Egyptian religious poetry

98 EGYPTIAN RELIGIOUS POETRY His is the dew which falls from heaven : that makes the barley

and creates the wheat.

When he rises, the land is in joy and exultation : all people are joyful ; every mouth laughs till every tooth stands revealed.

He is the bringer of bread, and is rich in food: he creates herbage for the cattle, fills the storehouses, and gives gifts to the poor.

When the Nile flood rises, offerings are made to him.

O let all men extol the Nine Gods : and stand in awe of him who makes green the land.

Thou art green, O Nile; thou art green, thou art green, O Nile; thou art green, O Nile. [EE.L., p. 146]

5 HYMN TO PTAH

] HAVE sinned against Ptah, against the Lord of Truth : I swore by his name, and my swearing was false.

He smote me on the eyes and darkness came upon me: at noonday, at noonday, fell the darkness.

O Lord of Truth, I will declare thy power to the learned and the unlearned : to the great and to the small ; to all will I make thy power known.

The Lord of Truth abominates lies : beware then of swearing falsely, for he that speaketh a lie shall be cast down.

Behold me, as a dog of the street, as a sign unto gods and men am I: struck down by his hand, for I had wrought evil in his sight.

O righteous God, after chastisement, have mercy : look upon thy servant and show mercy. [J.E.A., ili (1916), p. 88]