Welcoming Death
This is a poem I translated from Lesson 7 of Hoch’s Middle Egyptian Grammar today. It is from The Dispute between a Man and his Ba from about 4000 years ago (1900 BCE). I am sure the translation could use some more work, but I thought that it was a great poem to share the week before Halloween.
iw mt m-Hr.i min
Death is before me today
mi snb mr
Like the recovery of a sick man
mi prt r xntw r-sA ihmt
Like going outside after confinement
iw mt m-Hr.i min
Death is before me today
mi sty antiw
Like the smell of myrrh
mi Hmst xrt XtAw hrw TAw
Like sitting under an awning on windy day
iw mt m-Hr.i min
Death is before me today
mi sty sSnw
Like the smell of lotuses
mi Hmst Hr mryt nt txt
Like sitting on the shore of a land of
drunkenness
iw mt m-Hr.i min
Death is before me today
mi wAt Hwyt
Like a well-trodden road
mi iw s mSa r pr sn
Like how a man from a military expedition
returns to his family home
iw mt m-Hr.i min
Death is before me today
mi Abbi s mAA pr.sn
Like a man’s desire to see his family home
ii.nf rnpwt aSAwt m nDrt
After he spent many years in captivity
