⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂.
⁂⁂ in this position, without a suffix or nominal subject, is not
an auxiliary verb, but a particle of correlation, used when a cause,
motive, or circumstance is asserted or implied in connection with a
preceding statement.
Like all such particles, of which the function was originally only
deictic, it is susceptible of very many shades of meaning, and it would
be impossible in this place to do justice to a word so frequently
occurring, especially in the hieratic papyri of a secular character. The
following examples are only intended to illustrate its _grammatical_ use
in our text.
The particle occurs three times before as many propositions at the
beginning of Chapter 123; ‘I have balanced the divine Pair,’ ‘I have put
a stop, _etc._,’ ‘I have ended their complaints;’ ⁂⁂ connects each
of these statements with the preceding one, ‘I am Thoth.’ It is as if
the speaker said, ‘_It is in consequence of_ my being Thoth, that I have
balanced,’ _etc._
In Chapter 36, ‘I am the bearer of the divine words’ is followed by
⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂, ‘and _so it comes that_ I make the
report.’
In Chapter 15, line 7, ‘I am one of those who honoured thee upon earth’
is followed by ⁂⁂⁂⁂ ... “let me _therefore_ attain to the
Land of eternity.”
Aahmes, the son of Abana, says in his inscription (line 5) that he was
young and unwedded, ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂ “_and so_ I continued to
wear” a certain dress.
Amenemheb was, he tells us (_Zeitschr._, 1873, p. 3), high in the favour
of the King, “_and so it comes that_ I followed my Lord
⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂.”
Una was sent by his sovereign on a certain mission, and the negro
chieftains of certain districts furnished the wood for his purpose,
“_and so it came to pass that_ he spent ⁂⁂⁂ a year in this
wise.“
After _verba dicendi_ ⁂⁂ corresponds to our as _how_, _comme
quoi_, or the _quod_ or _quia_ of late Latinity. It often needs no more
translation than the Greek ὅτι in such a relation.
In the inscription of Pianchi (line 2) one came to tell his Majesty
“_that_ (_comme quoi_) a prince [or magnate] had started up
⁂⁂⁂⁂” and seized upon a part of the kingdom.
⁂⁂⁂ most certainly does not mean ‘est, est,’ any more than it
means ‘Dominus meus mortuus est.’
Nebuaiu (_Zeitschr._, 1876, p. 5) in the time of Thothmes III
⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂ “says, _as how_ ‘I have presided over
many constructions.’”
The Naophoros of the Vatican in like manner ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂ “says
_that_ ‘I made a petition’” to Cambyses.
Long before this Chnumhotep of Benihassan begins his biography (line 14)
⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂ “his mouth, it says _as how_ ‘his Majesty
appointed me’ to the dignity of _Erpā ḥā_.”
The absence of Verbal character becomes especially apparent in such
combinations ⁂⁂⁂, ⁂⁂⁂⁂, ⁂⁂⁂.