Writings from Ancient Egypt

By Toby Wilkinson

'Man perishes; his corpse turns to dust; all his relatives pass away.
But writings make him remembered'

In ancient Egypt, words had magical power. Inscribed on tombs and temple walls, coffins and statues, or inked onto papyri, hieroglyphs give us a unique insight into the life of the Egyptian mind. Egyptologist Toby Wilkinson has freshly translated a rich and diverse range of ancient Egyptian writings into modern English, including tales of shipwreck and wonder, obelisk inscriptions, mortuary spells, funeral hymns, songs, satires and advice on life from a pharaoh to his son. Spanning over two millennia, this is the essential guide to a complex, sophisticated culture.

Translated with an Introduction by Toby Wilkinson

• Language: English
• Publisher: Penguin
• Release date: Aug 25, 2016
• ISBN: 9780141395968

Toby Wilkinson

Toby Wilkinson is an Egyptologist and the prizewinning author of fifteen books on the history and culture of the Nile Valley, ancient and modern. Lauded by the Daily Telegraph as 'the foremost Egyptologist of his time', his works include The Rise and Fall of Ancient Egypt, which won the Hessell-Tiltman Prize. He studied Egyptology at the University of Cambridge and is currently a Fellow of Clare College, Cambridge, a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries and a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society.

Book preview

1

Harkhuf

The autobiographical inscription of Harkhuf is carved on the façade of his tomb, which is cut into the sandstone cliffs at Qubbet el-Hawa, high above the Nile and close to the modern city of Aswan. Crisply executed and well preserved, the hieroglyphs are still easy to read, over four thousand years after they were carved. The main interest of the inscription is its account – the oldest known from ancient Egypt – of foreign travel, specifically the four expeditions accomplished by Harkhuf to the distant land of Yam, somewhere on the Upper Nile, during the Sixth Dynasty reigns of kings Merenra (c. 2270 BC) and Neferkara Pepi II (c. 2260–2175 BC).

As a native of the First Cataract region and a chief of desert scouts, Harkhuf was ideally placed to lead these expeditions into potentially hostile Nubian territory. Their purpose was threefold: to bring back exotic produce for the royal court, to secure Egyptian access to trade routes with sub-Saharan Africa and to gain first-hand knowledge of the political developments unfolding on Egypt’s southern frontier. Harkhuf’s inscription is our best source for the rise of Nubian polities at the end of the Pyramid Age and the shifting alliances that threatened Egypt’s influence in the region.

Evidently the proudest moment in Harkhuf’s long and eventful career was receiving a letter from the young king Neferkara Pepi II during the journey home from the fourth and final expedition. Harkhuf had the entire text of the letter carved verbatim on the façade of his tomb, to stand for eternity as a mark of his sovereign’s special favour. The language of the letter vividly conveys the excitement of the boy-king at the prospect of seeing the dancing dwarf Harkhuf was bringing back from Yam and allows us a rare glimpse into the private thoughts of an Egyptian monarch.

Autobiographical inscription of Harkhuf (Toby Wilkinson)

Above the entrance to the tomb are carved the offering formula, Harkhuf’s titles and a long list of his virtues, using the standard phraseology. The autobiographical inscription itself is carved in fifty lines, ten to the left of the entrance, fourteen to the right and twenty-six to the far-right.

Titles

The high official, unique friend,¹ lector-priest,² chamberlain, warden of Nekhen, mayor of Nekheb,³ royal seal-bearer, overseer of (desert) scouts, privy councillor of all the affairs of southern Upper Egypt, confidant of his lord, Harkhuf.

The royal seal-bearer, unique friend, lector-priest; overseer of (desert) scouts who brings back the products of all foreign lands for his lord and who brings tribute for the King’s Ornament;⁴ overseer of all foreign lands belonging to southern Upper Egypt,⁵ who spreads dread of Horus⁶ throughout the foreign lands and who does what his lord praises; the royal seal-bearer, unique friend, lector-priest, overseer of (desert) scouts, revered before Ptah-Sokar, Harkhuf – he says:

The three expeditions to Yam

Now the Majesty of Merenra, my lord, sent me together with my father, the unique friend and lector-priest Iri, to Yam to open up the route to this foreign land. I accomplished it in seven months. I brought back from there all (sorts of) beautiful and exotic produce and was praised for it very greatly.

His Majesty sent me a second time, alone. I set out on the Elephantine road⁷ and came back via Irtjet, Mekher, Teres and Irtjetj⁸ in eight months. I came back bringing a great quantity of produce from this foreign land, the like of which had never before been brought back to this land. I came back via the territory of the ruler of Satju and Irtjet, having opened up these foreign lands. I have not found this to have been done by any unique friend and overseer of (desert) scouts who went to Yam previously.

Then His Majesty sent me a third time to Yam. I set out from Tawer-province on the oasis road.⁹ I found the ruler of Yam had gone to Tjemeh-land¹⁰ to smite the Tjemeh to the (very) western corner of heaven. I set out after him to Tjemeh-land and pacified him so that he praised all the gods for the (Egyptian) sovereign. [I sent a messenger …] to let the Majesty of Merenra, my lord, know [that I had set out to Tjemeh-land] after the ruler of Yam. Now when I had pacified that ruler of Yam, [I returned …] upstream of Irtjet and north of Satju, (where) I found the ruler of the confederacy of Irtjet, Satju and Wawat.¹¹ I came back with 300 donkeys laden with incense, ebony, precious oil, grain, leopard skins, elephant tusks, throw sticks: all good produce. Now when the ruler of Irtjet, Satju and Wawat saw the strength and number of the Yamite troops which had come down with me bound for the (royal) Residence, not to mention the army sent with me, this ruler escorted me, gave me cattle and goats and guided me along the mountain roads of Irtjet – (all) because of the outstanding vigilance I had shown, more than any unique friend and overseer of (desert) scouts who had been sent to Yam previously.

Now when this servant journeyed downstream towards the Residence, the high official, unique friend and overseer of the storerooms Khuni was made to come to meet me, with ships laden with date-wine, cake, bread and beer.

The high official, royal seal-bearer, unique friend, lector-priest, god’s seal-bearer, privy councillor, the revered Harkhuf.

The king’s letter

The king’s (Pepi II’s) own seal. Year 2, third month of the inundation season, day 15. Royal decree (to) the unique friend, lector-priest, overseer of (desert) scouts Harkhuf:

One is aware of the content of this message of yours which you made for the king at the palace, letting it be known that you have come back in safety from Yam together with the army which is with you. You have said in this message of yours that you have brought all produce, great and beautiful, which is given by Hathor, lady of Imaau, for the spirit of the Dual King Neferkara, who lives for ever and ever. You have (further) said in this message of yours that you have brought a dwarf of the god’s dances¹² from the land of the horizon-dwellers, like the dwarf which the god’s seal-bearer Bawerdjed brought from Punt¹³ in the time of (King) Isesi.¹⁴ You have said to My Majesty that never was his like brought back by any other who did Yam previously.

Indeed, you know how to do what your lord loves and favours. You wake and you sleep planning to do what your lord loves, favours and commands! His Majesty will provide for your needs, abundantly and excellently, for the benefit (even) of your son’s son, for ever – so that all the people will say, when they hear what My Majesty has done for you: ‘Is there anything like it, what was done for the unique friend Harkhuf when he came back from Yam because of the vigilance he showed in doing what his lord loves, favours and commands!’

Come downstream to the Residence at once! Hurry and bring with you this dwarf that you have brought from the land of the horizon-dwellers, alive, prosperous and healthy, for the god’s dances, to amuse and to delight the heart of the Dual King Neferkara, who lives for ever. When he goes down with you into the boat, have excellent people around him on deck lest he fall in the water. When he lies down at night, have excellent people lie down around him in his hammock. Inspect ten times a night! My Majesty wishes to see this particular dwarf more than the produce of Sinai and

[lindoula-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is an eye-opening collection of ancient Egyptian texts. I'm the first to admit that I had no idea there was such a range of extant texts. We hear so much about the tombs and funerary rituals that I guess I've always assumed that all the texts we had were the writings on tomb walls, plus a few non-funerary statues. This book corrected me of that notion. Yes, a lot of the texts are still about the elite, but I feel like I learned a lot about ancient Egyptian culture.