Der Amunhymnus des Papyrus Leiden I 344, Verso.

Allen, James P.

This impressive three-volume study marks the culmination of the Leiden Museum's commendable efforts, over more than a century and a half, to publish all of their Egyptian literary papyri. Sadly too, it is also the final published work of the great Egyptologist Jan Zandee, who died the year before its appearance.

The text of the hymn here published has long lain neglected in the shadow of two other Leiden literary texts: the recto of the same papyrus, which contains the "Admonitions of Ipuwer," first published by Gardiner in 1909 and now translated in every collection of Egyptian literature;(1) and Leiden's best-known religious papyrus, also published by Gardiner and Zandee, the Amun hymn of Leiden I 350 recto, which includes a sophisticated description of Amun's transcendence and immanence and the famous line, "All gods are three: Amun, Re, and Ptah."(2) The neglect of I 344 verso is due in part to its physical state. This side of the papyrus was glued in the last century to papier vegetal, and this fixative has inevitably resulted in the loss of some of the original text, although a hieratic facsimile published earlier offers some help in the reading and restoration of sections now damaged or lost.(3)

Despite its fragmentary state, however, the text fully deserves the detailed attention Zandee has devoted to it. The hymn as a whole has the character of an original work rather than a collation from different sources (pp. 5-6). It is apparently divided into twenty-four sections of roughly equal length, which Zandee calls "strophes." Most of these are marked by red ink used for the first few words.(4) After a general introduction (pp. 3-12), Zandee's translation and commentary follow this division of the text. A consecutive translation is provided at the end (pp. 1085-97), followed by a glossary of Egyptian words in the papyrus, and thirty-eight plates of transcription (pl. 112), parallels (pl. 13-19), and photographs (pl. 20-38).

Apart from its publication of the text, most of the value of this study lies in the extensive commentary the author has provided for each strophe. In place of a purely philological approach, Zandee has used the text as a starting point for a detailed exposition of its textual and theological background. Drawing on his unparalleled knowledge of the genre, his commentaries cover the full range of Egyptian religious thought, from the Pyramid Texts to the most obscure temple texts of the Ptolemaic and Roman periods. These make this three-volume work a virtual encyclopedia of Egyptian theology and a basic source for any future study. It is tragic that the wealth of Zandee's exposition will be available only to the most determined researcher, since no subject index has been provided. Given the value of Zandee's contribution in this work, one can only hope that some future scholar will be motivated to compile and publish such an index.

Besides Zandee's commentary, the text of the hymn is well worth studying in itself. The manuscript was written in Dynasty XIX, roughly contemporary with Papyrus Leiden I 350(5) and, like the latter, reflects the theological speculation revolving around the god Amun that flourished in the reign of Ramesses II. Zandee has identified "quotations" from the hymn in texts of the late Eighteenth Dynasty, in particular from the tomb of Kheruef in Thebes and the reign of Horemhab. These parallels date the original composition most probably to the spurt of "solar" theology, studied by Assmann, that preceded the Amarna period.(6) The text is thus an important forerunner both of Amarna theology and of the more advanced Amun theology preserved in the texts of I 350.

The hymn prefigures Akhenaton's "Hymn to the Aton" in its discussion of the god's presence in the phenomena of nature - for example, in its description of Amun as the Inundation (my translation):

Who made his way of giving life to the Two Lands in his immanent evolution of the Inundation, who secreted his manner in the sky, but renews himself at his season. This means that the seasons are sealed under his fingers. When he passes, he gives to those he has chosen: he gives to the high and he gives to the lowly. When those (waters) that Nun and Nut have give things, they are divided into two parts, for the beduin as well as for Egypt. (strophe 17, VIII 6-9)

Although the hymn's level of theological speculation is generally less sophisticated than that of Papyrus Leiden I 350, like the latter it contains a well-thought-out exposition of Amun's nature, in much the same order, from pre-existent creator to immanent source of all life. As such, it forms a revealing counterpart to its better known contemporary - for example, in the following passage (my translation):

Our temples are your likeness, your shadow is in every god. Their identities are set, and the things of people as well: all evolutions of you. For you have given their effectiveness, you have given their impressiveness, and you occupy all their totality, since you are the one-who dedicates things, and they have things through your power. (strophe 20, X 9-XI 1)

This also recalls the words of the famous "Memphite Theology" (whose original may date to the same period), describing Ptah as the sum of "all the gods and their ka as well" and the source "which facilitates everything."(7) The Memphite doctrine of perception and creative utterance ("heart and tongue") is reflected more closely in the text's unusual exposition of Amun's role in the pharaoh's exercise of power (my translation):

What is in the heart of the king (nswt) is your body: he gives forth his impressiveness against your enemies. You sit on the utterance of the king (bjtj): he speaks in accordance with your command. Your shrine is the lips of the lord 1.p.h., your incarnation l.p.h. is inside him. (strophe 18B, IX 10-X 1)

An important aspect of the hymn, which Zandee seems to have suspected (p. 531) but generally overlooked, is suggested by its apparent division into twenty-four "strophes": namely, the possibility that it was originally composed to accompany a Stundenritual. The description of Amun's emergence from the primeval waters of Nun (I 1) and his appearance "as the sun, through whose emergence brightness evolved" (I 8) in strophes 1 and 2, respectively, is compatible with the recitation of these two strophes in the first two hours of daylight, when the Egyptian day began. Strophe 12, which would be recited at sunset, also seems to refer, in its opening words, to the natural phenomena of this hour, including the emergence of the moon:

You give your arms to all that is: they go to rest when you go to rest. They do not see with their (own) faces: they see through your two divine eyes. (V 9-10)

And strophe 18B, which should follow upon the reunion of Re and Osiris in the middle of the night, may reflect this event's transfer of life from one generation to the next in its opening and closing words: "You join your throne of the living, your ka in the sarcophagus having been laid to rest. . . . A generation passes, another comes to be, while you are newer today than yesterday" (IX 9).

Anyone who studies this remarkable text in the future will, of course, only be able to build on the solid foundation that Zandee has laid in this work. In that spirit, the following comments on specific points are offered as a kind of addendum.

Introduction (pp. 3-12)

To the author's list of non-classical constructions, add the following (a partial list): sw for sj (V 7); st for sm (VII 7, IX 3); circumstantial non-"emphatic" use of nn sdm.n.f js (I 9); non-future nn sdm.f (I 2, 7; III 6, 11; V 9; IX 1); use of the 3m.s. and 3f.s. stative without regard to agreement (III 2, IV 5-6, V 6, VII 1, IX 3).

Strophe 1 (pp. 13-21)

I 1. There does not seem to be enough room for Zandee's suggested restoration, since the beginning of the line must also accommodate a rubric (as the author notes). Restore perhaps [jnd hrk jmn-r nswt n trw, pr m] nw "Hail to you, Amon-Re, King of the Gods, who came from Nun."

Strophe 2 (pp. 22-64)

I 3. The rubric begins with nbw: the preceding [. . .].f is in black and must therefore be the end of strophe 1. The rubric can be restored as nbw dtf [qd(?)] s[whtf] "He who smelted his body and built(?) his egg" followed by [ntr] smsm "eldest god."

I 6-7. These lines may refer to the stars. Read perhaps [nwt(?)] bk tj, q s mswt[.s sb w] phr hr.s [. . . wn.k] jmjtw nn m kkw, nn hpr szp, sst .tj [r.sn jr.n].k m hr.sn "Nut was pregnant and spewed forth her progeny, the stars who circulate on her [. . . . You were] among these in the darkness, before light evolved: though hidden from them, you made their needs."

I 8. Read [ntj(?)] mjrtj, hpr.n h w.fm r, hpr. n .hd dwt m prt.f, kk.tjhtp.fm ht.f "He who is in eyes, whose appearance has evolved as the Sun; he through whose emergence brightness evolved, and at whose setting in his Akhet it gets dark."

I 8-9, Read h n.f [ntrw] jmj ht.f "He at whom the gods in his wake rejoice." The following clause nn wp.n.f jst w wt.sn "though he has not yet opened up their way" seems to be clearly circumstantial (as the author notes) - an interesting "misuse" of the n(n) sdm.n.f js construction.

I 11-II 1. The final words, from h w pw or perhaps nb j wt, are perhaps the speech of "the gods in his wake."

Strophe 3(pp. 65-100)

II 1. The words jt mjwt ntr ntrt are probably appositive, not genitive: "father and mother, god and goddess."

II 4. Of the restorations suggested by Zandee (p. 90), only the last is possible if the transcription on pl. 2 is correct: rdi t w n [ntjw-hr-mw].f "who gives air to those loyal to him."

Strophe 6 (pp. 214-29)

III 7-8. Despite the singular p wtj in Urk. IV 2096, 18, the plural p wtjw here supports Zandee's division of the lines, contra that of Urk. IV.(8) This also reveals a more plausible parallelism of construction: didi.sn j wt n wbn.f dgg.sn, p wtjw m [hnw], jmjw hmw. [sn m sn]-t "They give worship to his rising when they see (it), the originals in adoration, those in their shrines kissing the ground."

III 8. Read perhaps wr b w.f m hr. sn jwr.f [tnj] hr.sn "His impressiveness is great in their sight, his form is distinguished among them." The hieratic (pl. 23) seems to read htr, as Zandee transcribes, but none of the known meanings associated with this root suits the context. The missing verb in the second clause is surely tnj, as the author suggests (p. 221). This and the parallel of the preceding clause suggest that the three preserved signs of htr were misread from an original jrw "form," of which tnj "distinguished" is often predicated (Wb V, 375, 18).

III 9. The text before sj sw hrjw-tpj reads phr dsrw.f qf wt.f hr . . . rw[. . .]w.f. This can represent one or two clauses, depending on whether qf wt.f "his respect" is coordinate with dsrw.f "his sacredness" as the subject of phr or is the subject of the following clause. The signs after hr do not look like the sn trw tentatively transcribed on pl. 3, but I can suggest no alternative based on the photograph (pl. 23). From the length, probably two words were involved: a verb . . . rw and a noun [. . .].f. This indicates, in turn, two clauses: "His sacredness circulates, his respect is . . . ing his [. . .]."

Strophe 7 (pp. 230-45)

III 11. Zandee restores wj as the object of sqdd.f at the beginning of this line, but the parallel of the preceding jp.tw r st nmtt.f "allotted according to the place of his steps" indicates that sqdd.f is probably the end of a verse line: km.t hft sqdd.f "completed in accordance with his sailing." After this, read perhaps [hn] m pt, jwtj ph.f h w n(j), nn hr s t jm.f "who rows in the sky, who reaches no stopping point for (his journey), with no fray happening to it." The n after h is clearly part of the original text. The superlinear addition (pl. 3, n. 12) is limited to the ligature placed between h and n, which can be read as a bookroll plus plural strokes: cf. Wb I, 220, 9.

Strophe 8 (pp. 246-312)

IV 4-5. In contrast to the parallel (pl. 17), the text seems to read pr.k nb [hr srf].sn, hpr m w.tj m ssm.w tpjw- "Your every emergence warms them, so that they are renewed in their former state."

Strophe 9 (pp. 313-72)

IV 5. tntn.tj is undoubtedly simple dittography for tn.tj "you are distinguished" rather than the reduplicated stem Zandee proposes (p. 314); Coptic tontn has a different meaning.

IV 6. Read szpw.k "your light": the numeral 7 transcribed by Zandee (pl.6) is undoubtedly a ligatured plural strokes plus k. The line continues tmw mn.tj m dt.k, [wnh].w jrw.k, dsr.y m pr.k m b "Atum is fixed in your body, clad in your form, sacred in your emergence together." The signs transcribed as nj (pl. 4) are probably a ligatured bookroll plus plural strokes.

IV 7-8. If the ntr restored by the author (p. 329) was present, it can only have been a single sign. The transcription of the beginning of IV 8 on pl. 4 shows a restored pn, but this is clearly visible on pl. 24. Between it and the end of hprw there seems to be hardly any room for another sign.

IV 8-9. Read jr.n.f js sfyt n hr.f mrwt n dm.tw rn.f "For he has made awe specifically for his face, and love specifically for his name to be pronounced," a circumstantialized "emphatic" construction. The lacuna before this probably belongs with the preceding clause f wj [. . .].

IV 9. Read perhaps jr.[n.f. nbw] r jwn.f hsbd m (r) snj.f "He has made gold for his color, lapis-lazuli for his hair."

Strophe 10 (pp. 373-405)

IV 11-V 1. The emendation suggested by Zandee (p. 375, n. 16) is probable. Read perhaps [jn] drww hr tkn (m) sdm "who reaches the limits while drawing near in listening."

Strophe 11 (pp. 406-54)

V 7. Zandee's analysis of st ntr.tj as object of hr is not "ungewohnlich" (p. 429, n. 189) but impossible. Read perhaps nnhr.khr.(s), hw.k hr.s, ntr.tj jp.tj r htj.k "You will not be far because of her, your protection upon her, for she has become divine and assigned to your two Akhets."

Strophe 12 (pp. 454-534)

V 10-11. Read probably rwd wj.kj <m> hprt nbt, jr.n.k wrw, qm .n.k h ()w, [wt] nbt ftft hr t "Your hands are firm in all that has evolved, for you have made the adults and created the children, and all animals that tread on the earth."

V 11-VI 1. Read h.n.k pt st[ ].tj m shrw r sqd dsrw b k "You have elevated the sky so that it is inaccessible in nature, in order to allow the sacredness of your ba to sail."

VI 1. In light of the parallel (pl. 6, n. 1), read probably dr t r stw.f "who laid down the earth for his ground."

Strophe 15 (pp. 656-701)

VII 6. Read p nswyt "He of kingship," a Late Egyptian construction: J. Cerny and S. Groll, A Late Egyptian Grammar, Studia Pohl, series maior, 4 (Rome: Biblical Institute Press, 1984), 45-47.

VII 6-8. The division between clauses in these lines is uncertain, but probably not as Zandee has analyzed them. Read perhaps qm st.f wrt hrw.f st, htp.f tn.t yt, wrtj m ht.f <hr> sms n b w.f, jtrtj nbwj h fj, stp-z nh-wd -s(nb) m hm.f pwy "He who created his Great Place, they say, occupying the dais, with the two Great (Buildings) in his wake serving his impressiveness, the shrines of the Two Lords behind him, the Palace l.p.h. as this his shrine." The writing of b w indicates the abstract rather than the plural "bas," and the signs after jtrtj and before h .fj must be a separate word nbwj "Two Lords." If hrw.f st had an antecedent, it may have been lost in the lacuna preceding qm, but no antecedent is necessary. Cf. Papyrus Leiden I 350 IV 16-17: b .fpw hr. tw p ntj m hrt "It is his ba, they say, that is the one who is in the above."

VII 8. The text evidently reads nb pw hr psd, jrw.f hpr.w mn krtj "He is a lord shining, his form having become fixed with horns."

Strophe 16 (pp. 702-7)

As Zandee has seen, this strophe must have ended somewhere in the lacunae of VIII 4-6. The preserved text in VIII 5 (. . . ]w wdn.tw n ntr nb". . . s offered to every god") could, however, belong with this strophe rather than the next, where the author has placed it (pp. 708-12). Since strophe 16 evidently deals with Amun's kingship over foreign lands, this line may have referred to their tribute, brought to Egypt and "offered to every god." Strophe 17 then would have begun in the lacuna following, or perhaps more likely in the gap at the beginning of VIII 6.

Strophe 17 (pp. 708-809)

VIII 8. Read zn.f didi.f n hrjw didi.f n hrjw "When he passes, he gives to the high and he gives to the lowly."

VIII 8-9. This can be read as it stands, without Zandee's assumption of dittography (p. 747, n. 311): didi hrjw nw nwt bwt "When those (waters) that Nun and Nut have give things."

IX 3. Read perhaps dgg. sn sfyt.f hpr.w wdn. tw n.f ntj[w nb], twt n.fst mj wrd.n.f jm "When they see his awesomeness come, all that is is offered to him; they are like him, inasmuch as he has become 'weary' in them" - an indirect reference to the inundation's crest (sfyt.f hpr.w), which gives life to all things through its own "weariness" on the land.

IX 4. The "walking legs" that Zandee transcribes before s yt (pl. 9) do not seem to be justified by the photograph (pl. 31), where the trace looks more like f. Read perhaps jy[w] m nh [n qm] .f "who is come with life for his creation," parallel to the following s yt pw n wnnt nbt "He is fate for all that exists."

IX 4-5. Despite Zandee's elegant exposition (pp. 794-98), the word .hw here probably means "sustenance" rather than "creative utterance" (a possibility the author admits), in light of the following clause with k "life force." Read .hw tp r.f, pr k [m . . . f m rn].f pwy n h pj "Sustenance is his utterance, life force emerges [from/in his . . .], in this his name of Inundation." The Egyptian contains a sophisticated bipartite wordplay between the first words of the two clauses (hw. . . pr) and the name "Inundation" (hpj < hpr).

Strophe 18 (pp. 810-952)

This is evidently two strophes, the second marked by the word zm k in red, the usual indication for the beginning of a new strophe. Although their subject is similar, this division separates the two parts (18A = IX 5-9 and 18B = IX 9 - X 3) into two fairly equal halves, both of which are equivalent in length to the typical strophe in this text.

IX 6. Read probably w h.k nmt. k hntj wnt.k "You set your step at the fore of your sanctuary" (cf. Wb I 256, 20).

IX 7-8. The troublesome phrase .hr m ht may contain the noun equivalent meaning "future" (Wb III, 346) as object of the preposition .hr (cf. Gardiner, EG, [section] 164, 4). This and the following lines seem to contrast the sun's nightly and daily existence, as Zandee notes (p. 837). Read perhaps st w n.k hr m-ht, phr hwt rnp.tj m rn.k pwy n r, mj .htp .hm.k m m nw "There is drawing (of the night-boat) for you through the afterward, you who circulate (through) bodies, rejuvenated in this your name of Re, just as your incarnation sets in the western mountain."

IX 9. Rather than Zandee's "palace" (p. 860), the word db t here may denote "sarcophagus" (as in IV 3). The two lines beginning with zm k would then refer to the transmission of kingship from Osiris ("your ka in the sarcophagus") to Horus: zm k nst. k nt nhw, shtp k .k jmj db t "You join your throne of the living, your ka in the sarcophagus having been laid to rest."

Strophe 20 (pp. 972-1006)

X 9. Although an omission on the part of the scribe is possible, there is no need to assume one as Zandee does (p. 972). The bare statives and the construction with jw plus prepositional phrase may express a kind of "virtual relative" following the initial vocative: [j.n]d .hr.k wr. tj tn. tj tj m rn.k pw, jw.k m w pt, t grg hr.k "Hail to you, elder, distinguished, and great in this your name, being the sole one of the sky, the earth founded beneath you."

X 10-XI 1. The unusual construction ntkjs m b ht, if correct, may be a circumstantialized form of the sentence with adverbial predicate and rhematized (emphasized) pronominal subject. See J. Allen, in For His Ka, Essays Offered in Memory of Klaus Baer, ed. D. Silverman, Studies in Ancient Oriental Civilization, 55 (Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press, 1994), 1-13. There is also no need to assume dittography of hwt in XI 1. Read snnw.k pw gsw-prw. n, swt.k m ntr nb, rn.sn w h, ht rmt jst gr hprw.k r w, di.n.k h.sn di.n.k b w.sn, .htp. k bw. sn nbt, ntk js m b hwt, n. sn hwt m nhtw. k "Our temples are your likeness, your shadow is in every god. Their identities are set and the things of people as well - all evolutions of you. For you have given their effectiveness, you have given their impressiveness, and you occupy all their totality, since you are the one who dedicates things, and they have things through your power."

XI 2. The difficult passage beginning with s [. . .] and ending with nb is clearly corrupt, as Zandee has seen (p. 997). The sign he has taken as m before the m of qm may be a ligatured n.k, with the q of qm omitted by mistake. The word beginning r may be corrupt for rq "end," in contrast with the initial word, which may be s n.k "you began." Read possibly s[ ]n.k r hpr, rq.n.k <m q>m.n.k nb "You began in order to evolve, you ended in all you have created."

Strophe 21 (pp. 1007-12)

This is evidently not a strophe as such, but a rather extended colophon marking what was originally intended as the end of the hymn. The beginning in XI 3 can be restored as [jw.f pw m] .htpw jn z h jqr m db w.f "This is how it comes (to an end) in peace, by the scribe of excellent fingers." The scribe's name, preceded by his title, occurs in XI 3-4 [zh-(?) ] n nb t wj h w-nfr "Document-scribe(?) of the Lord of the Two Lands, Haunefer." The name is the same as that which appears at the end of Strophe 24 on the recto (pp. 1083-84, pl. 37-38). Strophes 22-24 continue directly after this colophon, perhaps initially overlooked by the scribe because they were on the verso of the papyrus from which he was copying the hymn.

Strophe 24 (pp. 1075-82)

Zandee begins this strophe, without explanation, with the first words of XII 10. The beginning of strophe 23 is preserved in XII 2 and the end of strophe 24 occurred probably in XIII x+2 (on the recto); XIII x+3 may have contained only the colophon, with the name of the scribe (pl. 37-38). Judging from this and the usual length of a strophe, strophe 24 probably began somewhere in XII 6 or 7.

XII 10. Read didi j wt jt n z f n h w m shrw.f, didi msy h<w>t df w.sn n jwtj bntj.[f] "who gives the father's office to his son for the sake of rejoicing over his plans, who causes the fields to bear their food for him who has no breasts (to nurse from)."

Such differences of opinion about grammar and reading are minor indeed compared with Zandee's monumental achievement in recovering and interpreting the text as a whole. His work is a major contribution and will stand as a fitting testament to the legacy of this great Egyptologist.

JAMES P. ALLEN METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART

1 A. H. Gardiner, The Admonitions of an Egyptian Sage (Leipzig: J. C. Hinrichs, 1909).

2 A. H. Gardiner, "Hymns to Amon from a Leiden Papyrus," Zeitschrift fur agyptische Sprache 42 (1905): 12-42. J. Zandee, De hymnen aan Amon van Papyrus Leiden I 350, Oudheidkundige Mededelingen uit het Rijksmuseum van Oudheden te Leiden, 28 (Leiden: Brill, 1948).

3 T. Hooiberg, Aegyptische Monumenten van het Nederlands Museum van Oudheden te Leyden, IIe Afdeeling (Leiden: Rijks-museum van Oudeheden, 1853-62), pl. 114-25. See Zandee, Amunshymnus, 3 and 5.

4 The beginnings of strophes 2-12, 14, 16, 18-21, and 23 are preserved. All of these have red ink for the opening words except strophes 7 and 11, which are marked by a (red) grh sign at the end of the preceding strophe. The lost beginnings of the other strophes are conjectured on the basis of content and length. Zandee's strophe 18 is actually two strophes, and his strophe 21 is not part of the hymn (see below). The last three strophes were apparently not marked with red ink (cf. XII 2).

5 For the date of I 350, see Gardiner, "Hymns to Amon," 13. 6 J. Assmann, Re und Amun: Die Krise des polytheistischen Weltbilds im Agypten der 18.-20. Dynastie, Orbis Biblicus et Orientalis, 51 (Gottingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1983).

7 J. Allen, Genesis in Egypt: the Philosophy of Ancient Egyptian Creation Accounts, Yale Egyptological Studies, 2 (New Haven: Yale Egyptological Seminar, 1986), 44.

8 All abbreviations follow the Lexikon der Agyptologie, ed. W. Helck and W. Westendorf (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 1989), 7: xiv-xxxviii.