DOI Artikel:
Gunn, Battiscombe G.: "To have recourse to" in egyptian
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.12742#0109
"TO HAVE RECOURSE TO" IN EGYPTIAN
by
BATTISCOMBE GUNN.
Several times in Middle Egyptian literary texts the verbe J^-"to bring" is found
used without an expressed object, and followecl by the préposition ^ with 'indirect
object'. The literal translation would of course be "to ])ring from, oblain from"
somebody or something; but snch a rendering gives no sensé in most of the contexts
in which this construction occurs, and the passages in question have consequentîy
given a good deal of trouble to thcir interpreters.
I believe that considération of the following examples (ail that are known Lo me)
with the translations which I ofï'er will leave little doubt in the reader's mind that
JL, —^ lias an interesting idiomatic use, expressing something like "to have recourse
to", "to avail oneself of" somebody or something, the préposition r being used in
continuation when it is desired to say that recourse is had for something.
1«. "To whom shalll speak now? I 7* \ ^... J ^Jj ^\» « \ ^ JJJ
"11^. ^ i_ One's fellows are become evil ; one has recourse to strangers for con-
siderateness." Suicide, 116-8.
2. "To whom shall I speak now? A ♦ï^lri'k® ^\^PT~
^j^* ^nG ^s Dereft °f a confidant; one resorts to a previously-unknown pcrson to
tell one's troubles to him." Ibid., iq3-5.
3. "Entertain thy friends with what thou canst('2); it is possible ^ to one whom the
God favours. Regarding(3) one who fails in the entertainment of friends it is said :
(I) This and the tvvo following examples have been discussed by Dr. Gardiner in his Notes on the Slory of
Sînuhe, pp. 75-76, in connection with the word drdri "strangër". Dr. Gardiner there translated ^ by
"a man is treatedas, men are treated as, lie is treated as" (although one would expect, on grammatical
grounds, to find such ideas expressed by the constructions J v£ ( jj *•—^J; with this
rendering a satisfactory sensé was obtained (in the Suicide examples) only by considerably helping out the
text in the translation. — I am pleased to be able to mention that Dr. Gardiner, having read this article in
manuscript, now fully agrées with my interprétation of bit m.
(S) For hpr n X "to be possible to X", cf. Ebers Papyrus, 5i, 22 : "lie cannot look at his belly, it hurts
him too much" (of a man with a stiff neck) ; and Kahun Papyri, 5, 21 : " she cannot drink" (reading 1—\,
= > % P)-
(V> This interesting inversion, ( <=>, representing <=> "as to" after occurs also Ptahhotep, 273-i;
and compare page 107, foot-note h below.
Recueil, t. XXXIX. — Troisième série, t. VII. îU
by
BATTISCOMBE GUNN.
Several times in Middle Egyptian literary texts the verbe J^-"to bring" is found
used without an expressed object, and followecl by the préposition ^ with 'indirect
object'. The literal translation would of course be "to ])ring from, oblain from"
somebody or something; but snch a rendering gives no sensé in most of the contexts
in which this construction occurs, and the passages in question have consequentîy
given a good deal of trouble to thcir interpreters.
I believe that considération of the following examples (ail that are known Lo me)
with the translations which I ofï'er will leave little doubt in the reader's mind that
JL, —^ lias an interesting idiomatic use, expressing something like "to have recourse
to", "to avail oneself of" somebody or something, the préposition r being used in
continuation when it is desired to say that recourse is had for something.
1«. "To whom shalll speak now? I 7* \ ^... J ^Jj ^\» « \ ^ JJJ
"11^. ^ i_ One's fellows are become evil ; one has recourse to strangers for con-
siderateness." Suicide, 116-8.
2. "To whom shall I speak now? A ♦ï^lri'k® ^\^PT~
^j^* ^nG ^s Dereft °f a confidant; one resorts to a previously-unknown pcrson to
tell one's troubles to him." Ibid., iq3-5.
3. "Entertain thy friends with what thou canst('2); it is possible ^ to one whom the
God favours. Regarding(3) one who fails in the entertainment of friends it is said :
(I) This and the tvvo following examples have been discussed by Dr. Gardiner in his Notes on the Slory of
Sînuhe, pp. 75-76, in connection with the word drdri "strangër". Dr. Gardiner there translated ^ by
"a man is treatedas, men are treated as, lie is treated as" (although one would expect, on grammatical
grounds, to find such ideas expressed by the constructions J v£ ( jj *•—^J; with this
rendering a satisfactory sensé was obtained (in the Suicide examples) only by considerably helping out the
text in the translation. — I am pleased to be able to mention that Dr. Gardiner, having read this article in
manuscript, now fully agrées with my interprétation of bit m.
(S) For hpr n X "to be possible to X", cf. Ebers Papyrus, 5i, 22 : "lie cannot look at his belly, it hurts
him too much" (of a man with a stiff neck) ; and Kahun Papyri, 5, 21 : " she cannot drink" (reading 1—\,
= > % P)-
(V> This interesting inversion, ( <=>, representing <=> "as to" after occurs also Ptahhotep, 273-i;
and compare page 107, foot-note h below.
Recueil, t. XXXIX. — Troisième série, t. VII. îU