THE ADVENTURES OF SANEHAT

THE ADVENTURES OF SANEHAT

The hereditary prince, royal seal-bearer, confidential friend, judge,

keeper of the gate of the foreigners, true and beloved royal

acquaintance, the royal follower Sanehat says:--

I attended my lord as a follower of the king, of the house of the

hereditary princess, the greatly favoured, the royal wife,

Ankhet-Usertesen, who shares the dwelling of the royal son Amenemhat in

Kanefer.

In the thirtieth year, the month Paophi, the seventh day the god entered

his horizon, the king Sehotepabra flew up to heaven and joined the sun's

disc, the follower of the god met his maker. The palace was silenced,

and in mourning, the great gates were closed, the courtiers crouching

on the ground, the people in hushed mourning.

His majesty had sent a great army with the nobles to the land of the

Temehu (Lybia), his son and heir, the good god king Usertesen as their

leader. Now he was returning, and had brought away living captives and

all kinds of cattle without end. The councillors of the palace had sent

to the West to let the king know the matter that had come to pass in the

inner hall. The messenger was to meet him on the road, and reach him at

the time of evening: the matter was urgent. "A hawk had soared with his

followers." Thus said he, not to let the army know of it Even if the

royal sons who commanded in that army send a message, he was not to

speak to a single one of them. But I was standing near, and heard his

voice while he was speaking. I fled far away, my heart beating, my arms

failing, trembling had fallen on all my limbs. I turned about in running

to seek a place to hide me, and I threw myself between two bushes, to

wait while they should pass by.

THE FLIGHT

Then I turned me toward the south, not from wishing to come into this

palace--for I knew not if war was declared--nor even thinking a wish to

live after this sovereign.

I turned my back to the sycamore, I reached Shi-Seneferu, and rested on

the open field. In the morning I went on and overtook a man, who passed

by the edge of the road. He asked of me mercy, for he feared me. By

the evening I drew near to Kher-ahau (? old Cairo), and I crossed the

river on a raft without a rudder. Carried over by the west wind, I

passed over to the east to the quarries of Aku and the land of the

goddess Herit, mistress of the red mountain (Gebel Ahmar). Then I fled

on foot, northward, and reached the walls of the prince, built to

repel the Sati. I crouched in a bush for fear of being seen by the

guards, changed each day, who watch on the top of the fortress. I took

my way by night, and at the lighting or the day I reached Peten, and

turned me toward the valley of Kemur. Then thirst hasted me on; I

dried up, and my throat narrowed, and I said, "This is the taste of

death." When I lifted up my heart and gathered strength, I heard a

voice and the lowing of cattle. I saw men of the Sati, and one of

them--a friend unto Egypt--knew me. Behold he gave me water and boiled

me milk, and I went with him to his camp; they did me good, and one

tribe passed me on to another. I passed on to Sun, and reached the

land of Adim (Edom).

When I had dwelt there half a year Amu-an-shi--who is the prince of the

Upper Tenu--sent for me and said: "Dwell thou with me that thou mayest

hear the speech of Egypt." He said thus for that he knew of my

excellence, and had heard tell of my worth, for men of Egypt who were

there with him bore witness of me. Behold he said to me, "For what cause

hast thou come hither? Has a matter come to pass in the palace? Has the

king of the two lands, Sehetep-abra gone to heaven? That which has

happened about this is not known." But I answered with concealment, and

said, "When I came from the land of the Tamahu, and my desires were

there changed in me, if I fled away it was not by reason of remorse that

I took the way of a fugitive; I have not failed in my duty, my mouth has

not said any bitter words, I have not heard any evil counsel, my name

has not come into the mouth of a magistrate. I know not by what I have

been led into this land." And Amu-an-shi said, "This is by the will of

the god (king of Egypt), for what is a land like if it know not that

excellent god, of whom the dread is upon the lands of strangers, as

they dread Sekhet in a year of pestilence." I spake to him, and

replied, "Forgive me, his son now enters the palace, and has received

the heritage of his father. He is a god who has none like him, and

there is none before him. He is a master of wisdom, prudent in his

designs, excellent in his decrees, with good-will to him who goes or

who comes; he subdued the land of strangers while his father yet lived

in his palace, and he rendered account of that which his father

destined him to perform. He is a brave man, who verily strikes with

his sword; a valiant one, who has not his equal; he springs upon the

barbarians, and throws himself on the spoilers; he breaks the horns

and weakens the hands, and those whom he smites cannot raise the

buckler. He is fearless, and dashes the heads, and none can stand

before him. He is swift of foot, to destroy him who flies; and none

who flees from him reaches his home. His heart is strong in his time;

he is a lion who strikes with the claw, and never has he turned his

back. His heart is closed to pity; and when he sees multitudes, he

leaves none to live behind him. He is a valiant one who springs in

front when he sees resistance; he is a warrior who rejoices when he

flies on the barbarians. He seizes the buckler, he rushes forward, he

never needs to strike again, he slays and none can turn his lance; and

when he takes the bow the barbarians flee from his arms like dogs; for

the great goddess has given to him to strike those who know her not;

and if he reaches forth he spares none, and leaves nought behind. He

is a friend of great sweetness, who knows how to gain love; his land

loves him more than itself, and rejoices in him more than in its own

god; men and women run to his call. A king, he has ruled from his

birth; he, from his birth, has increased births, a sole being, a

divine essence, by whom this land rejoices to be governed. He enlarges

the borders of the South, but he covets not the lands of the North;

he does not smite the Sati, nor crush the Nemau-shau If he descends

here, let him know thy name, by the homage which thou wilt pay to his

majesty. For he refuses not to bless the land which obeys him."

And he replied to me, "Egypt is indeed happy and well settled; behold

thou art far from it, but whilst thou art with me I will do good unto

thee." And he placed me before his children, he married his eldest

daughter to me, and gave me the choice of all his land, even among the

best of that which he had on the border of the next land. It is a goodly

land, laa is its name. There are figs and grapes; there is wine commoner

than water; abundant is the honey, many are its olives; and all fruits

are upon its trees; there is barley and wheat, and cattle of kinds

without end. This was truly a great thing that he granted me, when the

prince came to invest me, and establish me as prince of a tribe in the

best of his land. I had my continual portion of bread and of wine each

day, of cooked meat, of roasted fowl, as well as the wild game which I

took, or which was brought to me, besides what my dogs captured. They

made me much butter, and prepared milk of all kinds. I passed many

years, the children that I had became great, each ruling his tribe.

When a messenger went or came to the palace, he turned aside from the

way to come to me; for I helped every man. I gave water to the

thirsty, I set on his way him who went astray, and I rescued the

robbed. The Sati who went far, to strike and turn back the princes of

other lands, I ordained their goings; for the Prince of the Tenu for

many years appointed me to be general of his soldiers. In every land

which I attacked I played the champion, I took the cattle, I led away

the vassals, I carried off the slaves, I slew the people, by my sword,

my bow, my marches and my good devices. I was excellent to the heart

of my prince; he loved me when he knew my power, and set me over his

children when he saw the strength of my arms.

A champion of the Tenu came to defy me in my tent: a bold man without

equal, for he had vanquished the whole country. He said, "Let Sanehat

fight with me;" for he desired to overthrow me, he thought to take my

cattle for his tribe. The prince counselled with me. I said, "I know

him not. I certainly am not of his degree, I hold me far from his

place. Have I ever opened his door, or leaped over his fence? It is

some envious jealousy from seeing me; does he think that I am like

some steer among the cows, whom the bull overthrows? If this is a

wretch who thinks to enrich himself at my cost, not a Bedawi and a

Bedawi fit for fight, then let us put the matter to judgment. Verily a

true bull loves battle, but a vain-glorious bull turns his back for

fear of contest; if he has a heart for combat, let him speak what he

pleases. Will God forget what He has ordained, and how shall that be

known?" I lay down; and when I had rested I strung my bow, I made

ready my arrows, I loosened my poignard, I furbished my arms. At dawn

the land of the Tenu came together; it had gathered its tribes and

called all the neighbouring people, it spake of nothing but the fight.

Each heart burnt for me, men and women crying out; for each heart was

troubled for me, and they said, "Is there another strong one who would

fight with him? Behold the adversary has a buckler, a battle axe, and

an armful of javelins." Then I drew him to the attack; I turned aside

his arrows, and they struck the ground in vain. One drew near to the

other, and he fell on me, and then I shot him. My arrow fastened in

his neck, he cried out, and fell on his face: I drove his lance into

him, and raised my shout of victory on his back. Whilst all the men of

the land rejoiced, I, and his vassals whom he had oppressed, gave

thanks unto Mentu. This prince, Amu-an-shi, embraced me. Then I

carried off his goods and took his cattle, that which he had wished to

do to me, I did even so unto him; I seized that which was in his tent,

I spoiled his dwelling. As time went on I increased the richness of my

treasures and the number of my cattle.

_Petition to the king of Egypt._

"Now behold what the god has done for me who trusted in him. Having once

fled away, yet now there is a witness of me in the palace. Once having

fled away, as a fugitive,------now all in the palace give unto me a good

name. After that I had been dying of hunger, now I give bread to those

around. I had left my land naked, and now I am clothed in fine linen.

After having been a wanderer without followers, now I possess many

serfs. My house is fine, my land wide, my memory is established in the

temple of all the gods. And let this flight obtain thy forgiveness;

that I may be appointed in the palace; that I may see the place where

my heart dwells. How great a thing is it that my body should be

embalmed in the land where I was born! To return there is happiness. I

have made offering to God, to grant me this thing. His heart suffers

who has run away unto a strange land. Let him hear the prayer of him

who is afar off, that he may revisit the place of his birth, and the

place from which he removed.

"May the king of Egypt be gracious to me that I may live of his favour.

And I render my homage to the mistress of the land, who is in his

palace; may I hear the news of her children. Thus will my limbs grow

young again. Now old age comes, feebleness seizes me, my eyes are

heavy, my arms are feeble, my legs will not move, my heart is slow.

Death draws nigh to me, soon shall they lead me to the city of

eternity. Let me follow the mistress of all (the queen, his former

mistress); lo! let her tell me the excellencies of her children; may

she bring eternity to me."

Then the majesty of King Kheper-ka-ra, the blessed, spake upon this my

desire that I had made to him. His majesty sent unto me with presents

from the king, that he might enlarge the heart of his servant, like unto

the province of any strange land; and the royal sons who are in the

palace addressed themselves unto me.

_Copy of the decree which was brought--to me who speak to you--to lead

me back into Egypt._

"The Horus, life of births, lord of the crowns, life of births, king

of Upper and Lower Egypt, Kheper-ka-ra, son of the Sun, Amen-em-hat,

ever living unto eternity. Order for the follower Sanehat. Behold this

order of the king is sent to thee to instruct thee of his will.

"Now, although thou hast gone through strange lands from Adim to Tenu,

and passed from one country to another at the wish of thy heart--behold,

what hast thou done, or what has been done against thee, that is amiss?

Moreover, thou reviledst not; but if thy word was denied, thou didst

not speak again in the assembly of the nobles, even if thou wast

desired. Now, therefore, that thou hast thought on this matter which

has come to thy mind, let thy heart not change again; for this thy

Heaven (queen), who is in the palace is fixed, she is flourishing, she

is enjoying the best in the kingdom of the land, and her children are

in the chambers of the palace.

"Leave all the riches that thou hast, and that are with thee,

altogether. When thou shalt come into Egypt behold the palace, and when

thou shalt enter the palace, bow thy face to the ground before the Great

House; thou shalt be chief among the companions. And day by day behold

thou growest old; thy vigour is lost, and thou thinkest on the day of

burial. Thou shalt see thyself come to the blessed state, they shall

give thee the bandages from the hand of Tait, the night of applying the

oil of embalming. They shall follow thy funeral, and visit the tomb on

the day of burial, which shall be in a gilded case, the head painted

with blue, a canopy of cypress wood above thee, and oxen shall draw

thee, the singers going before thee, and they shall dance the funeral

dance. The weepers crouching at the door of thy tomb shall cry aloud

the prayers for offerings: they shall slay victims for thee at the

door of thy pit; and thy pyramid shall be carved in white stone, in

the company of the royal children. Thus thou shalt not die in a

strange land, nor be buried by the Amu; thou shalt not be laid in a

sheep-skin when thou art buried; all people shall beat the earth, and

lament on thy body when thou goest to the tomb."

When this order came to me, I was in the midst of my tribe. When it was

read unto me, I threw me on the dust, I threw dust in my hair; I went

around my tent rejoicing and saying, "How may it be that such a thing

is done to the servant, who with a rebellious heart has fled to

strange lands? Now with an excellent deliverance, and mercy delivering

me from death, thou shall cause me to end my days in the palace."

_Copy of the answer to this order._

"The follower Sanehat says: In excellent peace above everything consider

of this flight that he made here in his ignorance; Thou, the Good God,

Lord of both Lands, Loved of Ra, Favourite of Mentu, the lord of Thebes,

and of Amen, lord of thrones of the lands, of Sebek, Ra, Horus, Hathor,

Atmu, and of his fellow-gods, of Sopdu, Neferbiu, Samsetu, Horus, lord

of the east, and of the royal uraeus which rules on thy head, of the

chief gods of the waters, of Min, Horus of the desert, Urrit, mistress

of Punt, Nut, Harnekht, Ra, all the gods of the land of Egypt, and of

the isles of the sea. May they give life and peace to thy nostril, may

they load thee with their gifts, may they give to thee eternity

without end, everlastingness without bound. May the fear of thee be

doubled in the lands of the deserts. Mayest thou subdue the circuit of

the sun's disc. This is the prayer to his master of the humble servant

who is saved from a foreign land.

"O wise king, the wise words which are pronounced in the wisdom of the

majesty of the sovereign, thy humble servant fears to tell. It is a

great thing to repeat. O great God, like unto Ra in fulfilling that to

which he has set his hand, what am I that he should take thought for me?

Am I among those whom he regards, and for whom he arranges? Thy majesty

is as Horus, and the strength of thy arms extends to all lands.

"Then let his Majesty bring Maki of Adma, Kenti-au-ush of Khenti-keshu,

and Tenus from the two lands ol the Fenkhu; these are the princes who

bear witness of me as to all that has passed, out of love for thyself.

Does not Tenu believe that it belongs to thee like thy dogs. Behold

this flight that I have made: I did not have it in my heart; it was

like the leading of a dream, as a man of Adehi (Delta) sees himself in

Abu (Elephantine), as a man of the plain of Egypt who sees himself in

the deserts. There was no fear, there was no hastening after me, I did

not listen to an evil plot, my name was not heard in the mouth of the

magistrate; but my limbs went, my feet wandered, my heart drew me; my

god commanded this flight, and drew me on; but I am not stiff-necked.

Does a man fear when he sees his own land? Ra spread thy fear over the

land, thy terrors in every strange land. Behold me now in the palace,

behold me in this place; and lo! thou art he who is over all the

horizon; the sun rises at thy pleasure, the water in the rivers is

drunk at thy will, the wind in heaven is breathed at thy saying.

"I who speak to thee shall leave my goods to the generations to follow

in this land. And as to this messenger who is come even let thy majesty

do as pleaseth him, for one lives by the breath that thou givest. O thou

who art beloved of Ra, of Horus, and of Hathor; Mentu, lord of Thebes,

desires that thy august nostril should live for ever."

I made a feast in Iaa, to pass over my goods to my children. My eldest

son was leading my tribe, all my goods passed to him, and I gave him my

corn and all my cattle, my fruit, and all my pleasant trees. When I had

taken my road to the south, and arrived at the roads of Horus, the

officer who was over the garrison sent a messenger to the palace to give

notice. His majesty sent the good overseer of the peasants of the king's

domains, and boats laden with presents from the king for the Sati who

had come to conduct me to the roads of Horus. I spoke to each one by his

name, and I gave the presents to each as was intended. I received and I

returned the salutation, and I continued thus until I reached the city

of Thetu.

When the land was brightened, and the new day began, four men came with

a summons for me; and the four men went to lead me to the palace. I

saluted with both my hands on the ground; the royal children stood at

the courtyard to conduct me: the courtiers who were to lead me to the

hall brought me on the way to the royal chamber.

I found his Majesty on the great throne in the hall of pale gold. Then I

threw myself on my belly; this god, in whose presence I was, knew me

not. He questioned me graciously, but I was as one seized with

blindness, my spirit fainted, my limbs failed, my heart was no longer in

my bosom, and I knew the difference between life and death. His

majesty said to one of the companions, "Lift him up, let him speak to

me." And his majesty said, "Behold thou hast come, thou hast trodden

the deserts, thou hast played the wanderer. Decay falls on thee, old

age has reached thee; it is no small thing that thy body should be

embalmed, that the Pedtiu shall not bury thee. Do not, do not, be

silent and speechless; tell thy name; is it fear that prevents thee?"

I answered in reply, "I fear, what is it that my lord has said that I

should answer it? I have not called on me the hand of God, but it is

terror in my body, like that which brings sudden death. Now behold I

am before thee; thou art life; let thy majesty do what pleaseth him."

The royal children were brought in, and his majesty said to the queen,

"Behold thou Sanehat has come as an Amu, whom the Sati have produced."

She cried aloud, and the royal children spake with one voice, saying,

before his majesty, "Verily it is not so, O king, my lord." Said his

majesty, "It is verily he." Then they brought their collars, and their

wands, and their sistra in their hands, and displayed them before his

majesty; and they sang--

"May thy hands prosper, O king; May the ornaments of the Lady of Heaven

continue. May the goddess Nub give life to thy nostril; May the mistress

of the stars favour thee, when thou sailest south and north. All

wisdom is in the mouth of thy majesty; Thy uraeus is on thy forehead,

thou drivest away the miserable.

"Thou art pacified, O Ra, lord of the lands; They call on thee as on the

mistress of all. Strong is thy horn, Thou lettest fly thine arrow. Grant

the breath to him who is without it; Grant good things to this

traveller, Samehit the Pedti, born in the land of Egypt, Who fled away

from fear of thee, And fled this land from thy terrors. Does not the

face grow pale, of him who beholds thy countenance; Does not the eye

fear, which looks upon thee."

Said his majesty, "Let him not fear, let him be freed from terror. He

shall be a Royal Friend amongst the nobles; he shall be put within the

circle of the courtiers. Go ye to the chamber of praise to seek wealth

for him."

When I went out from the palace, the royal children offered their hands

to me; we walked afterwards to the Great Gates. I was placed in a house

of a king's son, in which were delicate things, a place of coolness,

fruits of the granary, treasures of the White House, clothes of the

king's guardrobe, frankincense, the finest perfumes of the king and the

nobles whom he loves, in every chamber. All the servitors were in their

several offices.

Years were removed from my limbs: I was shaved, and polled my locks of

hair; the foulness was cast to the desert with the garments of the

Nemau-sha. I clothed me in fine linen, and anointed myself with the fine

oil of Egypt; I laid me on a bed. I gave up the sand to those who lie

on it; the oil of wood to him who would anoint himself therewith.

There was given to me the mansion of a lord of serfs, which had

belonged to a royal friend. There many excellent things were in its

buildings; all its wood was renewed. There were brought to me portions

from the palace, thrice and four times each day; besides the gifts of

the royal children, always, without ceasing. There was built for me a

pyramid of stone amongst the pyramids. The overseer of the architects

measured its ground; the chief treasurer wrote it; the sacred masons

cut the well; the chief of the labourers on the tombs brought the

bricks; all things used to make strong a building were there used.

There were given to me peasants; there were made for me a garden, and

fields in it before my mansion, as is done for the chief royal friend.

My statue was inlayed with gold, its girdle of pale gold; his majesty

caused it to be made. Such is not done to a man of low degree.

May I be in the favour of the king until the day shall come of my death.

_(This is finished from beginning to end, as was found in the writing.)_