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THE STELE OF THOTHMES IV

1. The first year, the third month of the inundation (Athyr), the 19th day, under the Majesty of the Horus, the strong bull who produces the risings (of the sun), the master of diadems, whose royalty is stable as [that of] Tum, the golden hawk, prevailing with the glaive, the vanquisher of the nine bows, 1 king of the South and of the North, Men-khopiru-Ri, the son of the Sun, Thothmos Khakeu, beloved of Amon-Ra, king of the gods, giver of life serene, like Ra, eternally.

2. The good god lives, the son of Tuna, who lays claim on Harmakhis the sphinx, the life of the universal lord; the omnipotent 2 who creates the beneficent flesh of Khopri, beautiful of face like the chief his father. As soon as he issues forth, he is furnished with his forms, 3 [and the diadems] of Horus are on his head; king of the South and of the North, delight of the divine ennead, who purifies On, 4

3. who reigns 5 in the abode of Ptah, offering the truth to Tum, presenting 6 it to the master of the southern wall, 7 making endowments of daily offerings 8 to the god, accomplishing all that [now] exists and seeking [new] honours for the gods of the South and of the North, constructing their temples of white stone and confirming all their substance, 9 legitimate 10 son of Tum, Thothmos Khakeu, like unto Ra;

p. 54

4. heir of Horus, 1 master of his throne, Men-khopiru-ri, who gives life. Now, when his Majesty was a child, 2 in the character of Horus in Kheb, 3 his beauty [was] like that of [the god] who avenges his father (Osiris); it was regarded like that of the god himself; the soldiers raised shouts of joy because of him, the Royal sons and all the nobles submitting themselves to his valour 4 because of his exploits;

5. for he has renewed the circle of his victories, even as the son of Nut. 5 At that time he hunted 6 on the mountains of the Memphite nome, taking his pleasure, 7 along the roads of the South and of the North, 8 shooting at the target 9 with darts 10 of bronze, chasing the lions and the gazelles of the desert, advancing on his chariot with horses swifter

6. than the wind, together with only one of his servants, 11" without being recognised by any one. Then came his time for allowing repose to his servants, at the

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sopet 1 of Harmakhis and 2 of Sokaris In the necropolis, of Rannuti 3 with the male and female deities, 4 of the mother who engenders the gods of the North, 5 the mistress of the wall of the South,

7. Sekhet who reigns in Xois and in the domain of Set the great magician; 6—that sacred place of the creation, 7 [which goes back] to the days 8 of the masters of Kher, 9 the sacred path of the gods towards the western horizon of On; for the sphinx of Khopri, the very mighty, resides in this place, the greatest of the spirits, the most august of those who are venerated, when the shadow rests upon him. 10

The temples of Memphis and of all the districts which are on both sides [advance] towards him, with the two arms extended to adore his face,

8. with magnificent offerings for his double (ka). On one of these days, the royal son, Thothmos, being arrived, while walking at midday and seating himself under the shadow of this mighty god, was overcome by slumber and slept 11 at the very moment when Ra is at the summit (of heaven).

9. He found that the Majesty of this august god spoke to

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him with his own mouth, as a father speaks to his son, saying: Look upon me, contemplate me, O my son Thothmos; I am thy father, Harmakhis-Khopri-Ra-Tum; I bestow upon thee the sovereignty

10. over my domain, the supremacy 1 over the living; thou shalt wear its white crown and its red crown 2 on the throne of Seb the hereditary chief. 3 May the earth be thine in all its length and breadth; may the splendour of the universal master illumine (thee); may there come unto thee the abundance 4 that is in the double land, the riches brought from every country and the long duration of years. Thine is my face, thine is my heart; thy heart is mine. 5

11. Behold my actual condition that thou mayest protect all my perfect limbs. 6 The sand of the desert whereon I am laid has covered me. Save me, 7 causing all that is in my heart 8 to be executed. For I know that thou art my son, my avenger … approach (?), behold I am with thee. I am [thy father] …

12. … Afterwards [the prince awakened]; he understood the word of this god and kept silence in his heart … The temples of the district consecrate offerings to this god 9 …

13. … Khafri, 10 image made for Tum-Harmakhis …

14. … at the festivals …

Footnotes
  1. 53:1

    That is, of the barbarians.

  2. 53:2

    Ur sep, properly, "he whose vicissitudes are great."

  3. 53:3

    This word appears only in Young, Hieroglyphics, pl. 80.

  4. 53:4

    Or "restores On" (Heliopolis).

  5. 53:5

    Literally, "who wields the sceptre of the abode of Ptah," i.e. Memphis.

  6. 53:6

    Literally, "making it ascend (to the nostrils) of the god," as so often depicted on the monuments.

  7. 53:7

    Ptah. The southern wall was the part of Memphis where the temple of the god stood.

  8. 53:8

    Ameni-t-u.

  9. 53:9

    Or "their existences,'' pat-u.

  10. 53:10

    Literally "of his loins."

  11. 54:1

    Or "flesh of Horus."

  12. 54:2

    Anup, with the determinative of "infant," is used in the sense of "child," "youth," especially when reference is made to the royal family. See Brugsch, Dict. p. 92. Here the word signifies "hereditary prince."

  13. 54:3

    I.e. in the north of Egypt, where Horus had passed his early years under the charge of his mother Isis. The young prince is likened to Horus.

  14. 54:4

    Literally, "being under his double solar power" (of North and South).

  15. 54:5

    Here the god Set.

  16. 54:6

    The word sam, which is without a determinative, may not signify "to hunt" here. Brugsch (Zeitschrift, 1876, p. 93) thinks that the sokheti-u (or perhaps sam-ti-u), sometimes represented as holding a lance, were warriors or huntsmen. They were more probably shepherds, who when leading their flocks to the "fields" (sokhet, sam) were armed in order to defend their flocks and themselves.

  17. 54:7

    Literally, "rejoicing his face."

  18. 54:8

    Going from south to north.

  19. 54:9

    Heb, with the determinative of a piece of wood on a base and transfixed by featherless arrows.

  20. 54:10

    Khomt means merely objects of bronze. If the determinative of heb is exactly represented in the copy the objects would be darts.

  21. 54:11

    Uā, "one," is repeated twice in the copies and hitherto the translation has been "one and one," i.e. "two." I know no other example of such an expression, however, and believe the second uâ to be the result of error. No doubt in the next sentence the servants are spoken of in the plural (shes-u), but the prince was evidently followed by an escort. Here reference is made only to his companion in the chariot.

  22. 55:1

    Sopt has hitherto been rendered "to make offerings," but the word which has no determinative, denotes, I believe, a locality consecrated to the gods in question. Here perhaps it signifies a quarry or trench running, as is afterwards stated, in the direction of Heliopolis.

  23. 55:2

    Literally, "by the side of."

  24. 55:3

    The divine nurse.

  25. 55:4

    This sense of the words has been suggested by Prof. Maspero.

  26. 55:5

    Young's copy here contains more characters than that of Lepsius.

  27. 55:6

    The names of the divinities honoured in the locality mentioned seem to me to be inserted in order to determine the place with more precision; perhaps reference is made to the gorge which leads to the Sphinx. The sentence is continued, not by heka-ur but by as-t zeser ten, in apposition to what precedes. Ur-u appears to be in the plural and thus to refer to Sekhet and Set.

  28. 55:7

    Literally, "of the first time," an expression generally used of the creation.

  29. 55:8

    Or perhaps, "which extends to the domains of the masters of Kher."

  30. 55:9

    An old name of the Egyptian Babylon, now Old Cairo. The road mentioned here appears to be different from that followed by Piankhi when going from Memphis to Babylon.

  31. 55:10

    Literally, "the time when the shadow rests upon him."

  32. 55:11

    Or "a dream which sleep produces took him."

  33. 56:1

    The last words are found only in Young's copy.

  34. 56:2

    The crowns of Upper and Lower Egypt. The feminine pronoun is suffixed to the words.

  35. 56:3

    Common title of Seb, indicating the antiquity of his cult. The title (erpa) dates from a period when as yet there was no suten or "king," and recalls an age of primitive feudalism. Amon, who became the supreme deity in the time of the Theban dynasties, is suten or "king" of the gods, as first pointed out by Professor Maspero.

  36. 56:4

    Literally, "provisions."

  37. 56:5

    The two copies differ here; I supply ab ("heart") before k-n-a.

  38. 56:6

    Restored from Young's copy: "behold for thee my destiny, as being in protection of my limbs."

  39. 56:7

    Literally, "heal me."

  40. 56:8

    That is, what my heart desires.

  41. 56:9

    Brugsch conjecturally restores the passage thus: "[Without thinking of freeing from sand the work of king] Khafra, the image he had made for the god Tum-Harmakhis." If we consider the Sphinx as really older than Khafri, the latter part of the proposed translation must be abandoned.

  42. 56:10

    Khephren of the fourth dynasty.

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