Love Song Sung in Ancient Egyptian | Leiden Lyre (:

A beautiful and fascinating song written in ancient Egypt! I managed to find the transliteration for it here: https://www.jstor.org/stable/601035?s... The Cairo Love Songs, published by Michael Fox in the Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 100, p. 103 If you actually look at this source, you'll notice I don't use the English translation provided in the publication. I think it lacks some depth and poetic beauty (which is, of course and unfortunately, ascribed by the modern translator). You'll probably also notice that what I've sung is really only a section of a wider array of songs which are a call and response between a man and woman in love. Another thing I forgot to mention in the video is that this is written from the viewpoint of a man who is addressing a woman, who is his beloved. As I mentioned in previous videos, this is known because ancient Egyptian was a gendered language. EDIT: This song is now available by itself, without the educational segment:    • Love Song in Ancient Egyptian | Music Video   The instrument in this video is a reconstruction of the ancient Egyptian Leiden Lyre, handcrafted by the Luthieros in Greece: https://luthieros.com/ Lyrics: English: The love of my beloved is there, on the (other) side, The river swallows my body. Nun (flood) is strong in (this) season, (12) (And) a crocodile is waiting on the sandbank. (Still) I go down to the water, Wading through the waves . . . The crocodile, I find, is like a mouse, (13) The floodwaters like land under my feet. It is her love that makes me strong, So she will cast a water-spell for me. And I will see the one whom my heart loves, Standing right before me. Transliterated: mrwt n snt ḥr tfꜣ ḥr rwꜣi itrw im(y)t nw wsr m tr. . . (12) dpy ꜥḥꜥ ḥr mꜣst hꜣ.kwi r mw rhn.t.i nwyt ḥꜣty.i ꜥꜣ ḥr mrw gm.n.i ḥnty mi pnw n? (13) nt(y) mi tꜣ n rdwy.i m tꜣy.s mrwt i-didi rwḏ.i kꜣ iry.s n.i ḥsy-mw iw.i ḥr mꜣꜣ tꜣ mry-ib.i ꜥḥꜥ.ti m-ꜥqꜣ n ḥr.i My reconstruction: merá nə sāne ħiir tifə ħiir rawːə eitirə amayə nu ūsir me tər (12)tipā ʕħʕə ħiir masə ha.kui rə mu raːhni nuyə ħatey ʕa ħiir mārə gamnə ħāntə ma pinu nə (13)nati ma ta nə rat’ui mə tay.sə merá a-də rawc’ə ka iri.s nə.i ħis-mu iw.ə ħiirw mʔa ta may-ibə ʕħʕə.tə mə ʕk’a nə ħiir.a The numbers are mostly for keeping track of where I am in the reconstruction and where the reconstruction is in the original publication! Egyptian Arabic/Masri: حبّ حبيبتي هناك،​ على الضفة التانية والنهر بيبلع جسمي والفيضان (نون) قوي في الموسم ده وتمساح واقف مستني على لسان الرمل وبرضه بنزل الميّه وأعدّي وسط الموج التمساح،​ بالنسبالي،​ زي الفار ومية الفيضان زي الأرض تحت رجليّا حبّها هو اللي بيقوّيني وعشان كده هتسحرلي الميّه وساعتها هشوف اللي قلبي بيحبّها واقفة قدّامي Translation courtesy of ‪@LateNightWolff‬ and ‪@Tree_Wyrm‬!