been brought back by any other person who hath visited Amam.”  Behold, every year thou performest what thy Lord wisheth and praiseth.  Behold, thou passest thy days and thy nights meditating about doing what thy Lord ordereth, and wisheth, and praiseth.  And His Majesty will confer on thee so many splendid honours, which shall give renown to thy grandson for ever, that all the people shall say when they have heard what [my] Majesty hath done for thee, “Was there ever anything like this that hath been done for the smer uat Herkhuf when he came back from Amam because of the sagacity (or attention) which he displayed in doing what his Lord commanded, and wished for, and praised?” Come down the river at once to the Capital.  Bring with thee this pygmy whom thou hast brought from the Land of the Spirits, alive, strong, and healthy, to dance the dance of the god, and to cheer and gratify the heart of the King of the South and North, Neferkara, the everliving.  When he cometh down with thee in the boat, cause trustworthy men to be about him on both sides of the boat, to prevent him from falling into the water.  When he is asleep at night cause trustworthy men to sleep by his side on his bedding.  See [that he is there] ten times [each] night. [My] Majesty wisheth to see this pygmy more than any offering of the countries of Ba and Punt.  If when thou arrivest at the Capital, this pygmy who is with thee is alive, and strong, and in good health, [My] Majesty will confer upon thee a greater honour than that which was conferred upon the bearer of the seal Baurtet in the time of Assa, and as great is the wish of [My] Majesty to see this pygmy orders have been brought to the smer, the overseer of the priests, the governor of the town ... to arrange that rations for him shall be drawn from every station of supply, and from every temple without....

THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF AMENI AMENEMHAT

This inscription is cut in hieroglyphs on the doorposts of the tomb of Ameni at Beni-hasan in Upper Egypt.  It is dated in the forty-third year of the reign of Usertsen I, a king of the twelfth dynasty, about 2400 B.C.  After giving the date and a list of his titles, Ameni says: 

“I followed my Lord when he sailed to the South to overthrow his enemies in the four countries of Nubia.  I sailed to the south as the son of a duke, and as a bearer of the royal seal, and as a captain of the troops of the Nome of Mehetch, and as a man who took the place of his aged father, according to the favour which he enjoyed in the king’s house and the love that was his at Court.  I passed through Kash in sailing to the South.  I set the frontier of Egypt further southwards, I brought back offerings, and the praise of me reached the skies.  His Majesty set out and overthrew his enemies in the vile land of Kash.  I returned, following him as an alert official.  There was no loss among my soldiers. [And again] I sailed to the South to fetch gold ore for the Majesty of the King of the