this present time, her head is crowned with the sovereignty of the earth, and her children are in the royal chambers of the Palace.  Lay aside the honours which thou hast, and thy life of abundance (or luxury), and journey to Egypt.  Come and look upon thy native land, the land where thou wast born, smell the earth (i.e. do homage) before the Great Gate, and associate with the nobles thereof.  For at this time thou art beginning to be an old man, and thou canst no longer produce sons, and thou hast [ever] in thy mind the day of [thy] burial, when thou wilt assume the form of a servant [of Osiris].  The unguents for thine embalmment on the night [of mummification] have been set apart for thee, together with thy mummy swathings, which are the work of the hands of the goddess Tait.  Thy funerary procession, which will march on the day of thy union with the earth, hath been arranged, and there are prepared for thee a gilded mummy-case, the head whereof is painted blue, and a canopy made of mesket wood.  Oxen shall draw thee [to the tomb], the wailing women shall precede thee, the funerary dances shall be performed, those who mourn thee shall be at the door of thy tomb, the funerary offerings dedicated to thee shall be proclaimed, sacrifices shall be offered for thee with thy oblations, and thy funerary edifice shall be built in white stone, side by side with those of the princes and princesses.  Thy death must not take place in a foreign land, the Aamu folk shall not escort thee [to thy grave], thou shalt not be placed in the skin of a ram when thy burial is effected; but at thy burial there shall be ... and the smiting of the earth, and when thou departest lamentations shall be made over thy body.”

When this royal letter reached me I was standing among the people of my tribe, and when it had been read to me I threw myself face downwards on the ground, and bowed until my head touched the dust, and I clasped the document reverently to my breast.  Then [I rose up] and walked to and fro in my abode, rejoicing and saying, “How can these things possibly be done to thy servant who is now speaking, whose heart made him to fly into foreign lands [where dwell] peoples who stammer in their speech?  Assuredly it is a good and gracious thought [of the King] to deliver me from death [here], for thy Ka (i.e. double) will make my body to end [its existence] in my native land.”

Here is a copy of the reply that was made by the servant of the Palace, Sanehat, to the above royal document: 

“In peace the most beautiful and greatest!  Thy KA knoweth of the flight which thy servant, who is now speaking, made when he was in a state of ignorance, O thou beautiful god, Lord of Egypt, beloved of Ra, favoured of Menthu, the Lord of Thebes.  May Amen-Ra, lord of the thrones of the Two Lands, and Sebek, and Ra, and Horus, and Hathor, and Tem and his Company of the Gods, and Neferbaiu, and Semsuu, and Horus of the East, and Nebt-Amehet, the goddess who is joined