CUNEIFORM INSCRIPTIONS AND HIERATIC PAPYRI
THE GREAT TABLET OF RAMESES II AT ABU-SIMBEL
TRANSLATED BY EDOUARD NAVILLE
In the great temple of Abu-Simbel, between two pillars of the first hall, there is a large tablet, which has been added, evidently, a long time after the completion of the temple. This tablet, which is the object of the present translation, is covered with a text of thirty-seven lines, containing a speech of the god Ptah Totunen to the King Rameses II, and the answer of the King.
It was very likely considered by the kings of Egypt to be a remarkable piece of literature, as it has been repeated, with slight alterations, on the pylons of the temple of Medinet-Habu, built by Rameses III. The tablet, which is decaying rapidly, has been published three times: first, by Burton, in the "Excerpta Hieroglyphica" pl. 60; then from the copies of Champollion, in the "Monuments de l'Egypte et de la Nubie," l, pl. 38; and, finally, by Lepsius, " Denkmaler," III, pl. 193. The inscription of Medinet-Habu has been copied and published by M. Duemichen, in his " Historische Inschriften," l, pl. 7-10, and by M. Jacques de Rouge, in his "Inscriptions recueillis en Egypte," II, pl. 131-138.
I am not aware that any complete translation of this long text has been made. The first part has been translated into German by Mr. Duemichen ("Die Flotte einer AEgyptischen Koenigin," Einleitung), from the text at Medinet-Habu; a portion of it is also to be found in Brugsch, "AEgyptische Geschichte," p. 538. The present translation I have made from the tablet, which, being more ancient than the inscription, is
