324 
35 Thou hast uplifted heaven to the expanse of thine outstretched arms, 
thou hast spread out earth to the width of thy stride. 
36 Heaven rejoices to thee at thy greatness of soul, thy terror fills earth 
at thy figure, princely hawk of glittering plume, many-coloured frame, 
mighty sailor god, self-existing, traversing paths in the divine vessel, 
thou roarest in smiting thy foes, making thy great bark sweep on, 
men hail thee, gods fear thee, thou hast felled thy foes before it. 
37 Courier of heaven outetript by none, to illumine earth for his children, 
uplifted above gods and men, shining upon us we know not thy form 
when thou lookest upon our faces, thy greatness passes our knowledge. 
38 O blessed Ra-Haemachis, thou penetratest * * * § Bull at night, 
Chieftain by day, beauteous orb of mafelc , f King of heaven, Sovran of 
earth, great image in the horizon of heaven. 
39 Ra who hast made beings, Totanen giving life to mankind, Phaeaoh 
son of RaJ has adored thee in thy glories, he has worshipped at thy 
gracious rising brightness on the 
40 Eastern horizon, he makes tranquil thy path, he beats down thy foes 
before thee in his turning back all thy adversaries, he assigned to thee 
the Uta§ on her seat, he makes them . . . . J| he assigned to thee 
honours .... || he cleared the way for thee, he established thy 
rites in Abydos ; he opens to thee roads in Rusta,^[ he beats down 
evil. 
19. This beautiful hymn presents us rather with the 
devotional than with the theological aspect of the Myth of 
Ra: it resembles more those sublime outpourings of adora- 
tion of which in sacred literature Psalm civ. is so charac- 
teristic a type. The beneficent nature of Ra; his sweetening 
or assuaging the pains of his worshippers ; his giving the breath 
of summer in the valley ; his giving breath and peace to all 
creatures ; his causing the sun to shine for the use of his 
children ; his holding the heavens in his outstretched arms ; 
his power and greatness surpassing knowledge ; — all these are 
almost inspired phrases, and are peculiar to this hymn alone. 
The similes are almost Hebraic in their elegance, and the idea 
* Lacunae. 
f Query Mafka. The Egyptian bronze or native copper, a fitting simile 
to describe the colour of the setting sun. 
+ One of the Ramesside Pilaraohs, name unknown, for whom this hymn 
was originally transcribed. 
§ The mystic eye of the deity. 
If Lacunae. 
IT One of the abodes of Osiris. 
