User:Tomispev/Memphite Theology

This is the version of the Memphite Theology from the 8th century BCE stela of pharaoh, also known as the. The Hieroglyphic text, transposed from columns into rows, follows the facsimile edition of the stela from the plates in El Hawary (2008). The transcription is also taken from there with minor modifications. The translation is from Lichtheim (1973), but with minor additions or changes in parentheses { }, taken from Allen (1988) and Assmann (2007).

=Text=

Verse 1 (line 48)
The gods who came into being in Ptah.

Verse 2 (col. 53)
There took shape in the heart, there took shape on the tongue, the form of Atum.

Verse 3 (col. 53)
For the very great one is Ptah, who gave [life] to all the gods and their

Verse 4 (col. 53)
through this heart and through this tongue,

Verse 5 (col. 54)
in which Horus had taken shape as Ptah, in which Thoth had taken shape as Ptah.

Verse 6 (col. 54)
Thus heart and tongue rule over all the limbs

Verse 7 (col. 54)
in accordance with the teaching that it is in every body and it is in every mouth

Verse 8 (col. 54)
of all gods, all men, all cattle, all creeping things, whatever lives,

Verse 9 (col. 54)
thinking whatever it wishes and commanding whatever it wishes.

Verse 10 (col. 55)
His Ennead is before him as teeth and lips. They are the semen and the hands of Atum.

Verse 11 (col. 55)
For the Ennead of Atum came into being through his semen and his fingers.

Verse 12 (col. 55)
But the Ennead is the teeth and the lips in this mouth which pronounced the name of every thing,

Verse 13 (col. 55-56)
|   from which Shu and Tefnut came forth, and which gave birth to the Ennead.

Verse 14 (col. 56)
{The eyes’} seeing, {the ears’} hearing, {the nose’s} breathing {of air}; they report to the heart,

Verse 15 (col. 56)
and it {is what} makes every understanding come forth.

Verse 16 (col. 56)
As to the tongue, it repeats what the heart has devised.

Verse 17 (col. 56)
He (Ptah) is the one who made all the gods, (also) Atum and his Ennead.

Verse 18 (col. 56-57)
|    For every {hieroglyph} came about through what the heart devised and the tongue commanded.

Verse 19 (col. 57)
mtn ḥms.wt Thus all the {male life-principles} were made and all the {female life-principles} determined they that make all foods and all provisions,

Verse 20 (col. 57)
through this word {that makes} what is loved {and} what is hated.

Verse 21 (col. 57)
-   -ḫbn.t Thus life is given to the peaceful, death is given to the criminal.

Verse 22 (col. 57-58)
|    Thus all labor, all crafts are made, the action of the hands, the motion of the legs, the movements of all the limbs,

Verse 23 (col. 58)
according to this command which is devised by the heart and comes forth on the tongue and creates the performance of every thing.

Verse 24 (col. 58)
Thus it is said of Ptah: “He who made all and created the gods”.

Verse 25 (col. 58)
And he is Ta-tenen, who gave birth to the gods, and from whom every thing came forth,

Verse 26 (col. 58-59)
| -     foods, provisions, divine offerings, all good things.

Verse 27 (col. 59)
He is (also) Thoth, the Wise, whose power is greater than that of the (other) gods.

Verse 28 (col. 59)
So has Ptah come to rest after his making everything and every {hieroglyph} as well,

Verse 29 (col. 59)
He gave birth to the gods, He made the towns, He established the ,

Verse 30 (col. 59-60)
ḫm(.w)| He placed the gods in their shrines, He settled their offerings,

Verse 31 (col. 60)
ḫm.w He established their shrines, He made their bodies according to their wishes.

Verse 32 (col. 60)
jm.w Thus the gods entered into their bodies, of every wood, every stone, every clay,

Verse 33 (col. 60-61)
- |   every thing that grows upon him in which they came to be.

Verse 34 (col. 61)
Thus were gathered to him all the gods and their, content, united with the Lord of the Two Lands.

=References=
 * El Hawary, Amr (2010) Wortschöpfung. Die Memphitische Theologie und die Siegesstele des Pije – zwei Zuegen kultureller Repräsentation in der 25. Dynastie
 * Lichtheim, Miriam (1973) Ancient Egyptian Literature, Volume I: The Old and Middle Kingdoms
 * Allen, James P. (1988) Genesis in Egypt (link)
 * Assmann, Jan (2007) Creation Through Hieroglyphs: The Cosmic Grammatology of Ancient Egypt (link)