{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_7386/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_7386","id":"gutenberg_7386","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/7386","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Category: Short Stories","Egypt","Egyptian literature -- Translations into English"],"text":"Produced by Eric Eldred\n\n\n\n\n\n\nEGYPTIAN TALES, TRANSLATED FROM THE PAPYRI\n\nFirst Series, IVth To XIIth Dynasty\n\nBy W. M. Flinders Petrie, D.C.L., LL.D.., Ph.D., Hon. F.S.A. (Scot.)\n\n\nIllustrated By Tristram Ellis\n\nSecond Edition\n\nLondon\n\n1899\n\n\n\n\nLIST OF CONTENTS\n\n\nINTRODUCTION\n\nTALES OF THE MAGICIANS\n\nKHAFRA'S TALE\n\nBAUFRA'S TALE\n\nHORDEDEF'S TALE\n\nREMARKS\n\nTHE PEASANT AND THE WORKMAN\n\nREMARKS\n\nTHE SHIPWRECKED SAILOR\n\nREMARKS\n\nTHE ADVENTURES OF SANEHAT\n\nREMARKS\n\n\n\n\nINTRODUCTION\n\nIT is strange that while literature occupies so much attention as at\npresent, and while fiction is the largest division of our book-work, the\noldest literature and fiction of the world should yet have remained\nunpresented to English readers. The tales of ancient Egypt have appeared\ncollectively only in French, in the charming volume of Maspero's \"Contes\nPopulaires\"; while some have been translated into English at scattered\ntimes in volumes of the \"Records of the Past.\" But research moves\nforward; and translations that were excellent twenty years ago may now\nbe largely improved, as we attain more insight into the language.\n\nFor another reason also there is a wide ground for the present volume.\nIn no case have any illustrations been attempted, to give that basis for\nimagination which is all the more needed when reading of an age and a\nland unfamiliar to our ideas. When following a narrative, whether of\nreal events or of fiction, many persons--perhaps most--find themselves\nunconsciously framing in their minds the scenery and the beings of which\nthey are reading. To give a correct picture of the character of each of\nthe various ages to which these tales belong, has been the aim of the\npresent illustrations. A definite period has been assigned to each tale,\nin accordance with the indications, or the history, involved in it; and,\nso far as our present knowledge goes, all the details of life in the\nscenes here illustrated are rendered in accord with the period of the\nstory.\n\nTo some purely scholastic minds it may seem presumptuous to\nintermingle translations of notable documents with fanciful\nillustrations. But, considering the greater precision with which in\nrecent years we have been able to learn the changes and the fashions\nof ancient life in Egypt, and the essentially unhistorical nature of\nmost of these tales, there seems ample reason to provide such material\nfor the reader's imagination in following the stories; it may-give\nthem more life and reality, and may emphasise the differences which\nexisted between the different periods to which these tales refer.\n\nIt will be noticed how the growth of the novel is shadowed out in the\nvaried grounds and treatment of the tales. The earliest is purely a\ncollection of marvels or fabulous incidents of the simplest kind. Then\nwe advance to contrasts between town and country, between Egypt and\nforeign lands. Then personal adventure, and the interest in schemes\nand successes, becomes the staple material; while only in the later\nperiods does character come in as the groundwork. The same may be seen\nin English literature--first the tales of wonders and strange lands,\nthen the novel of adventure, and lastly the novel of character.\n\nIn translating these documents into English I have freely used the\nvarious translations already published in other languages; but in all\ncases more or less revision and retranslation from the original has\nbeen made. In this matter I am indebted to Mr. F. Ll. Griffith, who has\nin some cases--as in Anpu and Bata--almost entirely retranslated the\noriginal papyrus. The material followed in each instance will be found\nstated in the notes accompanying the tales. As to the actual\nphraseology, I am alone responsible for that. How far original idiom\nshould be retained in any translation is always a debated question, and\nmust entirely depend on the object in view. Here the purpose of\nrendering the work intelligible to ordinary readers required the\nmodifying of some idioms and the paraphrasing of others. But so far\nas possible the style and tone of the original has been preserved, and\nwhatever could be easily followed has been left to speak for itself. In\nmany plainnesses of speech the old Egyptian resembled the modern\nOriental, or our own forefathers, more than ourselves in this age of\nsqueamishness as yet unparalleled in the world. To avoid offence a few\nlittle modifications of words have been made; but rather than give a\nfalse impression by tampering with any of the narrative, I have omitted\nthe sequel of the last tale and given only an outline of it. The diction\nadopted has been the oldest that could be used without affectation when\ndealing with the early times. It has been purposely modified in the\nlater tales; and in the last--which is of Ptolemaic authorship--a\nmodern style has been followed as more compatible with the later tone of\nthe narrative.\n\nFor the illustrations Mr. Tristram Ellis's familiarity with Egypt has\nbeen of good account in his life-like scenes here used. For each\ndrawing I have searched for the material among the monuments and\nremains of the age in question. The details of the dresses, the\narchitecture, and the utensils, are all in accord with the period of\neach tale. In the tale of Setnau two different styles are introduced.\nAhura is probably of the time of Amenhotep III., whereas Setnau is a\nson of Ramessu II.; and the change of fashion between the two\ndifferent dynasties has been followed as distinctive of the two\npersons, one a _ka_ or double of the deceased, the other a living man.\nTo the reader who starts with the current idea that all Egyptians were\nalike, this continual change from one period to another may seem\nalmost fanciful. But it rests on such certain authority that we may\nhope that this little volume may have its use as an object-lesson in\npractical archaeology.\n\nThe use and abuse of notes is a matter of dispute. To be constantly\ninterrupted in reading by some needless and elementary explanation is\nan impertinence both to the author and the reader: the one cannot\nresent it, the other therefore resents it for both. But what is to be\ndeemed needless entirely depends on the reader: I have been asked in\nwhat country Pompei is, as it is not in the English Gazetteer. Rather\nthan intrude, then, on the reader when he is in high discourse with\nthe ancients, I humbly set up my interpreter's booth next door; and if\nhe cares to call in, and ask about any difficulties, I shall be glad\nto help him if I can. Not even numbers are intruded to refer to notes;\nfor how often an eager reader has been led off his trail, and turned\nblithely to refer to 37 or 186 only to find, \"See J. Z. xxxviii.\n377,\" at which he gnashed his teeth and cursed such interruptions. So\nthose to whom the original tales are obscure are humbly requested to\ntry for some profit from the remarks after them, that have been\ngleaned by the translator.\n\nMuch might be said by a \"folk-lorist\"--in proportion to his ardour. But\nas there are folk-lorists and folk-lorists, and the schools of Rabbi\nAndrew and Rabbi Joseph write different targums, I have left each to\nmake his own commentary without prejudice.\n\n\n\n\nTALES OF THE MAGICIANS\n\n\nOne day, when King Khufu reigned over all the land, he said to his\nchancellor, who stood before him, \"Go call me my sons and my\ncouncillors, that I may ask of them a thing.\" And his sons and his\ncouncillors came and stood before him, and he said to them, \"Know ye a\nman who can tell me tales of the deeds of the magicians?\"\n\nThen the royal son Khafra stood forth and said, \"I will tell thy majesty\na tale of the days of thy forefather Nebka, the blessed; of what came to\npass when he went into the temple of Ptah of Ankhtaui.\"\n\n\n\n\nKHAFRA'S TALE\n\n\n\"His majesty was walking unto the temple of Ptah, and went unto the\nhouse of the chief reciter Uba-aner, with his train. Now when the wife\nof Uba-aner saw a page, among those who stood behind the king, her heart\nlonged after him; and she sent her servant unto him, with a present of a\nbox full of garments.\n\n\"And he came then with the servant. Now there was a lodge in the garden\nof Uba-aner; and one day the page said to the wife of Uba-aner, 'In the\ngarden of Uba-aner there is now a lodge; behold, let us therein take our\npleasure.' So the wife of Uba-aner sent to the steward who had charge\nover the garden, saying, 'Let the lodge which is in the garden be made\nready.' And she remained there, and rested and drank with the page until\nthe sun went down.\n\n\"And when the even was now come the page went forth to bathe. And the\nsteward said, 'I must go and tell Uba-aner of this matter.' Now when\nthis day was past, and another day came, then went the steward to\nUba-aner, and told him of all these things.\n\n\"Then said Uba-aner, 'Bring me my casket of ebony and electrum.' And\nthey brought it; and he fashioned a crocodile of wax, seven fingers\nlong: and he enchanted it, and said, 'When the page comes and bathes in\nmy lake, seize on him.' And he gave it to the steward, and said to him,\n'When the page shall go down into the lake to bathe, as he is daily wont\nto do, then throw in this crocodile behind him.' And the steward went\nforth bearing the crocodile.\n\n\"And the wife of Uba-aner sent to the steward who had charge over the\ngarden, saying, 'Let the lodge which is in the garden be made ready, for\nI come to tarry there.'\n\n\"And the lodge was prepared with all good things; and she came and made\nmerry therein with the page. And when the even was now come, the page\nwent forth to bathe as he was wont to do. And the steward cast in the\nwax crocodile after him into the water; and, behold! it became a\ngreat crocodile seven cubits in length, and it seized on the page.\n\n\"And Uba-aner abode yet seven days with the king of Upper and Lower\nEgypt, Nebka, the blessed, while the page was stifled in the crocodile.\nAnd after the seven days were passed, the king of Upper and Lower Egypt,\nNebka, the blessed, went forth, and Uba-aner went before him.\n\n\"And Uba-aner said unto his majesty, 'Will your majesty come and see\nthis wonder that has come to pass in your days unto a page?' And the\nking went with Uba-aner. And Uba-aner called unto the crocodile and\nsaid, 'Bring forth the page.' And the crocodile came forth from the lake\nwith the page. Uba-aner said unto the king, 'Behold, whatever I command\nthis crocodile he will do it.' And his majesty said, 'I pray you send back\nthis crocodile.\" And Uba-aner stooped and took up the crocodile, and it\nbecame in his hand a crocodile of wax. And then Uba-aner told the king\nthat which had passed in his house with the page and his wife. And his\nmajesty said unto the crocodile, 'Take to thee thy prey.' And the\ncrocodile plunged into the lake with his prey, and no man knew whither\nhe went.\n\n\"And his majesty the king of Upper and Lower Egypt, Nebka, the blessed,\ncommanded, and they brought forth the wife of Uba-aner to the north side\nof the harem, and burnt her with fire, and cast her ashes in the\nriver.\n\n\"This is a wonder that came to pass in the days of thy forefather the\nking of Upper and Lower Egypt, Nebka, of the acts of the chief reciter\nUba-aner.\"\n\nHis majesty the king of Upper and Lower Egypt, Khufu, then said, \"Let\nthere be presented to the king Nebka, the blessed, a thousand loaves, a\nhundred draughts of beer, an ox, two jars of incense; and let there be\npresented a loaf, a jar of beer, a jar of incense, and a piece of meat\nto the chief reciter Uba-aner; for I have seen the token of his\nlearning.\" And they did all things as his majesty commanded.\n\n\n\n\nBAUFRA'S TALE\n\n\nThe royal sou Bau-f-ra then stood forth and spake. He said, \"I will tell\nthy majesty of a wonder which came to pass in the days of thy father\nSeneferu, the blessed, of the deeds of the chief reciter Zazamankh. One\nday King Seneferu, being weary, went throughout his palace seeking for a\npleasure to lighten his heart, but he found none. And he said,\n'Haste, and bring before me the chief reciter and scribe of the rolls\nZazamankh'; and they straightway brought him. And the king said, 'I have\nsought in my palace for some delight, but I have found none.' Then said\nZazamankh to him, 'Let thy majesty go upon the lake of the palace, and\nlet there be made ready a boat, with all the fair maidens of the harem\nof thy palace; and the heart of thy majesty shall be refreshed with\nthe sight, in seeing their rowing up and down the water, and seeing\nthe goodly pools of the birds upon the lake, and beholding its sweet\nfields and grassy shores; thus will thy heart be lightened. And I also\nwill go with thee. Bring me twenty oars of ebony, inlayed with gold,\nwith blades of light wood, inlayed with electrum; and bring me twenty\nmaidens, fair in their limbs, their bosoms and their hair, all\nvirgins; and bring me twenty nets, and give these nets unto the\nmaidens for their garments.' And they did according to all the\ncommands of his majesty.\n\n\"And they rowed down the stream and up the stream, and the heart of his\nmajesty was glad with the sight of their rowing. But one of them at the\nsteering struck her hair, and her jewel of new malachite fell into the\nwater. And she ceased her song, and rowed not; and her companions\nceased, and rowed not. And his majesty said, 'Row you not further?' And\nthey replied, 'Our little steerer here stays and rows not.' His majesty\nthen said to her, 'Wherefore rowest thou not?' She replied, 'It is for\nmy jewel of new malachite which is fallen in the water.' And he said to\nher, 'Row on, for behold I will replace it.' And she answered, 'But I\nwant my own piece back in its setting.' And his majesty said, 'Haste,\nbring me the chief reciter Zazamankh,' and they brought him. And his\nmajesty said, 'Zazamankh, my brother, I have done as thou sayedst, and\nthe heart of his majesty is refreshed with the sight of their rowing.\nBut now a jewel of new malachite of one of the little ones is fallen in\nthe water, and she ceases and rows not, and she has spoilt the rowing of\nher side. And I said to her, \"Wherefore rowest thou not?\" and she\nanswered to me, \"It is for my jewel of new malachite which is fallen in\nthe water.\" I replied to her, \"Row on, for behold I will replace it\";\nand she answered to me, \"But I want my own piece again back in its\nsetting.\"' Then the chief reciter Zazamankh spake his magic speech. And\nhe placed one part of the waters of the lake upon the other, and\ndiscovered the jewel lying upon a shard; and he took it up and gave it\nunto its mistress. And the water, which was twelve cubits deep in the\nmiddle, reached now to twenty-four cubits after he turned it. And he\nspake, and used his magic speech; and he brought again the water of the\nlake to its place. And his majesty spent a joyful day with the whole of\nthe royal house. Then rewarded he the chief reciter Zazamankh with all\ngood things. Behold, this is a wonder that came to pass in the days of\nthy father, the king of Upper and Lower Egypt, Seneferu, of the deeds of\nthe chief reciter, the scribe of the rolls, Zazamankh.\" Then said the\nmajesty of the king of Upper and Lower Egypt, Khufu, the blessed, \"Let\nthere be presented an offering of a thousand cakes, one hundred draughts\nof beer, an ox, and two jars of incense to the king of Upper and Lower\nEgypt, Sene-feru, the blessed; and let there be given a loaf, a jar of\nbeer, and a jar of incense to the chief reciter, the scribe of the\nrolls, Zazamankh; for I have seen the token of his learning.\" And they\ndid all things as his majesty commanded.\n\n\n\n\nHORDEDEF'S TALE\n\n\nThe royal son Hordedef then stood forth and spake. He said, \"Hitherto\nhast thou only heard tokens of those who have gone before, and of\nwhich no man knoweth their truth But I will show thy majesty a man of\nthine own days.\" And his majesty said, \"Who is he, Hordedef?\" And the\nroyal son Hordedef answered, \"It is a certain man named Dedi, who\ndwells at Dedsneferu. He is a man of one hundred and ten years old;\nand he eats five hundred loaves of bread, and a side of beef, and\ndrinks one hundred draughts of beer, unto this day. He knows how to\nrestore the head that is smitten off; he knows how to cause the lion\nto follow him trailing his halter on the ground; he knows the designs\nof the dwelling of Tahuti. The majesty of the king of Upper and Lower\nEgypt, Khufu, the blessed, has long sought for the designs of the\ndwelling of Tahuti, that he may make the like of them in his pyramid.\"\n\nAnd his majesty said, \"Thou, thyself, Hordedef, my son, bring him to\nme.\" Then were the ships made ready for the king's son Hordedef, and he\nwent up the stream to Dedsneferu. And when the ships had moored at the\nhaven, he landed, and sat him in a litter of ebony, the poles of which\nwere of cedar wood overlayed with gold. Now when he drew near to Dedi,\nthey set down the litter. And he arose to greet Dedi, and found him\nlying on a palmstick couch at the door of his house; one servant held\nhis head and rubbed him, and another rubbed his feet.\n\nAnd the king's son Hordedef said, \"Thy state is that of one who lives to\ngood old age; for old age is the end of our voyage, the time of\nembalming, the time of burial. Lie, then, in the sun, free of\ninfirmities, without the babble of dotage: this is the salutation to\nworthy age. I come from far to call thee, with a message from my father\nKhufu, the blessed, for thou shalt eat of the best which the king gives,\nand of the food which those have who follow after him; that he may bring\nthee in good estate to thy fathers who are in the tomb.\"\n\nAnd Dedi replied to him, \"Peace to thee! Peace to thee! Hordedef, son of\nthe king, beloved of his father. May thy father Khufu, the blessed,\npraise thee, may he advance thee amongst the elders, may thy _ka_ prevail\nagainst the enemy, may thy soul know the right road to the gate of him\nwho clothes the afflicted; this is the salutation to the king's son.\"\nThen the king's son, Hordedef, stretched forth his hands to him, and\nraised him up, and went with him to the haven, giving unto him his arm.\nThen said Dedi, \"Let there he given me a boat, to bring me my youths and\nmy books.\" And they made ready for him two boats with their rowers. And\nDedi went down the river in the barge in which was the king's son\nHordedef. And when he had reached the palace, the king's son, Hordedef,\nentered in to give account unto his majesty the king of Upper and Lower\nEgypt, Khufu, the blessed. Then said the king's son Hordedef, \"O king,\nlife, wealth, and health! My lord, I have brought Dedi.\" His majesty\nreplied, \"Bring him to me speedily.\" And his majesty went into the hall\nof columns of Pharaoh (life, wealth, and health), and Dedi was led\nbefore him. And his majesty said, \"Wherefore is it, Dedi, that I have\nnot yet seen thee?\" And Dedi answered, \"He who is called it is that\ncomes; the king (life, wealth, and health) calls me, and behold I\ncome,\" And his majesty said, \"Is it true, that which men say, that\nthou canst restore the head which is smitten off?\" And Dedi replied,\n\"Truly, I know that, O king (life, wealth, and health), my lord.\" And\nhis majesty said, \"Let one bring me a prisoner who is in prison, that\nhis punishment may be fulfilled.\" And Dedi said, \"Let it not be a man,\nO king, my lord; behold we do not even thus to our cattle.\" And a duck\nwas brought unto him, and its head was cut off. And the duck was laid\non the west side of the hall, and its head on the east side of the\nhall. And Dedi spake his magic speech. And the duck fluttered along\nthe ground, and its head came likewise; and when it had come part to\npart the duck stood and quacked. And they brought likewise a goose\nbefore him, and he did even so unto it. His majesty caused an ox to be\nbrought, and its head cast on the ground. And Dedi spake his magic\nspeech. And the ox stood upright behind him, and followed him with his\nhalter trailing on the ground.\n\nAnd King Khufu said, \"And is it true what is said, that thou knowest the\nnumber of the designs of the dwelling of Tahuti?\" And Dedi replied,\n\"Pardon me, I know not their number, O king (life, wealth, and health),\nbut I know where they are.\" And his majesty said, \"Where is that?\" And\nDedi replied, \"There is a chest of whetstone in a chamber named the\nplan-room, in Heli-opolis; they are in this chest.\" And Dedi said\nfurther unto him, \"O king (life, wealth, and health), my lord, it is not\nI that is to bring them to thee.\" And his m'jesty said, \"Who, then, is\nit that shall bring them to me?\" And Dedi answered to him, \"It is the\neldest of the three children who are in the body of Rud-didet who\nshall bring them to thee.\" And his majesty said, \"Would that it may be\nas thou sayest! And who is this Rud-didet?\" And Dedi replied, \"She is\nthe wife of a priest of Ra, lord of Sakhebu. And she has conceived\nthese three sons by Ra, lord of Sakhebu, and the god has promised her\nthat they shall fulfil this noble office (of reigning) over all this\nland, and that the eldest of them shall be high priest in Heliopolis.\"\nAnd his majesty's heart became troubled for this; but Dedi spake unto\nhim, \"What is this that thou thinkest, O king (life, wealth, health),\nmy lord? Is it because of these three children? I tell thee thy son\nshall reign, and thy son's son, and then one of them.\" His majesty\nsaid, \"And when shall Rud-didet bear these?\" And he replied, \"She\nshall bear them on the 26th of the month Tybi.\" And his majesty said,\n\"When the banks of the canal of Letopolis are cut, I will walk there\nthat I may see the temple of Ra, lord of Sakhebu.\" And Dedi replied,\n\"Then I will cause that there be four cubits of water by the banks of\nthe canal of Letopolis.\" When his majesty returned to his palace, his\nmajesty said, \"Let them place Dedi in the house of the royal son\nHordedef, that he may dwell with him, and let them give him a daily\nportion of a thousand loaves, a hundred draughts of beer, an ox, and a\nhundred bunches of onions.\" And they did everything as his majesty\ncommanded.\n\nAnd one day it came to pass that Rud-didet felt the pains of birth. And\nthe majesty of Ra, lord of Sakhebu, said unto Isis, to Nebhat, to\nMeskhent, to Hakt, and to Khnumu, \"Go ye, and deliver Rud-didet of these\nthree children that she shall bear, who are to fulfil this noble office\nover all this land; that they may build up your temples, furnish your\naltars with offerings, supply your tables of libation, and increase your\nendowments.\" Then went these deities; their fashion they made as that of\ndancing-girls, and Khnumu was with them as a porter. They drew near\nunto the house of Ra-user, and found him standing, with his girdle\nfallen. And they played before him with their instruments of music.\nBut he said unto them, \"My ladies, behold, here is a woman who feels\nthe pains of birth.\" They said to him, \"Let us see her, for we know\nhow to help her.\" And he replied, \"Come, then.\" And they entered in\nstraightway to Rud-didet, and they closed the door on her and on\nthemselves. Then Isis stood before her, and Nebhat stood behind her,\nand Hakt helped her. And Isis said, \"O child, by thy name of User-ref,\ndo not do violence.\" And the child came upon her hands, as a child of\na cubit; its bones were strong, the beauty of its limbs was like gold,\nand its hair was like true lapis lazuli. They washed him, and prepared\nhim, and placed him on a carpet on the brickwork. Then Meskhent\napproached him and said, \"This is a king who shall reign over all the\nland.\" And Khnumu gave strength to his limbs. Then Isis stood before\nher, and Nebhat stood behind her, and Hakt helped her.  And Isis said,\n\"O child, by thy name of Sah-ra, stay not in her.\" Then the child came\nupon her hands, a child of a cubit; its bones were strong, the beauty\nof its limbs was like gold, and its hair was like true lapis lazuli.\nThey washed him, and prepared him, and layed him on a carpet on the\nbrickwork. Then Meskhent approached him and said, \"This is a king who\nshall reign over all the land.\" And Khnumu gave strength to his limbs.\nThen Isis stood before her, and Nebhat stood behind her, and Hakt\nhelped her. And Isis said, \"O child, by thy name of Kaku, remain not\nin darkness in her.\" And the child came upon her hands, a child of a\ncubit; its bones were strong, the beauty of its limbs was like gold,\nand its hair was like true lapis lazuli. And Meskhent approached him\nand said, \"This is a king who shall reign over all the land.\" And\nKhnumu gave strength to his limbs.  And they washed him, and prepared\nhim, and layed him on a carpet on the brickwork.\n\nAnd the deities went out, having delivered Rud-didet of the three\nchildren. And they said, \"Rejoice! O Ra-user, for behold three children\nare born unto thee.\" And he said unto them, \"My ladies, and what shall I\ngive unto ye? Behold, give this bushel of barley here unto your porter,\nthat ye may take it as your reward to the brew-house.\" And Khnumu loaded\nhimself with the bushel of barley. And they went away toward the place\nfrom which they came. And Isis spake unto these goddesses, and said,\n\"Wherefore have we come without doing a marvel for these children, that\nwe may tell it to their father who has sent us?\" Then made they the\ndivine diadems of the king (life, wealth, and health), and laid them in\nthe bushel of barley. And they caused the clouds to come with wind and\nrain; and they turned back again unto the house. And they said, \"Let us\nput this barley in a closed chamber, sealed up, until we return\nnorthward, dancing.\" And they placed the barley in a close chamber.\n\nAnd Rud-didet purified herself, with a purification of fourteen days.\nAnd she said to her handmaid, \"Is the house made ready?\" And she\nreplied, \"All things are made ready, but the brewing barley is not yet\nbrought.\" And Rud-didet said, \"Wherefore is the brewing barley not yet\nbrought?\" And the servant answered, \"It would all of it long since\nbe ready if the barley had not been given to the dancing-girls, and lay\nin the chamber under their seal.\" Rud didet said, \"Go down, and bring of\nit, and Ra-user shall give them in its stead when he shall come,\" And\nthe handmaid went, and opened the chamber. And she heard talking and\nsinging, music and dancing, quavering, and all things which are\nperformed for a king in his chamber. And she returned and told to\nRud-didet all that she had heard. And she went through the chamber, but\nshe found not the place where the sound was. And she layed her temple to\nthe sack, and found that the sounds were in it. She placed it in a\nchest, and put that in another locker, and tied it fast with leather,\nand layed it in the store-room, where the things were, and sealed it.\nAnd Ra-user came returning from the field; and Rud-didet repeated unto\nhim these things; and his heart was glad above all things; and they sat\ndown and made a joyful day.\n\nAnd after these days it came to pass that Rud-didet was wroth with her\nservant, and beat her with stripes. And the servant said unto those that\nwere in the house, \"Shall it be done thus unto me? She has borne three\nkings, and I will go and tell this to his majesty King Khufu the\nblessed.\" And she went, and found the eldest brother of her mother, who\nwas binding his flax on the floor. And he said to her, \"Whither goest\nthou, my little maid?\" And she told him of all these things. And her\nbrother said to her, \"Wherefore comest thou thus to me?  Shall I agree\nto treachery?\" And he took a bunch of the flax to her, and laid on\nher a violent blow. And the servant went to fetch a handful of water,\nand a crocodile carried her away.\n\nHer uncle went therefore to tell of this to Rud-didet; and he found\nRud-didet sitting, her head on her knees, and her heart beyond measure\nsad. And he said to her, \"My lady, why makest thou thy heart thus?\" And\nshe answered, \"It is because of this little wretch that was in the\nhouse; behold she went out saying, 'I will go and tell it.'\" And he\nbowed his head unto the ground, and said, \"My lady, she came and told me\nof these things, and made her complaint unto me; and I laid on her a\nviolent blow. And she went forth to draw water, and a crocodile carried\nher away.\"\n\n_(The rest of the tale is lost.)_\n\n\n\n\nRemarks\n\n\nThe tales or the magicians are only preserved in a single copy, and of\nthat the beginning is entirely lost. The papyrus was brought from Egypt\nby an English traveller, and was purchased by the Berlin Museum from the\nproperty of Lepsius, who had received it from the owner, Miss Westcar:\nhence it is known as the Westcar papyrus. It was written probably in the\nXIIth Dynasty, but doubtless embodied tales, which had been floating\nfor generations before, about the names of the early kings. It shows us\nprobably the kind of material that existed for the great recension of\nthe pre-monu-mental history, made in the time of Seti I. Those ages of\nthe first three dynasties were as long before that recension as we are\nafter it; and this must always be remembered in considering the\nauthority of the Egyptian records.\n\nThis papyrus has been more thoroughly studied than most, perhaps more\nthan any other. Erman has devoted two volumes to it; publishing the\nwhole in photographic facsimile, transcribed in hieroglyphs,\ntranscribed in the modern alphabet, translated literally, translated\nfreely, commented on and discussed word by word, and with a complete\nglossary of all words used in it. This exhaustive publication is named\n\"Der Marchen des Papyrus Westcar.\" Moreover, Maspero has given a\ncurrent translation in the \"Contes Populaires,\" 2nd edit. pp. 53-86.\n\nThe scheme of these tales is that they are all told to King Khufu by his\nsons; and as the beginning is lost, eight lines are here added to\nexplain this and introduce the subject. The actual papyrus begins with\nthe last few words of a previous tale concerning some other magician\nunder an earlier king. Then comes the tale of Khafra, next that of\nBau-f-ra, and lastly that of Hor-dedef.\n\nIt need hardly be said that these tales are quite fictitious. The king\nand his successor Khafra are real, but the other sons cannot be\nidentified; and the confusion of supposing three kings of the Vth\nDynasty to be triplets born early in the IVth Dynasty, shows what very\nvague ideas of their own history the Egyptians had when these tales were\nformed. This does not prevent our seeing that they embodied some very\nimportant traditions, and gives us an unequalled picture of the early\ncivilisation.\n\nIn the earliest tale or the three there seems at first sight merely a\nsketch of faithlessness and revenge. But there is probably much more\nin it. To read it aright we must bear in mind the position of woman in\nancient Egypt. If, in later ages, Islam has gone to the extreme of the\nman determining his own divorce at a word, in early times almost the\nopposite system prevailed. All property belonged to the woman; all\nthat a man could earn, or inherit, was made over to his wife; and\nfamilies always reckoned back further on the mother's side than the\nfather's. As the changes in historical times have been in the\ndirection of men's rights, it is very unlikely that this system of\nfemale predominance was invented or introduced, but rather that it\ndescends from primitive times. In this tale we see, then, at the\nbeginning of our knowledge of the country, the clashing of two\ndifferent social systems. The reciter is strong for men's rights, he\nbrings destruction on the wife, and never even gives her name, but\nalways calls her merely \"the wife of Uba-aner.\" But behind all this\nthere is probably the remains of a very different system. The servant\nemployed by the mistress seems to see nothing outrageous in her\nproceedings; and even the steward, who is on the master's side, waits\na day or two before reporting matters. When we remember the supremacy\nin properly and descent which women held in Egypt, and then read this\ntale, it seems that it belongs to the close of a social system like\nthat of the Nairs, in which the lady makes her selection--with\nvariations from time to time. The incident of sending a present of\nclothing is curiously like the tale about a certain English envoy,\nwhose proprieties were sadly ruffled in the Nair country, when a lady\nsent him a grand shawl with an intimation of her choice. The\npriestesses of Amen retained to the last this privilege of choice, as\nbeing under divine, and not human protection; but it seems to have\nbecome unseemly in late times.\n\nThe hinging of this tale, and of those that follow it, upon the use of\nmagic, shows how thoroughly the belief in magic powers was ingrained\nin the Egyptians. Now such a belief implies the presence of magicians,\nand shows how familiar must have been the claim to such powers, and\nthe practising of the tricks of witchcraft, so prevalent in Africa in\nmodern times. The efficacy of a model, such as this crocodile of wax,\nis an idea continually met with in Egypt. The system of tomb furniture\nand decoration, of _ka_ statues, of _ushabtis_ or figures to work for\nthe deceased, and the models placed in foundation deposits, all show\nhow a model was supposed to have the efficacy of an actual reality.\nEven in the latest tale of all (written in Ptolemaic times), Setnau\nmakes a model of a boat and men, to be sunk in the river to work for\nhim. The reconversion of the crocodile to wax, on being taken up by\nthe magician, reminds us of the serpent becoming again a rod when\ntaken up by Aaron.\n\nThe punishment of burning alive is very rarely, if ever, mentioned in\nEgyptian history, though it occurs in modern Egyptian tales: and it\nlooks as if it were brought in here rather as a dire horror for the\nclimax than as a probable incident. The place of the penalty, in front\nof the harem, or the private portion of the palace, was evidently for\nthe intimidation of other ladies.\n\nAt the close of each tale, King Khufu, to whom it is told, orders\nfunerary offerings by the usual formula, to be presented in honour of\nthe king under whom the wonder took place. On the tablets of the tombs\nin the early times, there is usually recorded the offering--or, rather,\nthe pious desire that there should be offered--thousands of loaves, of\noxen, of gazelles, of cranes, &c., for a deceased person. Such\nexpression cost no more by the thousand than by the dozen, so thousands\ncame to be the usual expression in all ordaining of offerings.\n\nWe are so accustomed to think of tedium as something modern, that it\nseems strange to find in the oldest tales [Page 16] in the world how the\nfirst king of whom we know anything was bored by his pleasures. A reward\nfor discovering a new pleasure is the very basis of the tale of Sneferu;\nand the wise man's remedy of a day in the country is still the best\nresource, though all that we know as human history has tried its\nexperiments in enjoyment since then. The flavour of the ballet thrown\nin, by the introduction of the damsels of the household clad in fishing\nnets, is not yet obsolete in modern amusements; and even in this century\nMuhammed Ali had resource to the same way of killing time, as he was\nrowed about by his _harem,_ but on an artificial lake.\n\nThe use of two large oars for steering explains the detail of the\nstory.  The oars were one on each side of the stern, and were each\nmanaged by a steerer. From the tale we see that the steerer led the\nsong of the rowers, and if the leader ceased, all that side of the\nboat ceased also.. The position of the lost jewel upon the hair shows\nthat it was in a fillet set with inlaying, like that seen on early\nfigures, such as Nefert at Medum, who wears a fillet of rosettes to\nretain the hair; and the position of the steering oar attached to a\npost, with the handle rising high in the air, explains how it could\nstrike the fillet and displace the jewel.\n\nThe last tale is really double, a tale within a tale. It begins with\nthe wonders done by Dedi, and then goes on with the [Page 22] history\nor the children about whom he prophesied to Khufu.\n\nThe village of Dedi was probably near Medum, as in the temple of Sneferu\nat Medum an offering was found presented by a worshipper to the gods\nof Ded-sneferu: hence the background which is here given for the scene\nof Hordedef leading old Dedi. The translation of \"the designs of the\ndwelling of Tahuti\" is not certain; but the passage seems to refer to\nsome architectural plan which was desired for the pyramid.\n\nThe story of Rud-didet is remarkable historically. She is said to be\nwife of the priest of Ra, her children are sons of Ra, and they are the\nfirst three kings of the Vth dynasty, and supplanted the line of Khufu.\nThis points to the Vth Dynasty having been a priestly usurpation; and on\nlooking at its history we see two confirmations of this. The title \"Son\nof Ra\" is so common in most ages in Egypt that it is taken for granted,\nand is applied in lists to any second cartouche; but it is not found\nuntil well into the Vth Dynasty; the earlier kings were not descendants\nof Ra, and it is only on arriving at this dynasty, which claimed descent\nfrom Ra, through the wife of the priest of Ra, that we find the claim\nof each king to be a \"son of Ra.\" Another confirmation of this\npriestly descent is the abundance of priesthoods established for the\nkings of the Vth Dynasty; a care which agrees with their having a\npriestly origin; while in the tale it is particularly said that they\nwould build up the temples, furnish the altars with offerings, supply\nthe tables of libations, and increase the religious endowments.\n\nThe names of the three children are a play upon the names of the first\nthree kings of the Vth Dynasty. User-kaf is made into User-ref;\nSahu-ra is written Sah-ra; and Kaka is Kaku; thus making allusions to\ntheir births. The comparison of the hair to true lapis lazuli seems\nvery strange; but there is often a confusion between black aind blue\nin uneducated races, and _azrak_ means either dark blue or green, or\nblack, at present in Arabic. Lapis lazuli is brought in to the name of\nthe queen of Ramessu VI., who was called \"gold and lazuli,\"\n_Nub-khesdeb;_ recalling the comparison here of personal beauty to\nthese precious materials.\n\nIt is noticeable here that in a tale of the Vth Dynasty, certainly\nwritten as early as the XIIth Dynasty, we find professional dancers\ncommonly recognised, and going on travels through the country, with a\nporter.\n\nFrom this tale we also learn that Egyptian women underwent a\npurification of fourteen days, during which they kept apart and did not\nattend to any household matters. The mistress of the house here inquires\nif the preparations are made for the feast on her return to household\naffairs; and hears then how the beer cannot be made for lack of the barley.\n\nThe securing of the sack is just in accord with the remains of this\nearly period; the use of boxes, of thongs of leather for tying and of\nclay sealings for securing property, were all familiar matters in the\nXIIth Dynasty, as we learn from Kahun.\n\nThe present close of the tale is evidently only a stage in it, when the\ntreacherous maid meets with the common doom of the wicked in Egyptian\nromance. How it was continued is a matter of speculation, but Khufu\nought certainly to reappear and to order great rewards for Dedi, who up\nto this has only had maintenance on his requisite scale provided for\nhim. Yet it is imperative that the children shall be saved from his\nwrath, as they are the kings of the Vth Dynasty. There may be a long\nepisode lost of their flight and adventures.\n\nOne reference to a date needs notice. The 25th of the month Tybi is said\nto be the predicted birthday of the children; and Khufu refers to going\nto Sakhebu about that time apparently, when the banks of the canal are\ncut and the land was drying after the inundation, whereon Dedi\nthreatens that the water shall still be deep there. This points to 25th\nTybi being about the close of the inundation. This would be about\nthe case both in the beginning of the IVth Dynasty, and also in the\nXIIth Dynasty, when the papyrus was perhaps written: hence there is\nnothing conclusive to be drawn from this allusion so far. But when we\ncompare this tale with those following, we see good ground for its\nbelonging to a time before the XIIth Dynasty The following tale of the\npeasant and the workman evidently belongs to the IXth or Xth Dynasties,\nwhen Herakleopolis was the capital, and Sanehat is certainly of the\nXIIth Dynasty. Yet in those we see character and incident made the basis\nof interest, in place of the childish profusion of marvels of the Tales\nof the Magicians. It seems impossible not to suppose that they belong to\nvery different ages and canons of taste; and hence we cannot refer the\ncrudities of the Khufu tales to the time of the far more elaborate and\npolished recital of the adventures of Sanehat in the XIIth Dynasty.\nBeing thus obliged to suppose an earlier date for these tales, the\nallusion to the month Tybi throws us back to a very early period--the\nIVth Dynasty--for their original outlines. Doubtless they were modified\nby reciters, and probably took shape in the Vth or VIth Dynasties; but\nyet we must regard them as belonging practically to the age to which\nthey refer.\n\n\n\n\nIN THE SEKHET HEMAT\n\nIXTH DYNASTY\n\n\n\n\nTHE PEASANT AND THE WORKMAN\n\n\nThere dwelt in the Sekhet Hemat--or salt country--a peasant called the\nSekhti, with his wife and children, his asses and his dogs; and he\ntrafficked in all good things of the Sekhet Hemat to Henenseten. Behold\nnow he went with rushes, natron, and salt, with wood and pods, with\nstones and seeds, and all good products of the Sekhet Hemat. And this\nSekhti journeyed to the south unto Henenseten; and when he came to the\nlands of the house of Fefa, north of Denat, he found a man there\nstanding on the bank, a man called Hemti--the workman--son of a man\ncalled Asri, who was a serf of the High Steward Meruitensa. Now said\nthis Hemti, when he saw the asses of Sekhti, that were pleasing in his\neyes, \"Oh that some good god would grant me to steal away the goods of\nSekhti from him!\"\n\nNow the Hemti's house was by the dyke of the tow-path, which was\nstraitened, and not wide, as much as the width of a waist cloth: on the\none side of it was the water, and on the other side of it grew his corn.\nHemti said then to his servant, \"Hasten I bring me a shawl from the\nhouse,\" and it was brought instantly. Then spread he out this shawl on\nthe face of the dyke, and it lay with its fastening on the water and its\nfringe on the corn.\n\nNow Sekhti approached along the path used by all men. Said Hemti, \"Have\na care, Sekhti! you are not going to trample on my clothes!\" Said\nSekhti, \"I will do as you like, I will pass carefully.\" Then went he\nup on the higher side.  But Hemti said, \"Go you over my corn, instead\nof the path?\" Said Sekhti, \"I am going carefully; this high field of\ncorn is not my choice, but you have stopped your path with your\nclothes, and will you then not let us pass by the side of the path?\"\nAnd one of the asses filled its mouth with a cluster of corn. Said\nHemti, \"Look you, I shall take away your ass, Sekhti, for eating my\ncorn; behold it will have to pay according to the amount of the\ninjury.\" Said Sekhti, \"I am going carefully; the one way is stopped,\ntherefore took I my ass by the enclosed ground, and do you seize it\nfor filling its mouth with a cluster of corn? Moreover, I know unto\nwhom this domain belongs, even unto the Lord Steward Meruitensa. He it\nis who smites every robber in this whole land; and shall I then be\nrobbed in his domain?\"\n\nSaid Hemti, \"This is the proverb which men speak: 'A poor man's name is\nonly his own matter.' I am he of whom you spake, even the Lord Steward\nof whom you think.\" Thereon he took to him branches of green tamarisk\nand scourged all his limbs, took his asses, and drave them into the\npasture.  And Sekhti wept very greatly, by reason of the pain of what\nhe had suffered. Said Hemti, \"Lift not up your voice, Sekhti, or you\nshall go to the Demon of Silence.\" Sekhti answered, \"You beat me, you\nsteal my goods, and now would take away even my voice, O demon of\nsilence! If you will restore my goods, then will I cease to cry out at\nyour violence.\"\n\nSekhti stayed the whole day petitioning Hemti, but he would not give ear\nunto him. And Sekhti went his way to Khenensuten to complain to the Lord\nSteward Meruitensa. He found him coming out from the door of his house\nto embark on his boat, that he might go to the judgment hall. Sekhti\nsaid, \"Ho! turn, that I may please thy heart with this discourse. Now at\nthis time let one of thy followers whom thou wilt, come to me that I\nmay send him to thee concerning it.\" The Lord Steward Meruitensa made\nhis follower, whom he chose, go straight unto him, and Sekhti sent him\nback with an account of all these matters. Then the Lord Steward\nMeruitensa accused Hemti unto the nobles who sat with him; and they said\nunto him, \"By your leave: As to this Sekhti of yours, let him bring a\nwitness. Behold thou it is our custom with our Sekhtis; witnesses come\nwith them; behold, that is our custom.  Then it will be fitting to\nbeat this Hemti for a trifle of natron and a trifle of salt; if he is\ncommanded to pay for it, he will pay for it.\" But the High Steward\nMeruitensa held his peace; for he would not reply unto these nobles,\nbut would reply unto the Sekhti.\n\nNow Sekhti came to appeal to the Lord Steward Meruitensa, and said, \"O\nmy Lord Steward, greatest of the great, guide of the needy:\n\n  When thou embarkest on the lake of truth,--\n  Mayest thou sail upon it with a fair wind;\n  May thy mainsail not fly loose.\n  May there not be lamentation in thy cabin;\n  May not misfortune come after thee.\n  May not thy mainstays be snapped;\n  Mayest thou not run aground.\n  May not the wave seize thee;\n  Mayest thou not taste the impurities of the river;\n  Mayest thou not see the face of fear.\n  May the fish come to thee without escape;\n  Mayest thou reach unto plump waterfowl.\n  For thou art the orphan's father, the widow's husband,\n  The desolate woman's brother, the garment of the motherless.\n  Let me celebrate thy name in this land for every virtue.\n  A guide without greediness of heart;\n  A great one without any meanness.\n  Destroying deceit, encouraging justice;\n  Coming to the cry, and allowing utterance.\n  Let me speak, do thou hear and do justice;\n  O praised! whom the praised ones praise.\n  Abolish oppression, behold me, I am overladen,\n  Reckon with me, behold me defrauded.\"\n\nNow the Sekhti made this speech in the time of the majesty of the King\nNeb-ka-n-ra, blessed. The Lord Steward Meruitensa went away straight to\nthe king and said, \"My lord, I have found one of these Sekhti, excellent\nof speech, in very truth; stolen are his goods, and he has come to\ncomplain to me of the matter.\"\n\nHis majesty said, \"As thou wishest that I may see health! lengthen out\nhis complaint, without replying to any of his speeches. He who\ndesireth him to continue speaking should be silent; behold, bring us\nhis words in writing, that we may listen to them. But provide for his\nwife and his children, and let the Sekhti himself also have a living.\nThou must cause one to give him his portion without letting him know\nthat thou art he who is giving it to him.\"\n\nThere were given to him four loaves and two draughts of beer each day;\nwhich the Lord Steward Meruitensa provided for him, giving it to a\nfriend of his, who furnished it unto him. Then the Lord Steward\nMeruitensa sent the governor of the Sekhet Hemat to make provision for\nthe wife of the Sekhti, three rations of corn each day.\n\nThen came the Sekhti a second time, and even a third time, unto the Lord\nSteward Meruitensa; but he told two of his followers to go unto the\nSekhti, and seize on him, and beat him with staves. But he came again\nunto him, even unto six times, and said--\n\n\"My Lord Steward-Destroying deceit, and encouraging justice; Raising up\nevery good thing, and crushing every evil; As plenty comes removing\nfamine, As clothing covers nakedness, As clear sky after storm warms the\nshivering; As fire cooks that which is raw, As water quenches the\nthirst; Look with thy face upon my lot; do not covet, but\ncontent me without fail; do the right and do not evil.\"\n\nBut yet Meruitensa would not hearken unto his complaint; and the Sekhti\ncame yet, and yet again, even unto the ninth time. Then the Lord Steward\ntold two of his followers to go unto the Sekhti; and the Sekhti feared\nthat he should be beaten as at the third request. But the Lord Steward\nMeruitensa then said unto him, \"Fear not, Sekhti, for what thou has\ndone. The Sekhti has made many speeches, delightful to the heart of his\nmajesty and I take an oath--as I eat bread, and as I drink water--that\nthou shalt be remembered to eternity.\" Said the Lord Steward, \"Moreover,\nthou shalt be satisfied when thou shalt hear of thy complaints.\" He\ncaused to be written on a clean roll of papyrus each petition to the\nend, and the Lord Steward Meruitensa sent it to the majesty of the\nKing Neb-ka-n-ra, blessed, and it was good to him more than anything\nthat is in the whole land: but his majesty said to Meruitensa, \"Judge\nit thyself; I do not desire it.\"\n\nThe Lord Steward Meruitensa made two of his followers to go to the\nSekhet Hemat, and bring a list of the household of the Sekhti; and its\namount was six persons, beside his oxen and his goats, his wheat and his\nbarley, his asses and his dogs; and moreover he gave all that which\nbelonged unto the Hemti to the Sekhti, even all his property and his\noffices, and the Sekhti was beloved of the king more than all his\noverseers, and ate of all the good things of the king, with all his\nhousehold.\n\n\n\n\nRemarks\n\n\nOf the tale of the peasant and the workman three copies, more or less\nimperfect, remain to us. At Berlin are two papyri, Nos. 2 and 4,\ncontaining parts of the tale, published in facsimile in the \"Denkmaler\"\nof Lepsius vi. 108-110 and 113; while portions of another copy exist in\nthe Butler papyrus; and lately fragments of the same have been collated\nin the collection of Lord Amherst of Hackney. These last have been\npublished in the Proceedings of the Society of Biblical Archaeology,\nxiv. 558. The number of copies seem to show that this was a popular tale\nin early times; it certainly is of a more advanced type than the earlier\ntales of magic, though it belongs to a simpler style than the tales\nwhich follow. It has been translated partially by Chabas and Goodwin,\nand also by Maspero, but most completely by Griffith in the Proceedings\nof the Society of Biblical Archaeology, referred to above.\n\nThe beginning of the tale is lost in all the copies, and an introductory\nsentence is here added in brackets, to explain the position of affairs\nat the opening of the fragment. The essence of the tale is the\ndifference in social position between the Sekhti, or peasant, and the\nHemti, or workman--the _fellah_ and the client of the noble; and the\nimpossibility of getting justice against a client, unless by some\nextraordinary means of attracting his patron's attention, is the basis\nof the action. There is not a single point of incident here which might\nnot be true in modern times; every turn of it seems to live, as one\nreads it in view of country life in Egypt.\n\nThe region of the tale is Henenseten, or Herakleopolis, now Ahnas, a\nlittle south of the Fayum. This was the seat of the IXth and Xth\nDynasties, apparently ejected from Memphis by a foreign invasion of the\nDelta; and here it is that the High Steward lives and goes to speak to\nthe king. The district of the Sekhti is indicated by his travelling\nsouth to Henenseten, and going with asses and not by boat. Hence we are\nled to look for the Sekhet Hemat, or salt country, in the borders of the\nFayum lake, whence the journey would be southward, and across the\ndesert. This lake was not regulated artificially until the XIIth\nDynasty; and hence at the period of this tale it was a large sheet of\nwater, fluctuating with each rise and fall of the Nile, and bordered by\nlagoons where rushes would flourish, and where salt and natron would\naccumulate daring the dry season of each year. At the present time the\nlake of the Fayum is brackish, and the cliffs which border it contain so\nmuch salt that rain pools which collect on them are not drinkable. The\npaths and roads of Egypt are not protected by law as in Western\ncountries. Each person encroaches on a path or diverts it as may suit\nhis purpose, only checked by the liberties taken by passers-by in\ntrespassing if a path be insufficient. Hence, it is very usual to see a\nhouse built over half of a path, and driving the traffic into the\nfield or almost over the river bank. In this case the Hemti had taken\nin as much of the path as he could, and left it but a narrow strip\nalong the top of the canal bank. The frequent use of the public way\nfor drying clothes, or spreading out property, gave the idea of\nchoking the way altogether, and leaving no choice but trespassing on\nthe crops. No sooner does a donkey pause, or even pass, by a field of\ncorn than he snatches a mouthful, and in a delay or altercation such\nas this the beast is sure to take the advantage.  Donkeys carrying\nloads by cornfields are usually muzzled with rope nets, to prevent\ntheir feeding; and even sheep and goats are also fended in the same\nway.\n\nThe proverb, \"A poor man's name is only his own matter,\" refers to the\nindependent _fellah_ having no patron or protector who will take up and\ndefend his name from accusations, as the interests of clients and serfs\nwould be protected. This being the case, Hemti therefore seizes on the\nproperty, and drives the asses into his own pasture field.\n\nThe scene of Meruitensa laying the case before the nobles who sat with\nhim is interesting as showing that even simple cases were not decided by\none judge, but referred to a council. Similarly, Una lays stress on the\nprivate trial of the queen being confided to him and only one other\njudge. Apparently, referring cases to a bench of judges was the means of\npreventing corruption.\n\nThe speeches of the Sekhti were given at full length in the papyrus, but\nowing to injuries we cannot now entirely recover them; they are all in\nmuch the same strain, only the first and last are translated here, and\nthe others are passed over. The style of these speeches was evidently\nlooked on as eloquent in those days, and this papyrus really seems to\nshow the time when long-drawn comparisons and flowery wishes were in\nfashion. It is far different from later compositions, as it is also from\nthe earlier simple narration of crude marvels in the tales of the\nmagicians.\n\nThe close of the tale is defective, but from the remains it appears to\nhave ended by the gift of the Hemti's property to the oppressed Sekhti\nand the triumph of the injured peasant.\n\n\n\n\nGOING TO WAWAT, XIITH DYNASTY\n\n\n\n\nTHE SHIPWRECKED SAILOR\n\n\nThe wise servant said, \"Let thy heart be satisfied, O my lord, for\nthat we have come back to the country; after we have long been on board,\nand rowed much, the prow has at last touched land. All the people\nrejoice, and embrace us one after another. Moreover, we have come back\nin good health, and not a man is lacking; although we have been to the\nends of Wawat, and gone through the land of Senmut, we have returned in\npeace, and our land--behold, we have come back to it. Hear me, my\nlord; I have no other refuge. Wash thee, and turn the water over thy\nringers; then go and tell the tale to the majesty.\"\n\nHis lord replied, \"Thy heart continues still its wandering words! but\nalthough the mouth of a man may save him, his words may also cover his\nface with confusion. Wilt thou do then as thy heart moves thee? This\nthat thou wilt say, tell quietly.\"\n\nThe sailor then answered, \"Now I shall tell that which has happened to\nme, to my very self I was going to the mines of Pharaoh, and I went down\non the sea on a ship of 150 cubits long and 40 cubits wide, with 150\nsailors of the best of Egypt, who had seen heaven and earth, and whose\nhearts were stronger than lions. They had said that the wind would not\nbe contrary, or that there would be none. But as we approached the land\nthe wind arose, and threw up waves eight cubits high. As for me, I\nseized a piece of wood; but those who were in the vessel perished,\nwithout one remaining. A wave threw me on an island, after that I had\nbeen three days alone, without a companion beside my own heart. I laid\nme in a thicket, and the shadow covered me. Then stretched I my limbs\nto try to find something for my mouth. I found there figs and grapes,\nall manner of good herbs, berries and grain, melons of all kinds,\nfishes and birds. Nothing was lacking.  And I satisfied myself; and\nleft on the ground that which was over, of what my arms had been\nfilled withal. I dug a pit, I lighted a fire, and I made a\nburnt-offering unto the gods.\n\n\"Suddenly I heard a noise as of thunder, which I thought to be that of a\nwave of the sea. The trees shook, and the earth was moved. I uncovered\nmy face, and I saw that a serpent drew near. He was thirty cubits long,\nand his beard greater than two cubits; his body was as overlayed with\ngold, and his colour as that of true lazuli. He coiled himself before me.\n\n\"Then he opened his mouth, while that I lay on my face before him, and\nhe said to me, 'What has brought thee, what has brought thee, little\none, what has brought thee? If thou sayest not speedily what has\nbrought thee to this isle, I will make thee know thyself; as a flame\nthou shalt vanish, if thou tellest me not something I have not heard,\nor which I knew not, before thee.'\n\n\"Then he took me in his mouth and carried me to his resting-place, and\nlayed me down without any hurt. I was whole and sound, and nothing was\ngone from me. Then he opened his mouth against me, while that I lay on\nmy face before him, and he said, 'What has brought thee, what has\nbrought thee, little one, what has brought thee to this isle which is in\nthe sea, and of which the shores are in the midst of the waves?'\n\n\"Then I replied to him, and holding my arms low before him, I said to\nhim,' I was embarked for the mines by the order of the majesty, in a\nship, 150 cubits was its length, and the width of it 40 cubits. It had\n150 sailors of the best of Egypt, who had seen heaven and earth, and\nthe hearts of whom were stronger than lions. They said that the wind\nwould not be contrary, or that there would be none. Each of them\nexceeded his companion in the prudence of his heart and the strength\nof his arm, and I was not beneath any of them. A storm came upon us\nwhile we were on the sea. Hardly could we reach to the shore when the\nwind waxed yet greater, and the waves rose even eight cubits. As for\nme, I seized a piece of wood, while those who were in the boat\nperished without one being left with me for three days.  Behold me now\nbefore thee, for I was brought to this isle by a wave of the sea.'\n\n\"Then said he to me, 'Fear not, fear not, little one, and make not thy\nface sad. If thou hast come to me, it is God who has let thee live. For\nit is He who has brought thee to this isle of the blest, where nothing\nis lacking, and which is filled with all good after another, until\nthou shalt be four months in this isle. Then a ship shall come from\nthy land with sailors, and thou shalt leave with them and go to thy\ncountry, and thou shalt die in thy town.\n\n'\"Converse is pleasing, and he who tastes of it passes over his\nmisery.  I will therefore tell thee of that which is in this isle. I\nam here with my brethren and my children around me; we are\nseventy-five serpents, children, and kindred; without naming a young\ngirl who was brought unto me by chance, and on whom the fire of heaven\nfell, and burnt her to ashes.\n\n\"'As for thee if thou art strong, and if thy heart waits patiently, thou\nshalt press thy infants to thy bosom and embrace thy wife. Thou shalt\nreturn to thy house which is full of all good things, thou shalt see thy\nland, where thou shalt dwell in the midst of thy kindred.'\n\n\"Then I bowed, in my obeisance, and I touched the ground before him.\n'Behold now that which I have told thee before. I shall tell of thy\npresence unto Pharaoh, I shall make him to know of thy greatness, and I\nwill bring to thee of the sacred oils and perfumes, and of incense of\nthe temples with which all gods are honoured. I shall tell, moreover, of\nthat which I do now see (thanks to him), and there shall be rendered\nto thee praises before the fulness of all the land. I shall slay asses\nfor thee in sacrifice, I shall pluck for thee the birds, and I shall\nbring for thee ships full of all kinds of the treasures of Egypt, as\nis comely to do unto a god, a friend of men in a far country, of which\nmen know not.'\n\n\"Then he smiled at my speech, because of that which was in his heart,\nfor he said to me, 'Thou art not rich in perfumes, for all that thou\nhast is but common incense. As for me I am prince of the land of Punt,\nand I have perfumes. Only the oil which thou sayedst thou wouldest bring\nis not common in this isle. But, when thou shalt depart from this place,\nthou shalt never more see this isle; it shall be changed into waves.'\n\n\"And, behold, when the ship drew near, according to all that he had told\nme before, I got me up into an high tree, to strive to see those who\nwere within it. Then I came and told to him this matter; but it was already\nknown unto him before. Then he said to me. 'Farewell, farewell, go to\nthy house, little one, see again thy children, and let thy name be good\nin thy town; these are my wishes for thee.'\"\n\n\n\n\nTHE FAREWELL\n\n\n\"Then I bowed myself before him, and held my arms low before him, and\nhe, he gave me gifts of precious perfumes, of cassia, of sweet woods, of\nkohl, of cypress, an abundance of incense, of ivory tusks, of baboons,\nof apes, and all kind of precious things. I embarked all in the ship\nwhich was come, and bowing myself, I prayed God for him.\n\n\"Then he said to me, 'Behold thou shalt come to thy country in two\nmonths, thou shalt press to thy bosom thy children, and thou shalt rest\nin thy tomb.' After this I went down to the shore unto the ship, and I\ncalled to the sailors who were there. Then on the shore I rendered\nadoration to the master of this isle and to those who dwelt therein.\n\n\"When we shall come, in our return, to the house of Pharaoh, in the\nsecond month, according to all that the serpent has said, we shall\napproach unto the palace. And I shall go in before Pharaoh, I shall\nbring the gifts which I have brought from this isle into the country.\nThen he shall thank me before the fulness of all the land. Grant then\nunto me a follower, and lead me to the courtiers of the king. Cast thy\neye upon me, after that I am come to land again, after that I have\nboth seen and proved this. Hear my prayer, for it is good to listen to\npeople. It was said unto me, 'Become a wise man, and thou shalt come\nto honour,' and behold I have become such.\"\n\nThis is finished from its beginning unto its end, even as it was found\nin a writing. It is written by the scribe of cunning fingers\nAmeni-amen-aa; may he live in life, wealth, and health!\n\n\n\n\nRemarks\n\n\nThis tale is only known in one copy, preserved in the Hermitage\ncollection at St. Petersburg. The papyrus has not yet been published,\neither in facsimile or transcription. But two translations of it have\nappeared by M. Golenischeff: from the earlier a modified translation is\ngiven by Maspero in the \"Contes Populaires,\" 2nd edit., pp. 133-146,\nand the later translation is in M. Golenischeff's excellent\n\"Inventaire de la collection Egyptienne (Ermitage Imperial),\" p.\n177-182.\n\nThe tale is that of a returned sailor, speaking to his superior and\ntelling his adventures, to induce him to send him on with an\nintroduction to the king. At first his master professes to disbelieve\nhim, and then the sailor protests that this happened to himself, and\ngives his narrative. The idea of an enchanted island, which has risen\nfrom the waves and will sink again, is here found to be one of the\noldest plots for a tale of marvels. But the construction is far more\nadvanced than that of the tales of the magicians. The family of serpents\nand the manner of the great serpent is well conceived, and there are\nmany fine touches of literary quality: such as noise as of thunder, the\ntrees shaking and the earth being moved at the appearance of the great\nserpent--the speeches of the serpent and his threat--the sailors who had\nseen heaven and earth--the contempt of the serpent for his offerings.\n\n\"As for me, I am prince of the land of Punt, and I have perfumes\"--and\nthe scene of departure. All of these points show a firm hand and\npractised taste, although there is still a style of simplicity clinging\nto it which agrees well to its date in the XIIth Dynasty.\n\nThe great serpent is not of a type usual in Egyptian designs. The\nhuman-headed uraeus is seldom bearded; and the best example of such a\nmonster is on an Ethiopian temple, where a great uraeus has human arms\nand a lion's head. The colours again repeat the favourite combination\nexpressive of splendour--gold and lazuli. Though lazuli is very rare in\nearly times, yet it certainly was known in the XIIth Dynasty, as shown\nby the forms of some beads of lazuli.\n\nThe slaughter of asses in sacrifice is a very peculiar offering, and no\nsign of this is found in any representations or groups of offerings.\n\nThe colophon of the copyist at the end shows by the style of the name\nthat it belongs to the earlier part of the XIIth Dynasty, and if so, the\ncomposition might be referred to the opening of foreign trade under\nSankhkara or Amenemhat I.\n\n\n\n\nXIITH DYNASTY\n\n\n\n\nTHE ADVENTURES OF SANEHAT\n\n\nThe hereditary prince, royal seal-bearer, confidential friend, judge,\nkeeper of the gate of the foreigners, true and beloved royal\nacquaintance, the royal follower Sanehat says:--\n\nI attended my lord as a follower of the king, of the house of the\nhereditary princess, the greatly favoured, the royal wife,\nAnkhet-Usertesen, who shares the dwelling of the royal son Amenemhat in\nKanefer.\n\nIn the thirtieth year, the month Paophi, the seventh day the god entered\nhis horizon, the king Sehotepabra flew up to heaven and joined the sun's\ndisc, the follower of the god met his maker. The palace was silenced,\nand in mourning, the great gates were closed, the courtiers crouching\non the ground, the people in hushed mourning.\n\nHis majesty had sent a great army with the nobles to the land of the\nTemehu (Lybia), his son and heir, the good god king Usertesen as their\nleader. Now he was returning, and had brought away living captives and\nall kinds of cattle without end. The councillors of the palace had sent\nto the West to let the king know the matter that had come to pass in the\ninner hall. The messenger was to meet him on the road, and reach him at\nthe time of evening: the matter was urgent. \"A hawk had soared with his\nfollowers.\" Thus said he, not to let the army know of it Even if the\nroyal sons who commanded in that army send a message, he was not to\nspeak to a single one of them. But I was standing near, and heard his\nvoice while he was speaking. I fled far away, my heart beating, my arms\nfailing, trembling had fallen on all my limbs. I turned about in running\nto seek a place to hide me, and I threw myself between two bushes, to\nwait while they should pass by.\n\n\n\n\nTHE FLIGHT\n\n\nThen I turned me toward the south, not from wishing to come into this\npalace--for I knew not if war was declared--nor even thinking a wish to\nlive after this sovereign.\n\nI turned my back to the sycamore, I reached Shi-Seneferu, and rested on\nthe open field. In the morning I went on and overtook a man, who passed\nby the edge of the road. He asked of me mercy, for he feared me. By\nthe evening I drew near to Kher-ahau (? old Cairo), and I crossed the\nriver on a raft without a rudder. Carried over by the west wind, I\npassed over to the east to the quarries of Aku and the land of the\ngoddess Herit, mistress of the red mountain (Gebel Ahmar). Then I fled\non foot, northward, and reached the walls of the prince, built to\nrepel the Sati.  I crouched in a bush for fear of being seen by the\nguards, changed each day, who watch on the top of the fortress. I took\nmy way by night, and at the lighting or the day I reached Peten, and\nturned me toward the valley of Kemur. Then thirst hasted me on; I\ndried up, and my throat narrowed, and I said, \"This is the taste of\ndeath.\" When I lifted up my heart and gathered strength, I heard a\nvoice and the lowing of cattle. I saw men of the Sati, and one of\nthem--a friend unto Egypt--knew me. Behold he gave me water and boiled\nme milk, and I went with him to his camp; they did me good, and one\ntribe passed me on to another. I passed on to Sun, and reached the\nland of Adim (Edom).\n\nWhen I had dwelt there half a year Amu-an-shi--who is the prince of the\nUpper Tenu--sent for me and said: \"Dwell thou with me that thou mayest\nhear the speech of Egypt.\" He said thus for that he knew of my\nexcellence, and had heard tell of my worth, for men of Egypt who were\nthere with him bore witness of me. Behold he said to me, \"For what cause\nhast thou come hither? Has a matter come to pass in the palace? Has the\nking of the two lands, Sehetep-abra gone to heaven? That which has\nhappened about this is not known.\" But I answered with concealment, and\nsaid, \"When I came from the land of the Tamahu, and my desires were\nthere changed in me, if I fled away it was not by reason of remorse that\nI took the way of a fugitive; I have not failed in my duty, my mouth has\nnot said any bitter words, I have not heard any evil counsel, my name\nhas not come into the mouth of a magistrate. I know not by what I have\nbeen led into this land.\" And Amu-an-shi said, \"This is by the will of\nthe god (king of Egypt), for what is a land like if it know not that\nexcellent god, of whom the dread is upon the lands of strangers, as\nthey dread Sekhet in a year of pestilence.\" I spake to him, and\nreplied, \"Forgive me, his son now enters the palace, and has received\nthe heritage of his father. He is a god who has none like him, and\nthere is none before him. He is a master of wisdom, prudent in his\ndesigns, excellent in his decrees, with good-will to him who goes or\nwho comes; he subdued the land of strangers while his father yet lived\nin his palace, and he rendered account of that which his father\ndestined him to perform. He is a brave man, who verily strikes with\nhis sword; a valiant one, who has not his equal; he springs upon the\nbarbarians, and throws himself on the spoilers; he breaks the horns\nand weakens the hands, and those whom he smites cannot raise the\nbuckler. He is fearless, and dashes the heads, and none can stand\nbefore him. He is swift of foot, to destroy him who flies; and none\nwho flees from him reaches his home. His heart is strong in his time;\nhe is a lion who strikes with the claw, and never has he turned his\nback. His heart is closed to pity; and when he sees multitudes, he\nleaves none to live behind him. He is a valiant one who springs in\nfront when he sees resistance; he is a warrior who rejoices when he\nflies on the barbarians. He seizes the buckler, he rushes forward, he\nnever needs to strike again, he slays and none can turn his lance; and\nwhen he takes the bow the barbarians flee from his arms like dogs; for\nthe great goddess has given to him to strike those who know her not;\nand if he reaches forth he spares none, and leaves nought behind. He\nis a friend of great sweetness, who knows how to gain love; his land\nloves him more than itself, and rejoices in him more than in its own\ngod; men and women run to his call. A king, he has ruled from his\nbirth; he, from his birth, has increased births, a sole being, a\ndivine essence, by whom this land rejoices to be governed. He enlarges\nthe borders of the South, but he covets not the lands of the North;\nhe does not smite the Sati, nor crush the Nemau-shau If he descends\nhere, let him know thy name, by the homage which thou wilt pay to his\nmajesty. For he refuses not to bless the land which obeys him.\"\n\nAnd he replied to me, \"Egypt is indeed happy and well settled; behold\nthou art far from it, but whilst thou art with me I will do good unto\nthee.\" And he placed me before his children, he married his eldest\ndaughter to me, and gave me the choice of all his land, even among the\nbest of that which he had on the border of the next land. It is a goodly\nland, laa is its name. There are figs and grapes; there is wine commoner\nthan water; abundant is the honey, many are its olives; and all fruits\nare upon its trees; there is barley and wheat, and cattle of kinds\nwithout end. This was truly a great thing that he granted me, when the\nprince came to invest me, and establish me as prince of a tribe in the\nbest of his land. I had my continual portion of bread and of wine each\nday, of cooked meat, of roasted fowl, as well as the wild game which I\ntook, or which was brought to me, besides what my dogs captured. They\nmade me much butter, and prepared milk of all kinds. I passed many\nyears, the children that I had became great, each ruling his tribe.\nWhen a messenger went or came to the palace, he turned aside from the\nway to come to me; for I helped every man. I gave water to the\nthirsty, I set on his way him who went astray, and I rescued the\nrobbed. The Sati who went far, to strike and turn back the princes of\nother lands, I ordained their goings; for the Prince of the Tenu for\nmany years appointed me to be general of his soldiers. In every land\nwhich I attacked I played the champion, I took the cattle, I led away\nthe vassals, I carried off the slaves, I slew the people, by my sword,\nmy bow, my marches and my good devices. I was excellent to the heart\nof my prince; he loved me when he knew my power, and set me over his\nchildren when he saw the strength of my arms.\n\nA champion of the Tenu came to defy me in my tent: a bold man without\nequal, for he had vanquished the whole country. He said, \"Let Sanehat\nfight with me;\" for he desired to overthrow me, he thought to take my\ncattle for his tribe. The prince counselled with me. I said, \"I know\nhim not. I certainly am not of his degree, I hold me far from his\nplace. Have I ever opened his door, or leaped over his fence? It is\nsome envious jealousy from seeing me; does he think that I am like\nsome steer among the cows, whom the bull overthrows? If this is a\nwretch who thinks to enrich himself at my cost, not a Bedawi and a\nBedawi fit for fight, then let us put the matter to judgment. Verily a\ntrue bull loves battle, but a vain-glorious bull turns his back for\nfear of contest; if he has a heart for combat, let him speak what he\npleases. Will God forget what He has ordained, and how shall that be\nknown?\" I lay down; and when I had rested I strung my bow, I made\nready my arrows, I loosened my poignard, I furbished my arms. At dawn\nthe land of the Tenu came together; it had gathered its tribes and\ncalled all the neighbouring people, it spake of nothing but the fight.\nEach heart burnt for me, men and women crying out; for each heart was\ntroubled for me, and they said, \"Is there another strong one who would\nfight with him? Behold the adversary has a buckler, a battle axe, and\nan armful of javelins.\" Then I drew him to the attack; I turned aside\nhis arrows, and they struck the ground in vain. One drew near to the\nother, and he fell on me, and then I shot him. My arrow fastened in\nhis neck, he cried out, and fell on his face: I drove his lance into\nhim, and raised my shout of victory on his back. Whilst all the men of\nthe land rejoiced, I, and his vassals whom he had oppressed, gave\nthanks unto Mentu. This prince, Amu-an-shi, embraced me. Then I\ncarried off his goods and took his cattle, that which he had wished to\ndo to me, I did even so unto him; I seized that which was in his tent,\nI spoiled his dwelling. As time went on I increased the richness of my\ntreasures and the number of my cattle.\n\n_Petition to the king of Egypt._\n\n\"Now behold what the god has done for me who trusted in him. Having once\nfled away, yet now there is a witness of me in the palace. Once having\nfled away, as a fugitive,------now all in the palace give unto me a good\nname. After that I had been dying of hunger, now I give bread to those\naround. I had left my land naked, and now I am clothed in fine linen.\nAfter having been a wanderer without followers, now I possess many\nserfs. My house is fine, my land wide, my memory is established in the\ntemple of all the gods. And let this flight obtain thy forgiveness;\nthat I may be appointed in the palace; that I may see the place where\nmy heart dwells. How great a thing is it that my body should be\nembalmed in the land where I was born! To return there is happiness. I\nhave made offering to God, to grant me this thing. His heart suffers\nwho has run away unto a strange land. Let him hear the prayer of him\nwho is afar off, that he may revisit the place of his birth, and the\nplace from which he removed.\n\n\"May the king of Egypt be gracious to me that I may live of his favour.\nAnd I render my homage to the mistress of the land, who is in his\npalace; may I hear the news of her children. Thus will my limbs grow\nyoung again. Now old age comes, feebleness seizes me, my eyes are\nheavy, my arms are feeble, my legs will not move, my heart is slow.\nDeath draws nigh to me, soon shall they lead me to the city of\neternity. Let me follow the mistress of all (the queen, his former\nmistress); lo! let her tell me the excellencies of her children; may\nshe bring eternity to me.\"\n\nThen the majesty of King Kheper-ka-ra, the blessed, spake upon this my\ndesire that I had made to him. His majesty sent unto me with presents\nfrom the king, that he might enlarge the heart of his servant, like unto\nthe province of any strange land; and the royal sons who are in the\npalace addressed themselves unto me.\n\n_Copy of the decree which was brought--to me who speak to you--to lead\nme back into Egypt._\n\n\"The Horus, life of births, lord of the crowns, life of births, king\nof Upper and Lower Egypt, Kheper-ka-ra, son of the Sun, Amen-em-hat,\never living unto eternity. Order for the follower Sanehat. Behold this\norder of the king is sent to thee to instruct thee of his will.\n\n\"Now, although thou hast gone through strange lands from Adim to Tenu,\nand passed from one country to another at the wish of thy heart--behold,\nwhat hast thou done, or what has been done against thee, that is amiss?\nMoreover, thou reviledst not; but if thy word was denied, thou didst\nnot speak again in the assembly of the nobles, even if thou wast\ndesired. Now, therefore, that thou hast thought on this matter which\nhas come to thy mind, let thy heart not change again; for this thy\nHeaven (queen), who is in the palace is fixed, she is flourishing, she\nis enjoying the best in the kingdom of the land, and her children are\nin the chambers of the palace.\n\n\"Leave all the riches that thou hast, and that are with thee,\naltogether. When thou shalt come into Egypt behold the palace, and when\nthou shalt enter the palace, bow thy face to the ground before the Great\nHouse; thou shalt be chief among the companions. And day by day behold\nthou growest old; thy vigour is lost, and thou thinkest on the day of\nburial. Thou shalt see thyself come to the blessed state, they shall\ngive thee the bandages from the hand of Tait, the night of applying the\noil of embalming. They shall follow thy funeral, and visit the tomb on\nthe day of burial, which shall be in a gilded case, the head painted\nwith blue, a canopy of cypress wood above thee, and oxen shall draw\nthee, the singers going before thee, and they shall dance the funeral\ndance. The weepers crouching at the door of thy tomb shall cry aloud\nthe prayers for offerings: they shall slay victims for thee at the\ndoor of thy pit; and thy pyramid shall be carved in white stone, in\nthe company of the royal children. Thus thou shalt not die in a\nstrange land, nor be buried by the Amu; thou shalt not be laid in a\nsheep-skin when thou art buried; all people shall beat the earth, and\nlament on thy body when thou goest to the tomb.\"\n\nWhen this order came to me, I was in the midst of my tribe. When it was\nread unto me, I threw me on the dust, I threw dust in my hair; I went\naround my tent rejoicing and saying, \"How may it be that such a thing\nis done to the servant, who with a rebellious heart has fled to\nstrange lands? Now with an excellent deliverance, and mercy delivering\nme from death, thou shall cause me to end my days in the palace.\"\n\n_Copy of the answer to this order._\n\n\"The follower Sanehat says: In excellent peace above everything consider\nof this flight that he made here in his ignorance; Thou, the Good God,\nLord of both Lands, Loved of Ra, Favourite of Mentu, the lord of Thebes,\nand of Amen, lord of thrones of the lands, of Sebek, Ra, Horus, Hathor,\nAtmu, and of his fellow-gods, of Sopdu, Neferbiu, Samsetu, Horus, lord\nof the east, and of the royal uraeus which rules on thy head, of the\nchief gods of the waters, of Min, Horus of the desert, Urrit, mistress\nof Punt, Nut, Harnekht, Ra, all the gods of the land of Egypt, and of\nthe isles of the sea. May they give life and peace to thy nostril, may\nthey load thee with their gifts, may they give to thee eternity\nwithout end, everlastingness without bound. May the fear of thee be\ndoubled in the lands of the deserts. Mayest thou subdue the circuit of\nthe sun's disc. This is the prayer to his master of the humble servant\nwho is saved from a foreign land.\n\n\"O wise king, the wise words which are pronounced in the wisdom of the\nmajesty of the sovereign, thy humble servant fears to tell. It is a\ngreat thing to repeat. O great God, like unto Ra in fulfilling that to\nwhich he has set his hand, what am I that he should take thought for me?\nAm I among those whom he regards, and for whom he arranges? Thy majesty\nis as Horus, and the strength of thy arms extends to all lands.\n\n\"Then let his Majesty bring Maki of Adma, Kenti-au-ush of Khenti-keshu,\nand Tenus from the two lands ol the Fenkhu; these are the princes who\nbear witness of me as to all that has passed, out of love for thyself.\nDoes not Tenu believe that it belongs to thee like thy dogs. Behold\nthis flight that I have made: I did not have it in my heart; it was\nlike the leading of a dream, as a man of Adehi (Delta) sees himself in\nAbu (Elephantine), as a man of the plain of Egypt who sees himself in\nthe deserts. There was no fear, there was no hastening after me, I did\nnot listen to an evil plot, my name was not heard in the mouth of the\nmagistrate; but my limbs went, my feet wandered, my heart drew me; my\ngod commanded this flight, and drew me on; but I am not stiff-necked.\nDoes a man fear when he sees his own land? Ra spread thy fear over the\nland, thy terrors in every strange land. Behold me now in the palace,\nbehold me in this place; and lo! thou art he who is over all the\nhorizon; the sun rises at thy pleasure, the water in the rivers is\ndrunk at thy will, the wind in heaven is breathed at thy saying.\n\n\"I who speak to thee shall leave my goods to the generations to follow\nin this land. And as to this messenger who is come even let thy majesty\ndo as pleaseth him, for one lives by the breath that thou givest. O thou\nwho art beloved of Ra, of Horus, and of Hathor; Mentu, lord of Thebes,\ndesires that thy august nostril should live for ever.\"\n\nI made a feast in Iaa, to pass over my goods to my children. My eldest\nson was leading my tribe, all my goods passed to him, and I gave him my\ncorn and all my cattle, my fruit, and all my pleasant trees. When I had\ntaken my road to the south, and arrived at the roads of Horus, the\nofficer who was over the garrison sent a messenger to the palace to give\nnotice. His majesty sent the good overseer of the peasants of the king's\ndomains, and boats laden with presents from the king for the Sati who\nhad come to conduct me to the roads of Horus. I spoke to each one by his\nname, and I gave the presents to each as was intended. I received and I\nreturned the salutation, and I continued thus until I reached the city\nof Thetu.\n\nWhen the land was brightened, and the new day began, four men came with\na summons for me; and the four men went to lead me to the palace. I\nsaluted with both my hands on the ground; the royal children stood at\nthe courtyard to conduct me: the courtiers who were to lead me to the\nhall brought me on the way to the royal chamber.\n\nI found his Majesty on the great throne in the hall of pale gold. Then I\nthrew myself on my belly; this god, in whose presence I was, knew me\nnot. He questioned me graciously, but I was as one seized with\nblindness, my spirit fainted, my limbs failed, my heart was no longer in\nmy bosom, and I knew the difference between life and death. His\nmajesty said to one of the companions, \"Lift him up, let him speak to\nme.\" And his majesty said, \"Behold thou hast come, thou hast trodden\nthe deserts, thou hast played the wanderer.  Decay falls on thee, old\nage has reached thee; it is no small thing that thy body should be\nembalmed, that the Pedtiu shall not bury thee. Do not, do not, be\nsilent and speechless; tell thy name; is it fear that prevents thee?\"\nI answered in reply, \"I fear, what is it that my lord has said that I\nshould answer it? I have not called on me the hand of God, but it is\nterror in my body, like that which brings sudden death.  Now behold I\nam before thee; thou art life; let thy majesty do what pleaseth him.\"\n\nThe royal children were brought in, and his majesty said to the queen,\n\"Behold thou Sanehat has come as an Amu, whom the Sati have produced.\"\n\nShe cried aloud, and the royal children spake with one voice, saying,\nbefore his majesty, \"Verily it is not so, O king, my lord.\" Said his\nmajesty, \"It is verily he.\" Then they brought their collars, and their\nwands, and their sistra in their hands, and displayed them before his\nmajesty; and they sang--\n\n\"May thy hands prosper, O king; May the ornaments of the Lady of Heaven\ncontinue. May the goddess Nub give life to thy nostril; May the mistress\nof the stars favour thee, when thou sailest south and north. All\nwisdom is in the mouth of thy majesty; Thy uraeus is on thy forehead,\nthou drivest away the miserable.\n\n\"Thou art pacified, O Ra, lord of the lands; They call on thee as on the\nmistress of all. Strong is thy horn, Thou lettest fly thine arrow. Grant\nthe breath to him who is without it; Grant good things to this\ntraveller, Samehit the Pedti, born in the land of Egypt, Who fled away\nfrom fear of thee, And fled this land from thy terrors. Does not the\nface grow pale, of him who beholds thy countenance; Does not the eye\nfear, which looks upon thee.\"\n\nSaid his majesty, \"Let him not fear, let him be freed from terror. He\nshall be a Royal Friend amongst the nobles; he shall be put within the\ncircle of the courtiers. Go ye to the chamber of praise to seek wealth\nfor him.\"\n\nWhen I went out from the palace, the royal children offered their hands\nto me; we walked afterwards to the Great Gates. I was placed in a house\nof a king's son, in which were delicate things, a place of coolness,\nfruits of the granary, treasures of the White House, clothes of the\nking's guardrobe, frankincense, the finest perfumes of the king and the\nnobles whom he loves, in every chamber. All the servitors were in their\nseveral offices.\n\nYears were removed from my limbs: I was shaved, and polled my locks of\nhair; the foulness was cast to the desert with the garments of the\nNemau-sha. I clothed me in fine linen, and anointed myself with the fine\noil of Egypt; I laid me on a bed. I gave up the sand to those who lie\non it; the oil of wood to him who would anoint himself therewith.\nThere was given to me the mansion of a lord of serfs, which had\nbelonged to a royal friend. There many excellent things were in its\nbuildings; all its wood was renewed. There were brought to me portions\nfrom the palace, thrice and four times each day; besides the gifts of\nthe royal children, always, without ceasing.  There was built for me a\npyramid of stone amongst the pyramids. The overseer of the architects\nmeasured its ground; the chief treasurer wrote it; the sacred masons\ncut the well; the chief of the labourers on the tombs brought the\nbricks; all things used to make strong a building were there used.\nThere were given to me peasants; there were made for me a garden, and\nfields in it before my mansion, as is done for the chief royal friend.\nMy statue was inlayed with gold, its girdle of pale gold; his majesty\ncaused it to be made.  Such is not done to a man of low degree.\n\nMay I be in the favour of the king until the day shall come of my death.\n\n_(This is finished from beginning to end, as was found in the writing.)_\n\n\n\n\nRemarks\n\n\nThe Adventures of Sanehat appears to have been a popular tale, as\nportions of three copies remain. The first papyrus known (Berlin No.\n1) was imperfect at the beginning; but since then a flake of limestone\nfound in a tomb bore the beginning of the tale, and the same part is\nfound on a papyrus in the Amherst collection. The main text has been\ntranslated by Chabas (\"Le papyrus de Berlin,\" 37-51), Goodwin, and\nMaspero (\"Mel. d'arch.,\" iii. 68, 140, and \"Contes Populaire,\"\n89-130); while the beginning is treated in \"Memoires de l'institut\nEgyptien,\" ii. 1-23, and in Proc. S.B.A., 452. The present translation\nis mainly based on Mr. Griffith's readings in all cases of difficulty.\n\nThis is perhaps the most interesting of all the tales, because it bears\nsuch signs of being written in the times of which it treats, it throws\nso much light on the life of the time in Egypt and Syria, and if not a\nreal narrative, it is at least so probable that it may be accepted\nwithout much difficulty. For my own part, I incline to look on it as\nstrictly historical; and in the absence of a single point of doubt, I\nshall here treat it as seriously as the biographical inscriptions of\nthe early tombs. Possibly some day the tomb of Sanehat may be found,\nand the whole inscription be read complete upon the walls.\n\nThe name Sa-nehat means \"son of the sycamore,\" probably from his having\nbeen born, or living, at some place where was a celebrated sacred\nsycamore. This was a common tree in ancient, as in modern, Egypt; but an\nallusion in the tale, to Sanehat turning his back on the sycamore, when\nhe was fleeing apparently up the west side of the Delta, makes it\nprobable that the sycamore was that of Aa-tenen, now Batnun, at the\nmiddle of the west side of the Delta.\n\nThe titles given to Sanehat at the opening are of a very high rank, and\nimply that he was the son either of the king or of a great noble. And\nhis position in the queen's household shows him to have been of\nimportance; the manner in which he is received by the royal family at\nthe end implying that he was quite familiar with them in early days.\n\nBut the great difficulty in the account has been the sudden panic of\nSanehat on hearing of the death of Amenemhat, and no explanation of this\nhas yet been brought forward. It seems not unlikely that he was a son of\nAmenemhat by some concubine. This would at once account for his high\ntitles--for his belonging to the royal household--for his fear of his\nelder brother Usertesen, who might see in him a rival, and try to slay\nhim after his father's death--for the command to him to leave all his\npossessions and family behind him in Syria, as the condition of his\nbeing allowed to return to end his days in Egypt--for his familiar\nreception by the royal family, and for the property given to him on his\nreturn.\n\nThe date recorded for the death of Sehote-pabra--Amenemhat I., the\nfounder of the XIIth Dynasty--agrees with the limit of his reign on the\nmonuments. And the expressions for his death are valuable as showing\nthe manner in which a king's decease was regarded; under the emblem of\na hawk--the bird of Ra--he flew up and joined the sun.\n\nSometime before his death Amenemhat had been in retirement; after twenty\nyears of reign (which was probably rather late in his life, as he seems\nto have forced his way to the front as a successful man and founder of a\nfamily) he had associated his son, the first Usertesen, on the throne,\nand apparently resigned active life; for in the third year of Usertesen\nwe find the coregent summoning his court and decreeing the founding of\nthe temple of Heliopolis without any mention of his father. The old\nking, however, lived yet ten years after his retirement, and died (as\nthis narrative shows us) during an expedition of his son Usertesen.\n\nThe time of year mentioned here would fall in about the middle of the\ninundation in those days. Hence it seems that the military expeditions\nwere made after the harvest was secured, and while the country was\nunder water and the population disengaged from other labour.\n\nThe course of Sanehat's flight southward, reaching the Nile at Cairo\nafter two days' haste, indicates that the army was somewhere west of the\nDelta. This would point to its being on the road to the oasis of the\nNatron Lakes, which would be the natural course for a body of men\nneeding water supply. His throwing himself between two bushes to hide\nfrom the army shows that the message came early in the day, otherwise he\nwould have fled in the dark. He then fled a day's journey to the south,\nturning his back on the sycamore, and slept in the open field at\nShi-Seneferu somewhere below the Barrage. The second day he reached the\nNile opposite Old Cairo in the afternoon, and ferried himself over,\npassed the quarries at Gebel Mokattam, and the red hill of Gebel Ahmar,\nand came to a frontier wall before dark. This cannot have been far from\nOld Cairo, by the time; and as Heliopolis was in course of building by\nUsertesen, it would be probably on the desert near there, for the\nprotection of the town.  Passing the desert guards by night he pushed\non and reached Peten, near Belbeis, by dawn, and turned east toward\nthe valley of Kemur, or Wady Tumilat. Here in his extremity he was\nfound by the Sati or Asiatics, and rescued. This shows that the\neastern desert was left to the wandering tribes, and was without any\nregular government at this period; though all the eastern Delta was\nalready well in Egyptian hands, as we know by the monuments at\nBubastis, Dedamun, and Tanis.\n\nThe land of Adim to which Sanehat fled appears to be the same as Edom or\nthe southeast corner of Syria. It was evidently near the upper Tenu, or\nRutennu, who seem to have dwelt on the hill country of Palestine. The\nhill and the plain of Palestine are so markedly different, that in all\nages they have tended to be held by opposing people. In the time of\nSanehat the upper Tenu who held the hills were opposed to the Tenu in\ngeneral who held the plains; later on the Semites of the hills opposed\nthe Philistines of the plain, and now the _fellah_ of the hills\nopposes the Bedawi of the plain. The district of Amuanshi in which\nSanehat settled was a goodly land, bearing figs and grapes and olives,\nflowing with wine and honey and oil, yielding barley and wheat without\nend, and much cattle. This abundance points rather to the hill country\nnear Hebron or between there and Belt Jibrin, as this south part of\nthe hills is notably fertile. The Tenu who came to defy Sanehat, being\nin opposition to the upper Tenu, were probably those of the plain; and\nthe opposition to Sanehat may have arisen from his encroaching on the\nfertile plain at the foot of his hills, as he was in the best of the\nland \"on the border of the next land.\"\n\nThe Egyptian was evidently looked on as being of a superior race by the\nTenu, and his civilisation won for him the confidence which many\nwandering Englishmen now find in Africa or Polynesia, like John Dunn.\nThe set combat of two champions seems--by the large gathering--to have\nbeen a well-recognised custom among the Tenu, while it exactly accords\nwith Goliath's offer in later times. And raising the shout of victory\non the back of the fallen champion reminds us of David's standing on\nGoliath.\n\nThe transition from the recital of the Syrian adventures to the petition\nto Pharaoh is not marked in the manuscript; but from the construction\nthe beginning of the petition is evidently at the place here marked. The\nmanner in which Sanehat appeals to the queen shows how well he must have\nbeen known to her in his former days.\n\nThe decree in reply to Sanehat is in the regular style of royal\ndecrees of the period. Apparently by a clerical error the scribe has\nsubstituted the name Amenemhat for Userte-sen, but the Horus name and\nthe throne name leave no doubt that Usertesen I. is intended here. The\ntone of the reply is as gracious as possible, according with the\nking's character as stated by Sanehat, \"He is a friend of great\nsweetness, and knows how to gain love.\" He quite recognises the\ninquiries after the queen, and replies concerning her. And then he\nassures Sanehat of welcome on his return, and promises him all that he\nasks, including a tomb \"in the company of the royal children,\" a full\nrecognition of his real rank.  Incidentally we learn that the Amu\nburied their dead wrapped in a sheep's skin; as we also learn, further\non, that they anointed themselves with oil (olive?), wore the hair\nlong, and slept on the ground.\n\nThe funeral that is promised accords with the burials of the XIIth\nDynasty: the gilded case, the head painted blue, and the canopy of\ncypress wood, are all known of this period, but would be out of place in\ndescribing a Ramesside burial.\n\nSanehat's reply is a full course of the usual religious adulation, and\ndiffers in this remarkably from his petition.  In fact it is hard to\nbe certain where his petition begins; possibly the opening of it has\nbeen lost out of the text in copying from a mutilated papyrus; or\npossibly it was sent merely as a memorandum of Sanehat's position and\ndesires, without venturing to address it personally to the king; or\neven it may have not been allowable then to make such petitions\nformally, so as to leave the initiative to the king's free will, just\nas it is not allowable nowadays to question royalty, but only to\nanswer when spoken to.\n\nThe proposal to bring forward his fellow-sheikhs as witnesses of his\nunabated loyalty is very curious, and seems superfluous after\nUsertesen's assurances. Beyond Abisha of the Amu at Beni Hasan, these\nare the only early personal names of Syrians that we know. The Fenkhu in\nthis connection can hardly be other than the Phoenicians; and, if so,\nthis points to their being already established in southern Syria at\nthis date. But these chiefs were not allowed to come forward; and it\nseems to have been the policy of Egypt to keep the Syrians off as much\nas possible, not a single man who came with Sanehat being allowed to\ncross the frontier. The allusion to the Tenu belonging to Pharaoh,\nlike his dogs, is peculiarly fitting to this period, as the dog seems\nto have been more familiarly domesticated in the XIth and XIIth\nDynasties than at any other age, and dogs are often then represented\non the funereal steles, even with their names.\n\nThe expression for strangeness--\"as a man of the Delta sees himself at\nthe cataract, as a man of the plain who sees himself in the deserts\"--is\ntrue to this day. Nothing upsets an Egyptian's self-reliance like going\nback a few miles into the desert; and almost any man of the cultivated\nplain will flee with terror if he finds himself left alone far in the\ndesert, or even taken to the top of the desert hills..\n\nWe learn incidentally that the Egyptian frontier, even in the later\nyears of Usertesen I., had not been pushed beyond the Wady Tumilat; for\nSanehat travels south to the Roads of Horus, where he finds the frontier\ngarrison, and leaves his Syrian friends; and there laden boats meet him,\nshowing that it must have been somewhere along a waterway from the Nile.\n\nThe abasement of Sanehat might well be due to natural causes, beside the\nreverence for the divine person of the king. The Egyptian court must\nhave seemed oppressively splendid, with the brilliant and costly\nworkmanship of Usertesen, to one who had lived a half-wild life for so\nmany years; and, more than that, the recalling of all his early days and\nhabits and friendships would overwhelm his mind and make it difficult to\ncollect his thoughts.\n\nSanehat's appearance was so much changed by his long hair, his age, and\nhis strange dress, that his former mistress and companions could not\nrecognise him. The use of collars and sceptres in the song and dance\nis not clear to us. The sistra were, of course, to beat or rattle in\ntime with the song; the sceptres or wands were perhaps the same as the\nengraved wands of ivory common in the XIIth Dynasty, or of blue glazed\nware in XVIIIth, and would be used to wave or beat time with; but the\nuse of the collar and counterpoise, or _menat,_ is unexplained, though\nfigures of dancers are shown holding a collar and _menat,_ and such\nobjects were found buried in the ceremonial foundation deposit of\nTahutmes III. at Koptos.\n\nThis song of the princesses is clearly in parallel phrases. First are\nfour wishes for the king and queen, in four lines. Second, an ascription\nof wisdom and power, in two lines. Third, a comparison of the king to\nRa, and of the queen to the great goddess, in two lines. Fourth, an\nascription of righting power. Fifth, a petition for Sanehat, winding up\nwith the statement of fear inspired by the king, as explaining\nSanehat's abasement. To this the king responds by reassuring Sanehat,\nand promising him position and wealth.\n\nThe account of Sanehat's renewal of his old national ways can best be\nappreciated by any one who has lived a rough life for a time and then\ncomes back to civilisation. Doubtless these comforts were all the more\ngrateful to him in his old age, when he was weary of his unsettled life.\n\nIn the preparation of his tomb it is stated to have been a pyramid, with\nrock-cut well chamber, and built of bricks above. This just accords\nwith the construction of the pyramids of the XIIth Dynasty.\n\nThe last phrase implies that this was composed during Sanehat's life;\nand such a life would be so remarkable that this biography might be\nprepared with good reason. Also it is very unlikely that a mere\nstory-teller would have dropped the relation without describing his\ngrand funeral which was promised to him. From suddenly stopping at the\npreparation of the tomb, without going further, we have a strong\npresumption that this was a true narrative, written at Sanehat's\ndictation, and probably intended to be inscribed on his tomb wall. In\nany case, we have here an invaluable picture of life in Palestine and\nin Egypt, and the relations of the two countries, at an epoch before\nthe time of Abraham, and not paralleled by any other document until\nmore than a thousand years later.","title":"Egyptian Tales, Translated from the Papyri: First series, IVth to XIIth dynasty","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":19145}