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A Ghost Story
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///// [according to] his habit ///// following the advice which ///// had
given [to him] ///// [And he ferried across
and reached his home. He caused [there to be] made/////[and]
all sorts of good things.
Now, while I was (looking) toward the west, he went up onto the ro[of] /////, [and he invoked] the gods of the sky
and the gods of the earth, southern, northern, western and eastern, and (the)
gods of the underworld, saying to them: "Send me that august
spirit."
And so he came and said to him: "I am your ///// [who has
come to sleep] during the night next to his tomb."
Then the High Priest of Amun Khonsemhab [said to him:
"Please tell me your name], (your)
father's [name], and your mother's name that (I) may offer to them and do for
them all that has to be done [for one intheir
position]."
Said [that] august [spirit] to him: "Nebusemekh
is my name, Ankhmen is my father's [name], and Tamshas is my mother's name."
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ferried
across: Bridges
were rare in ancient Egypt
he went up onto the ro[of]: Houses had
flat roofs, often used as additional living space.
Khonsemhab: A high priest of Amon-Ra with the name of Khonsemhab
is known from the reign of Pharaoh Mentuhotep IV of
the 11th Dynasty.
tell me your name: The name
was an essential part of a person. No being would be extinct while its name
was still spoken.
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Then the High Priest of Amun-Re, King of the Gods, Khons[emhab] [said to] him: "Tell me what you want that I
may have it done for you. And I shall have a sepulcher prepared [anew] for
you and have a coffin of gold and zizyphus-wood
made for you, and you shall /////, and I shall have done for you all that is
done for you all that is done for one who is in [your position."
Said the spirit] to him: "There is none overheated (or
passionate) who is exposed (to) winds in winter, hungry
without food ///// It is not my desire to flow on like the inundation,
no ///// I would not occupy myself with that (simple) to say /////."
Now after (he) had finished speaking, the High Prient of Amun-Re, King of the
Gods, Khonsemhab, sat down and wept beside him with
a face (full) of tears ///// the spirit /////, [and he (i.e., Khonsemhab) said to him: "I will remain here]
without eating or drinking, without g[rowing old or becoming] young. [I] will
not see sunlight nor will I inhale northerly breezes, (but) darkness shall be
in [my] sight every day. I will not get up early to depart."
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zizyphus: spina-christi
, 5 to 9 metres tall, hard and heavy wood. Its
fruit, the jujube or Chinese Date resembles the fruit of the date palm.
hungry without food: Food
offerings, real or virtual, were crucial for the continued well-being of the ka and
other parts of a person.
Offerings, tomb of Ti, 5th dynasty
Source: Jon Bodsworth
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Then the spirit said to him: "When I was alive upon earth, I was
overseer of the treasury of King Rahotpe, l.p.h., and I
was lieutenant of the army, for I used to be at the head of men and (just) to
the rear of the gods. I went to rest in year 14, during the summer months, of
the King of Upper and Lower Egypt,
Men[tu]hotpe,
l.p.h. He gave me my four
canopic jars and my sarcophagus of
alabaster, and he had done for me all that is done
for one in my position. he laid me to rest in my
tomb (within) its shaft of ten cubits. See the ground beneath has collapsed
and dropped away so that the wind blows (there) and seizes a tongue. Now as
for your having said to me, 'I shall have a sepulcher prepared anew,' I have
it four times (already) that one will act in accordance with them. But what
am I to make of such things as you have said to me (once) again in order that
all these promises may finally come to pass?"
Then the High Priest of Amun-Re, King
of the Gods, Khonsemhab, said to him: "Please
express to me a nice commission such as is fit to be done for you in order
that I may have it done for you. Otherwise, I shall (simply) have five men
(servants) and five maidservants, totaling ten,
devoted to you in order to pour libation water for you and (have) a sack of
emmer delivered daily to be offered to you. Moreover, the overseer of
offerings shall pour libation water for you."
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King Rahotpe: Unidentified
l.p.h.: Life, prosperity,
health
my four canopic jars and my sarcophagus:
A burial was often the reward for faithful service to the pharaoh: he had
done for me all that is done for one in my position. The canopic jars served for the preservation of the inner
organs.
Canopic jars from the tomb of Tutankhamen
Source: Jon Bodsworth
totaling ten: the Egyptians had an obsession for totting up
numbers in lists.
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Then the Spirit of Nebusemekh said to him: "Of
what use are the things you do? Doesn't a tree grow through sunlight? Doesn't
it sprout foliage? (But) stone will never proceed to age; it perishes (only)
through /////, /////. [King] [Neb]hepetre, [Son of Re, Mentuhotpe], l.p.h."
And they [entered] /////. in it. And they
explored twenty-five cubits along the king's causeway at Deir el Bahri. Then they went back down [to] the riverbank
and they [returned to] the High [Prient] of Amun-Re, King of the Gods, Khonsemhab,
and found him offering in the temple of Amun-[Re, King of the Gods]. And he said to
them: "Hopefully you have returned having discovered the excellent place
for making the name [of that spirit] called [Nebusemekh]
endure unto eternity."
Then the three of them said to (him) all together: "We
have discovered the excellent place to [make the name of the spirit
endure]."
And so they sat down before him and made holiday. His heart
began to rejoice when they said: ///// [when] the sun came up from the
horizon.
Then he called the deputy of the estate of Amun
Menkau, [and he informed him] about his project.
He returned at evening to spend the night in Ne, and he /////ed /////
/////////////////////////////////////////////.
Source: Alan H. Gardiner Late-Egyptian Stories
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Nebhepetre:Mentuhotep
II (c. 2040-2010 BCE)
Deir el Bahri:
Site of Mentuhotep II's
temple called Akh Sut
Nebhepetre in Thebes
Amun-Re, King of the Gods: Amun-Re became the chief deity during the New Kingdom
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