*?* Jie i 
THE BILINGUAL DECREES OF PHILAE. TE 
THANKS AND HONORS TO THE ROYAL COUPLE DECREED BY THE 
PRIESTS—Continued. 
HIEROGLYPHIC TEXT. DEMOT IC: TEXT. 
Ioc 
Bees Oe oe, [wrw?]| | [z-] nirw ew tS Oe ae ae 
making tothem [and to their children(?) rewards many] the gods, they are making [for them rewards] 
2sr  =om—’swy Nn [nfrw? [2-w] ty é-w =o SS‘ «| on t-Sbyt n 
(and) liberal inreturn for [the benefits [which are] great, which are liberal,® in return for 
13b 
| 'y—s|n n nirw n—mnhw oF n [n-] ntrw. 
which th]ey [have done] to the gods. the benefits (which) they have done to the gods. 
HH‘ sh(?)n°-[nfr] msb m Nm p -shné -n[fr]. . . 
With [good] luck it has been thought out* in With the good luck [it has 
pie 7 ‘ryw—ntr (w) Rela Sohbet eae“ Oe fe ia 
the heart of the companions of the gods (i. e., the priests) éntered into the heart of the priests] 
a . m(?) pwt-[ntr] 
[who have come?] from the temples 
my—qd— ] Sn yg qnw(?) 
altogether, PuoMiicietnes Fotte MUOMIOES ET) ) 2 < 2 Se re ee ee 
n n—-st ’byty sj—R' [n-|mtw-phi(t)w nt nt(u)’ = pr-‘ 
for the king of S. and N. Egypt, the son of the Sun, the honors which belongto king 
j rof : 
Piw;rwmys, ee ee ee S|’ | Pilwneys nh at [Pth mr| 
Ptolemy living forever, [beloved of Ptah Ptolemy, the everliving [beloved of Ptah] 

1Thus? The traces which at first look like fir after s, are accidental; the first stroke of an n (water line) is 
rather visible above. 
2 We should like to supply nn nfrw ‘these benefits,” but the space seems to be insufficient. NV in trace above. 
3 Hieratic ) disfigured by the sculptor to the two parallel strokes of final —y. 
4 We should expect ‘“‘it entered (‘g) into the heart of the priests” (Ros. 5) or “it was put (rdy) in the heart,” etc. 
(Canop. 11). Our scribe wanted to use a more choice word which implied not only a momentary thought but 
hinted at profound deliberation. Msb(b) seems to mean originally “to turn oneself to and fro,” then “to make 
an effort, to labor, to strive, to exert oneself, especially in thought.” El Amrah & Abydos, pl. 33 (of a kind and 
popular person) mssbbw (Det. thinking, speaking, man) /ir-f, “‘one for whom care was taken, an effort was made,” 
i. e., “one who occupied the thoughts.” Harris 500, 4, 10: “I move myself (ji), reflecting Cu-y hr msb, Det. 
thinking man) under (hr) my love;” see my Liebespoesie der alten Aegypter, p. 22. Grifhth, Siut (Rife) VII, 29: 
(“I am sitting to equip my tomb) reflecting (msbb, Det. Antelope, possibly a mistake for the jackal?, see below) 
for the sake (lr mrt) of my tomb.’ I do not understand Rec. Trav. 9, 96: (1 am alone) n tm-f msbb (det. jackal 
turning the head back as phonetic determimative for sb and at the same time determinative of sense, then legs) 
hr nb-f; the negation tm makes the sense of the phrase, “making an effort, thinking, for his master,” obscure. 
Also, Pap. Turin 60, 15: m msbw (Det. bookroll, plural) ’w ’rw-f stands in obscure connection. B. H. I. 8, 2: 
“the gods shall listen to my (poetical) reflections” (msbb, det. thinking man); the parallelism brings it side to side 
with hknw: “songs of praise.” ‘The word seems related to sbb. ; 
5 The general sense of the passage is clear by the sense analogies of other texts, but the restoration of the 
single signs is difficult. ‘‘Honors”’ is seemingly rendered by gnw (determ. “strong arm” and plural strokes) which 
would be a very peculiar expression. Understanding the two words as ‘‘[recollections(?) of] the victories ”? we are 
puzzled by the first word beginning with m-. The mutilated parallel, Decree I, 8d, seems to differ: Is the above 
text mutilated by omission of the verb [s—wr] “to increase”’ in the infinitive, so that only “ many (qnw!/) honors 
remains? The traces also do not favor the reading of the first group mtw—w “‘that they,” assuming that both the 
verb and the object have been omitted. 
6 Written as in Canop. 10, 49, 53, while Ros. (18) has ss. Also elsewhere the orthography often wavers 
hetween these forms. 
7 Here rather indistinct (over a correction?); restore the clear form after Ros. dem. 22. 
