Translated by C. W. Goodwin, M.A. (2)

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Epiphanius Wilson

These beautiful poems are contained in the “Anastasi Papyri” in the collection at the British Museum. They have been mostly translated in French by M. F. Chabas, from whose interpretation I have occasionally found reason to differ.

The papyrus itself is considerably mutilated, and bears no date, but from the character of the script there can be little doubt that it is of the period of the nineteenth dynasty.

These hymns have been published by myself with exegetical notes in the “Transactions of the Society of Biblical ArchÆology,” vol. II, part 2, 1873, p. 353; and, as before mentioned, in French by M. Chabas in the “MÉlanges Egyptologiques,” 1870, p. 117.

[pg 344]

Hymn to Amen517

1 “O Amen, lend thine ear to him
2 who is alone before the tribunal,
3 he is poor (he is not) rich.
4 The court oppresses him;
5 silver and gold for the clerks of the book,
6 garments for the servants. There is no other Amen, acting as a judge,
7 to deliver (one) from his misery;
8 when the poor man is before the tribunal,
9 (making) the poor to go forth rich.”

Hymn to Amen518

1 “I cry, the beginning of wisdom is the way of Amen,519
2 the rudder of (truth).
3 Thou art he that giveth bread to him who has none,
4 that sustaineth the servant of his house.
5 Let no prince be my defender in all my troubles.
6 Let not my memorial be placed under the power
7 of any man who is in the house ... My Lord is (my) defender;
8 I know his power, to wit, (he is) a strong defender,
9 there is none mighty except him alone.
10 Strong is Amen, knowing how to answer,
11 fulfilling the desire of him who cries to him;
12 the Sun the true King of gods,
13 the Strong Bull, the mighty lover (of power).”

Hymn to Amen520

1 “Come to me, O thou Sun;
2 Horus of the horizon give me (help);
3 Thou art he that giveth (help);
4 there is no help without thee,
5 excepting thou (givest it).
6 Come to me Tum,521 hear me thou great god.
[pg 345]
7 My heart goeth forth toward An522
8 Let my desires be fulfilled,
9 let my heart be joyful, my inmost heart in gladness.
10 Hear my vows, my humble supplications every day,
11 my adorations by night;
12 my (cries of) terror ... prevailing in my mouth,
13 which come from my (mouth) one by one.
14 O Horus of the horizon there is no other beside like him,
15 protector of millions, deliverer of hundreds of thousands,
16 the defender of him that calls to him, the Lord of An.523
17 Reproach me not524 with my many sins.
18 I am a youth, weak of body.525
19 I am a man without heart.
20 Anxiety comes upon me526 as an ox upon grass.
21 If I pass the night in ...527 and I find refreshment,
22 anxiety returns to me in the time of lying down.”

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