Brugsch, Heinrich: Egypt under the pharaohs: a history derived entirely from the monuments (London, 1891)

■bin. xix. INSCRIPTION IN THE TEMPLE AT ABYDOS 261

Beautifully shall the most splendid double memorial be made at
once. Let it be inscribed with my name, and with the name of my
lather. As the son is, so was the father [who begat him].'

The king's friends speak in answer to the divine benefactor :
' [That which thou hast determined,] O king, do it. Remember
that which was sunk in forgetfulness, renew the monuments in
the necropolis, and all the plans which were behindhand, execute
them as is right and fitting.—Thou art now king of Upper Egypt
and Lower Egypt. Do good even as thou wiliest. Let thy heart
be satisfied in doing what is right. Eor that which is done for the
honour of the gods, that will be accepted and [rewarded by the
immortals] when thou hereafter shalt rise to heaven. When thy
grace raises himself to the orb of light, then shall the eyes see thy
glorious virtues in the sight of gods and men. Thus do thou. Re-
new memorial after memorial to the gods. Therefore shall thy father
f*a command that thy name shall resound in all lands, beginning
m. the south with Khent-hen-nefer, northwards from the shores
°i the sea as far as the nations of Ruthen. The foreign fortresses
and towns of the king and the cities, well guarded and occupied
with their inhabitants, and [the dwellers in all places, they speak
°i thee,] that thou art as a god for every one. They awake to
offer incense to thee. Thus according to the will of thy father Tmu,
the black land (Egypt) and the red land (Tesherit) praise thee,
0 king.'

t t • • •

When [this speech] from the lips of the princes before their lord
[was ended,] then the king commanded, and gave commission to the
architects, and separated the people of the masons and of the stone-
cutters with the help of the graver, and the draughtsmen, and all
kinds of artists, to build the most holy place for his father, and to
raise up what had fallen into decay in the necropolis, and in the
temple of his father, who sojourns among the deceased ones.

Then [he began] to have the statues of his father carved, from
the first year. The revenues were doubled for his worship, his
temple was enriched according to the number of its wants. He
appointed its register of fields and peasants and herds. He named
its priests according to their service, and the prophet, to raise in his
hands [the incense-vessel], and he appointed the temple servants
for the performance of the works for him. His barns were many,
full of wheat [and his storehouses in all plenty]. His domain was
immense in the South and in the North, and was placed under the
administration of the superintendent of his temple. In such wise
did King Ramses II. for his father, King Seti, under the protection
of TJnnefer.