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Commentary on WENI, AEL PAGE 4
Lines 23-28
This discusses AEL page 4 . Transliteration is here.
Go to Line: 23-24, 24-25, 25-26, 26-27, 27-28
 
 
 LINE 23-24   [next | prev | top]
ii.n mSa pn m 23 Htp
xbA.n=f tA Hr.i.w-Sa
ii.n mSa pn m Htp
pds.n=f tA Hr.i.w-Sa
 
[Jenny Carrington, 14/7/98; AEL Weni. L19-28]
This army returned in peace, [after]* it had destroyed the land of the Sand Dwellers.
This army returned in peace, [after]* it had flattened the land of the Sand Dwellers.
*MDS: revised according to Gerald Kadish's comment (13/8/98) below. In english, you could also (more freely) translate it as, "... having destroyed the land of the sand Dwellers." etc.
 
[Gerald Kadish, 13/8/98; Re: AEL Weni 23-26]
The English is still without punctuation. Have you tried to take the second line in each couplet as a conditional: "This army returned in safety, after it had . . . ."?
 
[MDS, 5/8/1998; AEL Weni!]
When I first read this passage I was very surprised. Right in the middle of recording his major achievements in life he slips into, of all things, a poem. Perhaps it is meant to be a (victory) song? In any case, this war must have been particularly memorable in his life. Some questions
Is it more likely to be a song rather than a poem? How was the beat structure recognised by the reader? Were word sounds (?rhyme?) important? Does this mean poetry/song was an important ability of by high officials (as in ancient China)? Any possible significance to the structure of the poem (7 or 14 lines long)?
 
[G.Graham, 5/8/1998; Re: AEL Weni!]
Last year I wrote a paper on the metric structure of the Maxims of Ptahhotep. I was testing Gerhard Fecht's theory that it was composed in a meter which was more like Old Kindgom texts than Middle Kingdom ones. In order to test this theory it was necessary to reconstruct several Old and Middle Kingdom metrical texts. One of my selections from the Old Kingdom was this particular passage of Weni's biography. The following is my reconstruction:
 
THE VICTORY HYMN FROM THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF WENI
Phonetic Reconstruction
 
Deduced Meter
'ayna-mu:Sa`-pin im-Hatap
xabiln@f tal Hariyyu-Sa`
 
/ --'- / --'- /
/ -' / -' / --'- /
'ayna-mu:Sa`-pin im-Hatap
p@disn@f tal Hariyyu-Sa`
 
/ --'- / --'- /
/ -' / -' / --'- /
'ayna-mu:Sa`-pin im-Hatap
saSinn@f winawt@f
 
/ --'- / --'- /
/ -'- / -'- /
'ayna-mu:Sa`-pin im-Hatap
Sa`in@f dalbaww@f 'urarawt@f
 
/ --'- / --'- /
/ -'- / -'- / --'- /
'ayna-mu:Sa`-pin im-Hatap
satin@f 'axa im-parawf-nib
 
/ --'- / --'- /
/ -'- / '- / --'- /
'ayna-mu:Sa`-pin im-Hatap
samiln@f cili<th>wat@f 'imaf
im-Ciba`u `iSilu
 
/ --'- / --'- /
/ -'- / --'- / -' /
/ --'- / -'- /
 'ayna-mu:Sa`-pin im-Hatap
'aynin@f cili<th>wa 'imaf
`iSilw@ wu:ra im siqara `anxu
 
/ --'- / --'- /
/ -'- / -'- / -' /
/ -'- / '- / --'-/ '- /
Fecht seems to have been absolutely right. The most amazing thing was that Ptahhoteps's Maxims were composed in an almost identical meter to this particular text. I cannot tell you wether this text was a song or just a poem, but it was clearly designed to have a particular meter as you can see from the above reconstruction of the stress patterns.
[MDS: key to phonetic signs, '=glottal stop, `=ayin, @=schwa or short filling vowel, :=lengthens previous vowel. Key to metric signs, /= separates metric phrases , - = an unaccented syllable , '= an accented syllable]
 
 LINE 24-25   [next | prev | top]
ii.n mSa pn m Htp
sSn.n=f wn.w.t=f
ii.n mSa pn m Htp
Sai.n=f 25 dAb.w=f iArr.w.t=f
 
[Jenny Carrington, 14/7/98; AEL Weni. L19-28]
This army returned in peace, [after] it had torn down its forts.
This army returned in peace, [after] it had cut down its figs and its vines.
 
 LINE 25-26   [next | prev | top]
ii.n mSa pn m Htp
sTi.n=f xt m [prw.w]=f nb.w
ii.n mSa pn 26 m Htp
smA.n=f TAz.w.t im=f m Dba.w aSA.w
ii.n mSa pn m Htp
 
[Jenny Carrington, 14/7/98; AEL Weni. L19-28]
this army returned in peace, [after] it threw fire amongst all its [troops]
this army returned in peace, [after] it killed its troops there in many ten thousands.
this army returned in peace, ...
 
 
 LINE 26-27   [next | prev | top]
[ini.n=f TAz.w.t] im=f aSA.w.t wr.t m sqr.w anx
Hzi wi Hm=f Hr=s ir ix.t nb.t
 
[Jenny Carrington, 14/7/98; AEL Weni. L19-28]
..., [after] it brought from its troops there a great many prisoners of war.
His majesty praised me for it more than anything.
 LINE 27-28   [next | prev | top]
 
hAb wi Hm=f ir mAa mSa pn m diw zp
ir dAr tA Hr.i.w-Sa ir Tnw bST=sn m TAz.w.t iptn
iri.ki ir Hzi.t wi Hm[=f Hr=s ir ix.t nb.t]
 
[Jenny Carrington, 14/7/98; AEL Weni. L19-28]
His majesty sent me to lead this army 5 times
to subdue the land of the Sand Dwellers, every time they rebelled, with these troops.
I acted so that his majesty praised me for it.
 
 
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