Horemheb tomb Saqqara

osirisnet.net

One finds here, next to the door leading to the statue room, a stela. The one which one sees nowadays is a replica, the original being in the British Museum (view T 02). It carries the longest preserved text of the tomb (25 lines).
At the top, Horemheb is worshipping three deities: Ra-Horakhty, Thoth and Ma'at.
Here is the part of the text selected by G.T. Martin, which shows the reigning frame of mind at court after the restoration which followed at the reign of "the heretic" Akhenaton :
"Hail to you who are beneficial and effective, Atum-Horakhty. When you have appeared in the horizon of the sky, praises to you are in the mouths of everyone, for you are beautiful and rejuvenated as the Disk in the embrace of your mother Hathor. Appear everywhere, your heart being glad forever! ... Adoration to you, Thoth, lord of Hermopolis, who brought himself into being, who was not born, unique god, leader of the Netherworld! ... May you cause the royal scribe Horemheb to stand firmly by the side of the sovereign as you were at the side of the lord of the universe, as you fostered him when he came forth from the womb! ... Adoration to you Ma'at, lady of the north wind ... may you cause the hereditary prince Horemheb to breathe the winds that are brought forth by the sky ..."

 TEXT AND IMAGE: G.T. MARTIN
Adoring Re, satisfying him when he rises. The hereditary prince Horemheb, he says: 'Hail to you, who are beneficial and effective, Atum-Harakhty. When you have appeared in the horizon of the sky, praises
(2) to you are in the mouth (s) of everyone, for you are beautiful and rejuvenated as the disk in the embrace of your mother Hathor. Appear everywhere, your heart being glad forever! The two Conclaves come to You
(3) bowing, they give adoration to your rising. How beautiful is your rising in the horizon of the sky, you have bestrewn the Two Lands <with> turquoise. It is Re-Harakhty, that divine
(4) youth, heir of eternity, who begot himself and gave birth to himself, king of heaven and earth, ruler of the Netherworld, chief of the necropolis, the realm of the dead, [who came forth]
(5) from the water and pulled himself out of Nun, who brought himself up while hallowing his (re)births, mighty king, appearing <in> the horizon. The Ennead is in jubilation
(6) at your rising, every eye is in exultation, rejoicing at your appearance for them, august god who is in his shrine, lord of everlasting who is in the midst Of
(7) his barque. The inhabitants of the horizon row you, the inhabitants of the night-barque sail you, the souls of the East invoke you,
(8) the souls of the West exult at you, good god, shining of splendour, spreading electrum over the Two Lands, adorned youth, lord of love, great of strength, who does not get tired,
(9) swift of course, far-striding, he who rises on the eastern horizon and dispels darkness from the whole earth. Every eye that showed fear (?) gives
(10) adoration at your rising. They look at the prinaeval god in jubilation, your followers are kissing
(11) the earth. He who sets in the western horizon spreads darkness over the whole earth. The dawn comes into being when you come forth, and the earth becomes dark when you set
(12) in your mansion. Beautiful youth, created by Ptab, distinct in appearance from the
(other) gods, who came forth as a falcon, wearing a fillet at
(13) the brow, the two uraei being associated at your head, ruler of eternity, sovereign of the gods of perpetuity. You are a king, lord of the atef-crown; your eyes,
(14) they illumine the lands. You are Re, complete of forms. All living beings come to You.
(15) Your mother Nut lifts you, and she places the fear of you in the hearts of the Two Lands so that they stand up to double [your offerings] Primaeval One who guards the secrets of eternity, eldest of the end of
(16) everlasting, who crosses the sky in the night-barque, great of appearance in the day-barque. The hereditary prince Horemheb, he says: 'I ado
(17)re you, since your beauty is in my eyes and your rays shine upon my breast. I present Maat
(18) to your majesty daily. Adoration to you, Thoth, lord of Hermopolis, who brought himself into being, who was not born, unique god, leader of the Netherworld,
(19) who gives instructions to the Westerners who are in the following of Re, who distinguishes the tongue of every foreign country; may you cause the royal scribe
(20) Horemheb to stand firmly by the side of the sovereign, as you were at the side of the lord of the universe, as you fostered him when he came forth from the womb. Adoration
(21) to you, Marat, lady of the north wind, who opens the nostrils of the living ones and gives breath to him who is in his barque; may you cause
(22) the hereditary prince Horemheb to breathe the winds that are brought forth by the sky, as the lady of Punt breathes her scent from the lake of myrrh. May you cause
(23) an entering and leaving in the Fields of Rushes, that I may be united there with the Field of Offerings, a receiving of offerings daily from the offering table
(24) of the lords of Heliopolis, that my heart may cross in the water procession of the necropolis to the pure islands of the Field of Rushes. May you open for me the pleasant road, and may you clear
(25) my way, that you may place <me> in the following of Sokar in Rostau, for the ka of the hereditary prince, sole companion, generalissimo, the revered one with Osiris, Horemheb, justified (lit. "true of voice", thus "deceased"), possessor of reverence.


osirisnet.net