“I have come, making thee to trample under foot the Thehenu (Libyans), the Islands of the Uthentiu [have submitted to] the power of thy Souls.  I have made them to see Thy Majesty as a savage lion, which hath scattered the dead bodies of the people throughout their valleys.

“I have come, making thee to trample under foot the uttermost ends of the earth, the Circuit of the Great Circuit is in thy grasp, I have made them to see Thy Majesty as the hawk, which seizeth what it seeth when it pleaseth.

“I have come, making thee to trample upon those who are on their frontiers(?), thou hast smitten ‘those on their sand’ (i.e. the desert dwellers), making them living captives.  I have made them to see Thy Majesty as a jackal of the south, moving fleetly and stealthily, and traversing the Two Lands.

“I have come, making thee to trample under foot the Antiu of Ta-sti, as far as ... they are in thy grasp.  I have made them to see Thy Majesty as the Two Brothers (Set and Horus), I have gathered together their arms about thee with [strength].

“I have placed thy Two Sisters (Isis and Nephthys) near thee as protectresses for thee, the arms of Thy Majesty are [lifted] upwards to drive away evil.  I have made thee strong and glorious, O my beloved Son, thou Mighty Bull, crowned in Thebes, begotten by me ..., Thothmes, the everliving, who hast performed for me all that my Ka wished.  Thou hast set up my sanctuary with work that shall endure for ever, thou hast lengthened it and broadened it more than ever was done before.  The great pylon ...  Thou hast celebrated the festival of the beauties of Amen-Ra, thy monuments are greater than those of any king who hath existed, I commanded thee to do it.  I am satisfied with it.  I have stablished thee upon the throne of Horus for hundreds of thousands of years.  Thou shalt guide life ...”

[Illustration:  A Page of the Hieratic Text, from the Great Harris Papyrus in the British Museum, describing the great Works carried out by Rameses III about 1200 B.C.]

SUMMARY OF THE REIGN OF RAMESES III

The reign of Rameses III is remarkable in the annals of the New Empire, and the great works which this king carried out, and his princely benefactions to the temples of Egypt, are described at great length in his famous papyrus in the British Museum (Harris, No. 1, No. 9999).  The last section of the papyrus contains an excellent historical summary of the reign of Rameses III, and as it is one of the finest examples of this class of literature a translation of it is here given.  The text is written in the hieratic character and reads: