all encounter the hour of a last end.
The moment of that day will diminish the valor of the rich
...(543)

Mind thee of the day, when thou too shalt start for the land,
to which one goeth to return not thence.
Good for thee then will have been (an honest life,)
therefore be just and hate transgressions,
for he who loveth justice (will be blessed).
The coward and the bold, neither can fly, (the grave)
the friendless and proud are alike ...
Then let thy bounty give abundantly, as is fit,
(love) truth, and Isis shall bless the good,
(and thou shalt attain a happy) old age.

Hymn To Amen-Ra

Translated by C. W. Goodwin, M.A.

This hymn is inscribed upon a hieratic papyrus, No. 17, in the collection
of papyri at the Museum of Boulaq. A fac-simile of the papyrus has been
published by M. Marriette ("_Les papyrus Egyptiens du Musee de Boulaq_,"
fo. Paris 1272, pls. 11-13). It is not a very long composition, being
contained in eleven pages of moderate size, and consisting of only twenty
verses. It has the advantage of being nearly perfect from beginning to
end, written in a legible hand, and free from any great difficulties for
the translator.

From the handwriting of the papyrus it may be judged to belong to the
nineteenth dynasty, or about the fourteenth century B.C. It purports to be
only a copy, and the composition itself may be very much earlier.

In the original the beginning of each verse is indicated by rubricated
letters; each verse is also divided into short phrases by small red
points; these are indicated in the translation by colons.

This translation has just been published with exegetical notes in the
"Transactions of the Society of Biblical Archaeology," vol. ii, p. 250.

HYMN TO AMEN-RA

1 Praise to Amen-Ra:
the Bull in An(544) Chief of all gods:
the good god beloved:
giving life to all animated things:
to all fair cattle:
Hail to thee Amen-Ra, Lord of the thrones of the earth:
Chief in Aptu:(545)
the Bull of his mother in his field:
turning his feet toward the land of the South:
Lord of the heathen, Prince of Punt:(546)
the Ancient of heaven, the Oldest of the earth:
Lord of all existences, the Support of things, the Support of all
things.

2 The ONE in his works, _single_ among the gods:
the beautiful Bull of the cycle of gods: