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Abbas Rajabpour Posted 8 years ago
Grammar

Meaning

For Hatshepsut, a pharaoh who did not fear death as long as she was remembered, the irony is great. As one of the greatest builders in one of the greatest Egyptian dynasties, she raised numerous temples and shrines. She commissioned hundreds of statues of herself and left accounts in stone of her titles, her history, even her hopes and fears. Inscribed on an obelisk at Karnak are the words: ‘Now my heart turns this way and that, as I think what the people will say. Those who see my monuments in years to come, and who shall speak of what I have done.’

Can you please help me understand the highlighted part?

  

Top answer

You are seeing an undocumented translation from Middle Egyptian of a sentiment witten some 3,500 years ago in hieroglyphics, probably translated by a British or French guy who was 70 years old in 1900. This makes the language barely accessible to us today. But if the translation is anything like literal, I think it's a lovely turn of phrase, her heart turning this way and that, meaning that her feelings go from one extreme to the other, from elation to despair and back again.

  • You are seeing an undocumented translation from Middle Egyptian of a sentiment witten some 3,500 years ago in hieroglyphics, probably translated by a British or French guy who was 70 years old in 1900.
  • This makes the language barely accessible to us today.
  • But if the translation is anything like literal, I think it's a lovely turn of phrase, her heart turning this way and that, meaning that her feelings go from one extreme to the other, from elation to despair and back again.
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2 Answers
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You are seeing an undocumented translation from Middle Egyptian of a sentiment witten some 3,500 years ago in hieroglyphics, probably translated by a British or French guy who was 70 years old in 1900. This makes the language barely accessible to us today. But if the translation is anything like literal, I think it's a lovely turn of phrase, her heart turning this way and that, meaning that he

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Abbas RajabpourNow my heart turns this way and that, as I think what the people will say. Those who see my monuments in years to come, and who shall speak of what I have done.’

Sometimes I feel very happy, and sometimes very sad when I consider what people in the future will say and write about my buildings.

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