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(For)

a necklace. (I) built a

[censer] temple for Satet, for Anuket and Khnum, lord of the cataract, of 'sculptured a stone. (I) built a temple for Horus of Nubia (T-pdt) in the (nome of) Apollinopolis Magna (Wts-Hr)b [made] (it) as his monument for Atum, lord of Heliopolis: silver vessels a golden dwd't, a silver

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royal statue of ―d for Sais. Buto, mistress of Pe and Dep, was fashioned, a copper bowl [_] A royal statue of Sesostris (III) for Pe -- Nephthys (For) the Nine Gods in Khereha (Hr-h): a copper bowl; Hapi was fashioned. (I) sailed upstream to Elephantine, offering-tables were given to the southern gods. (For) Hathor, mistress of Dendera: a golden hm'g t-stone necklace, mistress of Cusae: a hm'g't-stone necklace, a mŝn t-stone necklace

a- stone necklace

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(For) Hathor,

This list of the king's good works for the gods doubtless comes from the Heliopolis temple, the building of which is recorded in our leather roll, as follows:

501. 'Year 3

Third month of the first season, day —, under

The majesty of the King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Kheperkere, Son of Re, Sesostris (I), triumphant.

Living forever and ever.

"When the king appeared in the double crown,

Occurred the sitting in the audience-hall,

One took counsel with his suite,

The companions of the court,

acḥ, see IV, 231, ll. 6, 8, and 11; possibly we should render Sehe here with its usual meaning, "erect," and regard the following sign (the builder), as the determinative, and render "I erected."

bSecond nome of Upper Egypt.

The inscription here passes around the corner of the block; it is uncertain whether the two faces should be connected as above.

dRemains of a cartouche.

eInserted by the Empire scribe.

f This hall (dɔdw) is mentioned also in the reign of Sahure (see § 239), where it was part of a house called: "Sahure-Shines-or-Appears-With-Crowns." The name also occurs in the Fourth Dynasty in the same connection (Sethe, Urkunden, I, 22, l. 14), and must be an audience-hall.

The princes at the place of [-].
One commanded, while they heard,

One took counsel, while 4making them reveal:
"Behold, my majesty is exacting a work,
And taking thought in an excellent matter.
For 5the future I will make a monument,
And set up an abiding stela for Harakhte.

502. He begat me to do that which he did, To execute that which he commanded to do. He appointed me shepherd of this land.

He recognized him who should defend it,
He hath given to me that which he protects,

And that which the eye,b that is in him, illuminates.
'Doing throughout as he desires.

I have 'rendered that which he exacted d

I am a king of his character,

A sovereign, to whom he - not.

I conquered as a lad,

I was mighty in the egg.

He appointed me lord of the two halves,f

As a child, before the swaddling-clothes were loosed for me, He appointed me lord of mankind,

- "in the presence of the people.

He perfected me to be occupant of the palace,

As a youth, before my two - came forth.

He gave his length and his breadth [to me].

Who have been brought up 12in his character, which he took.

To whom was given the land; I am its lord.

My fames has reached 13the height of heaven,
My excellence D

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The king.

The sun; that which the eye illuminates is, of course, the earth.

cIt is all obedient to him?

dA very uncertain line.

f Upper and Lower Egypt.

*A mutilated line.

8Lit.: "Fame for me

14He has commanded me to conquer that which he conquered, Horus, who have numbered his limbs.1

503. I have established the offerings of 15the gods,

I will make a work, namely, a great house,

For my father Atum.

Heb will make it broad, according as he has caused me to conquer.

16I will victual his altars on earth,

I will build my house in the [-]

My beauty shall be remembered in his house,

My name is the pyramidion, and my name is the lake,d

Eternity is that excellent thing which I have made;

The king 18 dies not, who is mentioned by reason of his achievements.

It is my name - which is mentioned 19in reality,

Which passes not away because of eternal things.

That which I make is that which shall be,

That which I seek is 2°the excellent things.
Excellent food is [—].

It is vigilance in eternal things."

504. II. 'Then spake these companions of the king,

And they answered before their god:e

"Hu is [in] thy mouth, and Esyef is behind thee.

O sovereign, it is thy plans which are realized,

O king, who shinest as Favorite of the Two Goddesses,
To 3-1 in thy temple.

It is excellent to look to the morrow,

And with excellent things, to (coming) time.

a First person.

"We expect “I,” viz., “I will make it broad according as he has made my kingdom broad."

1. 24.

Sh, which occurs also as the place where a temple is built, in II, 890,

dMeaning that these accessories of the temple will be memorials of his name. By a curious accident, the only witness to the king's building surviving on the spot is his solitary obelisk (at Maṭarîyeh-Heliopolis), surmounted as usual by the "pyramidion."

eThe king.

f Hu and Esye are the deities of taste and wisdom.

The multitude completes nothing without thee,a

For thy majesty is the two eyes of all people.

Thou art great that thou mayest make thy monument, 5In Heliopolis, the dwelling of the gods.

Before thy father, the lord of the great house,

Atum, the bull of the gods.

Let thy house arise, 'that it may offer to the oblation-tablet;

That it may do the service for its favorite statue,

For thy figure in all eternity.

505. The king himself said

To the wearer of the royal seal, the sole companion,
The overseer of the double White House,

The privy councilor of [-];

It is thy counsel, which shall cause the work to be done.
Of which my majesty desires, that it should be;
Thou art the commander belonging to it,

Who shall do, according to that which is in my heart,

That it may come to pass without laxity,
That all the work

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13I have commanded those who work,

To do according as thou shalt exact.

506. The king was crowned with the diadem,

14All the people were following him,

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The chief ritual priest and scribe of the sacred book stretched 15the cord, .the 'stake in the earth,

16— was done in this temple,

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His majesty had a royal scribe go before the people, 18 Who were gathered [in] one place, south and north,

19.

aText has nb for k—a mistake which could have been made only from the hieroglyphic, thus showing that the scribe certainly had the stone original before him.

bFour verses are omitted.

<This is a description of the usual measuring and staking out of the ground plan of the temple, which was a sacred ceremony conducted by the king in person.

INSCRIPTION OF MERIa

507. The usual texts of the Middle Kingdom mortuary stelæ are here preceded by seven lines referring to the building of Sesostris I's pyramid-chapel, which was intrusted to Meri. The mention of columns and gates may indicate that only the chapel, and not the pyramid entire, is meant." If the date at the top is, as we may suppose, that of Meri's death, then Sesostris I had completed his mortuary chapel, and perhaps his pyramid at Lisht, by his ninth year.

508. 'Year 9, second month of the first season, day 20, 2under the majesty of Sesostris I, living like Re, forever. 3His real servant, his favorite, who does all that which he praises every day, 4the revered assistant treasurer, Meri (Mry), born of Menkhet (Mnh t), says:

509. I was a zealous servant, great in character, amiable in love. "My lord sent me with a commission, because I was so very zealous, to execute for him an eternal dwelling, greater in name than Rosta, and more excellente in appointments than any place, the excellent district of the gods. Its columns pierced heaven; the lake which was dug, it reachedh the river; the gates, towering 'heavenward, were of limestone of Troja. Osiris, First of the Westerners, rejoiced over all the monuments of my lord; I myself rejoiced, and my heart was glad at that which I had executed.

a Mortuary stela in the Louvre (C 3), published by Pierret, Inscriptions, II, 104, 105; Gayet, Stèles, IV, V; Maspero, Mélanges d'archéologie égyptienne, II, 221 f.; again Maspero, Études de mythologie et d'archéologie, III, 208 f.; and Piehl, Inscriptions, I, II-IV. Of these, the only careful copy is Piehl's. He also offers an excellent translation (ibid., 3-5).

bThis chapel and pyramid at Lisht were excavated by J. E. Gautier (Mémoire sur les fouilles de Licht par J. E. Gautier et G. Jéquier [Cairo, 1902], 3-43; in Mémoires de l'Institut, VI, fasc. 1).

cFull titulary.

dThe pyramid; it is lit., "an eternal seat."

eLit.: "More advanced."

f Read wert, originally a bend in the cliffs or river. Maspero reads whm't, "repeating, reproducing the excellences of the gods." Compare Piehl, Inscriptions, I, 4.

Piehl's text has "walls."

hThis may be figurative, viz., "reached," in the sense of "equaled," which suits the context.

i Belonging to the chapel on the east side.

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