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Budge uses this Pharaonic boasting;"Di nef heqi Kemet Deshret em isu iry" in his Egyptian Grammar book. He, of course, deliberately mis-translates it to "rule Egypt and the Desert(sic!)" Imagine, an Nsubiti boasting of ruling over a wretched desert wasteland!
It's nonsense of course...

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(posted 15 November 2004 08:59 PM)
Can you state the political context. The extent of Kemetic rule over the Aamu-Deshrutu(Asiatic red peoples) at the time?

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The Nsubiti's "inaugural address"

Upon ascending to the throne, the Nsubiti was required to recite a codified address to the State. For example, here is an excerpt from Hatshepsut's speech, which was given centuries after the political unification of the country:
"I united the Two Lands
"by ruling like the son of Isis (Horus; representing wisdom)
"and being strong like the son of Nut (Seth; representing force)

Ultimately,
all of Kemet (The Black nation;green, fertile and symbolized by "Nu"; civilized settlements) was given to Horus and
Seth was given rule over Deshret (The Red nations; foreign, uncivilized and symbolized by "Khast"; the barren, unfertile deserts and mountainous regions).

The statement "Di nef heqi Kemet Deshret em isu iry" (which wasn't dated by Budge) was probably not meant to record a particular event, but was merely rhetoric, and...

"this rhetoric was by no means purely formulaic or symbolic. The ruler was aware of his 'downward' responsibility and accountability; he reigned not by force but by the power of the word." --The Mind of Egypt, Jan Assman, p118, Metropolitan Books

I would personally revise Assman's statement to say that the Nsubiti reigned by using both the wisdom of Horus and the force of Seth (Which, after all, is exactly what Hathepsut is saying in her speech)(IE, the 'unity of opposites'); Kemet Deshret.

Clearly, the Nsubiti was aware of the fact of his addressing a sophisticated State, which was equally well aware of its existence as such...

(see also IBID, pp43-4)