1. SENWOSRET III

The horus godlike of transformations,
The two ladies godlike of births,
The falcon of gold kheper,
The king of upper and lower egypt khakaure,
The son of re senwosret
Who takes possession of the two lands as one vindicated
Salutations to you khakaure,
Our horus godlike of transformations
Who has protected the land, and has extended its borders
Overwhelming the foreign lands with your crown,
Enclosing the two lands with the deeds of your hands,
Encompassing the foreign
Lands with the strength of your arms,
Slaying the bowmen, without striking a blow,
Shooting an arrow, without drawing a bow.
Terror of whom strikes the cave dwellers in their land,
Fear of whom slays the nine bows.
Whose slaughtering causes thousands
To die among the barbarians,
And the enemies who approach your borders.
When shooting an arrow as sekhmet does,
You fell thousands who know you not.
It is the tongue of your majesty which restrains nubia,
It is your words which rout the asiatics.
Unique divine being, youthful one, fighting on yourborder,
Not allowing your people to grow weary,
Letting men sleep until daybreak;
Because your young troops were at their slumbers,
And your heart was their protector,
Your commands have made your borders,
And your word united the two river banks.


2. THE MAN WHO WAS WEARY OF LIFE

Behold, my very being is loathsome,
Behold, more than the dung of vultures
On summer days when the sky is hot.
Behold, my very being is loathsome,
Behold, more than a catch of fish
On a day of fishing when the sky is hot.
Behold, my very being is loathsome,
Behold, more than the stench of ducks
Or reed-coverts where waterfowl lodge.
Behold, my very being is loathsome,
Behold, more than the smell of fishermen
Or the marshes where they fish.
Behold, my very being is loathsome,
Behold, more than the stench of the crocodiles
Which lurk on that shore which breeds them.
Behold, my very being is loathsome,
Behold, more than a woman
Of whom lies are told to her husband.
Behold, my very being is loathsome,
Behold, more than a vigorous youth
Of whom it is said, ‘He is despised by his father.
Behold, my very being is loathsome,
Behold, like a king’s land
Which contrives mutiny as soon as he turns his back.


3. THE MAN WHO WAS WEARY OF LIFE II

Whom c an I trust today ?
One’s brothers have become evil,
And friends of today have no compassion.
Whom can I trust today?
Hearts are greedy,
And every man steals his neighbor’s goods.
Whom can I trust today ?
Compassion has perished,
And violence attacks everyone.
Whom can I trust today ?
Men are pleased with the evil
Which everywhere throws goodness underfoot.
Whom can I trust today ?
Though a man be woeful through ill fortune,
His evil plight causes all to mock him.
Whom can I trust today ?
Men plunder,
And everyone robs his comrade.
Whom can I trust today ?
A reprobate is my closest friend,
And the companion with whom
I associated has become a foe.
Whom can I trust today ?
There is no remembrance of the past,
And men now do not treat one in accordance with one’s deeds
Whom can I trust today?
One’s brothers have become evil,
And one turns to strangers for integrity.
Whom can I trust today ?
People are indifferent,
And every man is sullen to his comrades.
Whom can I trust today?
Hearts have become greedy,
And no man has a heart which can be trusted.
Whom can I trust today ?
There are no righteous men,
And the land is abandoned over to the lawless.
Whom can I trust today ?
There is emptiness in faithful friends,
And one must turn to strangers for comfort.
Whom can I trust today ?
None are contented,
And he with whom one walked is now no more.
Whom can I trust today ?
I am laden down with sorrow,
And there is none to comfort me.
Whom can I trust today ?
Evil runs rampant throughout the land,
Endless, endless evil.


4. THE DEIFICATION OF THE DECEASED

The face of heaven is brilliant,
The expanse of the sky is dazzling.
The god is begotten, says heaven,
On the arms of Shu and Tefnut and on my arms.
The great one has risen, he whom the gods proclaim.
Hear now this decree which Pepi speaks to you.
Be informed concerning this Pepi:
Pepi is a great one and the son of a great one.
This Pepi is with you.
Take this Pepi to life and dominion forever with you.
Hear now, O Kheprer, this decree which is spoken to you.
Be informed concerning this Pepi:
Pepi is a great one and the son of a great one.
This Pepi is with you; take this Pepi with you.
Hear now, O Nu, this decree which is spoken to you.
Be informed concerning this Pepi:
Pepi is a great one and the son of a great one.
This Pepi is with you; take this Pepi with you.
Hear now, O Atum, this decree which is spoken to you.
Be informed concerning this Pepi:
For Pepi is a great one and the son of a great one.
This Pepi is with you; take this Pepi with you.
O mighty one, son of Geb,
O powerful one, son of Osiris,
Hear now this decree which is spoken to you.
Be informed concerning this Pepi:
For Pepi is a great one and the son of a great one.
This Pepi is with you; take this Pepi with you.
Ascend to this Pepi in your name of Re,
That you may banish the storm clouds of the sky until Horakhty has appeared,
That he may hear his mighty deeds and his praise in the mouths of the two Enneads.
How beautiful you are, says his mother;
My heir, says Osiris.
This Pepi will not swallow the Eye of Horus,
Lest men say, ‘‘He will die because of it.’’
This Pepi will not swallow a limb of Osiris,
Lest the gods say, ‘‘He will die because of it.’’
This Pepi will live on the offerings of his father Atum,
And you will protect him, O Nekhbet.
You have protected Pepi, O Nekhbet,
Within the palace of the magistrate which is at On.
You have entrusted him to one who is in his service,
So that this Pepi may be provided for.
He who is in his service has entrusted
This Pepi to him who serves the litter,
So that Pepi may be provided for.
This Pepi has escaped his day of submission to death,
As Seth also escaped his day of submission to death.
This Pepi has escaped his fortnights of submission to death,
As Seth also escaped his fortnights of submission to death.
This Pepi has escaped his months of submission to death,
As Seth also escaped his months of submission to death.
This Pepi has escaped his year of submission to death,
As Seth also escaped his year of submission to death.
Sink not down, O arms of Pepi,
You pillars which support Nut even as Shu,
You metal bones of this Pepi,
And you his limbs which know not destruction.
This Pepi is the star which gives light to the sky;
This Pepi has ascended to the god so that this Pepi may be protected
Heaven will never be without this Pepi,
And the earth will never be without this Pepi.
This Pepi will abide as a living being in your midst,
O gods of the lower heaven,
You stars which know not destruction,
You who pass over the land of Libya,
Who support yourselves on your
djam-scepters;
This Pepi supports himself with you on a was-scepter and a djam-scepter.
Pepi is your fourth,
O gods of the lower heaven, you stars which know not destruction,
You who pass over the land of Libya,
Who support yourselves on your
djam-scepters;
This Pepi supports himself with you
On a was-scepter and a djam-scepter.
Pepi is your third,
O gods of the lower heaven, you stars which know not destruction,
You who pass over the land of Libya,
Who support yourselves on your
djam-scepters,
This Pepi supports himself with you on a was-scepter and a djam-scepter
By command of Horus, the heir and king of the gods.
This Pepi is the one who has seized the White Crown,
The one upon whom is the tie of the Red Crown;
This Pepi is the uraeus which proceeded from Seth,
The uraeus which moves back and forth;
Restore Pepi to health; restore him to life.
This Pepi is the one of gore came from Nwnw.
This Pepi is the Eye of
Horus which was not eaten but spat out,
And he will not be eaten but will be spat out.
Hear now this utterance which is spoken to you, O Re:
Your essence is in Pepi, O Re,
Your essence is given life in Pepi, O Re.
The baboons have been killed by the ape,
And the ape has been killed by the baboons.
You, O trapper, and you, O potent male,
You who belong to the primeval generation:
You will hasten, one to punishment and one to justification,
You who were born when wrath had not yet come to be,
You who were born when dispute had not yet come to be,
You who were born when conflict had not yet come to be,
You who were born when strife had not yet come to be,
You who were born when the
Eye of Horus had not yet been injured,
And when the testicles of Seth had not yet been torn away.
This Pepi is the blood which came forth from Isis,
He is the blood which came forth from Nephthys.
He will gird up his loins,
And there is nothing the gods can do against him.
This Pepi is the successor of Re,
And this Pepi can never die.
Hear, O Geb, prince of all the gods,
And endow him with his nature;
Hear, O Thoth, source of concord among the gods;
Horus will open (the way) for him,
And Seth will be his defender;
This Pepi will rise on the eastern side of heaven,
Like Re who rises on the eastern side of heaven.


5. THE MAN WHO WAS WEARY OF LIFE III

Death is before me today
Like the healing of a sick man,
Like going outside after illness.
Death is before me today
Like the fragrance of myrrh,
Like sitting under the sails on a windy day.
Death is before me today
Like the fragrance of the lotus,
Like tottering at the verge of drunkenness.
Death is before me today
Like the course of the Nile,
As when men return home from a campaign.
Death is before me today
Like the clearing of the sky,
As when a man understands what had been unknown to him.
Death is before me today
Like a man’s yearning to see his home
After passing many years in exile.


6. THE PROFECIES OF NEFERTY

Arise, oh my heart !
Weep for this land wherein you were born !
Falsehood is as the flood,
And behold, evil is spoken with impunity.
Behold, nobles are deposed in the land where you were born.
Become not weary, though it be before your very eyes,
Mark well what is before you.
Behold, nobles no longer guide this land,
And what is done is such as should not be done.
The day dawns amidst falsehood,
And the land is totally ravaged.
Not a trace remains—not even a fingernail—due to its evil fate
The land perishes, and there is no one who cares for it.
There is no one who speaks out,
No one who makes lament.
In what dread state is this land !
The sun is obscured and gives no light that men may see.
Men cannot live when stormclouds hover,
And all are stunned in its absence.
I shall speak only what is before my face;
I shall not foretell what will not come to pass.
The river of Egypt is empty,
And the waters may be crossed on foot.
Men search for water that the ships may sail,
But the watercourse has become a river bank.
The river bank will be where now the water is,
And the water will be where the bank is now.
South wind will clash with north wind,
And the sky will not be of a single breeze.
Foreign birds will breed in the Delta marshes,
Having made their nests beside the people,
For men have let them approach through laxness.
Perished and gone are those joyful places,
The fish ponds where dwell fish-eating birds,
Ponds alive with fish and fowl.
All joy has been driven out,
And the land is plunged into anguish
By those voracious Asiatics who rove throughout the land.
Foes have appeared in the east,
Asiatics have entered Egypt.
We have no border fortress, for foreigners now hold it,
And there is no one to heed who the plunderers are.
One may expect attack by night;
The fortress will be breached and sleep driven from all eyes
I too have slept, but now I am awake.
Desert beasts will drink at the river of Egypt,
They will rest on its shores,
For there will be no one to frighten them.
The land is in turmoil, and no one knows the outcome.
What will come to pass is concealed in my words,
But sight and hearing are dead.
Only silence abounds.
I shall show you the land in distress,
For incredible things have come to pass.
Men will take up weapons of war,
And the land will live in turmoil.
They will make arrows from copper,
They will seek blood as food.
They will laugh gleefully over suffering,
And none will weep at death.
None will lie awake fasting at the time of death,
For each man’s heart cares for himself alone.
None will make mourning today,
For hearts have completely turned from it.
A man will sit and turn his back,
While one murders another.
I shall show you a son who has become foe,
A brother who has become an enemy,
And a son who kills his father.
Every mouth is full of ‘Take pity on me,’
But all goodness has been driven away.
The land perishes, for its fate has been ordained,
Its produce has been laid waste
And its harvest made desolate.
All that has been accomplished is now undone.
A man’s property is taken away
And given to one who is a stranger.
I shall show you a nobleman with nothing, a foreigner prosperous.
The one who was slothful now is filled,
But he who was diligent has nothing.
Men will give alms grudgingly to silence a mouth which begs.
One answers a man’s remark by a hand which lashes out with a stick.
Instead of speaking, one kills him,
For speech strikes the heart like fire,
And none can endure what issues forth from the mouth.
The land is destitute, although its rulers are numerous;
It is ruined, but its taxes are immense.
Sparse is the grain, but great is the measure,
For it is distributed as if it were abundant.
As for Re, he has withdrawn himself from men.
He will rise at the appointed time,
But none will know when noon has come.
None will behold his shadow,
None will rejoice when he is seen.
No longer will the eyes stream with water,
For he will be in the sky only like the moon.
And yet his times of night will never stray,
And his rays will surely be in our sight as in times of old.
I shall show you the land in turmoil.
He who was weak of arm is now a possessor of might,
And men honor those who once were obliged to show respect.
I shall show you lowly men in exalted positions,
He who once followed obediently now goes his own way.
Men will live amidst the tombs,
The pauper will gain wealth;
The noble woman will toil in order to subsist;
The beggar will eat bread, and slaves will be exalted.
The Nome of On shall be no more on earth,
The birthplace of all the gods.
But then there shall come a king from the south.
His name will be Ameny, justified.
He will be the son of a woman of Ta-Sety,
An offspring of the royal house of Nekhen.
He shall receive the White Crown,
He shall wear the Red Crown;
He shall unite the Two Powers,
He shall satisfy the Two Lords with that which they desire,
For the field-encircler will be in his grasp,
The oar in his control.
The people of his time will rejoice,
For this son of a man will establish his name for ever and eternity
But those who fall into evil,
Those who raise the cry of rebellion,
They have lowered their voices through dread of him.
The Asiatics will fall before his sword,
The Libyans will fall before his fire;
Rebels will fall before his wrath,
65 And enemies will fall through awe of him,
For the uraeus on his brow will subdue his enemies for him.
He will found Inbu-Heqa,
So that never will Asiatics be permitted to come down to Egypt
They will seek water in the manner of beggars
So that their herds may drink.
Then Ma’at will return to her throne,
And Chaos Isfet will be driven off.
Joyful will he be who will see these things,
He who will serve the king.
The wise man will pour water for me at my tomb
When he sees my prophecies fulfilled.