors. Does not the face grow + pale, of him who beholds thy</span> <span class="font10 c21">countenance; + Does not the eye fear, which looks upon thee."</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <div class="fig" style="width:50%"> + <img src="images/p1-25.jpg" alt="p1-25.jpg" width="100%" /><br /> + </div> + <p> + <span class="font5">THE SONG OF THE PRINCESSES</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14">THE ADVENTURES OF SANEHAT 125</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c9">Said his majesty, " Let him not fear, let him be + freed from terror. He shall be a Royal Friend amongst the nobles; he shall + be put within the circle of the courtiers. Go ye to the chamber of praise + to seek wealth for him."</span> <span class="font14 c9">When I went out + from the palace, the royal children offered their hands to me; we walked + afterwards to the Great Gates. I was placed in a house of a king's son, in + which were delicate things, a place of coolness, fruits of the granary, + treasures of the White House, clothes of the king's guardrobe, + frankincense, the finest perfumes of the king and the nobles whom he + loves, in every chamber. All the servitors were in their several offices.</span> + <span class="font14 c9">Years were removed from my limbs: I was shaved, + and polled my locks of hair; the foulness was cast to the desert with the + garments of the Nemau-sha. I clothed me in fine linen, and anointed myself + with the fine oil of Egypt; I laid me on a bed. I</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14">126 THE ADVENTURES OF SANEHAT</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c9">gave up the sand to those who lie on it; the oil + of wood to him who would anoint himself therewith. There was given to me + the mansion of a lord of serfs, which had belonged to a royal friend. + There many ex-</span> + </p> + <div class="fig" style="width:50%"> + <img src="images/p1-26.jpg" alt="p1-26.jpg" width="100%" /><br /> + </div> + <p> + <span class="font5">THE SHAVING OF SANEHAT</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c7">cellent things were in its buildings; all its wood + was renewed. There were brought to me portions from the palace, thrice and + four times each day; besides the gifts of the royal children, always, + without ceasing. There was built for me a pyramid of stone</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14">REMARKS</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14">127</span> <span class="font14 c7">amongst the + pyramids. The overseer of the architects measured its ground; the chief + treasurer wrote it; the sacred masons cut the well; the chief of the + labourers on the tombs brought the bricks; all things used to make strong + a building were there used. There were given to me peasants; there were + made for me a garden, and fields in it before my mansion, as is done for + the chief royal friend. My statue was inlayed with gold, its girdle of + pale gold; his majesty caused it to be made. Such is not done to a man of + low degree.<i>May I be in the favour of the king until the day shall come + of my death.</i> <span class="font14 c7"><i>(This is finished from + beginning to end, as was found in the writing.)</i> <span class="font14">REMARKS</span> + The Adventures of Sanehat appears to have been a popular tale, as portions + of three copies remain. The first papyrus</span></span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14">128 THE ADVENTURES OF SANEHAT</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c7">known (Berlin No. 1) was imperfect at the + beginning; but since then a flake of limestone found in a tomb bore the + beginning of the tale, and the same part is found on a papyrus in the + Amherst collection. The main text has been translated by Chabas ("Le + papyrus de Berlin," 37-51), Goodwin, and Maspero ("Mel. d'arch.," iii. 68, + 140, and "Contes Populaire," 89-130); while the beginning is treated in + "Memoires de l'institut Egyptien," ii. 1-23, and in Proc. S.B.A., 452. The + present translation is mainly based on Mr. Griffith's readings in all + cases of difficulty.</span> <span class="font14 c7">This is perhaps the + most interesting of all the tales, because it bears such signs of being + written in the times of which it treats, it throws so much light on the + life of the time in Egypt and Syria, and if not a real narrative, it is at + least so probable that it may be accepted without much difficulty. For my + own part, I incline to look on it as strictly historical; and in the + absence of a single</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font15">REMARKS 129</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c7">point of doubt, I shall here treat it as seriously + as the biographical inscriptions of the early tombs. Possibly some day the + tomb of Sanehat may be found, and the whole inscription be read complete + upon the walls.</span> <span class="font14 c7">The name Sa-nehat means + "son of the sycamore," probably from his having been born, or living, at + some place where was a celebrated sacred sycamore. This was a common tree + in ancient, as in modern, Egypt; but an allusion in the tale, to Sanehat + turning his back on the sycamore, when he was fleeing apparently up the + west side of the Delta, makes it probable that the sycamore was that of + Aa-tenen, now Batnun, at the middle of the west side of the Delta.</span> + <span class="font14 c7">The titles given to Sanehat at the opening are of + a very high rank, and imply that he was the son either of the king or of a + great noble. And his position in the queen's household shows him to have + been of importance; the manner in which he is received 10</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14">130 THE ADVENTURES OF SANEHAT</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c7">by the royal family at the end implying that he + was quite familiar with them in early days.</span> <span class="font14 c7">But + the great difficulty in the account has been the sudden panic of Sanehat + on hearing of the death of Amenemhat, and no explanation of this has yet + been brought forward. It seems not unlikely that he was a son of Amenemhat + by some concubine. This would at once account for his high titles—for + his belonging to the royal household—for his fear of his elder + brother Usertesen, who might see in him a rival, and try to slay him after + his father's death—for the command to him to leave all his + possessions and family behind him in Syria, as the condition of his being + allowed to return to end his days in Egypt—for his familiar + reception by the royal family, and for the property given to him on his + return.</span> <span class="font14 c7">The date recorded for the death of + Sehote-pabra—Amenemhat I., the founder of the XIIth Dynasty—agrees + with the limit of his reign on the monuments. And the expres-</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14">REMARKS 131</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c7">sions for his death are valuable as showing the + manner in which a king's decease was regarded; under the emblem of a hawk—the + bird of Ra—he flew up and joined the sun.</span> <span + class="font14 c7">Sometime before his death Amenemhat had been in + retirement; after twenty years of reign (which was probably rather late in + his life, as he seems to have forced his way to the front as a successful + man and founder of a family) he had associated his son, the first + Usertesen, on the throne, and apparently resigned active life; for in the + third year of Usertesen we find the coregent summoning his court and + decreeing the founding of the temple of Heliopolis without any mention of + his father. The old king, however, lived yet ten years after his + retirement, and died (as this narrative shows us) during an expedition of + his son Usertesen.</span> <span class="font14 c7">The time of year + mentioned here would fall in about the middle of the inundation in those + days. Hence it seems that the military expeditions were made after the + harvest was</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14">132 THE ADVENTURES OF SANEHAT</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c7">secured, and while the country was under water and + the population disengaged from other labour.</span> <span class="font14 c7">The + course of Sanehat's flight southward, reaching the Nile at Cairo after two + days' haste, indicates that the army was somewhere west of the Delta. This + would point to its being on the road to the oasis of the Natron Lakes, + which would be the natural course for a body of men needing water supply. + His throwing himself between two bushes to hide from the army shows that + the message came early in the day, otherwise he would have fled in the + dark. He then fled a day's journey to the south, turning his back on the + sycamore, and slept in the open field at Shi-Seneferu somewhere below the + Barrage. The second day he reached the Nile opposite Old Cairo in the + afternoon, and ferried himself over, passed the quarries at Gebel + Mokattam, and the red hill of Gebel Ahmar, and came to a frontier wall + before dark. This cannot have been far from Old Cairo, by the time;</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14">REMARKS 133</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c7">and as Heliopolis was in course of building by + Usertesen, it would be probably on the desert near there, for the + protection of the town. Passing the desert guards by night he pushed on + and reached Peten, near Belbeis, by dawn, and turned east toward the + valley of Kemur, or Wady Tumilat. Here in his extremity he was found by + the Sati or Asiatics, and rescued. This shows that the eastern desert was + left to the wandering tribes, and was without any regular government at + this period; though all the eastern Delta was already well in Egyptian + hands, as we know by the monuments at Bubastis, Dedamun, and Tanis.</span> + <span class="font14 c7">The land of Adim to which Sanehat fled appears to + be the same as Edom or the southeast corner of Syria. It was evidently + near the upper Tenu, or Rutennu, who seem to have dwelt on the hill + country of Palestine. The hill and the plain of Palestine are so markedly + different, that in all ages they have tended to be held by opposing + people. In</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14">134 THE ADVENTURES OF SANEHAT</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c7">the time of Sanehat the upper Tenu who held the + hills were opposed to the Tenu in general who held the plains; later on + the Semites of the hills opposed the Philistines of the plain, and now the + <i>fellah</i> of the hills opposes the Bedawi of the plain. The district + of Amuanshi in which Sanehat settled was a goodly land, bearing figs and + grapes and olives, flowing with wine and honey and oil, yielding barley + and wheat without end, and much cattle. This abundance points rather to + the hill country near Hebron or between there and Belt Jibrin, as this + south part of the hills is notably fertile. The Tenu who came to defy + Sanehat, being in opposition to the upper Tenu, were probably those of the + plain; and the opposition to Sanehat may have arisen from his encroaching + on the fertile plain at the foot of his hills, as he was in the best of + the land "on the border of the next land."</span> <span class="font14 c7">The + Egyptian was evidently looked on as being of a superior race by the Tenu, + and</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14">REMARKS 135</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c7">his civilisation won for him the confidence which + many wandering Englishmen now find in Africa or Polynesia, like John Dunn. + The set combat of two champions seems—by the large gathering—to + have been a well-recognised custom among the Tenu, while it exactly + accords with Goliath's offer in later times. And raising the shout of + victory on the back of the fallen champion reminds us of David's standing + on Goliath.</span> <span class="font14 c7">The transition from the recital + of the Syrian adventures to the petition to Pharaoh is not marked in the + manuscript; but from the construction the beginning of the petition is + evidently at the place here marked. The manner in which Sanehat appeals to + the queen shows how well he must have been known to her in his former + days.</span> <span class="font14 c7">The decree in reply to Sanehat is in + the regular style of royal decrees of the period. Apparently by a clerical + error the scribe has substituted the name Amenemhat for Userte-sen, but + the Horus name and the throne name</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14">136 THE ADVENTURES OF SANEHAT</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c7">leave no doubt that Usertesen I. is intended here. + The tone of the reply is as gracious as possible, according with the + king's character as stated by Sanehat, "He is a friend of great sweetness, + and knows how to gain love." He quite recognises the inquiries after the + queen, and replies concerning her. And then he assures Sanehat of welcome + on his return, and promises him all that he asks, including a tomb "in the + company of the royal children," a full recognition of his real rank. + Incidentally we learn that the Amu buried their dead wrapped in a sheep's + skin; as we also learn, further on, that they anointed themselves with oil + (olive?), wore the hair long, and slept on the ground.</span> <span + class="font14 c7">The funeral that is promised accords with the burials of + the XIIth Dynasty: the gilded case, the head painted blue, and the canopy + of cypress wood, are all known of this period, but would be out of place + in describing a Ramesside burial.</span> <span class="font14 c7">Sanehat's + reply is a full course of the usual</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14">REMARKS</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14">137</span> <span class="font14 c7">religious + adulation, and differs in this remarkably from his petition. In fact it is + hard to be certain where his petition begins; possibly the opening of it + has been lost out of the text in copying from a mutilated papyrus; or + possibly it was sent merely as a memorandum of Sanehat's position and + desires, without venturing to address it personally to the king; or even + it may have not been allowable then to make such petitions formally, so as + to leave the initiative to the king's free will, just as it is not + allowable nowadays to question royalty, but only to answer when spoken to.</span> + <span class="font14 c7">The proposal to bring forward his fellow-sheikhs + as witnesses of his unabated loyalty is very curious, and seems + superfluous after Usertesen's assurances. Beyond Abisha of the Amu at Beni + Hasan, these are the only early personal names of Syrians that we know. + The Fenkhu in this connection can hardly be other than the Phoenicians; + and, if so, this points to their being already estab-</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14">138 THE ADVENTURES OF SANEHAT</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c7">lished in southern Syria at this date. But these + chiefs were not allowed to come forward; and it seems to have been the + policy of Egypt to keep the Syrians off as much as possible, not a single + man who came with Sanehat being allowed to cross the frontier. The + allusion to the Tenu belonging to Pharaoh, like his dogs, is peculiarly + fitting to this period, as the dog seems to have been more familiarly + domesticated in the XIth and XIIth Dynasties than at any other age, and + dogs are often then represented on the funereal steles, even with their + names.</span> <span class="font14 c7">The expression for strangeness—"as + a man of the Delta sees himself at the cataract, as a man of the plain who + sees himself in the deserts"—is true to this day. Nothing upsets an + Egyptian's self-reliance like going back a few miles into the desert; and + almost any man of the cultivated plain will flee with terror if he finds + himself left alone far in the desert, or even taken to the top of the + desert hills. .</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14">REMARKS 139</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c7">We learn incidentally that the Egyptian frontier, + even in the later years of Usertesen I., had not been pushed beyond the + Wady Tumilat; for Sanehat travels south to the Roads of Horus, where he + finds the frontier garrison, and leaves his Syrian friends; and there + laden boats meet him, showing that it must have been somewhere along a + waterway from the Nile.</span> <span class="font14 c7">The abasement of + Sanehat might well be due to natural causes, beside the reverence for the + divine person of the king. The Egyptian court must have seemed + oppressively splendid, with the brilliant and costly workmanship of + Usertesen, to one who had lived a half-wild life for so many years; and, + more than that, the recalling of all his early days and habits and + friendships would overwhelm his mind and make it difficult to collect his + thoughts.</span> <span class="font14 c7">Sanehat's appearance was so much + changed by his long hair, his age, and his strange dress, that his former + mistress and com-</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14">140 THE ADVENTURES OF SANEHAT</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c7">panions could not recognise him. The use of + collars and sceptres in the song and dance is not clear to us. The sistra + were, of course, to beat or rattle in time with the song; the sceptres or + wands were perhaps the same as the engraved wands of ivory common in the + XIIth Dynasty, or of blue glazed ware in XVIIIth, and would be used to + wave or beat time with; but the use of the collar and counterpoise, or <i>menat,</i> + is unexplained, though figures of dancers are shown holding a collar and + <i>menat,</i> and such objects were found buried in the ceremonial + foundation deposit of Tahutmes III. at Koptos.</span> <span + class="font14 c7">This song of the princesses is clearly in parallel + phrases. First are four wishes for the king and queen, in four lines. + Second, an ascription of wisdom and power, in two lines. Third, a + comparison of the king to Ra, and of the queen to the great goddess, in + two lines. Fourth, an ascription of righting power. Fifth, a petition for + Sanehat, winding up with the statement of fear inspired by</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14">REMARKS 141</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c7">the king, as explaining Sanehat's abasement. To + this the king responds by reassuring Sanehat, and promising him position + and wealth.</span> <span class="font14 c7">The account of Sanehat's + renewal of his old national ways can best be appreciated by any one who + has lived a rough life for a time and then comes back to civilisation. + Doubtless these comforts were all the more grateful to him in his old age, + when he was weary of his unsettled life.</span> <span class="font14 c7">In + the preparation of his tomb it is stated to have been a pyramid, with + rock-cut well chamber, and built of bricks above. This just accords with + the construction of the pyramids of the XIIth Dynasty.</span> <span + class="font14 c7">The last phrase implies that this was composed during + Sanehat's life; and such a life would be so remarkable that this biography + might be prepared with good reason. Also it is very unlikely that a mere + story-teller would have dropped the relation without describing his grand + funeral which was pro-</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14">142 THE ADVENTURES OF SANEHAT</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14 c7">mised to him. From suddenly stopping at the + preparation of the tomb, without going further, we have a strong + presumption that this was a true narrative, written at Sanehat's + dictation, and probably intended to be inscribed on his tomb wall. In any + case, we have here an invaluable picture of life in Palestine and in + Egypt, and the relations of the two countries, at an epoch before the time + of Abraham, and not paralleled by any other document until more than a + thousand years later.</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font17">INDEX</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font11 c40">AA-TENEN, 129</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font8 c40">Adim (Edom), 102, 133</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font8 c40">Age of 110 years, 25</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font8 c40">Ahnas, 76</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font8 c40">Aku, 100</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font8 c40">Amen, priestesses of, 50</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font8 c40">Amenemhat I., death, 97, 130</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font8 c40">Amu, burial of, 115, 136</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font8 c40">Amu-an-shi, 102-103</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font8 c40">Ankhet-Usertesen, 97</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font8 c40">Asri, 62</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font8 c40">Asses, 61-78; sacrificed, 90, 95</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font8 c40">BATHING at even, 11</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font8 c40">Baufra, 16</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font8 c40">Beating of servants, 42; of sekhti,</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font8 c40">70</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font8 c40">Brewing barley, 41 Burial of Amu, 115, 136 + Burning, punishment of, 15, 51.</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font8 c40">89 Burnt-offering, 83</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font8 c40">CASKET of ebony, II Champion fight, 108 Combat, + single, 109 Crocodile, carried away by, 15, 45; magic, 11</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font8 c40">DANCING girls, 34-57 Date of Hordedef's tale, 55 + Decree royal, 113, 135 Dedi, 22, 54 Ded-sneferu, 22, 54 Diadem's hidden, + 38 Dogs,:38 Dyke path, 62</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font8 c41">ENCHANTED crocodile, 11; duck, 28; isle, 83-87, + 94; ox, 31</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font11 c40">FEKA, 61</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font8 c40">Fenkhu, 117, 137</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font8 c40">Flax binding, 42</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font8 c40">Funeral ceremonies, 115, 136</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14">144</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14">INDEX</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font9 c42">GEBEL AIIMAR, too, 132 Goliath, 135</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font9 c40">HAKT, 33-37 Heliopolis, 31 Hemti, or tvpical + workman, 62,</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font9 c43">76</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font9 c43">Henenseten, 61, 76 Ilerakleopolis, 76</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font9 c40">IAA, 105, 119</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font9 c40">Isis, 33-38</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font9 c40">Isle of the blessed, 87</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font9">Jewel found, 21; lost, 17</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font9 c40">KANEFER, 97</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font9 c40">Kemur, IOI, 133</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font9 c40">Khafra, 9</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font9 c40">Kher-ahau, 100</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font9 c40">Khnumu, 34-38</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font9 c40">Khufu, 9</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font9 c40">Kings of the Vth Dynasty, 37, 55</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font9 c40">King's decease, 97, 130</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font9 c40">LAPIS Lazuli, 34, 56, 83, 95 Letopolis, 32</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font9 c42">MAGIC, belief in, 50; crocodile, 11; powers over + animals, 25; serpent, 83</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font9 c40">Malachite jewel, 17, 21</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font9 c40">Medum, 54</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font9 c40">Mentu, no</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font9 c40">Meruitensa, 62-66</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font9 c40">Meskhent, 33-37</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font9 c40">Mourning, 45, 98</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font9 c40">NATRON lakes, 132 Nebhat, 33-37 Nebka, 9, 15 + Neb-ka-n-ra, 69 Nemau-shaw, 105, 126 Nets for garments, 17 Nobles, council + of, 67, 79</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font9 c44">OARS, inlayed, 17; steering, 17, 53</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font9 c40">PALESTINE, 133</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font9 c40">Path, rights of, 77; stopped, 62</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font9 c40">Peten, 101, 133</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font9 c40">Petitions of Sekhti, 68, 73; of</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font9 c40">Sanehat, no, 116 Pleasure, demand for new, 16,</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font9">53</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font9 c42">Present of garments, 10, 50 Priestly descent of + Vth Dynasty,</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font9">56</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font9 c40">Proverbs, 28, 65, 78, 118, 138</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font9 c40">Ptah of Ankhtaui, 9</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font9 c40">Punishment, capital, 28; burning, 15, 51, 89</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font9 c40">Purification of women, 41, 57</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font9">RA, children of, 32, 55; son of,</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font9 c42">title, 55; temple of, 32 Ra-user, 34 Rowers, + maidens, 17 Rubbing by servants, 26 Rud-didet, 31, 55; children of, 33-38</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font9 c45">SAKHKEU, 32 Salutations, 26, 27</span> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font14">INDEX</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font9 c42">Sanehat, 97-142</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font9 c42">Sati, 100-121</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font9 c42">Sealing property, 41, 57</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font9 c42">Sekhet Heniat, 61-77</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font9 c42">Sekhti, or typical peasant, 61,</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font9 c42">76</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font9 c40">Seneferu, 16 Semnut, 8l Ship, 25, 82 Shi-Seneferu, + 100, 132 Song of princesses, 122, 140 Steertr, 17, 53, 54 Storm raised, + 38, 82 Syrian chiefs, 102, 117, 137</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font9 c40">TAHUTI, dwelling of, 25, 55 Tedium, ancient, 53 + Temehu (Lybians), 98</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font9 c40">Temple of Ptah, 9, 10 Tenu, 102, 107, 117, 133 + Thetu, 120 Trespass, 65</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font9 c40">UBA-ANER, 10, 49 Usertesen I., 98, 131</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font9 c40">WADY Tumilat, 133 Water party, 17 Waters removed, + 21 Wawat (Nubia), 81 Wax figures, 11,51 Women, position of, 49; rights of, + 49, 50</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font9">ZAZAMANKH, 16, 18, 22</span> + </p> + <p> + <span class="font9">I I</span> + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Egyptian Tales, First Series, IVth To +XIIth Dynasty, by W. 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@@ -0,0 +1,2237 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Egyptian Tales, First Series, IVth To XIIth +Dynasty, by W. M. Flinders Petrie + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Egyptian Tales, First Series, IVth To XIIth Dynasty + Translated From The Papyri, Second Edition + +Author: W. M. Flinders Petrie + +Editor: W. M. Flinders Petrie + +Illustrator: Tristram Ellis + +Release Date: January, 2005 [EBook #7386] +Last Updated: May 20, 2016 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK EGYPTIAN TALES *** + + + + +Produced by Eric Eldred + + + + + + +EGYPTIAN TALES, TRANSLATED FROM THE PAPYRI + +First Series, IVth To XIIth Dynasty + +By W. M. Flinders Petrie, D.C.L., LL.D.., Ph.D., Hon. F.S.A. (Scot.) + + +Illustrated By Tristram Ellis + +Second Edition + +London + +1899 + + + + +LIST OF CONTENTS + + +INTRODUCTION + +TALES OF THE MAGICIANS + +KHAFRA'S TALE + +BAUFRA'S TALE + +HORDEDEF'S TALE + +REMARKS + +THE PEASANT AND THE WORKMAN + +REMARKS + +THE SHIPWRECKED SAILOR + +REMARKS + +THE ADVENTURES OF SANEHAT + +REMARKS + + + + +INTRODUCTION + +IT is strange that while literature occupies so much attention as at +present, and while fiction is the largest division of our book-work, the +oldest literature and fiction of the world should yet have remained +unpresented to English readers. The tales of ancient Egypt have appeared +collectively only in French, in the charming volume of Maspero's "Contes +Populaires"; while some have been translated into English at scattered +times in volumes of the "Records of the Past." But research moves +forward; and translations that were excellent twenty years ago may now +be largely improved, as we attain more insight into the language. + +For another reason also there is a wide ground for the present volume. +In no case have any illustrations been attempted, to give that basis for +imagination which is all the more needed when reading of an age and a +land unfamiliar to our ideas. When following a narrative, whether of +real events or of fiction, many persons--perhaps most--find themselves +unconsciously framing in their minds the scenery and the beings of which +they are reading. To give a correct picture of the character of each of +the various ages to which these tales belong, has been the aim of the +present illustrations. A definite period has been assigned to each tale, +in accordance with the indications, or the history, involved in it; and, +so far as our present knowledge goes, all the details of life in the +scenes here illustrated are rendered in accord with the period of the +story. + +To some purely scholastic minds it may seem presumptuous to +intermingle translations of notable documents with fanciful +illustrations. But, considering the greater precision with which in +recent years we have been able to learn the changes and the fashions +of ancient life in Egypt, and the essentially unhistorical nature of +most of these tales, there seems ample reason to provide such material +for the reader's imagination in following the stories; it may-give +them more life and reality, and may emphasise the differences which +existed between the different periods to which these tales refer. + +It will be noticed how the growth of the novel is shadowed out in the +varied grounds and treatment of the tales. The earliest is purely a +collection of marvels or fabulous incidents of the simplest kind. Then +we advance to contrasts between town and country, between Egypt and +foreign lands. Then personal adventure, and the interest in schemes +and successes, becomes the staple material; while only in the later +periods does character come in as the groundwork. The same may be seen +in English literature--first the tales of wonders and strange lands, +then the novel of adventure, and lastly the novel of character. + +In translating these documents into English I have freely used the +various translations already published in other languages; but in all +cases more or less revision and retranslation from the original has +been made. In this matter I am indebted to Mr. F. Ll. Griffith, who has +in some cases--as in Anpu and Bata--almost entirely retranslated the +original papyrus. The material followed in each instance will be found +stated in the notes accompanying the tales. As to the actual +phraseology, I am alone responsible for that. How far original idiom +should be retained in any translation is always a debated question, and +must entirely depend on the object in view. Here the purpose of +rendering the work intelligible to ordinary readers required the +modifying of some idioms and the paraphrasing of others. But so far +as possible the style and tone of the original has been preserved, and +whatever could be easily followed has been left to speak for itself. In +many plainnesses of speech the old Egyptian resembled the modern +Oriental, or our own forefathers, more than ourselves in this age of +squeamishness as yet unparalleled in the world. To avoid offence a few +little modifications of words have been made; but rather than give a +false impression by tampering with any of the narrative, I have omitted +the sequel of the last tale and given only an outline of it. The diction +adopted has been the oldest that could be used without affectation when +dealing with the early times. It has been purposely modified in the +later tales; and in the last--which is of Ptolemaic authorship--a +modern style has been followed as more compatible with the later tone of +the narrative. + +For the illustrations Mr. Tristram Ellis's familiarity with Egypt has +been of good account in his life-like scenes here used. For each +drawing I have searched for the material among the monuments and +remains of the age in question. The details of the dresses, the +architecture, and the utensils, are all in accord with the period of +each tale. In the tale of Setnau two different styles are introduced. +Ahura is probably of the time of Amenhotep III., whereas Setnau is a +son of Ramessu II.; and the change of fashion between the two +different dynasties has been followed as distinctive of the two +persons, one a _ka_ or double of the deceased, the other a living man. +To the reader who starts with the current idea that all Egyptians were +alike, this continual change from one period to another may seem +almost fanciful. But it rests on such certain authority that we may +hope that this little volume may have its use as an object-lesson in +practical archaeology. + +The use and abuse of notes is a matter of dispute. To be constantly +interrupted in reading by some needless and elementary explanation is +an impertinence both to the author and the reader: the one cannot +resent it, the other therefore resents it for both. But what is to be +deemed needless entirely depends on the reader: I have been asked in +what country Pompei is, as it is not in the English Gazetteer. Rather +than intrude, then, on the reader when he is in high discourse with +the ancients, I humbly set up my interpreter's booth next door; and if +he cares to call in, and ask about any difficulties, I shall be glad +to help him if I can. Not even numbers are intruded to refer to notes; +for how often an eager reader has been led off his trail, and turned +blithely to refer to 37 or 186 only to find, "See J. Z. xxxviii. +377," at which he gnashed his teeth and cursed such interruptions. So +those to whom the original tales are obscure are humbly requested to +try for some profit from the remarks after them, that have been +gleaned by the translator. + +Much might be said by a "folk-lorist"--in proportion to his ardour. But +as there are folk-lorists and folk-lorists, and the schools of Rabbi +Andrew and Rabbi Joseph write different targums, I have left each to +make his own commentary without prejudice. + + + + +TALES OF THE MAGICIANS + + +One day, when King Khufu reigned over all the land, he said to his +chancellor, who stood before him, "Go call me my sons and my +councillors, that I may ask of them a thing." And his sons and his +councillors came and stood before him, and he said to them, "Know ye a +man who can tell me tales of the deeds of the magicians?" + +Then the royal son Khafra stood forth and said, "I will tell thy majesty +a tale of the days of thy forefather Nebka, the blessed; of what came to +pass when he went into the temple of Ptah of Ankhtaui." + + + + +KHAFRA'S TALE + + +"His majesty was walking unto the temple of Ptah, and went unto the +house of the chief reciter Uba-aner, with his train. Now when the wife +of Uba-aner saw a page, among those who stood behind the king, her heart +longed after him; and she sent her servant unto him, with a present of a +box full of garments. + +"And he came then with the servant. Now there was a lodge in the garden +of Uba-aner; and one day the page said to the wife of Uba-aner, 'In the +garden of Uba-aner there is now a lodge; behold, let us therein take our +pleasure.' So the wife of Uba-aner sent to the steward who had charge +over the garden, saying, 'Let the lodge which is in the garden be made +ready.' And she remained there, and rested and drank with the page until +the sun went down. + +"And when the even was now come the page went forth to bathe. And the +steward said, 'I must go and tell Uba-aner of this matter.' Now when +this day was past, and another day came, then went the steward to +Uba-aner, and told him of all these things. + +"Then said Uba-aner, 'Bring me my casket of ebony and electrum.' And +they brought it; and he fashioned a crocodile of wax, seven fingers +long: and he enchanted it, and said, 'When the page comes and bathes in +my lake, seize on him.' And he gave it to the steward, and said to him, +'When the page shall go down into the lake to bathe, as he is daily wont +to do, then throw in this crocodile behind him.' And the steward went +forth bearing the crocodile. + +"And the wife of Uba-aner sent to the steward who had charge over the +garden, saying, 'Let the lodge which is in the garden be made ready, for +I come to tarry there.' + +"And the lodge was prepared with all good things; and she came and made +merry therein with the page. And when the even was now come, the page +went forth to bathe as he was wont to do. And the steward cast in the +wax crocodile after him into the water; and, behold! it became a +great crocodile seven cubits in length, and it seized on the page. + +"And Uba-aner abode yet seven days with the king of Upper and Lower +Egypt, Nebka, the blessed, while the page was stifled in the crocodile. +And after the seven days were passed, the king of Upper and Lower Egypt, +Nebka, the blessed, went forth, and Uba-aner went before him. + +"And Uba-aner said unto his majesty, 'Will your majesty come and see +this wonder that has come to pass in your days unto a page?' And the +king went with Uba-aner. And Uba-aner called unto the crocodile and +said, 'Bring forth the page.' And the crocodile came forth from the lake +with the page. Uba-aner said unto the king, 'Behold, whatever I command +this crocodile he will do it.' And his majesty said, 'I pray you send back +this crocodile." And Uba-aner stooped and took up the crocodile, and it +became in his hand a crocodile of wax. And then Uba-aner told the king +that which had passed in his house with the page and his wife. And his +majesty said unto the crocodile, 'Take to thee thy prey.' And the +crocodile plunged into the lake with his prey, and no man knew whither +he went. + +"And his majesty the king of Upper and Lower Egypt, Nebka, the blessed, +commanded, and they brought forth the wife of Uba-aner to the north side +of the harem, and burnt her with fire, and cast her ashes in the +river. + +"This is a wonder that came to pass in the days of thy forefather the +king of Upper and Lower Egypt, Nebka, of the acts of the chief reciter +Uba-aner." + +His majesty the king of Upper and Lower Egypt, Khufu, then said, "Let +there be presented to the king Nebka, the blessed, a thousand loaves, a +hundred draughts of beer, an ox, two jars of incense; and let there be +presented a loaf, a jar of beer, a jar of incense, and a piece of meat +to the chief reciter Uba-aner; for I have seen the token of his +learning." And they did all things as his majesty commanded. + + + + +BAUFRA'S TALE + + +The royal sou Bau-f-ra then stood forth and spake. He said, "I will tell +thy majesty of a wonder which came to pass in the days of thy father +Seneferu, the blessed, of the deeds of the chief reciter Zazamankh. One +day King Seneferu, being weary, went throughout his palace seeking for a +pleasure to lighten his heart, but he found none. And he said, +'Haste, and bring before me the chief reciter and scribe of the rolls +Zazamankh'; and they straightway brought him. And the king said, 'I have +sought in my palace for some delight, but I have found none.' Then said +Zazamankh to him, 'Let thy majesty go upon the lake of the palace, and +let there be made ready a boat, with all the fair maidens of the harem +of thy palace; and the heart of thy majesty shall be refreshed with +the sight, in seeing their rowing up and down the water, and seeing +the goodly pools of the birds upon the lake, and beholding its sweet +fields and grassy shores; thus will thy heart be lightened. And I also +will go with thee. Bring me twenty oars of ebony, inlayed with gold, +with blades of light wood, inlayed with electrum; and bring me twenty +maidens, fair in their limbs, their bosoms and their hair, all +virgins; and bring me twenty nets, and give these nets unto the +maidens for their garments.' And they did according to all the +commands of his majesty. + +"And they rowed down the stream and up the stream, and the heart of his +majesty was glad with the sight of their rowing. But one of them at the +steering struck her hair, and her jewel of new malachite fell into the +water. And she ceased her song, and rowed not; and her companions +ceased, and rowed not. And his majesty said, 'Row you not further?' And +they replied, 'Our little steerer here stays and rows not.' His majesty +then said to her, 'Wherefore rowest thou not?' She replied, 'It is for +my jewel of new malachite which is fallen in the water.' And he said to +her, 'Row on, for behold I will replace it.' And she answered, 'But I +want my own piece back in its setting.' And his majesty said, 'Haste, +bring me the chief reciter Zazamankh,' and they brought him. And his +majesty said, 'Zazamankh, my brother, I have done as thou sayedst, and +the heart of his majesty is refreshed with the sight of their rowing. +But now a jewel of new malachite of one of the little ones is fallen in +the water, and she ceases and rows not, and she has spoilt the rowing of +her side. And I said to her, "Wherefore rowest thou not?" and she +answered to me, "It is for my jewel of new malachite which is fallen in +the water." I replied to her, "Row on, for behold I will replace it"; +and she answered to me, "But I want my own piece again back in its +setting."' Then the chief reciter Zazamankh spake his magic speech. And +he placed one part of the waters of the lake upon the other, and +discovered the jewel lying upon a shard; and he took it up and gave it +unto its mistress. And the water, which was twelve cubits deep in the +middle, reached now to twenty-four cubits after he turned it. And he +spake, and used his magic speech; and he brought again the water of the +lake to its place. And his majesty spent a joyful day with the whole of +the royal house. Then rewarded he the chief reciter Zazamankh with all +good things. Behold, this is a wonder that came to pass in the days of +thy father, the king of Upper and Lower Egypt, Seneferu, of the deeds of +the chief reciter, the scribe of the rolls, Zazamankh." Then said the +majesty of the king of Upper and Lower Egypt, Khufu, the blessed, "Let +there be presented an offering of a thousand cakes, one hundred draughts +of beer, an ox, and two jars of incense to the king of Upper and Lower +Egypt, Sene-feru, the blessed; and let there be given a loaf, a jar of +beer, and a jar of incense to the chief reciter, the scribe of the +rolls, Zazamankh; for I have seen the token of his learning." And they +did all things as his majesty commanded. + + + + +HORDEDEF'S TALE + + +The royal son Hordedef then stood forth and spake. He said, "Hitherto +hast thou only heard tokens of those who have gone before, and of +which no man knoweth their truth But I will show thy majesty a man of +thine own days." And his majesty said, "Who is he, Hordedef?" And the +royal son Hordedef answered, "It is a certain man named Dedi, who +dwells at Dedsneferu. He is a man of one hundred and ten years old; +and he eats five hundred loaves of bread, and a side of beef, and +drinks one hundred draughts of beer, unto this day. He knows how to +restore the head that is smitten off; he knows how to cause the lion +to follow him trailing his halter on the ground; he knows the designs +of the dwelling of Tahuti. The majesty of the king of Upper and Lower +Egypt, Khufu, the blessed, has long sought for the designs of the +dwelling of Tahuti, that he may make the like of them in his pyramid." + +And his majesty said, "Thou, thyself, Hordedef, my son, bring him to +me." Then were the ships made ready for the king's son Hordedef, and he +went up the stream to Dedsneferu. And when the ships had moored at the +haven, he landed, and sat him in a litter of ebony, the poles of which +were of cedar wood overlayed with gold. Now when he drew near to Dedi, +they set down the litter. And he arose to greet Dedi, and found him +lying on a palmstick couch at the door of his house; one servant held +his head and rubbed him, and another rubbed his feet. + +And the king's son Hordedef said, "Thy state is that of one who lives to +good old age; for old age is the end of our voyage, the time of +embalming, the time of burial. Lie, then, in the sun, free of +infirmities, without the babble of dotage: this is the salutation to +worthy age. I come from far to call thee, with a message from my father +Khufu, the blessed, for thou shalt eat of the best which the king gives, +and of the food which those have who follow after him; that he may bring +thee in good estate to thy fathers who are in the tomb." + +And Dedi replied to him, "Peace to thee! Peace to thee! Hordedef, son of +the king, beloved of his father. May thy father Khufu, the blessed, +praise thee, may he advance thee amongst the elders, may thy _ka_ prevail +against the enemy, may thy soul know the right road to the gate of him +who clothes the afflicted; this is the salutation to the king's son." +Then the king's son, Hordedef, stretched forth his hands to him, and +raised him up, and went with him to the haven, giving unto him his arm. +Then said Dedi, "Let there he given me a boat, to bring me my youths and +my books." And they made ready for him two boats with their rowers. And +Dedi went down the river in the barge in which was the king's son +Hordedef. And when he had reached the palace, the king's son, Hordedef, +entered in to give account unto his majesty the king of Upper and Lower +Egypt, Khufu, the blessed. Then said the king's son Hordedef, "O king, +life, wealth, and health! My lord, I have brought Dedi." His majesty +replied, "Bring him to me speedily." And his majesty went into the hall +of columns of Pharaoh (life, wealth, and health), and Dedi was led +before him. And his majesty said, "Wherefore is it, Dedi, that I have +not yet seen thee?" And Dedi answered, "He who is called it is that +comes; the king (life, wealth, and health) calls me, and behold I +come," And his majesty said, "Is it true, that which men say, that +thou canst restore the head which is smitten off?" And Dedi replied, +"Truly, I know that, O king (life, wealth, and health), my lord." And +his majesty said, "Let one bring me a prisoner who is in prison, that +his punishment may be fulfilled." And Dedi said, "Let it not be a man, +O king, my lord; behold we do not even thus to our cattle." And a duck +was brought unto him, and its head was cut off. And the duck was laid +on the west side of the hall, and its head on the east side of the +hall. And Dedi spake his magic speech. And the duck fluttered along +the ground, and its head came likewise; and when it had come part to +part the duck stood and quacked. And they brought likewise a goose +before him, and he did even so unto it. His majesty caused an ox to be +brought, and its head cast on the ground. And Dedi spake his magic +speech. And the ox stood upright behind him, and followed him with his +halter trailing on the ground. + +And King Khufu said, "And is it true what is said, that thou knowest the +number of the designs of the dwelling of Tahuti?" And Dedi replied, +"Pardon me, I know not their number, O king (life, wealth, and health), +but I know where they are." And his majesty said, "Where is that?" And +Dedi replied, "There is a chest of whetstone in a chamber named the +plan-room, in Heli-opolis; they are in this chest." And Dedi said +further unto him, "O king (life, wealth, and health), my lord, it is not +I that is to bring them to thee." And his m'jesty said, "Who, then, is +it that shall bring them to me?" And Dedi answered to him, "It is the +eldest of the three children who are in the body of Rud-didet who +shall bring them to thee." And his majesty said, "Would that it may be +as thou sayest! And who is this Rud-didet?" And Dedi replied, "She is +the wife of a priest of Ra, lord of Sakhebu. And she has conceived +these three sons by Ra, lord of Sakhebu, and the god has promised her +that they shall fulfil this noble office (of reigning) over all this +land, and that the eldest of them shall be high priest in Heliopolis." +And his majesty's heart became troubled for this; but Dedi spake unto +him, "What is this that thou thinkest, O king (life, wealth, health), +my lord? Is it because of these three children? I tell thee thy son +shall reign, and thy son's son, and then one of them." His majesty +said, "And when shall Rud-didet bear these?" And he replied, "She +shall bear them on the 26th of the month Tybi." And his majesty said, +"When the banks of the canal of Letopolis are cut, I will walk there +that I may see the temple of Ra, lord of Sakhebu." And Dedi replied, +"Then I will cause that there be four cubits of water by the banks of +the canal of Letopolis." When his majesty returned to his palace, his +majesty said, "Let them place Dedi in the house of the royal son +Hordedef, that he may dwell with him, and let them give him a daily +portion of a thousand loaves, a hundred draughts of beer, an ox, and a +hundred bunches of onions." And they did everything as his majesty +commanded. + +And one day it came to pass that Rud-didet felt the pains of birth. And +the majesty of Ra, lord of Sakhebu, said unto Isis, to Nebhat, to +Meskhent, to Hakt, and to Khnumu, "Go ye, and deliver Rud-didet of these +three children that she shall bear, who are to fulfil this noble office +over all this land; that they may build up your temples, furnish your +altars with offerings, supply your tables of libation, and increase your +endowments." Then went these deities; their fashion they made as that of +dancing-girls, and Khnumu was with them as a porter. They drew near +unto the house of Ra-user, and found him standing, with his girdle +fallen. And they played before him with their instruments of music. +But he said unto them, "My ladies, behold, here is a woman who feels +the pains of birth." They said to him, "Let us see her, for we know +how to help her." And he replied, "Come, then." And they entered in +straightway to Rud-didet, and they closed the door on her and on +themselves. Then Isis stood before her, and Nebhat stood behind her, +and Hakt helped her. And Isis said, "O child, by thy name of User-ref, +do not do violence." And the child came upon her hands, as a child of +a cubit; its bones were strong, the beauty of its limbs was like gold, +and its hair was like true lapis lazuli. They washed him, and prepared +him, and placed him on a carpet on the brickwork. Then Meskhent +approached him and said, "This is a king who shall reign over all the +land." And Khnumu gave strength to his limbs. Then Isis stood before +her, and Nebhat stood behind her, and Hakt helped her. And Isis said, +"O child, by thy name of Sah-ra, stay not in her." Then the child came +upon her hands, a child of a cubit; its bones were strong, the beauty +of its limbs was like gold, and its hair was like true lapis lazuli. +They washed him, and prepared him, and layed him on a carpet on the +brickwork. Then Meskhent approached him and said, "This is a king who +shall reign over all the land." And Khnumu gave strength to his limbs. +Then Isis stood before her, and Nebhat stood behind her, and Hakt +helped her. And Isis said, "O child, by thy name of Kaku, remain not +in darkness in her." And the child came upon her hands, a child of a +cubit; its bones were strong, the beauty of its limbs was like gold, +and its hair was like true lapis lazuli. And Meskhent approached him +and said, "This is a king who shall reign over all the land." And +Khnumu gave strength to his limbs. And they washed him, and prepared +him, and layed him on a carpet on the brickwork. + +And the deities went out, having delivered Rud-didet of the three +children. And they said, "Rejoice! O Ra-user, for behold three children +are born unto thee." And he said unto them, "My ladies, and what shall I +give unto ye? Behold, give this bushel of barley here unto your porter, +that ye may take it as your reward to the brew-house." And Khnumu loaded +himself with the bushel of barley. And they went away toward the place +from which they came. And Isis spake unto these goddesses, and said, +"Wherefore have we come without doing a marvel for these children, that +we may tell it to their father who has sent us?" Then made they the +divine diadems of the king (life, wealth, and health), and laid them in +the bushel of barley. And they caused the clouds to come with wind and +rain; and they turned back again unto the house. And they said, "Let us +put this barley in a closed chamber, sealed up, until we return +northward, dancing." And they placed the barley in a close chamber. + +And Rud-didet purified herself, with a purification of fourteen days. +And she said to her handmaid, "Is the house made ready?" And she +replied, "All things are made ready, but the brewing barley is not yet +brought." And Rud-didet said, "Wherefore is the brewing barley not yet +brought?" And the servant answered, "It would all of it long since +be ready if the barley had not been given to the dancing-girls, and lay +in the chamber under their seal." Rud didet said, "Go down, and bring of +it, and Ra-user shall give them in its stead when he shall come," And +the handmaid went, and opened the chamber. And she heard talking and +singing, music and dancing, quavering, and all things which are +performed for a king in his chamber. And she returned and told to +Rud-didet all that she had heard. And she went through the chamber, but +she found not the place where the sound was. And she layed her temple to +the sack, and found that the sounds were in it. She placed it in a +chest, and put that in another locker, and tied it fast with leather, +and layed it in the store-room, where the things were, and sealed it. +And Ra-user came returning from the field; and Rud-didet repeated unto +him these things; and his heart was glad above all things; and they sat +down and made a joyful day. + +And after these days it came to pass that Rud-didet was wroth with her +servant, and beat her with stripes. And the servant said unto those that +were in the house, "Shall it be done thus unto me? She has borne three +kings, and I will go and tell this to his majesty King Khufu the +blessed." And she went, and found the eldest brother of her mother, who +was binding his flax on the floor. And he said to her, "Whither goest +thou, my little maid?" And she told him of all these things. And her +brother said to her, "Wherefore comest thou thus to me? Shall I agree +to treachery?" And he took a bunch of the flax to her, and laid on +her a violent blow. And the servant went to fetch a handful of water, +and a crocodile carried her away. + +Her uncle went therefore to tell of this to Rud-didet; and he found +Rud-didet sitting, her head on her knees, and her heart beyond measure +sad. And he said to her, "My lady, why makest thou thy heart thus?" And +she answered, "It is because of this little wretch that was in the +house; behold she went out saying, 'I will go and tell it.'" And he +bowed his head unto the ground, and said, "My lady, she came and told me +of these things, and made her complaint unto me; and I laid on her a +violent blow. And she went forth to draw water, and a crocodile carried +her away." + +_(The rest of the tale is lost.)_ + + + + +Remarks + + +The tales or the magicians are only preserved in a single copy, and of +that the beginning is entirely lost. The papyrus was brought from Egypt +by an English traveller, and was purchased by the Berlin Museum from the +property of Lepsius, who had received it from the owner, Miss Westcar: +hence it is known as the Westcar papyrus. It was written probably in the +XIIth Dynasty, but doubtless embodied tales, which had been floating +for generations before, about the names of the early kings. It shows us +probably the kind of material that existed for the great recension of +the pre-monu-mental history, made in the time of Seti I. Those ages of +the first three dynasties were as long before that recension as we are +after it; and this must always be remembered in considering the +authority of the Egyptian records. + +This papyrus has been more thoroughly studied than most, perhaps more +than any other. Erman has devoted two volumes to it; publishing the +whole in photographic facsimile, transcribed in hieroglyphs, +transcribed in the modern alphabet, translated literally, translated +freely, commented on and discussed word by word, and with a complete +glossary of all words used in it. This exhaustive publication is named +"Der Marchen des Papyrus Westcar." Moreover, Maspero has given a +current translation in the "Contes Populaires," 2nd edit. pp. 53-86. + +The scheme of these tales is that they are all told to King Khufu by his +sons; and as the beginning is lost, eight lines are here added to +explain this and introduce the subject. The actual papyrus begins with +the last few words of a previous tale concerning some other magician +under an earlier king. Then comes the tale of Khafra, next that of +Bau-f-ra, and lastly that of Hor-dedef. + +It need hardly be said that these tales are quite fictitious. The king +and his successor Khafra are real, but the other sons cannot be +identified; and the confusion of supposing three kings of the Vth +Dynasty to be triplets born early in the IVth Dynasty, shows what very +vague ideas of their own history the Egyptians had when these tales were +formed. This does not prevent our seeing that they embodied some very +important traditions, and gives us an unequalled picture of the early +civilisation. + +In the earliest tale or the three there seems at first sight merely a +sketch of faithlessness and revenge. But there is probably much more +in it. To read it aright we must bear in mind the position of woman in +ancient Egypt. If, in later ages, Islam has gone to the extreme of the +man determining his own divorce at a word, in early times almost the +opposite system prevailed. All property belonged to the woman; all +that a man could earn, or inherit, was made over to his wife; and +families always reckoned back further on the mother's side than the +father's. As the changes in historical times have been in the +direction of men's rights, it is very unlikely that this system of +female predominance was invented or introduced, but rather that it +descends from primitive times. In this tale we see, then, at the +beginning of our knowledge of the country, the clashing of two +different social systems. The reciter is strong for men's rights, he +brings destruction on the wife, and never even gives her name, but +always calls her merely "the wife of Uba-aner." But behind all this +there is probably the remains of a very different system. The servant +employed by the mistress seems to see nothing outrageous in her +proceedings; and even the steward, who is on the master's side, waits +a day or two before reporting matters. When we remember the supremacy +in properly and descent which women held in Egypt, and then read this +tale, it seems that it belongs to the close of a social system like +that of the Nairs, in which the lady makes her selection--with +variations from time to time. The incident of sending a present of +clothing is curiously like the tale about a certain English envoy, +whose proprieties were sadly ruffled in the Nair country, when a lady +sent him a grand shawl with an intimation of her choice. The +priestesses of Amen retained to the last this privilege of choice, as +being under divine, and not human protection; but it seems to have +become unseemly in late times. + +The hinging of this tale, and of those that follow it, upon the use of +magic, shows how thoroughly the belief in magic powers was ingrained +in the Egyptians. Now such a belief implies the presence of magicians, +and shows how familiar must have been the claim to such powers, and +the practising of the tricks of witchcraft, so prevalent in Africa in +modern times. The efficacy of a model, such as this crocodile of wax, +is an idea continually met with in Egypt. The system of tomb furniture +and decoration, of _ka_ statues, of _ushabtis_ or figures to work for +the deceased, and the models placed in foundation deposits, all show +how a model was supposed to have the efficacy of an actual reality. +Even in the latest tale of all (written in Ptolemaic times), Setnau +makes a model of a boat and men, to be sunk in the river to work for +him. The reconversion of the crocodile to wax, on being taken up by +the magician, reminds us of the serpent becoming again a rod when +taken up by Aaron. + +The punishment of burning alive is very rarely, if ever, mentioned in +Egyptian history, though it occurs in modern Egyptian tales: and it +looks as if it were brought in here rather as a dire horror for the +climax than as a probable incident. The place of the penalty, in front +of the harem, or the private portion of the palace, was evidently for +the intimidation of other ladies. + +At the close of each tale, King Khufu, to whom it is told, orders +funerary offerings by the usual formula, to be presented in honour of +the king under whom the wonder took place. On the tablets of the tombs +in the early times, there is usually recorded the offering--or, rather, +the pious desire that there should be offered--thousands of loaves, of +oxen, of gazelles, of cranes, &c., for a deceased person. Such +expression cost no more by the thousand than by the dozen, so thousands +came to be the usual expression in all ordaining of offerings. + +We are so accustomed to think of tedium as something modern, that it +seems strange to find in the oldest tales [Page 16] in the world how the +first king of whom we know anything was bored by his pleasures. A reward +for discovering a new pleasure is the very basis of the tale of Sneferu; +and the wise man's remedy of a day in the country is still the best +resource, though all that we know as human history has tried its +experiments in enjoyment since then. The flavour of the ballet thrown +in, by the introduction of the damsels of the household clad in fishing +nets, is not yet obsolete in modern amusements; and even in this century +Muhammed Ali had resource to the same way of killing time, as he was +rowed about by his _harem,_ but on an artificial lake. + +The use of two large oars for steering explains the detail of the +story. The oars were one on each side of the stern, and were each +managed by a steerer. From the tale we see that the steerer led the +song of the rowers, and if the leader ceased, all that side of the +boat ceased also.. The position of the lost jewel upon the hair shows +that it was in a fillet set with inlaying, like that seen on early +figures, such as Nefert at Medum, who wears a fillet of rosettes to +retain the hair; and the position of the steering oar attached to a +post, with the handle rising high in the air, explains how it could +strike the fillet and displace the jewel. + +The last tale is really double, a tale within a tale. It begins with +the wonders done by Dedi, and then goes on with the [Page 22] history +or the children about whom he prophesied to Khufu. + +The village of Dedi was probably near Medum, as in the temple of Sneferu +at Medum an offering was found presented by a worshipper to the gods +of Ded-sneferu: hence the background which is here given for the scene +of Hordedef leading old Dedi. The translation of "the designs of the +dwelling of Tahuti" is not certain; but the passage seems to refer to +some architectural plan which was desired for the pyramid. + +The story of Rud-didet is remarkable historically. She is said to be +wife of the priest of Ra, her children are sons of Ra, and they are the +first three kings of the Vth dynasty, and supplanted the line of Khufu. +This points to the Vth Dynasty having been a priestly usurpation; and on +looking at its history we see two confirmations of this. The title "Son +of Ra" is so common in most ages in Egypt that it is taken for granted, +and is applied in lists to any second cartouche; but it is not found +until well into the Vth Dynasty; the earlier kings were not descendants +of Ra, and it is only on arriving at this dynasty, which claimed descent +from Ra, through the wife of the priest of Ra, that we find the claim +of each king to be a "son of Ra." Another confirmation of this +priestly descent is the abundance of priesthoods established for the +kings of the Vth Dynasty; a care which agrees with their having a +priestly origin; while in the tale it is particularly said that they +would build up the temples, furnish the altars with offerings, supply +the tables of libations, and increase the religious endowments. + +The names of the three children are a play upon the names of the first +three kings of the Vth Dynasty. User-kaf is made into User-ref; +Sahu-ra is written Sah-ra; and Kaka is Kaku; thus making allusions to +their births. The comparison of the hair to true lapis lazuli seems +very strange; but there is often a confusion between black aind blue +in uneducated races, and _azrak_ means either dark blue or green, or +black, at present in Arabic. Lapis lazuli is brought in to the name of +the queen of Ramessu VI., who was called "gold and lazuli," +_Nub-khesdeb;_ recalling the comparison here of personal beauty to +these precious materials. + +It is noticeable here that in a tale of the Vth Dynasty, certainly +written as early as the XIIth Dynasty, we find professional dancers +commonly recognised, and going on travels through the country, with a +porter. + +From this tale we also learn that Egyptian women underwent a +purification of fourteen days, during which they kept apart and did not +attend to any household matters. The mistress of the house here inquires +if the preparations are made for the feast on her return to household +affairs; and hears then how the beer cannot be made for lack of the barley. + +The securing of the sack is just in accord with the remains of this +early period; the use of boxes, of thongs of leather for tying and of +clay sealings for securing property, were all familiar matters in the +XIIth Dynasty, as we learn from Kahun. + +The present close of the tale is evidently only a stage in it, when the +treacherous maid meets with the common doom of the wicked in Egyptian +romance. How it was continued is a matter of speculation, but Khufu +ought certainly to reappear and to order great rewards for Dedi, who up +to this has only had maintenance on his requisite scale provided for +him. Yet it is imperative that the children shall be saved from his +wrath, as they are the kings of the Vth Dynasty. There may be a long +episode lost of their flight and adventures. + +One reference to a date needs notice. The 25th of the month Tybi is said +to be the predicted birthday of the children; and Khufu refers to going +to Sakhebu about that time apparently, when the banks of the canal are +cut and the land was drying after the inundation, whereon Dedi +threatens that the water shall still be deep there. This points to 25th +Tybi being about the close of the inundation. This would be about +the case both in the beginning of the IVth Dynasty, and also in the +XIIth Dynasty, when the papyrus was perhaps written: hence there is +nothing conclusive to be drawn from this allusion so far. But when we +compare this tale with those following, we see good ground for its +belonging to a time before the XIIth Dynasty The following tale of the +peasant and the workman evidently belongs to the IXth or Xth Dynasties, +when Herakleopolis was the capital, and Sanehat is certainly of the +XIIth Dynasty. Yet in those we see character and incident made the basis +of interest, in place of the childish profusion of marvels of the Tales +of the Magicians. It seems impossible not to suppose that they belong to +very different ages and canons of taste; and hence we cannot refer the +crudities of the Khufu tales to the time of the far more elaborate and +polished recital of the adventures of Sanehat in the XIIth Dynasty. +Being thus obliged to suppose an earlier date for these tales, the +allusion to the month Tybi throws us back to a very early period--the +IVth Dynasty--for their original outlines. Doubtless they were modified +by reciters, and probably took shape in the Vth or VIth Dynasties; but +yet we must regard them as belonging practically to the age to which +they refer. + + + + +IN THE SEKHET HEMAT + +IXTH DYNASTY + + + + +THE PEASANT AND THE WORKMAN + + +There dwelt in the Sekhet Hemat--or salt country--a peasant called the +Sekhti, with his wife and children, his asses and his dogs; and he +trafficked in all good things of the Sekhet Hemat to Henenseten. Behold +now he went with rushes, natron, and salt, with wood and pods, with +stones and seeds, and all good products of the Sekhet Hemat. And this +Sekhti journeyed to the south unto Henenseten; and when he came to the +lands of the house of Fefa, north of Denat, he found a man there +standing on the bank, a man called Hemti--the workman--son of a man +called Asri, who was a serf of the High Steward Meruitensa. Now said +this Hemti, when he saw the asses of Sekhti, that were pleasing in his +eyes, "Oh that some good god would grant me to steal away the goods of +Sekhti from him!" + +Now the Hemti's house was by the dyke of the tow-path, which was +straitened, and not wide, as much as the width of a waist cloth: on the +one side of it was the water, and on the other side of it grew his corn. +Hemti said then to his servant, "Hasten I bring me a shawl from the +house," and it was brought instantly. Then spread he out this shawl on +the face of the dyke, and it lay with its fastening on the water and its +fringe on the corn. + +Now Sekhti approached along the path used by all men. Said Hemti, "Have +a care, Sekhti! you are not going to trample on my clothes!" Said +Sekhti, "I will do as you like, I will pass carefully." Then went he +up on the higher side. But Hemti said, "Go you over my corn, instead +of the path?" Said Sekhti, "I am going carefully; this high field of +corn is not my choice, but you have stopped your path with your +clothes, and will you then not let us pass by the side of the path?" +And one of the asses filled its mouth with a cluster of corn. Said +Hemti, "Look you, I shall take away your ass, Sekhti, for eating my +corn; behold it will have to pay according to the amount of the +injury." Said Sekhti, "I am going carefully; the one way is stopped, +therefore took I my ass by the enclosed ground, and do you seize it +for filling its mouth with a cluster of corn? Moreover, I know unto +whom this domain belongs, even unto the Lord Steward Meruitensa. He it +is who smites every robber in this whole land; and shall I then be +robbed in his domain?" + +Said Hemti, "This is the proverb which men speak: 'A poor man's name is +only his own matter.' I am he of whom you spake, even the Lord Steward +of whom you think." Thereon he took to him branches of green tamarisk +and scourged all his limbs, took his asses, and drave them into the +pasture. And Sekhti wept very greatly, by reason of the pain of what +he had suffered. Said Hemti, "Lift not up your voice, Sekhti, or you +shall go to the Demon of Silence." Sekhti answered, "You beat me, you +steal my goods, and now would take away even my voice, O demon of +silence! If you will restore my goods, then will I cease to cry out at +your violence." + +Sekhti stayed the whole day petitioning Hemti, but he would not give ear +unto him. And Sekhti went his way to Khenensuten to complain to the Lord +Steward Meruitensa. He found him coming out from the door of his house +to embark on his boat, that he might go to the judgment hall. Sekhti +said, "Ho! turn, that I may please thy heart with this discourse. Now at +this time let one of thy followers whom thou wilt, come to me that I +may send him to thee concerning it." The Lord Steward Meruitensa made +his follower, whom he chose, go straight unto him, and Sekhti sent him +back with an account of all these matters. Then the Lord Steward +Meruitensa accused Hemti unto the nobles who sat with him; and they said +unto him, "By your leave: As to this Sekhti of yours, let him bring a +witness. Behold thou it is our custom with our Sekhtis; witnesses come +with them; behold, that is our custom. Then it will be fitting to +beat this Hemti for a trifle of natron and a trifle of salt; if he is +commanded to pay for it, he will pay for it." But the High Steward +Meruitensa held his peace; for he would not reply unto these nobles, +but would reply unto the Sekhti. + +Now Sekhti came to appeal to the Lord Steward Meruitensa, and said, "O +my Lord Steward, greatest of the great, guide of the needy: + + When thou embarkest on the lake of truth,-- + Mayest thou sail upon it with a fair wind; + May thy mainsail not fly loose. + May there not be lamentation in thy cabin; + May not misfortune come after thee. + May not thy mainstays be snapped; + Mayest thou not run aground. + May not the wave seize thee; + Mayest thou not taste the impurities of the river; + Mayest thou not see the face of fear. + May the fish come to thee without escape; + Mayest thou reach unto plump waterfowl. + For thou art the orphan's father, the widow's husband, + The desolate woman's brother, the garment of the motherless. + Let me celebrate thy name in this land for every virtue. + A guide without greediness of heart; + A great one without any meanness. + Destroying deceit, encouraging justice; + Coming to the cry, and allowing utterance. + Let me speak, do thou hear and do justice; + O praised! whom the praised ones praise. + Abolish oppression, behold me, I am overladen, + Reckon with me, behold me defrauded." + +Now the Sekhti made this speech in the time of the majesty of the King +Neb-ka-n-ra, blessed. The Lord Steward Meruitensa went away straight to +the king and said, "My lord, I have found one of these Sekhti, excellent +of speech, in very truth; stolen are his goods, and he has come to +complain to me of the matter." + +His majesty said, "As thou wishest that I may see health! lengthen out +his complaint, without replying to any of his speeches. He who +desireth him to continue speaking should be silent; behold, bring us +his words in writing, that we may listen to them. But provide for his +wife and his children, and let the Sekhti himself also have a living. +Thou must cause one to give him his portion without letting him know +that thou art he who is giving it to him." + +There were given to him four loaves and two draughts of beer each day; +which the Lord Steward Meruitensa provided for him, giving it to a +friend of his, who furnished it unto him. Then the Lord Steward +Meruitensa sent the governor of the Sekhet Hemat to make provision for +the wife of the Sekhti, three rations of corn each day. + +Then came the Sekhti a second time, and even a third time, unto the Lord +Steward Meruitensa; but he told two of his followers to go unto the +Sekhti, and seize on him, and beat him with staves. But he came again +unto him, even unto six times, and said-- + +"My Lord Steward-Destroying deceit, and encouraging justice; Raising up +every good thing, and crushing every evil; As plenty comes removing +famine, As clothing covers nakedness, As clear sky after storm warms the +shivering; As fire cooks that which is raw, As water quenches the +thirst; Look with thy face upon my lot; do not covet, but +content me without fail; do the right and do not evil." + +But yet Meruitensa would not hearken unto his complaint; and the Sekhti +came yet, and yet again, even unto the ninth time. Then the Lord Steward +told two of his followers to go unto the Sekhti; and the Sekhti feared +that he should be beaten as at the third request. But the Lord Steward +Meruitensa then said unto him, "Fear not, Sekhti, for what thou has +done. The Sekhti has made many speeches, delightful to the heart of his +majesty and I take an oath--as I eat bread, and as I drink water--that +thou shalt be remembered to eternity." Said the Lord Steward, "Moreover, +thou shalt be satisfied when thou shalt hear of thy complaints." He +caused to be written on a clean roll of papyrus each petition to the +end, and the Lord Steward Meruitensa sent it to the majesty of the +King Neb-ka-n-ra, blessed, and it was good to him more than anything +that is in the whole land: but his majesty said to Meruitensa, "Judge +it thyself; I do not desire it." + +The Lord Steward Meruitensa made two of his followers to go to the +Sekhet Hemat, and bring a list of the household of the Sekhti; and its +amount was six persons, beside his oxen and his goats, his wheat and his +barley, his asses and his dogs; and moreover he gave all that which +belonged unto the Hemti to the Sekhti, even all his property and his +offices, and the Sekhti was beloved of the king more than all his +overseers, and ate of all the good things of the king, with all his +household. + + + + +Remarks + + +Of the tale of the peasant and the workman three copies, more or less +imperfect, remain to us. At Berlin are two papyri, Nos. 2 and 4, +containing parts of the tale, published in facsimile in the "Denkmaler" +of Lepsius vi. 108-110 and 113; while portions of another copy exist in +the Butler papyrus; and lately fragments of the same have been collated +in the collection of Lord Amherst of Hackney. These last have been +published in the Proceedings of the Society of Biblical Archaeology, +xiv. 558. The number of copies seem to show that this was a popular tale +in early times; it certainly is of a more advanced type than the earlier +tales of magic, though it belongs to a simpler style than the tales +which follow. It has been translated partially by Chabas and Goodwin, +and also by Maspero, but most completely by Griffith in the Proceedings +of the Society of Biblical Archaeology, referred to above. + +The beginning of the tale is lost in all the copies, and an introductory +sentence is here added in brackets, to explain the position of affairs +at the opening of the fragment. The essence of the tale is the +difference in social position between the Sekhti, or peasant, and the +Hemti, or workman--the _fellah_ and the client of the noble; and the +impossibility of getting justice against a client, unless by some +extraordinary means of attracting his patron's attention, is the basis +of the action. There is not a single point of incident here which might +not be true in modern times; every turn of it seems to live, as one +reads it in view of country life in Egypt. + +The region of the tale is Henenseten, or Herakleopolis, now Ahnas, a +little south of the Fayum. This was the seat of the IXth and Xth +Dynasties, apparently ejected from Memphis by a foreign invasion of the +Delta; and here it is that the High Steward lives and goes to speak to +the king. The district of the Sekhti is indicated by his travelling +south to Henenseten, and going with asses and not by boat. Hence we are +led to look for the Sekhet Hemat, or salt country, in the borders of the +Fayum lake, whence the journey would be southward, and across the +desert. This lake was not regulated artificially until the XIIth +Dynasty; and hence at the period of this tale it was a large sheet of +water, fluctuating with each rise and fall of the Nile, and bordered by +lagoons where rushes would flourish, and where salt and natron would +accumulate daring the dry season of each year. At the present time the +lake of the Fayum is brackish, and the cliffs which border it contain so +much salt that rain pools which collect on them are not drinkable. The +paths and roads of Egypt are not protected by law as in Western +countries. Each person encroaches on a path or diverts it as may suit +his purpose, only checked by the liberties taken by passers-by in +trespassing if a path be insufficient. Hence, it is very usual to see a +house built over half of a path, and driving the traffic into the +field or almost over the river bank. In this case the Hemti had taken +in as much of the path as he could, and left it but a narrow strip +along the top of the canal bank. The frequent use of the public way +for drying clothes, or spreading out property, gave the idea of +choking the way altogether, and leaving no choice but trespassing on +the crops. No sooner does a donkey pause, or even pass, by a field of +corn than he snatches a mouthful, and in a delay or altercation such +as this the beast is sure to take the advantage. Donkeys carrying +loads by cornfields are usually muzzled with rope nets, to prevent +their feeding; and even sheep and goats are also fended in the same +way. + +The proverb, "A poor man's name is only his own matter," refers to the +independent _fellah_ having no patron or protector who will take up and +defend his name from accusations, as the interests of clients and serfs +would be protected. This being the case, Hemti therefore seizes on the +property, and drives the asses into his own pasture field. + +The scene of Meruitensa laying the case before the nobles who sat with +him is interesting as showing that even simple cases were not decided by +one judge, but referred to a council. Similarly, Una lays stress on the +private trial of the queen being confided to him and only one other +judge. Apparently, referring cases to a bench of judges was the means of +preventing corruption. + +The speeches of the Sekhti were given at full length in the papyrus, but +owing to injuries we cannot now entirely recover them; they are all in +much the same strain, only the first and last are translated here, and +the others are passed over. The style of these speeches was evidently +looked on as eloquent in those days, and this papyrus really seems to +show the time when long-drawn comparisons and flowery wishes were in +fashion. It is far different from later compositions, as it is also from +the earlier simple narration of crude marvels in the tales of the +magicians. + +The close of the tale is defective, but from the remains it appears to +have ended by the gift of the Hemti's property to the oppressed Sekhti +and the triumph of the injured peasant. + + + + +GOING TO WAWAT, XIITH DYNASTY + + + + +THE SHIPWRECKED SAILOR + + +The wise servant said, "Let thy heart be satisfied, O my lord, for +that we have come back to the country; after we have long been on board, +and rowed much, the prow has at last touched land. All the people +rejoice, and embrace us one after another. Moreover, we have come back +in good health, and not a man is lacking; although we have been to the +ends of Wawat, and gone through the land of Senmut, we have returned in +peace, and our land--behold, we have come back to it. Hear me, my +lord; I have no other refuge. Wash thee, and turn the water over thy +ringers; then go and tell the tale to the majesty." + +His lord replied, "Thy heart continues still its wandering words! but +although the mouth of a man may save him, his words may also cover his +face with confusion. Wilt thou do then as thy heart moves thee? This +that thou wilt say, tell quietly." + +The sailor then answered, "Now I shall tell that which has happened to +me, to my very self I was going to the mines of Pharaoh, and I went down +on the sea on a ship of 150 cubits long and 40 cubits wide, with 150 +sailors of the best of Egypt, who had seen heaven and earth, and whose +hearts were stronger than lions. They had said that the wind would not +be contrary, or that there would be none. But as we approached the land +the wind arose, and threw up waves eight cubits high. As for me, I +seized a piece of wood; but those who were in the vessel perished, +without one remaining. A wave threw me on an island, after that I had +been three days alone, without a companion beside my own heart. I laid +me in a thicket, and the shadow covered me. Then stretched I my limbs +to try to find something for my mouth. I found there figs and grapes, +all manner of good herbs, berries and grain, melons of all kinds, +fishes and birds. Nothing was lacking. And I satisfied myself; and +left on the ground that which was over, of what my arms had been +filled withal. I dug a pit, I lighted a fire, and I made a +burnt-offering unto the gods. + +"Suddenly I heard a noise as of thunder, which I thought to be that of a +wave of the sea. The trees shook, and the earth was moved. I uncovered +my face, and I saw that a serpent drew near. He was thirty cubits long, +and his beard greater than two cubits; his body was as overlayed with +gold, and his colour as that of true lazuli. He coiled himself before me. + +"Then he opened his mouth, while that I lay on my face before him, and +he said to me, 'What has brought thee, what has brought thee, little +one, what has brought thee? If thou sayest not speedily what has +brought thee to this isle, I will make thee know thyself; as a flame +thou shalt vanish, if thou tellest me not something I have not heard, +or which I knew not, before thee.' + +"Then he took me in his mouth and carried me to his resting-place, and +layed me down without any hurt. I was whole and sound, and nothing was +gone from me. Then he opened his mouth against me, while that I lay on +my face before him, and he said, 'What has brought thee, what has +brought thee, little one, what has brought thee to this isle which is in +the sea, and of which the shores are in the midst of the waves?' + +"Then I replied to him, and holding my arms low before him, I said to +him,' I was embarked for the mines by the order of the majesty, in a +ship, 150 cubits was its length, and the width of it 40 cubits. It had +150 sailors of the best of Egypt, who had seen heaven and earth, and +the hearts of whom were stronger than lions. They said that the wind +would not be contrary, or that there would be none. Each of them +exceeded his companion in the prudence of his heart and the strength +of his arm, and I was not beneath any of them. A storm came upon us +while we were on the sea. Hardly could we reach to the shore when the +wind waxed yet greater, and the waves rose even eight cubits. As for +me, I seized a piece of wood, while those who were in the boat +perished without one being left with me for three days. Behold me now +before thee, for I was brought to this isle by a wave of the sea.' + +"Then said he to me, 'Fear not, fear not, little one, and make not thy +face sad. If thou hast come to me, it is God who has let thee live. For +it is He who has brought thee to this isle of the blest, where nothing +is lacking, and which is filled with all good after another, until +thou shalt be four months in this isle. Then a ship shall come from +thy land with sailors, and thou shalt leave with them and go to thy +country, and thou shalt die in thy town. + +'"Converse is pleasing, and he who tastes of it passes over his +misery. I will therefore tell thee of that which is in this isle. I +am here with my brethren and my children around me; we are +seventy-five serpents, children, and kindred; without naming a young +girl who was brought unto me by chance, and on whom the fire of heaven +fell, and burnt her to ashes. + +"'As for thee if thou art strong, and if thy heart waits patiently, thou +shalt press thy infants to thy bosom and embrace thy wife. Thou shalt +return to thy house which is full of all good things, thou shalt see thy +land, where thou shalt dwell in the midst of thy kindred.' + +"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 honoured. 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 sayedst thou wouldest 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.'" + + + + +THE FAREWELL + + +"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 kind 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 then +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 honour,' and behold I have become such." + +This is finished from its beginning unto its end, even as it was found +in a writing. It is written by the scribe of cunning fingers +Ameni-amen-aa; may he live in life, wealth, and health! + + + + +Remarks + + +This tale is only known in one copy, preserved in the Hermitage +collection at St. Petersburg. The papyrus has not yet been published, +either in facsimile or transcription. But two translations of it have +appeared by M. Golenischeff: from the earlier a modified translation is +given by Maspero in the "Contes Populaires," 2nd edit., pp. 133-146, +and the later translation is in M. Golenischeff's excellent +"Inventaire de la collection Egyptienne (Ermitage Imperial)," p. +177-182. + +The tale is that of a returned sailor, speaking to his superior and +telling his adventures, to induce him to send him on with an +introduction to the king. At first his master professes to disbelieve +him, and then the sailor protests that this happened to himself, and +gives his narrative. The idea of an enchanted island, which has risen +from the waves and will sink again, is here found to be one of the +oldest plots for a tale of marvels. But the construction is far more +advanced than that of the tales of the magicians. The family of serpents +and the manner of the great serpent is well conceived, and there are +many fine touches of literary quality: such as noise as of thunder, the +trees shaking and the earth being moved at the appearance of the great +serpent--the speeches of the serpent and his threat--the sailors who had +seen heaven and earth--the contempt of the serpent for his offerings. + +"As for me, I am prince of the land of Punt, and I have perfumes"--and +the scene of departure. All of these points show a firm hand and +practised taste, although there is still a style of simplicity clinging +to it which agrees well to its date in the XIIth Dynasty. + +The great serpent is not of a type usual in Egyptian designs. The +human-headed uraeus is seldom bearded; and the best example of such a +monster is on an Ethiopian temple, where a great uraeus has human arms +and a lion's head. The colours again repeat the favourite combination +expressive of splendour--gold and lazuli. Though lazuli is very rare in +early times, yet it certainly was known in the XIIth Dynasty, as shown +by the forms of some beads of lazuli. + +The slaughter of asses in sacrifice is a very peculiar offering, and no +sign of this is found in any representations or groups of offerings. + +The colophon of the copyist at the end shows by the style of the name +that it belongs to the earlier part of the XIIth Dynasty, and if so, the +composition might be referred to the opening of foreign trade under +Sankhkara or Amenemhat I. + + + + +XIITH DYNASTY + + + + +THE ADVENTURES OF SANEHAT + + +The hereditary prince, royal seal-bearer, confidential friend, judge, +keeper of the gate of the foreigners, true and beloved royal +acquaintance, the royal follower Sanehat says:-- + +I attended my lord as a follower of the king, of the house of the +hereditary princess, the greatly favoured, the royal wife, +Ankhet-Usertesen, who shares the dwelling of the royal son Amenemhat in +Kanefer. + +In the thirtieth year, the month Paophi, the seventh day the god entered +his horizon, the king Sehotepabra flew up to heaven and joined the sun's +disc, the follower of the god met his maker. The palace was silenced, +and in mourning, the great gates were closed, the courtiers crouching +on the ground, the people in hushed mourning. + +His majesty had sent a great army with the nobles to the land of the +Temehu (Lybia), his son and heir, the good god king Usertesen as their +leader. Now he was returning, and had brought away living captives and +all kinds of cattle without end. The councillors of the palace had sent +to the West to let the king know the matter that had come to pass in the +inner hall. The messenger was to meet him on the road, and reach him at +the time of evening: the matter was urgent. "A hawk had soared with his +followers." Thus said he, not to let the army know of it Even if the +royal sons who commanded in that army send a message, he was not to +speak to a single one of them. But I was standing near, and heard his +voice while he was speaking. I fled far away, my heart beating, my arms +failing, trembling had fallen on all my limbs. I turned about in running +to seek a place to hide me, and I threw myself between two bushes, to +wait while they should pass by. + + + + +THE FLIGHT + + +Then I turned me toward the south, not from wishing to come into this +palace--for I knew not if war was declared--nor even thinking a wish to +live after this sovereign. + +I turned my back to the sycamore, I reached Shi-Seneferu, and rested on +the open field. In the morning I went on and overtook a man, who passed +by the edge of the road. He asked of me mercy, for he feared me. By +the evening I drew near to Kher-ahau (? old Cairo), and I crossed the +river on a raft without a rudder. Carried over by the west wind, I +passed over to the east to the quarries of Aku and the land of the +goddess Herit, mistress of the red mountain (Gebel Ahmar). Then I fled +on foot, northward, and reached the walls of the prince, built to +repel the Sati. I crouched in a bush for fear of being seen by the +guards, changed each day, who watch on the top of the fortress. I took +my way by night, and at the lighting or the day I reached Peten, and +turned me toward the valley of Kemur. Then thirst hasted me on; I +dried up, and my throat narrowed, and I said, "This is the taste of +death." When I lifted up my heart and gathered strength, I heard a +voice and the lowing of cattle. I saw men of the Sati, and one of +them--a friend unto Egypt--knew me. Behold he gave me water and boiled +me milk, and I went with him to his camp; they did me good, and one +tribe passed me on to another. I passed on to Sun, and reached the +land of Adim (Edom). + +When I had dwelt there half a year Amu-an-shi--who is the prince of the +Upper Tenu--sent for me and said: "Dwell thou with me that thou mayest +hear the speech of Egypt." He said thus for that he knew of my +excellence, and had heard tell of my worth, for men of Egypt who were +there with him bore witness of me. Behold he said to me, "For what cause +hast thou come hither? Has a matter come to pass in the palace? Has the +king of the two lands, Sehetep-abra gone to heaven? That which has +happened about this is not known." But I answered with concealment, and +said, "When I came from the land of the Tamahu, and my desires were +there changed in me, if I fled away it was not by reason of remorse that +I took the way of a fugitive; I have not failed in my duty, my mouth has +not said any bitter words, I have not heard any evil counsel, my name +has not come into the mouth of a magistrate. I know not by what I have +been led into this land." And Amu-an-shi said, "This is by the will of +the god (king of Egypt), for what is a land like if it know not that +excellent god, of whom the dread is upon the lands of strangers, as +they dread Sekhet in a year of pestilence." I spake to him, and +replied, "Forgive me, his son now enters the palace, and has received +the heritage of his father. He is a god who has none like him, and +there is none before him. He is a master of wisdom, prudent in his +designs, excellent in his decrees, with good-will to him who goes or +who comes; he subdued the land of strangers while his father yet lived +in his palace, and he rendered account of that which his father +destined him to perform. He is a brave man, who verily strikes with +his sword; a valiant one, who has not his equal; he springs upon the +barbarians, and throws himself on the spoilers; he breaks the horns +and weakens the hands, and those whom he smites cannot raise the +buckler. He is fearless, and dashes the heads, and none can stand +before him. He is swift of foot, to destroy him who flies; and none +who flees from him reaches his home. His heart is strong in his time; +he is a lion who strikes with the claw, and never has he turned his +back. His heart is closed to pity; and when he sees multitudes, he +leaves none to live behind him. He is a valiant one who springs in +front when he sees resistance; he is a warrior who rejoices when he +flies on the barbarians. He seizes the buckler, he rushes forward, he +never needs to strike again, he slays and none can turn his lance; and +when he takes the bow the barbarians flee from his arms like dogs; for +the great goddess has given to him to strike those who know her not; +and if he reaches forth he spares none, and leaves nought behind. He +is a friend of great sweetness, who knows how to gain love; his land +loves him more than itself, and rejoices in him more than in its own +god; men and women run to his call. A king, he has ruled from his +birth; he, from his birth, has increased births, a sole being, a +divine essence, by whom this land rejoices to be governed. He enlarges +the borders of the South, but he covets not the lands of the North; +he does not smite the Sati, nor crush the Nemau-shau If he descends +here, let him know thy name, by the homage which thou wilt pay to his +majesty. For he refuses not to bless the land which obeys him." + +And he replied to me, "Egypt is indeed happy and well settled; behold +thou art far from it, but whilst thou art with me I will do good unto +thee." And he placed me before his children, he married his eldest +daughter to me, and gave me the choice of all his land, even among the +best of that which he had on the border of the next land. It is a goodly +land, laa is its name. There are figs and grapes; there is wine commoner +than water; abundant is the honey, many are its olives; and all fruits +are upon its trees; there is barley and wheat, and cattle of kinds +without end. This was truly a great thing that he granted me, when the +prince came to invest me, and establish me as prince of a tribe in the +best of his land. I had my continual portion of bread and of wine each +day, of cooked meat, of roasted fowl, as well as the wild game which I +took, or which was brought to me, besides what my dogs captured. They +made me much butter, and prepared milk of all kinds. I passed many +years, the children that I had became great, each ruling his tribe. +When a messenger went or came to the palace, he turned aside from the +way to come to me; for I helped every man. I gave water to the +thirsty, I set on his way him who went astray, and I rescued the +robbed. The Sati who went far, to strike and turn back the princes of +other lands, I ordained their goings; for the Prince of the Tenu for +many years appointed me to be general of his soldiers. In every land +which I attacked I played the champion, I took the cattle, I led away +the vassals, I carried off the slaves, I slew the people, by my sword, +my bow, my marches and my good devices. I was excellent to the heart +of my prince; he loved me when he knew my power, and set me over his +children when he saw the strength of my arms. + +A champion of the Tenu came to defy me in my tent: a bold man without +equal, for he had vanquished the whole country. He said, "Let Sanehat +fight with me;" for he desired to overthrow me, he thought to take my +cattle for his tribe. The prince counselled with me. I said, "I know +him not. I certainly am not of his degree, I hold me far from his +place. Have I ever opened his door, or leaped over his fence? It is +some envious jealousy from seeing me; does he think that I am like +some steer among the cows, whom the bull overthrows? If this is a +wretch who thinks to enrich himself at my cost, not a Bedawi and a +Bedawi fit for fight, then let us put the matter to judgment. Verily a +true bull loves battle, but a vain-glorious bull turns his back for +fear of contest; if he has a heart for combat, let him speak what he +pleases. Will God forget what He has ordained, and how shall that be +known?" I lay down; and when I had rested I strung my bow, I made +ready my arrows, I loosened my poignard, I furbished my arms. At dawn +the land of the Tenu came together; it had gathered its tribes and +called all the neighbouring people, it spake of nothing but the fight. +Each heart burnt for me, men and women crying out; for each heart was +troubled for me, and they said, "Is there another strong one who would +fight with him? Behold the adversary has a buckler, a battle axe, and +an armful of javelins." Then I drew him to the attack; I turned aside +his arrows, and they struck the ground in vain. One drew near to the +other, and he fell on me, and then I shot him. My arrow fastened in +his neck, he cried out, and fell on his face: I drove his lance into +him, and raised my shout of victory on his back. Whilst all the men of +the land rejoiced, I, and his vassals whom he had oppressed, gave +thanks unto Mentu. This prince, Amu-an-shi, embraced me. Then I +carried off his goods and took his cattle, that which he had wished to +do to me, I did even so unto him; I seized that which was in his tent, +I spoiled his dwelling. As time went on I increased the richness of my +treasures and the number of my cattle. + +_Petition to the king of Egypt._ + +"Now behold what the god has done for me who trusted in him. Having once +fled away, yet now there is a witness of me in the palace. Once having +fled away, as a fugitive,------now all in the palace give unto me a good +name. After that I had been dying of hunger, now I give bread to those +around. I had left my land naked, and now I am clothed in fine linen. +After having been a wanderer without followers, now I possess many +serfs. My house is fine, my land wide, my memory is established in the +temple of all the gods. And let this flight obtain thy forgiveness; +that I may be appointed in the palace; that I may see the place where +my heart dwells. How great a thing is it that my body should be +embalmed in the land where I was born! To return there is happiness. I +have made offering to God, to grant me this thing. His heart suffers +who has run away unto a strange land. Let him hear the prayer of him +who is afar off, that he may revisit the place of his birth, and the +place from which he removed. + +"May the king of Egypt be gracious to me that I may live of his favour. +And I render my homage to the mistress of the land, who is in his +palace; may I hear the news of her children. Thus will my limbs grow +young again. Now old age comes, feebleness seizes me, my eyes are +heavy, my arms are feeble, my legs will not move, my heart is slow. +Death draws nigh to me, soon shall they lead me to the city of +eternity. Let me follow the mistress of all (the queen, his former +mistress); lo! let her tell me the excellencies of her children; may +she bring eternity to me." + +Then the majesty of King Kheper-ka-ra, the blessed, spake upon this my +desire that I had made to him. His majesty sent unto me with presents +from the king, that he might enlarge the heart of his servant, like unto +the province of any strange land; and the royal sons who are in the +palace addressed themselves unto me. + +_Copy of the decree which was brought--to me who speak to you--to lead +me back into Egypt._ + +"The Horus, life of births, lord of the crowns, life of births, king +of Upper and Lower Egypt, Kheper-ka-ra, son of the Sun, Amen-em-hat, +ever living unto eternity. Order for the follower Sanehat. Behold this +order of the king is sent to thee to instruct thee of his will. + +"Now, although thou hast gone through strange lands from Adim to Tenu, +and passed from one country to another at the wish of thy heart--behold, +what hast thou done, or what has been done against thee, that is amiss? +Moreover, thou reviledst not; but if thy word was denied, thou didst +not speak again in the assembly of the nobles, even if thou wast +desired. Now, therefore, that thou hast thought on this matter which +has come to thy mind, let thy heart not change again; for this thy +Heaven (queen), who is in the palace is fixed, she is flourishing, she +is enjoying the best in the kingdom of the land, and her children are +in the chambers of the palace. + +"Leave all the riches that thou hast, and that are with thee, +altogether. When thou shalt come into Egypt behold the palace, and when +thou shalt enter the palace, bow thy face to the ground before the Great +House; thou shalt be chief among the companions. And day by day behold +thou growest old; thy vigour is lost, and thou thinkest on the day of +burial. Thou shalt see thyself come to the blessed state, they shall +give thee the bandages from the hand of Tait, the night of applying the +oil of embalming. They shall follow thy funeral, and visit the tomb on +the day of burial, which shall be in a gilded case, the head painted +with blue, a canopy of cypress wood above thee, and oxen shall draw +thee, the singers going before thee, and they shall dance the funeral +dance. The weepers crouching at the door of thy tomb shall cry aloud +the prayers for offerings: they shall slay victims for thee at the +door of thy pit; and thy pyramid shall be carved in white stone, in +the company of the royal children. Thus thou shalt not die in a +strange land, nor be buried by the Amu; thou shalt not be laid in a +sheep-skin when thou art buried; all people shall beat the earth, and +lament on thy body when thou goest to the tomb." + +When this order came to me, I was in the midst of my tribe. When it was +read unto me, I threw me on the dust, I threw dust in my hair; I went +around my tent rejoicing and saying, "How may it be that such a thing +is done to the servant, who with a rebellious heart has fled to +strange lands? Now with an excellent deliverance, and mercy delivering +me from death, thou shall cause me to end my days in the palace." + +_Copy of the answer to this order._ + +"The follower Sanehat says: In excellent peace above everything consider +of this flight that he made here in his ignorance; Thou, the Good God, +Lord of both Lands, Loved of Ra, Favourite of Mentu, the lord of Thebes, +and of Amen, lord of thrones of the lands, of Sebek, Ra, Horus, Hathor, +Atmu, and of his fellow-gods, of Sopdu, Neferbiu, Samsetu, Horus, lord +of the east, and of the royal uraeus which rules on thy head, of the +chief gods of the waters, of Min, Horus of the desert, Urrit, mistress +of Punt, Nut, Harnekht, Ra, all the gods of the land of Egypt, and of +the isles of the sea. May they give life and peace to thy nostril, may +they load thee with their gifts, may they give to thee eternity +without end, everlastingness without bound. May the fear of thee be +doubled in the lands of the deserts. Mayest thou subdue the circuit of +the sun's disc. This is the prayer to his master of the humble servant +who is saved from a foreign land. + +"O wise king, the wise words which are pronounced in the wisdom of the +majesty of the sovereign, thy humble servant fears to tell. It is a +great thing to repeat. O great God, like unto Ra in fulfilling that to +which he has set his hand, what am I that he should take thought for me? +Am I among those whom he regards, and for whom he arranges? Thy majesty +is as Horus, and the strength of thy arms extends to all lands. + +"Then let his Majesty bring Maki of Adma, Kenti-au-ush of Khenti-keshu, +and Tenus from the two lands ol the Fenkhu; these are the princes who +bear witness of me as to all that has passed, out of love for thyself. +Does not Tenu believe that it belongs to thee like thy dogs. Behold +this flight that I have made: I did not have it in my heart; it was +like the leading of a dream, as a man of Adehi (Delta) sees himself in +Abu (Elephantine), as a man of the plain of Egypt who sees himself in +the deserts. There was no fear, there was no hastening after me, I did +not listen to an evil plot, my name was not heard in the mouth of the +magistrate; but my limbs went, my feet wandered, my heart drew me; my +god commanded this flight, and drew me on; but I am not stiff-necked. +Does a man fear when he sees his own land? Ra spread thy fear over the +land, thy terrors in every strange land. Behold me now in the palace, +behold me in this place; and lo! thou art he who is over all the +horizon; the sun rises at thy pleasure, the water in the rivers is +drunk at thy will, the wind in heaven is breathed at thy saying. + +"I who speak to thee shall leave my goods to the generations to follow +in this land. And as to this messenger who is come even let thy majesty +do as pleaseth him, for one lives by the breath that thou givest. O thou +who art beloved of Ra, of Horus, and of Hathor; Mentu, lord of Thebes, +desires that thy august nostril should live for ever." + +I made a feast in Iaa, to pass over my goods to my children. My eldest +son was leading my tribe, all my goods passed to him, and I gave him my +corn and all my cattle, my fruit, and all my pleasant trees. When I had +taken my road to the south, and arrived at the roads of Horus, the +officer who was over the garrison sent a messenger to the palace to give +notice. His majesty sent the good overseer of the peasants of the king's +domains, and boats laden with presents from the king for the Sati who +had come to conduct me to the roads of Horus. I spoke to each one by his +name, and I gave the presents to each as was intended. I received and I +returned the salutation, and I continued thus until I reached the city +of Thetu. + +When the land was brightened, and the new day began, four men came with +a summons for me; and the four men went to lead me to the palace. I +saluted with both my hands on the ground; the royal children stood at +the courtyard to conduct me: the courtiers who were to lead me to the +hall brought me on the way to the royal chamber. + +I found his Majesty on the great throne in the hall of pale gold. Then I +threw myself on my belly; this god, in whose presence I was, knew me +not. He questioned me graciously, but I was as one seized with +blindness, my spirit fainted, my limbs failed, my heart was no longer in +my bosom, and I knew the difference between life and death. His +majesty said to one of the companions, "Lift him up, let him speak to +me." And his majesty said, "Behold thou hast come, thou hast trodden +the deserts, thou hast played the wanderer. Decay falls on thee, old +age has reached thee; it is no small thing that thy body should be +embalmed, that the Pedtiu shall not bury thee. Do not, do not, be +silent and speechless; tell thy name; is it fear that prevents thee?" +I answered in reply, "I fear, what is it that my lord has said that I +should answer it? I have not called on me the hand of God, but it is +terror in my body, like that which brings sudden death. Now behold I +am before thee; thou art life; let thy majesty do what pleaseth him." + +The royal children were brought in, and his majesty said to the queen, +"Behold thou Sanehat has come as an Amu, whom the Sati have produced." + +She cried aloud, and the royal children spake with one voice, saying, +before his majesty, "Verily it is not so, O king, my lord." Said his +majesty, "It is verily he." Then they brought their collars, and their +wands, and their sistra in their hands, and displayed them before his +majesty; and they sang-- + +"May thy hands prosper, O king; May the ornaments of the Lady of Heaven +continue. May the goddess Nub give life to thy nostril; May the mistress +of the stars favour thee, when thou sailest south and north. All +wisdom is in the mouth of thy majesty; Thy uraeus is on thy forehead, +thou drivest away the miserable. + +"Thou art pacified, O Ra, lord of the lands; They call on thee as on the +mistress of all. Strong is thy horn, Thou lettest fly thine arrow. Grant +the breath to him who is without it; Grant good things to this +traveller, Samehit the Pedti, born in the land of Egypt, Who fled away +from fear of thee, And fled this land from thy terrors. Does not the +face grow pale, of him who beholds thy countenance; Does not the eye +fear, which looks upon thee." + +Said his majesty, "Let him not fear, let him be freed from terror. He +shall be a Royal Friend amongst the nobles; he shall be put within the +circle of the courtiers. Go ye to the chamber of praise to seek wealth +for him." + +When I went out from the palace, the royal children offered their hands +to me; we walked afterwards to the Great Gates. I was placed in a house +of a king's son, in which were delicate things, a place of coolness, +fruits of the granary, treasures of the White House, clothes of the +king's guardrobe, frankincense, the finest perfumes of the king and the +nobles whom he loves, in every chamber. All the servitors were in their +several offices. + +Years were removed from my limbs: I was shaved, and polled my locks of +hair; the foulness was cast to the desert with the garments of the +Nemau-sha. I clothed me in fine linen, and anointed myself with the fine +oil of Egypt; I laid me on a bed. I gave up the sand to those who lie +on it; the oil of wood to him who would anoint himself therewith. +There was given to me the mansion of a lord of serfs, which had +belonged to a royal friend. There many excellent things were in its +buildings; all its wood was renewed. There were brought to me portions +from the palace, thrice and four times each day; besides the gifts of +the royal children, always, without ceasing. There was built for me a +pyramid of stone amongst the pyramids. The overseer of the architects +measured its ground; the chief treasurer wrote it; the sacred masons +cut the well; the chief of the labourers on the tombs brought the +bricks; all things used to make strong a building were there used. +There were given to me peasants; there were made for me a garden, and +fields in it before my mansion, as is done for the chief royal friend. +My statue was inlayed with gold, its girdle of pale gold; his majesty +caused it to be made. Such is not done to a man of low degree. + +May I be in the favour of the king until the day shall come of my death. + +_(This is finished from beginning to end, as was found in the writing.)_ + + + + +Remarks + + +The Adventures of Sanehat appears to have been a popular tale, as +portions of three copies remain. The first papyrus known (Berlin No. +1) was imperfect at the beginning; but since then a flake of limestone +found in a tomb bore the beginning of the tale, and the same part is +found on a papyrus in the Amherst collection. The main text has been +translated by Chabas ("Le papyrus de Berlin," 37-51), Goodwin, and +Maspero ("Mel. d'arch.," iii. 68, 140, and "Contes Populaire," +89-130); while the beginning is treated in "Memoires de l'institut +Egyptien," ii. 1-23, and in Proc. S.B.A., 452. The present translation +is mainly based on Mr. Griffith's readings in all cases of difficulty. + +This is perhaps the most interesting of all the tales, because it bears +such signs of being written in the times of which it treats, it throws +so much light on the life of the time in Egypt and Syria, and if not a +real narrative, it is at least so probable that it may be accepted +without much difficulty. For my own part, I incline to look on it as +strictly historical; and in the absence of a single point of doubt, I +shall here treat it as seriously as the biographical inscriptions of +the early tombs. Possibly some day the tomb of Sanehat may be found, +and the whole inscription be read complete upon the walls. + +The name Sa-nehat means "son of the sycamore," probably from his having +been born, or living, at some place where was a celebrated sacred +sycamore. This was a common tree in ancient, as in modern, Egypt; but an +allusion in the tale, to Sanehat turning his back on the sycamore, when +he was fleeing apparently up the west side of the Delta, makes it +probable that the sycamore was that of Aa-tenen, now Batnun, at the +middle of the west side of the Delta. + +The titles given to Sanehat at the opening are of a very high rank, and +imply that he was the son either of the king or of a great noble. And +his position in the queen's household shows him to have been of +importance; the manner in which he is received by the royal family at +the end implying that he was quite familiar with them in early days. + +But the great difficulty in the account has been the sudden panic of +Sanehat on hearing of the death of Amenemhat, and no explanation of this +has yet been brought forward. It seems not unlikely that he was a son of +Amenemhat by some concubine. This would at once account for his high +titles--for his belonging to the royal household--for his fear of his +elder brother Usertesen, who might see in him a rival, and try to slay +him after his father's death--for the command to him to leave all his +possessions and family behind him in Syria, as the condition of his +being allowed to return to end his days in Egypt--for his familiar +reception by the royal family, and for the property given to him on his +return. + +The date recorded for the death of Sehote-pabra--Amenemhat I., the +founder of the XIIth Dynasty--agrees with the limit of his reign on the +monuments. And the expressions for his death are valuable as showing +the manner in which a king's decease was regarded; under the emblem of +a hawk--the bird of Ra--he flew up and joined the sun. + +Sometime before his death Amenemhat had been in retirement; after twenty +years of reign (which was probably rather late in his life, as he seems +to have forced his way to the front as a successful man and founder of a +family) he had associated his son, the first Usertesen, on the throne, +and apparently resigned active life; for in the third year of Usertesen +we find the coregent summoning his court and decreeing the founding of +the temple of Heliopolis without any mention of his father. The old +king, however, lived yet ten years after his retirement, and died (as +this narrative shows us) during an expedition of his son Usertesen. + +The time of year mentioned here would fall in about the middle of the +inundation in those days. Hence it seems that the military expeditions +were made after the harvest was secured, and while the country was +under water and the population disengaged from other labour. + +The course of Sanehat's flight southward, reaching the Nile at Cairo +after two days' haste, indicates that the army was somewhere west of the +Delta. This would point to its being on the road to the oasis of the +Natron Lakes, which would be the natural course for a body of men +needing water supply. His throwing himself between two bushes to hide +from the army shows that the message came early in the day, otherwise he +would have fled in the dark. He then fled a day's journey to the south, +turning his back on the sycamore, and slept in the open field at +Shi-Seneferu somewhere below the Barrage. The second day he reached the +Nile opposite Old Cairo in the afternoon, and ferried himself over, +passed the quarries at Gebel Mokattam, and the red hill of Gebel Ahmar, +and came to a frontier wall before dark. This cannot have been far from +Old Cairo, by the time; and as Heliopolis was in course of building by +Usertesen, it would be probably on the desert near there, for the +protection of the town. Passing the desert guards by night he pushed +on and reached Peten, near Belbeis, by dawn, and turned east toward +the valley of Kemur, or Wady Tumilat. Here in his extremity he was +found by the Sati or Asiatics, and rescued. This shows that the +eastern desert was left to the wandering tribes, and was without any +regular government at this period; though all the eastern Delta was +already well in Egyptian hands, as we know by the monuments at +Bubastis, Dedamun, and Tanis. + +The land of Adim to which Sanehat fled appears to be the same as Edom or +the southeast corner of Syria. It was evidently near the upper Tenu, or +Rutennu, who seem to have dwelt on the hill country of Palestine. The +hill and the plain of Palestine are so markedly different, that in all +ages they have tended to be held by opposing people. In the time of +Sanehat the upper Tenu who held the hills were opposed to the Tenu in +general who held the plains; later on the Semites of the hills opposed +the Philistines of the plain, and now the _fellah_ of the hills +opposes the Bedawi of the plain. The district of Amuanshi in which +Sanehat settled was a goodly land, bearing figs and grapes and olives, +flowing with wine and honey and oil, yielding barley and wheat without +end, and much cattle. This abundance points rather to the hill country +near Hebron or between there and Belt Jibrin, as this south part of +the hills is notably fertile. The Tenu who came to defy Sanehat, being +in opposition to the upper Tenu, were probably those of the plain; and +the opposition to Sanehat may have arisen from his encroaching on the +fertile plain at the foot of his hills, as he was in the best of the +land "on the border of the next land." + +The Egyptian was evidently looked on as being of a superior race by the +Tenu, and his civilisation won for him the confidence which many +wandering Englishmen now find in Africa or Polynesia, like John Dunn. +The set combat of two champions seems--by the large gathering--to have +been a well-recognised custom among the Tenu, while it exactly accords +with Goliath's offer in later times. And raising the shout of victory +on the back of the fallen champion reminds us of David's standing on +Goliath. + +The transition from the recital of the Syrian adventures to the petition +to Pharaoh is not marked in the manuscript; but from the construction +the beginning of the petition is evidently at the place here marked. The +manner in which Sanehat appeals to the queen shows how well he must have +been known to her in his former days. + +The decree in reply to Sanehat is in the regular style of royal +decrees of the period. Apparently by a clerical error the scribe has +substituted the name Amenemhat for Userte-sen, but the Horus name and +the throne name leave no doubt that Usertesen I. is intended here. The +tone of the reply is as gracious as possible, according with the +king's character as stated by Sanehat, "He is a friend of great +sweetness, and knows how to gain love." He quite recognises the +inquiries after the queen, and replies concerning her. And then he +assures Sanehat of welcome on his return, and promises him all that he +asks, including a tomb "in the company of the royal children," a full +recognition of his real rank. Incidentally we learn that the Amu +buried their dead wrapped in a sheep's skin; as we also learn, further +on, that they anointed themselves with oil (olive?), wore the hair +long, and slept on the ground. + +The funeral that is promised accords with the burials of the XIIth +Dynasty: the gilded case, the head painted blue, and the canopy of +cypress wood, are all known of this period, but would be out of place in +describing a Ramesside burial. + +Sanehat's reply is a full course of the usual religious adulation, and +differs in this remarkably from his petition. In fact it is hard to +be certain where his petition begins; possibly the opening of it has +been lost out of the text in copying from a mutilated papyrus; or +possibly it was sent merely as a memorandum of Sanehat's position and +desires, without venturing to address it personally to the king; or +even it may have not been allowable then to make such petitions +formally, so as to leave the initiative to the king's free will, just +as it is not allowable nowadays to question royalty, but only to +answer when spoken to. + +The proposal to bring forward his fellow-sheikhs as witnesses of his +unabated loyalty is very curious, and seems superfluous after +Usertesen's assurances. Beyond Abisha of the Amu at Beni Hasan, these +are the only early personal names of Syrians that we know. The Fenkhu in +this connection can hardly be other than the Phoenicians; and, if so, +this points to their being already established in southern Syria at +this date. But these chiefs were not allowed to come forward; and it +seems to have been the policy of Egypt to keep the Syrians off as much +as possible, not a single man who came with Sanehat being allowed to +cross the frontier. The allusion to the Tenu belonging to Pharaoh, +like his dogs, is peculiarly fitting to this period, as the dog seems +to have been more familiarly domesticated in the XIth and XIIth +Dynasties than at any other age, and dogs are often then represented +on the funereal steles, even with their names. + +The expression for strangeness--"as a man of the Delta sees himself at +the cataract, as a man of the plain who sees himself in the deserts"--is +true to this day. Nothing upsets an Egyptian's self-reliance like going +back a few miles into the desert; and almost any man of the cultivated +plain will flee with terror if he finds himself left alone far in the +desert, or even taken to the top of the desert hills.. + +We learn incidentally that the Egyptian frontier, even in the later +years of Usertesen I., had not been pushed beyond the Wady Tumilat; for +Sanehat travels south to the Roads of Horus, where he finds the frontier +garrison, and leaves his Syrian friends; and there laden boats meet him, +showing that it must have been somewhere along a waterway from the Nile. + +The abasement of Sanehat might well be due to natural causes, beside the +reverence for the divine person of the king. The Egyptian court must +have seemed oppressively splendid, with the brilliant and costly +workmanship of Usertesen, to one who had lived a half-wild life for so +many years; and, more than that, the recalling of all his early days and +habits and friendships would overwhelm his mind and make it difficult to +collect his thoughts. + +Sanehat's appearance was so much changed by his long hair, his age, and +his strange dress, that his former mistress and companions could not +recognise him. The use of collars and sceptres in the song and dance +is not clear to us. The sistra were, of course, to beat or rattle in +time with the song; the sceptres or wands were perhaps the same as the +engraved wands of ivory common in the XIIth Dynasty, or of blue glazed +ware in XVIIIth, and would be used to wave or beat time with; but the +use of the collar and counterpoise, or _menat,_ is unexplained, though +figures of dancers are shown holding a collar and _menat,_ and such +objects were found buried in the ceremonial foundation deposit of +Tahutmes III. at Koptos. + +This song of the princesses is clearly in parallel phrases. First are +four wishes for the king and queen, in four lines. Second, an ascription +of wisdom and power, in two lines. Third, a comparison of the king to +Ra, and of the queen to the great goddess, in two lines. Fourth, an +ascription of righting power. Fifth, a petition for Sanehat, winding up +with the statement of fear inspired by the king, as explaining +Sanehat's abasement. To this the king responds by reassuring Sanehat, +and promising him position and wealth. + +The account of Sanehat's renewal of his old national ways can best be +appreciated by any one who has lived a rough life for a time and then +comes back to civilisation. Doubtless these comforts were all the more +grateful to him in his old age, when he was weary of his unsettled life. + +In the preparation of his tomb it is stated to have been a pyramid, with +rock-cut well chamber, and built of bricks above. This just accords +with the construction of the pyramids of the XIIth Dynasty. + +The last phrase implies that this was composed during Sanehat's life; +and such a life would be so remarkable that this biography might be +prepared with good reason. Also it is very unlikely that a mere +story-teller would have dropped the relation without describing his +grand funeral which was promised to him. From suddenly stopping at the +preparation of the tomb, without going further, we have a strong +presumption that this was a true narrative, written at Sanehat's +dictation, and probably intended to be inscribed on his tomb wall. In +any case, we have here an invaluable picture of life in Palestine and +in Egypt, and the relations of the two countries, at an epoch before +the time of Abraham, and not paralleled by any other document until +more than a thousand years later. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Egyptian Tales, First Series, IVth To +XIIth Dynasty, by W. M. 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Flinders Petrie + +Release Date: January, 2005 [EBook #7386] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on April 23, 2003] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK EGYPTIAN TALES, FIRST SERIES *** + + + + +Produced by Eric Eldred + + + + + +EGYPTIAN TALES + +TRANSLATED FROM THE PAPYRI + +FIRST SERIES + +IVth TO XIIth DYNASTY + +EDITED BY + + +W. M. FLINDERS PETRIE + +D.C.L., LL.D.., PH.D., HON. F.S.A. (SCOT.) + + +ILLUSTRATED BY TRISTRAM ELLIS + +SECOND EDITION + +LONDON + +1899 + + + + +CONTENTS + + +INTRODUCTION + +TALES OF THE MAGICIANS + +KHAFRA'S TALE + +BAUFRA'S TALE + +HORDEDEF'S TALE + +REMARKS + +THE PEASANT AND THE WORKMAN + +REMARKS + +THE SHIPWRECKED SAILOR + +REMARKS + +THE ADVENTURES OF SANEHAT + +REMARKS + +INDEX + + + + + +INTRODUCTION + +IT is strange that while literature occupies so much attention as at +present, and while fiction is the largest division of our book-work, the +oldest literature and fiction of the world should yet have remained +unpresented to English readers. The tales of ancient Egypt have appeared +collectively only in French, in the charming volume of Maspero's "Contes +Populaires"; while some have been translated into English at scattered +times in volumes of the "Records of the Past." But research moves +forward; and translations that were excellent twenty years ago may now +be largely improved, as we attain more insight into the language. + +For another reason also there is a wide ground for the present volume. +In no case have any illustrations been attempted, to give that basis for +imagination which is all the more needed when reading of an age and a +land unfamiliar to our ideas. When following a narrative, whether of +real events or of fiction, many persons--perhaps most--find themselves +unconsciously framing in their minds the scenery and the beings of which +they are reading. To give a correct picture of the character of each of +the various ages to which these tales belong, has been the aim of the +present illustrations. A definite period has been assigned to each tale, +in accordance with the indications, or the history, involved in it; and, +so far as our present knowledge goes, all the details of life in the +scenes here illustrated are rendered in accord with the period of the +story. + +To some purely scholastic minds it may seem presumptuous to +intermingle translations of notable documents with fanciful +illustrations. But, considering the greater precision with which in +recent years we have been able to learn the changes and the fashions +of ancient life in Egypt, and the essentially unhistorical nature of +most of these tales, there seems ample reason to provide such material +for the reader's imagination in following the stories; it may-give +them more life and reality, and may emphasise the differences which +existed between the different periods to which these tales refer. + +It will be noticed how the growth of the novel is shadowed out in the +varied grounds and treatment of the tales. The earliest is purely a +collection of marvels or fabulous incidents of the simplest kind. Then +we advance to contrasts between town and country, between Egypt and +foreign lands. Then personal adventure, and the interest in schemes +and successes, becomes the staple material; while only in the later +periods does character come in as the groundwork. The same may be seen +in English literature--first the tales of wonders and strange lands, +then the novel of adventure, and lastly the novel of character. + +In translating these documents into English I have freely used the +various translations already published in other languages; but in all +cases more or less revision and retranslation from the original has +been made. In this matter I am indebted to Mr. F. Ll. Griffith, who has +in some cases--as in Anpu and Bata--almost entirely retranslated the +original papyrus. The material followed in each instance will be found +stated in the notes accompanying the tales. As to the actual +phraseology, I am alone responsible for that. How far original idiom +should be retained in any translation is always a debated question, and +must entirely depend on the object in view. Here the purpose of +rendering the work intelligible to ordinary readers required the +modifying of some idioms and the paraphrasing of others. But so far +as possible the style and tone of the original has been preserved, and +whatever could be easily followed has been left to speak for itself. In +many plainnesses of speech the old Egyptian resembled the modern +Oriental, or our own forefathers, more than ourselves in this age of +squeamishness as yet unparalleled in the world. To avoid offence a few +little modifications of words have been made; but rather than give a +false impression by tampering with any of the narrative, I have omitted +the sequel of the last tale and given only an outline of it. The diction +adopted has been the oldest that could be used without affectation when +dealing with the early times. It has been purposely modified in the +later tales; and in the last--which is of Ptolemaic authorship--a +modern style has been followed as more compatible with the later tone of +the narrative. + +For the illustrations Mr. Tristram Ellis's familiarity with Egypt has +been of good account in his life-like scenes here used. For each +drawing I have searched for the material among the monuments and +remains of the age in question. The details of the dresses, the +architecture, and the utensils, are all in accord with the period of +each tale. In the tale of Setnau two different styles are introduced. +Ahura is probably of the time of Amenhotep III., whereas Setnau is a +son of Ramessu II.; and the change of fashion between the two +different dynasties has been followed as distinctive of the two +persons, one a _ka_ or double of the deceased, the other a living man. +To the reader who starts with the current idea that all Egyptians were +alike, this continual change from one period to another may seem +almost fanciful. But it rests on such certain authority that we may +hope that this little volume may have its use as an object-lesson in +practical archaeology. + +The use and abuse of notes is a matter of dispute. To be constantly +interrupted in reading by some needless and elementary explanation is +an impertinence both to the author and the reader: the one cannot +resent it, the other therefore resents it for both. But what is to be +deemed needless entirely depends on the reader: I have been asked in +what country Pompei is, as it is not in the English Gazetteer. Rather +than intrude, then, on the reader when he is in high discourse with +the ancients, I humbly set up my interpreter's booth next door; and if +he cares to call in, and ask about any difficulties, I shall be glad +to help him if I can. Not even numbers are intruded to refer to notes; +for how often an eager reader has been led off his trail, and turned +blithely to refer to 37 or 186 only to find, "See J. Z. xxxviii. +377," at which he gnashed his teeth and cursed such interruptions. So +those to whom the original tales are obscure are humbly requested to +try for some profit from the remarks after them, that have been +gleaned by the translator, + +Much might be said by a "folk-lorist"--in proportion to his ardour. But +as there are folk-lorists and folk-lorists, and the schools of Rabbi +Andrew and Rabbi Joseph write different targums, I have left each to +make his own commentary without prejudice. + + + + +TALES OF THE MAGICIANS + + +One day, when King Khufu reigned over all the land, he said to his +chancellor, who stood before him, "Go call me my sons and my +councillors, that I may ask of them a thing." And his sons and his +councillors came and stood before him, and he said to them, "Know ye a +man who can tell me tales of the deeds of the magicians?" + +Then the royal son Khafra stood forth and said, "I will tell thy majesty +a tale of the days of thy forefather Nebka, the blessed; of what came to +pass when he went into the temple of Ptah of Ankhtaui." + + + + +KHAFRA'S TALE + + +"His majesty was walking unto the temple of Ptah, and went unto the +house of the chief reciter Uba-aner, with his train. Now when the wife +of Uba-aner saw a page, among those who stood behind the king, her heart +longed after him; and she sent her servant unto him, with a present of a +box full of garments. + +"And he came then with the servant. Now there was a lodge in the garden +of Uba-aner; and one day the page said to the wife of Uba-aner, 'In the +garden of Uba-aner there is now a lodge; behold, let us therein take our +pleasure.' So the wife of Uba-aner sent to the steward who had charge +over the garden, saying, 'Let the lodge which is in the garden be made +ready.' And she remained there, and rested and drank with the page until +the sun went down. + +"And when the even was now come the page went forth to bathe. And the +steward said, 'I must go and tell Uba-aner of this matter.' Now when +this day was past, and another day came, then went the steward to +Uba-aner, and told him of all these things. + +"Then said Uba-aner, 'Bring me my casket of ebony and electrum.' And +they brought it; and he fashioned a crocodile of wax, seven fingers +long: and he enchanted it, and said, 'When the page comes and bathes in +my lake, seize on him.' And he gave it to the steward, and said to him, +'When the page shall go down into the lake to bathe, as he is daily wont +to do, then throw in this crocodile behind him.' And the steward went +forth bearing the crocodile. + +"And the wife of Uba-aner sent to the steward who had charge over the +garden, saying, 'Let the lodge which is in the garden be made ready, for +I come to tarry there.' + +"And the lodge was prepared with all good things; and she came and made +merry therein with the page. And when the even was now come, the page +went forth to bathe as he was wont to do. And the steward cast in the +wax crocodile after him into the water; and, behold! it became a +great crocodile seven cubits in length, and it seized on the page. + +"And Uba-aner abode yet seven days with the king of Upper and Lower +Egypt, Nebka, the blessed, while the page was stifled in the crocodile. +And after the seven days were passed, the king of Upper and Lower Egypt, +Nebka, the blessed, went forth, and Uba-aner went before him. + +"And Uba-aner said unto his majesty, 'Will your majesty come and see +this wonder that has come to pass in your days unto a page?' And the +king went with Uba-aner. And Uba-aner called unto the crocodile and +said, 'Bring forth the page.' And the crocodile came forth from the Jake +with the page. Uba-aner said unto the king, 'Behold, whatever I command +this crocodile he will do it.' And his majesty said, 'I pray you send back +this crocodile." And Uba-aner stooped and took up the crocodile, and it +became in his hand a crocodile of wax. And then Uba-aner told the king +that which had passed in his house with the page and his wife. And his +majesty said unto the crocodile, 'Take to thee thy prey.' And the +crocodile plunged into the lake with his prey, and no man knew whither +he went. + +"And his majesty the king of Upper and Lower Egypt, Nebka, the blessed, +commanded, and they brought forth the wife of Uba-aner to the north side +of the harem, and burnt her with fire, and cast her ashes in the +river. + +"This is a wonder that came to pass in the days of thy forefather the +king of Upper and Lower Egypt, Nebka, of the acts of the chief reciter +Uba-aner." + +His majesty the king of Upper and Lower Egypt, Khufu, then said, "Let +there be presented to the king Nebka, the blessed, a thousand loaves, a +hundred draughts of beer, an ox, two jars of incense; and let there be +presented a loaf, a jar of beer, a jar of incense, and a piece of meat +to the chief reciter Uba-aner; for I have seen the token of his +learning." And they did all things as his majesty commanded. + + + + +BAUFRA'S TALE + + +The royal sou Bau-f-ra then stood forth and spake. He said, "I will tell +thy majesty of a wonder which came to pass in the days of thy father +Seneferu, the blessed, of the deeds of the chief reciter Zazamankh. One +day King Seneferu, being weary, went throughout his palace seeking for a +pleasure to lighten his heart, but he found none. And he said, +'Haste, and bring before me the chief reciter and scribe of the rolls +Zazamankh'; and they straightway brought him. And the king said, 'I have +sought in my palace for some delight, but I have found none.' Then said +Zazamankh to him, 'Let thy majesty go upon the lake of the palace, and +let there be made ready a boat, with all the fair maidens of the harem +of thy palace; and the heart of thy majesty shall be refreshed with +the sight, in seeing their rowing up and down the water, and seeing +the goodly pools of the birds upon the lake, and beholding its sweet +fields and grassy shores; thus will thy heart be lightened. And I also +will go with thee. Bring me twenty oars of ebony, inlayed with gold, +with blades of light wood, inlayed with electrum; and bring me twenty +maidens, fair in their limbs, their bosoms and their hair, all +virgins; and bring me twenty nets, and give these nets unto the +maidens for their garments.' And they did according to all the +commands of his majesty. + +"And they rowed down the stream and up the stream, and the heart of his +majesty was glad with the sight of their rowing. But one of them at the +steering struck her hair, and her jewel of new malachite fell into the +water. And she ceased her song, and rowed not; and her companions +ceased, and rowed not. And his majesty said, 'Row you not further?' And +they replied, 'Our little steerer here stays and rows not.' His majesty +then said to her, 'Wherefore rowest thou not?' She replied, 'It is for +my jewel of new malachite which is fallen in the water.' And he said to +her, 'Row on, for behold I will replace it.' And she answered, 'But I +want my own piece back in its setting.' And his majesty said, 'Haste, +bring me the chief reciter Zazamankh,' and they brought him. And his +majesty said, 'Zazamankh, my brother, I have done as thou sayedst, and +the heart of his majesty is refreshed with the sight of their rowing. +But now a jewel of new malachite of one of the little ones is fallen in +the water, and she ceases and rows not, and she has spoilt the rowing of +her side. And I said to her, "Wherefore rowest thou not?" and she +answered to me, "It is for my jewel of new malachite which is fallen in +the water." I replied to her, "Row on, for behold I will replace it"; +and she answered to me, "But I want my own piece again back in its +setting."' Then the chief reciter Zazamankh spake his magic speech. And +he placed one part of the waters of the lake upon the other, and +discovered the jewel lying upon a shard; and he took it up and gave it +unto its mistress. And the water, which was twelve cubits deep in the +middle, reached now to twenty-four cubits after he turned it. And he +spake, and used his magic speech; and he brought again the water of the +lake to its place. And his majesty spent a joyful day with the whole of +the royal house. Then rewarded he the chief reciter Zazamankh with all +good things. Behold, this is a wonder that came to pass in the days of +thy father, the king of Upper and Lower Egypt, Seneferu, of the deeds of +the chief reciter, the scribe of the rolls, Zazamankh." Then said the +majesty of the king of Upper and Lower Egypt, Khufu, the blessed, "Let +there be presented an offering of a thousand cakes, one hundred draughts +of beer, an ox, and two jars of incense to the king of Upper and Lower +Egypt, Sene-feru, the blessed; and let there be given a loaf, a jar of +beer, and a jar of incense to the chief reciter, the scribe of the +rolls, Zazamankh; for I have seen the token of his learning." And they +did all things as his majesty commanded. + + + + +HORDEDEF'S TALE + + +The royal son Hordedef then stood forth and spake. He said, "Hitherto +hast thou only heard tokens of those who have gone before, and of +which no man knoweth their truth But I will show thy majesty a man of +thine own days." And his majesty said, "Who is he, Hordedef?" And the +royal son Hordedef answered, "It is a certain man named Dedi, who +dwells at Dedsneferu. He is a man of one hundred and ten years old; +and he eats five hundred loaves of bread, and a side of beef, and +drinks one hundred draughts of beer, unto this day. He knows how to +restore the head that is smitten off; he knows how to cause the lion +to follow him trailing his halter on the ground; he knows the designs +of the dwelling of Tahuti. The majesty of the king of Upper and Lower +Egypt, Khufu, the blessed, has long sought for the designs of the +dwelling of Tahuti, that he may make the like of them in his pyramid." + +And his majesty said, "Thou, thyself, Hordedef, my son, bring him to +me." Then were the ships made ready for the king's son Hordedef, and he +went up the stream to Dedsneferu. And when the ships had moored at the +haven, he landed, and sat him in a litter of ebony, the poles of which +were of cedar wood overlayed with gold. Now when he drew near to Dedi, +they set down the litter. And he arose to greet Dedi, and found him +lying on a palmstick couch at the door of his house; one servant held +his head and rubbed him, and another rubbed his feet, + +And the king's son Hordedef said, "Thy state is that of one who lives to +good old age; for old age is the end of our voyage, the time of +embalming, the time of burial. Lie, then, in the sun, free of +infirmities, without the babble of dotage: this is the salutation to +worthy age. I come from far to call thee, with a message from my father +Khufu, the blessed, for thou shalt eat of the best which the king gives, +and of the food which those have who follow after him; that he may bring +thee in good estate to thy fathers who are in the tomb." + +And Dedi replied to him, "Peace to thee! Peace to thee! Hordedef, son of +the king, beloved of his father. May thy father Khufu, the blessed, +praise thee, may he advance thee amongst the elders, may thy _ka_ prevail +against the enemy, may thy soul know the right road to the gate of him +who clothes the afflicted; this is the salutation to the king's son." +Then the king's son, Hordedef, stretched forth his hands to him, and +raised him up, and went with him to the haven, giving unto him his arm. +Then said Dedi, "Let there he given me a boat, to bring me my youths and +my books." And they made ready for him two boats with their rowers. And +Dedi went down the river in the barge in which was the king's son +Hordedef. And when he had reached the palace, the king's son, Hordedef, +entered in to give account unto his majesty the king of Upper and Lower +Egypt, Khufu, the blessed. Then said the king's son Hordedef, "O king, +life, wealth, and health! My lord, I have brought Dedi." His majesty +replied, "Bring him to me speedily." And his majesty went into the hall +of columns of Pharaoh (life, wealth, and health), and Dedi was led +before him. And his majesty said, "Wherefore is it, Dedi, that I have +not yet seen thee?" And Dedi answered, "He who is called it is that +comes; the king (life, wealth, and health) calls me, and behold I +come," And his majesty said, "Is it true, that which men say, that +thou canst restore the head which is smitten off?" And Dedi replied, +"Truly, I know that, O king (life, wealth, and health), my lord." And +his majesty said, "Let one bring me a prisoner who is in prison, that +his punishment may be fulfilled." And Dedi said, "Let it not be a man, +O king, my lord; behold we do not even thus to our cattle." And a duck +was brought unto him, and its head was cut off. And the duck was laid +on the west side of the hall, and its head on the east side of the +hall. And Dedi spake his magic speech. And the duck fluttered along +the ground, and its head came likewise; and when it had come part to +part the duck stood and quacked. And they brought likewise a goose +before him, and he did even so unto it. His majesty caused an ox to be +brought, and its head cast on the ground. And Dedi spake his magic +speech. And the ox stood upright behind him, and followed him with his +halter trailing on the ground. + +And King Khufu said, "And is it true what is said, that thou knowest the +number of the designs of the dwelling of Tahuti?" And Dedi replied, +"Pardon me, I know not their number, O king (life, wealth, and health), +but I know where they are." And his majesty said, "Where is that?" And +Dedi replied, "There is a chest of whetstone in a chamber named the +plan-room, in Heli-opolis; they are in this chest." And Dedi said +further unto him, "O king (life, wealth, and health), my lord, it is no +It that is to bring them to thee." And his m'jesty said, "Who, then, is +it that shall bring them to me?" And Dedi answered to him, "It is the +eldest of the three children who are in the body of Rud-didet who +shall bring them to thee." And his majesty said, "Would that it may be +as thou sayest! And who is this Rud-didet?" And Dedi replied, "She is +the wife of a priest of Ra, lord of Sakhebu. And she has conceived +these three sons by Ra, lord of Sakhebu, and the god has promised her +that they shall fulfil this noble office (of reigning) over all this +land, and that the eldest of them shall be high priest in Heliopolis." +And his majesty's heart became troubled for this; but Dedi spake unto +him, "What is this that thou thinkest, O king (life, wealth, health), +my lord? Is it because of these three children? I tell thee thy son +shall reign, and thy son's son, and then one of them." His majesty +said, "And when shall Rud-didet bear these?" And he replied, "She +shall bear them on the 26th of the month Tybi." And his majesty said, +"When the banks of the canal of Letopolis are cut, I will walk there +that I may see the temple of Ra, lord of Sakhebu." And Dedi replied, +"Then I will cause that there be four cubits of water by the banks of +the canal of Letopolis." When his majesty returned to his palace, his +majesty said, "Let them place Dedi in the house of the royal son +Hordedef, that he may dwell with him, and let them give him a daily +portion of a thousand loaves, a hundred draughts of beer, an ox, and a +hundred bunches of onions." And they did everything as his majesty +commanded. + +And one day it came to pass that Rud-didet felt the pains of birth. And +the majesty of Ra, lord of Sakhebu, said unto Isis, to Nebhat, to +Meskhent, to Hakt, and to Khnumu, "Go ye, and deliver Rud-didet of these +three children that she shall bear, who are to fulfil this noble office +over all this land; that they may build up your temples, furnish your +altars with offerings, supply your tables of libation, and increase your +endowments." Then went these deities; their fashion they made as that of +dancing-girls, and Khnumu was with them as a porter. They drew near +unto the house of Ra-user, and found him standing, with his girdle +fallen. And they played before him with their instruments of music. +But he said unto them, "My ladies, behold, here is a woman who feels +the pains of birth." They said to him, "Let us see her, for we know +how to help her." And he replied, "Come, then." And they entered in +straightway to Rud-didet, and they closed the door on her and on +themselves. Then Isis stood before her, and Nebhat stood behind her, +and Hakt helped her. And Isis said, "O child, by thy name of User-ref, +do not do violence." And the child came upon her hands, as a child of +a cubit; its bones were strong, the beauty of its limbs was like gold, +and its hair was like true lapis lazuli. They washed him, and prepared +him, and placed him on a carpet on the brickwork. Then Meskhent +approached him and said, "This is a king who shall reign over all the +land." And Khnumu gave strength to his limbs. Then Isis stood before +her, and Nebhat stood behind her, and Hakt helped her. And Isis said, +"O child, by thy name of Sah-ra, stay not in her." Then the child came +upon her hands, a child of a cubit; its bones were strong, the beauty +of its limbs was like gold, and its hair was like true lapis lazuli. +They washed him, and prepared him, and layed him on a carpet on the +brickwork. Then Meskhent approached him and said, "This is a king who +shall reign over all the land." And Khnumu gave strength to his limbs. +Then Isis stood before her, and Nebhat stood behind her, and Hakt +helped her. And Isis said, "O child, by thy name of Kaku, remain not +in darkness in her." And the child came upon her hands, a child of a +cubit; its bones were strong, the beauty of its limbs was like gold, +and its hair was like true lapis lazuli. And Meskhent approached him +and said, "This is a king who shall reign over all the land." And +Khnumu gave strength to his limbs. And they washed him, and prepared +him, and layed him on a carpet on the brickwork. + +And the deities went out, having delivered Rud-didet of the three +children. And they said, "Rejoice! O Ra-user, for behold three children +are born unto thee." And he said unto them, "My ladies, and what shall I +give unto ye? Behold, give this bushel of barley here unto your porter, +that ye may take it as your reward to the brew-house." And Khnumu loaded +himself with the bushel of barley. And they went away toward the place +from which they came. And Isis spake unto these goddesses, and said, +"Wherefore have we come without doing a marvel for these children, that +we may tell it to their father who has sent us?" Then made they the +divine diadems of the king (life, wealth, and health), and laid them in +the bushel of barley. And they caused the clouds to come with wind and +rain; and they turned back again unto the house. And they said, "Let us +put this barley in a closed chamber, sealed up, until we return +northward, dancing." And they placed the barley in a close chamber. + +And Rud-didet purified herself, with a purification of fourteen days. +And she said to her handmaid, "Is the house made ready?" And she +replied, "All things are made ready, but the brewing barley is not yet +brought." And Rud-didet said, "Wherefore is the brewing barley not yet +brought?" And the servant answered, "It would all of it long since +be ready if the barley had not been given to the dancing-girls, and lay +in the chamber under their seal." Rud didet said, "Go down, and bring of +it, and Ra-user shall give them in its stead when he shall come," And +the handmaid went, and opened the chamber. And she heard talking and +singing, music and dancing, quavering, and all things which are +performed for a king in his chamber. And she returned and told to +Rud-didet all that she had heard. And she went through the chamber, but +she found not the place where the sound was. And she layed her temple to +the sack, and found that the sounds were in it. She placed it in a +chest, and put that in another locker, and tied it fast with leather, +and layed it in the store-room, where the things were, and sealed it. +And Ra-user came returning from the field; and Rud-didet repeated unto +him these things; and his heart was glad above all things; and they sat +down and made a joyful day. + +And after these days it came to pass that Rud-didet was wroth with her +servant, and beat her with stripes. And the servant said unto those that +were in the house, "Shall it be done thus unto me? She has borne three +kings, and I will go and tell this to his majesty King Khufu the +blessed." And she went, and found the eldest brother of her mother, who +was binding his flax on the floor. And he said to her, "Whither goest +thou, my little maid?" And she told him of all these things. And her +brother said to her, "Wherefore comest thou thus to me? Shall I agree +to treachery?" And he took a bunch of the flax to her, and laid on +her a violent blow. And the servant went to fetch a handful of water, +and a crocodile carried her away. + +Her uncle went therefore to tell of this to Rud-didet; and he found +Rud-didet sitting, her head on her knees, and her heart beyond measure +sad. And he said to her, "My lady, why makest thou thy heart thus?" And +she answered, "It is because of this little wretch that was in the +house; behold she went out saying, 'I will go and tell it.'" And he +bowed his head unto the ground, and said, "My lady, she came and told me +of these things, and made her complaint unto me; and I laid on her a +violent blow. And she went forth to draw water, and a crocodile carried +her away." + +_(The rest of the tale is lost.)_ + + + + +REMARKS + + +The tales or the magicians are only preserved in a single copy, and of +that the beginning is entirely lost. The papyrus was brought from Egypt +by an English traveller, and was purchased by the Berlin Museum from the +property of Lepsius, who had received it from the owner, Miss Westcar: +hence it is known as the Westcar papyrus. It was written probably in the +XIIth Dynasty, but doubtless embodied tales, which had been floating +for generations before, about the names of the early kings. It shows us +probably the kind of material that existed for the great recension of +the pre-monu-mental history, made in the time of Seti I. Those ages of +the first three dynasties were as long before that recension as we are +after it; and this must always be remembered in considering the +authority of the Egyptian records. + +This papyrus has been more thoroughly studied than most, perhaps more +than any other. Erman has devoted two volumes to it; publishing the +whole in photographic facsimile, transcribed in hieroglyphs, +transcribed in the modern alphabet, translated literally, translated +freely, commented on and discussed word by word, and with a complete +glossary of all words used in it. This exhaustive publication is named +"Der Marchen des Papyrus Westcar." Moreover, Maspero has given a +current translation in the "Contes Populaires," 2nd edit. pp. 53-86. + +The scheme of these tales is that they are all told to King Khufu by his +sons; and as the beginning is lost, eight lines are here added to +explain this and introduce the subject. The actual papyrus begins with +the last few words of a previous tale concerning some other magician +under an earlier king. Then comes the tale of Khafra, next that of +Bau-f-ra, and lastly that of Hor-dedef. + +It need hardly be said that these tales are quite fictitious. The king +and his successor Khafra are real, but the other sons cannot be +identified; and the confusion of supposing three kings of the Vth +Dynasty to be triplets born early in the IVth Dynasty, shows what very +vague ideas of their own history the Egyptians had when these tales were +formed. This ^ does not prevent our seeing that they embodied some very +important traditions, and gives us an unequalled picture of the early +civilisation. + +In the earliest tale or the three there seems at first sight merely a +sketch of faithlessness and revenge. But there is probably much more +in it. To read it aright we must bear in mind the position of woman in +ancient Egypt. If, in later ages, Islam has gone to the extreme of the +man determining his own divorce at a word, in early times almost the +opposite system prevailed. All property belonged to the woman; all +that a man could earn, or inherit, was made over to his wife; and +families always reckoned back further on the mother's side than the +father's. As the changes in historical times have been in the +direction of men's rights, it is very unlikely that this system of +female predominance was invented or introduced, but rather that it +descends from primitive times. In this tale we see, then, at the +beginning of our knowledge of the country, the clashing of two +different social systems. The reciter is strong for men's rights, he +brings destruction on the wife, and never even gives her name, but +always calls her merely "the wife of Uba-aner." But behind all this +there is probably the remains of a very different system. The servant +employed by the mistress seems to see nothing outrageous in her +proceedings; and even the steward, who is on the master's side, waits +a day or two before reporting matters. When we remember the supremacy +in properly and descent which women held in Egypt, and then read this +tale, it seems that it belongs to the close of a social system like +that of the Nairs, in which the lady makes her selection--with +variations from time to time. The incident of sending a present of +clothing is curiously like the tale about a certain English envoy, +whose proprieties were sadly ruffled in the Nair country, when a lady +sent him a grand shawl with an intimation of her choice. The +priestesses of Amen retained to the last this privilege of choice, as +being under divine, and not human protection; but it seems to have +become unseemly in late times. + +The hinging of this tale, and of those that follow it, upon the use of +magic, shows how thoroughly the belief in magic powers was ingrained +in the Egyptians. Now such a belief implies the presence of magicians, +and shows how familiar must have been the claim to such powers, and +the practising of the tricks of witchcraft, so prevalent in Africa in +modern times. The efficacy of a model, such as this crocodile of wax, +is an idea continually met with in Egypt. The system of tomb furniture +and decoration, of _ka_ statues, of _ushabtis_ or figures to work for +the deceased, and the models placed in foundation deposits, all show +how a model was supposed to have the efficacy of an actual reality. +Even in the latest tale of all (written in Ptolemaic times), Setnau +makes a model of a boat and men, to be sunk in the river to work for +him. The reconversion of the crocodile to wax, on being taken up by +the magician, reminds us of the serpent becoming again a rod when +taken up by Aaron. + +The punishment of burning alive is very rarely, if ever, mentioned in +Egyptian history, though it occurs in modern Egyptian tales: and it +looks as if it were brought in here rather as a dire horror for the +climax than as a probable incident. The place of the penalty, in front +of the harem, or the private portion of the palace, was evidently for +the intimi-' dation of other ladies. + +At the close of each tale, King Khufu, to whom it is told, orders +funerary offerings by the usual formula, to be presented in honour of +the king under whom the wonder took place. On the tablets of the tombs +in the early times, there is usually recorded the offering--or, rather, +the pious desire that there should be offered--thousands of loaves, of +oxen, of gazelles, of cranes, &c., for a deceased person. Such +expression cost no more by the thousand than by the dozen, so thousands +came to be the usual expression in all ordaining of offerings. + +We are so accustomed to think of tedium as something modern, that it +seems strange to find in the oldest tales [Page 16] in the world how the +first king of whom we know anything was bored by his pleasures. A reward +for discovering a new pleasure is the very basis of the tale of Sneferu; +and the wise man's remedy of a day in the country is still the best +resource, though all that we know as human history has tried its +experiments in enjoyment since then. The flavour of the ballet thrown +in, by the introduction of the damsels of the household clad in fishing +nets, is not yet obsolete in modern amusements; and even in this century +Muhammed Ali had resource to the same way of killing time, as he was +rowed about by his _harem,_ but on an artificial lake. + +The use of two large oars for steering explains the detail of the +story. The oars were one on each side of the stern, and were each +managed by a steerer. From the tale we see that the steerer led the +song of the rowers, and if the leader ceased, all that side of the +boat ceased also.. The position of the lost jewel upon the hair shows +that it was in a fillet set with inlaying, like that seen on early +figures, such as Nefert at Medum, who wears a fillet of rosettes to +retain the hair; and the position of the steering oar attached to a +post, with the handle rising high in the air, explains how it could +strike the fillet and displace the jewel. + +The last tale is really double, a tale within a tale. It begins with +the wonders done by Dedi, and then goes on with the [Page 22] history +or the children about whom he prophesied to Khufu. + +The village of Dedi was probably near Medum, as in the temple of Sneferu +at Medum an offering was found presented by a worshipper to the gods +of Ded-sneferu: hence the background which is here given for the scene +of Hordedef leading old Dedi. The translation of "the designs of the +dwelling of Tahuti" is not certain; but the passage seems to refer to +some architectural plan which was desired for the pyramid. + +The story of Rud-didet is remarkable historically. She is said to be +wife of the priest of Ra, her children are sons of Ra, and they are the +first three kings of the Vth dynasty, and supplanted the line of Khufu. +This points to the Vth Dynasty having been a priestly usurpation; and on +looking at its history we see two confirmations of this. The title "Son +of Ra" is so common in most ages in Egypt that it is taken for granted, +and is applied in lists to any second cartouche; but it is not found +until well into the Vth Dynasty; the earlier kings were not descendants +of Ra, and it is only on arriving at this dynasty, which claimed descent +from Ra, through the wife of the priest of Ra, that we find the claim +of each king to be a "son of Ra." Another confirmation of this +priestly descent is the abundance of priesthoods established for the +kings of the Vth Dynasty; a care which agrees with their having a +priestly origin; while in the tale it is particularly said that they +would build up the temples, furnish the altars with offerings, supply +the tables of libations, and increase the religious endowments. + +The names of the three children are a play upon the names of the first +three kings of the Vth Dynasty. User-kaf is made into User-ref; +Sahu-ra is written Sah-ra; and Kaka is Kaku; thus making allusions to +their births. The comparison of the hair to true lapis lazuli seems +very strange; but there is often a confusion between black aind blue +in uneducated races, and _azrak_ means either dark blue or green, or +black, at present in Arabic. Lapis lazuli is brought in to the name of +the queen of Ramessu VI., who was called "gold and lazuli," +_Nub-khesdeb;_ recalling the comparison here of personal beauty to +these precious materials. + +It is noticeable here that in a tale of the Vth Dynasty, certainly +written as early as the XIIth Dynasty, we find professional dancers +commonly recognised, and going on travels through the country, with a +porter. + +From this tale we also learn that Egyptian women underwent a +purification of fourteen days, during which they kept apart and did not +attend to any household matters. The mistress of the house here inquires +if the preparations are made for the feast on her return to household +affairs; and hears then how the beer cannot be made for lack of the barley. + +The securing of the sack is just in accord with the remains of this +early period; the use of boxes, of thongs of leather for tying and of +clay sealings for securing property, were all familiar matters in the +XIIth Dynasty, as we learn from Kahun. + +The present close of the tale is evidently only a stage in it, when the +treacherous maid meets with the common doom of the wicked in Egyptian +romance. How it was continued is a matter of speculation, but Khufu +ought certainly to reappear and to order great rewards for Dedi, who up +to this has only had maintenance on his requisite scale provided for +him. Yet it is imperative that the children shall be saved from his +wrath, as they are the kings of the Vth Dynasty. There may be a long +episode lost of their flight and adventures. + +One reference to a date needs notice. The 25th of the month Tybi is said +to be the predicted birthday of the children; and Khufu refers to going +to Sakhebu about that time apparently, when the banks of the canal are +cut and the land was drying after the inundation, whereon Dedi +threatens that the water shall still be deep there. This points to 25th +Tybi being about the close of the inundation. This would be about +the case both in the beginning of the IVth Dynasty, and also in the +XIIth Dynasty, when the papyrus was perhaps written: hence there is +nothing conclusive to be drawn from this allusion so far. But when we +compare this tale with those following, we see good ground for its +belonging to a time before the XIIth Dynasty The following tale of the +peasant and the workman evidently belongs to the IXth or Xth Dynasties, +when Herakleopolis was the capital, and Sanehat is certainly of the +XIIth Dynasty. Yet in those we see character and incident made the basis +of interest, in place of the childish profusion of marvels of the Tales +of the Magicians. It seems impossible not to suppose that they belong to +very different ages and canons of taste; and hence we cannot refer the +crudities of the Khufu tales to the time of the far more elaborate and +polished recital of the adventures of Sanehat in the XIIth Dynasty. +Being thus obliged to suppose an earlier date for these tales, the +allusion to the month Tybi throws us back to a very early period--the +IVth Dynasty--for their original outlines. Doubtless they were modified +by reciters, and probably took shape in the Vth or VIth Dynasties; but +yet we must regard them as belonging practically to the age to which +they refer. + + + + +IN THE SEKHET HEMAT + +IXTH DYNASTY + +THE PEASANT AND THE WORKMAN + + +There dwelt in the Sekhet Hemat--or salt country--a peasant called the +Sekhti, with his wife and children, his asses and his dogs; and he +trafficked in all good things of the Sekhet Hemat to Henenseten. Behold +now he went with rushes, natron, and salt, with wood and pods, with +stones and seeds, and all good products of the Sekhet Hemat. And this +Sekhti journeyed to the south unto Henenseten; and when he came to the +lands of the house of Fefa, north of Denat, he found a man there +standing on the bank, a man called Hemti--the workman--son of a man +called Asri, who was a serf of the High Steward Meruitensa. Now said +this Hemti, when he saw the asses of Sekhti, that were pleasing in his +eyes, "Oh that some good god would grant me to steal away the goods of +Sekhti from him!" + +Now the Hemti's house was by the dyke of the tow-path, which was +straitened, and not wide, as much as the width of a waist cloth: on the +one side of it was the water, and on the other side of it grew his corn. +Hemti said then to his servant, "Hasten I bring me a shawl from the +house," and it was brought instantly. Then spread he out this shawl on +the face of the dyke, and it lay with its fastening on the water and its +fringe on the corn. + +Now Sekhti approached along the path used by all men. Said Hemti, "Have +a care, Sekhti! you are not going to trample on my clothes!" Said +Sekhti, "I will do as you like, I will pass carefully." Then went he +up on the higher side. But Hemti said, "Go you over my corn, instead +of the path?" Said Sekhti, "I am going carefully; this high field of +corn is not my choice, but you have stopped your path with your +clothes, and will you then not let us pass by the side of the path?" +And one of the asses filled its mouth with a cluster of corn. Said +Hemti, "Look you, I shall take away your ass, Sekhti, for eating my +corn; behold it will have to pay according to the amount of the +injury." Said Sekhti, "I am going carefully; the one way is stopped, +therefore took I my ass by the enclosed ground, and do you seize it +for filling its mouth with a cluster of corn? Moreover, I know unto +whom this domain belongs, even unto the Lord Steward Meruitensa. He it +is who smites every robber in this whole land; and shall I then be +robbed in his domain?" + +Said Hemti, "This is the proverb which men speak: 'A poor man's name is +only his own matter.' I am he of whom you spake, even the Lord Steward +of whom you think." Thereon he took to him branches of green tamarisk +and scourged all his limbs, took his asses, and drave them into the +pasture. And Sekhti wept very greatly, by reason of the pain of what +he had suffered. Said Hemti, "Lift not up your voice, Sekhti, or you +shall go to the Demon of Silence." Sekhti answered, "You beat me, you +steal my goods, and now would take away even my voice, O demon of +silence! If you will restore my goods, then will I cease to cry out at +your violence." + +Sekhti stayed the whole day petitioning Hemti, but he would not give ear +unto him. And Sekhti went his way to Khenensuten to complain to the Lord +Steward Meruitensa. He found him coming out from the door of his house +to embark on his boat, that he might go to the judgment hall. Sekhti +said, "Ho! turn, that I may please thy heart with this discourse. Now at +this time let one of thy followers whom thou wilt, come to me that I +may send him to thee concerning it." The Lord Steward Meruitensa made +his follower, whom he chose, go straight unto him, and Sekhti sent him +back with an account of all these matters. Then the Lord Steward +Meruitensa accused Hemti unto the nobles who sat with him; and they said +unto him, "By your leave: As to this Sekhti of yours, let him bring a +witness. Behold thou it is our custom with our Sekhtis; witnesses come +with them; behold, that is our custom. Then it will be fitting to +beat this Hemti for a trifle of natron and a trifle of salt; if he is +commanded to pay for it, he will pay for it." But the High Steward +Meruitensa held his peace; for he would not reply unto these nobles, +but would reply unto the Sekhti. + +Now Sekhti came to appeal to the Lord Steward Meruitensa, and said, "O +my Lord Steward, greatest of the great, guide of the needy: + + When thou embarkest on the lake of truth,-- + Mayest thou sail upon it with a fair wind; + May thy mainsail not fly loose. + May there not be lamentation in thy cabin; + May not misfortune come after thee. + May not thy mainstays be snapped; + Mayest thou not run aground. + May not the wave seize thee; + Mayest thou not taste the impurities of the river; + Mayest thou not see the face of fear. + May the fish come to thee without escape; + Mayest thou reach unto plump waterfowl. + For thou art the orphan's father, the widow's husband, + The desolate woman's brother, the garment of the motherless. + Let me celebrate thy name in this land for every virtue. + A guide without greediness of heart; + A great one without any meanness. + Destroying deceit, encouraging justice; + Coming to the cry, and allowing utterance. + Let me speak, do thou hear and do justice; + O praised! whom the praised ones praise. + Abolish oppression, behold me, I am overladen, + Reckon with me, behold me defrauded." + +Now the Sekhti made this speech in the time of the majesty of the King +Neb-ka-n-ra, blessed. The Lord Steward Meruitensa went away straight to +the king and said, "My lord, I have found one of these Sekhti, excellent +of speech, in very truth; stolen are his goods, and he has come to +complain to me of the matter." + +His majesty said, "As thou wishest that I may see health! lengthen out +his complaint, without replying to any of his speeches. He who +desireth him to continue speaking should be silent; behold, bring us +his words in writing, that we may listen to them. But provide for his +wife and his children, and let the Sekhti himself also have a living. +Thou must cause one to give him his portion without letting him know +that thou art he who is giving it to him." + +There were given to him four loaves and two draughts of beer each day; +which the Lord Steward Meruitensa provided for him, giving it to a +friend of his, who furnished it unto him. Then the Lord Steward +Meruitensa sent the governor of the Sekhet Hemat to make provision for +the wife of the Sekhti, three rations of corn each day. + +Then came the Sskhti a second time, and even a third time, unto the Lord +Steward Meruitensa; but he told two of his followers to go unto the +Sekhti, and seize on him, and beat him with staves. But he came again +unto him, even unto six times, and said-- + +"My Lord Steward-Destroying deceit, and encouraging justice; Raising up +every good thing, and crushing every evil; As plenty comes removing +famine, As clothing covers nakedness, As clear sky after storm warms the +shivering; As fire cooks that which is raw, As water quenches the +thirst; Look with thy face upon my lot; do not covet, but +content me without fail; do the right and do not evil." + +But yet Meruitensa would not hearken unto his complaint; and the Sekhti +came yet, and yet again, even unto the ninth time. Then the Lord Steward +told two of his followers to go unto the Sekhti; and the Sekhti feared +that he should be beaten as at the third request. But the Lord Steward +Meruitensa then sa^; d unto him, "Fear not, Sekhti, for what thou has +done. The Sekhti has made many speeches, delightful to the heart of his +majesty and I take an oath--as I eat bread, and as I drink water--that +thou shalt be remembered to eternity." Said the Lord Steward, "Moreover, +thou shalt be satisfied when thou shalt hear of thy complaints" He +caused to be written on a clean roll of papyrus each petition to the +end, and the Lord Steward Meruitensa sent it to the majesty of the +King Neb-ka-n-ra, blessed, and it was good to him more than anything +that is in the whole land: but his majesty said to Meruitensa, "Judge +it thyself; I do not desire it." + +The Lord Steward Meruitensa made two of his followers to go to the +Sekhet Hemat, and bring a list of the household of the Sekhti; and its +amount was six persons, beside his oxen and his goats, his wheat and his +barley, his asses and his dogs; and moreover he gave all that which +belonged unto the Hemti to the Sekhti, even all his property and his +offices, and the Sekhti was beloved of the king more than all his +overseers, and ate of all the good things of the king, with all his +household. + + + + +REMARKS + + +Of the tale of the peasant and the workman three copies, more or less +imperfect, remain to us. At Berlin are two papyri, Nos. 2 and 4, +containing parts of the tale, published in fascimile in the "Denkmaler" +of Lepsius vi. 108-110 and 113; while portions of another copy exist in +the Butler papyrus; and lately fragments of the same have been collated +in the collection of Lord Amherst of Hackney. These last have been +published in the Proceedings of the Society of Biblical Archaeology, +xiv. 558. The number of copies seem to show that this was a popular tale +in early times; it certainly is of a more advanced type than the earlier +tales of magic, though it belongs to a simpler style than the tales +which follow. It has been translated partially by Chabas and Goodwin, +and also by Maspero, but most completely by Griffith in the Proceedings +of the Society of Biblical Archaeology, referred to above. + +The beginning of the tale is lost in all the copies, and an introductory +sentence is here added in brackets, to explain the position of affairs +at the opening of the fragment. The essence of the tale is the +difference in social position between the Sekhti, or peasant, and the +Hemti, or workman--the _fellah_ and the client of the noble; and the +impossibility of getting justice against a client, unless by some +extraordinary means of attracting his patron's attention, is the basis +of the action. There is not a single point of incident here which might +not be true in modern times; every turn of it seems to live, as one +reads it in view of country life in Egypt. + +The region of the tale is Henenseten, or Herakleopolis, now Ahnas, a +little south of the Fayum. This was the seat of the IXth and Xth +Dynasties, apparently ejected from Memphis by a foreign invasion of the +Delta; and here it is that the High Steward lives and goes to speak to +the king. The district of the Sekhti is indicated by his travelling +south to Henenseten, and going with asses and not by boat. Hence we are +led to look for the Sekhet Hemat, or salt country, in the borders of the +Fayum lake, whence the journey would be southward, and across the +desert. This lake was not regulated artificially until the XIIth +Dynasty; and hence at the period of this tale it was a large sheet of +water, fluctuating with each rise and fall of the Nile, and bordered by +lagoons where rushes would flourish, and where salt and natron would +accumulate daring the dry season of each year. At the present time the +lake of the Fayum is brackish, and the cliffs which border it contain so +much salt that rain pools which collect on them are not drinkable. The +paths and roads of Egypt are not protected by law as in Western +countries. Each person encroaches on a path or diverts it as may suit +his purpose, only checked by the liberties taken by passers-by in +trespassing if a path be insufficient. Hence, it is very usual to see a +house built over half of a path, and driving the traffic into the +field or almost over the river bank. In this case the Hemti had taken +in as much of the path as he could, and left it but a narrow strip +along the top of the canal bank. The frequent use of the public way +for drying clothes, or spreading out property, gave the idea of +choking the way altogether, and leaving no choice but trespassing on +the crops. No sooner does a donkey pause, or even pass, by a field of +corn than he snatches a mouthful, and in a delay or altercation such +as this the beast is sure to take the advantage. Donkeys carrying +loads by cornfields are usually muzzled with rope nets, to prevent +their feeding; and even sheep and goats are also fended in the same +way. + +The proverb, "A poor man's name is only his own matter," refers to the +independent _fellah_ having no patron or protector who will take up and +defend his name from accusations, as the interests of clients and serfs +would be protected. This being the case, Hemti therefore seizes on the +property, and drives the asses into his own pasture field. + +The scene of Meruitensa laying the case before the nobles who sat with +him is interesting as showing that even simple cases were not decided by +one judge, but referred to a council. Similarly, Una lays stress on the +private trial of the queen being confided to him and only one other +judge. Apparently, referring cases to a bench of judges was the means of +preventing corruption. + +The speeches of the Sekhti were given at full length in the papyrus, but +owing to injuries we cannot now entirely recover them; they are all in +much the same strain, only the first and last are translated here, and +the others are passed over. The style of these speeches was evidently +looked on as eloquent in those days, and this papyrus really seems to +show the time when long-drawn comparisons and flowery wishes were in +fashion. It is far different from later compositions, as it is also from +the earlier simple narration of crude marvels in the tales of the +magicians. + +The close of the tale is defective, but from the remains it appears to +have ended by the gift of the Hemti's property to the oppressed Sekhti +and the triumph of the injured peasant. + + + + +GOING TO WAWAT + +XIITH DYNASTY + +THE SHIPWRECKED SAILOR + + +The wise servant said, "Let thy heart be satisfied, O my lord, for +that we have come back to the country; after we have long been on board, +and rowed much, the prow has at last touched land. All the people +rejoice, and embrace us one after another. Moreover, we have come back +in good health, and not a man is lacking; although we have been to the +ends of Wawat, and gone through the land of Senmut, we have returned in +peace, and our land--behold, we have come back to it. Hear me, my +lord; I have no other refuge. Wash thee, and turn the water over thy +ringers; then go and tell the tale to the majesty." + +His lord replied, "Thy heart continues still its wandering words! but +although the mouth of a man may save him, his words may also cover his +face with confusion. Wilt thou do then as thy heart moves thee? This +that thou wilt say, tell quietly." + +The sailor then answered, "Now I shall tell that which has happened to +me, to my very self I was going to the mines of Pharaoh, and I went down +on the sea on a ship of 150 cubits long and 40 cubits wide, with 150 +sailors of the best of Egypt, who had seen heaven and earth, and whose +hearts were stronger than lions. They had said that the wind would not +be contrary, or that there would be none. But as we approached the land +the wind arose, and threw up waves eight cubits high. As for me, I +seized a piece of wood; but those who were in the vessel perished, +without one remaining. A wave threw me on an island, after that I had +been three days alone, without a companion beside my own heart. I laid +me in a thicket, and the shadow covered me. Then stretched I my limbs +to try to find something for my mouth. I found there figs and grapes, +all manner of good herbs, berries and grain, melons of all kinds, +fishes and birds. Nothing was lacking. And I satisfied myself; and +left on the ground that which was over, of what my arms had been +filled withal. I dug a pit, I lighted a fire, and I made a +burntoffering unto the gods. + +"Suddenly I heard a noise as of thunder, which I thought to be that of a +wave of the sea. The trees shook, and the earth was moved. I uncovered +my face, and I saw that a serpent drew near. He was thirty cubits long, +and his beard greater than two cubits; his body was as overlayed with +gold, and his colour as that of true lazuli. He coiled himself before me. + +"Then he opened his mouth, while that I lay on my face before him, and +he said to me, 'What has brought thee, what has brought thee, little +one, what has brought thee? If thou sayest not speedily what has +brought thee to this isle, I will make thee know thyself; as a flame +thou shalt vanish, if thou tellest me not something I have not heard, +or which I knew not, before thee.' + +"Then he took me in his mouth and carried me to his resting-place, and +layed me down without any hurt. I was whole and sound, and nothing was +gone from me. Then he opened his mouth against me, while that I lay on +my face before him, and he said, 'What has brought thee, what has +brought thee, little one, what has brought thee to this isle which is in +the sea, and of which the shores are in the midst of the waves?' + +"Then I replied to him, and holding my arms low before him, I said to +him,' I was embarked for the mines by the order of the majesty, in a +ship, 150 cubits was its length, and the width of it 40 cubits. It had +150 sailors of the best of Egypt, who had seen heaven and earth, and +the hearts of whom were stronger than lions. They said that the wind +would not be contrary, or that there would be none. Each of them +exceeded his companion in the prudence of his heart and the strength +of his arm, and I was not beneath any of them. A storm came upon us +while we were on the sea. Hardly could we reach to the shore when the +wind waxed yet greater, and the waves rose even eight cubits. As for +me, I seized a piece of wood, while those who were in the boat +perished without one being left with me for three days. Behold me now +before thee, for I was brought to this isle by a wave of the sea.' + +"Then said he to me, 'Fear not, fear not, little one, and make not thy +face sad. If thou hast come to me, it is God who has let thee live. For +it is He who has brought thee to this isle of the blest, where nothing +is lacking, and which is filled with all good after another, until +thou shalt be four months in this isle. Then a ship shall come from +thy land with sailors, and thou shalt leave with them and go to thy +country, and thou shalt die in thy town. + +'"Converse is pleasing, and he who tastes of it passes over his +misery. I will therefore tell thee of that which is in this isle. I +am here with my brethren and my children around me; we are +seventy-five serpents, children, and kindred; without naming a young +girl who was brought unto me by chance, and on whom the fire of heaven +fell, and burnt her to ashes. + +"'As for thee if thou art strong, and if thy heart waits patiently, thou +shalt press thy infants to thy bosom and embrace thy wife. Thou shalt +return to thy house which is full of all good things, thou shalt see thy +land, where thou shalt dwell in the midst of thy kindred.' + +"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 honoured. 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 sayedst thou wouldest 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.'" + + + + +THE FAREWELL + + +"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 kind 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 then +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 honour,' and behold I have become such." + +This is finished from its beginning unto its end, even as it was found +in a writing. It is written by the scribe of cunning fingers +Ameni-amen-aa; may he live in life, wealth, and health! + + + + +REMARKS + + +This tale is only known in one copy, preserved in the Hermitage +collection at St. Petersburg. The papyrus has not yet been published, +either in facsimile or transcription. But two translations of it have +appeared by M. Golenischeff: from the earlier a modified translation is +given by Maspero in the "Contes Populaires," 2nd edit., pp. 133-146, +and the later translation is in M. Golenischeff's excellent +"Inventaire de la collection Egyptienne (Ermitage Imperial)," p. +177-182. + +The tale is that of a returned sailor, speaking to his superior and +telling his adventures, to induce him to send him on with an +introduction to the king. At first his master professes to disbelieve +him, and then the sailor protests that this happened to himself, and +gives his narrative. The idea of an enchanted island, which has risen +from the waves and will sink again, is here found to be one of the +oldest plots for a tale of marvels. But the construction is far more +advanced than that of the tales of the magicians. The family of serpents +and the manner of the great serpent is well conceived, and there are +many fine touches of literary quality: such as noise as of thunder, the +trees shaking and the earth being moved at the appearance of the great +serpent--the speeches of the serpent and his threat--the sailors who had +seen heaven and earth--the contempt of the serpent for his offerings, + +"As for me, I am prince of the land of Punt, and I have perfumes"--and +the scene of departure. All of these points show a firm hand and +practised taste, although there is still a style of simplicity clinging +to it which agrees well to its date in the XIIth Dynasty. + +The great serpent is not of a type usual in Egyptian designs. The +human-headed uraeus is seldom bearded; and the best example of such a +monster is on an Ethiopian temple, where a great uraeus has human arms +and a lion's head. The colours again repeat the favourite combination +expressive of splendour--gold and lazuli. Though lazuli is very rare in +early times, yet it certainly was known in the XIIth Dynasty, as shown +by the forms of some beads of lazuli. + +The slaughter of asses in sacrifice is a very peculiar offering, and no +sign of this is found in any representations or groups of offerings. + +The colophon of the copyist at the end shows by the style of the name +that it belongs to the earlier part of the XIIth Dynasty, and if so, the +composition might be referred to the opening of foreign trade under +Sankhkara or Amenemhat I. + + + + +XIITH DYNASTY + +THE ADVENTURES OF SANEHAT + + +The hereditary prince, royal seal-bearer, confidential friend, judge, +keeper of the gate of the foreigners, true and beloved royal +acquaintance, the royal follower Sanehat says:-- + +I attended my lord as a follower of the king, of the house of the +hereditary princess, the greatly favoured, the royal wife, +Ankhet-Usertesen, who shares the dwelling of the royal son Amenemhat in +Kanefer. + +In the thirtieth year, the month Paophi, the seventh day the god entered +his horizon, the king Sehotepabra flew up to heaven and joined the sun's +disc, the follower of the god met his maker. The palace was silenced, +and in mourning, the great gates were closed, the courtiers crouching +on the ground, the people in hushed mourning. + +His majesty had sent a great army with the nobles to the land of the +Temehu (Lybia), his son and heir, the good god king Usertesen as their +leader. Now he was returning, and had brought away living captives and +all kinds of cattle without end. The councillors of the palace had sent +to the West to let the king know the matter that had come to pass in the +inner hall. The messenger was to meet him on the road, and reach him at +the time of evening: the matter was urgent. "A hawk had soared with his +followers." Thus said he, not to let the army know of it Even if the +royal sons who commanded in that army send a message, he was not to +speak to a single one of them. But I was standing near, and heard his +voice while he was speaking. I fled far away, my heart beating, my arms +failing, trembling had fallen on all my limbs. I turned about in running +to seek a place to hide me, and I threw myself between two bushes, to +wait while they should pass by. + + + + +THE FLIGHT + + +Then I turned me toward the south, not from wishing to come into this +palace--for I knew not if war was declared--nor even thinking a wish to +live after this sovereign, + +I turned my back to the sycamore, I reached Shi-Seneferu, and rested on +the open field. In the morning I went on and overtook a man, who passed +by the edge of the road. He asked of me mercy, for he feared me. By +the evening I drew near to Kher-ahau (? old Cairo), and I crossed the +river on a raft without a rudder. Carried over by the west wind, I +passed over to the east to the quarries of Aku and the land of the +goddess Herit, mistress of the red mountain (Gebel Ahmar). Then I fled +on foot, northward, and reached the walls of the prince, built to +repel the Sati. I crouched in a bush for fear of being seen by the +guards, changed each day, who watch on the top of the fortress. I took +my way by night, and at the lighting or the day I reached Peten, and +turned me toward the valley of Kemur. Then thirst hasted me on; I +dried up, and my throat narrowed, and I said, "This is the taste of +death." When I lifted up my heart and gathered strength, I heard a +voice and the lowing of cattle. I saw men of the Sati, and one of +them--a friend unto Egypt--knew me. Behold he gave me water and boiled +me milk, and I went with him to his camp; they did me good, and one +tribe passed me on to another. I passed on to Sun, and reached the +land of Adim (Edom). + +When I had dwelt there half a year Amu-an-shi--who is the prince of the +Upper Tenu--sent for me and said: "Dwell thou with me that thou mayest +hear the speech of Egypt." He said thus for that he knew of my +excellence, and had heard tell of my worth, for men of Egypt who were +there with him bore witness of me. Behold he said to me, "For what cause +hast thou come hither? Has a matter come to pass in the palace? Has the +king of the two lands, Sehetep-abra gone to heaven? That which has +happened about this is not known." But I answered with concealment, and +said, "When I came from the land of the Tamahu, and my desires were +there changed in me, if I fled away it was not by reason of remorse that +I took the way of a fugitive; I have not failed in my duty, my mouth has +not said any bitter words, I have not heard any evil counsel, my name +has not come into the mouth of a magistrate. I know not by what I have +been led into this land." And Amu-an-shi said, "This is by the will of +the god (king of Egypt), for what is a land like if it know not that +excellent god, of whom the dread is upon the lands of strangers, as +they dread Sekhet in a year of pestilence." I spake to him, and +replied, "Forgive me, his son now enters the palace, and has received +the heritage of his father. He is a god who has none like him, and +there is none before him. He is a master of wisdom, prudent in his +designs, excellent in his decrees, with good-will to him who goes or +who comes; he subdued the land of strangers while his father yet lived +in his palace, and he rendered account of that which his father +destined him to perform. He is a brave man, who verily strikes with +his sword; a valiant one, who has not his equal; he springs upon the +barbarians, and throws himself on the spoilers; he breaks the horns +and weakens the hands, and those whom he smites cannot raise the +buckler. He is fearless, and dashes the heads, and none can stand +before him. He is swift of foot, to destroy him who flies; and none +who flees from him reaches his home. His heart is strong in his time; +he is a lion who strikes with the claw, and never has he turned his +back. His heart is closed to pity; and when he sees multitudes, he +leaves none to live behind him. He is a valiant one who springs in +front when he sees resistance; he is a warrior who rejoices when he +flies on the barbarians. He seizes the buckler, he rushes forward, he +never needs to strike again, he slays and none can turn his lance; and +when he takes the bow the barbarians flee from his arms like dogs; for +the great goddess has given to him to strike those who know her not; +and if he reaches forth he spares none, and leaves nought behind. He +is a friend of great sweetness, who knows how to gain love; his land +loves him more than itself, and rejoices in him more than in its own +god; men and women run to his call. A king, he has ruled from his +birth; he, from his birth, has increased births, a sole being, a +divine essence, by whom this land rejoices to be governed. He enlarges +the borders of the South, but he covets not the lands of the North; +he does not smite the Sati, nor crush the Nemau-shau If he descends +here, let him know thy name, by the homage which thou wilt pay to his +majesty. For he refuses not to bless the land which obeys him." + +And he replied to me, "Egypt is indeed happy and well settled; behold +thou art far from it, but whilst thou art with me I will do good unto +thee." And he placed me before his children, he married his eldest +daughter to me, and gave me the choice of all his land, even among the +best of that which he had on the border of the next land. It is a goodly +land, laa is its name. There are figs and grapes; there is wine commoner +than water; abundant is the honey, many are its olives; and all fruits +are upon its trees; there is barley and wheat, and cattle of kinds +without end. This was truly a great thing that he granted me, when the +prince came to invest me, and establish me as prince of a tribe in the +best of his land. I had my continual portion of bread and of wine each +day, of cooked meat, of roasted fowl, as well as the wild game which I +took, or which was brought to me, besides what my dogs captured. They +made me much butter, and prepared milk of all kinds. I passed many +years, the children that I had became great, each ruling his tribe. +When a messenger went or came to the palace, he turned aside from the +way to come to me; for I helped every man. I gave water to the +thirsty, I set on his way him who went astray, and I rescued the +robbed. The Sati who went far, to strike and turn back the princes of +other lands, I ordained their goings; for the Prince of the Tenu for +many years appointed me to be general of his soldiers. In every land +which I attacked I played the champion, I took the cattle, I led away +the vassals, I carried off the slaves, I slew the people, by my sword, +my bow, my marches and my good devices. I was excellent to the heart +of my prince; he loved me when he knew my power, and set me over his +children when he saw the strength of my arms. + +A champion of the Tenu came to defy me in my tent: a bold man without +equal, for he had vanquished the whole country. He said, "Let Sanehat +fight with me;" for he desired to overthrow me, he thought to take my +cattle for his tribe. The prince councilled with me. I said, "I know +him not. I certainly am not of his degree, I hold me far from his +place. Have I ever opened his door, or leaped over his fence? It is +some envious jealousy from seeing me; does he think that I am like +some steer among the cows, whom the bull overthrows? If this is a +wretch who thinks to enrich himself at my cost, not a Bedawi and a +Bedawi fit for fight, then let us put the matter to judgment. Verily a +true bull loves battle, but a vain-glorious bull turns his back for +fear of contest; if he has a heart for combat, let him speak what he +pleases. Will God forget what He has ordained, and how shall that be +known?" I lay down; and when I had rested I strung my bow, I made +ready my arrows, I loosened my poignard, I furbished my arms. At dawn +the land of the Tenu came together; it had gathered its tribes and +called all the neighbouring people, it spake of nothing but the fight. +Each heart burnt for me, men and women crying out; for each heart was +troubled for me, and they said, "Is there another strong one who would +fight with him? Behold the adversary has a buckler, a battle axe, and +an armful of javelins." Then I drew him to the attack; I turned aside +his arrows, and they struck the ground in vain. One drew near to the +other, and he fell on me, and then I shot him. My arrow fastened in +his neck, he cried out, and fell on his face: I drove his lance into +him, and raised my shout of victory on his back. Whilst all the men of +the land rejoiced, I, and his vassals whom he had oppressed, gave +thanks unto Mentu. This prince, Amu-an-shi, embraced me. Then I +carried off his goods and took his cattle, that which he had wished to +do to me, I did even so unto him; I seized that which was in his tent, +I spoiled his dwelling. As time went on I increased the richness of my +treasures and the number of my cattle. + +_Petition to the king of Egypt._ + +"Now behold what the god has done for me who trusted in him. Having once +fled away, yet now there is a witness of me in the palace. Once having +fled away, as a fugitive,------now all in the palace give unto me a good +name. After that I had been dying of hunger, now I give bread to those +around. I had left my land naked, and now I am clothed in fine linen. +After having been a wanderer without followers, now I possess many +serfs. My house is fine, my land wide, my memory is established in the +temple of all the gods. And let this flight obtain thy forgiveness; +that I may be appointed in the palace; that I may see the place where +my heart dwells. How great a thing is it that my body should be +embalmed in the land where I was born! To return there is happiness. I +have made offering to God, to grant me this thing. His heart suffers +who has run away unto a strange land. Let him hear the prayer of him +who is afar off, that he may revisit the place of his birth, and the +place from which he removed. + +"May the king of Egypt be gracious to me that I may live of his favour. +And I render my homage to the mistress of the land, who is in his +palace; may I hear the news of her children. Thus will my limbs grow +young again. Now old age comes, feebleness seizes me, my eyes are +heavy, my arms are feeble, my legs will not move, my heart is slow. +Death draws nigh to me, soon shall they lead me to the city of +eternity. Let me follow the mistress of all (the queen, his former +mistress); lo! let her tell me the excellencies of her children; may +she bring eternity to me." + +Then the majesty of King Kheper-ka-ra, the blessed, spake upon this my +desire that I had made to him. His majesty sent unto me with presents +from the king, that he might enlarge the heart of his servant, like unto +the province of any strange land; and the royal sons who are in the +palace addressed themselves unto me. + +_Copy of the decree which was brought--to me who speak to you--to lead +me back into Egypt._ + +"The Horus, life of births, lord of the crowns, life of births, king +of Upper and Lower Egypt, Kheper-ka-ra, son of the Sun, Amen-em-hat, +ever living unto eternity. Order for the follower Sanehat. Behold this +order of the king is sent to thee to instruct thee of his will. + +"Now, although thou hast gone through strange lands from Adim to Tenu, +and passed from one country to another at the wish of thy heart--behold, +what hast thou done, or what has been done against thee, that is amiss? +Moreover, thou reviledst not; but if thy word was denied, thou didst +not speak again in the assembly of the nobles, even if thou wast +desired. Now, therefore, that thou hast thought on this matter which +has come to thy mind, let thy heart not change again; for this thy +Heaven (queen), who is in the palace is fixed, she is flourishing, she +is enjoying the best in the kingdom of the land, and her children are +in the chambers of the palace. + +"Leave all the riches that thou hast, and that are with thee, +altogether. When thou shalt come into Egypt behold the palace, and when +thou shalt enter the palace, bow thy face to the ground before the Great +House; thou shalt be chief among the companions. And day by day behold +thou growest old; thy vigour is lost, and thou thinkest on the day of +burial. Thou shalt see thyself come to the blessed state, they shall +give thee the bandages from the hand of Tait, the night of applying the +oil of embalming. They shall follow thy funeral, and visit the tomb on +the day of burial, which shall be in a gilded case, the head painted +with blue, a canopy of cypress wood above thee, and oxen shall draw +thee, the singers going before thee, and they shall dance the funeral +dance. The weepers crouching at the door of thy tomb shall cry aloud +the prayers for offerings: they shall slay victims for thee at the +door of thy pit; and thy pyramid shall be carved in white stone, in +the company of the royal children. Thus thou shalt not die in a +strange land, nor be buried by the Amu; thou shalt not be laid in a +sheep-skin when thou art buried; all people shall beat the earth, and +lament on thy body when thou goest to the tomb." + +When this order came to me, I was in the midst of my tribe. When it was +read unto me, I threw me on the dust, I threw dust in my hair; I went +around my tent rejoicing and saying, "How may it be that such a thing +is done to the servant, who with a rebellious heart has fled to +strange lands? Now with an excellent deliverance, and mercy delivering +me from death, thou shall cause me to end my days in the palace." + +_Copy of the answer to this order._ + +"The follower Sanehat says: In excellent peace above everything consider +of this flight that he made here in his ignorance; Thou, the Good God, +Lord of both Lands, Loved of Ra, Favourite of Mentu, the lord of Thebes, +and of Amen, lord of thrones of the lands, of Sebek, Ra, Horus, Hathor, +Atmu, and of his fellow-gods, of Sopdu, Neferbiu, Samsetu, Horus, lord +of the east, and of the royal uraeus which rules on thy head, of the +chief gods of the waters, of Min, Horus of the desert, Urrit, mistress +of Punt, Nut, Harnekht, Ra, all the gods of the land of Egypt, and of +the isles of the sea. May they give life and peace to thy nostril, may +they load thee with their gifts, may they give to thee eternity +without end, everlastingness without bound. May the fear of thee be +doubled in the lands of the deserts. Mayest thou subdue the circuit of +the sun's disc. This is the prayer to his master of the humble servant +who is saved from a foreign land. + +"O wise king, the wise words which are pronounced in the wisdom of the +majesty of the sovereign, thy humble servant fears to tell. It is a +great thing to repeat. O great God, like unto Ra in fulfilling that to +which he has set his hand, what am I that he should take thought for me? +Am I among those whom he regards, and for whom he arranges? Thy majesty +is as Horus, and the strength of thy arms extends to all lands. + +"Then let his Majesty bring Maki of Adma, Kenti-au-ush of Khenti-keshu, +and Tenus from the two lands ol the Fenkhu; these are the princes who +bear witness of me as to all that has passed, out of love for thyself. +Does not Tenu believe that it belongs to thee like thy dogs. Behold +this flight that I have made: I did not have it in my heart; it was +like the leading of a dream, as a man of Adehi (Delta) sees himself in +Abu (Elephantine), as a man of the plain of Egypt who sees himself in +the deserts. There was no fear, there was no hastening after me, I did +not listen to an evil plot, my name was not heard in the mouth of the +magistrate; but my limbs went, my feet wandered, my heart drew me; my +god commanded this flight, and drew me on; but I am not stiff-necked. +Does a man fear when he sees his own land? Ra spread thy fear over the +land, thy terrors in every strange land. Behold me now in the palace, +behold me in this place; and lo! thou art he who is over all the +horizon; the sun rises at thy pleasure, the water in the rivers is +drunk at thy will, the wind in heaven is breathed at thy saying. + +"I who speak to thee shall leave my goods to the generations to follow +in this land. And as to this messenger who is come even let thy majesty +do as pleaseth him, for one lives by the breath that thou givest. O thou +who art beloved of Ra, of Horus, and of Hathor; Mentu, lord of Thebes, +desires that thy august nostril should live for ever." + +I made a feast in Iaa, to pass over my goods to my children. My eldest +son was leading my tribe, all my goods passed to him, and I gave him my +corn and all my cattle, my fruit, and all my pleasant trees. When I had +taken my road to the south, and arrived at the roads of Horus, the +officer who was over the garrison sent a messenger to the palace to give +notice. His majesty sent the good overseer of the peasants of the king's +domains, and boats laden with presents from the king for the Sati who +had come to conduct me to the roads of Horus. I spoke to each one by his +name, and I gave the presents to each as was intended. I received and I +returned the salutation, and I continued thus until I reached the city +of Thetu. + +When the land was brightened, and the new day began, four men came with +a summons for me; and the four men went to lead me to the palace. I +saluted with both my hands on the ground; the royal children stood at +the courtyard to conduct me: the courtiers who were to lead me to the +hall brought me on the way to the royal chamber. + +I found his Majesty on the great throne in the hall of pale gold. Then I +threw myself on my belly; this god, in whose presence I was, knew me +not. He questioned me graciously, but I was as one seized with +blindness, my spirit fainted, my limbs failed, my heart was no longer in +my bosom, and I knew the difference between life and death. His +majesty said to one of the companions, "Lift him up, let him speak to +me." And his majesty said, "Behold thou hast come, thou hast trodden +the deserts, thou hast played the wanderer. Decay falls on thee, old +age has reached thee; it is no small thing that thy body should be +embalmed, that the Pedtiu shall not bury thee. Do not, do not, be +silent and speechless; tell thy name; is it fear that prevents thee?" +I answered in reply, "I fear, what is it that my lord has said that I +should answer it? I have not called on me the hand of God, but it is +terror in my body, like that which brings sudden death. Now behold I +am before thee; thou art life; let thy majesty do what pleaseth him." + +The royal children were brought in, and his majesty said to the queen, +"Behold thou Sanehat has come as an Amu, whom the Sati have produced." + +She cried aloud, and the royal children spake with one voice, saying, +before his majesty, "Verily it is not so, O king, my lord." Said his +majesty, "It is verily he." Then they brought their collars, and their +wands, and their sistra in their hands, and displayed them before his +majesty; and they sang-- + +"May thy hands prosper, O king; May the ornaments of the Lady of Heaven +continue. May the goddess Nub give life to thy nostril; May the mistress +of the stars favour thee, when thou sailest south and north. All +wisdom is in the mouth of thy majesty; Thy uraeus is on thy forehead, +thou drivest away the miserable. + +"Thou art pacified, O Ra, lord of the lands; They call on thee as on the +mistress of all. Strong is thy horn, Thou lettest fly thine arrow. Grant +the breath to him who is without it; Grant good things to this +traveller, Samehit the Pedti, born in the land of Egypt, Who fled away +from fear of thee, And fled this land from thy terrors. Does not the +face grow pale, of him who beholds thy countenance; Docs not the eye +fear, which looks upon thee." + +Said his majesty, "Let him not fear, let him be freed from terror. He +shall be a Royal Friend amongst the nobles; he shall be put within the +circle of the courtiers. Go ye to the chamber of praise to seek wealth +for him." + +When I went out from the palace, the royal children offered their hands +to me; we walked afterwards to the Great Gates. I was placed in a house +of a king's son, in which were delicate things, a place of coolness, +fruits of the granary, treasures of the White House, clothes of the +king's guardrobe, frankincense, the finest perfumes of the king and the +nobles whom he loves, in every chamber. All the servitors were in their +several offices. + +Years were removed from my limbs: I was shaved, and polled my locks of +hair; the foulness was cast to the desert with the garments of the +Nemau-sha. I clothed me in fine linen, and anointed myself with the fine +oil of Egypt; I laid me on a bed. I gave up the sand to those who lie +on it; the oil of wood to him who would anoint himself therewith. +There was given to me the mansion of a lord of serfs, which had +belonged to a royal friend. There many excellent things were in its +buildings; all its wood was renewed. There were brought to me portions +from the palace, thrice and four times each day; besides the gifts of +the royal children, always, without ceasing. There was built for me a +pyramid of stone amongst the pyramids. The overseer of the architects +measured its ground; the chief treasurer wrote it; the sacred masons +cut the well; the chief of the labourers on the tombs brought the +bricks; all things used to make strong a building were there used. +There were given to me peasants; there were made for me a garden, and +fields in it before my mansion, as is done for the chief royal friend. +My statue was inlayed with gold, its girdle of pale gold; his majesty +caused it to be made. Such is not done to a man of low degree. + +May I be in the favour of the king until the day shall come of my death. + +_(This is finished from beginning to end, as was found in the writing.)_ + + + + +REMARKS + + +The Adventures of Sanehat appears to have been a popular tale, as +portions of three copies remain. The first papyrus known (Berlin No. +1) was imperfect at the beginning; but since then a flake of limestone +found in a tomb bore the beginning of the tale, and the same part is +found on a papyrus in the Amherst collection. The main text has been +translated by Chabas ("Le papyrus de Berlin," 37-51), Goodwin, and +Maspero ("Mel. d'arch.," iii. 68, 140, and "Contes Populaire," +89-130); while the beginning is treated in "Memoires de l'institut +Egyptien," ii. 1-23, and in Proc. S.B.A., 452. The present translation +is mainly based on Mr. Griffith's readings in all cases of difficulty. + +This is perhaps the most interesting of all the tales, because it bears +such signs of being written in the times of which it treats, it throws +so much light on the life of the time in Egypt and Syria, and if not a +real narrative, it is at least so probable that it may be accepted +without much difficulty. For my own part, I incline to look on it as +strictly historical; and in the absence of a single point of doubt, I +shall here treat it as seriously as the biographical inscriptions of +the early tombs. Possibly some day the tomb of Sanehat may be found, +and the whole inscription be read complete upon the walls. + +The name Sa-nehat means "son of the sycamore," probably from his having +been born, or living, at some place where was a celebrated sacred +sycamore. This was a common tree in ancient, as in modern, Egypt; but an +allusion in the tale, to Sanehat turning his back on the sycamore, when +he was fleeing apparently up the west side of the Delta, makes it +probable that the sycamore was that of Aa-tenen, now Batnun, at the +middle of the west side of the Delta. + +The titles given to Sanehat at the opening are of a very high rank, and +imply that he was the son either of the king or of a great noble. And +his position in the queen's household shows him to have been of +importance; the manner in which he is received by the royal family at +the end implying that he was quite familiar with them in early days. + +But the great difficulty in the account has been the sudden panic of +Sanehat on hearing of the death of Amenemhat, and no explanation of this +has yet been brought forward. It seems not unlikely that he was a son of +Amenemhat by some concubine. This would at once account for his high +titles--for his belonging to the royal household--for his fear of his +elder brother Usertesen, who might see in him a rival, and try to slay +him after his father's death--for the command to him to leave all his +possessions and family behind him in Syria, as the condition of his +being allowed to return to end his days in Egypt--for his familiar +reception by the royal family, and for the property given to him on his +return. + +The date recorded for the death of Sehote-pabra--Amenemhat I., the +founder of the XIIth Dynasty--agrees with the limit of his reign on the +monuments. And the expressions for his death are valuable as showing +the manner in which a king's decease was regarded; under the emblem of +a hawk--the bird of Ra--he flew up and joined the sun. + +Sometime before his death Amenemhat had been in retirement; after twenty +years of reign (which was probably rather late in his life, as he seems +to have forced his way to the front as a successful man and founder of a +family) he had associated his son, the first Usertesen, on the throne, +and apparently resigned active life; for in the third year of Usertesen +we find the coregent summoning his court and decreeing the founding of +the temple of Heliopolis without any mention of his father. The old +king, however, lived yet ten years after his retirement, and died (as +this narrative shows us) during an expedition of his son Usertesen. + +The time of year mentioned here would fall in about the middle of the +inundation in those days. Hence it seems that the military expeditions +were made after the harvest was secured, and while the country was +under water and the population disengaged from other labour. + +The course of Sanehat's flight southward, reaching the Nile at Cairo +after two days' haste, indicates that the army was somewhere west of the +Delta. This would point to its being on the road to the oasis of the +Natron Lakes, which would be the natural course for a body of men +needing water supply. His throwing himself between two bushes to hide +from the army shows that the message came early in the day, otherwise he +would have fled in the dark. He then fled a day's journey to the south, +turning his back on the sycamore, and slept in the open field at +Shi-Seneferu somewhere below the Barrage. The second day he reached the +Nile opposite Old Cairo in the afternoon, and ferried himself over, +passed the quarries at Gebel Mokattam, and the red hill of Gebel Ahmar, +and came to a frontier wall before dark. This cannot have been far from +Old Cairo, by the time; and as Heliopolis was in course of building by +Usertesen, it would be probably on the desert near there, for the +protection of the town. Passing the desert guards by night he pushed +on and reached Peten, near Belbeis, by dawn, and turned east toward +the valley of Kemur, or Wady Tumilat. Here in his extremity he was +found by the Sati or Asiatics, and rescued. This shows that the +eastern desert was left to the wandering tribes, and was without any +regular government at this period; though all the eastern Delta was +already well in Egyptian hands, as we know by the monuments at +Bubastis, Dedamun, and Tanis. + +The land of Adim to which Sanehat fled appears to be the same as Edom or +the southeast corner of Syria. It was evidently near the upper Tenu, or +Rutennu, who seem to have dwelt on the hill country of Palestine. The +hill and the plain of Palestine are so markedly different, that in all +ages they have tended to be held by opposing people. In the time of +Sanehat the upper Tenu who held the hills were opposed to the Tenu in +general who held the plains; later on the Semites of the hills opposed +the Philistines of the plain, and now the _fellah_ of the hills +opposes the Bedawi of the plain. The district of Amuanshi in which +Sanehat settled was a goodly land, bearing figs and grapes and olives, +flowing with wine and honey and oil, yielding barley and wheat without +end, and much cattle. This abundance points rather to the hill country +near Hebron or between there and Belt Jibrin, as this south part of +the hills is notably fertile. The Tenu who came to defy Sanehat, being +in opposition to the upper Tenu, were probably those of the plain; and +the opposition to Sanehat may have arisen from his encroaching on the +fertile plain at the foot of his hills, as he was in the best of the +land "on the border of the next land." + +The Egyptian was evidently looked on as being of a superior race by the +Tenu, and his civilisation won for him the confidence which many +wandering Englishmen now find in Africa or Polynesia, like John Dunn. +The set combat of two champions seems--by the large gathering--to have +been a well-recognised custom among the Tenu, while it exactly accords +with Goliath's offer in later times. And raising the shout of victory +on the back of the fallen champion reminds us of David's standing on +Goliath. + +The transition from the recital of the Syrian adventures to the petition +to Pharaoh is not marked in the manuscript; but from the construction +the beginning of the petition is evidently at the place here marked. The +manner in which Sanehat appeals to the queen shows how well he must have +been known to her in his former days. + +The decree in reply to Sanehat is in the regular style of royal +decrees of the period. Apparently by a clerical error the scribe has +substituted the name Amenemhat for Userte-sen, but the Horus name and +the throne name leave no doubt that Usertesen I. is intended here. The +tone of the reply is as gracious as possible, according with the +king's character as stated by Sanehat, "He is a friend of great +sweetness, and knows how to gain love." He quite recognises the +inquiries after the queen, and replies concerning her. And then he +assures Sanehat of welcome on his return, and promises him all that he +asks, including a tomb "in the company of the royal children," a full +recognition of his real rank. Incidentally we learn that the Amu +buried their dead wrapped in a sheep's skin; as we also learn, further +on, that they anointed themselves with oil (olive?), wore the hair +long, and slept on the ground. + +The funeral that is promised accords with the burials of the XIIth +Dynasty: the gilded case, the head painted blue, and the canopy of +cypress wood, are all known of this period, but would be out of place in +describing a Ramesside burial. + +Sanehat's reply is a full course of the usual religious adulation, and +differs in this remarkably from his petition. In fact it is hard to +be certain where his petition begins; possibly the opening of it has +been lost out of the text in copying from a mutilated papyrus; or +possibly it was sent merely as a memorandum of Sanehat's position and +desires, without venturing to address it personally to the king; or +even it may have not been allowable then to make such petitions +formally, so as to leave the initiative to the king's free will, just +as it is not allowable nowadays to question royalty, but only to +answer when spoken to. + +The proposal to bring forward his fellow-sheikhs as witnesses of his +unabated loyalty is very curious, and seems superfluous after +Usertesen's assurances. Beyond Abisha of the Amu at Beni Hasan, these +are the only early personal names of Syrians that we know. The Fenkhu in +this connection can hardly be other than the Phoenicians; and, if so, +this points to their being already established in southern Syria at +this date. But these chiefs were not allowed to come forward; and it +seems to have been the policy of Egypt to keep the Syrians off as much +as possible, not a single man who came with Sanehat being allowed to +cross the frontier. The allusion to the Tenu belonging to Pharaoh, +like his dogs, is peculiarly fitting to this period, as the dog seems +to have been more familiarly domesticated in the XIth and XIIth +Dynasties than at any other age, and dogs are often then represented +on the funereal steles, even with their names. + +The expression for strangeness--"as a man of the Delta sees himself at +the cataract, as a man of the plain who sees himself in the deserts"--is +true to this day. Nothing upsets an Egyptian's self-reliance like going +back a few miles into the desert; and almost any man of the cultivated +plain will flee with terror if he finds himself left alone far in the +desert, or even taken to the top of the desert hills. . + +We learn incidentally that the Egyptian frontier, even in the later +years of Usertesen I., had not been pushed beyond the Wady Tumilat; for +Sanehat travels south to the Roads of Horus, where he finds the frontier +garrison, and leaves his Syrian friends; and there laden boats meet him, +showing that it must have been somewhere along a waterway from the Nile. + +The abasement of Sanehat might well be due to natural causes, beside the +reverence for the divine person of the king. The Egyptian court must +have seemed oppressively splendid, with the brilliant and costly +workmanship of Usertesen, to one who had lived a half-wild life for so +many years; and, more than that, the recalling of all his early days and +habits and friendships would overwhelm his mind and make it difficult to +collect his thoughts. + +Sanehat's appearance was so much changed by his long hair, his age, and +his strange dress, that his former mistress and companions could not +recognise him. The use of collars and sceptres in the song and dance +is not clear to us. The sistra were, of course, to beat or rattle in +time with the song; the sceptres or wands were perhaps the same as the +engraved wands of ivory common in the XIIth Dynasty, or of blue glazed +ware in XVIIIth, and would be used to wave or beat time with; but the +use of the collar and counterpoise, or _menat,_ is unexplained, though +figures of dancers are shown holding a collar and _menat,_ and such +objects were found buried in the ceremonial foundation deposit of +Tahutmes III. at Koptos. + +This song of the princesses is clearly in parallel phrases. First are +four wishes for the king and queen, in four lines. Second, an ascription +of wisdom and power, in two lines. Third, a comparison of the king to +Ra, and of the queen to the great goddess, in two lines. Fourth, an +ascription of righting power. Fifth, a petition for Sanehat, winding up +with the statement of fear inspired by the king, as explaining +Sanehat's abasement. To this the king responds by reassuring Sanehat, +and promising him position and wealth. + +The account of Sanehat's renewal of his old national ways can best be +appreciated by any one who has lived a rough life for a time and then +comes back to civilisation. Doubtless these comforts were all the more +grateful to him in his old age, when he was weary of his unsettled life. + +In the preparation of his tomb it is stated to have been a pyramid, with +rock-cut well chamber, and built of bricks above. This just accords +with the construction of the pyramids of the XIIth Dynasty. + +The last phrase implies that this was composed during Sanehat's life; +and such a life would be so remarkable that this biography might be +prepared with good reason. Also it is very unlikely that a mere +story-teller would have dropped the relation without describing his +grand funeral which was promised to him. From suddenly stopping at the +preparation of the tomb, without going further, we have a strong +presumption that this was a true narrative, written at Sanehat's +dictation, and probably intended to be inscribed on his tomb wall. In +any case, we have here an invaluable picture of life in Palestine and +in Egypt, and the relations of the two countries, at an epoch before +the time of Abraham, and not paralleled by any other document until +more than a thousand years later. + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Egyptian Tales, First Series +ed. by W. M. 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