Remember Tutankhamun
- Details
- Written August 2008
The name written in sand disappears quicklySwept away in the whirlwind of circulating currents
Whipped up from the Red Sea divinely parted for departure. [1]
Hieroglyphs chipped into stone last much longer
Sand-blasted by ancient carvers breathing silicone
Into lungs preserved in pots returning to dust .
So stain it in black onto the papyrus of Nile reeds
Grown to protect a name and an infant child
Born to lead a nation out of hunger's bondage. [2]
Just breathe the name in memory, but that will fade
As lips crack in the parching sun of a desert day
And dynasties die with the passage of yesterday's time.
But a name recorded in the Book of Life [3] survives
Without an ankh [4] in the memory of a loving Father
Who forgives and forgets the event, but remembers us.
August 2008
After visiting the Tutankhamun exhibition at the O2 Arena, where Jonathan printed out his own name in hieroglyphics
The cartouche was a hieroglyphic nameplate or seal with symbols for the sounds of the word. So JONATHAN is spelt: cobra, lasso, water, eagle, loaf, house, eagle, water
[1] 'The Lord drove the sea back with a strong east wind ...' to allow the Israelites to escape from Egypt - Exodus 14
[2] Moses was hidden in a papyrus basket - Exodus 2
[3] In the New Testament the Book of Life is regarded as the roster of believers - eg Rev 21:27
[4] The Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic symbol for life and immortality