"Shabaka Stone" English Translation of Memphite Theology by Leonard H. Lesko
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Text summary

From: Book · Byron E. Shafer · 1991

"Shabaka Stone" is a partial English translation of the Memphite Theology creation byth by Leonard H. Lesko. It was published in 1991 and is based on the "Shabaka Stone" artifact of the late eight century BCE. However, the myth itself is said to be much older. In this version, Lesko only provided a partial translation. He also noted that Ptah was the main deity, and how this origin story was different from other Egyptian myths in the past.
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Text: Partial Translation

Archaic Egyptian  ⟶  English a

Translation
p. 95
Shabaka Stone / Memphite Theology
Then His Majesty copied this writing anew in the House of his father Ptah, He who is south of his wall. His Majesty had found it as that which the ancestors had made but which was worm-eaten. It was unknown from beginning to end. Then His Majesty copied it anew, so that it is better than its state formerly. . . .
p. 96
The gods who came into being as Ptah: Ptah upon the Great Throne . . . Ptah-Nun, the father who begot Atum . . . Ptah-Naunet, the mother who bore Atum . . . Ptah, the Great, that is the heart and tongue of the Ennead . . .
There came into being from the heart and there came into being from the tongue [something] in the form of Atum. The mighty Great One is Ptah, who caused all gods [to live], as well as their kas, through his heart, by which Horus became Ptah, and through this tongue by which Thoth became Ptah. . .
His Ennead is before him as teeth and lips, that is, the semen and hands of Atum. The Ennead of Atum came into being by his semen and fingers; the Ennead [of Ptah], however, is the teeth and lips in this mouth, which pronounced the name of everything, and from which Shu and Tefnut came forth, the fashioner of the Ennead.
The sight of the eyes, the hearing of the ears, and the smelling of the air by the nose, they present to the heart. This is what causes every "completed [concept]" to come forth, and it is the tongue that repeats what the heart thinks.
Thus all the gods were born and his Ennead was completed. Every word of the god ("hieroglyph"? "idea"?) came into being through what the heart thought and the tongue commanded.
Source(s) a Shafer et al., RIAE, 95-96 launch .

Original source data

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ancient-egyptian-religion-lesko-pg-95
ancient-egyptian-religion-lesko-pg-96
Sourcebooks.google.comRetrieval date06/26/2020
Sourcebooks.google.comRetrieval date06/26/2020
Source record No.p. 95MediumPrintImage date1991CreatorLeonard H. LeskoSource notesShafer et al., RIAE, 95.
Source record No.p. 96MediumPrintImage date1991CreatorLeonard H. LeskoSource notesShafer et al., RIAE, 96.
Source a Shafer et al., RIAE, 95-96 launch .

Background

"Shabaka Stone: English Translation of Memphite Theology by Leonard H. Lesko" is a 1991 translation of the Memphite Theology by Leonard H. Lesko. As Lesko noted, he relied on a badly damaged stone inscription that was dated to 710 BCE at the time of King Shabaka. The myth itself is much older though. Leonard H. Lesko is a prominent Egyptologist who taught at Brown University.

Cite this page

MLA Modern Language Association (8th ed.)

OMNIKA Foundation Contributors. ""Shabaka Stone": English Translation of Memphite Theology by Leonard H. Lesko ." OMNIKA – World Mythology Index, OMNIKA Foundation, 20 Nov. 2019, omnika.org/stable/328. Accessed 26 Apr. 2024.

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APA American Psychological Association (6th ed.)

OMNIKA (2019, November 20). "Shabaka Stone": English Translation of Memphite Theology by Leonard H. Lesko . Retrieved from https://omnika.org/stable/328

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CMS Chicago Manual of Style (16th ed.)

OMNIKA Foundation Contributors. ""Shabaka Stone": English Translation of Memphite Theology by Leonard H. Lesko ." Las Vegas, NV: OMNIKA Foundation. Created November 20, 2019. Accessed April 26, 2024. https://omnika.org/stable/328.

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Bibliography

Lesko, Howard H., David P. Silverman, and John R. Baines. Religion in Ancient Egypt: Gods, Myths, and Personal Practice. Edited by Byron E. Shafer. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1991.
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Lesko, Leonard H., trans. "Shabaka Stone." In Religion in Ancient Egypt: Gods, Myths, and Personal Practice, 95-96, edited by Byron E. Shafer. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1991.
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About

Egyptian Memphis Creation myth Myth icon
Egyptian Belief system
Ptah Main deity

The world and men were created by Ptah, the Egyptian deity associated with creation (and sometimes craft). The deity envisioned his creation and made it into reality through the spoken word. He created the other major Egyptian deities who would rule in their respective areas.

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