There was a time when nearly any antiquity could be bought for a price. In the early 20th century there lived a man named Alfred Chester Beatty who was a great collector of all things Oriental.

Alfred Chester Beatty was a mining millionaire, having made his fortune in copper mines from places such as Cripple Creek, Colorado. He was a naturalized British citizen by 1933 and was made an honorary Irish citizen in 1957. His life was interesting, but more interesting still were scraps of papyri he bought and bequeathed to both the British Museum and a library bearing his name in Dublin, Ireland (http://wikipedia.org).

These papyri span many subjects, the most intriguing being the Chester Beatty Biblical Papyri, written in Greek, sporting such works from the Bible as Genesis, Ecclesiastes, and Revelations, all dating from around the 3rd and 4th centuries AD (http://wikipedia.org). Another interesting grouping within the Chester Beatty collection are the Medical Papyri dating from around 1200 BC (http://wikipedia.org).

A different grouping exists within the Chester Beatty Papyrus collection that is not mentioned very often. It is a set of poems from Ancient Egypt. Notable among these poems are the romantic poems.

Just in time for Valentine’s Day.

1  Sister without Peer
My one, the sister without peer,
The handsomest of all!
She looks like the rising morning star
At the start of a happy year.
Shining bright, fair of skin,
Lovely the look of her eyes,
Sweet the speech of her lips,
She has not a word too much.
Upright neck, shining breast,
Hair true lapis lazuli;
Arms surpassing gold,
Fingers like lotus buds.
Heavy thighs, narrow waist,
Her legs parade her beauty;
With graceful step she treads the ground,
Captures my heart by her movements.
She causes all men’s necks
To turn about to see her;
Joy has he whom she embraces,
He is like the first of men!
When she steps outside she seems
Like that the Sun!
First Stanza, Beginning of the sayings of the great happiness, from Papyrus Chester Beatty I

2  My Brother Torments My Heart
My brother torments my heart with his voice,
He makes sickness take hold of me;
He is neighbor to my mother’s house.
And I cannot go to him!
Mother is right in charging him thus:
“Give up seeing her!”
It pains my heart to think of him,
I am possessed by love of him.
Truly, he is a foolish one,
But I resemble him;
He knows not my wish to embrace him,
Or he would write to my mother.
Brother, I am promised to you
By the golden of women!
Come to me that I see your beauty,
Father, mother will rejoice!
My people will hail you all together,
They will hail you, O my brother!
Second Stanza, from Papyrus Chester Beatty I

3  My Heart Flutters Hastily
My heart flutters hastily,
When I think of my love of you;
It lets me not act sensibly,
It leaps from its place.
It lets me not put on a dress,
Nor wrap my scarf around me;
I put no paint upon my eyes,
I’m even not anointed.
“Don’t wait, go there,” says it to me,
As often as I think of him;
My heart, don’t act so stupidly,
Why do you play the fool?
Sit still, the brother comes to you,
And many eyes as well.
Let not the people say of me:
“A woman fallen through love!”
Be steady when you think of him,
My heart, do not flutter!
Fourth Stanza, from Papyrus Chester Beatty I


4  I Passed before His House
I passed before his house,
I found his door ajar;
My brother stood by his mother,
And all his brothers with him.
Love of him captures the heart
Of all who tread the path;
Splendid youth who has no peer,
Brother outstanding in virtues!
He looked at me as I passed by,
And I, by myself, rejoiced;
How my heart exulted in gladness,
My brother, at your sight!
If only the mother knew my heart,
She would have understood by now;
O Golden One, put it in her heart,
Then will I hurry to my brother!
I will kiss him before his companions,
I would not weep before them;
I would rejoice at their understanding
That you acknowledge me!
I will make a feast for my goddess,
My heart leaps to go;
To let me see my brother tonight,
O happiness in passing!
Sixth Stanza, from Papyrus Chester Beatty I


5  Sickness Invaded Me
Seven days since I saw my sister,
And sickness invaded me;
I am heavy in all my limbs,
My body has forsaken me.
When the physicians come to me,
My heart rejects their remedies;
The magicians are quite helpless,
My sickness is not discerned.
To tell me “She is here” would revive me!
Her name would make me rise;
Her messenger’s coming and going,
That would revive my heart!
My sister is better than all prescriptions,
She does more for me than all medicines;
Her coming to me is my amulet,
The sight of her makes me well!
When she opens her eyes my body is young,
Her speaking makes me strong;
Embracing her expels my malady—
Seven days since she went from me!
Seventh Stanza, from Papyrus Chester Beatty I

6  How well She Knows to Cast the Noose
How well she knows to cast the noose,
And yet not pay the cattle tax!
She casts the noose on me with her hair,
She captures me with her eye;
She curbs me with her necklace,
She brands me with her seal ring.
Third Stanza, from The Nakht-Sobak Cycle of Papyrus Chester Beatty I

(Poems supplied by http://www.humanistictexts.org/egyptlov.htm)

Happy Valentine’s Day!

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Tags: ancient egyptian literature, ancient egyptian love poems, ancient egyptian love poetry, ancient literature, ancient love poem, ancient love poems, ancient love poetry, ancient romantic poems, ancient romantic poetry, Literature, papyri, Papyrus, poem, poems, Poetry, romantic poems

This entry was posted by Page Strong on Wednesday, February 10th, 2010 at 09:33 and is filed under Ancient Egypt, Literature. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.