Friday, September 14, 2018

The Song of Neferankhet

I hesitated a bit to share this beyond a small circle. I'm a bit jealous of how nice it looks. But since I don't have any other posts prepared, here it is : The Song of Neferankhet papyrus.

This was conceived as a sort of Egyptian Song of Songs, an erotically charged spiritual metaphor. The nice thing, which evolved as the papyrus facsimile was being done, is how the horizontal and vertical lines combine to allude to the Egyptian logogram for "house", as if to illustrate that the speaker is seeking her spiritual home.


The main text reads: My beloved is the young god. He calls to me as sunlight calls to a new shoot. I follow him into the reed thicket. He warms me in his arms and my mouth embraces him. My boatman stirs the waters with his mighty oar, carrying me to the birthplace of the sun. Like grains of sand are the desires of men. They are blown beyond the horizon and forgotten. But like the flood are the kisses of my beloved, making bloom the lotus of the heart. Like the pillars of wisdom are his arms, like the scrolls of Thoth his words of love. Date wine flows from his lips. Like those from the sky he announces himself with light. Like a shapeless thought he comes upon me and I am freed from my body.

Underneath the Eye of Horus the text reads: Neferankhet seeking her beloved

No comments:

Post a Comment