DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.6638#0018
SAFT EL HENNEH.
related under what circumstances the shrine
was raised to the god. Part of the translation
is conjectural, owing to the number of abbrevia-
tions in the words.
1. " The good god, the very brave, the de-
stroyer who drives back . . .; the wise and in-
telligent who fights for Egypt against the rebels
of the provinces, who treads under his feet the
Asiatics, who delivers his abode from their
violence; the firm heart; he who goes forth and
never falls back1 one instant; who shoots with
his bow at the right time; who provides temples
by his great intelligence ; what he says 2 takes
place immediately, as what comes forth from
the mouth of Ra, the king of Upper and Lower
Egypt, Kheperkara, the son of Ra Nekht-
nebef . . .
2. " This venerable god Sopt, the lord of the
East, remembers his goodwill towards his
majesty; and all the gods, when he (the king)
comes before them, are celebrating him in order
that he take care of the divine bodies (images
of the gods) during his lifetime and until many
years afterwards. When the king desired to
pay special honours 3 to this god (Sopt) in a
secret sanctuary which was not known to the
priests, and where all the gods of the province
hid their bodies, the god put in the heart of the
king to cause to be seen . . .
3. " (after) many years, without knowing
howit happened, they saw him distinctly, how he
was raised upon his couch ;4 then there was joy
1 www
I believe here the
to be an abbrevia-
tion of the masc. pron. ^. ^ (cf. Todt. 17, var. to 1. 7, 11,
18, &c.). We find several instances of the same kind:
J. 2
1
1. 3
d(3 m
§ 1
and
in this last instance the following words indicate that it is
a god who is meant. We find also, pi. i. 1. 6, ^ 11
abbrev. for Cf. !. 3 for
I read this expression : || 7\
(3 \\ I
?!
in '
I —»_ @ W I Ji W I cm
This is one of the most difficult parts. This sentence has
saying: The prince has appeared in the East;
he has adorned the world with his rays, thou
art raised very high to be the victorious lord.
Then the good god (the king) embellished his
sanctuary, and made it the Amen kheperu (the
hiding-place) of the lord of the East for his
own body; and all the gods who follow him are
on his right, and all the gods in his place are
on the left, and when he comes forth all his
gods are before him like Ra when he appears
on the horizon, and the like when he rests in
his sanctuary every day."
Thus it was in commemoration of a miracle
of some kind that the shrine was erected. It
is most unfortunate that the end of the second
line should be destroyed, as we do not know
exactly what happened. However, it is clear
that either the priests did not know where the
abode of the god was, or (which I think is more
likely) that it was a place to which they had no
access. The king decided that something in
respect to those gods should be done; but we do
not see what it was, because of the gap in the
stone. The result was that, after many years,
a god whom I believe to be Sopt, is seen sud-
denly raised on his couch. It was the cause of
great rejoicing in the land, and JSTectanebo named
the sanctuary, " the hiding-place of Sopt." Such
been quoted by Brugsch in the second part of his Dictionary
(p. 1266), but not quite correctly, and without translation.
8 5 ,QJ3_ is a rare word which Brugsch considers as a
different form of Zl
®- to look at. I think
that this second verb adds to the word tne idea °f
seeing clearly, distinctly. I already referred to the pron.
—i— employed iustead of ^J. ^> in the masculine sense (1. 1).
As for the word LT1 ^ the phonetic reading is given in
the Todt. 168 b 14, J ^ (j LT1 nema J |^ lj LTI ^
The word J |^ (j nema means a couch, a bed with a
lion's or a ram's head, exactly like that on which the hawk
Sopt is sitting. The god whose body was hidden, suddenly
appeared raised on his couch, I suppose in the form of a
hawk, as we see him, pi. ii. 5, or as he appears in the ideo-
graphic name of Sopt, pi. iii. 1.
related under what circumstances the shrine
was raised to the god. Part of the translation
is conjectural, owing to the number of abbrevia-
tions in the words.
1. " The good god, the very brave, the de-
stroyer who drives back . . .; the wise and in-
telligent who fights for Egypt against the rebels
of the provinces, who treads under his feet the
Asiatics, who delivers his abode from their
violence; the firm heart; he who goes forth and
never falls back1 one instant; who shoots with
his bow at the right time; who provides temples
by his great intelligence ; what he says 2 takes
place immediately, as what comes forth from
the mouth of Ra, the king of Upper and Lower
Egypt, Kheperkara, the son of Ra Nekht-
nebef . . .
2. " This venerable god Sopt, the lord of the
East, remembers his goodwill towards his
majesty; and all the gods, when he (the king)
comes before them, are celebrating him in order
that he take care of the divine bodies (images
of the gods) during his lifetime and until many
years afterwards. When the king desired to
pay special honours 3 to this god (Sopt) in a
secret sanctuary which was not known to the
priests, and where all the gods of the province
hid their bodies, the god put in the heart of the
king to cause to be seen . . .
3. " (after) many years, without knowing
howit happened, they saw him distinctly, how he
was raised upon his couch ;4 then there was joy
1 www
I believe here the
to be an abbrevia-
tion of the masc. pron. ^. ^ (cf. Todt. 17, var. to 1. 7, 11,
18, &c.). We find several instances of the same kind:
J. 2
1
1. 3
d(3 m
§ 1
and
in this last instance the following words indicate that it is
a god who is meant. We find also, pi. i. 1. 6, ^ 11
abbrev. for Cf. !. 3 for
I read this expression : || 7\
(3 \\ I
?!
in '
I —»_ @ W I Ji W I cm
This is one of the most difficult parts. This sentence has
saying: The prince has appeared in the East;
he has adorned the world with his rays, thou
art raised very high to be the victorious lord.
Then the good god (the king) embellished his
sanctuary, and made it the Amen kheperu (the
hiding-place) of the lord of the East for his
own body; and all the gods who follow him are
on his right, and all the gods in his place are
on the left, and when he comes forth all his
gods are before him like Ra when he appears
on the horizon, and the like when he rests in
his sanctuary every day."
Thus it was in commemoration of a miracle
of some kind that the shrine was erected. It
is most unfortunate that the end of the second
line should be destroyed, as we do not know
exactly what happened. However, it is clear
that either the priests did not know where the
abode of the god was, or (which I think is more
likely) that it was a place to which they had no
access. The king decided that something in
respect to those gods should be done; but we do
not see what it was, because of the gap in the
stone. The result was that, after many years,
a god whom I believe to be Sopt, is seen sud-
denly raised on his couch. It was the cause of
great rejoicing in the land, and JSTectanebo named
the sanctuary, " the hiding-place of Sopt." Such
been quoted by Brugsch in the second part of his Dictionary
(p. 1266), but not quite correctly, and without translation.
8 5 ,QJ3_ is a rare word which Brugsch considers as a
different form of Zl
®- to look at. I think
that this second verb adds to the word tne idea °f
seeing clearly, distinctly. I already referred to the pron.
—i— employed iustead of ^J. ^> in the masculine sense (1. 1).
As for the word LT1 ^ the phonetic reading is given in
the Todt. 168 b 14, J ^ (j LT1 nema J |^ lj LTI ^
The word J |^ (j nema means a couch, a bed with a
lion's or a ram's head, exactly like that on which the hawk
Sopt is sitting. The god whose body was hidden, suddenly
appeared raised on his couch, I suppose in the form of a
hawk, as we see him, pi. ii. 5, or as he appears in the ideo-
graphic name of Sopt, pi. iii. 1.