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The Literature of the Ancient Egyptians by E. A. Wallis Budge

E >> E. A. Wallis Budge >> The Literature of the Ancient Egyptians







CHAPTER VIII

HISTORICAL LITERATURE


The historical period of Egyptian history, that is to say, the period
during which Egypt was ruled by kings, each one calling himself
NESU-BATI, or "King of the South, King of the North," covers about 4400
years according to some Egyptologists, and 3300 years according to
others. Of the kings of All Egypt who reigned during the period we know
the names of about two hundred, but only about one hundred and fifty
have left behind them monuments that enable us to judge of their power
and greatness. There is no evidence to show that the Egyptians ever
wrote history in our sense of the word, and there is not in existence
any native work that can be regarded as a history of Egypt. The only
known attempt in ancient times to write a history of Egypt was that made
by Manetho, a skilled scribe and learned man, who, in the reign of
Ptolemy II Philadelphus (289-246 B.C.), undertook to write a history of
the country, which was to be placed in the Great Library at Alexandria.
The only portion of this History that has come down to us is the List of
Kings, which formed a section of it; this List, in a form more or less
accurate, is extant in the works of Africanus and Eusebius. According to
the former 553 or 554 kings ruled over Egypt in 5380 years, and
according to the latter 421 or 423 kings ruled over Egypt in 4547 or
4939 years. It is quite certain that the principal acts and wars of each
king were recorded by the court scribes, or official "remembrancer" or
"recorder" of the day, and there is no doubt that such records were
preserved in the "House of Books," or Library, of the local temple for
reference if necessary. If this were not so it would have been
impossible for the scribes of the eighteenth and nineteenth dynasties to
compile the lists of kings found on the Palermo Stone, and in the Turin
Papyrus, and on the Tablets set up by Seti I and Rameses II at Abydos,
and on the Tablet of Ancestors at Karnak. These Lists, however, seem to
show that the learned scribes of the later period were not always sure
of the true sequence of the names, and that when they were dealing with
the names of the kings of the first two dynasties they were not always
certain even about the correct spelling and reading of their names. The
reason why the Egyptians did not write the history of their country from
a general point of view is easily explained. Each king wished to be
thought as great as possible, and each king's courtiers lost no
opportunity of showing that they believed him to be the greatest king
who had sat on the throne of Egypt. To magnify the deeds of his
ancestors was neither politic nor safe, nor did it lead to favours or
promotion. In no inscription of their descendants do we find the mighty
deeds and great conquests of Amenemhat III, or of Usertsen III, or of
Thothmes III, praised or described, and no court scribe ever dared to
draft a text stating that these were truly three of the greatest kings
of Egypt. When a local chief succeeded in making himself king of All
Egypt he did not concern himself with preserving records of the great
deeds of the king whose throne he had seized. When foreign foes invaded
Egypt and conquered it their followers raided the towns, burnt and
destroyed all that could be got rid of, and smashed the monuments
recording the prowess of the king they had overthrown. The net result of
all this is that the history of Egypt can only be partially constructed,
and that the sources of our information are a series of texts that were
written to glorify individual kings, and not to describe the history of
a dynasty, or the general development of the country, or the working out
of a policy. In attempting to draw up a connected account of a reign or
period the funerary inscriptions of high officials are often more useful
than the royal inscriptions. In the following pages are given extracts
from annals, building inscriptions, narratives of conquests, and
"triumph inscriptions" of an official character; specimens of the
funerary inscriptions that describe military expeditions, and supply
valuable information about the general history of events, will be given
in the chapter on Biographical Inscriptions.

The earliest known annals are found on a stone which is preserved in the
Museum at Palermo, and which for this reason is called "The Palermo
Stone"; the Egyptian text was first published by Signor A. Pellegrini in
1896. How the principal events of certain years of the reigns of kings
from the Predynastic Period to the middle of the fifth dynasty are noted
is shown by the following:

[Reign of] SENEFERU. Year ...

The building of Tuataua ships of _mer_ wood of a hundred capacity,
and 60 royal boats of sixteen capacity.

Raid in the Land of the Blacks (_i.e._ the Sudan), and the bringing
in of seven thousand prisoners, men and women, and twenty thousand
cattle, sheep, and goats.

Building of the Wall of the South and North [called] House of
Seneferu.

The bringing of forty ships of cedar wood (or perhaps "laden with
cedar wood").

[Height of the Nile.] Two cubits, two fingers.


[Reign of Seneferu.] Year ...

The making of thirty-five ... 122 cattle

The construction of one Tuataua ship of cedar wood of a hundred
capacity, and two ships of _mer_ wood of a hundred capacity.

The numbering for the seventh time.

[Height of the Nile.] Five cubits, one hand, one finger.

The royal historical inscriptions of the first eleven dynasties are very
few, and their contents are meagre and unimportant. As specimens of
historical documents of the twelfth dynasty the following may be quoted:


EDICT AGAINST THE BLACKS

This short inscription is dated in the eighth year of the reign of
Usertsen III. "The southern frontier in the eighth year under the
Majesty of the King of the South and North, Khakaura (Usertsen III),
endowed with life for ever. No Black whatsoever shall be permitted to
pass [this stone] going down stream, whether travelling by land or
sailing in a boat, with cattle, asses, goats, &c., belonging to the
Blacks, with the exception of such as cometh to do business in the
country of Aqen[1] or on an embassy. Such, however, shall be well
entreated in every way. No boats belonging to the Blacks shall in future
be permitted to pass down the river by the region of Heh."[2]

[Footnote 1: This district has not been identified.]

[Footnote 2: The district of Semnah and Kummah, about 40 miles south of
Wadi Halfah.]

The methods of Usertsen III and his opinions of the Sudani folk are
illustrated by the following inscription which he set up at Semnah, a
fort built by him at the foot of the Second Cataract.

"In the third month[1] of the season Pert His Majesty fixed the boundary
of Egypt on the south at Heh (Semnah). I made my boundary and went
further up the river than my fathers. I added greatly to it. I give
commands [therein]. I am the king, and what is said by me is done. What
my heart conceiveth my hand bringeth to pass. I am [like] the crocodile
which seizeth, carrieth off, and destroyeth without mercy. Words (or
matters) do not remain dormant in my heart. To the coward soft talk
suggesteth longsuffering; this I give not to my enemies. Him who
attacketh me I attack. I am silent in the matter that is for silence; I
answer as the matter demandeth. Silence after an attack maketh the heart
of the enemy bold. The attack must be sudden like that of a crocodile.
The man who hesitateth is a coward, and a wretched creature is he who is
defeated on his own territory and turned into a slave. The Black
understandeth talk only. Speak to him and he falleth prostrate. He
fleeth before a pursuer, and he pursueth only him that fleeth. The
Blacks are not bold men; on the contrary, they are timid and weak, and
their hearts are cowed. My Majesty hath seen them, and [what I say] is
no lie.

[Footnote 1: = January-February.]

"I seized their women, I carried off their workers in the fields, I came
to their wells, I slew their bulls, I cut their corn and I burnt it.
This I swear by the life of my father. I speak the truth; there is no
doubt about the matter, and that which cometh forth from my mouth cannot
be gainsaid. Furthermore, every son of mine who shall keep intact this
boundary which My Majesty hath made, is indeed my son; he is the son who
protecteth his father, if he keep intact the boundary of him that begot
him. He who shall allow this boundary to be removed, and shall not fight
for it, is not my son, and he hath not been begotten by me. Moreover, My
Majesty hath caused to be made a statue of My Majesty on this my
boundary, not only with the desire that ye should prosper thereby, but
that ye should do battle for it."


CAMPAIGN OF THOTHMES II IN THE SUDAN

The following extract illustrates the inscriptions in which the king
describes an expedition into a hostile country which he has conducted
with success. It is taken from an inscription of Thothmes II, which is
cut in hieroglyphs on a rock by the side of the old road leading from
Elephantine to Philae, and is dated in the first year of the king's
reign. The opening lines enumerate the names and titles of the king, and
proclaim his sovereignty over the Haunebu, or the dwellers in the
northern Delta and on the sea coast, Upper and Lower Egypt, Nubia and
the Eastern Desert, including Sinai, Syria, the lands of the Fenkhu, and
the countries that lie to the south of the modern town of Khartum. The
next section states: "A messenger came in and saluted His Majesty and
said: The vile people of Kash (_i.e._ Cush, Northern Nubia) are in
revolt. The subjects of the Lord of the Two Lands (_i.e._ the King of
Egypt) have become hostile to him, and they have begun to fight. The
Egyptians [in Nubia] are driving down their cattle from the shelter of
the stronghold which thy father Thothmes [I] built to keep back the
tribes of the South and the tribes of the Eastern Desert." The last part
of the envoy's message seems to contain a statement that some of the
Egyptians who had settled in Nubia had thrown in their lot with the
Sudani folk who were in revolt. The text continues: "When His Majesty
heard these words he became furious like a panther (or leopard), and he
said: I swear by Ra, who loveth me, and by my father Amen, king of the
gods, lord of the thrones of the Two Lands, that I will not leave any
male alive among them. Then His Majesty sent a multitude of soldiers
into Nubia, now this was his first war, to effect the overthrow of all
those who had rebelled against the Lord of the Two Lands, and of all
those who were disaffected towards His Majesty. And the soldiers of His
Majesty arrived in the miserable land of Kash, and overthrew these
savages, and according to the command of His Majesty they left no male
alive, except one of the sons of the miserable Prince of Kash, who was
carried away alive with some of their servants to the place where His
Majesty was. His Majesty took his seat on his throne, and when the
prisoners whom his soldiers had captured were brought to him they were
placed under the feet of the good god. Their land was reduced to its
former state of subjection, and the people rejoiced and their chiefs
were glad. They ascribed praise to the Lord of the Two Lands, and they
glorified the god for his divine beneficence. This took place because of
the bravery of His Majesty, whom his father Amen loved more than any
other king of Egypt from the very beginning, the King of the South and
North, Aakheperenra, the son of Ra, Thothmes (II), whose crowns are
glorious, endowed with life, stability, and serenity, like Ra for ever."


CAPTURE OF MEGIDDO BY THOTHMES III

The following is the official account of the Battle of Megiddo in Syria,
which was won by Thothmes III in the twenty-third year of his reign. The
narrative is taken from the Annals of Thothmes III. The king set out
from Thebes and marched into Syria, and received the submission of
several small towns, and having made his way with difficulty through the
hilly region to the south of the city of Megiddo, he camped there to
prepare for the battle. "Then the tents of His Majesty were pitched, and
orders were sent out to the whole army, saying, Arm yourselves, get your
weapons ready, for we shall set out to do battle with the miserable
enemy at daybreak. The king sat in his tent, the officers made their
preparations, and the rations of the servants were provided. The
military sentries went about crying, Be firm of heart. Be firm of heart.
Keep watch, keep watch. Keep watch over the life of the king in his
tent. And a report was brought to His Majesty that the country was
quiet, and that the foot soldiers of the south and north were ready. On
the twenty-first day of the first month of the season Shemu
(March-April) of the twenty-third year of the reign of His Majesty, and
the day of the festival of the new moon, which was also the anniversary
of the king's coronation, at dawn, behold, the order was given to set
the whole army in motion. His Majesty set out in his chariot of
silver-gold, and he had girded on himself the weapons of battle, like
Horus the Slayer, the lord of might, and he was like unto Menthu [the
War-god] of Thebes, and Amen his father gave strength to his arms. The
southern half of the army was stationed on a hill to the south of the
stream Kina, and the northern half lay to the south-west of Megiddo; His
Majesty was between them, and Amen was protecting him and giving
strength to his body. His Majesty at the head of his army attacked his
enemies, and broke their line, and when they saw that he was
overwhelming them they broke and fled to Megiddo in a panic, leaving
their horses and their gold and silver chariots on the field. [The
fugitives] were pulled up by the people over the walls into the city;
now they let down their clothes by which to pull them up. If the
soldiers of His Majesty had not devoted themselves to securing loot of
the enemy, they would have been able to capture the city of Megiddo at
the moment when the vile foes from Kadesh and the vile foes from this
city were being dragged up hurriedly over the walls into this city; for
the terror of His Majesty had entered into them, and their arms dropped
helplessly, and the serpent on his crown overthrew them. Their horses
and their chariots [which were decorated] with gold and silver were
seized as spoil, and their mighty men of war lay stretched out dead upon
the ground like fishes, and the conquering soldiers of His Majesty went
about counting their shares. And behold, the tent of the vile chief of
the enemy, wherein was his son, was also captured. Then all the soldiers
rejoiced greatly, and they glorified Amen, because he had made his son
(_i.e._ the king) victorious on that day, and they praised His Majesty
greatly, and acclaimed his triumph. And they collected the loot which
they had taken, viz. hands [cut off the dead], prisoners, horses,
chariots [decorated with] gold and silver," etc.

In spite of the joy of the army Thothmes was angry with his troops for
having failed to capture the city. Every rebel chief was in Megiddo, and
its capture would have been worth more than the capture of a thousand
other cities, for he could have slain all the rebel chiefs, and the
revolt would have collapsed completely. Thothmes then laid siege to the
city, and he threw up a strong wall round about it, through which none
might pass, and the daily progress of the siege was recorded on a
leather roll, which was subsequently preserved in the temple of Amen at
Thebes. After a time the chiefs in Megiddo left their city and advanced
to the gate in the siege-wall and reported that they had come to tender
their submission to His Majesty, and it was accepted. They brought to
him rich gifts of gold, silver, lapis-lazuli, turquoise, wheat, wine,
cattle, sheep, goats, &c., and he reappointed many of the penitent
chiefs to their former towns as vassals of Egypt. Among the gifts were
340 prisoners, 83 hands, 2041 mares, 191 foals, 6 stallions, a royal
chariot with a golden pole, a second royal chariot, 892 chariots, total
924 chariots; 2 royal coats of mail, 200 ordinary coats of mail, 502
bows, 7 tent poles inlaid with gold, 1929 cattle, 2000 goats, and 20,500
sheep.


THE CONQUESTS OF THOTHMES III SUMMARISED BY
AMEN-RA, KING OF THE GODS

The conquests of Thothmes III were indeed splendid achievements, and the
scribes of his time summarised them very skilfully in a fine text which
they had cut in hieroglyphs on a large stele at Karnak. The treatment
is, of course, somewhat poetical, but there are enough historical facts
underlying the statements to justify a rendering of it being given in
this chapter. The text is supposed to be a speech of Amen-Ra, the lord
of the thrones of the Two Lands, to the king. He says:

"Thou hast come to me, thou hast rejoiced in beholding my beneficence, O
my son, my advocate, Menkheperra, living for ever! I rise upon thee
through my love for thee. My heart rejoiceth at thy auspicious comings
to my temple. My hands knit together thy limbs with the fluid of life;
sweet unto me are thy gracious acts towards my person. I have stablished
thee in my sanctuary. I have made thee to be a source of wonder [to
men]. I have given unto thee strength and conquests over all lands. I
have set thy Souls and the fear of thee in all lands. The terror of thee
hath penetrated to the four pillars of the sky. I have made great the
awe of thee in all bodies. I have set the roar of Thy Majesty everywhere
[in the lands of] the Nine Bows (_i.e._ Nubia). The Chiefs of all lands
are grouped in a bunch within thy fist. I put out my two hands; I tied
them in a bundle for thee. I collected the Antiu of Ta-sti[1] in tens of
thousands and thousands, and I made captives by the hundred thousand of
the Northern Nations. I have cast down thy foes under thy sandals, thou
hast trampled upon the hateful and vile-hearted foes even as I commanded
thee. The length and breadth of the earth are thine, and those who dwell
in the East and the West are vassals unto thee. Thou hast trodden upon
all countries, thy heart is expanded (_i.e._ glad). No one dareth to
approach Thy Majesty with hostility, because I am thy guide to conduct
thee to them. Thou didst sail over the Great Circuit of water (the
Euphrates) of Nehren (Aram Naharayim, or Mesopotamia) with strength and
power. I have commanded for thee that they should hear thy roarings, and
run away into holes in the ground. I stopped up their nostrils [shutting
out] the breath of life. I have set the victories of Thy Majesty in
their minds. The fiery serpent Khut which is on thy forehead burnt them
up. It made thee to grasp as an easy prey the Ketu peoples, it burnt up
the dwellers in their marshes with its fire. The Princes of the Aamu
(Asiatics) have been slaughtered, not one of them remains, and the sons
of the mighty men have fallen. I have made thy mighty deeds to go
throughout all lands, the serpent on my crown hath illumined thy
territory, nothing that is an abomination unto thee existeth in all the
wide heaven, and the people come bearing offerings upon their backs,
bowing to the ground before Thy Majesty, in accordance with my decree. I
made impotent those who dared to attack thee, their hearts melted and
their limbs quaked.

[Footnote 1: The natives of the Eastern Desert of Nubia.]

[Illustration: Stele on which is cut the Speech of Amen-Ra, summarising
the Conquests of Thothmes III.]

"I have come, making thee to trample under foot the Chief of Tchah
(Syria), I have cast them down under thy feet in all the lands, I have
made them to behold Thy Majesty as the 'lord of beams' (_i.e._ the
Sun-god), thou hast shone on their faces as the image of me.

"I have come, making thee to trample under foot the people of Asia, thou
hast led away captive the Chiefs of the Aamu of Retenu, I have made them
to behold Thy Majesty arrayed in thy decorations, grasping the weapons
for battle, [mounted] on thy chariot.

"I have come, making thee to trample under foot the land of the East,
thou hast trodden upon those who dwell in the districts of the Land of
the God, I have made them to see thee as the brilliant star that
shooteth out light and fire and scattereth its dew.

"I have come, making thee to trample under foot the land of the West,
Kefti (Phoenicia) and Asi (Cyprus) are in awe of thee. I have made them
to see Thy Majesty as a young bull, steady-hearted, with horns ready to
strike, invincible.

"I have come, making thee to trample under foot those who are in their
marshes, the Lands of Methen (Mitani) quake through their fear of thee.
I have made them to see Thy Majesty as the crocodile, the lord of terror
in the water, unassailable.

"I have come, making thee to trample under foot those who dwell in the
Islands, those who live in the Great Green (Mediterranean) hear thy
roarings, I have made them to see Thy Majesty as the slayer when he
mounteth on the back of his sacrificial animal.

"I have come, making thee to trample under foot the Thehenu (Libyans),
the Islands of the Uthentiu [have submitted to] the power of thy Souls.
I have made them to see Thy Majesty as a savage lion, which hath
scattered the dead bodies of the people throughout their valleys.

"I have come, making thee to trample under foot the uttermost ends of
the earth, the Circuit of the Great Circuit is in thy grasp, I have made
them to see Thy Majesty as the hawk, which seizeth what it seeth when it
pleaseth.

"I have come, making thee to trample upon those who are on their
frontiers(?), thou hast smitten 'those on their sand' (_i.e._ the desert
dwellers), making them living captives. I have made them to see Thy
Majesty as a jackal of the south, moving fleetly and stealthily, and
traversing the Two Lands.

"I have come, making thee to trample under foot the Antiu of Ta-sti, as
far as ... they are in thy grasp. I have made them to see Thy Majesty as
the Two Brothers (Set and Horus), I have gathered together their arms
about thee with [strength].

"I have placed thy Two Sisters (Isis and Nephthys) near thee as
protectresses for thee, the arms of Thy Majesty are [lifted] upwards to
drive away evil. I have made thee strong and glorious, O my beloved Son,
thou Mighty Bull, crowned in Thebes, begotten by me ..., Thothmes, the
everliving, who hast performed for me all that my Ka wished. Thou hast
set up my sanctuary with work that shall endure for ever, thou hast
lengthened it and broadened it more than ever was done before. The great
pylon ... Thou hast celebrated the festival of the beauties of Amen-Ra,
thy monuments are greater than those of any king who hath existed, I
commanded thee to do it. I am satisfied with it. I have stablished thee
upon the throne of Horus for hundreds of thousands of years. Thou shalt
guide life ..."

[Illustration: A Page of the Hieratic Text, from the Great Harris
Papyrus in the British Museum, describing the great Works carried out by
Rameses III about 1200 B.C.]


SUMMARY OF THE REIGN OF RAMESES III

The reign of Rameses III is remarkable in the annals of the New Empire,
and the great works which this king carried out, and his princely
benefactions to the temples of Egypt, are described at great length in
his famous papyrus in the British Museum (Harris, No. 1, No. 9999). The
last section of the papyrus contains an excellent historical summary of
the reign of Rameses III, and as it is one of the finest examples of
this class of literature a translation of it is here given. The text is
written in the hieratic character and reads:

King Usermaatra-meri-Amen (Rameses III), life, strength, health [be to
him!] the great god, said unto the princes, and the chiefs of the land,
and the soldiers, and the charioteers, and the Shartanau soldiers, and
the multitudes of the bowmen, and all those who lived in the land of
Ta-mera (Egypt), Hearken ye, and I will cause you to know the splendid
deeds which I did when I was king of men. The land of Kamt was laid open
to the foreigner, every man [was ejected] from his rightful holding,
there was no "chief mouth" (_i.e._ ruler) for many years in olden times
until the new period [came]. The land of Egypt [was divided among]
chiefs and governors of towns, each one slew his neighbour. ... Another
period followed with years of nothingness (famine?). Arsu, a certain
Syrian, was with them as governor, he made the whole land to be one
holding before him. He collected his vassals, and mulcted them of their
possessions heavily. They treated the gods as if they were men, and they
offered up no propitiatory offerings in their temples. Now when the gods
turned themselves back to peace, and to the restoration of what was
right in the land, according to its accustomed and proper form, they
established their son who proceeded from their body to be Governor,
life, strength, health [be to him!], of every land, upon their great
throne, namely, Userkhara-setep-en-Amen-meri-Amen, life strength, health
[be to him!], the son of Ra, Set-nekht-merr-Ra-meri-Amen, life,
strength, health [be to him!]. He was like Khepra-Set when he is wroth.
He quieted the whole country which had been in rebellion. He slew the
evil-hearted ones who were in Ta-mera (Egypt). He purified the great
throne of Egypt. He was the Governor, life, strength, health [be to
him!], of the Two Lands, on the throne of Amen. He made to appear the
faces that had withdrawn themselves. Of those who had been behind walls
every man recognised his fellow. He endowed the temples with offerings
to offer as was right to the Nine Gods, according to use and wont. He
made me by a decree to be the Hereditary Chief in the seat of Keb. I
became the "Great High Mouth" of the lands of Egypt, I directed the
affairs of the whole land, which had been made one. He set on his double
horizon (_i.e._ he died) like the Nine Gods. There was performed for him
what was performed for Osiris; sailing in his royal boat on the river,
and resting [finally] in his house of eternity (_i.e._ the tomb) in
Western Thebes.

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