Hymn to Senusret III

Hymn to Senusret III

Twice joyful are the gods,
thou hast established their offerings.
Twice joyful are thy princes,
thou hast formed their boundaries.
Twice joyful are thy ancestors before thee,
thou hast increased their portions.
Twice joyful is Egypt at thy strong arm,
thou hast guarded the ancient order.
Twice joyful are the aged with thy administration,
thou hast widened their positions.
Twice joyful are the two regions with thy valour,
thou hast caused them to flourish.
Twice joyful are thy young men of support,
thou hast caused them to flourish.
Twice joyful are thy veterans
thou hast caused them to be vigorous
Twice joyful are the two lands in thy might,
thou hast guarded their walls.
Twice joyful be thou, O Horus! widening thy boundary,
mayest thou renew an eternity of life.

Twice great are the owners of his city
for he is a multitude and an host.
Twice great are the owners of his city,
for he is a flood-gate pouring forth streams of its water-floods.
Twice great are the owners of his city
for he is a bower, letting every man lie down in the mid-day heat
Twice great are the owners of his city
for he is a screen like walls built of the sharp stones of Kesem.
Twice great are the owners of his city
for he is a refuge, shutting out the robber.
Twice great are the owners of his city
for he is an asylum, shielding the timid from his enemy.
Twice great are the owners of his city
for he is a shade in the high Nile to provide coolness in the summer.
Twice great are the owners of his city
for he is a warm corner of shelter in the winter.
Twice great are the owners of his city
for he is a rock shielding from the blast in the stormy day.
Twice great are the owners of his city
for he is the goddess Sekhet to the foes who tread on his boundary.

He has come to us, he has taken the land of the well,
the double crown is placed on his head.
He has come, he has united the two lands.
he has joined the kingdom of the upper land with the lower.
He has come, he has ruled Egypt,
he has placed the desert in his power.
He has come, he has protected the two lands,
he has given peace in the two regions.
He has come, he has made Egypt to live,
he has destroyed its afflictions.
He has come, he has made the aged to live,
he has opened the breath of the people.
He has come, he has trampled on the nations,
he has smitten the Anu, who knew not his terror.
He has come, he has protected (?) his frontier,
he has rescued the robbed.
He has come ...........
of what his mighty arm brings to us.
He has come, we bring up our children,
we bury our aged by his good favour.

Source: W.M.Flinders Petrie A History of Egypt Part One, pp 190f