Egyptian religious poetry

AMON 93

habitation? I have built for thee great pylons of stone, and myself raised up their flag-staves of wood. I have set up for thee obelisks of the ever-enduring stone of Elephantine. Galleys cross the seas for thee, bringing the treasures of all foreign lands. On all people who disobey thy command I bring an evil fate.

Now I call to thee from the ends of the earth,O Amon. All that I have done was done for love of thee. O Father Amon, I cry to thee, for am in the midst of many foes, the whole of this land is against me. I am my only defence, for my troops have deserted me, my chariots never stayed for me, though I cried to them ; there was not one who hearkened to my call.

Now to Amon I cry, and I shall find that Amon is more to me than millions of soldiers, more than hundreds of thousands of chariots, more than thousands of brothers or sons, all put together. The work of many men is as nothing compared with the greatness of Amon. I wait upon thy command, O God ! I call to thee from the ends of the earth, let my cry be heard in Hermonthis. [E.E.L., p. 263]

7

How happy are the temple and the day-watchers, for the King of the Gods is therein. How powerful is Amon, the divine lover, when he shines forth in Ipt-isut, his city. O Beautiful Face, O Mighty One, O Lover, to whom the gods desire to look, as the mighty one who comes forth from heaven. All people, all people of Amon’s temple, rejoice. It is happy, for Amon himself is the lover of the prince.

[J-E.A., xvi (1930), p. 57]