Exactly when and how Isis made her way to a hiding place cannot be said, but she reached it in safety, and her son Horus was born there. The story of the death of Horus she tells in the following words: "I am Isis. I conceived a child, Horus, and I brought him forth in a cluster of papyrus plants (or, bulrushes). I rejoiced exceedingly, for in him I saw one who would make answer for his father. I hid him, and I covered him up carefully, being afraid of that foul one [Set], and then I went to the town of Am, where the people gave thanks for me because they knew I could cause them trouble. I passed the day in collecting food for the child, and when I returned and took Horus into my arms, I found him, Horus, the beautiful one of gold, the boy, the child, lifeless! He had bedewed the ground with the water of his eye and with the foam of his lips. His body was motionless, his heart did not beat, and his muscles were relaxed." Then Isis sent forth a bitter cry, and lamented loudly her misfortune, for now that Horus was dead she had none to protect her, or to take vengeance on Set. When the people heard her voice they went out to her, and they bewailed with her the greatness of her affliction. But though all lamented on her behalf there was none who could bring back Horus to life. Then a "woman who was well known in her town, a lady who was the mistress of property in her own right," went out to Isis, and consoled her, and assured her that the child should live through his mother. And she said, "A scorpion hath stung him, the reptile Aunab hath wounded him." Then Isis bent her face over the child to find out if he breathed, and she examined the wound, and found that there was poison in it, and then taking him in her arms, "she leaped about with him like a fish that is put upon hot coals," uttering loud cries of lamentation. During this outburst of grief the goddess Nephthys, her sister, arrived, and she too lamented and cried bitterly over her sister's loss; with her came the Scorpion-goddess Serqet. Nephthys at once advised Isis to cry out for help to Ra, for, said she, it is wholly impossible for the Boat of Ra to travel across the sky whilst Horus is lying dead. Then Isis cried out, and made supplication to the Boat of Millions of Years, and the Sun-god stopped the Boat. Out of it came down Thoth, who was provided with powerful spells, and, going to Isis, he inquired concerning her trouble. "What is it, what is it, O Isis, thou goddess of spells, whose mouth hath skill to utter them with supreme effect? Surely no evil thing hath befallen Horus, for the Boat of Ra hath him under its protection. I have come from the Boat of the Disk to heal Horus." Then Thoth told Isis not to fear, but to put away all anxiety from her heart, for he had come to heal her child, and he told her that Horus was fully protected because he was the Dweller in his disk, and the firstborn son of heaven, and the Great Dwarf, and the Mighty Ram, and the Great Hawk, and the Holy Beetle, and the Hidden Body, and the Governor of the Other World, and the Holy Benu Bird, and by the spells of Isis and the names of Osiris and the weeping of his mother and brethren, and by his own name and heart. Turning towards the child Thoth began to recite his spells and said, "Wake up, Horus! Thy protection is established. Make thou happy the heart of thy mother Isis. The words of Horus bind up hearts and he comforteth him that is in affliction. Let your hearts rejoice, O ye dwellers in the heavens. Horus who avenged his father shall make the poison to retreat. That which is in the mouth of Ra shall circulate, and the tongue of the Great God shall overcome [opposition]. The Boat of Ra standeth still and moveth not, and the Disk (i.e. the Sun-god) is in the place where it was yesterday to heal Horus for his mother Isis. Come to earth, draw nigh, O Boat of Ra, O ye mariners of Ra; make the boat to move and convey food of the town of Sekhem (i.e. Letopolis) hither, to heal Horus for his mother Isis.... Come to earth, O poison! I am Thoth, the firstborn son, the son of Ra. Tem and the company of the gods have commanded me to heal Horus for his mother Isis. O Horus, O Horus, thy Ka protecteth thee, and thy Image worketh protection for thee. The poison is as the daughter of its own flame; it is destroyed because it smote the strong son. Your temples are safe, for Horus liveth for his mother." Then the child Horus returned to life, to the great joy of his mother, and Thoth went back to the Boat of Millions of Years, which at once proceeded on its majestic course, and all the gods from one end of heaven to the other rejoiced. Isis entreated either Ra or Thoth that Horus might be nursed and brought up by the goddesses of the town of Pe-Tep, or Buto, in the Delta, and at once Thoth committed the child to their care, and instructed them about his future. Horus grew up in Buto under their protection, and in due course fought a duel with Set, and vanquished him, and so avenged the wrong done to his father by Set.

THE LEGEND OF KHENSU-NEFER-HETEP AND THE PRINCESS OF BEKHTEN

Here for convenience' sake may be inserted the story of the Possessed Princess of Bekhten and the driving out of the evil spirit that was in her by Khensu-Nefer-hetep. The text of the Legend is cut in hieroglyphs on a large sandstone tablet which was discovered by J.F. Champollion in the temple of Khensu at Thebes, and was removed by Prisse d'Avennes in 1846 to Paris, where it is now preserved in the Bibliotheque Nationale. The form of the Legend which we have is probably the work of the priests of Khensu, about 1000 B.C., who wished to magnify their god, but the incidents recorded are supposed to have taken place at the end of the fourteenth century B.C., and there may indeed be historical facts underlying the Legend. The text states that the king of Egypt, Usermaatra-setepenra Rameses-meri-Amen, i.e. Rameses II, a king of the nineteenth dynasty about 1300 B.C., was in the country of Nehern, or Mesopotamia, according to his yearly custom, and that the chiefs of the country, even those of the remotest districts from Egypt, came to do homage to him, and to bring him gifts, i.e. to pay tribute. Their gifts consisted of gold, lapis-lazuli, turquoise, and costly woods from the land of the god,[1] and each chief tried to outdo his neighbour in the magnificence of his gifts. Among these tributary chiefs was the Prince of Bekhten, who, in addition to his usual gift, presented to the king his eldest daughter, and he spake words of praise to the king, and prayed for his life. His daughter was beautiful, and the king thought her the most beautiful maiden in the world, and he gave her the name of Neferu-Ra and the rank of "chief royal wife," i.e. the chief wife of Pharaoh. When His Majesty brought her to Egypt she was treated as the Queen of Egypt.

[Footnote: 1: i.e. Southern Arabia and a portion of the east coast of Africa near Somaliland.]

One day in the late summer, in the fifteenth year of his reign, his Majesty was in Thebes celebrating a festival in honour of Father Amen, the King of the gods, in the temple now known as the Temple of Luxor, when an official came and informed the king that "an ambassador of the Prince of Bekhten had arrived bearing many gifts for the Royal Wife." The ambassador was brought into the presence with his gifts, and having addressed the king in suitable words of honour, and smelt the ground before His Majesty, he told him that he had come to present a petition to him on behalf of the Queen's sister, who was called Bentresht (i.e. daughter of joy). The princess had been attacked by a disease, and the Prince of Bekhten asked His Majesty to send a skilled physician to see her. Straightway the king ordered his magicians (or medicine men) to appear before him, and also his nobles, and when they came he told them that he had sent for them to come and hear the ambassador's request. And, he added, choose one of your number who is both wise and skilful; their choice fell upon the royal scribe Tehuti-em-heb, and the king ordered him to depart to Bekhten to heal the princess. When the magician arrived in Bekhten he found that Princess Bentresht was under the influence of a malignant spirit, and that this spirit refused to be influenced in any way by him; in fact all his wisdom and skill availed nothing, for the spirit was hostile to him.



Then the Prince of Bekhten sent a second messenger to His Majesty, beseeching him to send a god to Bekhten to overcome the evil spirit, and he arrived in Egypt nine years after the arrival of the first ambassador. Again the king was celebrating a festival of Amen, and when he heard of the request of the Prince of Bekhten he went and stood before the statue of Khensu, called "Nefer-hetep," and he said, "O my fair lord, I present myself a second time before thee on behalf of the daughter of the Prince of Bekhten." He then went on to ask the god to transmit his power to Khensu, "Pa-ari-sekher-em-Uast," the god who drives out the evil spirits which attack men, and to permit him to go to Bekhten and release the Princess from the power of the evil spirit. And the statue of Khensu Nefer-hetep bowed its head twice at each part of the petition, and this god bestowed a fourfold portion of his spirit and power on Khensu Pa-ari-sekher-em-Uast. Then the king ordered that the god should set out on his journey to Bekhten carried in a boat, which was accompanied by five smaller boats and by chariots and horses. The journey occupied seventeen months, and the god was welcomed on his arrival by the Prince of Bekhten and his nobles with suitable homage and many cries of joy. The god was taken to the place where Princess Bentresht was, and he used his magical power upon her with such good effect that she was made whole at once. The evil spirit who had possessed her came out of her and said to Khensu: "Welcome, welcome, O great god, who dost drive away the spirits who attack men. Bekhten is thine; its people, both men and women, are thy servants, and I myself am thy servant. I am going to depart to the place whence I came, so that thy heart may be content concerning the matter about which thou hast come. I beseech Thy Majesty to give the order that thou and I and the Prince of Bekhten may celebrate a festival together." The god Khensu bowed his head as a sign that he approved of the proposal, and told his priest to make arrangements with the Prince of Bekhten for offering up a great offering. Whilst this conversation was passing between the evil spirit and the god the soldiers stood by in a state of great fear. The Prince of Bekhten made the great offering before Khensu and the evil spirit, and the Prince and the god and the spirit rejoiced greatly. When the festival was ended the evil spirit, by the command of Khensu, "departed to the place which he loved." The Prince and all his people were immeasurably glad at the happy result, and he decided that he would consider the god to be a gift to him, and that he would not let him return to Egypt. So the god Khensu stayed for three years and nine months in Bekhten, but one day, whilst the Prince was sleeping on his bed, he had a vision in which he saw Khensu in the form of a hawk leave his shrine and mount up into the air, and then depart to Egypt. When he awoke he said to the priest of Khensu, "The god who was staying with us hath departed to Egypt; let his chariot also depart." And the Prince sent off the statue of the god to Egypt, with rich gifts of all kinds and a large escort of soldiers and horses. In due course the party arrived in Egypt, and ascended to Thebes, and the god Khensu Pa-ari-sekher-em-Uast went into the temple of Khensu Nefer-hetep, and laid all the gifts which he had received from the Prince of Bekhten before him, and kept nothing for his own temple. This he did as a proper act of gratitude to Khensu Nefer-hetep, whose gift of a fourfold portion of his spirit had enabled him to overcome the power of the evil spirit that possessed the Princess of Bekhten. Thus Khensu returned from Bekhten in safety, and he re-entered his temple in the winter, in the thirty-third year of the reign of Rameses II. The situation of Bekhten is unknown, but the name is probably not imaginary, and the country was perhaps a part of Western Asia. The time occupied by the god Khensu in getting there does not necessarily indicate that Bekhten was a very long way off, for a mission of the kind moved slowly in those leisurely days, and the priest of the god would probably be much delayed by the people in the towns and villages on the way, who would entreat him to ask the god to work cures on the diseased and afflicted that were brought to him. We must remember that when the Nubians made a treaty with Diocletian they stipulated that the goddess Isis should be allowed to leave her temple once a year, and to make a progress through the country so that men and women might ask her for boons, and receive them.



CHAPTER VIII

HISTORICAL LITERATURE

The historical period of Egyptian history, that is to say, the period during which Egypt was ruled by kings, each one calling himself NESU-BATI, or "King of the South, King of the North," covers about 4400 years according to some Egyptologists, and 3300 years according to others. Of the kings of All Egypt who reigned during the period we know the names of about two hundred, but only about one hundred and fifty have left behind them monuments that enable us to judge of their power and greatness. There is no evidence to show that the Egyptians ever wrote history in our sense of the word, and there is not in existence any native work that can be regarded as a history of Egypt. The only known attempt in ancient times to write a history of Egypt was that made by Manetho, a skilled scribe and learned man, who, in the reign of Ptolemy II Philadelphus (289-246 B.C.), undertook to write a history of the country, which was to be placed in the Great Library at Alexandria. The only portion of this History that has come down to us is the List of Kings, which formed a section of it; this List, in a form more or less accurate, is extant in the works of Africanus and Eusebius. According to the former 553 or 554 kings ruled over Egypt in 5380 years, and according to the latter 421 or 423 kings ruled over Egypt in 4547 or 4939 years. It is quite certain that the principal acts and wars of each king were recorded by the court scribes, or official "remembrancer" or "recorder" of the day, and there is no doubt that such records were preserved in the "House of Books," or Library, of the local temple for reference if necessary. If this were not so it would have been impossible for the scribes of the eighteenth and nineteenth dynasties to compile the lists of kings found on the Palermo Stone, and in the Turin Papyrus, and on the Tablets set up by Seti I and Rameses II at Abydos, and on the Tablet of Ancestors at Karnak. These Lists, however, seem to show that the learned scribes of the later period were not always sure of the true sequence of the names, and that when they were dealing with the names of the kings of the first two dynasties they were not always certain even about the correct spelling and reading of their names. The reason why the Egyptians did not write the history of their country from a general point of view is easily explained. Each king wished to be thought as great as possible, and each king's courtiers lost no opportunity of showing that they believed him to be the greatest king who had sat on the throne of Egypt. To magnify the deeds of his ancestors was neither politic nor safe, nor did it lead to favours or promotion. In no inscription of their descendants do we find the mighty deeds and great conquests of Amenemhat III, or of Usertsen III, or of Thothmes III, praised or described, and no court scribe ever dared to draft a text stating that these were truly three of the greatest kings of Egypt. When a local chief succeeded in making himself king of All Egypt he did not concern himself with preserving records of the great deeds of the king whose throne he had seized. When foreign foes invaded Egypt and conquered it their followers raided the towns, burnt and destroyed all that could be got rid of, and smashed the monuments recording the prowess of the king they had overthrown. The net result of all this is that the history of Egypt can only be partially constructed, and that the sources of our information are a series of texts that were written to glorify individual kings, and not to describe the history of a dynasty, or the general development of the country, or the working out of a policy. In attempting to draw up a connected account of a reign or period the funerary inscriptions of high officials are often more useful than the royal inscriptions. In the following pages are given extracts from annals, building inscriptions, narratives of conquests, and "triumph inscriptions" of an official character; specimens of the funerary inscriptions that describe military expeditions, and supply valuable information about the general history of events, will be given in the chapter on Biographical Inscriptions.

The earliest known annals are found on a stone which is preserved in the Museum at Palermo, and which for this reason is called "The Palermo Stone"; the Egyptian text was first published by Signor A. Pellegrini in 1896. How the principal events of certain years of the reigns of kings from the Predynastic Period to the middle of the fifth dynasty are noted is shown by the following:

[Reign of] SENEFERU. Year ...

The building of Tuataua ships of mer wood of a hundred capacity, and 60 royal boats of sixteen capacity.

Raid in the Land of the Blacks (i.e. the Sudan), and the bringing in of seven thousand prisoners, men and women, and twenty thousand cattle, sheep, and goats.

Building of the Wall of the South and North [called] House of Seneferu.

The bringing of forty ships of cedar wood (or perhaps "laden with cedar wood").

[Height of the Nile.] Two cubits, two fingers.

[Reign of Seneferu.] Year ...

The making of thirty-five ... 122 cattle

The construction of one Tuataua ship of cedar wood of a hundred capacity, and two ships of mer wood of a hundred capacity.

The numbering for the seventh time.

[Height of the Nile.] Five cubits, one hand, one finger.

The royal historical inscriptions of the first eleven dynasties are very few, and their contents are meagre and unimportant. As specimens of historical documents of the twelfth dynasty the following may be quoted:

EDICT AGAINST THE BLACKS

This short inscription is dated in the eighth year of the reign of Usertsen III. "The southern frontier in the eighth year under the Majesty of the King of the South and North, Khakaura (Usertsen III), endowed with life for ever. No Black whatsoever shall be permitted to pass [this stone] going down stream, whether travelling by land or sailing in a boat, with cattle, asses, goats, &c., belonging to the Blacks, with the exception of such as cometh to do business in the country of Aqen[1] or on an embassy. Such, however, shall be well entreated in every way. No boats belonging to the Blacks shall in future be permitted to pass down the river by the region of Heh."[2]

[Footnote 1: This district has not been identified.]

[Footnote 2: The district of Semnah and Kummah, about 40 miles south of Wadi Halfah.]

The methods of Usertsen III and his opinions of the Sudani folk are illustrated by the following inscription which he set up at Semnah, a fort built by him at the foot of the Second Cataract.

"In the third month[1] of the season Pert His Majesty fixed the boundary of Egypt on the south at Heh (Semnah). I made my boundary and went further up the river than my fathers. I added greatly to it. I give commands [therein]. I am the king, and what is said by me is done. What my heart conceiveth my hand bringeth to pass. I am [like] the crocodile which seizeth, carrieth off, and destroyeth without mercy. Words (or matters) do not remain dormant in my heart. To the coward soft talk suggesteth longsuffering; this I give not to my enemies. Him who attacketh me I attack. I am silent in the matter that is for silence; I answer as the matter demandeth. Silence after an attack maketh the heart of the enemy bold. The attack must be sudden like that of a crocodile. The man who hesitateth is a coward, and a wretched creature is he who is defeated on his own territory and turned into a slave. The Black understandeth talk only. Speak to him and he falleth prostrate. He fleeth before a pursuer, and he pursueth only him that fleeth. The Blacks are not bold men; on the contrary, they are timid and weak, and their hearts are cowed. My Majesty hath seen them, and [what I say] is no lie.

[Footnote 1: = January-February.]

"I seized their women, I carried off their workers in the fields, I came to their wells, I slew their bulls, I cut their corn and I burnt it. This I swear by the life of my father. I speak the truth; there is no doubt about the matter, and that which cometh forth from my mouth cannot be gainsaid. Furthermore, every son of mine who shall keep intact this boundary which My Majesty hath made, is indeed my son; he is the son who protecteth his father, if he keep intact the boundary of him that begot him. He who shall allow this boundary to be removed, and shall not fight for it, is not my son, and he hath not been begotten by me. Moreover, My Majesty hath caused to be made a statue of My Majesty on this my boundary, not only with the desire that ye should prosper thereby, but that ye should do battle for it."

CAMPAIGN OF THOTHMES II IN THE SUDAN

The following extract illustrates the inscriptions in which the king describes an expedition into a hostile country which he has conducted with success. It is taken from an inscription of Thothmes II, which is cut in hieroglyphs on a rock by the side of the old road leading from Elephantine to Philae, and is dated in the first year of the king's reign. The opening lines enumerate the names and titles of the king, and proclaim his sovereignty over the Haunebu, or the dwellers in the northern Delta and on the sea coast, Upper and Lower Egypt, Nubia and the Eastern Desert, including Sinai, Syria, the lands of the Fenkhu, and the countries that lie to the south of the modern town of Khartum. The next section states: "A messenger came in and saluted His Majesty and said: The vile people of Kash (i.e. Cush, Northern Nubia) are in revolt. The subjects of the Lord of the Two Lands (i.e. the King of Egypt) have become hostile to him, and they have begun to fight. The Egyptians [in Nubia] are driving down their cattle from the shelter of the stronghold which thy father Thothmes [I] built to keep back the tribes of the South and the tribes of the Eastern Desert." The last part of the envoy's message seems to contain a statement that some of the Egyptians who had settled in Nubia had thrown in their lot with the Sudani folk who were in revolt. The text continues: "When His Majesty heard these words he became furious like a panther (or leopard), and he said: I swear by Ra, who loveth me, and by my father Amen, king of the gods, lord of the thrones of the Two Lands, that I will not leave any male alive among them. Then His Majesty sent a multitude of soldiers into Nubia, now this was his first war, to effect the overthrow of all those who had rebelled against the Lord of the Two Lands, and of all those who were disaffected towards His Majesty. And the soldiers of His Majesty arrived in the miserable land of Kash, and overthrew these savages, and according to the command of His Majesty they left no male alive, except one of the sons of the miserable Prince of Kash, who was carried away alive with some of their servants to the place where His Majesty was. His Majesty took his seat on his throne, and when the prisoners whom his soldiers had captured were brought to him they were placed under the feet of the good god. Their land was reduced to its former state of subjection, and the people rejoiced and their chiefs were glad. They ascribed praise to the Lord of the Two Lands, and they glorified the god for his divine beneficence. This took place because of the bravery of His Majesty, whom his father Amen loved more than any other king of Egypt from the very beginning, the King of the South and North, Aakheperenra, the son of Ra, Thothmes (II), whose crowns are glorious, endowed with life, stability, and serenity, like Ra for ever."

CAPTURE OF MEGIDDO BY THOTHMES III

The following is the official account of the Battle of Megiddo in Syria, which was won by Thothmes III in the twenty-third year of his reign. The narrative is taken from the Annals of Thothmes III. The king set out from Thebes and marched into Syria, and received the submission of several small towns, and having made his way with difficulty through the hilly region to the south of the city of Megiddo, he camped there to prepare for the battle. "Then the tents of His Majesty were pitched, and orders were sent out to the whole army, saying, Arm yourselves, get your weapons ready, for we shall set out to do battle with the miserable enemy at daybreak. The king sat in his tent, the officers made their preparations, and the rations of the servants were provided. The military sentries went about crying, Be firm of heart. Be firm of heart. Keep watch, keep watch. Keep watch over the life of the king in his tent. And a report was brought to His Majesty that the country was quiet, and that the foot soldiers of the south and north were ready. On the twenty-first day of the first month of the season Shemu (March-April) of the twenty-third year of the reign of His Majesty, and the day of the festival of the new moon, which was also the anniversary of the king's coronation, at dawn, behold, the order was given to set the whole army in motion. His Majesty set out in his chariot of silver-gold, and he had girded on himself the weapons of battle, like Horus the Slayer, the lord of might, and he was like unto Menthu [the War-god] of Thebes, and Amen his father gave strength to his arms. The southern half of the army was stationed on a hill to the south of the stream Kina, and the northern half lay to the south-west of Megiddo; His Majesty was between them, and Amen was protecting him and giving strength to his body. His Majesty at the head of his army attacked his enemies, and broke their line, and when they saw that he was overwhelming them they broke and fled to Megiddo in a panic, leaving their horses and their gold and silver chariots on the field. [The fugitives] were pulled up by the people over the walls into the city; now they let down their clothes by which to pull them up. If the soldiers of His Majesty had not devoted themselves to securing loot of the enemy, they would have been able to capture the city of Megiddo at the moment when the vile foes from Kadesh and the vile foes from this city were being dragged up hurriedly over the walls into this city; for the terror of His Majesty had entered into them, and their arms dropped helplessly, and the serpent on his crown overthrew them. Their horses and their chariots [which were decorated] with gold and silver were seized as spoil, and their mighty men of war lay stretched out dead upon the ground like fishes, and the conquering soldiers of His Majesty went about counting their shares. And behold, the tent of the vile chief of the enemy, wherein was his son, was also captured. Then all the soldiers rejoiced greatly, and they glorified Amen, because he had made his son (i.e. the king) victorious on that day, and they praised His Majesty greatly, and acclaimed his triumph. And they collected the loot which they had taken, viz. hands [cut off the dead], prisoners, horses, chariots [decorated with] gold and silver," etc.

In spite of the joy of the army Thothmes was angry with his troops for having failed to capture the city. Every rebel chief was in Megiddo, and its capture would have been worth more than the capture of a thousand other cities, for he could have slain all the rebel chiefs, and the revolt would have collapsed completely. Thothmes then laid siege to the city, and he threw up a strong wall round about it, through which none might pass, and the daily progress of the siege was recorded on a leather roll, which was subsequently preserved in the temple of Amen at Thebes. After a time the chiefs in Megiddo left their city and advanced to the gate in the siege-wall and reported that they had come to tender their submission to His Majesty, and it was accepted. They brought to him rich gifts of gold, silver, lapis-lazuli, turquoise, wheat, wine, cattle, sheep, goats, &c., and he reappointed many of the penitent chiefs to their former towns as vassals of Egypt. Among the gifts were 340 prisoners, 83 hands, 2041 mares, 191 foals, 6 stallions, a royal chariot with a golden pole, a second royal chariot, 892 chariots, total 924 chariots; 2 royal coats of mail, 200 ordinary coats of mail, 502 bows, 7 tent poles inlaid with gold, 1929 cattle, 2000 goats, and 20,500 sheep.

THE CONQUESTS OF THOTHMES III SUMMARISED BY AMEN-RA, KING OF THE GODS

The conquests of Thothmes III were indeed splendid achievements, and the scribes of his time summarised them very skilfully in a fine text which they had cut in hieroglyphs on a large stele at Karnak. The treatment is, of course, somewhat poetical, but there are enough historical facts underlying the statements to justify a rendering of it being given in this chapter. The text is supposed to be a speech of Amen-Ra, the lord of the thrones of the Two Lands, to the king. He says:

"Thou hast come to me, thou hast rejoiced in beholding my beneficence, O my son, my advocate, Menkheperra, living for ever! I rise upon thee through my love for thee. My heart rejoiceth at thy auspicious comings to my temple. My hands knit together thy limbs with the fluid of life; sweet unto me are thy gracious acts towards my person. I have stablished thee in my sanctuary. I have made thee to be a source of wonder [to men]. I have given unto thee strength and conquests over all lands. I have set thy Souls and the fear of thee in all lands. The terror of thee hath penetrated to the four pillars of the sky. I have made great the awe of thee in all bodies. I have set the roar of Thy Majesty everywhere [in the lands of] the Nine Bows (i.e. Nubia). The Chiefs of all lands are grouped in a bunch within thy fist. I put out my two hands; I tied them in a bundle for thee. I collected the Antiu of Ta-sti[1] in tens of thousands and thousands, and I made captives by the hundred thousand of the Northern Nations. I have cast down thy foes under thy sandals, thou hast trampled upon the hateful and vile-hearted foes even as I commanded thee. The length and breadth of the earth are thine, and those who dwell in the East and the West are vassals unto thee. Thou hast trodden upon all countries, thy heart is expanded (i.e. glad). No one dareth to approach Thy Majesty with hostility, because I am thy guide to conduct thee to them. Thou didst sail over the Great Circuit of water (the Euphrates) of Nehren (Aram Naharayim, or Mesopotamia) with strength and power. I have commanded for thee that they should hear thy roarings, and run away into holes in the ground. I stopped up their nostrils [shutting out] the breath of life. I have set the victories of Thy Majesty in their minds. The fiery serpent Khut which is on thy forehead burnt them up. It made thee to grasp as an easy prey the Ketu peoples, it burnt up the dwellers in their marshes with its fire. The Princes of the Aamu (Asiatics) have been slaughtered, not one of them remains, and the sons of the mighty men have fallen. I have made thy mighty deeds to go throughout all lands, the serpent on my crown hath illumined thy territory, nothing that is an abomination unto thee existeth in all the wide heaven, and the people come bearing offerings upon their backs, bowing to the ground before Thy Majesty, in accordance with my decree. I made impotent those who dared to attack thee, their hearts melted and their limbs quaked.

[Footnote 1: The natives of the Eastern Desert of Nubia.]



"I have come, making thee to trample under foot the Chief of Tchah (Syria), I have cast them down under thy feet in all the lands, I have made them to behold Thy Majesty as the 'lord of beams' (i.e. the Sun-god), thou hast shone on their faces as the image of me.

"I have come, making thee to trample under foot the people of Asia, thou hast led away captive the Chiefs of the Aamu of Retenu, I have made them to behold Thy Majesty arrayed in thy decorations, grasping the weapons for battle, [mounted] on thy chariot.

"I have come, making thee to trample under foot the land of the East, thou hast trodden upon those who dwell in the districts of the Land of the God, I have made them to see thee as the brilliant star that shooteth out light and fire and scattereth its dew.

"I have come, making thee to trample under foot the land of the West, Kefti (Phoenicia) and Asi (Cyprus) are in awe of thee. I have made them to see Thy Majesty as a young bull, steady-hearted, with horns ready to strike, invincible.

"I have come, making thee to trample under foot those who are in their marshes, the Lands of Methen (Mitani) quake through their fear of thee. I have made them to see Thy Majesty as the crocodile, the lord of terror in the water, unassailable.

"I have come, making thee to trample under foot those who dwell in the Islands, those who live in the Great Green (Mediterranean) hear thy roarings, I have made them to see Thy Majesty as the slayer when he mounteth on the back of his sacrificial animal.

"I have come, making thee to trample under foot the Thehenu (Libyans), the Islands of the Uthentiu [have submitted to] the power of thy Souls. I have made them to see Thy Majesty as a savage lion, which hath scattered the dead bodies of the people throughout their valleys.

"I have come, making thee to trample under foot the uttermost ends of the earth, the Circuit of the Great Circuit is in thy grasp, I have made them to see Thy Majesty as the hawk, which seizeth what it seeth when it pleaseth.

"I have come, making thee to trample upon those who are on their frontiers(?), thou hast smitten 'those on their sand' (i.e. the desert dwellers), making them living captives. I have made them to see Thy Majesty as a jackal of the south, moving fleetly and stealthily, and traversing the Two Lands.

"I have come, making thee to trample under foot the Antiu of Ta-sti, as far as ... they are in thy grasp. I have made them to see Thy Majesty as the Two Brothers (Set and Horus), I have gathered together their arms about thee with [strength].

"I have placed thy Two Sisters (Isis and Nephthys) near thee as protectresses for thee, the arms of Thy Majesty are [lifted] upwards to drive away evil. I have made thee strong and glorious, O my beloved Son, thou Mighty Bull, crowned in Thebes, begotten by me ..., Thothmes, the everliving, who hast performed for me all that my Ka wished. Thou hast set up my sanctuary with work that shall endure for ever, thou hast lengthened it and broadened it more than ever was done before. The great pylon ... Thou hast celebrated the festival of the beauties of Amen-Ra, thy monuments are greater than those of any king who hath existed, I commanded thee to do it. I am satisfied with it. I have stablished thee upon the throne of Horus for hundreds of thousands of years. Thou shalt guide life ..."



SUMMARY OF THE REIGN OF RAMESES III

The reign of Rameses III is remarkable in the annals of the New Empire, and the great works which this king carried out, and his princely benefactions to the temples of Egypt, are described at great length in his famous papyrus in the British Museum (Harris, No. 1, No. 9999). The last section of the papyrus contains an excellent historical summary of the reign of Rameses III, and as it is one of the finest examples of this class of literature a translation of it is here given. The text is written in the hieratic character and reads:

King Usermaatra-meri-Amen (Rameses III), life, strength, health [be to him!] the great god, said unto the princes, and the chiefs of the land, and the soldiers, and the charioteers, and the Shartanau soldiers, and the multitudes of the bowmen, and all those who lived in the land of Ta-mera (Egypt), Hearken ye, and I will cause you to know the splendid deeds which I did when I was king of men. The land of Kamt was laid open to the foreigner, every man [was ejected] from his rightful holding, there was no "chief mouth" (i.e. ruler) for many years in olden times until the new period [came]. The land of Egypt [was divided among] chiefs and governors of towns, each one slew his neighbour. ... Another period followed with years of nothingness (famine?). Arsu, a certain Syrian, was with them as governor, he made the whole land to be one holding before him. He collected his vassals, and mulcted them of their possessions heavily. They treated the gods as if they were men, and they offered up no propitiatory offerings in their temples. Now when the gods turned themselves back to peace, and to the restoration of what was right in the land, according to its accustomed and proper form, they established their son who proceeded from their body to be Governor, life, strength, health [be to him!], of every land, upon their great throne, namely, Userkhara-setep-en-Amen-meri-Amen, life strength, health [be to him!], the son of Ra, Set-nekht-merr-Ra-meri-Amen, life, strength, health [be to him!]. He was like Khepra-Set when he is wroth. He quieted the whole country which had been in rebellion. He slew the evil-hearted ones who were in Ta-mera (Egypt). He purified the great throne of Egypt. He was the Governor, life, strength, health [be to him!], of the Two Lands, on the throne of Amen. He made to appear the faces that had withdrawn themselves. Of those who had been behind walls every man recognised his fellow. He endowed the temples with offerings to offer as was right to the Nine Gods, according to use and wont. He made me by a decree to be the Hereditary Chief in the seat of Keb. I became the "Great High Mouth" of the lands of Egypt, I directed the affairs of the whole land, which had been made one. He set on his double horizon (i.e. he died) like the Nine Gods. There was performed for him what was performed for Osiris; sailing in his royal boat on the river, and resting [finally] in his house of eternity (i.e. the tomb) in Western Thebes.

My father Amen, the lord of the gods, Ra, Tem, and Ptah of the Beautiful Face made me to be crowned lord of the Two Lands in the place of my begetter. I received the rank of my father with cries of joy. The land had peace, being fed with offerings, and men rejoiced in seeing me, Governor, life, strength, health [be to him!], of the Two Lands, like Horus when he was made to be Governor of the Two Lands on the throne of Osiris. I was crowned with the Atef crown with the serpents, I bound on the crown with plumes, like Tatenn. I sat on the throne of Heru-Khuti (Harmakhis). I was arrayed in the ornaments [of sovereignty] like Tem. I made Ta-mera to possess many [different] kinds of men, the officers of the palace, the great chiefs, large numbers of horse and chariot soldiers, hundreds of thousands of them, the Shartanau and the Qehequ, who were numberless, soldiers of the bodyguard in tens of thousands, and the peasants belonging to Ta-mera.

I enlarged all the frontiers of Egypt, I conquered those who crossed over them in their [own] lands. I slaughtered the Tanauna in their islands; the Thakra and the Purastau were made into a holocaust. The Shartanau and the Uasheshu of the sea were made non-existent; they were seized [by me] at one time, and were brought as captives to Egypt, like the sand in the furrows. I provided fortresses for them to dwell in, and they were kept in check by my name. Their companies were very numerous, like hundreds of thousands. I assessed every one of them for taxes yearly, in apparel and wheat from the stores and granaries. I crushed the Saara and the tribes of the Shasu (nomad shepherds). I carried off their tents from their men, and the equipment thereof, and their flocks and herds likewise, which were without number. They were put in fetters and brought along as captives, as offerings to Egypt, and I gave them to the Nine Gods as slaves for their temples.

Behold, I will also make you to know concerning the other schemes that have been carried out in Ta-mera during my reign. The Labu (Libyans) and the Mashuashau had made their dwelling in Egypt, for they had captured the towns on the west bank of the Nile from Hetkaptah (Memphis) to Qarabana. They had occupied also both banks of the "Great River," and they had been in possession of the towns (or villages) of Kutut[1] for very, very many years whilst they were [lords] over Egypt. Behold, I crushed them and slaughtered them at one time (i.e. in one engagement). I overthrew the Mashuashau, the Libyans, the Asbatau, the Qaiqashau, the Shaiu, the Hasau, and the Baqanau. [I] slaughtered them in their blood, and they became piles of dead bodies. [Thus] I drove them away from marching over the border of Egypt. The rest of them I carried away, a vast multitude of prisoners, trussed like geese in front of my horses, their women and their children in tens of thousands, and their flocks and herds in hundreds of thousands. I allotted to their chiefs fortresses, and they lived there under my name. I made them officers of the bowmen, and captains of the tribes; they were branded with my name and became my slaves; their wives and their children were likewise turned into slaves. Their flocks and herds I brought into the House of Amen, and they became his live-stock for ever.

[Footnote 1: Perhaps the district of Canopus.]

I made a very large well in the desert of Aina. It had a girdle wall like a mountain of basalt(?), with twenty buttresses(?) in the foundation [on] the ground, and its height was thirty cubits, and it had bastions. The frame-work and the doors were cut out of cedar, and the bolts thereof and their sockets were of copper. I cut out large sea-going boats, with smaller boats before them, and they were manned with large crews, and large numbers of serving-men. With them were the officers of the bowmen of the boats, and there were trained captains and mates to inspect them. They were loaded with the products of Egypt which were without number, and they were in very large numbers, like tens of thousands. These were despatched to the Great Sea of the water of Qett (i.e. the Red Sea), they arrived at the lands of Punt, no disaster followed them, and they were in an effective state and were awe-inspiring. Both the large boats and the little boats were laden with the products of the Land of the God, and with all kinds of wonderful and mysterious things which are produced in those lands, and with vast quantities of the anti (myrrh) of Punt, which was loaded on to them by tens of thousands [of measures] that were without number. The sons of the chief of the Land of the God went in front of their offerings, their faces towards Egypt. They arrived and were sound and well at the mountain of Qebtit (Coptos),[1] they moored their boats in peace, with the things which they had brought as offerings. To cross the desert they were loaded upon asses and on [the backs of] men, and they were [re]loaded into river-barges at the quay of Coptos. They were despatched down the river, they arrived during a festival, and some of the most wonderful of the offerings were carried into the presence of [My Majesty]. The children of their chiefs adored my face, they smelt the earth before my face, and rolled on the ground. I gave them to all the gods of this land to propitiate the two gods in front of me every morning.

[Footnote 1: i.e. the part at the Red Sea end of the Valley of Hammamat.]

I despatched my envoys to the desert of Aataka to the great copper workings that are in this place. Their sea-going boats were laden with [some of] them, whilst those who went through the desert rode on asses. Such a thing as this was never heard of before, from the time when kings began to reign. Their copper workings were found, and they were full of copper, and the metal was loaded by ten thousands [of measures] into their sea-going boats. They were despatched with their faces towards Egypt, and they arrived safely. The metal was lifted out and piled up under the veranda in the form of blocks (or ingots) of copper, vast numbers of them, as it were tens of thousands. They were in colour like gold of three refinings. I allowed everybody to see them, as they were wonderful things.

I despatched inspectors and overseers to the turquoise desert (i.e. Sinai) of my mother, the goddess Hathor, the lady of the turquoise. [They] carried to her silver, gold, byssus, fine (?) linen, and many things as numerous as the sand-grains, and laid them before her. And there were brought unto me most wonderfully fine turquoises, real stones, in large numbers of bags, and laid out before me. The like had never been seen before—since kings began to reign.

I caused the whole country to be planted with groves of trees and with flowering shrubs, and I made the people to sit under the shade thereof. I made it possible for an Egyptian woman to walk with a bold step to the place whither she wished to go; no strange man attacked her, and no one on the road. I made the foot-soldiers and the charioteers sit down in my time, and the Shartanau and the Qehequ were in their towns lying at full length on their backs; they were unafraid, for there was no fighting man [to come] from Kash (Nubia), [and no] enemy from Syria. Their bows and their weapons of war lay idle in their barracks, and they ate their fill and drank their fill with shouts of joy. Their wives were with them, [their] children were by their side; there was no need to keep their eyes looking about them, their hearts were bold, for I was with them as strength and protection for their bodies. I kept alive (i.e. fed) the whole country, aliens, artisans, gentle and simple, men and women. I delivered a man from his foe and I gave him air. I rescued him from the strong man, him who was more honourable than the strong man. I made all men to have their rightful positions in their towns. Some I made to live [taking them] in the very chamber of the Tuat.[1] Where the land was bare I covered it over again; the land was well filled during my reign. I performed deeds of beneficence towards the gods as well as towards men; I had no property that belonged to the people. I served my office of king upon earth, as Governor of the Two Lands, and ye were slaves under my feet without [complaint ?]. Ye were satisfactory to my heart, as were your good actions, and ye performed my decrees and my words.

[Footnote 1: The sick and needy who were at death's door.]

Behold, I have set in Akert (the Other World) like my father Ra. I am among the Great Companies of the gods of heaven, earth, and the Tuat. Amen-Ra hath stablished my son upon my throne, he hath received my rank in peace, as Governor of the Two Lands, and he is sitting upon the throne of Horus as Lord of the Two Nile-banks. He hath put on himself the Atef crown like Ta-Tenn, Usermaatra-setep-en-Amen, life, strength, health [be to him!], the eldest-born son of Ra, the self-begotten, Rameses (IV)-heqmaat-meri-Amen, life, strength, health [be to him!], the divine child, the son of Amen, who came forth from his body, rising as the Lord of the Two Lands, like Ta-Tenn. He is like a real son, favoured for his father's sake. Tie ye yourselves to his sandals. Smell the earth before him. Do homage to him. Follow him at every moment. Praise him. Worship him. Magnify his beneficent actions as ye do those of Ra every morning. Present ye before him your offerings [in] his Great House (i.e. palace), which is holy. Carry ye to him the "blessings" (?) of the [tilled] lands and the deserts. Be strong to fulfil his words and the decrees that are uttered among you. Follow (?) his utterances, and ye shall be safe under his Souls. Work all together for him in every work. Haul monuments for him, excavate canals for him, work for him in the work of your hands, and there will accrue unto you his favour as well as his food daily. Amen hath decreed for him his sovereignty upon earth, he hath made this period of his life twice as long as that of any other king, the King of the South and North, the Lord of the Two Lands, Usermaatra-setep-en-Amen, life, strength, health [be to him!], the son of Ra, the lord of crowns, Rameses (IV)-heqmaat-meri-Amen, life, strength, health [be to him!], who is endowed with life for ever.

THE INVASION AND CONQUEST OF EGYPT BY PIANKHI, KING OF NUBIA

The text describing the invasion and conquest of Egypt by Piankhi, King of Nubia, is cut in hieroglyphs upon a massive stone stele which was found among the ruins of Piankhi's temple at Gebel Barkal, near the foot of the Fourth Cataract, and which is now preserved in the Egyptian Museum, Cairo. Although this composition does not belong to the best period of Egyptian Literature, it is a very fine work. The narrative is vivid, and the aim of the writer was rather to state the facts of this splendid expedition than to heap up empty compliments on the king; both the subject-matter and the dress in which it appears are well worthy of reproduction in an English form. The inscription is dated in the twenty-first year of Piankhi's reign, and the king says:

"Hearken ye to [the account of] what I have done more than my ancestors. I am a king, the emanation of the god, the living offspring of the god Tem, who at birth was ordained the Governor whom princes were to fear." His mother knew before his birth that he was to be the Governor, he the beneficent god, the beloved of the gods, the son of Ra who was made by his (the god's) hands, Piankhi-meri-Amen. One came and reported to His Majesty that the great prince Tafnekht had taken possession of all the country on the west bank of the Nile in the Delta, from the swamps even to Athi-taui[1], that he had sailed up the river with a large force, that all the people on both sides of the river had attached themselves to him, and that all the princes and governors and heads of temple-towns had flocked to him, and that they were "about his feet like dogs." No city had shut its gates before him, on the contrary, Mer-Tem, Per-sekhem-kheper-Ra, Het-neter-Sebek, Per-Metchet, Thekansh, and all the towns in the west had opened their gates to him. In the east Het-benu, Taiutchait, Het-suten, and Pernebtepahet had opened to him, and he had besieged Hensu (Herakleopolis) and closely invested it. He had enclosed it like a serpent with its tail in its mouth. "Those who would come out he will not allow to come out, and those who would go in he will not allow to go in, by reason of the fighting that taketh place every day. He hath thrown soldiers round about it everywhere." Piankhi listened to the report undismayed, and he smiled, for his heart was glad. Presently further reports of the uprising came, and the king learned that Nemart, another great prince, had joined his forces to those of Tafnekht. Nemart had thrown down the fortifications of Nefrus, he had laid waste his own town, and had thrown off his allegiance to Piankhi completely.

[Footnote 1: A fortress a few miles south of Memphis.]

Then Piankhi sent orders to Puarma and Las(?)-mer-sekni, the Nubian generals stationed in Egypt, and told them to assemble the troops, to seize the territory of Hermopolis, to besiege the city itself, to seize all the people, and cattle, and the boats on the river, and to stop all the agricultural operations that were going on; these orders were obeyed. At the same time he despatched a body of troops to Egypt, with careful instructions as to the way in which they were to fight, and he bade them remember that they were fighting under the protection of Amen. He added, "When ye arrive at Thebes, opposite the Apts,[1] go into the waters of the river and wash yourselves, then array yourselves in your finest apparel, unstring your bows, and lay down your spears. Let no chief imagine that he is as strong as the Lord of strength (i.e. Amen), for without him there is no strength. The weak of arm he maketh strong of arm. Though the enemy be many they shall turn their backs in flight before the weak man, and one shall take captive a thousand. Wet yourselves with the water of his altars, smell the earth before him, and say: O make a way for us! Let us fight under the shadow of thy sword, for a child, if he be but sent forth by thee, shall vanquish multitudes when he attacketh." Then the soldiers threw themselves flat on their faces before His Majesty, saying, "Behold, thy name breedeth strength in us. Thy counsel guideth thy soldiers into port (i.e. to success). Thy bread is in our bodies on every road, thy beer quencheth our thirst. Behold, thy bravery hath given us strength, and at the mere mention of thy name there shall be victory. The soldiers who are led by a coward cannot stand firm. Who is like unto thee? Thou art the mighty king who workest with thy hands, thou art a master of the operations of war."

[Footnote 1: i.e. the temples of Karnak and Luxor.]

"Then the soldiers set out on their journey, and they sailed down the river and arrived at Thebes, and they did everything according to His Majesty's commands. And again they set out, and they sailed down the river, and they met many large boats sailing up the river, and they were full of soldiers and sailors, and mighty captains from the North land, every one fully armed to fight, and the soldiers of His Majesty inflicted a great defeat on them; they killed a very large but unknown number, they captured the boats, made the soldiers prisoners, whom they brought alive to the place where His Majesty was." This done they proceeded on their way to the region opposite Herakleopolis, to continue the battle. Again the soldiers of Piankhi attacked the troops of the allies, and defeated and routed them utterly, and captured their boats on the river. A large number of the enemy succeeded in escaping, and landed on the west bank of the river at Per-pek. At dawn these were attacked by Piankhi's troops, who slew large numbers of them, and [captured] many horses; the remainder, utterly terror-stricken, fled northwards, carrying with them the news of the worst defeat which they had ever experienced.

Nemart, one of the rebel princes, fled up the river in a boat, and landed near the town of Un (Hermopolis), wherein he took refuge. The Nubians promptly beleaguered the town with such rigour that no one could go out of it or come in. Then they reported their action to Piankhi, and when he had read their report, he growled like a panther, and said, "Is it possible that they have permitted any of the Northmen to live and escape to tell the tale of his flight, and have not killed them to the very last man? I swear by my life, and by my love for Ra, and by the grace which Father Amen hath bestowed upon me, that I will myself sail down the river, and destroy what the enemy hath done, and I will make him to retreat from the fight for ever." Piankhi also declared his intention of stopping at Thebes on his way down the river, so that he might assist at the Festival of the New Year, and might look upon the face of the god Amen in his shrine at Karnak and, said he, "After that I will make the Lands of the North to taste my fingers." When the soldiers in Egypt heard of their lord's wrath, they attacked Per-Metchet (Oxyrrhynchus), and they "overran it like a water-flood"; a report of the success was sent to Piankhi, but he was not satisfied. Then they attacked Ta-tehen (Tehnah?), which was filled with northern soldiers. The Nubians built a tower with a battering ram and breached the walls, and they poured into the town and slew every one they found. Among the dead was the son of the rebel prince Tafnekht. This success was also reported to Piankhi, but still he was not satisfied. Het-Benu was also captured, and still he was not satisfied.

In the middle of the summer Piankhi left Napata (Gebel Barkal) and sailed down to Thebes, where he celebrated the New Year Festival. From there he went down the river to Un (Hermopolis), where he landed and mounted his war chariot; he was furiously angry because his troops had not destroyed the enemy utterly, and he growled at them like a panther. Having pitched his camp to the south-west of the city, he began to besiege it. He threw up a mound round about the city, he built wooden stages on it which he filled with archers and slingers, and these succeeded in killing the people of the city daily. After three days "the city stank," and envoys came bearing rich gifts to sue for peace. With the envoys came the wife of Nemart and her ladies, who cast themselves flat on their faces before the ladies of Piankhi's palace, saying, "We come to you, O ye royal wives, ye royal daughters, and royal sisters. Pacify ye for us Horus (i.e. the King), the Lord of the Palace, whose Souls are mighty, and whose word of truth is great." A break of fifteen lines occurs in the text here, and the words that immediately follow the break indicate that Piankhi is upbraiding Nemart for his folly and wickedness in destroying his country, wherein "not a full-grown son is seen with his father, all the districts round about being filled with children." Nemart acknowledged his folly, and then swore fealty to Piankhi, promising to give him more gifts than any other prince in the country. Gold, silver, lapis-lazuli, turquoise, copper, and precious stones of all kinds were then presented, and Nemart himself led a horse with his right hand, and held a sistrum made of gold and lapis-lazuli in his left.

Piankhi then arose and went into the temple of Thoth, and offered up oxen, and calves, and geese to the god, and to the Eight Gods of the city. After this he went through Nemart's palace, and then visited the stables "where the horses were, and the stalls of the young horses, and he perceived that they had been suffering from hunger. And he said, 'I swear by my own life, and by the love which I have for Ra, who reneweth the breath of life in my nostrils, that, in my opinion, to have allowed my horses to suffer hunger is the worst of all the evil things which thou hast done in the perversity of thy heart.'" A list was made of the goods that were handed over to Piankhi, and a portion of them was reserved for the temple of Amen at Thebes.

The next prince to submit was the Governor of Herakleopolis, and when he had laid before Piankhi his gifts he said: "Homage to thee, Horus, mighty king, Bull, conqueror of bulls. I was in a pit in hell. I was sunk deep in the depths of darkness, but now light shineth on me. I had no friend in the evil day, and none to support me in the day of battle. Thou only, O mighty king, who hast rolled away the darkness that was on me [art my friend]. Henceforward I am thy servant, and all my possessions are thine. The city of Hensu shall pay tribute to thee. Thou art the image of Ra, and art the master of the imperishable stars. He was a king, and thou art a king; he perished not, and thou shalt not perish." From Hensu Piankhi went down to the canal leading to the Fayyum and to Illahun and found the town gates shut in his face. The inhabitants, however, speedily changed their minds, and opened the gates to Piankhi, who entered with his troops, and received tribute, and slew no one. Town after town submitted as Piankhi advanced northwards, and none barred his progress until he reached Memphis, the gates of which were shut fast. When Piankhi saw this he sent a message to the Memphites, saying: "Shut not your gates, and fight not in the city that hath belonged to Shu[1] for ever. He who wisheth to enter may do so, he who wisheth to come out may do so, and he who wisheth to travel about may do so. I will make an offering to Ptah and the gods of White Wall (Memphis). I will perform the ceremonies of Seker in the Hidden Shrine. I will look upon the god of his South Wall (i.e. Ptah), and I will sail down the river in peace. No man of Memphis shall be harmed, not a child shall cry out in distress. Look at the homes of the South! None hath been slain except those who blasphemed the face of the god, and only the rebels have suffered at the block." These pacific words of Piankhi were not believed, and the people of Memphis not only kept their gates shut, but manned the city walls with soldiers, and they were foolish enough to slay a small company of Nubian artisans and boatmen whom they found on the quay of Memphis. Tafnekht, the rebel prince of Sais, entered Memphis by night, and addressed eight thousand of his troops who were there, and encouraged them to resist Piankhi. He said to them: "Memphis is filled with the bravest men of war in all the Northland, and its granaries are filled with wheat, barley, and grain of all kinds. The arsenal is full of weapons. A wall goeth round the city, and the great fort is as strong as the mason could make it. The river floweth along the east side, and no attack can be made there. The byres are full of cattle, and the treasury is well filled with gold, silver, copper, apparel, incense, honey, and unguents.... Defend ye the city till I return." Tafnekht mounted a horse and rode away to the north.

[Footnote 1: The son of Khepera, or Tem, or Nebertcher.]

At daybreak Piankhi went forth to reconnoitre, and he found that the waters of the Nile were lapping the city walls on the north side of the city, where the sailing craft were tied up. He also saw that the city was extremely well fortified, and that there was no means whereby he could effect an entrance into the city through the walls. Some of his officers advised him to throw up a mound of earth about the city, but this counsel was rejected angrily by Piankhi, for he had thought out a simpler plan. He ordered all his boats and barges to be taken to the quay of Memphis, with their bows towards the city wall; as the water lapped the foot of the wall, the boats were able to come quite close to it, and their bows were nearly on a level with the top of the wall. Then Piankhi's men crowded into the boats, and, when the word of command was given, they jumped from the bows of the boats on to the wall, entered the houses built near it, and then poured into the city. They rushed through the city like a waterflood, and large numbers of the natives were slain, and large numbers taken prisoners. Next morning Piankhi set guards over the temples to protect the property of the gods, then he went into the great temple of Ptah and reinstated the priests, and they purified the holy place with natron and incense, and offered up many offerings. When the report of the capture of Memphis spread abroad, numerous local chiefs came to Piankhi, and did homage, and gave him tribute.

From Memphis he passed over to the east bank of the Nile to make an offering to Temu of Heliopolis. He bathed his face in the water of the famous "Fountain of the Sun," he offered white bulls to Ra at Shaiqaem-Anu, and he went into the great temple of the Sun-god. The chief priest welcomed him and blessed him; "he performed the ceremonies of the Tuat chamber, he girded on the seteb garment, he censed himself, he was sprinkled with holy water, and he offered (?) flowers in the chamber in which the stone, wherein the spirit of the Sun-god abode at certain times, was preserved. He went up the step leading to the shrine to look upon Ra, and stood there. He broke the seal, unbolted and opened the doors of the shrine, and looked upon Father Ra in Het-benben. He paid adoration to the two Boats of Ra. (Matet and Sektet), and then closed the doors of the shrine and sealed them with his own seal." Piankhi returned to the west bank of the Nile, and pitched his camp at Kaheni, whither came a number of princes to tender their submission and offer gifts to him. After a time it was reported to Piankhi that Tafnekht, the head of the rebellion, had laid waste his town, burnt his treasury and his boats, and had entrenched himself at Mest with the remainder of his army. Thereupon Piankhi sent troops to Mest, and they slew all its inhabitants. Then Tafnekht sent an envoy to Piankhi asking for peace, and he said, "Be at peace [with me]. I have not seen thy face during the days of shame. I cannot resist thy fire, the terror of thee hath conquered me. Behold, thou art Nubti,[1] the Governor of the South, and Menth,[2] the Bull with strong arms. Thou didst not find thy servant in any town towards which thou hast turned thy face. I went as far as the swamps of the Great Green (i.e. the Mediterranean), because I was afraid of thy Souls, and because thy word is a fire that worketh evil for me. Is not the heart of Thy Majesty cooled by reason of what thou hast done unto me? Behold, I am indeed a most wretched man. Punish me not according to my abominable deeds, weigh them not in a balance as against weights; thy punishment of me is already threefold. Leave the seed, and thou shalt find it again in due season. Dig not up the young root which is about to put forth shoots. Thy Ka and the terror of thee are in my body, and the fear of thee is in my bones. I have not sat in the house of drinking beer, and no one hath brought to me the harp. I have only eaten the bread which hunger demanded, and I have only drunk the water needed [to slake] my thirst. From the day in which thou didst hear my name misery hath been in my bones, and my head hath lost its hair. My apparel shall be rags until Neith[3] is at peace with me. Thou hast brought on me the full weight of misery; O turn thou thy face towards me, for, behold, this year hath separated my Ka from me. Purge thy servant of his rebellion. Let my goods be received into thy treasury, gold, precious stones of all kinds, and the finest of my horses, and let these be my indemnity to thee for everything. I beseech thee to send an envoy to me quickly, so that he may make an end of the fear that is in my heart. Verily I will go into the temple, and in his presence I will purge myself, and swear an oath of allegiance to thee by the God." And Piankhi sent to him General Puarma and General Petamennebnesttaui, and Tafnekht loaded them with gold, and silver, and raiment, and precious stones, and he went into the temple and took an oath by the God that he would never again disobey the king, or make war on a neighbour, or invade his territory without Piankhi's knowledge. So Piankhi was satisfied and forgave him. After this the town of Crocodilopolis tendered its submission, and Piankhi was master of all Egypt. Then two Governors of the South and two Governors of the North came and smelt the ground before Piankhi, and these were followed by all the kings and princes of the North, "and their legs were [weak] like those of women." As they were uncircumcised and were eaters of fish they could not enter the king's palace; only one, Nemart, who was ceremonially pure, entered the palace. Piankhi was now tired of conquests, and he had all the loot which he had collected loaded on his barges, together with goods from Syria and the Land of the God, and he sailed up the river towards Nubia. The people on both banks rejoiced at the sight of His Majesty, and they sang hymns of praise to him as he journeyed southwards, and acclaimed him as the Conqueror of Egypt. They also invoked blessings on his father and mother, and wished him long life. When he returned to Gebel Barkal (Napata) he had the account of his invasion and conquest of Egypt cut upon a large grey granite stele about 6 feet high and 4 feet 8 inches wide, and set up in his temple, among the ruins of which it was discovered accidentally by an Egyptian officer who was serving in the Egyptian Sudan in 1862.

[Footnote 1: The war-god of Ombos in Upper Egypt.]

[Footnote 2: The war-god of Hermonthis in Upper Epypt.]

[Footnote 3: The chief goddess of Sais, the city of Tafnekht.]



CHAPTER IX

AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL LITERATURE

Attention has already been called to the very great importance of the autobiographies of the military and administrative officials of the Pharaohs, and a selection of them must now be given. They are, in many cases, the only sources of information which we possess about certain wars and about the social conditions of the periods during which they were composed, and they often describe events about which official Egyptian history is altogether silent. Most of these autobiographies are found cut upon the walls of tombs, and, though according to modern notions their writers may seem to have been very conceited, and their language exaggerated and bombastic, the inscriptions bear throughout the impress of truth, and the facts recorded in them have therefore especial value. The narratives are usually simple and clear, and as long as they deal with matters of fact they are easily understood, but when the writers describe their own personal characters and their moral excellences their meaning is sometimes not plain. Such autobiographies are sometimes very useful in settling the chronology of a doubtful period of history, and as an example of such may be quoted the autobiography of Ptah-shepses, preserved in the British Museum. This distinguished man was born in the reign of Menkaura, the builder of the Third Pyramid at Gizah, and he was educated with the king's children, being a great favourite of the king himself. The next king, Shepseskaf, gave him to wife Maatkha, his eldest daughter, in order to keep him about the Court. Under the succeeding kings Userkaf and Sahura he was advanced to great honour, and he became so great a favourite of the next king, Neferari-kara, that he was allowed to kiss the king's foot instead of the ground on which it rested when he did homage. He was promoted to further honours by the next king, Neferefra, and he lived to see Userenra ascend the throne. Thus Ptah-shepses lived under eight kings, and his inscription makes it possible to arrange their reigns in correct chronological order.

THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF UNA

This inscription was found cut in hieroglyphs upon a slab of limestone fixed in Una's tomb at Abydos; it is now in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. It reads:

The Duke, the Governor of the South, the judge belonging to Nekhen, prince of Nekheb, the smer uat vassal of Osiris Khenti Amenti, Una, saith: "I was a child girded with a girdle under the Majesty of King Teta. My rank was that of overseer of tillage (?), and I was deputy inspector of the estates of Pharaoh.... I was chief of the teb chamber under the Majesty of Pepi. His Majesty gave me the rank of smer and deputy priest of his pyramid—town. Whilst I held the rank of ... His Majesty made me a 'judge belonging to Nekhen.' His heart was more satisfied with me than with any other of his servants. Alone I heard every kind of private case, there being with me only the Chief Justice and the Governor of the town ... in the name of the king, of the royal household, and of the Six Great Houses. The heart of the king was more satisfied with me than with any other of his high officials, or any of his nobles, or any of his servants. I asked the Majesty of [my] Lord to permit a white stone sarcophagus to be brought for me from Raau.[1] His Majesty made the keeper of the royal seal, assisted by a body of workmen, bring this sarcophagus over from Raau in a barge, and he came bringing with it in a large boat, which was the property of the king, the cover of the sarcophagus, the slabs for the door, and the slabs for the setting of the stele, and a pair of stands for censers (?), and a tablet for offerings. Never before was the like of this done for any servant. [He did this for me] because I was perfect in the heart of His Majesty, because I was acceptable to the heart of His Majesty, and because the heart of His Majesty was satisfied with me.

[Footnote 1: On the east bank, opposite Memphis,]

"Behold, I was 'judge belonging to Nekhen' when His Majesty made me a smer uat, and overseer of the estates of Pharaoh, and ... of the four overseers of the estate of Pharaoh who were there. I performed my duties in such a way as to secure His Majesty's approval, both when the Court was in residence and when it was travelling, and in appointing officials for duty. I acted in such a way that His Majesty praised me for my work above everything. During the secret inquiry which was made in the king's household concerning the Chief Wife Amtes, His Majesty made me enter to hear the case by myself. There was no Chief Justice there, and no Town Governor, and no nobleman, only myself, and this was because I was able and acceptable to the heart of His Majesty, and because the heart of His Majesty was filled with me. I did the case into writing, I alone, with only one judge belonging to Nekhen, and yet my rank was only that of overseer of the estates of Pharaoh. Never before did a man of my rank hear the case of a secret of the royal household, and His Majesty only made me hear it because I was more perfect to the heart of His Majesty than any officer of his, or any nobleman of his, or any servant of his.

"His Majesty had to put down a revolt of the Aamu dwellers on the sand.[1] His Majesty collected an army of many thousands strong in the South everywhere, beyond Abu (Elephantine) and northwards of Aphroditopolis, in the Northland (Delta) everywhere, in both halves of the region, in Setcher, and in the towns like Setcher, in Arthet of the Blacks, in Matcha of the Blacks, in Amam of the Blacks, in Uauat of the Blacks, in Kaau of the Blacks, and in the Land of Themeh. His Majesty sent me at the head of this army. Behold, the dukes, the royal seal-bearers, the smer uats of the palace, the chiefs, the governors of the forts (?) of the South and the North, the smeru, the masters of caravans, the overseers of the priests of the South and North, and the overseers of the stewards, were commanding companies of the South and the North, and of the forts and towns which they ruled, and of the Blacks of these countries, but it was I who planned tactics for them, although my rank was only that of an overseer of the estates of Pharaoh of.... No one quarrelled with his fellow, no one stole the food or the sandals of the man on the road, no one stole bread from any town, and no one stole a goat from any encampment of people. I despatched them from North Island, the gate of Ihetep, the Uart of Heru-neb-Maat. Having this rank ... I investigated (?) each of these companies (or regiments); never had any servant investigated (?) companies in this way before. This army returned in peace, having raided the Land of the dwellers on sand. This army returned in peace, having thrown down the fortresses thereof. This army returned in peace, having cut down its fig-trees and vines. This army returned in peace, having set fire [to the temples] of all its gods. This army returned in peace, having slain the soldiers there in many tens of thousands. This army returned in peace, bringing back with it vast numbers of the fighting men thereof as living prisoners. His Majesty praised me for this exceedingly. His Majesty sent me to lead this army five times, to raid the Land of the dwellers on sand, whensoever they rebelled with these companies. I acted in such a way that His Majesty praised me exceedingly. When it was reported that there was a revolt among the wild desert tribes of the Land of Shert[2] ... I set out with these warriors in large transports, and sailed until I reached the end of the high land of Thest, to the north of the Land of the dwellers on sand, and when I had led the army up I advanced and attacked the whole body of them, and I slew every rebel among them.

[Footnote 1: i.e. the nomads on the Marches of the Eastern Desert.]

[Footnote 2: A part of Syria (?).]

"I was the ... of the Palace, and bearer of the [royal] sandals, when His Majesty the King of the South and North, Merenra, my ever living Lord, made me Duke and Governor of the South land beyond Abu (Elephantine) and of the district north of Aphroditopolis, because I was perfect to the heart of His Majesty, because I was acceptable to the heart of His Majesty, and because the heart of His Majesty was satisfied with me. I was ... [of the Palace], and sandal-bearer when His Majesty praised me for displaying more watchfulness (or attention) at Court in respect of the appointment of officials for duty than any of his princes, or nobles, or servants. Never before was this rank bestowed on any servant. I performed the duties of Governor of the South to the satisfaction [of every one]. No one complained of (or quarrelled with) his neighbour; I carried out work of every kind. I counted everything that was due to the Palace in the South twice, and all the labour that was due to the Palace in the South I counted twice. I served the office of Prince, ruling as a Prince ought to rule in the South; the like of this was never before done in the South. I acted in such a way that His Majesty praised me for it. His Majesty sent me to the Land of Abhat to bring back a sarcophagus, "the lord of the living one," with its cover, and a beautiful and magnificent pyramidion for the Queen's pyramid [which is called] Khanefer Merenra. His Majesty sent me to Abu to bring back a granite door and its table for offerings, with slabs of granite for the stele door and its framework, and to bring back granite doors and tables for offerings for the upper room in the Queen's pyramid, Khanefer Merenra. I sailed down the Nile to the pyramid Khanefer Merenra with six lighters, and three barges, and three floats(?), accompanied by one war boat. Never before had any [official] visited Abhat and Abu with [only] one war boat since kings have reigned. Whensoever His Majesty gave an order for anything to be done I carried it out thoroughly according to the order which His Majesty gave concerning it.

"His Majesty sent me to Het-nub to bring back a great table for offerings of rutt stone (quartzite sandstone?) of Het-nub. I made this table for offerings reach him in seventeen days. It was quarried in Het-nub, and I caused it to float down the river in a lighter. I cut out the planks for him in acacia wood, sixty cubits long and thirty cubits broad; they were put together in seventeen days in the third month (May-June) of the Summer Season. Behold, though there was no water in the basins (?) it arrived at the pyramid Khanefer Merenra in peace. I performed the work throughout in accordance with the order which the Majesty of my Lord had given to me. His Majesty sent me to excavate five canals in the South, and to make three lighters, and four barges of the acacia wood of Uauat. Behold, the governors of Arthet, Uauat, and Matcha brought the wood for them, and I finished the whole of the work in one year. [When] they were floated they were loaded with huge slabs of granite for the pyramid Khanefer Merenra; moreover, all of them were passed through these five canals ... because I ascribed more majesty, and praise (?), and worship to the Souls of the King of the South and North, Merenra, the ever living, than to any of the gods.... I carried out everything according to the order which his divine Ka gave me.

"I was a person who was beloved by his father, and praised by his mother, and gracious to his brethren, I the Duke, a real Governor[1] of the South, the vassal of Osiris, Una."

[Footnote 1: i.e. his title was not honorary.]

THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF HERKHUF

This inscription is cut in hieroglyphs upon a slab of stone, which was originally in the tomb of Herkhuf at Aswan, and is now in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo and upon parts of the walls of his tomb. Herkhuf was a Duke, a smer uat, a Kher-heb priest, a judge belonging to Nekhen, the Lord of Nekheb, a bearer of the royal seal, the shekh of the caravans, and an administrator of very high rank in the South. All these titles, and the following lines, together with prayers for offerings, are cut above the door of his tomb. He says:

"I came this day from my town. I descended from my nome. I builded a house and set up doors. I dug a lake and I planted sycamore trees. The King praised me. My father made a will in my favour. I am perfect.... [I am a person] who is beloved by his father, praised by his mother, whom all his brethren loved. I gave bread to the hungry man, raiment to the naked, and him who had no boat I ferried over the river. O ye living men and women who are on the earth, who shall pass by this tomb in sailing down or up the river, and who shall say, 'A thousand bread-cakes and a thousand vessels of beer to the lord of this tomb,' I will offer them for you in Khert Nefer (the Other World). I am a perfect spirit, equipped [with spells], and a Kher-heb priest whose mouth hath knowledge. If any young man shall come into this tomb as if it were his own property I will seize him like a goose, and the Great God shall pass judgment on him for it. I was a man who spoke what was good, and repeated what was loved. I never uttered any evil word concerning servants to a man of power, for I wished that I might stand well with the Great God. I never gave a decision in a dispute between brothers which had the effect of robbing a son of the property of his father."

Herkhuf, the Duke, the smer uat, the chamberlain, the Judge belonging to Nekhen, the Lord of Nekheb, bearer of the royal seal, the smer uat, the Kher-heb priest, the governor of the caravans, the member of council for the affairs of the South, the beloved of his Lord, Herkhuf,[1] who bringeth the things of every desert to his Lord, who bringeth the offering of royal apparel, governor of the countries of the South, who setteth the fear of Horus in the lands, who doeth what his lord applaudeth, the vassal of Ptah-seker, saith:

[Footnote 1: Some titles are here repeated.]

"His Majesty Merenra, my Lord, sent me with my father Ara, the smer uat and Kher-heb priest, to the land of Amam to open up a road into this country. I performed the journey in seven months. I brought back gifts of all kinds from that place, making beautiful the region (?); there was very great praise to me for it. His Majesty sent me a second time by myself. I started on the road of Abu (Elephantine), I came back from Arthet, Mekher, Terres, Artheth, in a period of eight months. I came back and I brought very large quantities of offerings from this country. Never were brought such things to this land. I came back from the house of the Chief of Setu and Arthet, having opened up these countries. Never before had any smer or governor of the caravan who had appeared in the country of Amam opened up a road. Moreover, His Majesty sent me a third time to Amam. I started from ... on the Uhat road, and I found the Governor of Amam was then marching against the Land of Themeh, to fight the Themeh, in the western corner of the sky. I set out after him to the Land of Themeh, and made him to keep the peace, whereupon he praised all the gods for the King (of Egypt). [Here follow some broken lines.] I came back from Amam with three hundred asses laden with incense, ebony, heknu, grain, panther skins, ivory, ... boomerangs, and valuable products of every kind. When the Chief of Arthet, Setu, and Uauat saw the strength and great number of the warriors of Amam who had come back with me to the Palace, and the soldiers who had been sent with me, this chief brought out and gave to me bulls, and sheep, and goats. And he guided me on the roads of the plains of Arthet, because I was more perfect, and more watchful (or alert) than any other smer or governor of a caravan who had ever been despatched to Amam. And when the servant (i.e. Herkhuf) was sailing down the river to the capital (or Court) the king made the duke, the smer uat, the overseer of the bath, Khuna (or Una) sail up the river with boats loaded with date wine, mesuq cakes, bread-cakes, and beer."[1]

[Footnote 1: Herkhuf's titles are here repeated.]

Herkhuf made a fourth journey into the Sudan, and when he came back he reported his successes to the new king, Pepi II, and told him that among other remarkable things he had brought back from Amam a dancing dwarf, or pygmy. The king then wrote a letter to Herkhuf and asked him to send the dwarf to him in Memphis. The text of this letter Herkhuf had cut on the front of his tomb, and it reads thus: Royal seal. The fifteenth day of the third month of the Season Akhet (Sept.-Oct.) of the second year. Royal despatch to the smer uat, the Kher-heb priest, the governor of the caravan, Herkhuf. I have understood the words of this letter which thou hast made to the king in his chamber to make him to know that thou hast returned in peace from Amam, together with the soldiers who were with thee. Thou sayest in this thy letter that there have been brought back by thee great and beautiful offerings of all kinds, which Hathor, the Lady of Ammaau, hath given to the divine Ka of the King of the South and North, Neferkara, the everliving, for ever. Thou sayest in this thy letter that there hath been brought back by thee [also] a pygmy (or dwarf) who can dance the dance of the god, from the Land of the Spirits, like the pygmy whom the seal-bearer of the god Baurtet brought back from Punt in the time of Assa. Thou sayest to [my] Majesty, "The like of him hath never been brought back by any other person who hath visited Amam." Behold, every year thou performest what thy Lord wisheth and praiseth. Behold, thou passest thy days and thy nights meditating about doing what thy Lord ordereth, and wisheth, and praiseth. And His Majesty will confer on thee so many splendid honours, which shall give renown to thy grandson for ever, that all the people shall say when they have heard what [my] Majesty hath done for thee, "Was there ever anything like this that hath been done for the smer uat Herkhuf when he came back from Amam because of the sagacity (or attention) which he displayed in doing what his Lord commanded, and wished for, and praised?" Come down the river at once to the Capital. Bring with thee this pygmy whom thou hast brought from the Land of the Spirits, alive, strong, and healthy, to dance the dance of the god, and to cheer and gratify the heart of the King of the South and North, Neferkara, the everliving. When he cometh down with thee in the boat, cause trustworthy men to be about him on both sides of the boat, to prevent him from falling into the water. When he is asleep at night cause trustworthy men to sleep by his side on his bedding. See [that he is there] ten times [each] night. [My] Majesty wisheth to see this pygmy more than any offering of the countries of Ba and Punt. If when thou arrivest at the Capital, this pygmy who is with thee is alive, and strong, and in good health, [My] Majesty will confer upon thee a greater honour than that which was conferred upon the bearer of the seal Baurtet in the time of Assa, and as great is the wish of [My] Majesty to see this pygmy orders have been brought to the smer, the overseer of the priests, the governor of the town ... to arrange that rations for him shall be drawn from every station of supply, and from every temple without....

THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF AMENI AMENEMHAT

This inscription is cut in hieroglyphs on the doorposts of the tomb of Ameni at Beni-hasan in Upper Egypt. It is dated in the forty-third year of the reign of Usertsen I, a king of the twelfth dynasty, about 2400 B.C. After giving the date and a list of his titles, Ameni says:

"I followed my Lord when he sailed to the South to overthrow his enemies in the four countries of Nubia. I sailed to the south as the son of a duke, and as a bearer of the royal seal, and as a captain of the troops of the Nome of Mehetch, and as a man who took the place of his aged father, according to the favour which he enjoyed in the king's house and the love that was his at Court. I passed through Kash in sailing to the South. I set the frontier of Egypt further southwards, I brought back offerings, and the praise of me reached the skies. His Majesty set out and overthrew his enemies in the vile land of Kash. I returned, following him as an alert official. There was no loss among my soldiers. [And again] I sailed to the South to fetch gold ore for the Majesty of the King of the South, the King of the North, Kheperkara (Usertsen I), the ever living. I sailed to the south with the Erpa and Duke, the eldest son of the king, of his body Ameni.[1] I sailed to the south with a company of four hundred chosen men from my troops; they returned in safety, none of them having been lost. I brought back the gold which I was expected to bring, and I was praised for it in the house of the king; the prince [Ameni] praised God for me. [And again] I sailed to the south to bring back gold ore to the town of Qebti (Coptos) with the Erpa, the Duke, the governor of the town, and the chief officer of the Government, Usertsen, life, strength, health [be to him!]. I sailed to the south with a company of six hundred men, every one being a mighty man of war of the Nome of Mehetch. I returned in peace, with all my soldiers in good health (or safe), having performed everything which I had been commanded to do. I was a man who was of a conciliatory disposition, one whose love [for his fellows] was abundant, and I was a governor who loved his town. I passed [many] years as governor of the Mehetch Nome. All the works (i.e. the forced labour) due to the palace were performed under my direction. The overseers of the chiefs of the districts of the herdsmen of the Nome of Mehetch gave me three thousand bulls, together with their gear for ploughing, and I was praised because of it in the king's house every year of making [count] of the cattle. I took over all the products of their works to the king's house, and there were no liabilities against me in any house of the king. I worked the Nome of Mehetch to its farthest limit, travelling frequently [through it]. No peasant's daughter did I harm, no widow did I wrong, no field labourer did I oppress, no herdsman did I repulse. I did not seize the men of any master of five field labourers for the forced labour (corvee). There was no man in abject want during the period of my rule, and there was no man hungry in my time. When years of hunger came, I rose up and had ploughed all the fields of the Nome of Mehetch, as far as it extended to the south and to the north, [thus] keeping alive its people, and providing the food thereof, and there was no hungry man therein. I gave to the widow as to the woman who possessed a husband. I made no distinction between the elder and the younger in whatsoever I gave. When years of high Nile floods came, the lords (i.e. the producers) of wheat and barley, the lords of products of every kind, I did not cut off (or deduct) what was due on the land [from the years of low Nile floods], I Ameni, the vassal of Horus, the Smiter of the Rekhti,[2] generous of hand, stable of feet, lacking avarice because of his love for his town, learned in traditions (?), who appeareth at the right moment, without thought of guile, the vassal of Khnemu, highly favoured in the king's house, who boweth before ambassadors, who performeth the behests of the nobles, speaker of the truth, who judgeth righteously between two litigants, free from the word of deceit, skilled in the methods of the council chamber, who discovereth the solution of a difficult question, Ameni.