Hymn to the Sun
by the Pharaoh Akhenaton
written on AY tomb
| I You gloriously set yourself up on the borders of the sky You from whom every life was born When you shone from the horizon at the east you filled the land with your beauty you’re beautiful, great, sparkling, You travel above the land you’ve created Embracing it with your rays, Keeping them tightly for your loving son (Akhenaton). Although you are far away, your rays are on Earth; Although you fill men’s eyes, your prints are not seen. II When you sink beyond the western border of the skies the earth is darkened as if death had arrived; then men sleep in their rooms, their head covered, they are not able to see each other; the treasures are taken from under their heads and they don’t know it. Every lion comes out of his den, All the snakes come out and bite. The darkness is complete and the earth is quiet: He who created them rests in the horizon. III The earth shines when you rise With your shining disk everyday. Before your rays darkness is chased away the people of the Two Lands celebrate the day, you wake them up and put them on their feet, they wash and dress themselves, They lift up their arms praising your arrival then on all the earth, they begin their work. IV The animals graze peacefully, the trees and the plants are green, the birds leave their nests and raise their wings praising you. All the animals frisk on their legs all the winged creatures fly and alight again they come back to life when you arise. V The boats weigh anchor up and down the river. At your arrival all the paths are opened. Before your face the fish hop in the river. Your rays reach the green ocean. You are he who puts the male seed in the woman, You are he who creates the male seed You are he who awakens the child in the mother’s womb, Caressing him so he won’t cry. Even in the womb you are his wet-nurse. You give breath to all your creation, Opening the baby’s mouth, And giving him nourishment. VI When the chick chirps in the egg You give him breath so he can live. You bring his body to maturity So he can break the shell And so when he breaks it, he runs on his little legs, Announcing his creation. VII How many are your works! They are mysterious to men’s eyes. Oh only, incomparable Almighty God, You have created the earth in solitude As your heart desired, You have created men, the big and the small animals, All that is on earth, you have created it, And all that walks, All that parts the supreme air, You have created strange countries, Khor and Kush And also the land of Egypt, You put each man in the right place With food and possessions And the days are counted. Men speak many languages, They are different in body and skin, Because you have distinguished people from people. VIII In the Hells you make the floods of the Nile possible, Leading it as you want to bring life to the Egyptians, Although you are the Lord of them all, the Lord of their lands, You strive for them, you shine for them, In the day you are the solar disk, great in your majesty, Also to far away lands you’ve brought life, Establishing for them a flood of the Nile in the skies, That falls like the waves of the sea wetting the fields they live on. How great are your ways, oh God of eternity! You have established a Nile in the sky for the foreigners. For the livestock that walks every land, But for Egypt may the Nile flow from the other world. Your rays feed the fields and the gardens. It’s for you that they live. IX You make the seasons for your creatures’ good Winter to cool them, the summer so They can enjoy your warmth. You’ve created far away skies where you can shine. Your disk in your solitude watches over all that you have done Appearing in his glory and shining near and far. From the unicity of your body to thousands of shapes Cities and villages, fields, roads and the river. All eyes watch you, shining solar disk. X Nobody else knows you except Akhenaton, your son. You’ve given him understanding of your intention. He understands your power. All the creatures of the earth are in your hands, Just as you’ve made them. With your rising, they live. With your setting, they die. You yourself are the length of life. Men live through you. Their eyes full of beauty until you set. Every strain is put aside when you Sink in the west. XI You have established the world for your son, He, who was born from your body, King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Who lives in the truth, God of the Diadems, Akhenaton, great in the length of his days. And for the King’s Nobel Wife, She who he loves, For the Lady of the Two Lands, Nefernefruate-Nefertiti, May she live and flower for eternity. |
