Revised in August 2013

18
Two Harpers’ Songs
The Stela of Nebankh

Hsw TniaA Dd.f

mntwi tw m st.k nt nHH m miHat.k nt Dt

iw smH.ti Xr Htpt DfAw arf.n.s bw-nb nfr

kA.k Hna.k n(n) znt.f ir.k

xtmt(i)-biti imi-r pr wr aA nb-anx iw n.k TAw nDm n mHyt

in Hsw.f sanx rn.f imAxy Hsw TniaA mr.n.f Hs n kA.f ra nb

A Song from the Tomb of King Intef1

Hsw nti m Hwt IN&F mAa xrw

nti m bAH pA Hsw m bnt

wAD pw sri pn nfr SAw nfr HDy

1
The numbering and typesetting follows Hoch, Exercise XVI(B) pp. 232-233.
 Xt Hr zbt kt Hr mn Dr rk imiw HAt

nTrw xprw Xr-HAt Htp.w(i) m mrw.sn

saHw Axiw m mitt qrs.w(i) m mrw.sn

qd(w) Hwt nn wn swt.sn ptr irw m.sn

iw sDm.n.i ii-m-Htp Hna Hrw-dd-f

sDd.ti m sDdwt.sn rsi

ptr swt iri inbw.sn fx(.wi)

nn wn swt.sn mi nti(w) nn xpr.sn

bw iy im sDd.f qdw.sn sDd.f xrt.sn sm.f ib.n

r Hnt.n r bw Smw.sn im

wDA.k ib.k r.s mh ib Hr.s Ax n.k/mht-ib Hr sAx n.k Sms ib.k wnn.k

imi antiw Hr tp.k wnx n.k m pAkt

2
Emended following Hoch, p. 234.
 ms.ti m biAw mAa n Hwt nTr

imi HAw Hr nfrw.k m bAgy(w) ib.k

Sms ib.k Hna nfrw.k ir xwt.k tp tA m HD ib.k

iw n.k hrw pfA n sbHwt

bw sDm.n wrd-ib sbHwt.sn

bw Sd nAy.sn iAkbw ib z(i) im m H(A)t

mAwt ir hrw nfr

m wrdw n.i im.f

m.k nn rdi n z(i) itt xwt.f Hna.f

m.k nn wn Sm iw anw
Two Harpers’ Songs

Vocabulary

Hsi sing , qrs bury

Hsw singer , qd build
maHat ptr who, what
miHat tomb
sDdwt literary works,
Htpt offerings quotation
DfAw provisions rsi, rssi entirely,
quite
zni pass (by), surpass, transgress
inb wall
xtmt(i)-biti treasurer/seal bearer
of the king of Lower Egypt fx destroy, fall to ruins
mHyt northwind Hn rush, hurry
imAxy honored qdw form, state, manner, character
Hsw song xrt condition
bnt harp . sm help, relieve
, sri official mhi forgetful, neglectful
SAw fate sAx spiritualize (deceased),
glorify (god), beautify (tomb)
HDi destroy, injure, disobey (heart)
antiw myrrh
HDy destruction
wnx put on (dress), be
, Xt generation clothed
zbi pass on, send pAqt fine linen
rk time, era ms anoint
imiw HAt ancestors, lit. HAw excess, more
those who are in before
nfrw beauty, perfection,
mr pyramid happiness
saH noble, dignitary bAgi weary, lazy
Axi akh sbH cry, wail
 sbHwt (noun) cries, HAt tomb
wailing
mAwt new thing
wrd (verb) weary, tire
anw again
iAkb mourning, plural
wailings
Two Harpers’ Songs

Grammar Points

The Stela of Nebankh

Hsw TniaA Dd.f

mntwi tw m st.k nt nHH m miHat.k nt Dt

A noun + circumstantial sDm.f /subject-imperfective construction introduces Tjeniaa, the
singer of this song: “Tjeniaa, the singer, says.”
The song itself starts with an exclamatory adjectival sentence in which the subject,
the deceased, is addressed in the form of the dependent pronoun tw: “How firm you are in
your seat of eternity!”

In the adverbial adjunct is an alternative spelling of the noun

maHat or miHat “tomb,” and Lichtheim elevates this to “mo-

nument.”

iw.s mH.ti Xr Htpt DfAw arf.n.s bw-nb nfr

kA.k Hna.k n(n) znt.f ir.k

In the first sentence the abundance of offerings in the tomb is described by a subject-
stative construction using the transitive verb mH “fill” having therefore passive meaning.
(The suffix pronoun .s refers to miHat, a feminine noun.) The preposition Xr “under” fol-
lowed by mH should be translated as “with.”

In the second sentence the circumstantial sDm.n.f /perfect of the verb arf
“contain, enclose, include” denoting completed action further emphasizes that the tomb
has everything that the deceased needs.
 As a further comfort to him, in the third short sentence (with adverbial predicate)
the presence of his spiritual element (kA) is emphasized.
In the last unmarked adverb clause, the negated infinitive, qualifying the previous

statement, starts with the negative particle indicated only by . (Note that the con-
text shows that the last clause is not a negated sDmt.f construction which would mean “be-
fore/not yet heard.”) Another example for the negated infinitive with suffixed subject is

pr.k aq.k
nn HnHn.k nn Sna.k Hr sbA n dwAt1.

xtmt(i)-biti imi-r pr wr aA nb-anx iw n.k TAw nDm n mHyt

in Hsw.f sanx rn.f imAxy Hsw TniaA mr.n.f Hs n kA.f ra nb

In the first sentence the titles and the name (nb-anx) of the deceased are given. A simple
adverbial sentence of possession that follows contains a well-wish of the singer, lit. “The
sweet air of the northwind is for you!”
The third sentence starts with a participial statement: “It is his singer.” This is fol-
lowed by the active participle of the causative verb sanx “make live, nourish, keep alive”
with object rn.f “his name,” asserting the singer’s duty.

The relationship of the singer (who calls himself imAxy “honored” with his
name repeated) to the deceased is expressed by the perfect relative form mr.n.f “whom he
loved” of the verb mri “love.”

Finally, the active participle of Hsi “sing” (with Tjeniaa as the antece-
dent) specifies how the ka of the deceased will be kept alive, once again, a reminder and
assertion of the singer’s duty.

1
[Urk. IV 498, 7-9].
 A Song from the Tomb of King Intef2

Hsw nti m Hwt IN&F mAa xrw

nti m bAH pA Hsw m bnt

A common feature of Late Egyptian is the appearance of out-of-the-place weak conso-
nants w and y, superfluous t’s and seated man determinatives. This passage is no excep-
tion.
The simple grammar here has the subject Hsw “song” modified by two relative

clauses with adverbial predicates. Hwt “enclosure” should be promoted to “funerary

chapel.” The evil bird determinative (for the feminine bint “evil, badness”) is (proba-

bly) a scribal error and should be replaced with for “harp.”

wAD pw sri pn nfr SAw nfr HDy

This passage has been interpreted in different ways.
Federn3 splits the passage into three parts: wAD pw sri pn | nfr Saw | nfr HDy; inter-
prets the first as an A pw B nominal sentence “B is A” and the last two as adjectival sen-
tences with the same predicate nfr: “A happy one is this prince; good is the destiny; good
is the injury.”
Lichtheim4 splits the passage into two parts wAD pw sri pn nfr | SAw nfr HDy; inter-
prets the first nfr as modifying sri pn and the second as an AB nominal sentence: He is
happy, this good prince! Death is a kindly fate.” But the use of AB nominal sentences
with both A and B nouns or noun phrases is restricted.
Wilson5 agrees with Lichtheim in the division, but interprets the second part as a
sentence with verbal predicate, the prospective/subjunctive sDm.f of the (intransitive) 3ae-

2
The analysis here extends the grammar notes of Hoch, p. 234.
3
JNES 5(1946) p. 259.
4
M. Lichtheim (I), p. 197.
5
ANET, p. 467.
inf. verb HDi:6 “Prosperous is he, this good prince; Even though good fortune may suffer
harm.”

Xt Hr zbt kt Hr mn Dr rk imiw HAt

The passing of generations after generations is expressed by two pseudo-verbal Hr + infi-

nitive constructions. The alternative spelling of Xt “generation” shows

that it is a collective noun. The apparent adjective kt “(an)other” refers to Xt and this is

why it received the plural strokes. The presence of the determinative is due to its pho-
netic value smn.

The determinative is suggestive to the meaning of the phrase imiw

HAt “ancestors,” lit. “those who are in before.” It is derived from the compound preposition
m HAt by replacing m with the plural prepositional nisbe imiw.

nTrw xprw Xr-HAt Htp.wi m mrw.sn

saHw Axiw m mitt qrs.w(i) m mrw.sn

qd(w) Hwt nn wn swt.sn ptr irw m.sn

The first two sentences contain subject-stative constructions with (the transitive use of)

the verb Htp “rest (in tomb),” and the (transitive) verb , qrs “bury;”
they both have passive meaning.
The first subject nTrw is modified by a relative clause. It is the antecedent of the

plural of the perfective active participle of the verb xpr “happen, evolve.”

is a Late Egyptian spelling of Xr “under,” and the compound preposition Xr-HAt

means “before.”

6
In this verb class the prospective/subjunctive can receive an y ending.
 In the second subject the determinative indicates that Axiw should be viewed as

a (plural) noun (and not the adjective “blessed” whose determinative is ) and it refers
to the “akhs,” the spiritual entities of the Egyptian society, those who lived and made suc-
cessful transition to afterlife. The compound preposition m mitt “likewise” can be trans-
lated as “too” or “also.”
In the third sentence the tone suddenly changes and the song turns the attention to
the tomb builders. They are expressed by the plural perfective active participle of the verb

, qd “build” functioning as a noun. As noted in the analysis of the

Poetical Stela of Thutmose III, nn wn with the indicative /perfective sDm.f of wn ex-
presses negation of existence “there is not,” “there does not exists.” The suffix pro-
noun .sn is coreferential to qdw.

The interrogative pronoun ptr “who, what” (a contraction of the demonstr-

ative pronoun pw and the particle tr) followed by the plural perfective pas-
sive participle ir(y)w of iri “make, do” questions the fate of these dedicated workers.
Since iri + m is an Egyptian idiom of “become of, happen to,” the whole clause can be
translated as “what became/has become of them?”

iw sDm.n.i ii-m-Htp Hna Hrw-dd-f

sDd.ti m sDdwt.sn rsi

In the first main clause, using the circumstantial sDm.n.f /perfect of sDm “hear, listen,” the
singer claims familiarity with the words of the famous Old Kingdom sages Imhotep, the
vizier of Djoser, and Hardededef, Khufu’s son.
In the indirect relative clause the stative has no preceding subject. The transitive
caus. 2-lit.verb sDd “recite, retell, relate” (+ m “of”) receives the 3FS stative suffix .ti and
carries passive meaning “recited.” The object is sDdwt (itself a relative form of sDd) is
more likely “literary works” than “quotations as the adverb rsi “entirely, whole” empha-
sizes: “whose (literary) works are recited whole.”
ptr swt iri inbw.sn fx.wi

nn wn swt.sn mi nti nn xpr.sn

This passage begins with a question: “What of the places…? The fate of the “places” (swt)
of these sages is questioned, and instead of the suffix pronoun .sn, possession is expressed
by the nisbe iri, lit. “that pertains to (them).”
The response comes immediately in a subject-stative construction describing the
state of the walls with the stative of the transitive verb fx “destroy, fall to ruins.”
In beginning of the last sentence is repeated from line 11. The object of the prepo-
sition mi is the relative adjective nti functioning as a noun. The latter marks a relative
clause containing a negated indicative/perfective ni sDm.f with the wrong negative particle.

(Note that in Late Egyptian and are often interchanged.) The suffix pro-
noun .sn is coreferential to the places.

bw iy im sDd.f qdw.sn sDd.f xrt.sn sm.f ib.n

r Hnt.n r bw Smw.sn im

In Late Egyptian negation is often expressed by the negative word bw in place of

n(i) and bn in place of nn. We actually have a double interchange as the negation
bw corresponds to the negative particle in a negation of existence nn A. Here A is the per-
fective active participle iy of the verb ii “return” functioning as a noun (not the negated
participle tm iy “(one) who did not return”). The adverb im “from there” refers the realm
of the dead.
The three adverb (purpose) clauses that follow detail the (possible) outcome of re-

turn. The verbs are sDd “relate, tell” and sm “help, relieve” written wrongly as
 and emended as . (Hoch7 remarks that the scribe may have mistakenly be-
lieved that the line was the passive construction sm.tw ib.n.) All the verb forms are in
prospective/subjunctive sDm.f and can be translated by inserting first “(so) that.”
Alternatively, Lichtheim bypasses the expressed subjects and uses infinitives. The
r + sDmt.f construction “until he has/had heard” applied to the verb Hn “rush, hurry” (and
suffix pronominal subject n “we”) has an ironic tone.
Finally, bw is the antecedent of an indirect relative clause employing the (plural)
perfective relative form of the verb form of Smi “walk, go” (with speed contrasting with
Hn). (Note the space-filler t above the walking leg determinative.) The coreferent is not
expressed.

wDA.k ib.k r.s mh ib Hr.s Ax n.k/mht-ib Hr sAx n.k Sms ib.k wnn.k

The main sentence has the prospective/subjunctive sDm.f wDA ib.k “re-
joice, take heart” expressing wish/command. The feminine suffix pronoun .s is a general
reference to the previous skepticism.

The next sentence can be interpreted in two ways. If in the t above

the evil bird is disregarded then this verb form is imperative with a Late Egyptian group-

writing of mhi “forgetful, neglectful.” Then mh ib Hr.s is a complete sentence in

which the general reference to the skepticism continues with the suffix pronoun .s: “Be
forgetful about it!” The next short adverb clause Ax n.k then has adjectival predicate with a
sarcastic tone: “It is beneficent/profitable for you!”
On the other hand, if the t is considered essential then mht ib becomes a phrase for
“forgetfulness, negligence.” The syntactically adverbial sentence mHt-ib Hr sAx n.k with

the infinitive of sAx applied to a deceased as “spiritualize,” to a god as “glori-

fy,” and to a tomb as “beautify” can be interpreted as “advantageous.”
The imperative returns in the last sentence employing the verb Smsi “follow” with
a clear meaning. The short adverb clause (which can be introduced by “while”) contains

7
Op. cit.
the circumstantial/imperfective sDm.f of wnn “exist, be.”

imi antiw Hr tp.k wnx n.k m pAkt

ms.ti m biAw mAa n Hwt nTr

The imperative continues this time with more specific suggestions.
In the first two sentences the imperatives of the verb rdi “put” and wnx “put on
(dress), dress” are employed while in the third the imperative (as a command) is expressed
by the stative with the second person suffix pronoun .ti.
Note that the noun biAw can also be used for luxury items, and the phrase Hwt nTr
lit. “god’s things” can be translated as “fit for a god.”

imi HAw Hr nfrw.k m bAgy(w) ib.k

Sms ib.k Hna nfrw.k ir xt.k tp tA m HD ib.k

The imperatives still continue, first using the phrase rdi HAw “increase, heap/pile up,” lit.

“make excess/more,” and then with the negative imperative m “do not” (abbreviated

here as ) followed by the negatival complement of the adjective-verb

bAgi “weary, lazy, sink.” This is an example of a 4ae-inf. verb which,

in addition to the negatival complement ending w, also receives an additional y. In the

usual spelling of the complement the scribe replaced the bA-

bird with the flying pintail duck pA.

The “decorative” spelling of the imperative Sms of the 4ae-inf. verb Smsi
is a Late Egyptian feature.
For the last passage, note that iri xt is an Egyptian idiom “be active,” lit. “do/make
things” (still imperative). Finally, based on symmetry, the last sentence can be considered
as a negated imperative using the verb HDi which here means “disobey.” Note that Lich-
theim reads the passage as an adverb clause “as your heart commands” with wD replac-

ing HD.

iw n.k hrw pfA n sbHwt

bw sDm.n wrd-ib sbHwt.sn

bw Sd nAy.sn iAkbw ib z(i) im m H(A)t

The initial adverb clause: “(when) the day of…” signals emphatic construction, so that the
verb form of iw is a (non-attributive) relative form. The subject is the indirect genitive hrw
n sbHwt in which the late form of demonstrative pronoun pfA (with the compounded de-

terminative ) is moved forward.

The main clause starts with the negated circumstantial sDm.n.f /perfect of the verb
sDm expressing negation of action or inability. As discussed previously, the Late Egyptian

negative word bw stands for n(i). The subject is the nfr Hr construction wrd-ib
“weary of heart” referring to Osiris.

The negated prospective/subjunctive sDm.f of the verb Sdi “rescue, save” with

bw in place of nn should be interpreted as negated future. The late form of the de-
monstrative pronoun nAy is used in the subject nAy.sn iAkbw with graphic transposition in
the last noun. The object is the direct genitive ib z(i) and the vague adverb im “from it” is
made precise in the attached prepositional phrase m HAt “from the tomb.”

mAwt

ir hrw nfr
m wrdw n.i im.f

m.k nn rdi n z(i) itt xwt.f Hna.f

m.k nn wn Sm iw anw

The noun mAwt means “refrain,” lit. “a new thing,” and the out-of-place determinative

is possibly influenced by the spelling of mAwt “shaft.”

Imperative of iri governs the special phrase “make holiday” which has a dual ref-
erence: one for everyday life and another for death and afterlife. In addition, ancient
Egyptians also employed this term for funerary festivities held on special days in the ce-
meteries.
Using the negative imperative m and the negatival complement wrdw (of the verb
wrd), the singer (present only by the suffix pronoun .i) makes a last effort to cheer up the
listeners.
Calling for their attention with the particle m.k, he once more reminds his audience
to enjoy life for two principal reasons given in the last two sentences. (The second particle
should read m.k not m.k wi.)
Grammatically, the first uses negated passive (nn in place of n(i)) of the verb rdi
expressing negation of action/ability “(it) is not allowed/permitted,” lit. “(it) is not given.”
The second uses the negated indicative/perfective sDm.f construction nn wn of the
verb wnn, lit. “there is not.” It is followed by the perfective active participles of the verbs
Smi “go” and iwi “return,” lit. “there is no one who has gone and who has returned again.”