Part 34 (1/2)
14 B.-The writing and the clay appear to show that this also came from _Alasiya_. It included twenty-two lines, but is much broken. The following may be read:
”Lo! as a present to thee I have sent five pieces of copper, three (pounds) of good copper, one (?), one (weapon?)-a s.h.i.+pload. Also, my brother, these men of this royal s.h.i.+p ... and as for thee, the s.h.i.+p ...
speedily ... is sent. Thou art my brother. You desire a salutation, and I have given it to thee. This man, the servant of the King my Lord, does not he approach before them? and thou, my brother, send him speedily (under escort?).”
16 B.-The ordinary salutation is much broken, but the writing, and the clay of the tablet, seem to show that the letter came from _Alasiya_. The second paragraph mentions countries called _Umdhi_ ... and _Tim_ ...
possibly Hamath and Damascus. The third paragraph continues:
”And now behold why do you ... your fortress more than my fortress; and who is it that has vexed us? It is the abode of a hundred sons of violence. So now ... my brother, because of this, the city _Khumme_ has meditated evil, and if ... why not gather, and ... to preserve, since it is necessary that they should be protected from what ...”
The remainder, including a note for the King's scribe, is too broken to read.
17 B.-A mere fragment, apparently from _Alasiya_, contains a list of presents, including five wooden thrones (or chairs), objects of silver, a wooden footstool, and a weight of one _manah_ of some other substance.
CUNEIFORM INSCRIPTIONS AND HIERATIC PAPYRI
Translated by Various Egyptologists
The Great Tablet Of Rameses II At Abu-Simbel
Translated by Edouard Naville
In the great temple of Abu-Simbel, between two pillars of the first hall, there is a large tablet, which has been added, evidently, a long time after the completion of the temple. This tablet, which is the object of the present translation, is covered with a text of thirty-seven lines, containing a speech of the G.o.d Ptah Totunen to the King Rameses II, and the answer of the King.
It was very likely considered by the kings of Egypt to be a remarkable piece of literature, as it has been repeated, with slight alterations, on the pylons of the temple of Medinet-Habu, built by Rameses III. The tablet, which is decaying rapidly, has been published three times: first, by Burton, in the ”_Excerpta Hieroglyphica_,” pl. 60; then from the copies of Champollion, in the ”_Monuments de l'Egypte et de la Nubie_,” I, pl.
38; and, finally, by Lepsius, ”_Denkmaler_,” III, pl. 193. The inscription of Medinet-Habu has been copied and published by M. Duemichen, in his ”_Historische Inschriften_,” I, pl. 7-10, and by M. Jacques de Rouge, in his ”_Inscriptions recueillis en Egypte_,” II, pl. 131-138.
I am not aware that any complete translation of this long text has been made. The first part has been translated into German by Mr. Duemichen (”_Die Flotte einer aegyptischen Konigin_,” _Einleitung_), from the text at Medinet-Habu; a portion of it is also to be found in Brugsch, ”_aegyptische Geschichte_,” p. 538. The present translation I have made from the tablet, which, being more ancient than the inscription, is very likely to be the original. It contains an interesting allusion to the marriage of Rameses with a daughter of the King of the Kheta. The inscription at Medinet-Habu, which is written more carefully than the tablet, and with less abbreviations, has given me a clue to several obscure pa.s.sages of the ancient text.
The tablet is surmounted by a cornice, with the winged disk. Underneath, the G.o.d Totunen is seen standing, and before him Rameses, who strikes with his mace a group of enemies whom he holds by the hair. Behind the G.o.d are the ovals of six foreign nations, most likely Asiatics: _Auentem_, _Hebuu_, _Tenfu_, _Temuu_, _Hetau_, _Emtebelu_.
The inscription above the G.o.d is as follows:
”Said by PTAH-TOTUNEN, with the high plumes, armed with horns, who generates the G.o.ds every day: (I am) thy father, I have begotten thee like a G.o.d, to be a king in my stead. I have transmitted to thee all the lands which I have created; their chiefs bring thee their tribute, they come bearing their presents because of their great fear; all foreign nations are united under thy feet, they are to thee eternally; thy eye is fixed on their heads forever.”
TABLET OF RAMESES II
1 The 35th year, the 13th of the month Tybi, under the reign of Ra-Haremakhu, the strong bull, beloved of truth, the Lord of the Thirty Years, like his father Ptah, Totunen, the Lord of Diadems, the protector of Egypt, the chastiser of foreign lands, Ra, the father of the G.o.ds, who possesses Egypt, the golden hawk, the Master of Years, the most mighty sovereign of Upper and Lower Egypt.
2 Ra-userma-sotep-en-Ra, the son of Ra, the issue of Totunen, the child of the Queen Sekhet, Rameses, beloved of Amen, ever living.
Thus speaks Ptah-Totunen with the high plumes, armed with horns, the father of the G.o.ds, to his son who loves him,
3 the first-born of his loins, the G.o.d who is young again, the prince of the G.o.ds, the master of the thirty years, like Totunen, King Rameses.(433) I am thy father, I have begotten thee like a G.o.d; all thy limbs are divine. I took the form of the ram of