# Tomb of Eye (Breasted)

18th Dynasty. Published in Ancient Records of Egypt, Vol. 3 (1906), pp. 407–11.

## TOMB OF EYE

989. Eye, who afterward became king, has left a fine scene in his tomb, showing the royal family on the palace balcony, throwing down collars and vessels of gold to Eye and his wife Tiy. Unfortunately, the inscriptions such as we find in a similar scene in Merire's tomb (§§ 982 ff.) are here wanting. Only the comments of Eye's servants in the rear of his house have been recorded. Eye had received a similar honor before his marriage with Tiy, and this is likewise depicted in his tomb, but without inscriptions. He was not an official of high rank, being only "Fan-bearer on the right of the king, master of all the horses of his majesty, his truly beloved scribe, the divine father, Eye." His favor was doubtless due to his zeal in the new faith and his marriage with Tiy, the "great nurse, nourisher of the god, adorner of the king," that is, she had been Ikhnaton's nurse in his childhood.
990. Further indications of his favor are thus recorded:
I was one favored of his lord every day, great in favor from year to year, because of the exceeding greatness of my excellence in his opinion. He doubled for me my favors like the number of the sand; I was the first of the officials at the head of the people I am a . . . . . . . . . . . . I am a ⌈true⌉ witness, devoid of evil; my name has penetrated into the palace, because of my usefulness to the king, because of my hearing his teaching. . . . . . . . . . . O everyone that liveth upon earth, every generation that is to be, I will tell you the way of life. I bear you witness that I was praised for what I said, I was '"content 1 by reason of what I did; I was truthful upon earth, making praise to the living Aton.

### Hymn to Aton and the King

991.Praise to thee! When thou risest in the horizon, O living Aton, lord of eternity. Obeisance to thy rising in heaven, to illuminate every land, with thy beauty. Thy rays are upon thy beloved son. Thy hand 3 has a myriad of jubilees for the King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Neferkheprure-Wanre, thy child who came forth from thy rays. Thou assignest to him thy lifetime and thy years. Thou hearest for him that which is in his heart. He is thy beloved, thou makest him like Aton. When thou risest, eternity is given him; when thou settest, thou givest him everlastingness. Thou begettest him in the morning like thine own forms; thou formest him as thy emanation, like Aton, ruler of truth, who came forth from eternity, son of Re, wearing his beauty, who offers to him the product of his rays; King of Upper and Lower Egypt, living in truth, Lord of the Two Lands, NeferkheprureWanre; the Great King's-Wife, Nefernefruaton-Nofretete; living forever and ever.

### Hymn to Aton and the King

992. The divine father, favorite of the Good God, fan-bearer at the right of the king, master of all the horses of his majesty, truly beloved scribe of the king, Eye. He saith: "Praise to thee! O living Aton, rising in heaven. He inundates the hearts, and all lands are in festivity because of his rising; their hearts 7 are happy with the joy of their lord, Irsu who shineth upon them. Thy beloved son presents truth before thy beautiful face; thou rejoicest when thou seest him, (for) he came forth from thee; son of eternity, who came forth from Aton, spirit of his spirit, gratifying the heart of Aton. When he rises in heaven, he rejoices in his son; he embraces him with his rays; he gives to him eternity as king, like the Aton; Neferkheprure-Wanre, this god, who made me, who caused my ka to be. Grant that I may be satisfied with seeing thee without ceasing; this lord who forms like Aton; rich in possessions a full Nile every day, making Egypt live. Silver and gold are like the sand of the shore; the land awakens to mighty rejoicing in his ka, the offspring of the Aton. Thou art eternal, Neferkheprure-Wanre; living and sound art thou, for he begat thee."

### Self-Praise

993. The divine father, etc., Eye; he saith: "I am the truthful one of the king whom he created, the upright one of the Lord of the Two Lands, useful to his lord, following the ka of his majesty, like his favorite, who sees "his beauty when he 'appears' in his palace. I am at the head of the princes, the companions of the king, the first of all the followers of his majesty. He put truth in my body, and my abomination is lying. I know that Wanre rejoices in it (truth), this lord, wise like Aton, knowing the truth. He doubles to me my favors in silver and gold; I am first of the officials, at the head of the people. ⌈————⌉ the lord ⌈—⌉ me. I have carried out his teaching."

### Prayer for Self

994. "May I live praising his ka, may I be satisfied following him; (for) my breath of life is in him, this north wind, this myriad of high Niles every day, Neferkheprure-Wanre. Grant me long life in thy favor. How prosperous is thy favorite, O son of the Aton! All that he does endures and prospers, and the ka of the Lord of the Two Lands is with him forever, so that he is satisfied with life, when he reaches old age. O lord, who forms the people, and creates duration, who performs the pleasant obligation to his favorite, (whose) heart is satisfied with truth, whose abomination is lying. How prosperous is he who hears thy teaching of life, of life; he is satisfied with seeing thee without ceasing, and his two eyes see Aton every day. Grant to me a good old age like thy favorite; grant to me goodly burial by thy command in my house, wherein thou commandest me to rest, in the mountain of Akhetaton, the place of the favorite. May I hear thy sweet voice in the sanctuary when thou performest the pleasant ceremonies of thy father, the living Aton."

### Prayer for King and Queen

995. "May he set thee forever and ever; may he endow thee with jubilees like the numbers of the shore, when measured with an ipet-rod; like reckoning the sea when measured with zawets, (or) a statement of the numbering of the mountains when weighed in balances; (or) the feathers of the birds, (or) the leaves of the trees, in jubilees for the king, Wanre (Ikhnaton), forever and ever as king; and for the Great King's-Wife, his beloved, abounding in her beauty; her who sends the Aton to rest with a sweet voice, and with her two beautiful hands, bearing two sistrums, the Mistress of the Two Lands, Nefernefruaton-Nofretete, living forever and ever. May she be by the side of Wanre (Ikhnaton) forever and ever as the heavens abide under that which is in them. Thy father Aton rises in heaven, to protect thee every day, for he begat thee."

### Prayer for Self

Grant me to kiss the pure ground, to come forth in thy presence with offerings for thy father, Aton, of that which thy ka gives. Grant that my mortuary priest may abide and flourish for me, (as) for one who is on earth following thy ka, ⌈who has been exalted⌉ for ⌈my⌉ name's sake, to the place of the favorites, wherein thou makest one to rest. My mouth is full of truth, my name is mentioned because of it, for thou hast commanded that I be like thy every favorite who follows thy ka. May I go on, enjoying thy favor after old age.
For the ka of Eye the revered, who lives again.

## Footnotes

* ↑ Cliff-tomb (No. 25) at Amarna (No. 1) in the southern group; published by Lepsius, Denkmäler, III, 103–6, a, and 107, a–109. (These scenes [107, d–109] are given by Lepsius as from a second tomb [No. 3] of the same man; this is an error which has been perpetuated in the modern histories. Eye had but one tomb at Amarna; it contains all the material given by Lepsius as from two tombs. See Breasted, The Dial, Chicago, May 1, 1897, 283.) The two long hymns were published by Bouriant, Mémoires de la mission française au Caire, I, 2–5, and Daressy, Recueil, XV, 46, 47; both are excessively incorrect. The following translation (of Daressy's hymn) is based on my own copy of the original. Unfortunately, I had not yet made these copies when I published my De Hymnis in Solent sub Rege Amenophide IV Conceptis.
* ↑ Erman gives an excellent description of the whole scene, Life in Ancient Egypt, 119–21.
* ↑ Lepsius, Denkmäler, III, 107, d.
* ↑ L. 1 contains the usual title: "Praise of Aton, the king and the queen," indicating the content of the hymn.
* ↑ See § 985.
* ↑ H-t-bnbn.
* ↑ Lit., "doest the pleasing things."
* ↑ See § 959, l. 4.
* ↑ There was a "house for sending Aton to rest," at Amarna, of which Mai was overseer (mr). Here doubtless the vesper service in the daily ritual was held at sunset.
* ↑ His titles, as usual in the original, are omitted above.
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