posted
It is she, Auset, the just, who protects her brother, Who seeks him without wearying, Who in mourning traverses the whole land Without respite before finding him, Who gives shade with her feathers, And wind with her wings.
It is she who praises her brother, Who relieves the weakness of him who is tired, Who receives his seed and gives birth to his heir, Who nurtures the child in solitude, Without anyone knowing where she is.
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Ausar! You went away, but you have retutned, you fell asleep, but you have awakened, you died, but you live again
.
This is Heru (time and rising corn) speaking, he has ordained action for his father, he has shown himself master of the storm he has countered the blustering of Seth so that he, Seth, must bear you for it is he that must carry him, who is again complete.
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Ah Helpless One! Ah Helpless One asleep! Ah Helpless One in this place Which you know not - yet I know it!
Behold I have found you (lying) on your side the great Listless One.
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'Ah, Sister!' says Auset to NebtHet, 'This is our brother, Come let us lift up his Come, let us (rejoin) his bones, Come, let us reassemble his limbs, Come, let us put an end to all his woe, that, as far as we can help, he will weary no more.
May the moisture begin to mount for this spirit! May the canals be filled through you! May the names of the rivers be created through you!
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Ausar, live! Ausar, let the great Listless One arise! I am Auset.' I am NebtHet.
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It shall be that Heru will avenge you, It shall be that Djehuti (the moon) will protect you your two sons of the Great White Crown It shall be that the Company will hear.
Then will your power be visible in the sky and you will cause havoc among the (hostile) gods, for Heru, your son, has seized the Great White Crown, seizing it from him who acted against you. Then will your father Atum call "Come"
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Ausar, live! . . . I am the plant of life which comes forth from Ausar, which grows upon the ribs Of Ausar, which allows the people to live, which makes the gods divine, which spiritualises the spirits, which sustains the masters of wealth and the masters of substance, which makes the PAK- cakes for the spirits, which enlivens the limbs of the living.
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I live as corn, the life of the living, I live upon the rib of Geb (the God of Earth), but the love of me is in the sky, on earth, on the water and in the fields.
Now Auset is content for her son Heru, her god, she is jubilant in him, Heru her god, I am life appearing from Ausar
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Ausar is Wenis in the mounting chaff. He has not entered Geb to perish. He is not sleeping in his house upon earth So that his bones may be broken...
Wenis is up and away to heaven With the wind, with the wind!
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Heru have seized Seth, he has put him beneath you so that he can lift you up.
He will groan beneath you as an earthquake ... Heru have made you recognize him in his real nature, let him not escape you he has made you hold him by your hand, let him not get away from you
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Behold now, Auset speaketh, Come to thy house, oh An [Sun god as risen Ausar] Come to thy house for enemies are not!
Behold the excellent sistrum-bearer come to thy house!
Lo, I thy sister, love thee - do not thou depart from me! Behold Hunnu [name of the sun god], the beautiful one!
Come to thy house immediately come to thy temple immediately!
Behold thou my heart, which grieveth for thee; Behold me seeking for thee - I am searching for thee to behold thee Lo, I am prevented from beholding thee - I am prevented from beholding thee, oh An! ... I love thee more than all the earth - And thou lovest not another as thou dost thy sister!
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Behold now, NebtHet speaketh, - Behold the excellent sistrum-bearer! Come to thy house! Cause thy heart to rejoice, for thy enemies are not!
All thy sister-goddesses are at thy side and behind thy couch, calling upon thee with weeping yet thou art prostrate upon thy bed!
Hearken unto the beautiful words uttered by us and by every noble one among us!
Subdue thou every sorrow which is in the hearts of us thy sisters,
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Oh thou strong one among the gods, strong among men who behold thee! We come before thee, oh prince, our lord; Turn thou not away thy face before us; Sweeten our hearts when we behold thee, oh prince! Beautify our hearts when we behold thee!
.
from Baring & CashfordThe myth of the GoddessPosts: 8014 | From: the Tekrur in the Western Sahel | Registered: Feb 2006
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quote:Originally posted by Technical Anomal (What Box?: Does anyone know a good AE poetry site, I'm looking for this love peom I liked.
It's a cute peom about a secret admirer. I'll keep looking...
Are you talking about the one where the girl teases the guy by shaking her booty? LOL
But yeah, I too am searching for a good site or any kind of source on ancient Egyptian poetry. Not only am I interested in the poems themselves, but also linguistic analytical reasons.
Can anyone here help me out on that?
Posts: 26238 | From: Atlanta, Georgia, USA | Registered: Feb 2005
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quote:Originally posted by Technical Anomal (What Box?: Does anyone know a good AE poetry site, I'm looking for this love peom I liked.
It's a cute peom about a secret admirer. I'll keep looking...
Are you talking about the one where the girl teases the guy by shaking her booty? LOL
LOL indeed, but no. I never heard of that one, but I would like to see it.
In the one I'm talking about, the girl has a crush on the guy, but is shy,
and also,
she turns an aprehensive eye toward this guy, who
like most guys
will change her to just another girl to the
guys. ( *Pimpin* - not really, but you know, she'll be another girl)
quote:But yeah, I too am searching for a good site or any kind of source on ancient Egyptian poetry. Not only am I interested in the poems themselves, but also linguistic analytical reasons.
posted
^ In the poem 'How well She Knows to Cast the Noose', I swear there is a line missing in which it says "She smites me when she shakes her buttocks" or something to that effect, but it is missing here!
Posts: 26238 | From: Atlanta, Georgia, USA | Registered: Feb 2005
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This is the same type of Euro-prudery we see when the British archaeologists try to censor certain ancient Kemetian images (like the phallic god Min) by covering them up whenever their lady folks come visit.
Ironically you never see the Euros try to cover up or edit out anything of sexually explicit features from other African cultures. Instead they try to stress such aspects as proof of vulgar "savage" black Africans! LOLPosts: 26238 | From: Atlanta, Georgia, USA | Registered: Feb 2005
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posted
So now the question is, how many lines are missing are missing or edited in the poems from the source I found??
Posts: 26238 | From: Atlanta, Georgia, USA | Registered: Feb 2005
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posted
What Box is this the poem your looking for?
I Was Simply Off to See Nefrus My Friend
I was simply off to see Nefrus my friend, Just to sit and chat at her place (about men). When there, hot on his horses, comes Mehy (Oh god, I said to myself, it's Mehy!) Right over the crest of the road wheeling alng with the boys.
O Mother Hathor, what shall I do? Don't let him see me! Where can I hide? Make me a small creeping thing to slip by his eye (sharp as Horus') unseen.
Oh, look nat you, feet- (this road is a river!) you walk me right out of my depth! Someone, silly heart, is exceedingly ignorant here- Aren't you a little too easy near Mehy?
If he sees that I see him, I know he will know how my heart flutters (Oh, Mehy!) I know I will blurt out, "Please take me!" (I mustn't)
No, all he would do is brag out my name, just one of the many... (I know)... Mehy would make me just one of the girls for all of the boys in the palace (Oh Mehy).
Egyptian poem translated by John L. Foster
Posts: 67 | Registered: Feb 2007
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posted
^So this is the poem Whatbox was talking about?
From what I gather there is a girl who has a crush on a guy. I notice it makes reference to the palace. Was this girl or the guy royalty? What other things do you see in the poem?
Posts: 26238 | From: Atlanta, Georgia, USA | Registered: Feb 2005
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quote:Originally posted by Djehuti: So now the question is, how many lines are missing are missing or edited in the poems from the source I found??
Here is a website that has Love Songs or the seven stanzes of the Love song and the poem you posted is here too (reads better) and What Box's favorite poem is written out better as well. I have no idea who's royalty though(?) On another website they have that Mehy is Moses, so Mehy could of been a prince.
First Stanza
Sister without rival, most beautiful of all, she looks like the star-goddess, rising at the start of the good New Year. Perfect and bright, shining skin, seductive in her eyes when she glances, sweet in her lips when she speaks, and never a word too many. Slender neck, shining body, her hair is true lapis, her arm gathers gold, her fingers are like lotus flowers, ample behind , tight waist, her thighs extend her beauty, shapely in stride when she steps on the earth. She has stolen my heart with her embrace, She has made the neck of every man turn round at the sight of her. Whoever embraces her is happy, he is like the head of lovers, and she is seen going outside like That Goddess, the One Goddess.
(Djehuti- no shaking of the buttocks mentioned, just ample.. LOL
Third stanza
My heart thirsts to see her beauty, as I am seated at home with her, but I found Mehy on horseback on the road with his men the seducers. I do not know if I should hold myself in front of him; or if I could pass him freely. River and road looked alike: I couldn't decide where to put my feet, You my girl are blissfully unaware of my passion. Why did you stroll in, Mehy? Look, if I pass Mehy, I'll tell him my circuits, 'So, I am yours', I would tell him, and he would clamour at my name, appointing me to that head inner palace, the one with his followers.
(the line: "I'll tell him my circuits" could be a typo and maybe should say "I'll tell him my " secrets" instead (?)
You can also listen to the translations but unfortunetly the stanza that mentions Mehys name is not one of stanza you can listen to, to hear how the name is pronounced. Oh well..
posted
^LOL I was referring to the poem 'How well She Knows to Cast the Noose'. But judging from that poem and the one you just presented about the "ample behind". I'd say Egyptian men also had a thing for the badunkadunk. Posts: 26238 | From: Atlanta, Georgia, USA | Registered: Feb 2005
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quote:Originally posted by Djehuti: ^LOL I was referring to the poem 'How well She Knows to Cast the Noose'. But judging from that poem and the one you just presented about the "ample behind". I'd say Egyptian men also had a thing for the badunkadunk.
Ain't that surprising, after all the egyptians were black. lol to the x Posts: 447 | From: Somewhere son... | Registered: Sep 2006
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hear thy voice, O turtle dove- The dawn is all aglow- Weary am I with love, with love, Oh, whither shall I go?
Not so, O beauteous bird above, Is joy to be denied.... For I have found my dear, my love; And I am by his side.
We wander forth, and hand in hand Through flowery ways we go- I am the fairest in the land, For he has called me so.
EGYPTAIN LOVE POEM (2)
With sickness faint and weary All day in bed I'll lie; My friends will gather near me And she'll with them come nigh. She'll put to shame the doctors Who'll ponder over me, For she alone, my loved one, Knows well my malady.
OLD AGE (A vizier feels the burden of his years and lamants his fate to Pharaoh)
O King, my lord, I draw nigh to life's end, To me the frailities of life have come. And second childhood... Ah! the old lie down Each day is suffering; the vision fails, Ears become deaf and strength declines apace. The mind is ill at ease.... An old man's tongue has naught to say because his thoughts have fled, And he forgets the day that has gone past.... Meanwhile his body aches in every bone; The sweet seems bitter, for taste is lost. Ah! such are the afflictions of old age, which work for evil... Fitful and weak his breath becomes, standing or lying down.
BELOVED COUNTRY
Its fields are full of good things and it has provision for every day Its granaries overflow, they reach the sky. Its ponds are full of fishes and its lakes of birds. Its fields are green with grass and its banks bear dates. He who lives there is happy, And the poor man is like the great elsewhere.Posts: 26238 | From: Atlanta, Georgia, USA | Registered: Feb 2005
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posted
Introduction Love songs or poems are probably found in every culture. Dealing as they do with an intense emotional experience felt by all, they are also a very old feature of verbal records. This has given them time to evolve elaborate variations, as can be seen in this selection of fragments from ancient Egyptian love poems, recovered from pieces of papyrus and fragments of a vase. They date from the period between 1,500 and 1,000 BC.
Those parts of Egyptian poems that have survived are primarily praise of the lover or poems of longing. Although they appear to be spontaneous outbursts of young people, they are thought to be the deliberate works of literary artists. As in parts of South East Asia, the Chester Beatty cycle of poems shows a regular alternation of male and female speakers. Similarly, the convention of lovers addressing each other as brother and sister appears here also, as normal terms of endearment.
The similarities between these poems and those from southeast Asia and India suggests that songs of this type may have been part of the oral culture shared via trade routes between the regions in the second millenium BCE. Even older poems from Sumer have a style that is echoed in the poems presented here.
1 Sister Without Peer
My one, the sister without peer,
The handsomest of all!
She looks like the rising morning star
At the start of a happy year.
Shining bright, fair of skin,
Lovely the look of her eyes,
Sweet the speech of her lips,
She has not a word too much.
Upright neck, shining breast,
Hair true lapis lazuli;
Arms surpassing gold,
Fingers like lotus buds.
Heavy thighs, narrow waist,
Her legs parade her beauty;
With graceful step she treads the ground,
Captures my heart by her movements.
She causes all men's necks
To turn about to see her;
Joy has he whom she embraces,
He is like the first of men!
When she steps outside she seems
Like that the Sun!
First Stanza, Beginning of the sayings of the great happiness, from Papyrus Chester Beatty I
2 My Brother Torments My Heart
My brother torments my heart with his voice,
He makes sickness take hold of me;
He is neighbor to my mother's house.
And I cannot go to him!
Mother is right in charging him thus:
"Give up seeing her!"
It pains my heart to think of him,
I am possessed by love of him.
Truly, he is a foolish one,
But I resemble him;
He knows not my wish to embrace him,
Or he would write to my mother.
Brother, I am promised to you
By the golden of women!
Come to me that I see your beauty,
Father, mother will rejoice!
My people will hail you all together,
They will hail you, O my brother!
Second Stanza, from Papyrus Chester Beatty I
3 My Heart Flutters Hastily
My heart flutters hastily,
When I think of my love of you;
It lets me not act sensibly,
It leaps from its place.
It lets me not put on a dress,
Nor wrap my scarf around me;
I put no paint upon my eyes,
I'm even not anointed.
"Don't wait, go there," says it to me,
As often as I think of him;
My heart, don't act so stupidly,
Why do you play the fool?
Sit still, the brother comes to you,
And many eyes as well.
Let not the people say of me:
"A woman fallen through love!"
Be steady when you think of him,
My heart, do not flutter!
Fourth Stanza, from Papyrus Chester Beatty I
4 I Passed Before His House
I passed before his house,
I found his door ajar;
My brother stood by his mother,
And all his brothers with him.
Love of him captures the heart
Of all who tread the path;
Splendid youth who has no peer,
Brother outstanding in virtues!
He looked at me as I passed by,
And I, by myself, rejoiced;
How my heart exulted in gladness,
My brother, at your sight!
If only the mother knew my heart,
She would have understood by now;
O Golden One, put it in her heart,
Then will I hurry to my brother!
I will kiss him before his companions,
I would not weep before them;
I would rejoice at their understanding
That you acknowledge me!
I will make a feast for my goddess,
My heart leaps to go;
To let me see my brother tonight,
O happiness in passing!
Sixth Stanza, from Papyrus Chester Beatty I
5 Sickness Invaded Me
Seven days since I saw my sister,
And sickness invaded me;
I am heavy in all my limbs,
My body has forsaken me.
When the physicians come to me,
My heart rejects their remedies;
The magicians are quite helpless,
My sickness is not discerned.
To tell me "She is here" would revive me!
Her name would make me rise;
Her messenger's coming and going,
That would revive my heart!
My sister is better than all prescriptions,
She does more for me than all medicines;
Her coming to me is my amulet,
The sight of her makes me well!
When she opens her eyes my body is young,
Her speaking makes me strong;
Embracing her expels my malady—
Seven days since she went from me!
Seventh Stanza, from Papyrus Chester Beatty I
6 How Well She Knows To Cast The Noose
How well she knows to cast the noose,
And yet not pay the cattle tax!
She casts the noose on me with her hair,
She captures me with her eye;
She curbs me with her necklace,
She brands me with her seal ring.
Third Stanza, from The Nakht-Sobak Cycle of Papyrus Chester Beatty I
7 If Only I Were Made Doorkeeper
The mansion of my sister,
With door in the center of her house,
Its door-leaves are open,
The bolt is sprung,
My sister is angry!
If only I were made doorkeeper!
Then I would make her rage at me,
Then I would hear her angry voice,
And be a child in fear of her!
Poem 7, from IIa The First Collection, Papyrus Harris 500
8 Saam-Plants Here Summon Us
Saam-plants here summon us,
I am your sister, your best one;
I belong to you like this plot of ground
That I planted with flowers
And sweet-smelling herbs.
Sweet is its stream,
Dug by your hand,
Refreshing in the north wind.
A lovely place to wander in,
Your hand in my hand.
My body thrives, my heart exults
At our walking together;
Hearing your voice is pomegranate wine,
I live by hearing it.
Each look with which you look at me
sustains me more than food and drink.
Poem 2, from IIc, The Third Collection, Papyrus Harris 500
9 It Is Her Love That Gives Me Strength
My sister's love is on the far side.
The river is between our bodies;
The waters are mighty at flood-time,
A crocodile waits in the shallows.
I enter the water and brave the waves,
My heart is strong on the deep;
The crocodile seems like a mouse to me,
The flood as land to my feet.
It is her love that gives me strength,
It makes a water-spell for me;
I gaze at my heart's desire,
As she stands facing me!
My sister has come, my heart exults,
My arms spread out to embrace her;
My heart bounds in its place,
Like the red fish in its pond.
O night, be mine forever,
Now that my queen has come!
Extract from a 3,000 year-old papyrus.
She is one girl, there is no one like her. She is more beautiful than any other. Look, she is like a star goddess arising at the beginning of a happy new year; brilliantly white, bright skinned; with beautiful eyes for looking, with sweet lips for speaking; she has not one phrase too many. With a long neck and white breast, her hair of genuine lapis lazuli; her arm more brilliant than gold; her fingers like lotus flowers, with heavy buttocks and girt waist. Her thighs offer her beauty, with a brisk step she treads on ground. She has captured my heart in her embrace. She makes all men turn their necks to look at her. One looks at her passing by, this one, the unique one.
I wish I were your mirror so that you always looked at me. I wish I were your garment so that you would always wear me. I wish I were the water that washes your body. I wish I were the unguent, O woman, that I could annoit you. And the band around your breasts, and the beads around your neck. I wish I were your sandal that you would step on me! (Not sure about that last sentence!)
O my beautiful one, I wish I were part of your affairs, like a wife. With your hand in mine your love would be returned. I implore my heart: "If my true love stays away tonight, I shall be like someone already in the grave." Are you not my health and my life? How joyful is your good health for the heart that seeks you!
Posts: 22721 | Registered: Oct 2005
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Man of my heart, my beloved man, your allure is a sweet thing, as sweet as honey. Lad of my heart, my beloved man, your allure is a sweet thing, as sweet as honey.
You have captivated me (?), of my own free will I will come to you. Man, let me flee with you -- into the bedroom. You have captivated me (?); of my own free will I shall come to you. Lad, let me flee with you -- into the bedroom.
Man, let me do the sweetest things to you. My precious sweet, let me bring you honey. In the bedchamber dripping with honey let us enjoy over and over your allure, the sweet thing. Lad, let me do the sweetest things to you. My precious sweet, let me bring you honey.
Man, you have become attracted to me. Speak to my mother and I will give myself to you; speak to my father and he will make a gift of me. I know where to give physical pleasure to your body -- sleep, man, in our house till morning. I know how to bring heart's delight to your heart -- sleep, lad, in our house till morning.
Since you have fallen in love with me, lad, if only you would do your sweet thing to me.
My lord and god, my lord and guardian angel, my Cu-Suen who cheers Enlil's heart, if only you would handle your sweet place, if only you would grasp your place that is sweet as honey.
Put your hand there for me like the cover (?) on a measuring cup. Spread (?) your hand there for me like the cover (?) on a cup of wood shavings. It is a balbale of Inana.
Posts: 22721 | Registered: Oct 2005
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posted
Well, it sure ain't Shakespeare...then again I don't like old Willy S, so take it for what it's not worth.
Nice to see it though. Get a feel for what the AE thought made for flowery prose. So thanks again Al T.
Posts: 248 | From: Way Down South | Registered: Sep 2007
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posted
There's really no need to delete, it's not doing any harm. But Mike111, to ensure the thread stays on topic, please start a new thread for any more Sumerian or non-AE poetry you want to post. Otherwise I'll start one myself and re-post the materials after deleting them here. We've been having a problem of too many OT posts and good threads derailed lately.
Posts: 113 | From: Dayr al-Barsha | Registered: May 2007
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This is my thread and I made it specifically for ANCIENT EGYPTIAN POETRY. Please comply with my request to keep my thread on target. If you so personally want Sumerian poetry or Shakespeare or whatever then I strongly suggest you use your athority properly and split the off topic posts into an appropriately labeled thread of its own. Thank you for complying with my request to avoid derailing yet another Ancient Egypt thread into peripheral, no, really unrelated off topic matter.
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indeed, but no. I never heard of that one, but I would like to see it.
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