Ancient Egyptian Literature, Volume I Quotes

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Ancient Egyptian Literature, Volume I: The Old and Middle Kingdoms Ancient Egyptian Literature, Volume I: The Old and Middle Kingdoms by Miriam Lichtheim
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Ancient Egyptian Literature, Volume I Quotes Showing 91-120 of 155
“The king has been robbed by beggars.”
Miriam Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature, Volume I: The Old and Middle Kingdoms
tags: beggar, rob
“Lo, [scribes] are slain,
Their writings stolen,
Woe is me for the grief of this time!”
Miriam Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature, Volume I: The Old and Middle Kingdoms
“Had I raised my voice at that time,
To save me from the pain I am in!”
Miriam Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature, Volume I: The Old and Middle Kingdoms
“A man strikes his maternal brother.”
Miriam Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature, Volume I: The Old and Middle Kingdoms
“Infants are put out on high ground.”
Miriam Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature, Volume I: The Old and Middle Kingdoms
“Lo, all beasts, their hearts weep.”
Miriam Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature, Volume I: The Old and Middle Kingdoms
“Lo, all maidservants are rude in their speech, When the mistress speaks it irks the servants.”
Miriam Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature, Volume I: The Old and Middle Kingdoms
“Ladies suffer like maidservants.”
Miriam Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature, Volume I: The Old and Middle Kingdoms
“Lo, great and small say, 'I wish i were dead’
Little children say, “He should not have made me live!”
Lo, children of nobles are dashed against wails,
Infants are put out on high ground.”
Miriam Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature, Volume I: The Old and Middle Kingdoms
“Happy is the heart of the king when gifts come to him.
And when every foreign land [comes],
that is our success, that is our fortune.
What shall we do about it ? All is ruin!”
Miriam Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature, Volume I: The Old and Middle Kingdoms
“Lo, gold, lapis lazuli, silver, and turquoise, Carnelian, amethyst, ibht- stone and
Are strung on the necks of female slaves. Noblewomen roam the land.
Ladies say, “We want to eat!”
Lo, noblewomen,
Their bodies suffer in rags,
Their hearts shrink from greeting
[each other].
Lo, chests of ebony are smashed.”
Miriam Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature, Volume I: The Old and Middle Kingdoms
“He who puts his brother in the ground is everywhere.
The word of the wise has fled without delay.
Lo, the son of man is denied recognition,
The child of his lady became the son of his maid.
Lo, the desert claims the land,
The nomes are destroyed.”
Miriam Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature, Volume I: The Old and Middle Kingdoms
“Poor men have become men of wealth,
He who could not afford sandals owns riches.”
Miriam Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature, Volume I: The Old and Middle Kingdoms
“Crime is everywhere,
there is no man of yesterday.
Lo, the robber everywhere,
The servant takes what he finds.”
Miriam Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature, Volume I: The Old and Middle Kingdoms
“Foreigners have become people everywhere.”
Miriam Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature, Volume I: The Old and Middle Kingdoms
“A man regards his son as his enemy.”
Miriam Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature, Volume I: The Old and Middle Kingdoms
tags: enemy, son
“Would that I knew what others ignore,
Such as has not been repeated,
To say it and have my heart answer me,
To inform it of my distress.
Shift to it the load on my back,
The matters that afflict me.
Relate to it of what I suffer
And sigh “Ah" with relief!
of meditate on what has happened,
The events that occur throughout the land: Changes take place, it is not like last year,
One year is more irksome than the other.
The land breaks up, is destroyed.
Becomes [a wasteland].
Order is cast out,
Chaos is in the council hail ;
The ways of the gods are violated,
Their provisions neglected.
The land is in turmoil.
There is mourning everywhere;
Towns, districts are grieving,
All alike are burdened by wrongs.
One turns one’s back on dignity.
The lords of silence are disturbed;
As dawn comes every day.
The face recoils from events.
I cry out about it,
My limbs are weighed down,
I grieve in my heart.
It is hard to keep silent about it,
Another heart would bend;
But a heart strong in distress:
It is a comrade to its lord.
Had I a heart skilled in hardship,
I would take my rest upon it.
Weigh it down with words of grief.
Lay on it my malady!
He said to his heart:
Come, my heart, I speak to you.

Answer me my sayings!
Unravel for me what goes on in the land,
Why those who shone are overthrown.
I meditate on what has happened:
While trouble entered in today,
And turmoil will not cease tomorrow,
Everyone is mute about it.
The whole land is in great distress,
Nobody is free from erime;
Hearts are greedy.
He who gave orders takes orders,
And the hearts of both submit.
One wakes to it every day.
And the hearts do not reject it.
Yesterday's condition is like today’s
None is wise enough to know it,
None angry enough to cry out,
One wakes to suffer each day.
My malady is long and heavy.
The sufferer lacks strength to save himself
From that which overwhelms him.
It is pain to be silent to what one hears,
It is futile to answer the ignorant.
To reject a speech makes enmity;
The heart does not accept the truth,
One cannot bear a statement of fact,
A man loves only his own words.
Everyone builds on crookedness,
Right-speaking is abandoned.
I spoke to you, my heart, answer you me,
A heart addressed must not be silent,
Lo, servant and master fare alike,
There is much that weighs upon you!”
Miriam Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature, Volume I: The Old and Middle Kingdoms
“And he who is wise will libate for me,
When he sees fulfilled what I have spoken!”
Miriam Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature, Volume I: The Old and Middle Kingdoms
“Speech falls on the heart like fire,
One cannot endure the word of mouth.”
Miriam Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature, Volume I: The Old and Middle Kingdoms
“Hearts have quite abandoned it”
Miriam Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature, Volume I: The Old and Middle Kingdoms
“Each man’s heart is for himself.”
Miriam Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature, Volume I: The Old and Middle Kingdoms
“All happiness has vanished”
Miriam Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature, Volume I: The Old and Middle Kingdoms
“What was made has been unmade.”
Miriam Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature, Volume I: The Old and Middle Kingdoms
“Rise against what is before you!”
Miriam Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature, Volume I: The Old and Middle Kingdoms
“Ev Rise against what is before you!”
Miriam Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature, Volume I: The Old and Middle Kingdoms
“If one fights in the arena forgetful of the past,
Success will elude him who ignores what he should know.”
Miriam Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature, Volume I: The Old and Middle Kingdoms
“Beware of subjects who are nobodies,
Of whose plotting one is not aware.
Trust not a brother, know not a friend.
Make no intimates, it is worthless.
When you lie down, guard your heart yourself.”
Miriam Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature, Volume I: The Old and Middle Kingdoms
“I am knowing to him who lacks knowledge,
One who teaches a man what is useful to him.
I am a straight one in the king’s house,
Who knows what to say in every office.
I am a listener who listens to the truth,
Who ponders it in the heart.
I am one pleasant to his lord’s house,
Who is remembered for his good qualities.
I am kindly in the offices,
One who is calm and does not roar.
I am kindly, not short-tempered,
One who does not attack a man for a remark.
I am accurate like the scales.
Straight and true like Thoth.
I am firm-footed, well-disposed,
Loyal to him who advanced him.
I am a knower who taught himself knowledge,
An advisor whose advice is sought.
I am a speaker in the hall of justice,
Skilled in speech in anxious situations.”
Miriam Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature, Volume I: The Old and Middle Kingdoms
“I am silent with the angry,
Patient with the ignorant.
So as to quell strife.
I am cool, free of haste,
Knowing the outcome, expecting what comes.
I am a speaker in situations of strife,
One who knows which phrase causes anger.
I am friendly when I hear my name
To him who would tell me (his) concern.
I am controlled, kind, friendly,
One who calms the weeper with good words.
I am one bright-faced to his client,
Beneficent to his equal.
I am a straight one in his lord’s house,
Who knows flattery when it is spoken,
I am bright-faced, open-handed,
An owner of food who does not cover his face.
I am a friend of the poor,
One well-disposed to the have-not.
I am one who feeds the hungry in need,
Who is open-handed to the pauper.”
Miriam Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature, Volume I: The Old and Middle Kingdoms
“To do what profits is eternity.”
Miriam Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature, Volume I: The Old and Middle Kingdoms