The Tale of Sinuhe is the most admired work of Middle Egyptian literature. It was composed in the early 12th Dynasty, in the Middle Kingdom, and was still copied by scribes centuries later. It is told in the first person, like a tomb autobiography (Tomb Autobiographies), and it opens the same way.
Key idea
Why it works
| Line | Translation | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| zꜣ-nht ḏd=f | Sinuhe says: | zꜣ-nht "son of the sycamore", his name; ḏd=f a sḏm=f |
| jnk šmsw šms nb=f | I was a follower who followed his lord | a nominal sentence with jnk; šms is a participle |
| ḥꜣt-zp 30 ꜣbd 3 ꜣḫt sw 7 | Year 30, third month of the Flood season, day 7 | the date formula |
| ꜥr nṯr r ꜣḫt=f | the god ascended to his horizon | a sḏm=f in narrative: the king died |
| nsw-bjt sḥtp-jb-rꜥ | the King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Sehetepibre | the throne name of Amenemhat I |
Worked example: Parse the hero's self-description
- jnk "I" leads a nominal sentence (The Nominal Sentence).
- šmsw "a follower" is the noun; šms nb=f is a participle phrase: "who followed his lord".
Answer: "I was a follower who followed his lord."
Worked example: The death of the king
- ꜥr "go up, ascend", a sḏm=f; the subject nṯr "the god" follows.
- r ꜣḫt=f "to his horizon".
Answer: "The god ascended to his horizon."
At that moment the king's son, the future Senusret I, was away leading an army against the Libyans, and Sinuhe was with the expedition. What he overhears there drives the rest of the story (Sinuhe: The Flight). Whether the old king died naturally or in a palace plot is not said in the tale; another text, the Teaching of Amenemhat, speaks of an attack on him, and scholars discuss how the two relate.
Common mistake