The Tale of Sinuhe

I, Sinuhe, was a follower of the lord, an attendant of the king's harem, and a servant of the royal wife Neferu, daughter of King Senwosret and great wife of King Amenemhat. This is the account of what I lived through.

In the thirtieth year of the reign of King Amenemhat, in the third month of the inundation, on the seventh day, the god ascended to his horizon. The king of Upper and Lower Egypt, Sehetepibre, soared up to heaven and joined the sun-disk. The body of the god was united with the one who had made him. The royal residence was silent. Hearts were in mourning. The great gates were closed. The courtiers sat with their heads on their knees, and the people grieved.

His Majesty had sent an army to the land of the Tjemehu, with his eldest son Senwosret as its commander. Senwosret was returning from the campaign, bringing live captives from the Tjemehu and cattle of every kind without number, when royal messengers were sent out to find him with the news of the king's death. They reached him at the close of evening, and he did not delay a moment. The Falcon flew with his attendants without telling the army he was going.

Now I was standing nearby and overheard a message that other royal sons received. I heard the words. My heart leaped. My arms spread wide. A trembling spread through every limb. I leaped away in great strides to find a place to hide. I crossed the king's lake at night and slipped past the Wall-of-the-Ruler, the fortress on the eastern frontier, made to keep out the Asiatics and to crush the sand-crossers. I crouched down in a thicket so that the patrol would not see me.

Day broke and I reached Peten and stopped at the Island of Kem-Wer. A fit of thirst overtook me. My throat burned, and I said: "This is the taste of death." But then I lifted my heart and gathered my limbs together, hearing the lowing of cattle. I saw bedouin people, and one of their chiefs, who had been in Egypt, recognized me. He gave me water and boiled milk, and I went on with him from tribe to tribe.

I came to the country of Yaa. There were figs and grapes there, and more wine than water. Honey and oil were plentiful. Every kind of fruit grew on its trees. There were barley and emmer, and cattle of every kind without number. The chief of the country, Ammu-nenshi, took me in. "You will do well with me," he said. "You will hear the speech of Egypt." He said this because he knew my reputation and had heard of my wisdom. He set me at the head of his children and married me to his eldest daughter. He let me choose for myself from the best of his country, on the border of another land. It was a fine country called Yaa. There were figs in it and grapes, and more wine than water. Plentiful was its honey, abundant its oil. Every kind of fruit was on its trees. Barley was there, and emmer, and there was no end to the cattle.

A great life came to me. I built houses and well-laid fields. The food brought to me was bread, wine made daily, cooked meat, and roast fowl, in addition to game from the desert that I caught in traps and brought back, and what my hunting dogs took. Many sweet things were made for me, and milk in everything cooked.

I spent many years there. My children grew strong, each of them a man over his own tribe. The messenger who came north or went south to the residence in Egypt would stay with me. I gave water to the thirsty, set the wanderer on his way, and rescued the man who had been robbed. When the bedouin grew bold and rose up against the chiefs of the foreign lands, I gave them counsel, made plans for them, and went out at the head of the army of Ammu-nenshi. Whenever I went, they fled before me. I took their cattle, carried away their men. I took the food from their tents. I killed those in their lands by my strong arm, my bow, and my movements, and by my excellent plans. I won my way into Ammu-nenshi's heart, and he loved me, knowing my valor. He set me at the head of his children, having seen the strength of my arms.

A hero of Retenu came to challenge me in my tent. He was a champion without rival, and had subdued the whole country. He said he would fight me. He thought he could plunder me, and he intended to take my cattle, by the counsel of his tribe.

That chief Ammu-nenshi conferred with me, and I said: "I do not know him. I am no friend of his. I have not been admitted to his camp. I have never opened his door or thrown down his fences. He is jealous because he sees me carrying out your business. I am like a stray bull in the midst of another herd. He has no use for me, and I am unknown to him. Will the bull love combat? Will a champion turn back?" In the night I strung my bow, made ready my arrows, sharpened my dagger, and polished my weapons.

When day broke, all of Retenu had come together, all the tribes that depended on her, and they had gathered. Every heart was burning for me. The women jabbered. Every face turned pale. They said, "Is there another champion who could fight him?"

He had his shield, his battle-axe, his armful of javelins. After I had let his weapons pass me by and made his arrows fly past with no effect, one falling after another, he charged at me. I shot him. My arrow stuck in his neck. He cried out and fell on his nose. I struck him down with his own battle-axe. I gave my war-cry on his back, and every man of the country shouted. I gave thanks to Montu, the god of war, and his followers grieved over him. Then chief Ammu-nenshi took me in his arms.

I carried away his property. I took his cattle. What he had thought to do to me, I did to him. I took what was in his tent. I plundered his camp. I became great by it, abundant in my goods, rich in my cattle. So God acted, to be merciful to one with whom he had been angry, whom he had let stray to another land. Today his heart was satisfied.

A fugitive fled because of his fear. A man slandered in Egypt now has bread to share. The bald man, in the prime of life, has been clothed with fine linen. He who used to send messages goes about with messengers. Excellent things are made for him in his fine dwelling.

But I longed for Egypt. As I grew old, my limbs grew weak. My eyes grew heavy. My arms hung at my sides. My feet would not follow me. My heart was tired. The day of departure was drawing near. The lords of the West would receive me and lead me to the city of eternity, and I would not be buried there. Whose body lies in the foreign land must be a wretched man indeed.

I made my prayer. I said: "May the god, whoever he is who decreed this flight of mine, be gracious to me and bring me to the residence. Surely you will let me see the place where my heart still lives. What is greater than that my body should be buried in the land where I was born? Help me. May good fortune come, may the god grant me peace. May he act so as to make happy the end of one whom he himself afflicted, that his heart should suffer for one whom he forced to live in foreign lands. Surely he is reconciled today. May he hear the prayer of one far away."

The reply came from the Egyptian palace. The king himself sent me a decree, naming me by my offices, listing the gifts the royal house was sending to me, and saying: "Return to Egypt. You shall see the residence where you grew up. You shall kiss the earth at the great double doors. You shall mingle with the courtiers. Today you have begun to grow old, you have lost your virility. Think of the day of burial, of going to a state of grace. A night will be devoted to oils and wrappings from the hands of the goddess Tayt. A funeral procession will be made for you on the day of joining the earth, with a coffin of gold, with a head of lapis lazuli, the heaven above you, and you placed in a hearse drawn by oxen and preceded by singers. The dance of the muu-dancers will be performed at the door of your tomb. The funerary offering will be invoked for you. They will sacrifice in front of your altar. The pillars of your tomb will be carved in white stone, in the midst of the royal children. You should not die in a foreign land. The Asiatics shall not bury you. You shall not be put inside a sheepskin. You have wandered too long. Think of your body, and return."

When this decree reached me, I was standing in the middle of my tribe. When it had been read to me, I threw myself on the ground. I touched the dust. I scattered it on my hair. I went around my camp shouting, "How can a thing like this happen to a servant whom his heart led astray to strange lands?"

I gathered my people, gave my goods to my children. My eldest son took charge of my tribe. My household and my wealth were left to him. My slaves, my herds, my fruit, every pleasant tree, all of it. I traveled south.

When I reached the Wall-of-the-Ruler, the captain of the patrol sent a messenger to the residence to tell them I was coming. His Majesty sent the chief overseer of the peasants of the royal estate to meet me, and laden ships came carrying gifts from the king for the bedouin who had escorted me. I named each of them by name. Every servant attended to his task. I traveled south.

I came to the residence at dawn. Ten men came and ten men went to bring me to the palace. I touched the ground with my forehead between the sphinxes. The royal children were standing in the gateway to receive me. The courtiers led me forward to the audience hall. I found His Majesty seated on the great throne in the gateway of fine gold. I stretched myself out on my belly. I lost consciousness in his presence. The god spoke to me kindly, but I felt I was a man caught in the dark. My ba had gone, my limbs were weak, my heart was no longer in my body. I did not know whether I was alive or dead.

His Majesty said to one of the courtiers, "Lift him up, let him speak to me." Then His Majesty said, "Behold, you have come, after wandering foreign lands. Flight has taken its toll on you. You have grown old, you have reached old age. The burial of your body is no small matter. You will not be buried by the bedouin. Do not act against yourself any longer. You did not speak when your name was called out, you who feared retribution."

I answered: "It was the work of a god. The fear in my body was as a thing that produces preordained flight. Behold, I am before you. Life is yours. Your Majesty does as he pleases."

I was led out of the palace. The royal children gave me their hands. We went to the great double doors. I was lodged in the house of a king's son, beautiful with linen and ornaments. I was shaved. My hair was combed. My burden was given back to the desert, my clothes to the sand-crossers. I was clothed in fine linen, anointed with the best oil. I slept on a bed. The years of foreign land fell off my body. My skin was rubbed and grew smooth.

A house was given to me, befitting one who is a courtier. Many craftsmen built it. All the wood was made new. Meals were brought to me from the palace three or four times a day, in addition to what the royal children gave me. There was no break. A pyramid of stone was built for me in the midst of the pyramids. The chief of the masons of the pyramid received the ground for it. The chief of the draftsmen drafted it. The chief of the sculptors carved it. The chief of the works of the necropolis traveled the country to fetch all the equipment to be placed in it. Statues of gold were placed inside it, statues with kilts of fine gold. His Majesty had this done. There has never been a humble man for whom such things have been done. I lived in the favor of the king until the day of landing came.

It came to a happy end.