Prayer to Amun Sung in Ancient Egyptian | Reconstructed on Leiden Lyre

This hymn to Amun was written by Pawah on a tomb wall on the western bank of Thebes, and is a beautiful example of the growing trend of personal piety and intimate, individual relationships with God that were no longer exclusive to the Pharaohs and priests of ancient Egypt. You can find the English and hieroglyphic version of the whole text here, translated by William J. Murnane, published in "The Phantom Temple of Ankhkheperure in Thebes", by Nicholas Reeves, itself published in "The Overseer of Works in Memphis and Thebes": https://www.academia.edu/105385762/Th... Much of what I shared comes from the Egyptologist's Jan Assman's paper, which I managed to find the whole of, titled "Ocular Desire in a Time of Darkness: Urban Festivals and Divine Visibility in Ancient Egypt": https://archiv.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/p... If you want to further understand this text, I would highly recommend reading it. He goes into great depth and detail! ---------------------------------- The lyre was made by the Luthieros, a family company based in Greece whose mission is to reintroduce the ancient lyre to the modern world: https://luthieros.com/ ---------------------------------- Lyrics: English: My wish is to see You, O Lord of Persea Trees! May Your neck be adorned with garlands, that You may give satiety without eating and drunkenness without drinking. My wish is to look at you, that my heart might rejoice, O Amun, Protector of the poor man: You are the father of the motherless and the husband of the widow. Pleasant is the utterance of Your name; it is like the taste of life, like the taste of bread to a child. Come back to us, O Lord of Continuity. You were here before anything had come into being and You will be here when they are gone. As You have caused me to see the darkness, which is Yours to give, make light for me so that I can see You. As Your ka endures, and as Your beautiful, beloved face endures, You shall come from afar and cause this servant to see You. O Amun, O great Lord who can be found by seeking Him May You drive off fear! Set rejoicing in people's hearts. Joyful is the one who sees You, O Amun: he is in festival every day! Transliteration: [6] jb.j r mȝȝ.k nb šwb ṯȝ [7] ḫḫ.k m mḥy d.k sȝw bw [8] wnmt d.k tḫwy r bw swrj [9] jb.j r mȝȝn.k ršj jb.j Jmn pȝ [10] ḥnwty n nmḥ ntk pȝ jt n [11] jwty mwt.f pȝ hȝj n tȝ ḫȝrt [12] nḏm se pȝ dmw rn.k sw mj [13] dpt ʿnḫ sw mj dpt ʿq n ẖrd 19] ʿn.tn n.n pȝ nb nḥḥ wn.k dy jw bw [20] ḫprt.w jw.k r dy jw.w ḥn d.k ptr.j kkw [21] ? n dd.k sḥḏ n.j mȝȝ.j tn wȝḥ kȝ.k [22] wȝḥ pȝy.k ḥr nfr mr jw.k r jy m wȝy [23] d.k ptr tw bȝk-jm [25] Jmn pȝ nb ʿȝ n wḫȝ.tw.f m gm.tw [26] .f rwj.k snḏ jm ršw [27] m jb ny rmṯ nȝ-nršw pȝ ḥr [28] mȝȝ tw Jmn sw m ḥb rʿ-nb Egyptian Arabic/Masri: ترنيمة لإلله آمون نفسي أشوفك يا رب أشجار البرساء تستقبل رقبتك أكاليل الورد عشان ت ّدي الشبع من غير أكل، وال ُسكر من غير ُشرب نفسي أشوفك عشان قلبي يفرح يا آمون يا حامي الغالبة يا أبو اللي مالهمش أم وجوز األرملة حلو نُطق اسمك طعمه زي طعم الحياة وزي طعم العيش لطفل صغير ارجعلنا يا رب الدوام إنت كنت موجود قبل ما أي حاجة تتخلق وهتفضل موجود بعد ما كل حاجة تفنى وكما وريّتني الضلمة اللي بإيدك ت ّديها و ّريني النور عشان أقدر أشوفك وكما إن روحك اإللهية، الـ »كا« بتاعتك، خالدة وو ّشك الجميل المحبوب باقي هتيجي من بعيد ّي عبدك ده يشوفك وتخل يا آمون، يا رب العظيم يا اللي يدور عليه يالقيه ابعد الخوف! وامل قلوب الناس فرح سعيد هو اللي يشوفك يا آمون وعايش في عيد كل يوم Translation courtesy of ‪@LateNightWolff‬ and ‪@Tree_Wyrm‬! My reconstruction: ʝib.ʝə rə muʔe.ki nib çawib ta χaχ.ki ma maħə di.k saʔu bu winamti di.k tiχwəy rə bu sawrʝə ʝib.ʝə rə muʔen.ki raçə ʝib.ʝə amūni pəʔ ħinawty nə nimaħ intak pəʔ ʝat nə ʝəwtiy miwāt.if pəʔ hʔay nə ta χiːrat nāc’im se pəʔ t’amu ran.ik su may t’ipīt ʕanaχ su may t’ipīt ʕak’ nə xarud ʕan.tin nə.n pəʔ nib anħəħ un.ik t’ay yiw bu χapritə yiw.ik rə t’ay yiwə ħan di.k patir.ye kaku nə t’at’.ik saħic’ nəʝə muʔey tin wʔaħ kʔə.ki wʔaħ pʔəy.ik ħiir nāfə may yiw.ik rə ay ma wʔəy di.k patir tu bik-ʝam ʝam amūni pʔə nib ʕa nə waχə.tu.fi ma gim.tu fi ruiy.kə sināc’ ʝam rāçə ma ib nə rāmatʰ nʔ-nə rāçə pʔə ħiir muʔe tu amūni su ma ħab reʕa-nib ---------------------------------- Support me on Patreon:   / radioacolyte   or donate on Ko-fi! https://ko-fi.com/radioacolyte You can also download AliStrnad and I's Kemetic hymns on Bandcamp: https://radioacolyte.bandcamp.com/ ----------------------------------