ANONYMOUS – Papyrus Chester Beatty IV

Papyrus Chester Beatty IV (1300-1100 B.C.)

Man dies, his body is dust,

his family all brought low to he earth;

but writing shall make him remembered,

alive in the mouths of any who read.

Better a book than a builded mansion,

better than body’s home in the West,

splendid above a fine house in the country

or stone-carved deeds in the precinct of God.

Translation: John L. FOSTER