to-day? Is he sleeping? Behold, his might is not
seen." [1] Many of the passages in the indictment of Apuur resemble the
descriptions of the state of the land of Israel and her people which are
found in the writings of the Hebrew Prophets, and the "shepherd of
mankind," _i.e._ of the Egyptians, forcibly reminds us of the appeal to
the "Shepherd of Israel" in Psalm lxxx. 1.

[Footnote 1: See A.H. Gardiner, _Admonitions of an Egyptian Sage_,
Leipzic, 1909, p. 78.]

CHAPTER XIV

EGYPTIAN POETICAL COMPOSITIONS

The poetry of the Egyptians is wholly unlike that of western nations,
but closely resembles the rhythmical compositions of the Hebrews, with
their parallelism of members, with which we are all familiar in the Book
of Psalms, the Song of Solomon, &c. The most important collection of
Egyptian Songs known to us is contained in the famous papyrus in the
British Museum, No. 10,060, more commonly known as "Harris 500." This
papyrus was probably written in the thirteenth century B.C., but many of
the songs belong to a far earlier date. Though dealing with a variety of
subjects, there is no doubt that all of them must be classed under the
heading of "Love Songs." In them the lover compares the lady of his
choice to many beautiful flowers and plants, and describes at
considerable length the pain and grief which her absence causes him. The
lines of the strophes are short, and the construction is simple, and it
seems certain that the words owed their effect chiefly to the voice of
the singer, who then, as now, employed many semitones and thirds of
tones, and to the skill with which he played the accompaniment on his
harp. A papyrus at Leyden, which was written a little later than the
"Love Songs," contains three very curious compositions. The first is a
sort of lament of a pomegranate tree, which, in spite of the service
which it has rendered to the "sister and her brother," is not included
among trees of the first class. In the second a fig tree expresses its
gratitude and its readiness to do the will of its mistress, and to allow
its branches to be cut off to make a bed for her. In the third a
sycamore tree invites the lady of the land on which it stands to come
under the shadow of its branches, and to enjoy a happy time with her
lover, and promises her that it will never speak about what it sees.

More interesting than any of the above songs is the so-called "Son