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ANCIENT RECORDS OF EGYPT
^
ANCIENT RECORDS
UNDBB THB GENERAL EDITORSHIP OF
WILLIAM BAINEY HARPER
Sflrat »etits
ANCIENT RECORDS OP ASSYRIA AND BABYLONIA
BDITED BY BOBGBT FBANCI8 BABFBE
0»r(inb Btxiea
ANCIENT RECORDS OP EGYPT
EDITBD BY JAMES KBNBY BBBASTBD
asijirb e>trita
ANCIENT RECORDS OP PALESTINE, PHCENICIA
AND SYRIA
EDITED BY -WILLIAM BAINEY HABFEB
ANCIENT RECORDS OF EGYPT
HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS
FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES TO THE PERSIAN CONQUEST, COLLECTED
EDITED AND TRANSLATED WITH COMMENTARY
BY
JAMES HENRY |REASTED, Ph.D.
FBOFESSOB OP EGYPTOLOGY AND OBIGNTAL HISTOET
IN THE UNIVEESITY OF CHICAGO
VOLUME I
THE FIRST TO THE SEVENTEENTH DYNASTIES
CHICAGO
THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS
1906
LONDON: LUZAC & CO. LEIPZIG: OTTO HAERASSOWITZ
T
I
I i; Mm;; J
^^/v/,
^1
v.l
COPYRIOHT 1906, Bt
The Univbebity op Chicago
Published February 1906
B S
CompoBod and Printed B7
The VnWeTBity oC Chicago Preas
Chicago, Illinois, U.S. A.
THESE VOLUMES ARE DEDICATED TO
MARTIN A. RYERSON
NORMAN W. HARRIS
MARY H. WILMARTH
PREFACE
In no particular have modem historical studies made
greater progress than in the reproduction and publication
of documentary sources from which our knowledge of the
most varied peoples and periods is drawn. In American
history whole libraries of such sources have appeared or are
promised. These are chiefly in English, although the other
languages of Europe are of course often largely represented.
The employment of such sources from the early epochs of
the world's history involves either a knowledge of ancient
languages on the part of the user, or a complete rendition
of the documents into English. No attempt has ever been
made to collect and present all the sources of Egyptian
history in a modem language. A most laudable beginning
in this direction, and one that has done great service, was
the Records of the Past; but that series never attempted to
be complete, and no amount of editing could make con-
sistent with themselves the uncorrected translations of the
large number of contributors to that series.
The author is only too well aware of the difficulties
involved in such a project. In mere bulk alone it has
been a considerable enterprise, in view of the preliminary
tasks made necessary by the state of the published texts.
These I have indicated briefly in the chapter on the sources
herein (Vol. I, §§ 27-32). Under these circumstances, the
author's first obligation has been to go behind the publica-
tions to the original documents themselves, wherever
necessary. The method pursued has also been indicated
herein (Vol. I, §§ 33-37). The task has consumed years,
and demanded protracted sojoum among the great col-
viii PREFACE
lections of Europe. In this work a related enterprise has
been of the greatest assistance. A mission to the museums
of Europe to collect and copy their Egyptian monuments
for a commission of the four Royal Academies of Germany
(Berlin, Leipzig, Gottingen, and Munich), in order to make
these documents available for an exhaustive Egyptian
Dictionary endowed by the German Emperor, enabled the
author to copy from the originals practically all the his-
torical monuments qi Eg)^t in Europe. The other sources
of material, and particularly the papers of the Dictionary
just mentioned, have enabled the author to base the trans-
lations in these volumes directly, or practically so, upon the
originals themselves in almost all cases.
Unfortunately, the possession of these materials is but
the beginning of the difficulties which beset such an enter-
prise. In the preface to the first edition of his English
Dictionary, Noah Webster complains of the difficulties
caused by the new meanings taken on by English words
as they are modified by thie new environment which envelops
them in America. If such changes are involved in the
voyage across the Atlantic, and the lapse of a few genera-
tions, how much wider and deeper is the gulf due to the
total difference between the semitropical northern Nile
valley of millenniums ago, and the English-speaking world
of this twentieth century! The psychology of early man
is something with which we have as yet scarcely begun to
operate. His whole world and his whole manner of think-
"ing are sharply differentiated from our own. His organi-
zation, socially, industrially, commercially, politically; his
tools, his house, his conveniences, constantly involve insti-
tutions, adjustments, and appliances totally unknown to
this modem age and this western world. In the transla-
tion of the New Testament for the tribes of Alaska, I am
PREFACE ix
told, there has been great difficulty in the rendition of the
term " Good Shepherd," for the reason that many of these
people never saw a sheep and never heard of a shepherd.
Similarly, how shall one rehabilitate this ancient world of
the Nile-dweller, and put his documents into intelligible
English, when the ideas to be rendered are often unknown
to the average modern and western reader, and, needless
to say, there are no corresponding terms in the English
language ?
Another constant source of difficulty has been the lack
of those indispensable helps, the legion of concordances,
glossaries, handbooks, and compilations for ready refer-
ence, which the worker in Greek or Hebrew has constantly
at his hand. In spite of the colossal industry of Brugsch,
we are stUl without a dictionary of Egyptian to which one
can turn with any hope of finding other examples of a rare
word. Hardly any Old Kingdom documents at all were
employed by Brugsch in the compilation of his dictionary,
and, grateful as we are for what he was able to furnish us,
we must still await the great Berlin Dictionary before we
shall possess an exhaustive compendium of the language.
I was able to employ the alphabetically arranged materials
of the Dictionary here and there, but the compilation was
not sufficiently far advanced at the conclusion of my work
to be of much service. Wherever I have drawn examples
from it, they are carefully acknowledged in the footnotes.
A good many distinctions in the meanings of words have
become evident to me in the course of the work upon the
documents. Wherever such have become clear late in the
progress of the work, it was impossible to go through the
translations and revise the entire manuscript for the sake of
such words alone. I have tried to control these cases as far
as possible in the proofs, but I am confident that some such
PREFACE
changes have been overlooked as the accumulation of alter-
ations demanded in the proofreading was quite beyond
my powers of observation in so large a mass of materials.
Thus, for example, the common word sr is usually trans-
lated "prince," and this is undoubtedly sometimes the
meaning of the word; but it very frequently means "offi-
cial," a fact which I did not observe until far along in the
progress of the work.
Some danger of confusion also arises from the fact that
titles indicative of rank or office suffer great change in
meaning in the lapse of several thousand years. Thus the
hHy or "count" of the feudal and pre-feudal ages becomes
a mere magistrate or town-mayor in the Empire, although
in sporadic cases the word still retains its old meaning.
The translation of titles has perhaps been the greatest
source of difficulty in the entire course of the work. Many
of the offices found cannot be determined with precision.
We have as yet no history of titles — one of the most needed
works in the entire range of Egyptian studies. Under these
circumstances, it has been impossible always to define with
precision the range and scope of a given office. Even when
these were determinable, the corresponding term was often
wanting in English, and could not be devised without the
use of a whole phrase. In some cases awkward combina-
tions have been necessary in the renderings of titles. Thus
the compound "king's-son" was adopted because it is
occasionally followed in the original by a pronoun referring
to "king," which made the rendering "royal son" impos-
sible. For this reason a series of such compounds has been
employed: "king's-son," "king's-daughter," "king's- wife,"
"king's-mother," "king's-scribe," and the like. It is hoped
to render aU such matters clear in the index.
In general, the effort has been to render as literally as
PREFACE xi
possible without wrenching English idiom. In this latter
particulai: I probably have not always succeeded; but I
have deliberately preferred this evil to a glib rendering
which reads well and may be a long distance from the sense
of the original. We have had so much of so-called "para-
phrasing," which does not even remotely resemble the pur-
port of the original, that I have felt justified in gratifying a
righteous horror of such romancing, even at the cost of
idiomatic English. The reader has a right to expect that
the subjective fancies of the translator have been rigidly
excluded, and a right to demand that he may put implicit
dependence both upon the individual words and the general
sense of the renderings. At the same time, the author
would distinctly disclaim any desire to give to these trans-
lations the authority of monographs. The extent of the
materials, and the amount of time expended in the collection,
collation, and correction of the original texts before doing
anything toward a formal version, have made it impossible
to devote to the translation of each document as much time
as one would deem necessary for the production of a mono-
graph upon it. WhUe the most conscientious attention
has been given to the versions, and they have sometimes
been revised three times (always once), yet it is undoubtedly
the case that, in the course of rendering such a mass of
materials, errors have crept in. Notice of any that may
be observed by my fellow-workers in this field will be grate-
fully received, and utilized should a future edition of these
volumes ever appear.
For the benefit of the general reader, it should be noted
that a complete revolution in our knowledge of the Egyptian
grammar has taken place in the last twenty-five years.
The exhaustive study of syntax and of verbal forms which
has been in progress for generations in the classic languages,
xii PREFACE
or even in the Semitic group, has been going on for only a
Httle over a quarter of a century in Egyptian. This is no
reflection on the work of the first two generations of Egyp-
tologists, for such work was impossible in their day. In
this quarter-century, immense progress has been made
and certain definite results have been attained. It cannot
be said that these results have yet been applied to the under-
standing of the historical documents of Egj^t as a whole.
One of the main purposes of this work has been the attain-
ment of this end. Indeed, its chief object may be indicated
in this connection as: first, the attainment of copies which
in correctness adequately reproduce the original document;
and, second, an English version which shall embody our
modem knowledge of the language. Every effort has
been made to realize these two aims, and only in such degree
as they may have been attained will these volumes form a
contribution to knowledge.
In the selection of documents there has sometimes been
difiiculty in deciding what should and what should not be
included by the term "historical document." All purely
religious compositions, as well as all exclusively literary
documents {belles-lettres), all science, like mathematics and
medicine, and in most cases all business documents, have
been excluded. In the Old Kingdom, however, the last
have been included, in view of the limited materials surviv-
ing from that distant age. It is hoped that these other
classes of documents will appear in further volumes of this
series. In all cases, however, where the other classes of
documents were of vital historical importance — that is,
bore directly on events and conditions closely touching the
career of the Egjrptian state — they have been included
here. These volumes, therefore, include the entire series of
written documents from which we draw our knowledge
PREFACE xiii
of the career of the Nile valley peoples as a nation, until
the beginning of permanent foreign domination at the
advent of the Persians in 525 B. C.
Besides furnishing an English version of these docu-
ments, the scope of this work also includes the proper
introduction of the reader to their intelligent study; hence
the versions are accompanied by notes and introductions.
These are threefold in character. Firstly, in a footnote
appended to the title of each document, the reader will
find a brief description of it, indicating whether it is of
stone or papyrus, a stela, a relief, an obelisk, or whatever ^
it may be, with statement of its size and material whenever
the data were obtainable. The state of preservation is
noted, and then all the publications in which the text of
the monument has appeared. In a word, this footnote
contains the Imsoer criticism of the document. No attempt
has been made to add to the bibliography the various
treatments and discussions of the monument which have
at various times appeared. The bulk of these essays are
long since obsolete, and the time has certainly come when
we can detach our usable bibliography from this incum-
bering inheritance, without at the same time failing to
recognize with gratitude the great service which it once
rendered to the science. Furthermore, it has seemed a duty
to indicate to the reader in this footnote, the comparative
value of the more important publications of the text. If an
edition of the text has proved inaccurate and untrustworthy,
it is but right that it should be known as such. In a purely
objective and impersonal manner, therefore, such materials
have been characterized in these introductory footnotes.
Secondly, each monument is supplied with a usually
short introduction, setting forth the historical significance
of the document, its character, and, where necessary, a
xiv PREFACE
resume of its content. It therefore contains in brief com-
pass the higher criticism of the document. Much of the
historical background, and literary value of the more
important documents will be found set forth more fully
in the author's History 0} Egypt,^ which is based upon
the documentary sources in these volumes. As a further
aid in gaining a comprehensive idea of the content, the
version of each document itself has been divided iato logical
paragraphs, each with a subtitle. It is intended that by this
plan a given passage of the document may be referred to
by number, thus furnishing a very brief system of reference
to all the monuments, by means of the volume number
(Roman) followed by the paragraph number (Arabic).
Thirdly, the version of each monument is accompanied
by running footnotes explaining obscure matters in the
text as far as possible. It has been impossible to make
these any fuller, although the author is quite aware that
many details requiring explanation have been left without
comment. It has been his especial endeavor to adduce in
the footnotes, or at least call attention to, all related matter,
whether in this series of translations or elsewhere among
the monuments of Egypt. It has often been more con-
venient to introduce a very brief or fragmentary inscription
of a few words in a footnote attached to a related passage
in some larger document, than to give such flotsam and
jetsam independent heads as separate documents. It is
expected to render these all easily discoverable in the index.
The maps necessary to an understanding of the geography
of the monuments will also appear with the index.
I have attempted to solve the unwelcome problem of
the transliteration of Egyptian words and names by giving
^A History oj Egypt, large 8vo, 640 pp., 200 illustrations, Charles Scribner*s
Sons, New York, 1905.
PREFACE XV
the proper names where necessary in two forms: first, a
vocalized form for the layman; and, second, a purely
consonantal transliteration placed after it in parentheses.
As the layman for whom the first is intended knows nothing
of Egyptian orthography, it is not important that he shall
be able to recognize in the forms the consonants of the
original. This vocalized form should, however, as nearly
as possible reproduce the consonants upon which it is
based, without introducing elements unintelligible to the
layman. Hence I have ignored ^ and ^, y becomes i or y,
and w is indicated by u or w. The consonantal translitera-
tion adopted is the most nearly satisfactory system yet
evolved, viz., that of the Berlin school, with some slight
modifications. It is as follows:
3 ^
Semitic S
n =
Semitic 5
1 =
Semitic
■a
y =
1
r =
lorb
' * =
P
w =
1
h =
n
k =
s
b =
n
h =
8 =
t =
P =
£1
fe =
t =
D
f =
our f
5 =
d =
ti
m =
Semitic J3
i =
ia
d =
!!:
In the so-called "syllabic orthography" employed by
the Egyptians in writing foreign words, only the first
consonant of each biconsonantal sign has any significance.
The second has no phonetic value in such words.
This is not the place to discuss the closer equivalences
of these consonants. It is probable the ^ (Eagle) diverges
"The nature of the difference between this and the following f is entirely
obscure. From the Middle Kingdom on, they represent the same sound. Herein
the distinction has been consistently indicated only in the Old Kingdom.
xvi PREFACE
slightly from the pure ahph of the Semitic languages, while
the initial y has frequently become an ahph. It has not
seemed wise to burden a work of this character with such
distinctions, and the y appearing in these volumes at the
beginning of a word merely indicates that the initial
consonant of the original word is "reed-leaf" without
predicating anything as to whether its sound is "^ or K.
To the numerous colleagues in Europe who have been
so ready with assistance whenever called upon, I would here
publicly express the deepest obligation. For untrammeled
access to their collections, and never-failing co-operation,
my sincere acknowledgments are due to the authorities of
the museums at Berlin, London (British Museum, University
College, Petrie Collections), Paris (Louvre, Bibliotheque
Nationale, Musee Guimet), Vienna (Hofmuseum), Leyden,
Munich, Rome (Vatican, and Capitoline), Florence (Museo
Archaeologico), Bologna, Naples, Turin, Pisa,. Geneva,
Lyons, Liverpool, and some others. It is with the greatest
pleasure that I recall the years of work in the Berlin Museum
to which these volumes have called me. It would be impos-
sible, were I to attempt it, to enumerate the daily kindnesses
or tell of the constant co-operation which I have enjoyed
there. For daily access to the materials of the academic
Dictionary, already mentioned, I would express to Professor
Erman, and the gentlemen of the Dictionary staff, my
hearty thanks. For never-faUing personal counsel and aid
my thanks are also due to Erman, Schaefer, and Sethe;
whUe Steindorff, Borchardt, Spiegelberg, Gardiner, Bissing,
Weigall, Newberry, Petrie, and Legrain have placed valuable
copies, collations, photographs, or reports at my disposal.
The unremitting labors of Maspero and Wiedemann have
given us indispensable bibliographies of the historical docu-
ments, and these have been of great service to me — a service
PREFACE xvii
for which I would express to them my sincere thanks. I
did not, however, depend solely upon these works, but made
an independent bibliography from the beginning — a plan
which not infrequently turned up invaluable old sources
not before employed.
To my friend, President William R. Harper, for his
interest in this enterprise, and his unfailing support in
arranging for my repeated absence in Europe for the
prosecution of these studies, I owe a debt of gratitude.
Likewise to the Board of Trustees of the University of
Chicago, for the same privileges, it is an agreeable duty to
express my appreciation here.
Finally my thanks are due the staff of the University
of Chicago Press for unremitting attention to the difficult
typographical work of these volumes — an attention to
which the appearance of the work is of itself sufficient evi-
dence. I should add that circumstances entirely beyond
my control have obliged me to read the proofs of the volumes
very rapidly, and it is probable that they contain more
t57pographical errors due to this fact than I could wish.
For great assistance in reading the proofs I am indebted
to my brother-in-law Dr. R. S. Padan, and for like aid to
my wife and her sister, Miss Imogen Hart.
James Henry Breasted.
Williams Bay, Wis.,
September 22, 1905.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
VOLUME I
The Documentary Sources of Egyptian History . 1-37
Chronology . . 38-57
Chronological Table 58-75
The Palermo Stone: The First TO THE Fifth Dynasties 76-167 ^^'^
I. Predynastic Kings . 90
II. First Dynasty 91-116
III. Second Dynasty 117-144
IV. Third Dynasty 145-148
V. Fourth Dynasty 149-152
VI. Fifth Dynasty 153-167
The Third Dynasty 168-175
Reign of Snefru 168-175
Sinai Inscriptions 168-169
Biography of Methen 170-175
The Fourth Dynasty 176-212
Reign of Khufu , 176-187
Sinai Inscriptions 176
Inventory Stela 177-180
Examples of Dedication Inscriptions by Sons . . 181-187
Reign of Khafre . ... . , . 188-209
Stela of Mertityotes 188-189
Will of Prince Nekure, Son of King Khafre . . . 190-199
Testamentary Enactment of an Unknown OflScial,
Establishing the Endowment of His Tomb by the
Pyramid of Khafre ... . . . 200-209
Reign of Menkure 210-212
Debhen's Inscription, Recounting King Menkure's Erec-
tion of a Tomb for Him 210-212
The Fifth Dynasty . . 213-281
Reign of Userkaf 213-235
^
XIX
XX TABLE OF CONTENTS
§§
Testamentary Enactment of Nekonekh .... 213-215
I. The Priesthood of Hathor 216-219
II. The Mortuary Priesthood of Khenuka . . 220-222
III. Nekonekh's Will . ' 223-225 V
IV. Nekonekh's Mortuary Priesthood . . 226-227
V. Nekonekh's Mortuary Statue 228-230
Testamentary Enactment of Senuonekh, Regulating
His Mortuary Priesthood 231-235
Reign of Sahure 236-241
Sinai Inscriptions ... 236
Tomb Stela of Nenekhsekhmet ... . . 237-240
Tomb Inscription of Persen . . ... 241
Reign of Neferirkere 242-249
Tomb Inscriptions of the Vizier, Chief Judge, and Chief " —
Architect Weshptah . . .... 242-249
Reign of Nuserre .... 250-262
Sinai Inscription •. 250
Tomb Inscriptions of Hotephiryakhet .... 251-253
Inscription of Ptahshepses 254-262
Reign of Menkuhor . 263
Sinai Inscription . . 263
Reign of Dedkere-Isesi ....!... 264-281
Sinai Inscriptions 264-267
Tomb Inscriptions of Senezemib, Chief Judge, Vizier,
and Chief Architect 268-277 v
Mortuary Inscription of Nezemib 278-279
Tomb Inscription of the Nomarch Henku . . . 280-281
The Sixth Dynasty 282-390
Reign of Teti .... 252-294
Inscriptions of Sabu, Also Called Ibebi .... 282-286
Inscription of Sabu, Also Called Thety .... 287^288
Inscription of an Unknown Builder 289-290
Inscription of Uni 291-294
I. Career under Teti (1. i) 292-294
II. Career under Pepi I (11. 2-32) . . . 306-315
III. Career under Mernere (11. 32-50) .... 319-324
Reign of Pepi I 295-315
Hammamat Inscriptions .... . 295-301
TABLE OF CONTENTS xxi
§§
I. The King's Inscriptions 296
II. The Expedition's Inscription 297-298
III. Chief Architect's Inscription .... 299
IV. Inscription of the Treasurer of the God Ikhi . 300-301
Sinai Inscription . . . . . 302-303
Inscription in the Hatnub Quarry ... . 304-305
Inscription of Uni: II Career under Pepi I . . . 306-315
Reign of Mernere 316-336
Inscriptions at the First Cataract ... . 316-318
I. Northern Inscription 317
II. Southern Inscription 318
Inscription of Uni: III Career under Meniere . . 319-324
Inscriptions of Harkhuf . 325-336
Inscriptions of Harkhuf (continued) 3SO-3S4
Reign of Pepi II ... 337-385 /
Conveyance of Land by Idu, Called Also Seneni . . 337-338 \^
Sinai Inscription 339-343
Stela of the Two Queens, Enekhnes-Merire . . 344-349
Inscriptions of Harkhuf (continued from § 336) . . 350-354
Letter of Pepi II . . . . 350-354
I. Dates and Introduction 351
II. Acknowledgment of Harkhuf's Letter . . 351
III. Harkhuf's Rewards 352
IV. King's Instructions 3 53-354
Inscriptions of Pepi-Nakht 35 5-3 60
Inscriptions of Khui 361
Inscriptions of Sebni 362-374
Inscriptions of Ibi 375^379
Inscription of Zau 380-385
Reign of Ity 386-387
Hammamat Inscription 386-387
Reign of Imhotep 388-390
The Ninth and Tenth Dynasties 391-414
Inscriptions of Siut . 391-414
I. Inscription of Tefiibi 393-397
II. Inscription of Kheti I 398-404
III. Inscription of Kheti II 405-414
xxii TABLE OF CONTENTS
§§
The Eleventh Dynasty 415-459
The Nomarch, Intef 419-420
Mortuary Stela 419-420
Reign of Horus-Wahenekh-Intef I 421-423
Royal Tomb Stela 421-423
Reign of Horus-Nakhtneb-Tepnefer-Intef II . . 423A-423G
Stela of Thethi 423A-423G
Reign, of Nibhotep-Mentuhotep I 423H
Temple Fragments from Gebelen 423H
Reigns of Intef III and Nibkhrure-Mentuhotep II 424-426
Relief near Assuan 424-426
Reign of Senekhkere-Mentuhotep III 427-433
Hammamat Inscription of Henu 427-433/-
Reign of Nibtowere-Mentuhotep IV 434-459
Hammamat Inscriptions 434-459
I. The First Wonder . 435-438
II. The Official Tablet 439-443
III. The Commander's Tablet 444-448
IV. The Second Wonder 449-451
V. Completion of the Work 452-456
Stela of Eti . . 457-459
The Twelfth Dynasty 460-750
Chronology of Twelfth Dynasty 460-462
Reign of Amenemhet I 463-497
Inscription of Khnumhotep I 463-465
Hammamat Inscription of Intef 466-468
Inscription of Nessumontu 469-471
Inscription of Korusko 472-473
The Teaching of Amenemhet 474-483
Dedication Inscription 484-485
The Tale of Sinuhe 486-497 v
Reign of Sesostris I 498-593
The Building Inscription of the Temple of Heliopolis . 498-506
Inscription of Meri 507-509
Wadi Haifa Inscription of Mentuhotep .... 510-514
Inscription of Amenemhet (Ameni) 515-523
Stela of Ikudidi 524-528
Inscription of Intef yoker 529
TABLE OF CONTENTS xxiii
s§
Inscriptions of Mentuhotep S30~S34 ^
The Contracts of Hepzefi S3S-S38 ^"""^
I. First Contract S39-S43
II. Second Contract 544-548
III. Third Contract S49-SS3
IV. Fourth Contract SS4-SS8
V. Fifth Contract . 559-567
VI. Sixth Contract ... .... 568-571
VII. Seventh Contract 572-575
VIII. Eighth Contract 576-581
IX. Ninth Contract ■ 582-588
X. Tenth Contract 589-593
Reign of Amenemhet II 594-613
Inscription of Simontu 594-598
Inscription of Sihathor 599-605
Sinai Inscription 606
Stela of Khentemsemeti 607-613
Reign of Sesostris II 614-639
Inscription of Hapu 614-618
Inscription of Khnumhotep II 619-639
Reign of Sesostris III 640-748
The Conquest of Nubia 640-672
I. The Canal Inscriptions 642-649
I. First Inscription 643-645
.II. Second Inscription 646-648
II. The Elephantine Inscription 649-650
III. The First Semneh Stela 651-652
IV. The Second Semneh Stela 653-660
V. Inscription of Ikhemofret 661-670
VI. Inscription of Sisatet 671-673
See also , . 676 £f. and 687
Hammamat Inscription 674-675
Stela of Sebek-Khu, called Zaa 676-687
Inscriptions of Thuthotep 688-706
Hammamat Inscriptions 707-712
Inscriptions of Sinai 7^3-738
I. Wadi Maghara 713-723
I. Inscriptions of Khenemsu 714-716
XXIV
TABLE OF CONTENTS
II. Inscription of Harnakht 717-718
III. Inscription of Sebekdidi 719-720
IV. Inscription of Ameni 721-723
II. Sarblit el-Khadem 724-738
I. Inscription of Sebek-hir-hab .... 725-727
II. Inscription of Ptahwer . . . . 728-729
III. Inscription of Amenemhet 730~732
IV. Inscription of Harurre 733~738
Turra Inscription 739-742
Inscription of Sehetepibre . 743-748
Reign of Amenemhet IV 749-750
Kummeh Inscription 749
Sinai Inscriptions . 750
From the Thirteenth Dynasty to the Hyksos . ., 751-787
Reign of Sekhemre-Khutowe 751-752
Records of Nile-Levels . 751-752
Reign of Neferhotep . 753-772
Great Abydos Stela 753-7^5
Boundary Stela . 766-772
Reign of Nubkheprure-Intef 773-780
Coptos Decree 773-78o><*-
Reign of Khenzer . 781-787
Inscriptions of Ameniseneb 781-787
VOLUME II
The Eighteenth Dynasty ....
Reign of Ahmose I
Biography of Ahmose, Son of Ebana
I. Career under Ahmose I (11. 1-24) .
II. Career under Amenhotep I (11. 24-29)
III. Career under Thutmose I (11. 29-39)
Biography of Ahmose-Pen-Nekhbet .
I. Ahmose's Campaigns [Continued § 40]
II. Ahmose's Rewards
III. Ahmose's Summary
1-1043
1-37
1-3
4-16
38-39
78-82
17-25
18-20
21-24
25
TABLE OF CONTENTS
XXV
Quarry Inscription
§§
26-28
Karnak Stela . . . .
29-32
Building Inscription
33-37
Reign of Amenhotep I . . . ...
• 38-53
Biography of Ahmose, Son of Ebana
• 38-39
II. Career under Amenhotep I (11. 24-29) .
• 38-53
Biography of Ahmose-Pen-Nekhbet
40-42
Career under Amenhotep I
40-42
Biography of Ineni . . . .
43-46
I. Career under Amenhotep I . . .
44-46
II. Career under Thutmose I ...
99-108
III. Career under Thutmose II ... .
. 115-118
IV. Career under Thutmose III and Hatshepsut
■ 340-343
Stela of Harmini . .
47-48
Stela of Keres
49-52
Reign of Thutmose I .
S4-II4
Coronation Decree . ...
54-60
Biographical Inscription of Thure ....
61-66
Tombos Stela . . . . ...
67-73
Inscriptions at the First Cataract ....
74-77
I. Sehel Inscription . ...
75
II. Sehel Inscription
76
III. Assuan Inscription .
77
Inscription of Ahmose, Son of Ebana
78-82
III. Career under Thutmose I (11. 29-39)
78-82
Biography of Ahmose-Pen-Nekhbet
83-85
Career under Thutmose I
• 83-85
Karnak ObeUsks .
86-89
Abydos Stela ... ....
90-98
Biography of Ineni ....
99-108
II. Career under Thutmose I (11. 4-14)
99-108
Stela of Yuf .... • •
I 09-1 I 4
Reign of Thutmose II ...
■ 115-127
Biography of Ineni
. 115-118
III. Career under Thutmose II
. 115-118
Assuan Inscription . . ....
I 19-122
Biography of Ahmose-Pen-Nekbet .
. 123-124
IV. Career under Thutmose II ... .
. 123-124
xxvi TABLE OF CONTENTS
§§
Campaign in Syria 125
The Ebony Shrine of Der el-Bahri 126-127
Reign of Thutmose III and Hatshepsut .... 128-390
Introduction 128-130
Inscription of the Coronation; Buildings and Offerings 131-166
Semneh Temple Inscriptions 167
I. Renewal of Sesostris Ill's List of Offerings 168-172
II. Dedication to Dedun and Sesostris III 173-176
Biography of Nebwawi 177
I. The Statue Inscription 178-183
II. Abydos Stela 184-186
The Birth of Queen Hatshepsut 187-191
I. The Council of the Gods 192
II. Interviews Between Amon and Thoth . 193-194
III. Amon with Queen Ahmose ... 195-198
IV. Interview Between Amon and Khnum . 199-201
V. Khnum Fashions the Child 202-203
VI. Interview Between Thoth and Queen Ahmose 204
VII. Queen ^hmose is Led to Confinement 205
VIII. The Birth 206-207
IX. Presentation of the Child to Amon . . . 208
X. Council of Amon and Hathor .... 209
XI. The Nursing of the Child 210
XII. Second Interview of Amon and Thoth . . 211
XIII. The Final Scene . . .... 212
Statue of Enebni 213
Vase Inscription 214
The Coronation of Queen Hatshepsut . . . 215
I. The Purification 216
II. Amon presents the Child to All the Gods . . 217-220
III. The Northern Journey 221-225
IV. Coronation by Atum 226-227
V. Reception of the Crowns and the Names . . 228-230
VI. Proclamation as King before Amon ... 231
VII. Coronation before the Court 232-239
VIII. Second Purification 240-241
IX. Concluding Ceremonies 242
Southern Pylon Inscription at Karnak .... 243-245
TABLE OF CONTENTS xxvii
H
The Punt Reliefs ... 246-295
I. Departure of the Fleet 252-253
II. Reception in Punt 254-258
III. The Traffic 259-262
IV. Loading the Vessels 263-265
V. The Return Voyage 266
VI. Presentation of the Tribute to the Queen by the
Chiefs of Punt, Irem and Nemyew . . 267-269
VII. The Queen Offers the Gifts to Amon . 270-272
VEIL Weighing and Measuring the Gifts to Amon 273-282
IX. Formal Announcement of the Success of the
Expedition before Amon 283-288
X. Formal Announcement of the Success of the
Expedition to the Court 289-295
Inscription of the Speos Artemidos 296-303
The Karnak Obelisks 304-307
I. Shaft Inscriptions; Middle Columns . . 308-311
II. Shaft Inscriptions; Side Columns . . . .312-313
III. Base Inscription 314-321
Reliefs of Transportation of Obehsks .... 322
I. Transport 323-329
II. Reception in Thebes 330-335
III. Dedication of the Obelisks 336
Rock Inscription in Wadi Maghara 337
Building Inscription of Western Thebes .... 338-339
Biography of Ineni 340-343
IV. Career under Thutmose III and Hatshepsut . 340-343
Biography of Ahmose-Pen-Nekhbet 344
Conclusion of Summary 344
Inscriptions of Senmut 345-368
I. Inscriptions on the Karnak Statue . . . 349-358
II. Assuan Inscription 3S9-362
III. Inscriptions on the BerUn Statue .... 363-368
Inscription of Thutiy 369-378
Inscriptions of Puemre . . 379
I. Statue of Inscription 380-381
II. Tomb Inscriptions 382-387
Inscriptions of Hapuseneb 388-390
XXVIU
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Reign of Thutmose III .
The Annals . ....
The Annals: Conspectus of Campaigns
I. Introduction ....
II. First Campaign (Year 23)
Wadi Haifa Inscription
Fragment on the Siege of Megiddo
III. Second Campaign (Year 24) .
IV. Third Campaign (Year 25) .
V. Fourth Campaign
VI. Fifth Campaign (Year 29)
VII. Sixth Campaign (Year 30)
VIII. Seventh Campaign (Year 31) .
IX. Eighth Campaign (Year 33) .
X. Ninth Campaign (Year 34) .
XI. Tenth Campaign (Year 35) .
XII. Eleventh Campaign (Year 36)
XIII. Twelfth Campaign (Year 37)
XIV. Thirteenth Campaign (Year 38)
XV. Fourteenth Campaign (Year 39)
XVI. Fifteenth Campaign .
XVII. Sixteenth Campaign .
XVIII. Seventeenth Campaign .
XIX. Conclusion .
Feasts and Offerings from the Conquests
Biography of Amenemhab .
Fragments of Karnak Pylon VII
Great Karnak Building Inscription .
Building Inscription of the Karnak Ptah-Temple
ObeHsks
I. Karnak Obelisks
II. Lateran Obehsks
III. Constantinople Obelisk
IV. London Obehsk
V. New York Obelisk .
Medinet Habu Building Inscriptions
Heliopohs Building Inscriptions
Nubian Wars ...
391-779
391-405
406
407
408-443
411-437
438-443
444-449
450-452
453
454-462
463-467
468-475
476-487
488-495
496-503
504
505
506-515
516-519
520-523
524-527
528-539
540
541-573
574-592
593-598
599-608
609-622
623
624-625
626-628
629-631
632-633
634-636
637-641
642-643
644-654
TABLE OF CONTENTS
XXIX
I.
Canal Inscription . ... 649-650
II.
Inscriptions of Nehi, Viceroy of Kush .
651-652
III.
Offerings from the South Countries
653-654
Hymn
of Victory
655-662
Tomb of Rekhmire
663-759
I.
Appointment of Rekhmire as Vizier
665-670
II.
Duties of the Vizier ....
671-711
III.
The Sitting of the Vizier
• 712-713
IV.
Reception of Petitions . . 714-715
V.
Inspection of Taxes of Upper Egypt . 716
A. Above Thebes ... . . 717-728
B. Below Thebes ... . 729-745
VI.
Reception of Dues to the Amon-Temple . 746-751
VII.
Inspection of Daily OSerings and of Monuments 752
VIII.
Inspection of Craftsmen 753 "7 55
IX.
Inspection of Sculptors and Builders
756-759
X.
Reception of Foreign Tribute
760-761
XI.
Accession of Amenhotep II .
762
Stela of Intef the Herald .
763-771
Tomb of Menkheperreseneb
772-776
Stela of Nibamon .
777-779
Reign ol
Amenhotep II .
780
Asiatic Campaign .
780-798
I.
Kamak Stela
781-790
II.
Am9,da and Elephantine
Stelae
791-798
III.
Karnak Chapel .
798A
Turra
Inscription .
799-800
Tomb of Amenken
801-802
Kamak Building Inscription
803-806
Biography of Amenemhab .
807-809
Reign of Thutmose IV
810-840
Sphinx Stela .
810-815
Asiatic Campaign .
816-822
Konosso Inscription
823-829
Lateran Obelisk
830-838
Stela of Pe'aoke .
839-840
Reign of
Amenhotep III
841-931
Birth and Coronation
841
XXX TABLE OF CONTENTS
a
Nubian War 842-855
I. Stela at First Cataract 843-844
II. Stela of Konosso 845
III. Bubastis Inscription 846-850
IV. Semneh Inscription 851-855
Tablet of Victory ... 856-859
The Commemorative Scarabs 860-869
I. Marriage with Tiy 861-862
II. Wild Cattle Hunt 863-864
III. Ten Years Lion-Hunting .... 865
IV. Marriage with Kirgipa 866-867
V. Construction of a Pleasure Lake . . . '. 868-869
Jubilee Celebrations 870-874
Quarry and Mine Inscriptions 875-877
Building Inscription 878-892
I. Introduction (11. 1-2) 882
II. Temple of the (Memnon) Colossi (11. 2-10) . 883-885
III. Luxor Temple and Connected Buildings 886-887
IV. Sacred Barge of Amon (11. 16-20) .... 888
V. Third Pylon of Kamak (11. 20-23) ... 889
VI. Temple of Soleb (11. 23-26) 890
VII. Hymn of Amon to the King (11. 26-31) 891-892
Building Inscriptions of the Soleb Temple . . 893-898
Great Inscription of the Third Karnak Pylon . . . 899-903
Dedication Stela . . 904-910
I. Speech of the King (11. 1-13) 905-908
II. Speech of Amon (11. 14-20) 909
III. Speech of the Divine Ennead (11. 20-24) ■ 910
Inscriptions of Amenhotep, Son of Hapi . . . . 911-927
I. Statue Inscription .' •■:» 913-920
II. Mortuary Temple Edict 921-927
Statue of Nebnefer 928-931
Reign of Ikhnaton 932-1018
Quarry Inscription at Silsileh 932-935
Tomb of the Vizier Ramose 936-948
The Tell El-Amarna Landmarks 949-972
Assuan Tablet of the Architect Bek 973-976
The Tell El-Amarna Tombs 977-1018
TABLE OF CONTENTS
XXXI
Tomb of Merire II . . '
981
Tomb of Merire I .
Tomb of Eye .
Tomb of Mai
Tomb of Ahmose
982-988
989-996
. 997-1003
I 004-1 008
Tomb of Tutu .
1009-
-1013
Tomb of Huy .
1014-
-1018
Reign of Tutenkhamon
.
1019-
-1 041
Tomb of Huy.
1019-
-1041
I. Investiture of the Viceroy of Kush . 1020-
-1026
II. Tribute of the North
1027-
-10-^^
III. Tribute of the South
1034-
-1041
Reign of Eye ....
. . 1042-
-1043
LIST OF FIGURES
Plan of Punt ReUefs
PAGE
105
VOLUME III
§!
The Nineteenth Dynasty . ..... 1-651
Reign of Harmhab 1-73
Tomb of Harmhab 1-21
I. Leyden Fragments 2-9
I. Stela with Adoration Scene .... 2-5
II. Reward of Gold . . .... 6-9
II. Vienna Fragment .... 10-12
III. Alexandria Fragments 13
IV. British Museum Fragments 14-19
I. Doorposts . ''' 14-17
II. Stela with Three Hymns 18-19
V. Cairo Fragments 20-21
Coronation Inscription . . 22-32
Graffiti in the Theban Necropolis 32A-32C
The Wars of Harmhab 33-44
I. In the North 34-36
II. In the South . 37-44
Edict of Harmhab 45-67
xxxii TABLE OF CONTENTS
§§
I. Introduction (11. i-io) 49
II. Introduction: The King's Zeal for the Relief of
the People (11. 10-14) • ■ • ■ 5°
III. Enactment Against Robbing the Poor of Dues
for the Royal Breweries and Kitchens (11. 14-17) 51
IV. Enactment Against Robbing the Poor of Wood
Due the Pharaoh (U. 17-18) 52
V. Enactment Against Exacting Dues from a Poor
Man Thus Robbed (11. 18-20) .... 53
VI. Against Robbing the Poor of Dues for the Harem
or the Gods by the Soldiers (11. 20-24) • • 54
VII. Enactments Against Unlawful Appropriation of
Slave Service (U. 22-24) • SS
VIII. Enactment Against Stealing of Hides by the
Soldiers (11. 25-28) S6-S7
IX. Against Connivance of Dishonest Inspectors with
Thievish Tax-CoUectors, for a Share of the Booty
(11. 28-32) . . 58
X. Enactment Against SteaUng Vegetables Under
Pretense of Collecting Taxes (11. 32-35) . . 59
XI. Enactments too Fragmentary for Analysis (11. 35-
39) and Right Side (11. 1,2) 60-62
XII. Narrative of the King's Reforms, Containing
Also an Enactment Against Corrupt Judges
(11. 3-7) ... ... 63-65
XIII. Narrative of the King's Monthly Audiences and
Largesses (11. 7-10) 66
XIV. Laudation of the King, and Conclusion (Left
Side) 67
Tomb of Neferhotep 68-73
Reign of Ramses I . 74-79
Wadi Haifa Stela 74-79
Reign of Seti I ' 80-250
Karnak Reliefs 80-156
Scene i. March through Southern Palestine . . 83-84
Scene 2. Battle with the Shasu 85-86
Scene 3. Capture of Pekanan. .... 87-88
Scene 4. Capture of Yenoam 89-90
TABLE OF CONTENTS xxxiii
s§
Scene 5. Submission of the Chiefs of Lebanon . 9i~94
Scenes 6 and 7. Binding and Carrying Away Prisoners 95-97
Scene 8. Reception in Egypt 98-103
Scene 9. Presentation of Shasu Prisoners and Precious
Vessels to Amon 104-108
Scene 10. Presentation of Syrian Prisoners and
Precious Vessels to Amon 109-112
Scene 11. Slaying Prisoners Before Amon . . 11 3-1 19
Scene 12. First Battle with the Libyans . . 120-122
Scene 13. Second Battle with the Libyans . . . 123-132
Scene 14. Return from Libyan War .... 133-134
Scene 15. Presentation of Libyan Prisoners and Spoil
to Amon 135-^39
Scene 16. Capture of Kadesh 140-141
Scene 17. Battle with the Hittites . . . 142-144
Scene 18. Carrying off Hittite Prisoners . . . 145-148
Scene 19. Presentation of Hittite Spoil and Prisoners
to Amon 149-152
Scene 20. Slaying Prisoners before Amon . . . 153-156
Wadi Haifa Stela . .157-161
Inscriptions of Redesiyeh . 162-198
I. First Inscription 169-174
II. Second Inscription 175-194
III. Third Inscription 195-198
Building Inscriptions 199-250
I. First Cataract Inscription 201-204
1. Assuan Inscription 201-202
2. Elephantine Stela . .... 203-204
II. Silsileh Quarry Stela . .... 205-20S
III. Gebel6n Quarry Inscription 209-210
IV. Mortuary Temple at Thebes (Kurna) . . . 211-221
V. Temple of Karnak 222-224
VI. Mortuary Temple at Abydos 225-243
VII. Temple Model of HeUopolis 244-246
VIII. Miscellaneous 247-350
Reign of Ramses II 251-568
Great Abydos Inscription 251-281
Kubbin Stela 282-293
XXXIV
TABLE OF CONTENTS
The Asiatic War . ...
I. Beginning of the Hittite War
I. First Campaign . ...
II. Second Campaign: The Battle of Kadesh
a. Poem of the Battle of Kadesh .
h. Official Record of the Battle of Kadesh
c. The Reliefs of the Battle of Kadesh
I. The Council of War
II. The Camp ....
III. Ramses' Messengers
IV. The Battle
V. The Defense of the Camp .
VI. After the Battle
VII. Presentation of Captives to Amon
III. Palestinian Revolt .
I. Reconquest of Southern Palestine
II. Reconquest of Northern Palestine
IV. Campaign in Naharin
I. Conquest of Naharin
II. Treaty with the Hittites .
Relations of Egypt with the Hittites after the War
I. The Blessing of Ptah
II. Marriage Stela .
III. Message of the Chief of Kheta to the Chief of
Kode . ....
IV. Coptos Stela
V. Bentresh Stela . ....
Nubian Wars and References to Northern Wars
I. Abu Simbel Temple
Bet el-Walli Temple ....
Assuan Stela
Luxor Temple .
II.
III.
IV.
V.
VT.
Abydos Temple ■
Tanis Stelae
Building Inscriptions .
I. Great Temple of Abu Simbel.
II. Small Temple of Abu Simbel .
III. Temple of Serreh
§§
294-391
296-351
297
298-35^
305-315
316-327
328
329-330
331-332
333-334
335-338
339-340
341-347
348-351
352-362
353-355
356-362
363-391
364-366
367-391
392-491
394-414
415-424
425-426
427-428
429-447
448-491
449-457
458-477
478-479
480-484
485-486
487-491
492-537
495-499
500-501
502
TABLE OF CONTENTS
XXXV
IV.
V.
VI.
VII.
VIII.
IX.
X.
XI.
I-I8)
Temple of Derr
Temple of Sebd'^a
Temple of el Kab
Temple of Luxor
Temple of Kamak .
The Ramesseum
Temple of Kurna
Seti I's Temple at Abydos and Great Abydos
Inscription .
Ramses II's Temple at Abydos
Memphis Temples ....
1. Great Abydos Inscription (1. 22)
2. Blessing of Ptah (11. 32, 35)
City of Tanis (Blessing of Ptah (11. i6-
Stela of the Year 400 .
Royal Jubilee Inscriptions .
I. First Gebel Silsileh Inscription
Bigeh Inscription
Second Gebel Silsileh Inscription .
Third Gebel Silsileh Inscription .
Fourth Gebel Silsileh Inscription .
Sehel Inscription
El Kab Inscription .
Fifth Gebel Silsileh Inscription
Sixth Gebel Silsileh Inscription .
Inscription of Beknekhonsu.
Reign of Merneptah .
The Invasion of Libyans and Mediterranean Peoples
I. The Great Karnak Inscription
II. The Cairo Column .
III. The Athribis Stela
IV. The Hymn of Victory .
Inscriptions of the High Priest of Amon, Roy
Daybook of a Frontier OflScial .
Letter of a Frontier Ofl&cial
Reign of Siptah
Nubian Graffiti
XII.
XIII.
XIV.
II.
III.
IV.
V.
VI.
VII.
VIII.
IX.
503
504
505
506-508
509-513
514-515
516-522
262-267
524-529
530-537
260
412-413
406
538-542
543-560
552
553
554
555
556
557
558
559
560
561-568
569-638
569-617
572-592
593-595
596-601
602-617
618-628
629-635
636-638
639-650
639-650
xxxvi TABLE OF CONTENTS
LIST OF FIGURES
FAGS
Fig. I. Plan of the Reliefs of Seti I, on the North Wall of the
Great Hall of Karnak . . 39
Fig. 2. Seti I on the Route through Southern Palestine
(Scene i) 44
Fig. 3. Showing Two Superimposed Figures . 61
Fig. 4. Inserted Figure of "First Eang's-Son" .... 61
Fig. s- An Unknown Prince Following the Chariot of Seti I
(Scene 14) . . . 66
Fig. 6. Figure of an Unknown Prince Inserted in a Fragmen-
tary Scene (§ 130) . . ... .66
Fig. 7. Map of the Orontes Valley in the Vicinity of
Kadesh . . 126
Fig. 8. March to Kadesh: First Positions . . .128
Fig. 9. Battle of Kadesh: Second Positions . . 130
Fig. 10. Battle of Kadesh: Third Positions 130
Fig. II. Battle of Kadesh: Fourth Positions . . . .130
Fig. 12. Battle of Kadesh: Fifth Positions 130
Fig. 13. The Modern Mound of Kadesh 155
VOLUME IV
H
The Twentieth Dynasty 1-603
Reign of Ramses III 1-456
Medinet Habu Temple . ... ... 1-150
Building and Dedication Inscriptions 1-20
Historical Inscriptions 21-138
I. Treasury of Medinet Habii Temple . 25-34
II. First Libyan War, Year 5 35-58
I. Great Inscription in the Second Court
(Year 5) . . . . . 36-58
III. Northern War, Year 8 . . . 59-82
1. Great Inscription on the Second Pylon,
Year 8. .... 61-68
2. Relief Scenes Outside North Wall and in
Second Court, Year 8 . . . . 69-82
IV. Second Libyan War 83-114
TABLE OF CONTENTS
xxxvu
1. Great Inscription on the First Pylon (Medi-
net Habu)
2. Poem on Second Libyan War
3. Relief Scenes on First Pylon and Outside
North Wall (Medinet Habu)
4. Papyrus Harris ....
V. The Sjrrian War ....
VI. The Nubian War
Medinet Habu Temple Calendar .
Act of Endowment of the Temples of Khnum
Papyrus Harris
Discussion of
Content:
I. Introduction
II. Theban Section
III. HeliopoUtan Section
IV. Memphite Section.
V. General Section (Small Temples)
VI. Summary
VII. Historical Section .
Record of the Royal Jubilee
Records of the Harem Conspiracy
I. Appointment of the Court
II. The Condemned of the First Prosecution
III. The Condemned of the Second Prosecution
IV. The Condemned of the Third Prosecution
V. The Condemned of the Fourth Prosecution
VI. The Acquitted .
VII. The Practicers of Magic
Reign of Ramses IV
Hammamat Stela .
I. The First Stela .
II. The Second Stela
Abydos Stela .
Building Inscription of the Khonsu Temple
Reign of Ramses V
Tomb Dedication .
Reign of Ramses VI .
85-92
93-99
I 00-114
40s
115-135.
136-138
139-145
146-150
1 51-41 2
151-181
182-183
184-246
247-304
305-351
352-382
383-396
397-412
413-415
416-456
423-424
425-443
444-445
446-450
451-452
453
454-456
457-472
457-468
457-460
461-468
469-471
472
473
473
474-483
XXXVUl
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Tomb of Penno ... . . . 474-483
Reign of Ramses VII . . 484-485
Stela of Hori . . 484-485
Reign of Ramses IX . ... 486-556
Inscriptions of the High Priest of Amon, Amenhotep 486-498
I. Building Inscriptions . 488-491
II. Records of Rewards . . 492-498
The Records of the Royal Tomb-Robberies 499-556
I. Papyrus Abbott. 509-535
II. PapjTus Amherst . 536-541
III. Turin Fragment 542-543
IV. Mayer Papyri > . . . . 544-556
Reign of Ramses XII 55 7-603
The Report of Wenamon S57-S9I
Records of the Restoration of the Royal Mummies 592-594
Letter to the Viceroy of Kush . 595-600
Building Inscriptions in the Temple of Khonsu . 601-603
The Twenty-First Dynasty . 604-692
The Twenty-First Dynasty . . 604-607
Reign of Hrihor . . . . 608-626
Inscriptions of the Temple of Khonsu .... 608-626
Reign of Nesubenebded . . 627-630
GebelSn Inscription ... .... 627-630
Reign of the High Priest and King Paynozem I 631-649
I. Paynozem I as High Priest . 631-635
Building Inscriptions 631-635
Records on the Royal Mummies . . 636-642
II. Paynozem I as King 643 ff.
Records on the Royal Mummies .... 643-647
Building Inscriptions 648-649
High Priesthood of Menkheperre 650-661
Stela of the Banishment . 650-658
Record of Restoration . . . 659
Karnak Graffito .... . 660
Records on the Royal Mummies ... . 661
High Priesthood of Paynozem II ... . 662-687
Records on the Priestly Mummies . . . 662-663
Records on the Royal Mummies ... . 664-667
TABLE OF CONTENTS xxxix
§9
Record of Paynozem II's Burial .... 668
Stela of the "Great Chief of Me," Sheshonk . 669-687
High Priesthood of Pesibkhenno 688-692
Records on Mummy- Wrappings 688
Burial of Nesikhonsu 689
Records on the Royal Mummies .... 690-692
The Twenty-Second Dynasty .... 693-792
Records of Nile-Levels at Kamak .... 693-698
Reign of Sheshonk I 699-728
Records on Mummy-Bandages of Zeptahefonekh . 699-700
Building Inscription 701-708
Great Kamak ReUef . 709-722
Presentation of Tribute 723-724
Kamak Stela 724A
Dakhel Stela 725-728
Reign of Osorkon I 729-737
Record of Temple Gifts ... 729-737
Reign of Takelot I 738-740
Statue of the Nile-God Dedicated by the High Priest,
Sheshonk . . 738-740
Reign of Osorkon II 742-751
Flood Inscription 742-744
Statue Inscription 745-747
Jubilee Inscriptions 748-751
Reign of Takelot II 7S2-7SS
Graffito of Harsiese 7S2-7S4
Stela of Kerome . . 755
Reign of Sheshonk III . . .... 75^-777
Annals of the High Priest of Amon, Osorkon . 756-770
I. East of Door 760-761
II. West of Door . . ... 762-770
First Serapeum Stela of Pediese 771-774
Record of Installation . . 77S~777
Reign of Pemou . 778-781
Second Serapeum Stela of Pediese 778-781
Reign of Sheshonk IV 782-792
Stela of Weshtehet 782-784
xl TABLE OF CONTENTS
§§
Serapeum Stela of Harpeson 785-792
The Twenty-Third Dynasty 793-883
Records of Nile-Levels at Karnak 793~794
Reign of Osorkon III 795
Will of Yewelot . . 795
Reign of Piankhi 796-883
The Piankhi Stela. . 796-883
The Twenty-Fourth Dynasty .... . 884
Reign of Bocchoris 884
Serapeum Stelae . . 884
The Twenty-Fifth Dynasty . . . . 885-934
Records of the Nile-Levels at Karnak . . . 885-888
Reign of Shabaka . . 889
Building Inscription . 889
Reign of Taharka . . 892-918
Tanis Stela ... 892-896
Building Inscription in Large Cliff-Temple of Napata 897-900
Inscription of Mentemhet 901-916
Serapeum Stela . 917-918
Reign of Tanutamon . 919-934
Stela of Tanutamon 919-934
The Twenty-Sixth Dynasty 935-1029
Reign of Psamtik I . . 93S~973
Adoption Stela of Nitocris 93S-958
Statue Inscription of the Chief Steward, Ibe . . 958A-958M
First Serapeum Stela .... . . 959-962
Second Serapeum Stela ... ... 963-966
Statue Inscription of Hor 967-973
Reign of Necho .... 974-980
Serapeum Stela . . 974~979
Building Inscription 980
Reign of Psamtik II 981-983
Statue Inscription of Neferibre-Nofer .... 981-983
Reign of Apries 984-995
Serapeum Stela . 984-988
Stela of the Divine Consort Enekhnesneferibre 988A-988J
Inscription of Nesuhor 989-995
TABLE OF CONTENTS xU
51
Reign of Amasis (Ahmose II) 996-1029
Elephantine Stela . .... . . 996-1007
Serapenm Stela 1008-1012
Statue Inscription of the General Ahmose . . 1013-1014
Statue Inscription of Pefnefdineit .... 1015-1025
Mortuary Stelae of the Priest Psamtik . . , 1026-1029
LIST or FIGURES
lAOE
Plan of Scenes and Inscriptions in Medinet Habu Temple . . 5
Index 521
EXPLANATION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL SIGNS AND
SPECIAL CHARACTERS
1. The introductions to the documents are in twelve-
point type, like these lines.
2. All of the translations are in ten-point type, like this line.
3. In the footnotes and introductions all quotations from
the documents in the original words of the translation are
in italics, inclosed in quotation marks. Italics are not
employed in the text of the volumes for any other purpose
except for titles.
4. The lines of the original document are indicated in
the translation by superior numbers.
5. The loss of a word in the original is indicated by
— , two words by , three words by , four
words by , five words by , and
more than five by . A word in the original is
estimated at a "square" as known to Egyptologists, and
the estimate can be but a very rough one.
6. When any of the dashes, like those of No. 5, are in-
closed in half-brackets, the dashes so inclosed indicate not
lost, but uncertain words. Thus ■" — '^ represents one un-
certain word, ^ 1 two uncertain words, and ■" ">
more than five uncertain words.
7. When a word or group of words are inclosed in half-
brackets, the words so inclosed are uncertain in meaning;
that is, the translation is not above question.
8. Roman numerals I, II, III, and IV, not preceded by
the title of any book or journal, refer to these four volumes
of Historical Documents. The Arabic numerals following
such Romans refer to the numbered paragraphs of these
volumes. All paragraph marks (§ and §§, without a
Roman) refer to paragraphs of the same volume.
9. For signs used in transliteration, see Vol. I, p. xv.
xlii
THE DOCUMENTARY SOURCES OF
EGYPTIAN HISTORY
THE DOCUMENTARY SOURCES OF EGYPTIAN
HISTORY
1. The general course and the gradual development of
Egyptian civilization are in some respects roughly traceable in
its surviving material documents, in the products of the artist
and the craftsman, which we are accustomed to assign to the
domain of the archaeologist. With these invaluable material
documents the present volumes of course do not deal. They
purpose to present only those written documents from which
the career of the Nile valley peoples may be drawn at the
present day. A rapid survey of the materials herein pre-
sented may enable the non-Egyptologist to gain some pre-
liminary conception of their general character.
2 . Comparatively speaking, but very little of the rich and
productive civilization which flourished for at least five mil-
lenniums before Christ on the banks of the lower Nile, has
survived in written documents for our enlightenment.
Accident has preserved but here and there the merest scrap
of the vast mass of written records which the incessant
political, legal, administrative, religious, industrial, com-
mercial, and literary activities filling the life of this ancient
people, were constantly putting forth. We may make one
exception : the religious literature, doubtless the least instruct-
ive, as a whole, of all their literary documents, has survived
in an incalculable mass of temple inscriptions and pap5T:i,
which have never even been adequately published, much
less exhaustively studied.
3. It is with those documents in which the national
career as a whole can be traced that we have here to deal.
From the pre-dynastic age onward the kings kept a series of
3
DOCUMENTARY SOURCES
annals, recording in each year the great deeds and achieve-
ments of the Pharaoh which he thought worthy of perpetua-
tion. Of such annals only two fragments have survived:
the Palermo Stone, part of a record extending from the
earliest times down into the Fifth Dynasty; and the annals
of Thutmose Ill's wars, of which a few extracts were
excerpted by a priestly scribe and recorded on the walls of
the Kamak temple. Had we the annals of the Pharaohs in
complete form, we might perhaps write almost as full a
history of Egypt as it is possible to do for the Middle Ages
of European history. Without these, we are dependent
upon a miscellaneous mass of documents of the most varied
character and value, which chance and circumstance have
preserved from destruction these thousands of years. Tn
general, such documents show more literary character and
picturesqueness than the Assyro-Babylonian records; but
the latter dry and formal annals possess greater historical
value, and exhibit a preciseness which indues them with a
rare availability as sources. The Egyptian records which
chance has preserved to us are, as a whole, so vague and
indefinite in their references to peoples, localities, persons,
and the character of events, that they are often tantalizing
in what they do not tell us. Thus in records of whole cam-
paigns of Thutmose III in Syria the hostile Syrian king is
designated merely as "that joe" (lit. "jallen one"), and we are
uncertain whether the king of Kadesh, of Mitanni, of Aleppo,
or of some other realm is meant. The real excerpts from
Thutmose Ill's Annals (II, 391 ff.), however, show that such
records contained an elaboration of detaU not less precise
and historically available than the cuneiform annals. So
much the more must we deplore their loss.
4- How hazardous was the life of such a document may
be well illustrated by the great building inscription, upon a
§ 6] DOCUMENTARY SOURCES 5
huge stone stela, erected by Sesostris I nearly two thousand
years before Christ, in his new temple at Heliopolis. The
great block itself has since perished utterly; but the practice-
copy made by a scribe, who was whiling away an idle hour
in the sunny temple court, has survived, and the fragile
roll of leather (§§498 ff.) upon which he was thus exercising
his pen, has transmitted to us what the massive stone could
not preserve.
5. That we possess any documents at all from the Old
Kingdom (2980-2400 B. C.) is chiefly due to the massive
masonry tombs of that age, in which they were recorded.
The exceptions are inscriptions on foreign soU, and a few
scanty fragments of papyrus containing accounts and letters.
The vast quantity of such papyrus documents which once
existed is evidenced by the constant ^appearance of the
scribe with his rolls, his pens, and his ink palette, in the
tomb reliefs. Such hints from the numerous reliefs in the
tombs of this age are the source of our knowledge of the
material culture of the time. The chief inscriptions which
accompany them consist almost exclusively of the name and
many titles of the owner of the tomb. Now and again the
legal enactment by which the tomb was endowed and main-
tained is recorded on the wall. Such wills and conveyances
are, of course, invaluable cultural documents.
6. Gradually the nobles were inclined to add a few bio-
graphical details to the series of bare titles. The first of such
scanty biographies appears at the end of the Third Dynasty
(§§170 fE.), after which there is a growing fondness for record-
ing at least the chief honors received by the deceased from
the Pharaoh, especially the furnishing and equipment of his
tomb at the king's expense. The daily intercourse of the
deceased with the king, the privileges which he enjoyed in
connection with the royal person, or now and then the copy
6 DOCUMENTARY SOURCES [§ 7
of a letter from the king to his favorite — all these serve to
make such biographies of inestimable value in completing
our picture of the culture of the time. In the Sixth Dynasty
these biographies become real narratives of the career of the
departed noble, or at least of his most notable achievements
in the service of the Pharaoh. The most important docu-
ments of this character are the biographies of Uni (§§ 291 £f.),
and the nobles of Elephantine (§§325 ff., 355 £f., 362 £f.),
one of whom has included therein a personal letter from
the king (§§35off.).
7. As the aggressiveness of the Pharaohs increased, their
foreign enterprises found record on the rocks in a number
of distant regions (outside of Egypt proper), where they still
exist. In the Peninsula of Sinai they appear in the First
Dynasty (began 3400 B. C); by the Fifth Dynasty (ended
by 2580 B. C.) the officials who led such expeditions com-
menced to add their own records below the mere relief
depicting the triumphant king, a scene to which heretofore
only the name of the king was appended. From the Fourth
DjTiasty such memorials begin to appear in the alabaster
quarries of Hatnub, behind Amarna; and from the reign
of Isesi, in the Fifth Dynasty, they become more and more
numerous in the quarries of Hammamat in the eastern
desert, on the road from Coptos to the Red Sea. Practically
all that we know, for example, of the power and deeds of
the Eleventh Dynasty (2160-2000 B. C.) is drawn from
records in these quarries.
8. They soon become so regular that their stoppage is
almost certain evidence of an interruption in the orderly
course of government in the Nile valley. Similar inscrip-
tions on the rocks at the first cataract (§§316 ff.) begin in the
time of Mernere, of the Sixth Dynasty (2625-2475 B. C).
The earliest inscription (§§ 472, 473) above the cataract in
§ 10] DOCUMENTARY SOURCES 7
Nubia itself dates from the reign of Amenemhet I, the first
king of the Twelfth Dynasty (2000-1788 B. C.)- Under the
Empire such records on foreign soil appear also in Syria
and Palestine (III, 297). Quarry inscriptions within the
borders of Eg5^t do not begin until the Middle Kingdom,
when we find them in the limestone quarries of Ayan (Turra-
Ma^sara) just south of Cairo (§§ 739, 740); at the sandstone
quarries of SUsileh they first appear under the Empire.
9. From the Middle Kingdom (2160-1788 B. C.) on,
the memorial stelae at Abydos are exceedingly valuable.*
Officials on various commissions, whose business carried
them to the holy city, improved the opportunity to erect
memorial stones craving the favor of Osiris, the great god
of the dead, for themselves and their relatives. Now and
again such an officer narrates the circumstances which
called him to Abydos; thus Ikhernofret, the treasurer of
Sesostris III, records on his stela (§§661-70) not only the
occasion of his visit, but also a copy of the royal letter which
contained the command dispatching him thither.
10. In this age the tomb biographies become extremely
valuable, because of their tendency to fulness and family
details — a tendency already visible in the Tenth Dynasty
tombs at Siut (§§ 391 ff.). But unfortunately only the tombs
of Middle Egypt, chiefly at Benihasan (§§6i9ff.), are pre-
served. Royal monuments with inscribed records become
more plentiful, especially in Nubia, where the boundary
stelae of Sesostris III (§§ 651-60) are especially noteworthy;
and in the quarries of Hammamat and the mines of Sinai.
Papjrri.of any kind in the Middle Kingdom are still none 1/'
too plentiful. Literary papyri are well represented by
*The great Old Kingdom inscription of Uni at Abydos hardly belongs to the
class of memorial stelae here designated. The inscription of Zau (§§344-49), of the
Sixth Dynasty, however, should probably be included in this class; but it is unique
in its time.
8 DOCUMENTARY SOURCES [§ n
several magnificent manuscripts. Of business and adminis-
trative documents, like letters, bills, accounts and tax lists,
we have examples in the Kahun Papyri, of which the second
find, now at Berlin, is still unpublished. But papyrus docu-
ments of strictly historical import, such as we can include
here, are still rare in this age.
11. Under the Empire (1580-1150 B. C.) the available
documents both in quantity and quality for the first time
approach the minimum which in European history would
be regarded as adequate to a moderately full presentation
of the career of the nation. Scores of important questions,
however, still remain unanswered, in whatever direction we
turn. Nevertheless, a rough framework of the govern-
mental organization, the constitution of society, the most
important achievements of the kings, and to a limited extent
the spirit of the imperial age, may be discerned and sketched,
in the main outlines, with clearness and fair precision, even
though it is only here and there that the sources enable us
to fill in the detail.
12, It is especially royal monuments which are more
plentiful in the Empire, as compared with earlier times.
The first and most important class of such documents is
found in the temples — a source which in the earlier periods
has totally perished. It was customary already at the
beginning of the dynasties for the king to commemorate his
victories in the temples. This custom led in the Empire to
extensive and magnificent records on the temple walls, on
a scale not before attempted. Such documents were less
records than triumphal memorials, and as historical sources
they are therefore very insufficient. They dealt with events
with which all were familiar at the time of their erection,
and hence specific references to the said events are rare,
or, if present at all, are couched in such vague and
1 14] DOCUMENTARY SOURCES 9
general terms that little can be drawn from them at the
present day.
13 • They consist chiefly in extensive reliefs on the temple
walls, depicting the victorious Pharaoh in battle, capturing
prisoners, or presenting prisoners and spoil to Amon. They
are accompanied by descriptive and explanatory inscriptions,
which unfortunately consist, for the most part, in conven-
tional phrases in laudation of the Pharaoh as a mighty ruler.
As the temples of the Eighteenth Dynasty have to a large
extent perished, the priceless records of that imperial family
have perished with them. We have three great series of
reliefs: one representing the birth of Queen Hatshepsut (II,
187 ff.), and a duplicate depicting the birth of Amenhotep
III (II, 841 ff.), while the third pictures the voyage of
Hatshepsut to the land of Punt (II, 246 ff.). More valu-
able are the extracts from the annals of Thutmose III on
the walls of the Kamak temple (II, 391 ff.), already men-
tioned, and a similar record of his son Amenhotep II on a
large stela at Karnak (II, 780 ff.). The temple records of
the Nineteenth and Twentieth Dynasties are much more
plentiful; but they are almost exclusively of the unprecise
character above described. Besides the great record of
Memeptah's Libyan war, (III, 569-617), which is a much
better source, they are chiefly memorials of the wars of Seti I
(III, 80-156), of his son, Ramses II (IV, 294-391, 448-91),
and of Ramses III, of the Twentieth Dynasty (IV, 1-145).
14. Another class of temple records is the building
inscriptions. Apart from their value as records of building
enterprises, they contain valuable references to the history
of the builder. In a number of cases the early career of
the builder and the manner in which he came to the throne
are prefixed as an introduction to the record of the buUding
itself. This is observable as far back as the building
10 DOCUMENTARY SOURCES [§ 15
inscription of Sesostris I, in the Twelfth Dynasty (§§498 ff.) ;
in the Eighteenth Dynasty (1580-1350 B. C.) we gain
invaluable hints of the early life of Thutmose III from his
great building inscription in the Karnak temple (II, 131 ff.).
Such building records not infrequently also contain priceless
references to the wars and campaigns of the Pharaoh, whence
he may have obtained the wealth for the edifice in question.
Notable examples of this class are the stela of Thutmose III
in the Ptah temple at Karnak (II, 609 ff.), and the great
summary of the buildings of Amenhotep III left by him on
a stela in his mortuary temple at Thebes (II, 878 ff.).
15. Records of restorations are not less valuable. The
restoration record of Hatshepsut at Benihasan (II, 296 ff.)
throws a significant sidelight on the reasons necessitating
such restoration of the temples, after their neglect by the
Hyksos; while the short remarks of Harmhab and Seti I,
recording their restorations after the revolution of Ikhnaton,
are invaluable indications of the widespread activity of the
latter (II, 878). Again, we gain a hint of the anarchy fol-
lowing this revolution, from the record of Harmhab' s restora-
tion of the mummy of Thutmose IV, after its violation by
tomb-robbers (III, 32Aff.).
16. Stelae dedicating the finished temple to tl;ie god were
set up in the holy of holies, at the place where the king stood
in the performance of the royal ritual. Some of these were
of enormous size, that of Amenhotep III in his temple
behind the Memnon colossi being no less than thirty feet
high, and hewn of a single block (II, 904 ff.). The content
of these dedication stelae does not differ essentially from
that of the building inscriptions; they likewise contain
references to the wars of the kings erecting them. The
most important of these now surviving are the two in dupli-
cate erected by Amenhotep II at Am^da and Elephantine
§i8] DOCUMENTARY SOURCES ii
(II, 791 flE.). The temple obelisks also occasionally bear
inscriptions of historical importance, and among these the
inscriptions of Hatshepsut (II, 304 flf.), of Thutmose III
(II, 623 ff.), and of Thutmose IV (II, 830 ff.) furnish very
useful data.
17. All these temple records, being for the glory of the
Pharaoh, are couched in language very poetic and highly
colored, although the poetic form is not always discernible.
Among them, however, are found poems in praise of the
sovereign, exhibiting strictly poetic structure, with rigid
division into strophes. Some of these contain references
and allusions which, in view of the scantiness of our mate-
rials, may be employed historically. Such hymns probably
existed from the earliest days of the dynasties, but the earli-
est example preserved is dedicated to the praise of Sesostris
III, of the Twelfth Dynasty.^ In the Empire the most
notable example celebrates the fame of Thutmose III (II,
65s ff.). It is the earliest of such poems possessing real
historical importance.
18, Royal records not of this class of temple memorials
are not numerous. Of actual state documents we possess
very few. The viceroy of Kush recorded on stone the
decree in which Thutmose I announced his coronation, and
of this rescript we possess two copies (II, 54 &.). At the
opening of the Nineteenth Dynasty (1350-1205 B. C.) we
have the royal decree instituting the administrative reforms
of Harmhab; it is possibly in its original form (III, 45-67).
Another great example of a state document is the famous
treaty between Ramses II and the Hittite king Khetasar
(III, 367-91). The remarkable report of the unfortunate
envoy to S)T:ia, Wenamon, may also be a few pages from the
^Its historical references are too vague and general to warrant its insertion in
this series.
12 DOCUMENTARY SOURCES [§ 19
royal archives at Thebes (IV, 557 flf.). A few letters from
the king personally (e. g., §§350 ff., 664, 665) and some
legal records (IV, 499-557) complete the list of state docu-
ments. The remaining royal documents are of a miscel-
laneous character, like the unique memorial scarabs' of
Amenhotep III (II, 860 ff.), or the huge stelae erected as
landmarks by Ikhnaton for the purpose of demarking the
limits of his new capital at Amama (II, 949 ff.). Finally,
the greatest of all royal documents is the enormous Pap3Tus
Harris, recording the good deeds of Ramses III (1198-1167
B. C.) to gods and men, compiled for his tomb, as a title to
consideration at the hands of the gods in the future life
(IV, 151-412).
19. The private monuments of the Empire are also more
numerous than before and contribute greatly to our knowl-
edge of it. The tombs of the Pharaoh's grandees have now
become more personal monuments than ever before. These '
men, who were guiding Egypt on her imperial career,
delighted to perpetuate in their tombs some record of the
brilliant part which they were playing in these great events.
The generals and administrative officials who under the
Pharaoh governed the Empire, now sleep in rock-hewn
tombs at Thebes, the chambers of which still bear magnifi-
cently painted scenes from their active and adventurous
lives. Here we behold the reception of tribute from the
remotest limits of the Empire, borne on the shoulders of
Palestinians, Syrians, or northern islanders, the whole being
accompanied by explanatory inscriptions. The various
duties and activities of the greatest officials of the govern-
ment are here depicted, and from these scenes and the
appended inscriptions we can draw fuller data respecting
the Empire and its organization than from any other source.
20. These tomb chapels, besides the Amarna Letters,
§21] DOCUMENTARY SOURCES 13
are also the only surviving contemporary source for the
civilization of Syria and Palestine in the second millennium
before Christ. The most important of such tombs is that
of Rekhmire, the vizier of Thutmose III (II, 663-762). The
biographies of the generals preserved in these tomb chapels
are not infrequently our only source for entire wars of the
Pharaoh, of which we should not otherwise have known
anything at all — not even that they took place. Besides
these tomb inscriptions, the nobles also recorded their biog-
raphies, or at least some of their achievements, on the
statues accorded them by the Pharaoh in the Karnak temple.
Examples of such records are the statue of Senmut (II,
345 ff.), or that of Beknekhonsu (III, 561 ff.). After the
Eighteenth Dynasty the Empire abounds in papyri: letters,
bills, receipts, administrative and legal documents, memo-
randa, numerous literary compositions, scientific treatises
like those on medicine, mathematics, or astronomy, religious
documents, and innumerable ostraca, or potsherds and
flakes of limestone bearing receipts, letters, memoranda, or
literary fragments. These, for the most part, fall outside of
the scope of the present volumes and will appear in later
series of these Ancient Records.
21. Such are the main sources for the history of the
Empire; there are, of course, numerous unimportant mis-
cellaneous monuments which we have not mentioned; nor
do we recall all the classes of documents already referred
to in the older epochs, like the inscriptions abroad, which
now become very plentiful. Indeed, the rocks of the first
cataract under the Empire became a veritable visitors' regis-
ter of the officials and functionaries who, passing on some
commission in Nubia, left a record of the errand, or merely
name and titles, engraved on the rocks above the reach of
the inundation (e. g., II, 675 flE.). Inscriptions of the
14 DOCUMENTARY SOURCES [§ 22
emperors are found in Nubia as far south as the island of
Tombos, and mere cartouches with titles up to the fourth
cataract.
22. With the decline of Thebes in the Decadence (1150-
663 B. C), and the transference of the seat of power to the
North, the great mass of records of the royal houses was
produced, and their monuments were erected, in the Delta,
where almost the whole has perished forever, with the
destruction of the exposed Delta cities, overwhelmed by
invasion after invasion from abroad, and gradually engulfed
by the rising soil as deposited from century to century by
the inundation. The fortunes of the northern dynasties
can therefore be traced only in the scanty monuments of
Thebes, in which the Pharaohs no longer built largely, and
at Memphis, where we have a series of dated stelae recording
Apis burials in the Serapeum. These are of great value
from the Twenty-second to the Twenty-sixth Dynasty. At
Thebes the records of the restoration of royal mummies
extend from the last generation of the Twentieth into the
Twenty-second Dynasty (IV, 592 ff., 636 ff., 661 ff., 664 £f.,
688 ff., 690 ff., 699 f.); and a series of dated Nile levels on
the quay at Karnak continues from the Twenty-second to
the Twenty-sixth D)masty (IV, 693 ff.). We have at Thebes
also a few temple records from the priest-kings of the
Twenty-first D3Tiasty (1090-945 B. C), a series of decrees
of Amon (IV, 614 ff., 650 ff.j 669 ff.), and some not very
important buUding records of the high priests of Amon,
during the same period. The same is true in the Twenty-
second DjTiasty (945-755 B. C), through the brief Twenty-
third and Twenty-fourth Dynasties (755-712 B. C), and
the Ethiopian period (Twenty-fifth Dynasty, 712-663 B. C).
At this point, fortunately, the scanty monuments of the
Delta are supplemented by the historical stelae erected by
§24] DOCUMENTAR Y SOURCES 15
the Ethiopians at Gebel Barkal (Napata). Among these,
the narrative of his conquest of Egypt by Piankhi is one
of the most remarkable documents of ancient Egypt (IV,
796-883).
23. The paucity of documents, so painfully evident dur-
ing the Decadence, is even worse under the Restoration
(Twenty-sixth Dynasty, 663-525 B. C). Besides the great
adoption stela of Psamtik I at Thebes (IV, 935 £f.), a few
Serapeum stelae, important for the chronology, a small num-
ber of statue inscriptions of noblemen of the time, and some
miscellaneous stelae of little importance, we possess almost
nothing from the Restoration. Unhappily, the papyri,
which are so plentiful during the Nineteenth, Twentieth,
and Twenty-first Dynasties, are few and unimportant
throughout the remainder of the Decadence and the whole
of the Restoration. Fortunately, Herodotus, and the Greek
historians after him, enter at this point with invaluable
accounts of the history and civilization of the Restoration
epoch; but these foreign sources do not fall within the
province of these volumes.
24. Besides these contemporary native sources, we pos-
sess also a series of later native versions of important events
in the history of the nation. These documents are either
merely folk-tales, of course differing strikingly in form from
the more formal contemporary records; or they are products
of the later priesthoods, which, in the form of a tale, give an
account of some earlier event, which they so interpret or so
distort as to bring reputation, or even material gain, to their
sanctuaries. Of the folk-tales we have three of importance :
Papyrus Westcar, relating the prodigies attending the birth
of the first three Fifth Dynasty kings; Papyrus Sallier I,
narrating the cause of the war with the Hyksos; and Papy-
rus Harris 500, in which is told the story of the capture of
i6 DOCUMENTARY SOURCES [§ 25
Joppa by one of Thutmose Ill's generals, named Thutiy.
As tales these documents have no place in this series, although
each is based on some actual historical incident, which may
be obscurely discerned in the narrative. The priestly tales
are likewise three in number: the Sehel inscription, recount-
ing the gift of the Dodekaschoinos at the first cataract to
Khnum by King Zoser of the Third Dynasty; the Sphinx
Stela (II, 810 ff.), recording the accession of Thutmose IV
to the kingship, because as prince he cleared the Sphinx of
sand; and finally the Bentresh Stela, containing a tale in
honor of one of the Theban Khonsus, by showing that he
was carried to a distant Asiatic kingdom in order to heal
its king's daughter, in the days of Ramses II (III, 429-47).
The last two stories seemed of sufiicient importance to be
included here. It was with tales in common circulation
like these that Herodotus' informants regaled him, and the
narrative portions of Manetho's history were largely made
up of just such stories, of which further examples from
Ptolemaic times have survived in Demotic dress.
25. It will be seen that the great mass of the documents
available are found in Upper Eg5^t, and but a scanty few
in the Delta. This unfortunate fact makes all our knowl-
edge one-sided, and the history of the Delta, the civilization
of which must have risen at a very remote date, remains for
the most part unknown to us. Our loss' is here like that in
Greek history, in which we know almost nothing of the
great civilization in the powerful citjes of Asia Minor, from
which the culture of the early states in Greece drew so much.
26. The documents thus briefly surveyed have reached
us, with very few exceptions, in a state of sad mutilation.
This mutilation and gradual destruction are a ceaseless
process, which, if not as rapid as formerly, nevertheless
proceeds without cessation at the present day. In Egypt,
§ 28] DOCUMENTARY SOURCES 17
the exposed monuments,, like the great geographical list of
Sheshonk I, are perishing with appalling rapidity, and
many of them without ever having been properly copied or
published. Even the portable stone monuments at present
in the museums of Europe suffer more or less; and I have
seen valuable stelae so attacked by the moist air of northern
Europe that whole layers might be blown from the inscribed
surface by a whiff of the breath. Such an inscription is
doomed to disappear in a few years. Papjri when mounted
between hermetically sealed glass plates survive indefinitely.
27. These monuments, as employed in Egyptological
science, are, for the most part, not accessible in the originals,
but are consulted chiefly in publications. Such publica-
tions, to omit earlier and cruder attempts, began as far
back as the colossal report issued in huge folios by the
members of Napoleon I's expeditipn. Notable and useful
as this great work was, its copies of the inscriptions are
now quite unusable. To copy an inscription of any kind
with accuracy is not easy. So close and fine an observer
of material documents as Ruskin, could copy a short Latin
inscription with surprising inaccuracy. In his incomparable
Mornings in Florence^ he .reproduces the brief inscription
on the marble slab covering the tomb which he so admired
in the church of Santa Croce; and in his copy of these eight
short lines, which I compared with the original, he misspells
one word, and omits two entire words ("et magister") of
the mediasval Latin.
28. This experience of the great art critic is not infre-
quently that of the schooled and careful paleographer as
well. The best-known of the Politarch inscriptions appeared
in eight different publications,'' each of which diverges in
aThird edition, 1889, 16.
IJSee Burton, American Journal of Theology, II, 600-604.
i8 DOCUMENTARY SOURCES [§29
some more or less important respect from all the rest, before
a correct copy was obtained. The Greek and Latin inscrip-
tions on the bronze crab from the base of the New York
obelisk were long incorrectly read, and the mistake in the
date led Mommsen to a false theory of the early Roman
prefects of Egypt.* In working on a mutilated inscription,
the best of copyists will now and again overlook traces which
his successors may discover and utilize, while now and then
he will "nap," and be guilty of some egregious blunder of
omission or misreading in a clear and perfectly preserved
passage. Under these circumstances, an inexperienced or
careless copyist will commit the most incredible blunders,
and every line of his copy will contain many such. In the
early days of Egyptology, when a reading knowledge of
hieroglyphic was still impossible, it required a copyist of
exceptional ability to produce a copy which can be used at
the present day.
29. This difficulty was sorely felt by accurate and dis-
cerning scholars as far back as the days of Chabas, who
in 1872 remarked, concerning the inscriptions of Ramses III :
"Ces deux publications [Rosellini and Burton] sont tres
imparfaites; et les signes inexactement reproduits ajoutent
a la difficulte causee par les lacunes."'' The introduction
of hieroglyphic type, while very useful in some respects,
has also proved disastrous to accuracy, and the persistence of
the old loose methods was bemoaned by Brugsch in the intro-
duction to the last volume of his Thesaurus thirteen years
ago. Brugsch already showed surprising appreciation of
th'^ necessity of modern methods in such work. He wrote :
The indispensable demands upon the publisher of known or unknown
texts may be comprehended in a few words. In the first place, it is not
a t&sk to be undertaken by laymen and mere amateurs .... but
»See II, 632, note.
'^Etudes sur I'antiguite historique, 227 f.
§3i] DOCUMENTARY SOURCES
19
only by the schooled specialist, who is thoroughly familiar with the
language and writing of the ancient Egyptians, and with the researches
and results in all departments of Egyptological investigation. How
largely such a conviction is still lacking is proved .... by a number
of pubhcations by Egyptological tyros [Halbwisser] and laymen, who
do not yet seem to have learned that Egyptology has ceased to be the
pursuit of amateurs, and has become a very serious study, demanding
a man's entire strength and entire time.''
30. Not long after this, Griffith called attention to the
hurried, inaccurate, and insufficientmethods still often observ-
able, so that numerous publications could only be regarded as
provisional.'' Two years later he referred to such work in
these words: "Too often almost every third sign in the
printed texts has had to be corrected according to proba-
bilities by the would-be reader." ■= This condition of things
has gone so far that we have had publications issued at
government expense, containing texts in vertical columns
copied with the lines numbered backward, and even trans-
lated in this inverted order of the lines. '^ It is safe to say
that such a condition of things cannot be found in any other
branch of paleographical science.
31. This is not the place to discuss the proper methods
to be observed in the publication of ancient documents, but
there is no doubt that better methods are constantly gaining
ground. From decade to decade the publication of inscrip-
tions has steadily improved, but it is only within the last ten
or fifteen years that Egyptian documents on stone have in
some cases appeared in a form which satisfies the demands
of modem paleographic accuracy. With the exception of
^Thesaurus, VI, vi.
^Egypt Exploration Fund Archwological Report, 1893-94, 10, 11.
<^Ibid., 1895-96, 21.
din the old publications plenty of examples of such inversion exist, especially
in Mariette's books; nor are instances lacking in which modern scholars have
employed such texts without discovering the inversion.
20 DOCUMENTARY SOURCES [§32
such perfectly preserved rolls as the great Papyrus Harris,
which was long ago accurately published, the same remark
is in general true of the papyri also.
32. The result of all this is that many of the most impor-
tant documents of ancient Egypt are at present accessible to
the Egjrptologist only in publications so incorrect that in
many cases they are absolutely unusable. It will be evident,
therefore, that he who wishes to know exactly what the origi-
nal documents of ancient Egypt state cannot work exclu-
sively in his library, but must go behind the publications and
turn back to the originals themselves, in Egypt and the
museums of Europe.
33. For the purposes of these volumes it was therefore
absolutely indispensable in most cases to go back of the
publications. The author, therefore, made and repeatedly
revised his own copies of practically all the historical monu-
ments in Europe, before the originals themselves. In the
few cases where the original was not accessible, good squeezes
and photographs supplied the deficiency, or professional
colleagues furnished from the originals specially collated
readings of doubtful passages. Of the monuments in Egypt
the author copied a great many at all the more important
sites, especially Thebes and Amarna, where he made a com-
plete copy of all the historical inscriptions; and in the
museum at Cairo (formerly Gizeh). Of monuments in
Egypt not included in the author's copies, squeezes were in
most cases found in the enormous collection made by Lepsius,
and now in the Berlin Museum. Where none of these
sources furnished the desired monument, the author had
access to the extensive collations made for the Berlin Egyp-
tian Dictionary; and where these failed, he was able, in all
important cases, to secure large-scale photographs of the
originals. The final remainder of monuments for which the
§35] DOCUMENTARY SOURCES 21
author was dependent upon the publications alone is very
small, and in most such cases the publication was one made
on modem methods and almost as good as the original
itself.
34. Nevertheless, it must not be supposed that the old
publications, however inaccurate, can be ignored. Some
monuments have perished entirely since publication, and
almost all have lost more or less important portions of the text.
In the case of all the longer and more important texts, often
reproduced in the old folios, the author took the best copy as
a basis and collated with it all the other publications, noting
in parallel columns all the variant readings. By this labori-
ous means, some readings were secured which have since
disappeared from the original, and all that is now available,
whether in publications or in the original, was thus incor-
porated in the final composite copy, from which the trans-
lation was made. In a few cases the author was spared this
labor by the industry of a modern editor of the document,
as in the publication of the Benihasan tombs or those of
Siut; but ordinarily the modern editor has not given himself
this trouble, as in the last publication of Der el-Bahri.
35. The dangers involved in such neglect are evident.
Thus so careful a scholar as Chabas discussed the so-called
"eclipse inscription" (IV, 756 ff.) of Takelot II, using only
the publication of Lepsius; whereupon Goodwin^ called
his attention to the fact that the very conscientious plate of
Lepsius had nevertheless introduced confusion into the text
by the accidental misplacement of a piece of the paper
squeeze from which his copy was made, thus inverting the
proper order of two sections of the very obscure text. Had
Chabas also employed Young's otherwise obsolete copy of
the original, this embarrassing error would not have occurred.
^Zeitschrift fiir agyptische Sprache, 1868, 25 ff.
22 DOCUMENTARY SOURCES [§36
36. Chabas^ himself convicted Lenormant of a similar
error in discussing Ramses II's victory over the Hittites at
Kadesh. Lenormant'' employed only the Abusimbel ver-
sion of the report of the battle, not noticing that the ancient
Egyptian scribe had omitted an entire line of the document,
as is shown by the Ramesseum version. This omitted line
happens to be of vital importance to a proper understanding
of the battle, and the failure to observe its omission is fatal
to any discussion of the conflict. The same error, never-
theless, has since been repeated in at least one notable modern
treatise on the same battle."^ Further examples might be
adduced in illustration of the danger incurred in making
a study of any inscription as found in a single publication
of the text.
37- The translations in the following volumes, we repeat,
are therefore based upon all the available material for the
reconstruction of each document, whether in the original
or in old publications made at a time when the original was
possibly in a better state of preservation. In no other way
can all the available material be obtained, and scholars who
would compare the renderings herein with the original
documents themselves will in many cases be able to do so
only by reconstructing the text in the same way.
^Revue archeologique, XV^ (1858-59), 573 flf., 701 f.
^CorrespondarU, VII (February, 1858), second article.
<:See my Battle of Kadesh, 4, S-
CHRONOLOGY
CHRONOLOGY
38. The state of our modern chronology of early Egyptian
history is so confused that a brief presentation of the system
herein employed seemed indispensable, although space will
not permit even partial discussion of the materials upon
which it is based. The following presentation,^ moreover,
wUl attempt nothing more than an explanation of the
elementary factors of the problem, as even these are
unknown to some who have nevertheless arbitrarily rejected
their invaluable data.
39. The Egyptians, as far back as the fifth millennium
before Christ, had discovered approximately the length of
the year. They, like all other peoples, had suffered from
the vexatious fact that the lunar month is not an even
divisor of the year. Instead of attempting to adjust this
obstinate incommensurability by constant and complicated
intercalations, they showed amazing appreciation of the
practical demands which a calendar should satisfy, and
boldly abandoned the lunar month as the basis of the
calendar. Believing the year to be 365 days long, they
divided it into twelve months of thirty days each, and an
intercalated period of five days at the end of the year. The
creation of this convenient and practical, though artificial,
calendar was an achievement unparalleled in any other
ancient civilization. It was as useful to men of science as
to civil life in general, and for this reason it was in later times
^Since this brief discussion was written, the admirable essay of Meyer {"Aegyp- \^ '
tische Chronologie," Abhandlungen der Koniglichen Preussischen Akademie, 1904)
has appeared, from which the author has frequently added valuable observations
to the above presentation. The literature of the subject is large, but Meyer's
invaluable treatise furnishes a compendium of the whole obscure and difi&cult field.
25
26 CHRONOLOGY [§ 40
adopted by the Greek astronomers as the basis of all their
computations.
40. The Egyptian began his year at the advent of the
inundation, and this event, by a happy accident, approxi-
mately coincided with the reappearance of Sirius (Sothis)
at sunrise on the eastern horizon, after he had been for some
length of time invisible. This occurred each year on July
19^ (Julian). The interval between such heliacal risings of
Sothis was thus fortunately approximately a solar year.''
The feast of the Rising of Sothis on July 19 was therefore
the New Year's feast of the Egyptians. The year was also
arbitrarily divided into three seasons, each containing four
months of thirty days each. These were: the season of
verdure, or the inundation; the season of winter or sowing;
and the season of summer or harvest. When this remark-
ably rational calendar was introduced, it of course coincided
with the seasons as determined for the people by the sun and
the inundation. But the Sothic year was almost exactly,
and in 3231 B. C." was exactly, a quarter of a day longer
than the new calendar year of 365 days. Every four years,
therefore, the calendar reached the end of the year and
began the next year one day too soon, so that the rising of
Sirius fell on the second day of the new year. As this pro-
cess continued, and each calendar New Year's Day arrived
earlier and earlier, it finally passed gradually around the
whole year and again fell on the astronomical New Year's
Day. This process consumed four times as many years as
»It took place on July 19 (Julian) as the normal date, in the latitude of
Memphis, for many thousands of years B. C, until far down in the last thousand
years B. C, when the Sothic year had sufficiently lengthened to shift the heliacal
rising of Sothis to July 20. (See Meyer, op. cit., 1904, lyff.)
^Neither the solar nor the Sothic year is constant in length, and at present
they are slowly diverging.
"^Meyer, op. cit., 14.
i4i] CHRONOLOGY
27
there were days in the calendar year; that is, 1,460 years;
or we may say: 1,461 calendar years =1,460 Sothic (Julian)
years.
Without knowing it, the Egyptian was thus dealing with
three different years: ^
1. His calendar year of 365 days, by which most of the '^
business of civil life was transacted and all documents were
dated.
2. The Sothic (or Julian) year of 365-j- days, on the first
of which the people celebrated the feast of the Rising of
Sothis.
3. The solar (or Gregorian) year of a little less than
365:^- days (which was therefore slowly diverging from the
Sothic year).
41- The Eg)^tian, as we have intimated, never learned
that the Sothic (Julian) and the solar years were not iden-
tical; the divergence'' was so slow, and so slight, that it
was entirely imperceptible to the masses, or possibly even
to the learned, of the time. On the contrary, the difference
between his calendar and the feast of the heliacal Rising of
Sothis (that is, i and 2) must have been early observed.
Nevertheless, the actual shift withia an average lifetime was
not so great as to occasion inconvenience. Thus each
generation accepted the place of the calendar in the seasons
as they found it, and without remark considered it as a
matter of course that the beginning of the inundation, or
the advent of summer heat, fell on about such and such a
day of a certain month. Both these events had occurred
^See Meyer, op. cit., i6.
*>In 4231 B. C. the summer solstice fell on July 28 (Julian); but as it was
always eighteen hours and forty minutes earlier than the Sothic rising each century,
it had advanced thirty-one days, to June 27, by 231 B. C. In the thirty-fiarst century
(3001-3100) B. C. it coincided with the Sothic rising on July 19 (Julian). (See
Meyer, op. cit., 14 f.)
28 CHRONOLOGY [§ 42
at about that time since their earliest remembrance. A
peasant of fifty or sixty— that is, at the end of an average
life— hardly remarked that the seasons were now ten or
twelve days later in the calendar than when he was a lad of
ten. Unfortunately, references to the place of the seasons,
or of astronomical events, in the calendar are rare; never-
theless, there are enough of such references to trace the
gradual revolution of the calendar on the seasons.
42. In the Sixth Dynasty, Uni, a nobleman who had
been sent to Assuan to procure granite from the quarries
there, narrates that he succeeded in landing his cargo at
the king's p3Tamid, although it was in the eleventh month,
when, he adds (as everyone knew), there was no water for
such transportation. The time of advancing low water,
terminating heavy transportation of this sort, normally in
the eighth to the ninth month of the calendar, thus fell two
months later in Uni's time (§ 323)." In the Middle King-
dom a hitherto misunderstood inscription (§§ 735 ff.) narrates
how an unfortunate official, dispatched to the mines of Sinai,
arrived there in the third month of (calendar) winter,
when he and his men suffered greatly from the summer
heat! This shows a divergence of seven or eight months;
as we should expect, in the centuries which have elapsed
since the Old Kingdom the calendar had shifted several
months. A letter^ from a priest in the 120th year of the
Twelfth Dynasty, notifying his subordinates that the feast
of the Rising of Sothis would occur on the fifteenth of the
eighth month, "^ shows us the exact ailnount of the shift at that
^[Later: Practically the same interpretation of the inscription has now appeared
in Meyer's essay {Aegyptische Chronologie).]
bAmong papyri found at Kahun, now at Berlin (Borchardt, Zeitschrijt jiir
dgyptische Sprache, 37, 99 ff.)-
<=Temple entries from the same papyri, recording the oiferings made at the
Sothis feast, are dated the next day.
J 43] CHRONOLOGY 29
time; for the feast thus fell exactly 225 days (seven months
and fifteen days) after New Year's Day in the calendar.
43 . The divergence steadily increased, and in the early part
of the Eighteenth Djmasty, in the ninth year of Amenhotep I,
it was exactly 308 days. ^ A Sothic date somewhere between
47 and loi years later, in the reign of Thutmose III, shows
that it had then increased to 327 days (II, 410, note). It is,
furthermore, roughly indicated by the dates of his campaigns
in Syria (II, 409 ff .), which, as we know, always occurred from
April to October. His son Amenhotep II' s campaigns carry
the divergence a little farther, and some 150 years later its
continuance is shown by the dates of Ramses II's campaigns
(III, 307). For nearly six centuries after this we have no
indication of the place of the calendar, ^^ but in the third year
of Shabataka, about 700 B. C, the first day of high Nile is
recorded at Thebes as occurring on the fifth of the ninth
month of the calendar (IV, 887) . The calendar had thus com-
pleted its revolution around the seasons, and had also shifted
nearly 180 days in another revolution, since the reign of
Thutmose III. The shift of the calendar can thus be
traced for some 2,000 years, as determined by six different
dates of astronomical or seasonal events, and a series of
other significant occurrences, in terms of the calendar. *=
^Calendar of Papyrus Ebers.
fcThe date of the high water in the reign of Osorkon II, in the Twenty-second
Dynasty (IV, 742 ff.)> will be of assistance when the correct date is known; but as
given by Daressy (Recueil, 18, 181) it has certainly been incorrectly transUterated
from the hieratic. The calendar of Ramses III (largely copied from an abnost
completely lost original of Ramses II), which places the Rising of Sothis on New
Year's Day, is of course a normal calendar intended to avoid constant readjusting
of its long list of dates from time to time. Such a calendar of feasts could be per-
petually used without alteration, by merely allowing in each date for the then
amount of the divergence.
cThe conjecture (eo ipso very improbable) that the calendar was at irregular
intervals readjusted to the astronomical year, is completely disproved by the pro-
cession exhibited by the above series.
30 CHRONOLOGY [§ 44
44. These data are of significance and value in two
respects. In the first place, they demonstrate the very
early advance of the Eg}^tians in the discernment and
calculation of astronomical and calendrical phenomena.
For we know from the use of the 'Egyptian year by classic
astronomers and mathematicians that the calendar coincided
with the Sothic year, and that a new Sothic cycle began,
some time in the period 140/41 to 143/44 A. D.* It must
therefore also have coincided with the Sothic year 1,460
years earlier; that is, in 1320 B. C; and still earlier, in
2780 B. C.^ Now, it is impossible that this calendar was
first introduced so late as the twenty-eighth century, in the
midst of the highest culture of the Old Kingdom. More-
over, the five intercalary days at the end of the year, proving
the use of the shifting year of 365 days, are mentioned in
the pyramid texts, which are far older than the Old Kingdom.
45. The calendar, therefore, existed before the Old
Kingdom; but if this be true, we must seek its invention at
a time when its three seasons coincided roughly with those
of nature, as they must have done at its introduction. This
carries us 1,460 years back of their coincidence in the Old
Kingdom; that is, the calendar was introduced in the middle
of the forty-third century B. C. (4241 B. C). This is the
oldest fixed date in history. This fact demonstrates not
only a remarkable degree of scientific knowledge in that
remote age, but also stable political conditions, and a wide
recognition of central authority, which could gradually
introduce such an innovation. The date employed was
that for the rising of Sothis in the latitude of Memphis or
the southern Delta, and this fact is a significant indication
of the high culture prevailing in the north at this time.'^
^Censorinus, 21, 10, and Meyer, op. cit., 28.
''For convenience, ignoring the uncertainty of four years.
'See Meyer, op. cit., 38 ff.
U6] CHRONOLOGY 31
46. In a second respect the calendar is of inestimable
value to us in establishing the chronology of Egyptian history.
Where the heliacal rising of Sothis is recorded in terms of
the calendar, it is a matter of the simplest arithmetic^ to
determine, within a margin of four years, in what year B. C.
the rising occurred. As we have seen, three such dates
are preserved to us, two of which each give the year of the
king's reign, and from these the entire Twelfth D)masty,
and the reign of Amenhotep I in the Eighteenth Dynasty,
are established within four years in terms B.C. They
show that the Twelfth D5masty began in 2000 B.C., and the
reign of Amenhotep I in 1557 B. C, thus determining the
accession of the Eighteenth Dynasty as 1580 B. C.^ The
third Sothic rising, in the reign of Thutmose III, is not
dated in a particular year of the reign, so that it furnishes
only a rough approximation of the date of his reign, proving
that the year 1470 B. C. fell within his reign. This approxi-
mation may be rendered precise by a computation based
upon the feasts of the New Moon, which Thutmose III is
recorded to have celebrated in his twenty-third and twenty-
fourth years (II, 430). These new-moon dates" establish
the date of Thutmose Ill's reign as May 3, 1501, to March
17, 1447 B. C."^ The two other early dates are chiefly of
aThus: The rising of Sothis at the beginning occurs on the first day of the
calendar year. From a given calendar date of its rising the amount of the shift of
the calendar can be computed in an instant. In the 120th year of the Twelfth
Dynasty Sothis arose 225 days after New Year's Day. As the shift occurred at
the rate of one day in four years, the 225 days' shift had taken place in 900 years
since the calendar coincided with nature; that is, since 2780 B. C. The 120th
year of the Twelfth Dynasty was thus 1880 B. C, and the dynasty began in 2000
B. C. (or between 2000 and 1996 B. C).
^Meyer, op. cit., 46 ff.
<=The phases of the moon occupy the same position in the calendar every nine-
teen years. The date of Thutmose Ill's reign being roughly determined by the
Sothic rising, the new-moon dates can then be employed to place this reign more
precisely. Without the Sothic date the new-moon dates would be of no use, as they
merely present conditions recurring every nineteen years.
dMeyer, loc. cit.
32 CHRONOLOGY [§47
significance in demonstrating the fact of the shift of the
calendar in the Old and Middle Kingdoms, but are not
precise enough to determine with exactness the date B. C.
47. Besides the above astronomical method, minimum
dates as far back as the beginning of the Eighteenth Djmasty
can be determined by dead reckoning back from a fixed
starting-point. The result thus obtained, without reference
to the astronomically determined dates, can then be com-
pared with these, for the sake of testing both. The dates
by dead reckoning are obtained by simply adding together
the totals of reigns and dynasties, and with these reckoning
back from the accession of the Persians in 525 B. C. In
this process I have employed only the testimony of the con-
temporary monuments.*
48. Our first task is to determine the length of the dynas-
ties preceding the invasion of the Persians; that is, the
Eighteenth to the Twenty-sixth D5Tiasty. The method is
first to seek the highest known date in each reign of a
djmasty, and thus to determine the minimum length of the
d)niasty. In the use of royal dates given in years of the reign
only, there is danger both of over- and of under-reckoning.
Thus Ramses III reigned thirty-one years and forty days;
but a date from his thirty-second year might lead one to
think he had reigned thirty-two years, which is nearly a
year in excess of the truth. As the newly crowned successor
to the throne began to number his years from the death of
his predecessor, it will be seen that the remainder of what
would have been Ramses Ill's complete thirty-second year
is included in the reign of his successor. 1^ If counted in
both reigns, it is therefore counted twice. It has therefore
^Wherever he can be controlled, Manetho is generally wrong in his figures,
and any chronology based on his data is hopelessly astray.
''This is supposing that, as in the Eighteenth Dynasty, the years of a king
began with the day of his accession, and not on the New Year's Day preceding
his accession, as in the Middle Kingdom and the Twenty-sixth Dynasty.
§49] CHRONOLOGY 33
been thought necessary to deduct one year for every trans-
fer of the crown, a This method, however, is extreme, as
we shall show. In the first place, it applies only when the
maximum date preserved is actually the respective king's
last year. Again, it does not always apply even then.
Thutmose III reigned fifty-four years lacking thirty-four
days. The reign of his successor, therefore, included only
the last thirty-four days of what would have been Thut-
mose Ill's complete fifty-fourth year. To deduct a year
at this transfer of the crown is as extreme as to count the
thirty-second year of Ramses Ill's reign. It is evident
that the last year of a king's reign is as likely to be nearly
complete as it is to be scarcely begun; hence the only fair
method of reduction for double counting at the transfers of
the crown is to count the number of transfers in an entire
dynasty, and for each transfer to deduct a half-year; that is,
a mean between the two extremes of deducting a whole
year for each transfer, or of deducting nothing. In the
course of a whole djniasty the errors both ways wUl probably
compensate each other. ^
49. In the following table I have made no deduction for
transfer of the crown either to or from a king from whose
reign we have no dates, but in all such reigns (marked x)
such deduction has been included in the estimate of the
reign. It is needless to add that in cases of coregency such
deduction is unnecessary. In estimating the x, or unknown
years in a given reign, the historical facts of the reign, if any,
have been duly considered, though there has not always
^Mahler, Zeitschrijt jiir dgyptische Sprache, 32, 104 f.; Lehmann, Zwei
Hauptprobleme, 56.
tThis method can apply with certainty only in the Eighteenth Dynasty, in
which the king's year begins with his accession. I have supposed, however, that
this system of numbering continued until the end of the Ethiopian period. In
the Twelfth and Twenty-sixth Dynasties such allowance must be differently
computed.
34
CHRONOLOGY
[§So
been space to note the said facts. That this is absolutely
necessary will be evident. Thus Sheshonk I took out the
stone from the SilsUeh quarry for his Kamak building in
his twenty-first year. The vast forecourt of the Karnak
temple of Amon, or the enormous front pylon, was then
buUt by him. Yet his highest date is that of the said quarry
operations in the twenty-first year. It is clear, therefore,
that he must have ruled several years more, and no fair
chronological reckoning can disregard these years.
so. Observing the above precautions, we obtain as a
minimum for the Empire and following dynasties, down
to the accession of the Persians, the following figures:^
Eighteenth Dynasty
Nineteenth Dynasty .
Interim
Twentieth Dynasty .
Twenty-first Dynasty
Twenty-second Dynasty
Twenty-third Dynasty
Twenty-fourth Dynasty
Twenty-fifth D3Tiasty
Twenty-sixth D)masty
Total
230 years
I4S "
5 "
no "
145 "
200 "
23 "
6 "
SO "
138 "
1,052
As the accession of the Persians occurred in 525 B. C,
the beginning of the Eighteenth Dynasty will have been
1,052 years earlier, or about 1577 B. C.^
51. Our second task is now to compare with this result
the dates in the Eighteenth Dynasty obtained by astronomi-
»A detailed table by reigns will be found §§ 58-75; and for the Twenty-first,
Twenty-second, and Twenty-sixth Dynasties still further details will be found in
IV, 604-7, 693-98, 9S9> 974. 984, 1026, 1027.
''This result of a dead reckoning from minimum dates cannot be brought
down any later. Mr. Cecil Ton's attempt (Memphis and Mycena) to establish a
much later date for the beginning of the Eighteenth Dynasty by the same process
was extreme in method, and rested upon incomplete material.
§52] CHRONOLOGY 35
cal means, which place the accession of Ahmose I within the
four years from 1580 on.^ It will be seen that the result of
the astronomical calculation is remarkably corroborated by
the dead reckoning with minimum dynastic totals. It should
be noted, however, that the above date for the beginning of
the Eighteenth Dynasty, based upon the Sothic date in the
ninth year of Amenhotep I, is corroborated, not only by the
above dead reckoning, but also by the Sothic and new-moon
dates in the reign of Thutmose III, a calculation from which
places this king's reign at just the right remove from that
of Amenhotep I, as determined by the Sothic date (see § 46).
52 . The existing contemporary monuments do not suffice
to determine by dead reckoning the length of the obscure
period which preceded the Eighteenth Dynasty, including
the Hyksos. It should be noted, however, that these monu-
ments do not indicate a long'' period. They are few and
scanty. There is nothing to show that the long list of kings
which the Turin Pap3rrus places in this period were not
partially contemporaneous. The same document gives no
indication in its enumeration of the kings of the Twelfth
Dynasty that they were partially contemporary; and it is
only in the sum-total of the dynasty that parallel years are
deducted. The same was evidently done for this long
series of kings between the Twelfth and Eighteenth Dynas-
ties. Two hundred years is ample for the whole period,
including the Hyksos. " The Sothic date from the Twelfth
"There is no choice between these limits; but as a round number is convenient,
I have taken 1580, which brings the end of the Eighteenth Dynasty to 1350 B. C.
'"The figures given in Manetho's scanty notes are not worthy of the slightest
credence.
<:Under the Moslems 77 viceroys held the throne of Egypt in 118 years, from
750 to 868 A. D. In Europe some 80 Roman emperors after Commodus ruled
in a period of 90 years (193-283 A. D.; see Meyer, op. cit.). The 118 kings
enumerated in this confused age by the Turin Papyrus may have ruled no more
than 150 years; 100 years is ample for the Hyksos, of which 50 years may be
contemporary with the native dynasts.
36 CHRONOLOGY [§ 53
Dynasty, placing its fall in 1788 B. C, determines the maxi-
mum length of the period as 208 years. ^ The Eleventh
D)Taasty, as shown herein (§§415-18), lasted at least 160
years, so that the second dark age, between the Old and
Middle Kingdoms, terminated about 2160 B. C.
53. The data for determining the length of the dark
period preceding the Middle Kingdom are scanty. Its
beginning, in Manetho's so-called Seventh Dynasty, is
hopelessly obscure, but fortunately the time during which
this Seventh Dynasty ruled, as well as the length of the
Eighth Dynasty also, is included by the Turin Papyrus in
a summation of the time which elapsed from the rise of the
Skth Dynasty to the fall of Memphis (180 years),'' and
also in a grand total of the length of the whole period from
the accession of Menes to the close of Memphite supremacy,
which terminated with the fall of the Eighth Dynasty.
The Heracleopolitan rule, which falls between the end of
Memphite and the beginning of Theban domination, is
therefore the uncertain factor. Manetho divides the Hera-
cleopolitans into two d}Tiasties, the Ninth and the Tenth.
The Turin Papyrus had a dynasty of eighteen kings imme-
diately preceding the Eleventh, and these must be the
Heracleopolitans, as is shown by the occurrence of Manetho's
second Akhthoes, near the beginning of the series. We have
no means of determining how long these eighteen Hera-
cleopolitans ruled, for Manetho's data (with ijineteen kings
»The proposal to push back the said Sothic date by a whole Sothic cycle, thus
lengthening the above period between the Twelfth and Eighteenth Dynasties by
1,460 years, is hardly worthy of a serious answer. It involves the assumption that
nearly fifteen hundred years of history have been enacted in the Nile valley without
leaving a trace behind! It is like imagining that in European history we could
insert at will a period equal to that from the fall of Rome to the present!
''That this summation includes the Eighth Dynasty is shown by the fact that
the Heracleopolitans (the Ninth and Tenth Dynasties) immediately follow. So
also Meyer, op. cit., 171 ff.
§ 54] CHRONOLOGY 37
in each of his Heracleopolitan d5niasties), like most of his
figures, are not to be accepted, unless clearly supported by
the contemporary monuments. These eighteen Heracleo-
politans vouched for by the Turin Papjnnis, if given sixteen
years each (a sum below the customary average, in a long
period of time^ under orderly conditions of government),
reigned, in round numbers, 285 years. It will be evident
that this estimate is extremely uncertain. The period is
the only undetermined epoch in the d3mastic chronology,
and it introduces a margin of uncertainty of several genera-
tions in all dates back of the Eleventh Dynasty.
S4- The Turin Papyrus gives the length of the Sixth
D5masty (with which it merges the Eighth, ignoring the
Seventh^) as 181 years. The length of the Fourth and Fifth
together is determined by the Turin Papyrus and the con-
temporary monuments as follows: The royal favorite
Mertity6tes, after having been in the hareni of Snefru
and Khufu successively, was still living under Khafre
(§§ 188 fif.). Prince Sekhemkere lived under KJiafre, Men-
kure, Shepseskaf, Userkaf, and Sahure." With Snefru
counted in the Third Dynasty, and Userkaf and Sahure
(together nineteen years'^) falling in the Fifth, the length of
the Fourth cannot have been more than 150 years, as meas-
ured by part of two successive human lives. A third
lifetime connects the latter part of the Fourth and the first
part of the Fifth. Thus Ptahshepses, the son-in-law of
aThe Fourth and Fifth Dynasties (including Snefru at the beginning of the
Fourth) show an average of 16.6 years for each ruler (Meyer, op. cit., 151); that is,
18 kings ruled 300 years. Again, at the beginning of the dynastic age 18 kings (First
and Second Dynasties) ruled 420 years — an average of over 23 years each. The
first S3 kings of the Turin Papyrus (from the First to the Eighth Dynasty) ruled
995 years — an average of nearly 19 years. But among these, it should not be
forgotten, there are 15 reigns of less than 10 years each, footing up to only 70 years.
bSee § 53.
cLepsius, Denkmdler, II, 42; Roug^, Six premiires dynasties, 77.
■^See Meyer's reconstruction of the Turin Papyrus {pp. cit.. plate opposite p. 145).
38
CHRONOLOGY
[Us
King Shepseskaf, was born under Menkure and lived into
the reign of Nuserre, the sixth king of the Fifth Dynasty
(§§ 254 ff.). Now, granting him a long life, he could not have
lived more than 40 or 50 years in the Fifth Dynasty. The
Turin Papyrus has preserved the length of the reigns at the
end of the Fifth Djmasty from Nuserre on, making a total,
including him, of about 100 years. If Ptahshepses sur-
vived 10 years under Nuserre, the length of the dynasty
was at most 130 years, more probably 125 years. The
lengths of seven out of the nine reigns are preserved in the
Turin Papyrus, and make a total of 122 years + j(;.
55. The overlapping of these three lifetimes is very
significant:
Fourth Dynasty
Lifetime of Mertity6tes
Lifetime of Sekhemkere
Lifetime of Ptahshepses
Snefru
Khufu
Dedefre
Khafre
Menkure
Shepseskaf
Short reigns
Userkaf
Sahure
Neferirkere
Shepseskere
Khaneferre
Nuserre
Three lifetimes somewhat overlapping, a matter of 200
years at most, run parallel, as stated above, with the end
of the Third Dynasty, the whole Fourth, and the first half
of the Fifth. The Fourth and Fifth Dynasties thus lasted
together not more than 300 years.
56. Now, the Turin Papyrus has preserved the length of
the reigns in the Third Dynasty, and they foot up to about
80 years (including Snefru). The Palermo Stone insures at
least 500 years for the first three dynasties, leaving about
§ S7] CHRONOLOGY 39
420 years for the first two dynasties. This gives us a total
of 950-75 years for the entire period from the beginning
of the dynasties to the final fall of Memphis. Now, it is
practically certain that the total of 955 years on a fragment
of the Turin Papyrus is a summary of the same period,"
belonging at the end of the Memphite kings. Deducting
the length of the Memphite d3masties (535 years) from this
total of 955 years, we have left 420 years for the preceding
Thinite period (First and Second D)masties), just as shown
by the Palermo Stone. We thus reach the date 3400 B. C.
for the beginning of the dynasties, and 3400 to 2980 B. C.
as the Thinite age, the first two dynasties. It is highly
improbable that future discovery will shift these dates more
than a century in either direction.
57- To recapitulate, in the following table it should be
remembered that the dates in the Twelfth Dynasty are
astronomically computed and correct within three years.
The early part of the Eighteenth is closely correct (all dates
astronomically established are starred), and the latter part
probably within a decade of error. The margin of error is
doubtless somewhat greater between the close of the Eight-
eenth and the accession of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty,
where the dates are again accurate. Back of the Middle
Kingdom, the unknown length of the dark age (from the
Seventh to the Tenth Dynasty) produces the wide limits of
uncertainty affecting all the preceding dynasties (from the
First to the Tenth), the end of which period fell about 2160
B. C. It is back of 2160 B. C, therefore, that our chro-
nology of Eg3^tian history becomes unstable and exhibits
a margin of uncertainty of at most two centuries; that is, a
century either way.
*Frag. No. 44. It was already placed here by Seyffarth; a study of the possi-
bilities shows clearly that this position is correct. [Later: This is also the opinion
of Meyer {op. cit.).]
40
CHRONOLOGY
[§S8
CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE
58. Introduction of Calendar
Accession of Menes and Beginning of
Dynasties
First and Second Dynasties
(Eighteen kings, 420 years)
Third Dynasty
4241 B. C.
3400
3400-2980
Zoser to Snefru
80 years
Fourth Dynasty*
2980-2900 B. C.
59. Khufu .
. 23 years
Dedefre
8 "
Khafre
. X "
f
Menkure .
b
X "
c
X
18 "
Shepseskaf
d
. . . . 4 "
2 "
■\
Total
t • • ^
. 150 years
Fifth Dynasty**
2900-2750 B. C.
60. Userkaf
7 years
Sahure .
. 12 "
Neferirkere
X "
,
Shepseskere^
. . . . 7 "
Khaneferres
. . .' X "
Nuserre
■ 30^ "
(+*)
Menkuhor
8 "
Dedkere-Isesi
. 28 "
Unis
. - . . 30 "
Total
. 122 years+ac
Minimum .
125 "
2750-2625 B. C.
*As reconstructed by Meyer from the Turin Papjn^s, the Sakkara and Abydos
lists, and Manetho. The years are from the papyrus.
•■Lost in Turin Papyrus; Manetho's Ratoises. .,
=Lost in Turin Papyrus; Manetho's Bikheris. The years may be 28.
dLost in Turin Papyrus; Manetho's Thamphthis.
'As restored by Meyer {op. cit., 145 £f.).
* Same as Neferefre of the Abydos list.
eOnly in Sakkara list, but spacing shows room for him in the Turin Papyrus.
^Numeral in Turin Papyrus is either 10, 20, or 30 ( + units ?), and, as Nuserre
celebrated his thirty-years' jubilee, doubtless 30 is correct.
) 633 CHRONOLOGY 41
61. Tetill .
Userkere* .
Pepi I .
Memere I .
Pdpi II .
Mernere II<=
Total
Minimum
Seventh and Eighth Dynasties'^
62. Total 30 years 2475-2445 B. C.
Ninth and Tenth Dynasties
18 Heracleopolitans, estimated . 285 years 2445-2160 B. C.
Eleventh Dynasty^
63. Horus Wahenekh-Intef I . .50 years +x
Sixth Dynasty
X years
X "
. 20 "
4 "
. 90^ " {+x
I "
115 years+a;
150 " 2625-2475 B.
C
Horus Nakhtneb-Tepnefer-Intef II
X "
I^ibhotep-Mentuhotep I
. X "
Vassal Intef III (Shatt er-Regil) .
X "
Nibkhrure-Mentuhotep II
. 46 " +x
Senekhkere-Mentuhotep III .
28 " +x
Nibtowere-Mentuhotep IV
. 2 " +X
Total
126 years+a;
Known total .
160* " 21608-2000 B
aOnly in the Abydos list; Meyer suggests that he is the same as Ity of whom
we have a quarry inscription at Hammamat (§ 386).
'■Probably 94, as given also by' Manetho.
cFrom^the Abydos list, instead of Nitokris formerly assigned here on a mis-
placed fragment of the Tiuin Papyrus. (See Meyer, op. cit., 164.)
"iThe Seventh Dynasty of Manetho (70 Memphites ruling 70 days) cannot
be found in the lists or on contemporary monuments. The ephemeral Eighth
Dynasty is gjven 7 kings in the Turin Papyrus, of whom the reigns of 4 are
preserved (2 years, 4 years, 2 years, i year). The Eighth Dynasty is passed over
in the Sakkara list, but is given 17 kings in the Abydos list.
«See reconstruction, §§ 415-18; also my essay, Abhandlungen der Koniglichen
PreusHschen Akademie, 1904 (in Meyer's essay, AegypHsche Chronologic, 156-61);
and also my remarks in the American Journal of Semitic Languages, XXI, April.
'From Turin Papyrus; the units are lost.
BFrom here on approximately accurate chronology.
42
CHRONOLOGY
[§64
Twelfth
Dynasty*
64. Amenemhet I
.
30 years
20c»*-i97o* B. C.
Sesostris I
.
45 "
i98o*-i93S* "
Amenemhet II
.
35 "
i938*-i903* "
Sesostris II
.
• 19 "
i9o6*-i887* "
Sesostris III .
.
38 "
i887*-i849* "
Amenemhet III
.
. 48 "
i849*-i8oi* "
Amenemhet IV
.
9 "
i8oi*-i792* "
Sebeknefrure
.
4 "
I 792*-! 788* "
Total .
.
228 years
Allowance for
coregencies
■ IS "
Final total
,
2jji> years
2000*-i788* B. C.
6s. 208"= years
66. Ahmose .
Amenhotep I
Thutmose I
Thutmose III
Thirteenth to Seventeenth Dynasties
(Including the Hyksos)
i788*-is8o B. C.
Eighteenth Dynasty
22^ +» years 1580-1557* B.C.
10^ +a;
5(f
54^
H: '<
i557*-iSoi
i5oi*-i447* "
(Including Thutmose II and Hatshepsut)
*A fuller statement of this dynasty, especially of the Sothic date and of the
coregencies, will be found in §§ 460 ff.
''This total is given by the Turin Papyrus (§ 461) as exactly 213 years, i month,
and 17 days.
"See § 52. "311, 27.
^Recueil, IX, 94. Accession is astronomically established (Meyer, op. ci^., 46 flf .).
^Determined by the two limits: the accession of Amenhotep I in 1557 and
that of Thutmose III in 1501, both these dates being astronomically fixed.
sHe celebrated his thirty-years' jubilee, and, as he was never crown prince,
he must have ruled at least 30 years. He reached old age (11, 64).
^Really a little less (see II, Sg2). The date of this reign is astronomically
established by means of a Sothic date and two calendar dates of the new moon in
Thutmose Ill's Annals (II, 430). Mahler computes his accession as 1504 {Zeit-
schrijt fiir dgyptische Sprache, 1888, 97); Lehmann noticed that such a calculation
must be based on the actual appearance of the new moon, and not on a calculation
of when it astronomically occurred. Lehmann thus dated the accession of Thut-
mose III in 1515 (Zwei Hauptprobleme, 154-58). Meyer accepted Lehmann's
method, but showed a slight error in L.'s figures, thus finally placing the date of
Thutmose Ill's accession in 1501 B. C. (Meyer, op. cit., 50). "The exact limits are
May 3, 1501, to March 17, 1447 B. C.
i 67] CHRONOLOGY 43
Amenhotep II . . . 26^+a; years i447*-i42o B. C.
ThutmoselV . . 8'^+x " 1420-1411 "
Amenhotep III . . 36'' " 1411-1375 "
Amenhotep IV i-j^+x^
(or Ikhnaton, 1375-1358) |
Sakere . . . x }■ 2$^ " 1375-135° "
Tutenekhamon . . x \
Eye . . . 3^+x}
Total .... 227 +4*; years
Allowance for double coimt-
ing (3 transfers and i core-
gency, i year) . . 3 "
Final total . . 2 24 +4*; years
Minimum . . 2jo years IJ80-1350 B. C.
Nineteenth Dynasty
67. Harmhab
Ramses I
Seti I .
3 48+ a: years
1350-131SB.C,
jh "
1315-1314 "
21' +» "
1313-1292 "
^Petrie, Six Temples, Plate V; about one year coregent with Thutmose III
(II, 184).
bll, 825.
■^Lepsius, Denkmaler, III, 71 c-d; and Amarna Letters, 20.
flPetrie, Amarna, Plates XXII S., pp. 32 ff.
^In the reign of Ramses II, in the records of a legal suit, reference is made
to legal proceedings in year 59 of Harmhab. As it is evident that Harmhab was
not a young man at his accession, it is exceedingly improbable that he reigned
nearly 60 years. The highest known date on any monument of his reign is year 21.
It is therefore probable that in the early Nineteenth Dynasty, when the chronology
for the government files of the immediately preceding reigns was being made up,
the series of Ikhnaton and his successors was added to the reign of Harmhab, and
the names of the kings at any time implicated in the Aton heresy were swept from
the records. We thus have at least 59 years from year i of Ikhnaton to the end
of Harmhab's reign, of which at least 25 must be credited to Ikhnaton and his
successors {Zeitschrift jilr dgyptische Sprache, 39, 10, 1. 8).
fll, 1043.
8See preceding note on Ikhnaton and successors. Estimating 25 years for
Ikhnaton and successors, we have 34 +» years for Harmhab.
*iTotal length; maximum of 2J years (III, 74).
■See III, 131.
44
CHRONOLOGY [§ 6S
Ramses II .... 67* years 1292 12256:0.
Memeptah .... lo^^+a; " 1225-1215 ''^
Amenmeses ... x " 1215
Siptah 6<=+a: " 1215-1209 "
Setill . . . _2<i+» " 1209-1205 "
Total .... 142 +6» years
Allowance for 4 transfers
( = 2 years) and i coregency 3 "
Final total . . . 139+6* years
Minimum . 145 years 1 350-1205 B. C.
Interim
68. Anarchy and reign of Syrian
usurper^ . . . . S years 1205-1200 B. C.
Twentieth Dynasty^
69. Setnakht .... i8(+») years 1200-1198 B. C.
Ramses III ... 31*1 " 1198-1167 "
Ramses IV .... 6' " 1167-1161 "
Ramses V. . . . 4'+* " 1161-1157 "
^Total length (IV, 471). The attempts to determine the accession of Ramses
II astronomically have been unsuccessful.
^Tapyrus Sallier I, 3, 4; 8, 8; see Erman, Westcar, II, 37. I am unable to
find any confirmation of Brugsch's remark {Reiseberichte, 194) that Merneptah's
highest date was not less than 25 nor more than 33. In Lepsius, Denkmdler, Text,
III, 2, plan of "Temple A" at a place marked h is the remark, "Datum des
Memeptah," which perhaps refers to Brugsch's remark, but Lepsius has no refer-
ence to the date in his text.
■^See III, 650.
dChampollion, Notices descriptive!, II, 258, and Griffith, Kahun Papyri, II,
Plate 39, and p. 95. He built a temple at Karnak, and another at Eshmunfen
{Proceedings of the Society of Biblical Archaology, 24, 86).
^Papyrus Harris, 75, 2-4 (IV, 398), States that the anarchy lasted "many
years;" then followed the rule of the Syrian. Five years for all this is a minimum.
'I accept in this reconstruction the results of Sethe {Untersuchungen, I,
59-63)-
KPapyrus Sallier, I, 6.
l>Exactly 31 years and 40 days (IV, 153).
"Papyrus Turin; Pleyte and Rossi, Plates 51-60; Spiegelberg, Zeilschrift fUr
dgyptische Sprache, 1891, 73 ff., on Plate 54, 11. 12, 13; Maspero, Monties
royales, 663.
iOstracon in Turin, Maspero, Recueil, II, 116, 117.
i7i]
CHRONOLOGY
45
Ramses VI .
X years
1
Ramses VII
: X "
15* years
1157-1142 B.C.
Ramses VIII .
X "
Ramses IX
.
19b
1142-1123 "
Ramses X
.
1<' + X "
1123-1121 "
Ramses XI
•
X "
1121-1118 "
Ramses XII .
.
2J^ + X
I I 18-1090 "
Total
•
104 -f5» years
Allowance for i transfer
and r coregency .
li
Final total
•
i02j-t-5ieyears
Minimum
.
no years
1200-1090 B. C.
Twenty-first
Dynasty^
70. Nesubenebded
Hrihor
.
^ X years
1090-1085 B. C.
Pesibkhenno I
•
17+x "
1085-1067 "
Paynozem I
.
40-f-a: "
1067-1026 "
Amenemopet
.
49+x "
1026-976 "
Siamon .
,
i6-|-» "
976-958 "
Pesibkhenno II
.
■ 12-l-a; "
958-945 "
Total
.
134+6* "
Minimum
•
143 years
1090-945 B. C.
Twenty-second Dynasty'
71. Sheshonk I
.
21 (-fa;) years 945-924 B.C.
Osorkon I
.
36 i+x) "
924-895 "
Takelot I
•
23H+X) "
895-874 "
*For this period we have no dates, but it is limited by the following facts:
(i) the term of Setau as high priest at El Kab (IV, 415); (2) the succession of the
high-priests of Amon; Amenhotep, known as high priest under Ramses IX at
least from year 10 (IV, 487) to year 17 (Papyrus Amherst, ed. Newberry, No. VII,
p. I, 1. s), was the son of Ramsesnakht, high-priest known under Ramses IV,
year 3. The term of Setau will not permit lengthening the uncertain interim
beyond 15 years; nor is it likely to have been less in view of the succession of high-
priests.
I'lV, 535. <=IV, 535. This year is a coregency with Ramses IX.
iMariette, Abydos, II, 62=Catalogue general d'Abydos, No. 1173, pp. 442 f.
«A fuller statement of this dynasty will be found in IV, 604 ff.
*A fuller statement of this dynasty will be found in IV, 693 f.
8See IV, 693, and Daressy (Recueil, XV, 174-75), who is undoubtedly cor-
rect in recognizing Takelot I on a stela of year 23.
46
CHRONOLOGY
[§72
Osorkon II .... 30 (+«) years 874-853 B.C.
Sheshonk II . . .00 died about 877 "
(Died during coregency with Osorkon II)
Takelotll .... 25 +a; years 860-834 "
(7 years coregent with Osorkon II)
Sheshonk III .
Pemou
Sheshonk IV .
.
52
6+x "
37+* "
834-784 "
784-782 "
782-745 "
Total ....
Allowance for transfers
230 +6:»* years
and coregencies ' .
30
Final total
.
2 00+ 6a; years
Minimum .
Twenty-third
200 years
Dynasty''
945-745 B. C.
72.
Pedibast .
Osorkon III .
Takelot III<1
.
23*^ +x years
14 +x "
■K "
745-722 B. C.
Total .
Minimum
.
37+3* years
276 years
745-718 B. C.
Twenty-fourth Dynasty
73.
Bekneranef .
.
6* years
7188-712 B. C.
Minimum
•
6 years
718-712 B. C.
aThe X at the end of Osorkon II's reign falls outside of this total, as his son's
reign is counted from his own year 23.
''This dynasty will be found fully discussed, with table, in the introduction to
the Piankhi Stela (IV, 811 £E.).
cIV, 794, 4.
^Only tnown as coregent with Osorkon III. The years between Osorkon
III and Bekneranef may be filled up by Takelot III or by the two kings, Psammus
and Zet, placed by Africanus after Osorkon III.
'Africanus gives a total of 89 years, and Syncellus 44, to this dynasty. The
27 is merely the amount necessary to fill up the gap between the end of the
Twenty-second Dynasty and Bekneranef.
fIV, 884.
«From here on, the date B. C. is obtained by dead reckoning back from the
accession of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty in 663 B. C.
§ 7s] CHRONOLOGY 47
Twenty-fifth Dynasty
J
74. Shabaka 12* years 712-700 B.C.
Shabataka 12^'" 7oo*-688 "
Taharka (Tirhaka) . . . 26= " 688-663 "
Total . . . . -SO years
Minimum . ... 50 years 712-663 B. C.
Twenty-sixth Dynasty
75. Psamtik I 54'^ years 663-609 B. C.
Necho i6« " 609-593 "
Psamtik II 5^ " 593-588 "
Apries (Hophra) . . . . 198 " 588-569 "
Ahmose II (Amasis) .... 44^* " 569-525 "
Psamtik III .... a few months 525 "
Total .... 138 years
Known total, 138 years arid a jew
months 663-525 B. C.
^Lepsius, Denkmaler, V, 1, e. *See IV, 984-5.
tlV, 885. ilMd.
'A little over 26 years (IV, 959). sIV, 984 ff.
<iIV,974ff.
yv, 1026-7. This date is found in a contemporary inscription in Ham-
mamat (Lepsius, Denkmaler, III, 275*); as Herodotus also gives 44 as the length
of this reign, there is evidently no doubt that we have in it the highest date of the
reign.
ADDENDUM ON CHRONOLOGY (§42)
A letter from Eduard Meyer calls my attention to a
fragmentary relief in the tomb of Thutnakht {El Bersheh,
II, Pis. 8 and 9) which shows that the flax harvest in the
middle of the twentieth century B.C. took place between
the twenty-third and twenty-seventh of the fourth month.
This harvest at the present day in the province of Minieh
occurs during the early part of April. Thus the 113th-
117th days of the calendar, which normally fell between
November 9 and 13 (Julian), then fell in early April,
showing a shift of the calendar of over 200 days, and
corresponding completely with the shift of 225 days
indicated by the Kahun Sothic date (§§42, 46). The
date of the Twelfth Dynasty is thus confirmed beyond a
doubt.
THE PALERMO STONE
FIRST TO THE FIFTH DYNASTIES
THE PALERMO STONE ^
76. The content of this document, remarkable as it is,
is perhaps not more valuable than the revelation it furnishes
of the existence of royal annals of an official character,
regularly kept by the kings of Egypt in the Old Kingdom
and extending back into the time of the two kingdoms of
the North and South. They reveal a great and powerful
kingdom from the beginning of the dynasties, enjoying
ordered government under a highly developed and aggres-
sive state, and exhibiting a high degree of culture and civili-
zation such as we could not have anticipated in this remote
age.
77. While a translation of the document, owing to its
unique and archaic character, is accompanied by many
uncertainties, yet the whole is of an importance which jus-
tifies a sufficient presentation of the content to make clear
the character, scope, and arrangement of these oldest annals
of Egypt.*' The voluminous commentary necessary for the
explanation of many obscure references and allusions is
unavoidably omitted here; but the obscurity of these par-
*A fragment of "Diorite anfibolica," 6.5 cm. thick, 0.435 ™- ^S^> and 0.25 m.
wide; since 1877 in the Museum of Palenno, and commonly known as the " Palermo
Stone." It was published by Pellegrini {Archivio storico Siciliano, nuova serie,
anno XX, 297-316, and 3 plates); by Schaefer, who first recognized its real character
{Ein Bruchstilck altaegyptischer Konigsannalen [Anhang zu den Abhandlungen der
Koniglichen Preussischen Akademie, 1902], with 2 plates); and by Naville {La
pierre de Palerme, Rec. XXV, 1-20, with 2 plates). Besides the interpretations
of the above scholars, see Maspero {Revue critique, 1899, I, i, and 1901, I, 383)^
who was the first to recognize the character of the year-names; also Spiegelberg,
Zeitschrift fiir agyptische Sprache, XXXV, 10.
•'The following translation is largely an editing of the rendering of Schaefer
and Sethe; but, although space and time for commentary fail me, I have made
some changes and additions, like the expedition of Snefru to Syria.
SI
52 PALERMO STONE [§78
ticular points does not affect the significance of the whole
document, which will be clear to everyone.
78. The fragment herewith presented was broken out of
the middle of a large slab some seven feet long and over
two feet high, as it stood on the long edge. It was inscribed
on both sides with, a series of royal annals, beginning with
the predjTiastic kings of the period before the union of the
North and the South, and continuing into the djTiastic age
to the middle of the Fifth Dynasty. The arrangement of
these records can be best understood from the figure ( — ).
The upper line of the front contains at present nine names
of predynastic kings of Lower Egypt (the Delta).* If the
line was full, there were possibly some 120 predynastic kings
here enumerated, each rectangle of line i (front) containing
one name, with no indication of how long each king reigned.^
In the Fifth Dynasty, therefore, the predynastic kings, the
last of whom had reigned some seven centuries before the
preparation of this table, were already merely a series of
names. Other reasons for the mere citation of the bare
names are, however, quite conceivable, such as lack of
interest in the predynastic kings on the part of the scribe.
79. But, while the length of the predynastic reigns re-
mains totally uncertain, the date of the beginning of the
dynastic period is certainly established by this monument
within narrower limits than ever before; and the period
from the accession of Menes to the beginning of the Fourth
Dynasty is determined within reasonable margins for the
first time. The dynastic kings are probably arranged as
^Meyer has identified the place of these kings of Lower Egypt in the Turin
Papyras, where no corresponding kings of Upper Egypt were included, and in
Manetho (AegypHsche Chronologic, 199 ff., 203 f.). They follow the gods
and precede the "Worshipers of Horus," the immediate predecessors of the
dynasties.
•>Meyer believes that this row must have begun with the gods {ibid., 203).
§8i] PALERMO STONE 53
follows: *the First Dynasty occupied 11. 2 and 3, following
directly upon the predynastic kings; 11. 4 and 5 contained
the Second Dynasty; there is some uncertainty about the
disposition of reigns in 1. 6, but as the first line of the back
contained the end of the Fourth D3masty, the last two lines^
(7 and 8) of the front must have contained the bulk of the
Fourth, which in all probability throws the Third Djmasty
back to 1. 6, " including possibly the end of 1. 5. The larger
part of the back was occupied with the three reigns of the
Fifth D5Tiasty, which filled up 11. 2-5, and perhaps con-
tinued (in two lines) into the reign of Nuserre.
80. The arrangement of each reign (except 1. i, front)
was so that in the narrow horizontal space above each line
the name of the king was placed, while below it the years of
his reign were distributed in successive rectangles, one year
in each rectangle. As the space occupied by the years of
each reign far exceeded the length of the king's name, the
latter was placed over the middle, thus:
King's Name
Year
Year
Year
Year
Year
Year
Year
Year
Year
81. The vertical line on the right of each rectangle
has the form of the hieroglj^hic sign for "year." Each
year-rectangle contains the chief events which occurred in
that year, one of which furnished the ofl&cial name for that
year. Thus we have the " Year of the Battle and Smiting
*The Turin Papyrus of kings shows no clear dynastic division for this period,
and hence such division rests solely on the lists of Manetho. But Sethe has shown
(Untersuchungen, III) that such division is practically certain in our monument,
and Meyer indicates that it is probable in the Turin Papyrus.
''Or three lines may have followed 1. 6.
•^See § 86.
54 PALERMO STONE [§82
0} the Northerners," dating a jar of King Besh (BS) in Phila-
delphia; or the "Year of Smiting the Troglodytes" in our
fragment (front, 1. 6, § 104). This was parallel with the
same usage in early Babylonia, as has been long known.
As time passed, it became more and more common to name
the year after the corresponding fiscal enumeration, thus:
"Year of the Second Occurrence of the Numbering of all
Large and Small Cattle of the North and the South"
(§ 339), or " Year of the Seventh Occurrence of the Numbering
of Gold and Lands" (front, 1. 5, §135). This was often
abbreviated to " Year of the xHh Occurrence of the Num-
bering," or still more to "Year of the x'th Occurrence."
82. All other events were then gradually abandoned as
designations of the years, and by the Fifth Dynasty the fiscal
numberings were almost exclusively used. These occurred
every two years, in uninterrupted sequence, irrespective of
the changes in reign, and hence it was necessary to call a
year when no numbering took place, the "Year after the
x'th Occurrence (of the Numbering)." Fmally, when the
numberings became annual, each year received the name of
a new numbering, and this was the system of dating in
Egypt from the Sixth Dynasty on. It amounted to num-
bering the years themselves, and gradually became nothing
else. The Palermo stone thus furnishes us the origin of the
Egyptian system of dating.
83. In addition to the chief events of the year, each year-
rectangle contained, at the bottom in the middle, a datum
giving a number of cubits, palms, and fingers, which have
been thought to be the height of the inundation* for each
year; but this is very uncertain.
''Measured from some fixed point only a few cubits below high water; but
the fine subdivisions in the measurements (down to fractions of a finger-breadth)
are against the theory.
§86] PALERMO STONE 55
84. In 11. 2-5 (front), containing the First and Second
Djmasties, the events of each year are for the most part
celebrations of religious feasts and the like, and in the latter
part the "numberings" appear. With the Third D)masty
(1. 6) the events known to the chronicler become more
numerous, increasing and making irregular in size the year-
rectangles. They become still larger in the Fourth and
Fifth. Small as are the rectangles of the First and Second
Dynasties, they are in each line of the same size, and this
offers the basis for a rough estimate of the number of years
in these dynasties, if we can gain even a distant approxima-
tion of the total length of the stone.
85. An examination of the back shows that from one-
tenth to one-eighth of the total length of the lines is pre-
served on the fragment. This insures roughly five hundred
years for the length of the first three dynasties, of which
only about eighty would belong to the Third Dynasty.^
86. In this computation the stone offers little for deter-
mining the length of the Third Djmasty. This is, however,
shown by the Turin Papyrus to have been only fifty-five
years before Snefru; or, with Snefru, seventy-nine .years,
X months; or, in round numbers, eighty years. That
Snefru belonged to the Third Dynasty is favored by the
arrangement of the stone, although the Manethonian tradi-
aThe first attempt at restoring the length of the stone was made by Sethe,
who obtained the following results:
First Dynasty (11. 2-3) 253 years
Second Dynasty (11. 4-5) 302 years
Third Dynasty (1. 6) maximum, loo-iio years
These pioneer results have been modified by Meyer {AegypHsche Chronologie) to
the following:
First Dynasty (11. 2-3) 210 years
Second Dynasty (11. 4-5) 243 years
The possible difference is thus about a century. Meyer's results are certainly a
minimum, and Sethe's a maximum, but the principle employed by Meyer would
now doubtless be accepted by Sethe.
56 PALERMO STONE [§87
tion perhaps placed him at the head of the Fourth Dynasty.
It should be remembered that this difficulty with the Third
Dynasty is not peculiar to any theory of restoration of the
stone. We cannot, on any scheme of restoration, push the
Third Dynasty back into 1. 5 (front), for the birth of Khase-
khemui, a king of the latter part of the Second D}masty, is
recorded in 1. 5 (No. 4). Nor can we assume that Snefru
is here reckoned with the Fourth Dynasty, which would
leave only the first half of 1. 6 for the whole Third Dynasty.
Finally, as Snefru is reckoned with the Third 'Dynasty, and
we know that he was its last king (for he was the prede-
cessor of Khufu), all his predecessors in the dynasty, as well
as at least six years of his own reign, must have been included
in the first half of 1. 6. If all the rectangles of the first half
of 1. 6 were as small as those of 1. 2, this would leave perhaps
fifty years for his predecessors in the d3masty. The suppo-
sition that more lines are lost at the bottom would not at
all affect the Third Dynasty. Again, any great prolongation
of the lines is forbidden by the back.
87. The stone offers little aid as to the length of the
Fourth D5Tiasty, as most of that dynasty is lost at the bot-
tom of the front, but it furnishes valuable hints as to the
close of the Fourth and the first half of the Fifth Dynasty.
The short reigns at the close of the Fourth are fragmentarily
indicated in 1. i, and the lengths of the short reigns of the
first three kings of the Fifth Dynasty roughly corroborate
those indicated in the Turin Papyrus.
88. It will be seen that the monument is invaluable as a
source for the chronology of the earliest dynasties. Accept-
ing 2900 B. C. as the date for the accession of the Fourth
Dynasty, the Palermo Stone furnishes us an assured mini-
mum of 3400 B. C. as the beginning of the dynastic period
and the accession of Menes. This date is only affected by
§93] PALERMO STONE 57
the uncertainty attending all our dates back of the Hera-
cleopolitan rule. Future discovery may reduce the date of
Menes by at most a century.
89. The content of these annals is also of great importance,
but, as they are themselves only a summary, we cannot
epitomize them here. Such facts as the dispatch of a
fleet of forty vessels to bring cedar from Lebanon under
Snefru are, of course, invaluable.
I. PREDYNASTIC KINGS
Kings 0} Upper Egypt (?) or the Gods (?)
90. '
Kings 0} Lower Egypt
pu ( pw); Seka {Sk^); Khayu {If^-yw); Teyew {Tyw);
Thesh (Tf); NeiTiebi {N-^hW); Wazenez (W^d-^ni); Mekh {Mh)\
-a (-=);
II. FIRST DYNASTY
KING t'' (name lost)
X years
91.
Year x+i
Worship of Horus.'^
Birth of Anubis.<=
Year x+2
92. 6 months and 7 days.'^
KING U« (name lost)
Year i
93. Fourth month, thirteenth day.*
*At least four more names followed.
^Either Menes or his successor, Atothis. <=Name of a feast.
■^This is the fraction of the king's last year which was interrupted by his death
and left incomplete.
^Either Atothis or his successor.
fThis is the date of the king's accession, and the following name is the regular
designation of a king's first year.
S8 PALERMO STONE [§94
Union of the Two Lands.
Circuit of the Wall.^
6 cubits.''.
Year 2
94. Worship of Horus.
Feast of Desher {Dir).
Year 3
95. Birth of the two children of the King of Lower Egypt.
4 cubits, I palm.
Year 4
96. Worship of Horus.
r 1
Year 5 .
97. TDesigni of the House (called): "Mighty-of-the-Gods" {$}j,rn-
ntrw).
Feast of Sokar.
5 cubits, 5 palras, i finger.
Year 6
98. Worship of Horus.
Birth of the goddess Yamet {Y^m't).
5 cubits, I pa<lm.
Year 7
99. Appearance^ of the King of Upper Egypt.
Burth of Min.
5 cubits
Year 8
100. Worship of Horus.
Birth of Anubis.
6 cubits, I palm.
Year g
loi. First occurrence of the Feast of Zet (JDt).
4 cubits, I span.
*Name of a feast.
^See explanation, §83.
cOr "coronation" (Jc); it is a feast probably in commemoration of the
king's coronation.
107] PALERMO STONE 59
102.
Year 10
LOST KINGS
KING V
King's Name
103. ^ [rborn of Me^ret-fNeiti].
Year x+i
Station (in)'= the temple of Saw (S'-w) in Heka— (Hk^—).
3 cubits, I palm, 2 fingers.
Year x+2
104. Smiting of the Troglodytes (Yntyw).
4 cubits, I span.
Year x+3
103. Appearance of the King of Upper Egypt.
Appearance of the King of Lower Egypt.
Sed jubilee.
8 cubits, 3 fingers.
Year x+4
106. (HNumbering of)"^ all people of the nomes of the west, north,
and east.
3 cubits, I span.
Year »+5
107. Second occurrence of the Feast of Zet (Dt).
5 cubits, 2 palms.
r
^At least sixteen years more of this reign are lost, as the king's name was
placed in the middle over the horizontal line of years. Our fragment does not
reach to the middle; hence over ten years more are lost at the other end, besides
six vrhich stood under the name. This makes a minimum total of twenty-six
years for this king; but the restoration of the stone shows that he (Atothis) probably
reigned some fifty years.
^We should probably restore the name of King Miebis; see Sethe, Untersuch-
ungen,.!!!, 47.
cThe omission of such prepositions is common in these archaic texts.
dOr is the plant sign {h ») an incorrectly made plant of the South ? This would
give us all the cardinal points.
6o PALERMO STONE f§ io8
r — —
Year x+6
io8. fDesigni of the House (called): "Thrones-of-the-Gods."
Feast of Sokar.
5 cubits, I palm, 2 fingers.
Year x+7
109. Stretching of the Cord (for) the House (called): "Thrones-of-
the-Gods," (by) the priest of (the goddess) Seshat {$Pt, Sefkhet).
Great Door.
4 cubits, 2 palms.
Year x+8
no. Opening of the Lake of the House (called): "Thrones-of-the-
Gods."
Shooting of the Hippopotamus.
2 cubits.
Year x+g
111. Station (at) the lake of the temple of Harsaphes (Hry-S'f) in
Heracleopolis.
5 cubits.
Year x+io
112. Voyage (to) Sahseteni (^S^h^Hny).
Smiting of Werka (Wr-k^).
4 cubits, I span.
Year x+ii
113. Birth of Sed (Sd). .
6 cubits, I palm, 2 fingers.
Year x+12
114. Appearance of the King of Lower Egypt.
First occurrence of "Running-of-Apis."*
2 cubits, I span.
Year x+ij
lis. Birth of Seshat (Sp-f) and Mefdet (M^fd't).
3 cubits, 5 palms, 2 fingers.
*Some unfamiliar Apis ceremony. Schaefer calls attention to Manetho's
statement that the Apis-cult began under King Kaiechos.
§119] PALERMO STONE 6i
Year x+14^
116. [Appearance] of the King of Upper Egypt.
Birth of — .
in. SECOND DYNASTY
KING NETERIMU
Lost Reigns
117. 4
King's Name
Horus: Neterimu (Ntry-mw^) son of —
Year i
ii8.
Year 2
[First occurrence of the numbering.]
Year j
Year 4
[Second occurrence of the numbering.]
[First occurrence of the Feast of Sokar.]°
Year 5
Year 6^
Worship of Horus.
[Third occurrence of the numbering.]
Year 7
119. Appearance of the King of Upper Egypt.
a-There must have been fourteen years on the other side of the royal name.
Of these twenty-eight, two fall under the royal name. There were at least two
or three more under it, making a minimum of thirty or thirty-one years for this
king.
bOn the reading of the name see Sethe, Untersuchungen, III, 40.
cThis feast occurred at intervals of six years; see years 10 and 16.
dThis may be the fifth year, as the first numbering may have taken place in
the first year.
62 PALERMO STONE [§120
Stretching of the Cord (for) the House (called) Hor-Ren {I3.r-rri).
3 cubits, 4 palms, 2 fingers.
Year 8
120. Worship of Horus.
Fourth occurrence of the numbering.
4 cubits, 2 fingers.
Year 9
121. Appearance of the King of Upper Egypt.
Appearance of the King of Lower Egypt.
Running of Apis.
4 cubits, I palm, 2 fingers.
Year 10
122. Worship of Horus.
Fifth occurrence of the numbering.
4 cubits, 4 palms.
Year 11
123. Appearance of the King of Lower Egypt.
Second occurrence of the Feast of Sokar.
3 cubits, 4 palms, 2 fingers.
Year 12
124. Worship of Horus.
Sixth occurrence of the numbering.
4 cubits, 3 fingers.
Year 13
125. First occurrence of the Feast: "Worship-of-Horus-of -Heaven"
(Dw^-Hr-pf).
Hacking up of the city: Shem-Re (Sm-R'^.
Hacking up of the city: "House-of-the-North."
4 cubits, 3 fingers.
Year 14
126. Worship of Horus.
Seventh occurrence of the numbering.
I cubit.
Year 15
127. Appearance of the King of Lower Egypt.
1133] PALERMO STONE 63
Second occurrence of " Running-of-Apis."
3 cubits, 4 palms, 3 fingers.
Year 16
128. Worship of Horus.
Eighth occurrence of the numbering.
3 cubits, s palms, 2 fingers.
Year ly
129. Appearance of the King of Lower Egypt.
Third occurrence of the Feast of Sokar.
2 cubits, 2 fingers.
Year 18
130. Worship of Horus.
Ninth occurrence of the numbering.
2 cubits, 2 fingers.
Year ig
131. Appearance of the King of Lower Egypt.
r— 1 the Feast of Zet (JOt).
r l.a
3 cubits.
Year 20
132. Worship of Horus.
Tenth occurrence of [the numbering].
Year 21^
LOST KINGS
KING W (name lost)
Year 12°
133. Worship of Horus.
Sixth occurrence of the numbering.
2 cubits, 4 palms, ij fingers.
aSchaefer: " Opfer (?) Gottin Nljbt Z)<-Fest."
bOf these twenty-one years, sixteen were before the royal name; sixteen more,
therefore, followed it; five are under it, making a total of at least thirty-seven.
■^Or possibly year 11, according to the beginning of the numbering in year i
or year 2.
64 PALERMO STONE [§134
Year 13
134. Appearance of the King of Upper Egypt.
Appearance of the King of Lower Egypt.
(The temple called): "The-Goddess- Abides" was built (of) stone.
2 cubits, 3 palms, i finger.
Year 14
I3S' Worship of Horus.
Seventh occurrence of the numbering of gold and lands.
3f cubits.
Year 15
136. Birth of Khasekhemui (H'^-S^mwy).
I cubit, 6 palms, 2J fingers.
Year 16
137. Worship of Horus.
Eighth occurrence of the numbering of gold and lands.
4 cubits, 2 palms, 2f fingers.
Year 17
138. Fourth occurrence of bringing the wall of Dewazefa (JDw^-dp).
Shipbuilding.
4 cubits, 2 palms.
Year 18
139. 2 months, 23 days.*
KING X (name lost
Year i
140. Appearance of the King of Upper Egypt.
Appearance of the King of Lower Egypt.
Union of the Two Lands.
Circuit of the Wall.
4 cubits, 2 palms, 2§ fingers.
Year 2
141. Appearance of the King of Upper Egypt.
^The total length of this reign was thus either sixteen or seventeen years,
two months, and twenty-three days.
5 146] PALERMO STONE 65
Appearance of the King of Lower Egypt,
introduction! of the ELing into the double Senut*-house.
4 cubits, i§ palms.
Year 3
142. Worship of Horus.
Birth of Min.
2 cubits, 3 palms, 2f fingers.
Year 4
143. Appearance of the King of Upper Egypt.
Appearance of the King of Lower Egypt.
Stretching of the Cord (for) the House (called): " Shelter-of-the-
Gods" (Kbh-ntrw).
3 cubits, 3 palms, 2 fingers.
144. Worship of Horus.
Year^ 5
3 cubits,
14s.
IV. THIRD DYNASTY
LOST REIGNS
KING SNEFRU
Year x+i'^
[Birth of] the two children of the King of Lower Egypt.
[Sixth occurrence of the numbering.]
Year x+2
146. Building of loo-cubif* dewatowe-ships (Dw'^-Pwy) of meru
(mr) wood, and of 60 sixteen^-barges of the king.
*The senut {Snwt) are flag-staves on a temple front
^At least eleven years more may be added to this reign.
<=As the numberings are irregular in this reign, it is not safe to compute the
year from the two given.
"^This refers to the length, which was thus some 167 feet.
*This numeral refers to a dimension or to the number of oars in each barge, or
something similar. Schaefer relevantly recalls the "eights" (ships) of Uni (§ 322,
1. 41).
66 PALERMO STONE [§147
Hacking up the land of the Negro.
Bringing of 7,000 living prisoners, and 200,000 large and small cattle.
Building of the wall of the Southland and Northland (■'called')
" Houses-of -Snefru."
Bringing of 40 ships filled (with) cedar wood.*
2 cubits, 2 fingers.
Year x+j
147, Making 35 houses.^
f — 1 of 122 cattle.
Building of a loo-cubit dewatowe-ship (Dw'-Pwy) of cedar wood,
and 2 loo-cubit ships of meru wood.
Seventh occurrence of the numbering.
S cubits, I palm, i finger.
Year x+4
148. Erection of:
"Exalted-is-the-White-Crown-of-Snefru-upon-the-Southern-Gate."^
"Exalted-is-the-Red-Crown-of-Snefru-upon-the-Northern-Gate."<=
Making the doors of the king's palace of cedar wood.
Eighth occurrence of the numbering.
2 cubits, 2 palms, 2f fingers.
Year^ x+j
149.
^This is an expedition by sea to Lebanon. The omission of the prepositions
(here m, "with") is common in this inscription, having been copied without change
by the Fifth Dynasty scribe, from the ancient original of Snefru's time, in which,
as commonly in the archaic inscriptions, the prepositions were lacking.
•"Some particular kind of building is meant.
cThese are the names of two gates or parts of the palace of Snefru: one for the
South and one for the North. We have thus the double name of a double palace,
which, Uke the organs of the government, was double, to correspond with the old
kingdoms of South and North. These two gates are still preserved in the palace
of the Empire as seen in the Amarna tombs. The palace front was always referred
to as the " double fagade" or " double gate" (iJif/y) ; hence also the dual determina-
tive of fr-'^^. The state temples also were double; each had a "double fagade,"
and the hypostyle was divided into north and south by the central aisle. The
division of the palace audience hall will have been the same. That the two names
in § 148 do not refer to two separate buildings is shown by the record of the making
of the doors in the next remark, as in the year 7 of Miebis.
<lAfter the year-sign, the sign for king and, below, the cubit-sign are visible.
§152] PALERMO STONE 67
V. FOURTH DYNASTY
LOST REIGNS
KING Y
King's Name
tOST REIGNS
ib_
KING MENKURE ( ? ) °
Year x
— [months], 24 days."^
KING SHEPSESKAF
Year i
150. a) Month 4 (+x), eleventh day. «
b) Appearance of the King [of Upper Egj^t].
Appearance of the King of Lower Egypt.
Union of the Two Lands.
Circuit of the Wall.
Seshed {§id) Feast.*
Birth of Upwawet.
The king worships the gods who united the Two Lands.
151. c) selection of the place of the pyramid (called):
" Shelter-of-Shepseskaf ."
152. (Q 20 r — 1 of the South and North every day.
g) 1,6248 — ; 600 — .
4 cubits, 3 palms, 2J fingers.
^The determinative after the name of his mother and the tip of one sign before
it are all that remains of his reign.
^Beginning of the back.
"^Possibly one of the three ephemeral kings placed by the Sakkara list and
Manetho at the close of the Fourth Dynasty. See Meyer, AegypHsche Chrono-
logic, 195.
dMeyer {ibid.) would see in the vacant space left by the scribe before this
note an evidence of the illegitimacy of this king; it would seem, however, that a
number of the exigencies of space might have produced such a vacancy.
«The date of his accession.
^Confer the coronation of Hatshepsut, II, 240.
KThese numerals, like those in 11. 2-4, are the numbers of the stat of land
in the temple endowments of that year.
68 PALERMO STONE [§153
VI. FIFTH DYNASTY
KING USERKAF
Years 1-3
153-
Year 4
Third occurrence of the finding of — .
Year 5*
154. The King of Upper and Lower Egypt Userkaf; he made
(it) as his monument for:
ISS- The spirits of Heliopolis: 20 offerings of bread and beer at
every f— i and every f— i feast; 36 stat of land r ] in the domain of
Userkaf.
156. I. The gods of the sun-temple (called): Sepre (Sp-R<^):
24 Stat of land in the domain of Userkaf;
2 oxen, 2 geese every day.
2. Re: 44 stat of land in the nomes of the Northland;
3. Hathor: 44 stat of land in the nomes of the Northland.
4. The gods of the House of r— i of Horus: 54 stat of land; erection
of the shrine of his temple (in) Buto of the nome of Xois;
5. Sepa (Sp^): 2 stat of land; building of his temple.
6. Nekhbet in the sanctuary (ntry) of the South: 10 offerings of
bread and beer every day.
7. Buto in Pemu (Pr-nw): 10 offerings of bread and beer every
day.
8. The gods of the sanctuary (ntry) of the South: 48 offerings of
bread and beer every day.
157. Year of the third occurrence of the numbering of large cattle.
4 cubits, 2^ fingers.
Year 6
158. [The King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Userkaf; he made
(it) as his monument for]:
^: 1,700 stat •■ ] in the North;
^This may be year 6, according as the numbering began in year i or 2; but
the restoration of the stone rather favors year s.
''Some god's name.
§i6o] PALERMO STONE 69
KING SAHTTRE
Year 5^
159. a) The King of [Upper] and Lower Egypt, Sahnre; he made
(it) as his monument for:
I. — in Heliopolis; — ■ — 200 r — \ divine barque
r 1
2. Nekhbet, mistress of Perwer (Pr-wr) : 800 daily offerings of bread
and beer;
3. Buto, mistress of Perneser (Pr-nsr): 4,800 daUy offerings of
bread and beer;
4. Re in the Senut-house (Snwi) : 138 daily offerings of bread and
beer;
5. Re in the Sanctuary {ntry) of the South: 40 daily offerings of
bread and beer;
6. Re in Tep-het (Tp-hi): 74 daily offerings of bread and beer;
7. Hathor in the sun-temple, Sekhet-Re (Sf^-R'^: 4 daily offerings
of bread and beer ;
8. Re of the sun-temple, Sekhet-Re: r2,oool ■" — " stat of land in the
nome of rXoisi;
9. Mes (Mi): 2 stat of land in the nome of Busiris;
10. Sem (Sm): 2 stat of land in the nome of Busiris;
11. Khent-yawetef (Hnt-y^wtf): 2 r ^ stat of land in the Mem-
phite nome;
12. Hathor in Ro-she (i?' -i) of Sahure: 2 r 1 stat of land in the
East;
13. Hathor in (the temple of) the pyramid, " The-Soul-of-Sahure-
Shines": I stat of land in the Libyan nome;
14. The White Bull: 13 ■" 1 stat of land in the eastern Khent
nome (XIV).
15. b) Third occurrence of the finding of ■" 1
Year of the second numbering.
2 cubits, 2\ fingers.
Year 6
160. The King of Upper and Lower Egypt [Sahure; he made it
as his monument for] :
*It is the second numbering, and may be year 4.
70 PALERMO STONE [§ i6i
The Divine Ennead,
Year 13^
161. 4[The king of Upper and Lower Egypt, Sahure; he made it
as] his monument for:
2. Re ■" — ': — [stat] of land in the North and South;
3. Hathor: — [stat] of land in the North and South;
4. — : — [stat] of land in the North and South;
5. — : all things.
6. There were brought from:
7. The Malachite-country, ^6,006* — .
8. Punt, 80,000 measures of myrrh, ''6,oooi — of electrum, 2,600
-1 staves, r 1
Year after the ■'seventW' numbering.
Year 14
162. fgi months, •'61 days.
KING NEFERIRKERE
King's Name
163. Horus: WSr-fj.'^w;'^ King of Upper and Lower Egypt; Favorite
of the Two Goddesses: 1^'^w-m-sfymw .
Year i
164. Second month, seventh day.
Birth of the Gods.
Union of the Two Lands.
Circuit of the Wall.
*The "numbering" is uncertain, being either 6 or 7. The year may be any-
where from II to 15, according as the first numbering was in the year i or year 2,
or the numbering be the sixth or seventh. Meyer's resuhs make 13 the most
probable here.
^The number is unfortunately not quite certain, but the margin of uncertainty
is not great. The Turin Papyrus gives Sahure twelve years, and Manetho gives
him thirteen, both of which numbers might be practically correct, as one might
take account of the nine months of the last year, and count the thirteenth year as
complete.
""Rich in Diadems."
§i67] PALERMO STONE 71
165. The King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Neferirkere (Nfr-yr-
k'^-R'^); he made (it) as [his] monument [for]:
1. The Divine Ennead in f — 1 of the Senut-house {Snwt): f — ' stat
of land in the city (called) : "Neferirkere-Beloved-of-the-Divine-Ennead,"
under* the House of Neferirkere in ■" — i;
2. The Spirits of Heliopolis and the Gods of Khereha (Ifr-^h^):
f — ^ stat of land in the city (called) : "Neferirkere-Beloved-of-the-Spirits-
of-Heliopolis;" 251 (+») stat of land in the eastern Khent nome (XIV)
— under the two high-priests of Heliopolis, the prophets and fofficials'
of his house r ''
3. Re: an altar;
4. Hathor: an altar; f 1; ''210'' divine offerings, 203 offer-
ings of bread and beer; there was made f 1 peasant serfs ■" — '.
5. There was fashioned f — l of electrum, (ffori) Ihi (Yhy), a statue,
followed to the house of Hathor, [mistress] of the sycomore, in Meret-
Snefru;
6. Re of Tep-het (Tp-nt) ; tnere was done for him the like
3 cubits, , .
5
Year g^
i66. [The King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Neferirkere; he made
it as his monument for]:
1.
2. r 1
3. Re in the sun-temple : "Favorite-Seat-of -Re;" there was made for
him a feast of the Circuit-[of-the-Wall] .
King Setneh (Sink) := — stat of land.
Year of the fifth occurrence [of the numbering].
Year 10
167. I. Appearance of the King of Upper Egypt.
Appearance of the King of Lower Egypt.
^Under charge of ?
''Or possibly 10; Meyer's results make 9 more probable.
cAn andent king, also mentioned in the tomb of Methen; he was perhaps a
king of Upper Egypt.
72 PALERMO STONE [§167
2. Erection of the wall of the sun-barque at the south side [of the
sun-temple : ' ' Favorite-Seat-of-Re "]. *
3. The King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Neferirkere; he made (it)
as [his] monument [for]:
4. Re in the sun-temple: "Favorite-Seat-of-Re": ^8 — " loaves:
for the evening sun-barque — ; and for the morning sun-barque — .
5. The Souls of HeUopolis: of electrum;
6. Ptah, "South-of his-Wall": — stat .
7. Buto of the South: of electrum.
8.
^This is a sun-barque like that found at Abusir beside the sun-temple of
Nuserre by the excavations of the Berlin Museum.
THE THIRD DYNASTY
REIGN OF SNEFRU
SINAI INSCRIPTIONS^
i68. Although the Pharaohs had operated in the copper
region of Sinai as far back as the First D)masty, Snefru was
later regarded as the great founder of the Egyptian mining
there. He became a patron god of the region (§ 722), he
gave his name to the roads and stations of the eastern Delta
(§493, 1. 9), and officials boasting of their achievements
there claimed that nothing like them had been done since
the time of Snefru (§ 731).
Being the only existing inscriptional record of achieve-
ment by Snefru, this document is of especial impor-
tance. The relief to which the inscriptions belong is as
important as they. It represents the king in the etef-crown,
with upraised war-club about to smite a Bedwi, whom he
has forced to kneel, holding him by the hair of his head.^
This, of course, symbolizes Snefru's victory over the Bedwin
of this region, during his mining operations here.
169. The inscriptions contain only titles and names of
Snefru; they are:
King of Upper and Lower Egypt; Favorite of the Two Goddesses:
Lord of Truth; Golden Horus: Snefru. Snefru, Great God, who is
given Satisfaction, Stability, Life, Health, all Joy forever.
^Engraved on the rock-walls of the Wadi Maghara in the Peninsula of Sinai.
Text: Lepsius, Denkmaler, II, 2 a; Laborde, Voyage de I' Arabic Petree, PI. 5, No. 4;
Laval, Voyage dans la Peninside Arahique, Inscriptions hieroglyphiques, PI. 3, No. i ;
Brugsch, Thesaurus, VI, 1492 (inscriptions only); Sethe, Vrkunden, I, 7, 8;
Morgan, Recherches, I, 233; Weill, Sinai, 103.
bTliis form of relief is as old as the early First Dynasty. Such a scene had
already been left here -by King Semerkhet, of the early dynastic age (Weill, Revue
arcMologique, II [1903], 231); and an ivory tablet shows King Usephais, of the
First Dynasty, smiting a Bedwi native in the same way (Macgregor Collection,
Spiegelberg, Zeitschrift fur agyptische Sprache, XXXV, 8).
75
76 THIRD DYNASTY: SNEFRU [§ 170
Horns: Lord of Truth. »
Smiter of Barbarians.
A second, similar relief of Snefru in the Wadi Maghara
is near the above.*'
BIOGRAPHY OF METHEN<=
170. This is the earliest biography which we possess, and
it clearly betrays its primitive character. It is impossible to
determine with certainty the succession of the parts dis-
tributed on the difEerent walls, and the language is so bald,
abbreviated, and obscure that some of the narrative remains
unintelligible. Apart from the fact that it is our earliest
document of the kind, and the only one from the Third
D3rnasty, the biography is especially valuable because it
deals with the geography and government of the North,
narrating Methen's activity in the Delta, of the administra-
tion of which at this early period we otherwise know almost
nothing. The narrative tells of his gradual rise, from a
beginning as scribe and overseer of a provision magazine,
until he governs a considerable number of towns and dis-
tricts in the Delta. He also obtained in Upper Egypt the
rule of the eastern part of the Faynm and the Anubis nome
(Seventeenth) . He was liberally rewarded with gifts of lands,
became master of the hunt, and tells us the size of his house,
with some account of the grounds; all of which, from an
age so remote, is of especial interest. He died in the reign
of Snefru; all his affiliations were with the families preced-
ing Snefru, and he was naturally buried beside the terraced
pyramid of Zoser, of the earlier part of the Third Dynasty..
ajn the palace fafade, the so-called "banner." •'Weill, Sinai, 104.
cFrom his mastaba-chamber, found by Lepsius at Sakkara, and now in Berlin
(Nos. iios, 1106); published by Lepsius in DenkmMer, II, 3-7, 120, a-e; Schaefer,
Aegyptische Inschriften aus dem KonigHchen Museum zu Berlin, I, 68, 73-87; Sethe
Urkunden, I, 1-7.
§ 173] BIOGRAPHY OF METHEN 77
Death of Methen's Father
171. 'There were presented to him the things of his father,* the
judge and scribe Anubisemonekh; there was no grain or anything of *^
the house, Cbut^) there were people^ and small cattle.
Methen's Career
172. 'He was made chief scribe of the provision magazine, and ^
overseer of the things of the provision magazine. ^He was made
I" 1 ^becoming local governor of Xois (Ox-nome), and inferior
field-judge of Xois. 'He was appointed •" — '"^-judge, he was made over-
seer of aU flax of the king, %e was made ruler of Southern Perked
(Pr-kd), and ''deputy'', 'he was made local governor of the people of
Dep, *palace-ruler of Miper (JMy^-pr) and Persepa (Pr-sp^), and local
governor of the Saitic nome, 'ruler of the stronghold of Sent (Snt).
^deputy' of nomes, '°ruler of Pershesthet {Pr-htt), ruler of the towns of
the palace, of the Southern Lake."^ ''Sheret-Methen {Srt-Mtn) was
founded, fand the domain which^'' his father Anubisemonekh presented
to him.
Honors and Gifts
1 73 J ''"Administrator'', nomarch, and overseer of commissions in
the Anubis nome,^ overseer of '' — i of ''the Mendesian nome, '" ''
4 ''stat''^ of land, (with) people and everything .... 3 ^There
were founded for him the 12 towns of Shet-Methen (St-Mtn) in the
Saitic nome, in the Xoite nome, and the Sekhemite nome ,
'There were conveyed to him as a reward 200 stat of lands by numerous
royal '' — ''; *a ''mortuary'' offering of 100 loaves everyday from the mor-
^Supply a t, which clearly has been lost or omitted.
^See the same expression, §175, 1. 18. These are the serfs attached to the
land and conveyed with it.
<^Nlft-lfrw, lit. " strongooiced," an administrative position having to do with
lands.
dThe Southern Lake occurs also next to Nomes XX and XXI (combined) of
Upper Egypt in a Tehneh tomb, Annales III, 76.
=Or "when Ms jalher A. gave {it) to him."
^Seventeenth nome of Upper Egypt.
eOn the doubtful character of the measure here, see Griffith, Proceedings of
the Society of Biblical Archeology, XIV, 412.
78 THIRD DYNASTY: SNEFRU [§ 174
tuary temple of the mother of the king's children, Nemathap (N-m^'^ ' t-
h^p); 'a house 200 cubits long and 200 cubits wide, built and equipped ;
fine trees were set out, a very large lake was made therein, figs and
vines were set out. ^It was recorded therein according to the king's
writings; their names were according to the decree (sr) of the king's
writings. ^Very plentiful trees and vines were set out, a great
quantity of wine was made therein. '°A vineyard* was made for
him: 2,000 stat of land within the wall; trees were set out, Cin')
bimeres (Yy-mrs), Sheret-Methen (Sr-Mtn), Yat-Sebek (Y^t-Sbk),
Shet-Methen (St-Mtn).
Methen's Offices
174. 'Ruler<= of Southern Perked (Pr-ki);
^Ruler"^ of Perwersah (Pr-wr-s^h);
3Ruler and local governor of the stronghold, Hesen (Hsn) ; in the
Harpoon nome;
^Palace-ruler and local governor in Sekhemu {SJjmw) of Xois (Ox-
nome).
sPalace-ruler and local governor in Dep (Buto);^
*Palace-ruler and local governor in Miper {^My^-pr) , of the Saite nome ;*
'Palace-ruler and local governor in Two Hounds, of the Mendesian
nome;
*Palace-ruler in Heswer (Hs-wr) ; ruler of fields in the west of the
Saitic nome;S
sPalace-ruler of the Cow stronghold;^ local governor in the desert,
and master of the hunt;
'"Ruler of fields, ^deputy^ and local governor in the Sekhemite nome;*
"Nomarch, fadministratori, and deputy in the eastern Fayum;
'"Field-judge, palace-ruler of the west of the Saitic nome, leader of f — \
*The first vineyard seems to have been in the garden around his house; the
second is a large vineyard by itself.
••The connection of these four towns is not evident.
<:£r*'. dVar., "Palace-ruler."
=Var., "Local governor of Dep, local governor of the people of Dep.''
'He was also "Palace^uler and local governor in Mesezut {Msdwt), of the
Saitic nome."
BVar., "Palace-ruler of fields, and local governor in the Saitic nome."
Wax., "Local governor of the Cow stronghold;" this was one of the oases.
'Second nome of Lower Egypt.
§ 175] BIOGRAPHY OF METHEN 79
Gifts of Land
175. '^There were conveyed to him, as a reward, 200 stat of land
by the numerous royal f — \
''•There were conveyed to him 50 stat of land by (his) mother Neb-
sent {Nb-snt); ''she made a will thereof to (her)^ children; '*it was
placed in their possession by the king's writings (in) every place.
''Ruler of ^ — 1 of the Sekhemite nome. There were given to him
12 stat of land, with^ his children; '*thete were people and small cattle.'^
»Not "my children," see 1. 7, where "the people of Dep" is written in the
same way.
liThat is: " and to his children likewise."
cWith the land; see §171.
THE FOURTH DYNASTY
REIGN OF KHUFU
SINAI INSCRIPTIONS^
I
176. The relief is like that of Snefru,^ except that the
god Thoth is here added in the place of the Horus-name,
and the king wears the double crown. Similarly also the
inscriptions consist only of titles of the king. They are:
Khnum-Khufu,° Great God, Smiter of the Troglodytes .
All protection and life are with him.
nd
Consists only of titles of Khufu.
INVENTORY STELA^
177. The references to the Sphinx, and the so-called
temple beside it in the time of Khufu, have made this
monument from the first an object of great interest.
*Cut into the rock-walls of the Wadi Maghara. Text and reUef: Laborde,
Voyage de I' Arable, PI. 5, No. 2; Laval, Voyage dans la Pininsule Arabique, Insc.
hier., I, No. 2; II, No. i; Lepsius, Denkmdler, II, 2, 6, c; Ordnance Survey, III,
5; Brugsch, Thesaurus, VI, 1493 (inscriptions only); Sethe, Urkunden, I, 8;
Weill, Sinai, 105.
bSee §§ 168, 169.
cThe full form of Khufu's name; it means: "Khnum protects me." For the
omission of the god's name cf. the similar usage in Hebrew, e. g., Nathan and
Nathaniel. See Muller, Recueil, IX, 176.
■^Immediately on the right of i, and published with it.
^Discovered by Mariette during his excavations of the Sphinx and vicinity
(September, 1853, to 1858), in the little temple of Isis built by Pesebkhenno, east
of the great pyramid; now in Cairo. Text: Mariette, Album, PI. 27; Monu-
ments divers, 53; Maspero, Dawn of Civilisation, 413; Roug^, Recherches sur les
monuments qu'on pent attribuer aux VI premihes dynasties, 46; Birch, Egyptian
Texts, s, 6; Bunsen, Egypt's Place, 2d ed., V, 719-21. See also Mariette, Le
SSrapSum de Memphis, 90, 100; Meyer, Geschichte des alien Aegyptens, 207, 208;
and Brugsch, Thesaurus, V, 12 31.
83
84 FOURTH DYNASTY: KHUFU [§178
These, references would be of the highest importance if
the monument were contemporaneous with Khufu; but
the orthographic evidences of its late date are entirely
conclusive, and the reference to the temple of a goddess
whose cult arose as late as that of Isis, as well as the title
of Isis, viz., "mistress of the pyramid," Tpvove conclusively
that the present stela is not a copy of an older docu-
ment.^ The fact that the priests of Pesebkhenno's time
regarded the building beside the Sphinx, as the temple
of "Osiris of Rosta'' (R^-st^) is, however, of great interest,
but does not determine for us the original character of
that structure.''
178. '^He made (it) for his mother, Isis, Divine Mother; Hathor,
Mistress of ■'Nun''.'^ The investigation^ was placed on a stela. He
gave to her an offering anew, and he built her temple of stone again.
He found these gods in her place.^
i7g. The inscription in the lowermost section of the
sunken panel is also of importance in connection with
§180.
^Maspero, Dawn oj Civilisation, 364, n. 8.
bit is well to recall that in the Empire the true character of the Sphinx had
been forgotten or misunderstood. The same might equally well have happened
in the case of the building alongside it. [Later: It is now known that the building
is a monumental portal, the entrance to the causeway leading up to the second
pyramid.]
<=Top and left side; introduction same as top and right side (§ 180).
"^Text has the three nw signs used in writing Nun.
'Of her titles to the land ? It is probably this remark which led Maspero to
conclude that this stela is a copy of an older document. The word translated
"investigation" {sp't for s' yp't) occurs also in Diimichen, Bauurkunde des Dendera-
tempels, 16, in the same connection; cf. Brugsch, Hieroglyphisch-demotisches
Worterbuch, 1206, and a better example in Brugsch, Thesaurus, V, 1223, top line
(time of Ramses II).
f A reference to the statues of the gods enumerated in the sunken panel. The
stela is really an inventory of such statues; see § 180.
§ i8o] INVENTORY STELA 85
The district of the Sphinx of Harmakhis {Hr-m-y '^Jpvt) is on the south
of the house of Isis, Mistress of the Pyramid; on the north of^ Osiris,
Lord of Rosta {R^-st '). The writings rof the goddess'' of Harmakhis,
were brought, in order to investigate. "=
— may he grow ; may he live forever and ever, looking' toward the east.
180. The sunken panel occupying the greater part of the
stela contains only reliefs'^ representing the statues of gods,
belonging to the temple, and texts giving their names, the
materials of which they were made, and their dimensions.
The following texts occupy the raised margin and the edge:
^Live the Horus: Mezer (Mrf[r]), King of Upper and Lower Egypt:
Khufu, who is given life. He found the house of Isis, Mistress of the
Pyramid,^ beside the house of the Sphinx of s^[Harmakhis] on the north-
west of the house of Osiris,'* Lord of Rosta {R^-sPw). He built his
pyramid beside the temple of this goddess, and he built a pyramid for
the king's-daughter' Henutsen (Hnwt-sn) beside this temple.)
»One expects "house of." ''Isis?
•^The c(3hnection between this sentence and the preceding is probably that the
limits of " The district oj the Sphinx" were investigated as found recorded in "the
•writings (viz., the records) oj the goddess." (It is possibly this statement also which
leads Maspero to believe the document is a copy of an older one.) The same
word {syp) is used in reference to the investigation of old titles, e. g., in Khnum-
hotep's tomb, Benihasan (§ 625, 1. 44.).
■^But see § 179. =Top and right side.
'This is also her title in the sunken panel.
eXhe genitive n shows that "Harmakhis" as found in the same phrase in the
sunken panel, has been omitted.
JiThat this would identify the so-called "temple of the Sphinx" as the temple
of "Osiris of Rosta" was early noticed by Mariette (cf. Le Serapeum, p. 99); but
the fact seems to have been unnoticed, and does not find mention in any of the
archaeologies. The mere statement that the king "found" the Isis temple is unusual;
one expects m ws: " in ruins " as so very often, and this is confirmed by the state-
ment of the left side: "He built her temple again."
•According to Herodotus, the middle of the three small pyramids east of the
Great Pyramid, belonged to Khufu's daughter (Herodotus, II, 126). Henutsen
is mentioned in a contemporary tomb at Gizeh (Brugsch, Thesaurus, V, 1231).
iAccording to this statement, the little Isis-temple east of the Great Pyramid
was standing on the Gizeh plateau before any of the pyramids were built! If
Maspero accepts this statement, he should add this Isis-temple to the buildings
which he believes were the predecessors of the pyramids on the Gizeh plateau
(Maspero, Dawn of Civilisation, 365, n. 2).
86 FOURTH DYNASTY: KHUFU [§ i8i
EXAMPLES OF DEDICATION INSCRIPTIONS BY SONS
i8i. Many of the larger mastabas of the Old Kingdom
contain long inscriptions by the sons of the deceased nobles
relating their pious solicitude for the tombs of their departed
fathers. In some cases the tomb was even built by the son
after the father's death. All these longer inscriptions will
be found herein; the following are only the more important
shorter ones. , They are all from the Fourth and Fifth
Dynasties.
182. ^By his eldest son, the chief mortuary priest and scribe, Ptah:
"I came that I might do this for him, when he was buried in the beau-
tiful west, according to that which he spake about it, while he was [alive]
upon his two feet."
183. ^One whose son shall do this for him, when he is in the west,'^
Ikhi (F/fy), he saith: "I did this for my father, when he journeyed
to the west upon the beautiful ways, whereon the revered (dead)
jotirney."
184. "^By his son, the overseer of the pyramid, " Great-is-Khafre,"
the king's-confidant, Thethi (Tty), who made (this) for his father
and his mother, when they were both buried in the western high-
land.
185. ^Revered by the great god, king's-confidante, Henutsen. It
was her eldest son, the field-judge, who made (it) for her, to make mor-
tuary offerings to her therein.
^From the tomb of Thenti (Tnty) at Gizeh; published by Lepsius, Denk-
mlOer, II, 34, d; Mariette, Mastabas, 538; Sethe, Urkunden, I, 8 (from drawing
No. 282, Berlin Museum).
^From a false door seen in the hands of a dealer; published by Sethe, Urkunden,
I, 9, from Berlin squeeze, No. 1675.
cA reminder to the son of the pious son, by recalling what the latter did for
his father.
dMastaba at Gizeh; now in British Museum, No. 80; published by Lepsius,
Auswahl der wichtlgsten Urkunden, 8D; Sethe, Urkunden, I, 15 (collated with
Berlin squeeze. No. 661).
eCairo, No. 1691; published by .Roug6, Inscriptions hiiroglyphiques, 5;
Sethe, Urkunden, I, 34 (copy by Erman).
§ i87] DEDICATION INSCRIPTIONS 87
186. *By the Pharaoh's'' treasurer of the god, Zezemonekh, who
made this° for his wife Nubhotep. He buried her in this beautiful
tomb.
*The Pharaoh's'' treasurer of the god Zezemonekh. I made this"=
for my eldest son, the treasurer of the god, Theshen (Ts-hn), while he
was a child.
187. "^Sole companion of love, leader of the palace-hall, overseer of
the baths of the palace, overseer of the bounty of the king's field of
offerings, revered by his lord every day, governor of the Cow stronghold,
Kam. (This tomb is) what his eldest son, his revered, the judge and
inferior scribe Hotep, made for him, that he (the son) might be revered
by him (the father) when he (the son) joiu-neyed to his (own) ka (viz.,
died).
X
aProm the tomb of Zezemonekh, priest of Kings Userkaf and Sahure; Cairo,
Nos. 1415, 1417; published by Mariette, Mastabas, 201 (K 1417), 200 (K 1415);
Sethe, Urkunden, I, 33 (collated by Erman).
•"Or simply " palace4reasurer, etc."
<=A false door.
^Mariette, Mastabas, 160; Sethe, Urkunden, I, 33 f.
REIGN OF KHAFRE
STELA OF MERTITYOTES^
188. This document is especially useful as indicating the
place of Snefru with relation to the first kings of the Fourth
Dynasty, and was long ago so employed by E. de Rouge.
189. ^Kings-wife, his beloved, devoted to Horus,'^ Mertity6tes
{Mrtt-yfi).
^King's- wife, his beloved, Mertity&tes; beloved of the Favorite of
the Two Goddesses; ''she who says anything whatsoever and it is done
for her.^
Great in the %vor of Snefr[u] (Snfr-) ; great in the favor
of Khuf[u] (H/[w]) , devoted to Horus,<= honored under Khafre (j^ <" f-R ") ,
Merti[ty6t]es.
WILL OF PRINCE NEKURE, SON OF KING KHAFRE^
190. A new date of Khafre is the contribution fur-
nished by Sethe's collation of this inscription. The twelfth
"numbering" as the numberings took place at this time twice
a year, indicates the twenty-fourth year of Kliafre. This
surprisingly confirms the Turin Papyrus, which gives twenty-
^Limestone false door of the usual type noted in the Appendice (p. 565) of
Mariette's Mastabas, but without text. According to the headline of the page,
the tomb stands on the " Plaine de Gizeh; " the false door has never been removed.
The text is published by Rougfi, Inscriptions hieroglyphiques, I, 62; Roug^,
Recherches sur les monuments qu'on petit attribuer aux VI premieres dynasties, 36 f.
bAt the top. "^The king. ^Right side.
''An obscure title of the queens of Egypt, extending from the Old Kingdom
down into the Empire. Sethe, Zeitschrijt fiir dgyptische Sprache, 36, 143 f.;
cf. also Naville, ibid., 142.
fLeft side.
Bin his tomb at Gizeh; published by Lepsius, Denkm&ler, II, 15, a; Sethe,
Urkunden, I, 16, 17 (collated with Berlin drawing. No. 253, and Berlin squeezes,
Nos. 35 and 38).
§ 193] WILL OF PRINCE NEKURE 89
four years as the length of Khafre's reign. The king's son,
Nekure, was then old enough to feel the necessity of making
a will. It is the only document of the kind from the Old
Kingdom, which has survived in such excellent preservation.
191. The fortune which Prince Nekure bequeathed to
his heirs consisted of fourteen towns, and two estates in the
P)n-amid-city of his father. The latter doubtless consisted
of his "town-house" and gardens. These he had left to
a daughter, but she had evidently died, and on the reversion
of the legacy to himself he left it to his wife. The fourteen
towns he distributed among five heirs, of whom one was his
wife, and three were his children, while the name of one is
lost. Eleven of the fourteen towns are named after Khafre,
and there is no reason to doubt that the other three were
also so named, but they are now unreadable. Besides
these fourteen towns. Prince Nekure had at least twelve^
towns in the mortuary endowment of his tomb, of which
nine were named after Khafre. It is impossible to determine
whether these had belonged to the prince's estate, or whether
they were given by the reigning king at the prince's death.
Date
192.. 'Year of the twelfth [occurrence] of the numbering of large and
sm[all] cattle.
Introduction
193. "Bang's son, Nekure (R'^-n-k^w) he makes the (follow-
ing) [rcommandT],^ (while) living upon his two feet without ailing in any
respect.''
^See Lepsius, Denkmdler, II, 15, b. There could not have been more than
fourteen towns, as no more than two are broken out.
''The determinative of a document is visible at the end of the lacuna; "com-
mand, edict" (wdt^md't) is usual after "make" or "made" in this connection.
<^"Being of sound mind." This line (2) is engraved horizontally over the
following columns, and is evidently the prescript or title of the will. There are
eight of the subjoined columns, each coliunn being headed by the name of an heir,
below which is entered the legacy bequeathed him. Each legacy is a town or towns;
the district or nome is given first and then the town-name, or names, each of which
is compounded with that of Khafre, the king.
90 FOURTH DYNASTY: KHAFRE [§194
First Legacy
194. 3l have given to the king's-confidant, Nekennebti (N-k^-
n-nbiy), (in) — ,» (the towns'' of) "Khafre ," and "Khafre ."
Second Legacy
195. '•'^His son, the king's-confidant, Nekure (in)' the eastern back-
land, (the towns of) ["""Khafre-i — ," "TKhafrei " and "rKhafrei-
Third Legacy
196. sHis daughter, the king's-confidant, Hetephires, (in) the east-
ern district, (the town of) "Khafre ;" (in) the eastern back-land,
(the town of) "Khafre ."
Fourth Legacy
197. ^[His son] the king's-confidant, Kennehtiwer (^K^ -n-nhty-wr)
(in) — , (the town of) " Great-is-[the-Fame]-of -Khafre ; " (in) the Mende-
sian nome, (the towns of) "Khafre ," and "Khafre ."
Fifth Legacy
198. ' , (in) the Mendesian nome, (the towns of)
" Khafre- — " and "Khafre- — ."
Sixth Legacy
1 99. ^His beloved wife, the king's-confidante, Nekennebti (N-k^-
n-nbty), (in) the nome of the Cerastes-Mountain, (the town of) "Beauti-
ful-is-Khafre:" (in) the nome of ''Upper (the town of) " rBrillianti-is-
Khafre" (^<:/-i2=-[^]^); (in the pyramid-town) " Great-is-Khafre,"
the estate of his daughter, — and — .*
aA nome-name is lost. ^Two towns at least.
cThe formula "7 have given" is omitted after its occurrence once for all in
1. 3; hence "his son" instead of "my son."
•IThree towns, from the size of the lacuna.
^Twentieth nome of Upper Egypt.
*Two small subcolumns, each containing a designation of some piece of prop-
erty, but they are no longer legible; it is doubtless the estate, or part of the estate,
of a deceased daughter, which, after its reversion to him, he now leaves to his wife.
Hence her occurrence twice in the will.
§ 202] TESTAMENTARY ENACTMENT 91
THE TESTAMENTARY ENACTMENT OF AN UNKNOWN
OFFICIAL, ESTABLISHING THE ENDOWMENT OF
HIS TOMB BY THE PYRAMID OF KHAFRE^
200. As a revelation of the legal organization of this
remote age, this document, like the similar instrument of
Senuonekh'' (§§ 231 ff.), is of great interest. Economically
it is of importance to note that the king gives whole towns
as mortuary endowment, to keep the tomb of the deceased
constantly supplied with offerings.
Introduction
201. ' ° while he was alive upon his two feet, even the sole
companion, lord of Nekhen, member of the king's court every day
.... local governor of "Praise-of-Horus-First-of-Heaven,"'^ *
these mortuary priests forever^ ^.
Endowment is Entailed
202. 3 This is the [dec]ree which I made concerning it:
I have not empowered any of [my brothers], "imy sisters, or my
daughter's children, inferior mortuary priests, or assistant mortuary
priests, JTto take lands^, ] ^people, or anything which I have conveyed
to them, for making mortuary offerings to me therewith, whether their
man-servant [or their maid-servant], *their brothers or their sisters,
save to make mortuary ofierings [to me therewith, in the cemetery in]
'my eternal tomb which is at the pyramid, "Great-is-Khafre;'' accord-
ing to the portion of lands, people, and [everything, which I have con-
veyed to them, for making mortuary ofierings to me] ^therewith.
aStela in Cairo (No. 1432); published by Brugsch, Thesaurus, V, i2ioff.;
Sethe, Urkunden, I, 11-15 (collated with Berlin squeeze, No. 1597).
''Whence the restorations below are drawn.
<:The lost introduction will be found in the preceding will (§ 193).
dName of a vineyard estate founded by Zoser of the Third Dynasty; see Sethe,
in Garstang's Bel-Khalldf, 21. I have omitted before this title a repetition of titles
already mentioned.
^Probably so rather than "endowment;" for "these mortuary priests of the
endowment" is expressed by hn-k^ dt (j)pn (Sethe, Urkunden, I, 36, 1. i).
f Probably a lacuna of more than one line.
92 FOURTH DYNASTY: KHAFRE [§203
Line 0} Entailment
203. I have not empowered any mortuary priest of the endowment,
to give the lands, people or [anything which I have conveyed to them, for
making mortuary offerings to me] "therewith, in payment to any person;
or to give as property to any person, except that [they] shall give [it to
their children], ^"entitled to the division of it with any mortuary priest
among these mortuary priests.*
Violation of Endowment
204. Whatsoever mortuary priest of the endowment shall violate,
''of my mortuary offerings, which the king gave to honor me,
the portion in his possession shall be taken from him .''
Endowment not Involved in Suits of Priests
205. "Whatsoever mortuary priest of the endowment shall institute
legal proceedings against his fellow, and he shall make a writ of his
i^claim' against the mortuary priest, by which [Oiei' (the defendant?)
■"forfeits" the portion] ^^'m his possession; the lands, people and every-
thing shall be taken from him,'= which I gave to him for making mor-
tuary offerings to me therewith '-ttherewith. It shall be
conveyed back to him because of not instituting proceedings before the
officials, [concerning the lands, people and everything, which I conveyed]
'sto the mortuary priests of the endowment, for making mortuary offer-
ings to me therewith, in my eternal tomb, which is in the cemetery at
[the p3nramid: " Great-is-Khafre "].
Transfer of Priests to Other Service
206. '^Whatsoever mortuary priest of the endowment shall go
forth to other service, in the presence of the officials, "the
^Not all their children were entitled to a share in the division, but only those
who became mortuary priests; hence the document distinguishes particularly
those " entitled to (lit. belonging to) the division of it (the property) with any given
(ymn) mortuary priest of these mortuary priests" (viz., those endowed by this
document). The paragraph occurs again in the enactment of Senuonekh (J 233).
''Sethe suggests for the lacuna; "for or by the {priestly) order, to which he
belongs," as in 1. 17.
<:Of course, read nhm m'^f as in 1. 11. See the similar clause in the decree of
Senuonekh, § 235.
§ 209] TESTAMENTARY ENACTMENT 93
of&cials, he shall go forth to other service and the portion in his possession
shall revert to the (priestly) order to which he belonged.
'*of lands, people and everything, which I conveyed [to] them, for mak-
ing mortuary offerings to me therewith, in my tomb which is in [the
cemetery at the pyramid: "Great-is-Khafre"]; ''he shall go forth with
his meat.
Land Given by King
207. As for this field, which the king gave to me, to honor me
"°for making mortuary ofiEerings to me therewith in the
cemetery.
Alienation of Endowment
208. As for whatsoever shall be paid out, of that which I gave to
them, [I will enter into judgment with them in the place] ^'wherein
judgment is had. The portion which remains afterward, shall belong,
by tenths, to these (priestly) orders to [whom] I have conveyed this
[the portion] ^^which remains, for making mortuary
ofierings to me therewith, in the cemetery in my eternal tomb, which
is at [the pyramid: "Great]-is-Khafre."
Towns of the Endowment
209. [As for the towns] "^of the (mortuary) endowment, which the
king gave to me, to honor me, which are maintained for my mortuary
offerings, according to the list ^"forever, wherewith
mortuary offerings are made to me, in my eternal tomb which is in the
cemetery at the pyramid: "Great-is-Khafre," — [lands, people,] 'Sand
everything which I conveyed to them.
As for the towns of the (mortuary) endowment of the purification,
wherevnth purification is made .^
»At least three lines are lost at the end.
REIGN OF MENKURE
DEBHEN'S INSCRIPTION, RECOUNTING KING MENKURE'S
ERECTION OF A TOMB FOR HIM^
210. The unfinished condition of this interesting inscrip-
tion renders it extremely fragmentary. But mutilated as it
is, it tells us plainly enough of the king's visit to the Gizeh
cemetery to inspect the work on his family pyramids, and
of his detailing fifty men to buUd a tomb for Debhen. I.,ater
the king orders his own people, who are bringing limestone
for a temple, to bring also the necessary false doors, etc., for
Debhen's tomb from the quarry at Troja.
The Royal Command
211. i'^ . ^He saith:
As for this tomb, it was the king of Upper and Lower Egypt, Men-
kure, [living forever], who caused that it be fmade^, when [his majesty]
was [upon] the road beside the pyramid, Hir^ (Hr), sin order to inspect
the work fon^ the pyramid: "Divine-is-Menkure."
pthere camel] the [naval] commander and the two high
priests of Memphis, and the [work]men,'i ■'standing upon it,"= to inspect
»From his tomb (No. go on Lepsius' plan) at Gizeh; published by Lepsius,
Denkmaler, II, 37, b; Sethe, Urkunden, I, 18-21 (collated with Berlin drawing,
No. 284). The inscription was left unfinished by the sculptor. The artist had
drawn all the hieroglyphs in ink, but they were only partially cut, and the uncut
portions of the lines disappeared.
^This line contained his titles, as the sole remaining sign shows.
cName of pyramid usually supposed to be that of Menkure. It is, however,
evidently one of the smaller three beside his own pyramid, the name of which here
follows. "Hir" will have belonged to one of his family. That the two pyramids
were close together is evident from the text. The king stands on the road by the
Hir-pyramid to inspect the other. This disposes of the idea that the former was
in Abu Roash (Petrie, History oj Egypt, I, 56).
dOnly the plural determinative of "men" is visible.
^The pyramid.
94
§ 2io] DEBHEN'S INSCRIPTION 95
the work ron' [the pyramid, "Divine-is-Menkure"]. — 50 men were
assigned to do the work on it* every day, besides fexacting' of them,
'that which the r — i desired. His majesty commanded that [no man
should be taken^] for any forced labor, except to do the work on it,*
to his satisfaction.
Building of the Tomb
212. *His majesty commanded to rdeari the place of frubbishi
this tomb. His majesty commanded to Tiacki 'in
order to ■'clearl the rrubbish^ . [His majesty commanded]
that the two treasurers of the god shoiid come; [said his majesty to
them] * given to them « men, whom his
majesty judged, that he should go around the work fexacted' '°
in his — that there be brought stone from Troja (i? ^ - ^ w) to clothe'^ with
limestone the temple there,"^ ''together with two false doors, and a
front for this tomb, by the naval commander and the two high priests
of Ptah, together with the king's master-builder, who came '^
[that there] be [brought] for me a statue fmuch greater than^ life '3
every — every day. It is today ■" — 1 upon its highland, together with
the pure house. '■' together with two statues of the assistant,
of which one was [the other was]
's feast of Apis in the temple '* [He did] this, in
[order] that I might be his revered one by his lord " for my
[father] and my mother, for whom I have maintained '*
green cosmetic, eye-paint — ■" — i ''outside of the place. Then
[■"I beillsought [rfrom my lordi] ■" 1 in the Northland, of the cattle
in this place ■" — \ There was issued ^°a command of the king to the
chief of [fall works of the king to take"!] people to make it, a tomb of —
cubits in its length, "by 50 fcubitsi in rits width,! by — cubits [""in its
height^] according to rthat which! this my father did, while he
was living. Then the king caused " .^
^Debhen's tomb. ^KezAyn't.
<:Verb '^yn, meaning "to build or clothe with limestone of Ayan {'^yn)."
dThe expedition to the quarry which brought stone for the temple, brought
also the false doors, etc., for Debhen's tomb. The temple meant is probably the
pyramid-temple of Menkure.
=The remainder of the inscription was never executed.
THE FIFTH DYNASTY
REIGN OF USERKAF
TESTAMENTARY ENACTMENT OF NEKONEKH*
213. Besides being the most elaborate document of the
kind preserved to us, there are important historical facts
contained in these inscriptions. They chiefly concern the
disposal of two parcels of land of sixty stat each, given by
King Menkure: the one as endowment of the temple of
the local Hathor of Royenet (Tehneh) ; the other as a wakf
or endowment of the tomb of Khenuka, a nobleman of
Menkure's time. Both endowments were administered by
one priesthood, who served at the same time as priests of
Hathor and as mortuary priests of Khenuka. At the
beginning of the Fifth Dynasty, its first king had honored
one of his favorites, a steward of the palace named Neko-
nekh, by conveying to his single person the offices of priest
of Hathor at Tehneh and of mortuary priest of Khenuka.
In so doing — though, of course, nothing is said about it in
these inscriptions — ^Userkaf, as the first king of the Fifth
Dynasty was plainly dispossessing some supporter of the
old dynasty, and strengthening his own house by winning
the allegiance of another noble family.
214. Nekonekh, having the right to bequeath the two
land-endowments to whom he will, now makes a will, stating
the origin of both endowments in Menkure's time, and his
own title to them by appointment from Userkaf, and
decreeing that they shall now be distributed among his
»From his tomb in Tehneh, excavated and copied by G. Fraser in 1890; pub-
lished by him in 1902 in Annates, III, 122-30, and Pis. II-V (see also Maspero,
ibid., 131-38); again from Fraser, with useful restorations and corrections by
Sethe, Urkunden, I, 24-32.
99
loo FIFTH DYNASTY: USERKAF [§215
children, acting corporately as his successor in both offices.
Each child is annually to serve one month as priest of Hathor,
and another month as mortuary priest of Khenuka. For
this purpose twelve children were required, and, as Neko-
nekh had thirteen, he gave to eleven a month each, and
divided the remaining month between two. The income
from the land was also divided, each of the eleven children
receiving the income from five stat for the Hathor temple,
and five stat for Khenuka, while the remaining two each
received half of this. The twelve months of the year were
thus all provided for, the sixty stat belonging to each endow-
ment were completely disposed of, and the thirteen children
all made legatees. It is of importance to notice that the
mortuary endowment, established in the latter half of the
Fourth Dynasty, is still respected and continued in the
Fifth Dynasty.
215. Nekonekh's will disposing of his own estate is also
among the inscriptions in the tomb (§§ 223-25), though very
fragmentary. Another document establishes and adjusts
his own mortuary priesthood (§§ 226, 227), and in conclusion
he and his wife, probably after decease, receive mortuary
statues from two of their children (§§ 228-30).
I. THE PRIESTHOOD OF HATHOR
Introduction
216. 'Steward* of the Palace, governor of the New Towns
superior prophet of Hathor, mistress of Royenet, king's-confidant,
Nekonekh (N-k^-^n^); shis wife [Hezethekenu {^dt-hknw)], revered
by [Hathor].
8He makes a decree to his children, to be priests of Hathor, mis-
tress of Royenet.
^The lines are too short at the beginning to number them all.
§ 217] NEKONEKH'S TESTAMENTARY ENACTMENT loi
List of the Priests of Hathor
217. "These are the prophets whom I have made, of my children,
of the endowment,^ to be priests of Hathor. Now, it was King
Menkure who conveyed two pieces^ of land, to these prophets to be
priest therewith.
'°King's-confidant, steward of the Palace, Nekonekh; his wife,
the king's-confidante, Hezethekenu; her children.
^Read dt; the » is misread from the hieratic, as commonly in this word; e. g.,
Sebni, 1. 4 (Sethe, Urkunden, I, 136). Maspero's correction, wdlny, producing a
feminine relative form, is ungrammatical, for it follows a masculine noun." The
endowment meant is probably that of Khenuka, which the same children admin-
istered.
•^This was probably not a unit of measure, for the document afterward assigns
120 Stat, 60 for the Hathor temple, and 60 for the mortuary service of Khenuka;
and these 120 stat are obviously the itemization of the two pieces of land above
mentioned (the 5 stat of 1. 21 are not to be counted).
102
FIFTH DYNASTY: USERKAF
[§2l8
2l8.
''King's-confidante,. Hezethekenu, re-
vered (woman)''
"Scribe of the King's records, Hen-
hathor (man)
'^Shepseshathor, fpriesti (man)
"•Nessuhathoryakhet (man)
Five intercalary
days
I St month
2d month
3d month
4th month
o
en
a
u
Land
5 Stat
5 Stat
S Stat
5 Stat
'sShepseshathor, ''priest'' (man)
I St month
'^Webkuhathor {[Wb-k^w-] Hthr){msLn)
2d month
"Kisuthathor (K" -ySwt-Hthr) (man)
3d month
i^Khebuhathor (^^-b^w-Hthr) (man)
4th month
IS
o
tn
ni
u
•s
O
cn
S Stat
S Stat
S Stat
5 Stat
''Khentisuthathor (Hnt-yiwUHthr) (dis-
appeared)
°Royenet {R^-ynt) (disappeared)
'Left vacant (disappeared)
' — meat, his tenth of all that is paid
[into] the temple, beside the rations
of bread and beer.
Prophet, Henhathor (man with liba-
tion vase)
3d month
o
V
in
'^Mortuary
Priest
'^'•Mortuary
Priest
Mer — (man)
4th month
•'Keksire (Z'ife-s'iJe)' (man)
S Stat
S Stat
S stat<=
sict
5 Stat
5 Stat
"Written »^'< and determining the reading of this season. [Later: See Sethe,
Zeitschrift filr UgypHsche Sprache, 41, 89.]
tiln the original, the names are arranged in perpendicular columns, and a
figure of the person named is depicted below each name. I have added the sex
of the person in each case. The first column is therefore the priests, the second
(double) column is the time of service for each priest, and the third is the amount
of land from which each draws the necessary income.
cThis is an error of the scribe as the other table shows, for in it the entire line,
date and all are vacant.
i 220] NEKONEKH'S TESTAMENTARY ENACTMENT 103
The Decree
219. "Sit was the majesty of Userkaf who commanded that I
should be priest* of Hathor, mistress of Royenet; whatsoever was
paid^ into the temple, it was I who was priest over everything that
came into the temple. "*Now, it is these my children who shall act
as priests of Hathor, mistress of Royenet, as I myself did, while I
journey to the beautiful west, as one revered, in charge of
these my children.
II. THE MORTUARY PRIESTHOOD OE KHENUKA
List of Priests 0} Khenuka
220. "'Now, it is these people^ who make the mortuary offerings
to the king's-confidant, Khenuka (Hnw-k^), his father, his mother
his children, and all his rhousei.
»The text is perfectly clear and correct; emendation is entirely unnecessary.
••Read wdb (as Sethe has done) after the inscription of Persen (Urkunden,
I, 37).
•^The priests of Hathor just mentioned.
I04
FIFTH DYNASTY: USERKAF
[§22I
221.
*Five intercalary
days
^*ist month
g
in
=92d month
Prophet, Henhathor
3°3d month
Royenet (;?'-[);«■<])
314th month
Khentisuthathor
s^ist month
i
a
§
Khebuhathor
33 2d month
Kisuthathor
343 d month
Webkuhathor
3S4th month
Shepseshathor, rpriest'
3* I St month
a
en
Nessuhathoryakhet
372d month
Shepseshathor, •'pfiest"
s^Vacant
Left vacant
393d month
Scribe of the king's records, Henhathor
'•°4th month
King's-confidante, Hezethekenu
"This table corresponds exactly with the preceding, and as it contains no
column for the land, it is probable that the land column of the first table was
intended to serve for both instead of repeating it. Thus both parcels of land men-
tioned in 1. 9 were used: one for Hathor, and one for Khenuka.
§ 226] NEKONEKH'S TESTAMENTARY ENACTMENT 105
The Decree
222. 41N0W, it is these my children who make the mortuary
offerings to the king's-confidant, Khenuka, his father, his mother,
and all his fhouse', at the feast of Wag, the feast of Thoth, and every
feast-day.
III. nekonekh's will
223. The document is largely lost; the fragments beside
the statues are possibly not parts of it, but are relevant, as
showing Nekonekh's own enactments regarding these
persons.
Introduction
224. The steward of the Palace, king's-confidant, Nekonekh,
revered; the king's-confidante, Hezethekenu; — said [to]
his children, while he was upon his two feet, alive before the king
By Two Statues of Henhathor
22s. — the scribe of the king's records, Henhathor (Hn-Hthr) is ^
my heir upon my seat, and lord of all my possessions.
— her* eldest son, honored of his father, scribe of the king's «/
records, Henhathor.
— property ; they shall deliver to this my heir, as they did [rtoi] myself.
— Tgiveni to her ffor' the ration of bread and beer as property,
•"while^ upon my seat, as property. May they deliver the
[ration of] bread and beer to this my heir, as they did [rto^ myself.
IV. nekonekh's mortuary priesthood
Scene
226. The deceased Nekonekh sits before a table of food-
offerings, whUe his eight mortuary priests approach from
behind in pairs, each pair being designated as under the
authority of one of Nekonekh's sons.^
^This figure is doubtless beside the mother, the other beside the father. Eraser's
description is not explicit in this particular.
''Only one pair is perfectly preserved, and one is entirely lost, but the remains
indicate that all four pairs were aUke.
io6 FIFTH DYNASTY: USERKAF [5227
The Decree
227i [These mortuary priests*] are under the authority of these my
children. I have not empowered [any] person*' to take them for any
forced labor, save to make mortuary offerings which are divided in
this house these mortuary priests. As for these my children,
who shall do any work with these mortuary priests, and as for any
man who shall violate (this will), I will enter into judgment with
him.
V. nekonekh's mortuary statue
228. A man and woman, the latter the daughter of Neko-
nekh, had three statues made, representing Nekonekh and
themselves. The inscriptions are these:
Dedication
229. His daughter and his son, who made this for him, accord-
ing to his honor with him.
Over the Three Figures
230. The revered by Hathor, king's-confidante, Ikhnoubet
(Y^lf-nb-t);
^ Inferior scribe of the king's records, king's-confidant, Nonekhsesi
Nekonekh, revered by the great god.
TESTAMENTARY ENACTMENT OF SENUONEKH, REGU-
LATING HIS MORTUARY PRIESTHOOD<=
231. Senuonekh was a priest of Userkaf and Sahure.
This decree from his tomb closely resembles and, in some
parts, is identical with the decree of Khafre's unknown official
(§§ 200-209), but it is better preserved, and also clearer in
the wording.
*Sethe's very probable restoration.
The connection renders Sethe's restoration certain.
cFrom his tomb; published by Mariette, Mastabas, 318; Sethe, Urkunden,
I, 36 f.
§ 235] SENUONEKH'S TESTAMENTARY ENACTMENT 107
Installation of Priests and Descendants
232. 'These mortuary priests of the endowment, and their children
and further the children of their children whom they shall bear for-
ever, are
Entailment of Endowment
233. ^I have not empowered them [to give] (it)* in payment as
property to any person; but they shall give (it) to their children,
entitled to the division of [it with any mortuary priest of these mor-
tuary priests].*^
Transfer of a Priest
234. 3As for any mortuary priest among them who shall ^default', or
who shall be taken for other service, everything which I have given
to him shall revert to the mortuary priests who are in his (priestly)
order. I have not em[powered]
Endowment not Involved in Suits
235. *As'= for any mortuary priest among them who shall institute
legal proceedings against his fellow, everything which I have given to
him shall be taken away, and shall then be given to the mortuary priest
against whom he instituted legal proceedings. I have not empow-
ered — .
*The mortuary endowment.
•"With this compare the similar precautionary clause of the unknown official
of Khafre (§ 203, 11. 8, 9), and see also explanatory note, ibid.
cSee similar clause in decree of an unknown official under Khafre (§ 205).
REIGN OF SAHURE
SINAI INSCRIPTIONS*
Reliej
. 236. King in the crown of Upper Egypt, smites kneeling
Bedwi as in §§ 168, 169.''
The texts, as in §§ 168, 169, and 176, contain only names
and titles of the king:
Horus: Lord of Diadems; King of Upper and Lower Egypt:
Sahure {S^hw-R'^); who is given life forever.
Smiter of all countries.
The Great God smites the Asiatics (mntw) of all countries.
TOMB STELA OF NENEKHSEKHMET<=
237. The stela is a well-executed false door of Turra
limestone, contrasting strikingly with the poor material and
mediocre workmanship of the modest tomb to which it
belonged. The cause of this contrast is indicated in the
inscription, viz., that the stela was a gift from the king.
The Request
s/ 238. The chief physician, Nenekhsekhmet (Slpmt-n-^n}}) spoke be-
fore his majesty: "May thy person, beloved of Re, command that there
be given to me a false door of stone for this my tomb of the cemetery."
^Cut into the rocks of the Wadi Maghara in the Peninsula of Sinai. Text
and relief: Lepsius, Denkmdler, II, 39, a; Laval, Voyage dans la Peninsule Ara-
bique, insc. hi^r., PI. 2, No. 2; Laborde, Voyage de I'Arabie, 5, No. 3; Brugsch,
ThesauruSfVI, 1494 (inscriptions only); Sethe, Urkunden,!, 32; Weill, Sinai, 106.
''Two gods stand behind the king.
'From a mastaba at Sakkara, excavated by Mariette; text: Mariette, Monu-
ments divers, 12, 203, 204; Sethe, Urkunden, I, 38-40. Erman's manuscript copy
collated with original; Maspero, Proceedings of the Society of Biblical Archceology,
XI, 309. Translated by Maspero {ibid.), with discussion of architectural terms;
treated by Erman, Aegypten, 431.
108
§24i] TOMB INSCRIPTION OF PERSEN 109
King's Compliance
239, His majesty caused that there be brought for him two false
doors* from Troja (i? ^ - ' w) of stone, that they be laid in the audience-
hall^ of the house (called) : " Sahure-Shines-with-Crowns," and that the
two high priests of Memphis and the artisans of the r — '^ be assigned
to them, that the work on them might be done in the presence of the
king himself. The stone-work "= went on every day; there was an
inspection of that which was done on them in the court daily. His
majesty had fcolori put on them, and had them painted in blue.
Presentation oj the Gift
240. His majesty"^ said to the chief physician Nenekhsekhmet :
"As these my nostrils enjoy health, as the gods love me, mayest thou
depart into the cemetery at an advanced old age as one revered."
I praised the king greatly and lauded every god for Sahure's sake, for
he knows the desire of the entire suite. When anything goes forth
from the mouth of his majesty, it immediately comes to pass. For
the god has given to him knowledge of things that are in the body,^
because he is more august than any god. If ye love Re, ye shall
praise every god for Sahure's sake, who did this for me. I was his
revered one; never -did I do anything evil toward any person.
TOMB INSCRIPTION OF PERSEN*
241. This inscription is over a scene showing people in
the act of bringing mortuary offerings of food for Persen's
tomb. According to .the inscription, these offerings are
^Erman suggests that a double false door is meant. The same reference to a
double false door is found in the tomb of Debhen {Dbhn). This is the same word
(rwty) used later for a temple fajade, which would explain the dual.
bp^dw, see §501, 1. :i.
cRead St, which I have rendered "quarry-service" in the Empire (II, 93s, 1. 6).
In the Old Kingdom it retains its hteral meaning, "stone-cutting." There was an
"overseer of stone-cutting," or quarry service, in the Old Kingdom (§343)-
dThe following is the presentation of the false doors by the king.
«Of anyone else, "body " or " belly" being the seat of the mind, as we use "heart."
f Limestone slab in Beriin (15004); published by Mariette, Mastabas, 300;
Schaefer, Aegyptische Inschrijten aus dem Koniglichen Museum zu Berlin, I, 22.
no FIFTH DYNASTY: SAHURE [§241
drawn from the income of the queen mother, Neferhotepes,
coming to her from the temple of Ptah.
The bringing of the mortuary offerings to Pharaoh's overseer,
Persen, being the payment of heth(fe<)-loaves, pesen(^j»)-loaves,
and sefet(j//)-oil, which comes from the temple of Ptah-South-of-
His-Wall, for the king's-mother, Neferhotepes, every day, as a per-
petual offering, which he gave for making mortuary offerings there-
with in the time of Sahure.
REIGN OF NEFERIRKERE
TOMB INSCRIPTIONS OF THE VIZIER, CHIEF JUDGE,
AND CHIEF ARCHITECT WESHPTAH^
242. It is much to be regretted that this unusually inter-
esting inscription has suffered so sadly at the hands of
time. Weshptah was the greatest man at the court of
Neferirkere, being vizier, chief judge, and chief architect.
His son Mernuterseteni was called upon to build his father's
tomb, and thus narrates how this happened. The king, his
family and the court were one day inspecting a new build-
ing in course of construction under Weshptah' s superintend-
ence as chief architect. All admire the work, and the king
turns to praise his faithful minister, when he notices that
Weshptah does not hear the words of royal favor. The
king's exclamation alarms the courtiers, the stricken minis-
ter is quickly carried to the court, and the priests and chief
physicians are hurriedly summoned. The king has a case of
medical rolls brought; but all is in vain; the physicians
declare his condition hopeless. The king is smitten with
sorrow, and retires to his chamber, where he prays to Re.
He then makes all arrangements for Weshptah's burial,
ordering an ebony coffin made and having the body anointed
in his own presence. Weshptah's eldest son, Mernuterse-
teni, was then empowered to build the tomb, the king fur-
nishing and endowing it. The son therefore erected it by
the pyramid of Sahure, and, as we have said, recorded the
whole story on its walls.
aFrom his tomb at Abusir; blocks in Cairo (Nos. 1569, 1570, 1673, 1702);
published by Sethe, Urkunden, I, 40-45 (from a copy by Erman).
112 FIFTH DYNASTY: NEFERIRKERE [§243
Erection of the Tomb by His Son
243. '[It was] his eldest [son], first under the king, fadvocate of
the people!, Mernuterseteni {Stny-tnr-ntr) , who made (it)* for him,
while he was in his tomb of the cemetery.
King Visits a New Building
244. " Nef erirkere {Njr-yr-k ^ -R =) came to see the beauty
of^ when he came forth upon them * . His majesty
[caused] that it be ■" — i s the royal children [s]aw *
and they fwonderedi very greatly beyond ^[everything]. Then, lo,
his majesty praised him because of it.*^
Weshptak's Sudden Illness
245. .His majesty saw him, however, that [he] heard not. *
r — i.d When the royal children and companions, who were of the
court, heard, great fear^ was in their hearts.
He is Conveyed to Court, and Dies
246. ' — I^He was conveyed toi] the court, and his majesty
had the royal children, companions, ritual priests, and chief physicians
come ' . His majesty [had] brought for him a case of writ-
ings* — 3 ,. They said before his majesty that he was lost^
* . FThe heart of his majesty^ was] exceedingly fsadi]
beyond everything; his majesty said that he would do everything
according to his heart's desire, and returned to the privy chamber.
King Furnishes Him Sepulture
247. s he prayed to Re * ["^puti] into writing
on his tomb ' . pHis majesty commanded that there be
^This inscription.
•■Evidently some new building in course of erection by Weshptah should here
follow, as Sethe has surmised.
<:The fine tomb.
M speech of the king is lost in the lacuna, as is shown by a pronoun of the
second person singular still discernible.
*Lit. " jear beyond everything."
'This is, of course, a medical papyrus, like the great Papyrus Ebers. This
confirms the claim of this papyrus that some of its recipes were made and used
already in the Old Kingdom.
BMortally sick.
§249] TOMB INSCRIPTIONS OF WESHPTAH 113
made for him a^ coflSn of] ebony wood, sealed. Never [fwas it done to
one like him before! ] laid therein. » • these — of
the northern ^° . His majesty had him anointed by the side
of his majesty.
His Eldest Son Builds the Tomb
248. ^[It was] his eldest son, etc.,* ' there was
[■'made''] for him a flight of steps 3 plenty. When * '■
that he fmight be consignedi] therein to the earth s he
had him come * all — from the court ' one caused
that it be put into writing upon *[his tomb]^ [fHis majesty
praised him'^i] on account of it, and he praised the god for him (thanked
him) exceedingly.
King Endows His Tomb
249, From the scanty fragments of a fourth inscription'^
of the same length, it is evident that the king established a
mortuary endowment for Weshptah's tomb "which was by
the pyramid: The-Soul-of-Sahure-Shines."
*As above § 243, 1. 1. <^The son.
t'See 1. 6, § 247. ^Sethe, Urkunden, I, 44, 45. D.
REIGN OF NUSERRE
SINAI INSCRIPTION*
Relief
250, King in crown of Upper Egjrpt smiting a Bedwi
as in § 168. The texts, as in the similar Sinai tablets, contain
only names and titles of the king.
Great God, Lord of the Two Lands, King of Upper and Lower
Egypt, Favorite of the Two Goddesses: Favorite (Ys't-yb)-^ Golden
Horns: Nuter (Ntr); Nuserre {N-wSr-R'^)" '^; Smiter of
all countries.
Horus: Favorite of the Two Lands (Yi't-yb-Pwy), Nuserre, who
is given life forever; smiter of the Asiatics of every country.
TOMB INSCRIPTIONS OF HOTEPHIRYAKHET«
251. Hotephiryakhet was a priest of Neferirkere and
of the sun-temple of Nuserre at Abusir. The motive
which he proposes to future visitors in his tomb, to induce
»Cut on the rocks of the Wadi Maghara in the Peninsula of Sinai. Text:
Lepsius, DenkmiUer, II, 152, a; Brugsch, Thesaurus, VI, 1495 (inscriptions only);
Sethe, Urkunden, I, 53, 54; Weill, Sinai, 107.
''Elsewhere YSt-yb-t^wy, meaning "Favorite of the Two Lands."
<:This name is to be read N-wsr-R'^. It is of the same formation as the name
of Amenemhet III: N-m'"^t-R<^ for which we have the Greek Ao;«ipj)s. It is a
common formation in proper names, e.g., N-k'w-Re, N-k'w-Pth, N-'^n^-S^m't,
etc., in aU of which the divine name, written first, is to be read last.
^There is uncertainty in the arrangement of signs here; the title "Son of Re,"
inserted at this point, is later followed by the name " Yn" (Cf. Roug^, Recherches
sur les monuments qu'on peut attribuer aux VI premiires dynasties, 88, 89), and the
cartouche containing it perhaps stood under the title in the space now broken
away. Likewise the following "Buio" must belong to something lost below.
The order of the fivefold titulary of the Middle Kingdom has not yet developed.
«Mariette, Mastabas, 342; Sethe, Urkunden, I, 49-51.
114
§254] INSCRIPTION OF PTAHSHEPSES 115
them to make mortuary offerings to him, is of especial inter-
est. He offers to commend them to the god, just as Seti I
later intercedes with the gods for Ramses II, his son (III,
253), and as Ramses III also did for his son (IV, 246 et
passim).
252. 'Judge, attached to Nekhen, Hotephiryakhet (y^ ii,W t-htp-
hr); he saith:
"1 have made this tomb as a just possession, and never have I
taken a thing belonging to any person. ^Whosoever shall make offer-
ing to me therein, I will do (it) for them; I will commend them to the
god for it very greatly; I will do this for them, 3for bread, for beer,
for clothing, for ointment, and for grain, in great quantity. Never
have I done aught ^of violence toward any person. As the god
loves a true matter, I was in honor with the king.
253. 'Judge, eldest of the hall, Hotephiryakhet; he saith:
"I have made this my tomb upon the western arm in a pure place.
There was no ^tomb of any person therein, in order that the possessions
of him, who has gone to his ka, might be protected. As for any people
who shall enter into ^this tomb as their mortuary property or shall
do an evil thing to it, judgment shall be had with them for it, '•by the
great god. I have made this tomb as my shelter; I was honored
by the king, who brought for me a sarcophagus."
INSCRIPTION OF PTAHSHEPSES*
254. This document is especially important for the con-
cluding history of the Fourth Dynasty, and the chronology
of the first half of the Fifth. Ptahshepses was bom under
Menkure, of the Fourth Dynasty, and was still living under
Nuserre, the fifth king of the Fifth Dynasty ;'' thus deter-
^From a false door in his mastaba, discovered at Sakkara by Mariette, pub-
lished by Mariette, Mastabas, 112, 113; Roug^, Recherches sur les monuments qu'on
peut atlribuer aux VI premises dynasties, 66-73; Roug€, Inscriptions hieroglyph-
iques, 79-80; Sethe, Urkunden, I, 51-53.
tiHe was priest in Nuserre's sun-temple (Mariette, Mastabas).
ii6 FIFTH DYNASTY: NUSERRE [§254
mining that the period from the last years of Menkure to
the first of Nuserre was not longer than a man's lifetime.
Unfortunately, the upper ends of the eight vertical lines
containing the inscription are broken oflf at the top. The
first two lines are occupied by two reigns, showing that
Ptahshepses is narrating his life by reigns. Now, 11. 4, 5, 6,
and 7 all begin alike at the point where the loss at the top
ends. It is perfectly clear, therefore, that they each con-
tain a reign." Line 3 is different and has "his majesty"
so close to the top that it can hardly refer to a new king, but
probably continues the reign of Shepseskaf from 1. 2. As
we know that Ptahshepses lived into the reign of Nuserre,
we must insert this king at the top of the last line. Omitting
the brief reign of Shepseskaf's successor, and the probably
equally brief reign of Khaneferre in the Fifth Dynasty,''
the kings enumerated by Ptahshepses were not improbably
as in following section.
^Confer the same wording in the reigns of Menkure and Shepseskaf.
^Ptahshepses has omitted two reigns between Menkure and Shepseskaf, hence
the other omissions assumed are not wholly arbitrary.
§257]
INSCRIPTION OF PTAHSHEPSES
117
255-
Fourth Dynasty
Fifth Dynasty
I
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
1
1
a
<a
■S
.a
l-H
1
1
§
(J
1,
t
in
1
<5-
s
i
1
U
-d
J
a
1
1
1
I
1
1
1
iz;
1
1
1
cn
"en
&
1
1
1
■a
Reign of Menkure
256. * * [in] the time of Menkure (Mn-k^ w-R'^) ; whom he
educated among the king's-children, in the palace of the king, in the
privy chamber, in the royal harem; who was more honored before
the king than any child (hrd) ; Ptahshepses (Pih-SpSS).
Reign of Shepseskaf
237. * [in] the time of Shepseskaf {SpSi-k ' /) ; whom he edu-
cated among the king's-phildren, in the palace of the king, in the privy
chamber, in the royal harem; who was more honored before the king
^Probably: "I was bom in the time of M."
ii8 FIFTH DYNASTY: NUSERRE [§258
than any youth (yd), Ptahshepses ^ . His majesty gave to
him the king's eldest daughter, Matkha (M^'^'t-^'^ as his wife, for his
majesty desired that she should be with him more than (with) anyone ;
Ptahshepses.
Reign of Userkaf
258. 4[Attached^ to Userkaf, high priest of Memphis,] more
honored by the king than any servant. He descended into every ship
of the court; he entered upon the ways of the southern palace^ at all
the Feasts-of-the-Coronation;'= Ptahshepses.
Reign of Sahure
259. '[Attached* to Sahure, more honored by the king than*] any
servant, as privy councilor of every work which his majesty desired to
do; who pleased the heart of his lord every day; Ptahshepses.
Reign of Neferirkere
260. ^[Attached* to Neferirkere, more honored by the king than]
any servant; when his majesty praised him for a thing, his majesty
permitted that he should kiss his foot, and his majesty did not permit
that he should kiss the ground; Ptahshepses.
Reign of Neferefre
261. '[Attached to Neferefre, more honored by the king than] any
servant; he descended into the sacred barge at all Feasts-of-the-
Appearance;"^ beloved of his lord; Ptahshepses."
Reign of Nuserre
262. * attached* to the heart of his lord, beloved of his
lord, revered of Ptah, doing that which the god desires of him, pleasing
ing every artificer under the kingj Ptahshepses.
^Following Sethe, after Mariette, Mastabas, 375.
^Cf. the parallel in tomb of Sebu (Roug^, Inscriptions hiiroglyphiques, 95)
which renders the reading certain here.
<=The appearances in public of the king at anniversaries of his coronation.
"^The appearance of the gods in festal procession on the river.
'The remaining three lines contain chiefly conventional phrases and titles.
* Ptahshepses is now an old man; hence the change in form.
REIGN OF MENKUHOR
SINAI INSCRIPTION^
263. The relief, if there was any, has cracked off. The
text is as follows:
Horus: Menkhu {Mn-}}'^w); King of Upper and Lower Egypt:
Menkuhor (Mn k^w-H^r), who is given life, stability [like Re, forever].
Commission of [the king],'' which — ^ executed.
The inscription is the earliest in Sinai in which the leader
of the expedition has ventured to insert a commemoration of
himself beside that of the king. Such a record of the leader
and his followers now becomes customary.
^Cut in the rocks of Wadi Maghara on the Peninsula of Sinai; text: Lepsius,
Denkmdler, II, 39, e; Brugsch, Thesaurus, VI, 1493 (inscriptions only); Sethe,
Vrkunden, I, 54; Weill, Sinai, 109.
^Cf. Lepsius, Denkmdler, II, 39, d, where the same phrase occurs uninjured
(§264).
<=The lacuna contained the name of the official who executed the commission.
119
REIGN OF DEDKERE-ISESI
SINAI INSCRIPTIONS
I^
264. The relief, if any existed, has disappeared. At the
top appears the titulary of the king, as follows:
Horus: Dedkhu (Dd-fy'^w), Son of Re, who lives forever.
Dedkere (Dd-k^-R'^, beloved of Buto and the souls of [Pe], [who is
given] life, health, [all] joy [forever].
Commission of the king, which — ^ executed.
II <=
265. There was apparently no relief; the text is both
uncertain and owing to the crudity of the signs is very
difficult. It furnishes an excellent example of the old
method of dating by the fiscal census.
266. Year after the fourth occurrence of the numbering of all large
and small cattle,'^ when the god caused^ that costly stone be found in
the secret mine f — 1 a f stela" with writing of the god himself;^ (under)
"Cut into the rocks of Wadi Maghara, Sinai; text: Lepsius, Denkmdler, II,
39, d; Brugsch, Thesaurus, VI, 1494 (inscriptions only); Sethe, Urkunden, I, 55;
Weill, Sinai, 118.
•'Name of official has fallen out; "l^w — hk — " is still preserved.
<:Also in the Wadi Maghara; published by Birch, Zeitschrijt jiir dgypHsche
Sprache, 1869, 26 f.; Brugsch, Thesaurus, VX, 1494, No. 20 (incomplete); Sethe,
Urkunden, I, 55, 56 (from a collation of a squeeze in the British Museum by R.
Weill).
■^Compare § 340 (Lepsius, Denkmdler, II, 116, a); we have here dates accord-
ing to the fiscus.
'Infinitive in a date? Read dyt ntr.
£1 take it that the whole of this is a date, followed by the name of the king,
and then the event below. A "writing of the god himself" is the customary desig-
nation of any ancient document. Some stela of their ancestors led them to the
desired vein.
120
§ 268] TOMB INSCRIPTIONS OF SENEZEMIB 121
Horus: Dedkhu {Dd-lp'^w); king of Upper and Lower Egypt, Favorite
of the Two Goddesses: Dedkhu; Golden Horus: T>ed{pd); Dedkere
(Dd-k ^ -R '^) Isesi, Uving forever.
Royal commission sent with the ship-captain, Nenekh-Khentikhet
{N-'-nlj.-^nty-htY to the terrace,*' the name of which is " Malachite."^
A list of the members of the expedition followed."^
Ill'
267. The king is shown smiting a Bedwi; beside him
the words:
Smiter of all countries.
[The Great God]* smites the [Asiatics].*
Same scene repeated; inscription:
Smiter of all countries.
Perhaps belonging to these scenes is the date:"*
Year of the ninth occurrence of the numbering of large cattle
TOMB INSCRIPTIONS OF SENEZEMIB, CHIEF JUDGE,
VIZIER, AND CHIEF ARCHITECT'
268. The most powerful man at Isesi' s court here nar-
rates his favors with the king, in the course of which he in-
cludes verbatim two letters from his lord, one of which his
aA name of the same form as Nenekhsekhmet (N-'^nff-S^m-f).
^Confirming my note {New Chapter, p. 29, n. b).
cFk^'t as in the Pyramid Texts; see also the dupUcate of Pepi II (§ 342).
dWeill, Sinai, no, and possibly also 114.
«Also in Wadi Maghara; published by Brugsch, Thesaurus, VI, 1494, 21;
Sethe, Urkunden, I, 56; Weill, Sinai, 119.
f So Sethe. aWadi Maghara; Brugsch, Thesaurus, VI, 1494, 19.
hSethe, ibid.; Weill, Sinai, 118.
iProm his mastaba-tomb by the pyramid of Khufu at Gizeh; pubhshed by
Lepsius, Denkmaler, II, 76, c-f (cf. Text, I, 55, 56); Sethe, Urkunden, I, 59-67
(collated with drawings in Berlin Museum, Nos. 366, 367).
y
122 FIFTH DYNASTY: DEDKERE-ISESI [§269
majesty wrote with his own hand. A lake of 1,200 cubits'
length is planned for by the architect, and the king expresses
his delight with the plan. Unfortunately, the fragmentary
state of the inscription renders the narrative very obscure.
269. The closing inscriptions were the work of Senezem-
ib's son, who after his father's death recorded in the tomb
the mortuary endowment of his father, and the presentation
of the sarcophagus by the king.
Senezemib's Fidelity and Honors
270. ^'[T was one who pleased the king'' as mas]ter of secret things
of his majesty, as favorite of his majesty in everything, ' As
for any work which his majesty commanded to do, I did (it) according
to the desire of his majesty's heart toward it ^ his majesty,
while he was in the place^ of writings. When it came to pass ''
his majesty caused that I be anointed with fat s[by the side of his maj-
esty] "= [Nevejr [was done] the like by the side of the king for
anyone * . [His majesty] himself wrote with his (own) fingers,'^ r
in order to praise me '[^because I did every work which his majesty
commanded to doi] well and excellently according to the desire of his
majesty's heart toward it.
Letter by the King's Own Hand
271. ®RoyaI command (to)^ the chief judge, vizier, chief scribe of V
the king's writings, 'chief of all works of [the king, Senezemib].
'°My majesty has seen this thy letter, which thou hast sent to inform
me that " for (the building called:) " Beloved-of-Isesi,"
which is built — for the palace of , fbeing truly! Senezemib
"in rejoicing the heart ^ of Isesi . ; ffor thou
^Lepsius, Denkmdler, II, 76, d, Sethe, A. A horizontal line may have preceded
this, and contained Senezemib's name and titles.
•"The king thus visited the public archives in company with the vizier, Sene-
zemib.
<:The restoration is certain; see Weshptah (§ 247, 1. 10).
"IDual; this is the letter given below, 11. 8-16.
'Omitted also in the second letter and in the letter of Harkhuf (§ 351).
^Senezemib's name means " Rejoicing the heart," and the king is punning on
his official's name.
§274] TOMB INSCRIPTIONS OF SENEZEMIB 123
cansf] '3speak that which Isesi loves, better than any men who are in
this [whole land] — '*. When indeed every vessel
'5it rejoices the heart of Isesi* — true '^most excel-
lent .
King Isesi Counsels with Senezemib^
272. ' . "Thou shalt make a lake according as he saith in
— ' his lord — . [My majesty] greatly desires to hear this thy
word 3 my majesty — • everything ■ ." Said the chief
of all works of '•[the king, Senezemib]'^ .
Second Letter from the King
273. 'Royal command (to)'^ the chief judge, vizier, chief of all
works of the king, *chief scribe of the king's writings, Senezemib.
'My majesty has seen the plan of this command '°for the
palace of Isesi (called): Nehbet" " — [length] 1,200 cubits,
[width] 221* cubits, according to that which was commanded to [thee]
— ■" — 1 . '^Now, the god hath made thee the favorite of
Isesi [more than any men] '3-who are in this whole land — . I will do
every great things .
Endowment of Tomb
274. In the next section'' Senezemib's son, Senezemib,
called Mehi (Mhy) says that "a command was issued" to
"^gather the princes'^" and other people. The command evi-
dently concerned the endowment of his father's tomb, called
"this his tomb which I m^ade for him in only one year and
/
^Senezemib's name means "Rejoicing the heart," and the king is punning on
his official's name.
''Lepsius, Denkmaler, II, 76 f.; Sethe, B.
<=Here followed the reply of Senezemib in three lines, but it has almost entirely
disappeared; the words "whom Re loves" still visible, show that he is addressing
the king.
■JSee § 271, and note. 'May be a few units more.
^Sethe suggests a garden of the palace. ^Fragments of two more lines.
l^Lepsius, Denkmaler, 76, c; Sethe, C.
124 FIFTH DYNASTY: DEDKERE-ISESI [§275
^three^ months, while he was in r '^ in the eternal house^
which is at the pyramid: 'Isesi *-is-[Beautiftd']."
The son then adds: There was brought grain from the
accounting of the divine ojferings, from the North and the
South, with a reference, after a break in the text, to the con-
tinuance of the offerings "until today as new. Then his
majesty caused decrees to be sealed ^with^ the seal of writings,"
of course for the perpetuation of the mortuary offerings.
A long lacuna doubtless contained other benefactions, after
which we find, "he appointed mortuary priests [of the endow-
ment], and I had it put into writing." The record of it was
placed in the tomb where "it was ^ engraved^ by the artists."
The mortuary priests were "divided into phyles," and the
son then asked the king to give the equipment and furniture
of the tomb, referring to the well-known quarry of Troja,
whence came so much of the stone used in the Old Kingdom
cemeteries.
Sarcophagus
275. Another inscription,'' now very fragmentary, nar-
rates the bringing of the sarcophagus, etc., for which the
son had asked. After a statement of the king's command,
we find the usual officials "on a ferry-boat. Everything was
done by these sailors, according to that which had been {com-
manded^ concerning it in the court. '° . This
sarcophagus, together with \its lid\, arrived at the pyramid:
'Horizon-of-Khufu,'" where the tomb of Senezemib was
located. The officers who conducted the work were praised
by the king, and "this sarcophagus" was conveyed to its
"place."
»A temporary resting-place, while the tomb was being built.
''Lepsius, Denkmdler, II, 76, e; Sethe, D.
§279] MORTUARY INSCRIPTION OF NEZEMIB 125
Relief
276. This inscription is accompanied by a relief, showing
the transport of the sarcophagus across the river. Over
the relief are the words:
The great rtowi-boat, the name of which is "Mighty-is-Isesi."
Three men on the bow are designated as: Overseer of
ten; [naval] commander; overseer of r — 1 (sb^)', while one
in the stern is called "captain." The sarcophagus and lid
are shown, accompanied by the words "sarcophagus" and
"lid."
Son's Inscription
277. The son Senezemib, called Mehi, left in his father's
tomb a short inscription^ stating that he placed the above
records on the walls of his father's tomb. Only the ends of
the three lines remain, but the son closes the record of his
pious work with a reminder to his own son by referring to
himself as one "whose son shall do the like for him."
MORTUARY INSCRIPTION OF NEZEMIBi'
278. A short mortuary prayer, interesting for its quaint
claim that the deceased was never beaten ! Nezemib (Ndm-
yb) was probably a private citizen of the middle class, from
whom very few monuments have descended to us.
279. O ye hving who are (yet) upon earth, who pass by this tomb;
let water be poured out for me, for I was a master of secret things.
Let a mortuary ofifering of that which is with you come forth for me,
for I was one beloved of the people. Never was I beaten in the pres-
ence of any official since my birth; never did I take the property of any
man by violence; (but) I was a doer of that which pleased all men.
^Lepsius, Denkmakr, II, 78, b; Sethe, Urkunden, I, 67.
bCairo, 1732; published by Mariette, Mastabas, 417; Brugsch, Thesaurus, V,
1212; Sethe, Urkunden, I, 75.
126 FIFTH DYNASTY: DEDKERE-ISESI [§280
TOMB INSCRIPTION OF THE NOMARCH HENKU^
280. This nomarch, with his brother, was ruler of the
Cerastes-Mountain nome, the twelfth nome of Upper Egypt,
opposite the Lycopolite, or thirteenth, nome. He flourished
late in the Fifth or early in the Sixth Dynasty, and his
descendants enjoyed the favor of the Sixth Dynasty Pha-
raohs (§§ 344 ff.). So little is known of the nomarchs of the
Old Kingdom that the meager data of this inscription are
of importance. Especially noteworthy are the statements
regarding the settlement of people from other nomes in his
nome. Besides being much mutilatedj the inscription is
frequently very obscure. I have only rendered the more
important passages and those which are most intelligible.''
281. 'O all ye people of the Cerastes-Mountain; O ye great lords
of other nomes, who shall pass by this tomb, I, Henku (Hnkw), tell
good things:
II
I gave bread to all the hungry of the Cerastes-Mountain; '^I clothed
him who was naked therein. I filled its shores '^with large cattle, and
its lowlands! with small cattle. '■*! satisfied the wolves'^ of the mountain
and the fowl of heaven with rfleshi '^of small cattle '*I was
lord and overseer of southern grain in this nome '^j
settled the ffeeble' towns in this nome with the people of other nomes;
*In a cliff-tomb at Der eI-Gebra.wi; published by Davies, Deir-el-Gebrdwi, II,
Pis. 24, 25; Sethe (from Davies), Urkunden, I, 76-79.
•"See Davies' excellent remarks on Henku, ibid., 42.
<=This general beneficence toward man and beast includes here the animals
sacred in Henku's locality. Across the river the jackal was the sacred animal,
while in Henku's own nome the hawk was sacred. It is no accident that these
are just the two animals which Henku fed, for the word translated "wolf," should
be more general, designating all wild animals of the canine family and the like.
We have here then the first symptoms from which the behef in the sacredness of
whole classes of animals (as opposed to one member only) afterward grew up.
The same thing in a later stage is observable in the Saite time. On a stela in
Miramar a man says: "/ gave bread to the hungry, water [to] the thirsty, clothing
to the naked; I gave food to the ibis, the hawk, the cat, and the jackal" (Bergmann,
Hieroglyphische Inschrijten, PI. VI, 11. 9, 10).
§ 28i] NOMARCH HENKU'S TOMB INSCRIPTION 127
''those who had been peasant-serfs therein, I made their offices as ofl&cials
(Sr). "°I never oppressed one in possession of his property, so that he
complained of me because of it to the god of my city; (but) I spake, and
told that which was good ; '"never was there one fearing because of one
stronger than he, so that he complained because of it to the god.
I arose then ^^to be ruler (hk^) in the Cerastes-Mountain, together
with my brother, the revered, the sole companion, ritual priest, Re-am
(i? "= -C ^ ot"!), ^3i was a benefactor to it (the nome) in the folds of the cattle,
in the setdements of the fowlers. I settled its every district '''•with men
and cattle small cattle indeed. I speak no lie, ^'for I was ^^one
beloved of his father ^'praised of his mother, '^excellent in character to
his brother, "'and amiable to [his sister] *
*Seveii short lines are omitted.
THE SIXTH DYNASTY
REIGN OF TETI
INSCRIPTIONS OF SABU, ALSO CALLED IBEBI^
282. Sabu, called also Ibebi, was a favorite oflScial at
the courts of Unis, the last king of the Fifth, and Teti, the
first king of the Sixth Dynasty. Under both he held the
important office of high priest of Ptah at Memphis, and to
this oft-repeated title he adds also his other oflSces, mingled
with a long series of self-laudatory epithets and phrases.
Of these the inscriptions chiefly consist, but he gives us also
a few interesting statements which throw light on the career
of such a noble at court. The inscriptions are rendered
below with all repetitions, as an unaltered example of such
records in the Old Kingdom. In some phrases Sabu's
inscription is identical with that of Ptahshepses (§§ 254 ff,).
Career under Unis^
283. Attached to (King) Unis, high priest of Ptah, more honored
by the king than any servant. He'= descended"^ into every barge; a
member of the court, [when he entered] the ways of [the southern
palace] at feasts,*^ Sabu {S^hw), whose beautiful name was Ibebi
(Jbby).
284. ^Honored by the king, doing his pleasure, one whom his lord
^From his mastaba-tomb at Sakkara; the publications will be found with each
section below.
liMariette, Mastabas, 375 D; Sethe, Urkunden, I, 81 A, at the entrance on
the right.
<=Compare Ptahshepses, § 258, 1. 4.
^H ' / is evidently past tense here, as Unis was deceased when the inscription
was made.
^Mariette, Mastabas, 375 C; Sethe, Urkunden, I, 81 B; at the entrance on
the left.
131
132 SIXTH DYNASTY: TETI [§285
loves, high priest of Ptah, attached to the Double House, feast-day
attendant, prophet of Ptah, prophet of Sokar, Sabu, etc.^
Career under Teti
285. t'^Todayin the presence of the Son of Re: Teti, living forever,
high priest of Ptah, more honored by the king than any servant, as
master of secret things of every work which his majesty desired should
be done; pleasing the heart of his lord every day, high priest of Ptah,
Sabu. 'High priest of Ptah, cup-bearer of the king, master of secret
things of the king in his every place, honored by the king, high priest of
Ptah, attached to the Double House, feast-day attendant, pleasing
every artificer, honored by every sovereign, a member of his court,
attached to the heart of his lord, the favorite of his lord's heart, beloved
of his lord, revered of Ptah, doing that which the god desired of him
every day in the king's presence.
286. "^Today in the presence of the Son of Re: Teti, Uving forever;
high priest of Ptah, more honored in the king's presence than any serv-
ant. He descends"^ into any barge; a member of the court when he enters
upon the ways of the southern palace at the "Feasts-of-the-Coronation,"
high priest of Ptah, feast-day attendant, Sabu. When his majesty
favored me, his majesty caused that I enter into the privy chamber,
that I might set for him the people^ into every place; where I found
the way.* Never was done the like to any servant Uke me, by any
sovereign, because his majesty loved me more than any servant of his;
because I did that which he praised every day, because I was honored
in his heart. I was useful in his majesty's presence, I found a way in
every secret matter of the court, I was honored in his majesty's presence.
aAs above, § 283.
iTalse door now in Cairo Museum, No. 1565, right side; published by Mariette,
Mastabas, 413, 414; Sethe, Urkunden, I, 82, 83 (from copy by Erman).
oSame false door, left side; published by Roug4 Inscriptions hiSroglyphiques,
95; Mariette, Mastabas, 412-414; Sethe, Urkunden, I, 83, 84 (from copy by
Erman).
dAs Teti was still living at the time the inscription was made, the verbs are
evidently present tense; but in Ptahshepses (| 258, 1. 4) they are past.
*The people ("^ nffw) of the court, to whom he assigned their places.
£As he pleased ? The sense is doubtful, as there are several possible render-
ings of the construction.
§ 289] INSCRIPTION OF AN UNKNOWN BUILDER 133
INSCRIPTION OF SABU, ALSO CALLED THETY*
287. This Sabu was the successor of Sabu, called also
Ibebi (§§ 282 ff.), as High Priest of Ptah.^ His inscription
is of importance as showing that before his time there were
always two high priests of Ptah.
288. . Today in the presence of his majesty. His majesty
appointed me fas High Priest of Memphis alone^J^ . [The
temple] of " Ptah-South-of-His-Wall " in its every place was under my
charge, although there never vi^as fa single High Priest of Ptah before^j^
Sokar in Shetyt (Stt), all the sacred possessions and all duties
which two high priests of Ptah did. although never was the
like done by any high priest of Ptah in the time of [any king]
of the house of the crown-possessions as an honor from his majesty.
His majesty appointed me under my charge, although their
offices were like (those of) [their] fathers — ; under my charge,
which was done in the whole land; the heart of his majesty being
mightier than anything that is done therein.
INSCRIPTION OF AN UNKNOWN BUILDER^
289. The unknown, a mere fragment of whose tomb
inscription here follows, was perhaps the builder of the
pjTamid-temple of Teti, for he relates a royal commission
to conduct the work on a ka-temple (ht-k^) for which the
materials came from the Troja quarry, opposite the Sak-
kara cemetery where Teti's pyramid stands.
^Fragment of a false door in Cairo Museum, Nos. 1709, 1756; published
by Mariette, Mastabas, 390; Sethe, Urkunden, I, 84, 85 (from copy by Erman).
''Still another Sabu, a third of the name, was called "Sabu the black" {S^bw km
Mariette, Mastabas, C 23), perhaps to distinguish him from the other two, for he
was also high priest of Ptah.
cSo restored by Sethe; and, in view of the following context, the restoration
is very probable.
"^Fragment in Cairo, No. 1433, published by Sethe, Urkunden, I, 86, 87 (from
copy by Erman).
134 SIXTH DYNASTY: TETI [§ 290
290. I did so that his majesty praised me on account of it ■" 1
[His majesty caused that I enter] into the privy chamber,
and that I become a member of the sovereign's court -
Today in the presence of (king) Teti, my lord . His majesty
sent me to conduct the works in the ka-temple made and in
(the quarry) of Troja I made a false door there, conducting
[the work] His majesty caused that I come down-
stream
INSCRIPTION OF UNI^
291. This is the longest narrative inscription and the
most important historical document from the Old Kingdom.
Uni's career is narrated from its beginning under King Teti,
through the entire reign of Pepi I, to its termination under
Mernere. Besides the general instructiveness of the life of
a great lord of the court in the Old Kingdom, Uni's narra-
tive tells us of the only important wars of the Old Kingdom
of which we are informed.
The biography falls into three parts:
I. Career under Teti (1. i), §§292-94.
II. Career under Pepi I (11. 2-32), §§306-15.
III. Career under Meniere (11. 32-50) §§319-24.
^From his mastaba-tomb, discovered by Mariette at Abydos. It occupies a
single block of limestone i™, 10 high and 2™. 70 wide, which formed one of the
walls of the exterior chapel of the mastaba {Catalogue general d' Abydos, 84, No.
522). It is now in Cairo. Published by de Roug^, MSmoires de VAcademie des
Inscriptions et belles-lettres, XXV, (Paris, 1866) ; Rouge, Recherches sur les monu-
ments qu'on peut attribuer aux VI premihres dynasties, VII-VIII; Mariette, Abydos,
II, 44; Erman, Zeitschrijt fiir dgyptisclie Sprache, 1882, 1-27 (text collated with
copies by Brugsch and Goldnischeff) ; a collation of Erman with the original by
Piehl, ibid., 1888, iii f.; Brugsch, Thesaurus, VI, 1470-77; Gr^baut, Musee,
PI. 27, 28 (photo.); Sethe, Urkunden, I, 98-110. Gr^baut's photograph and
Sethe's copy from the Berlin squeeze (No. 1541) are the only correct texts.
Beside Sethe, I had also a copy collated with the original by Erman and
Borchardt.
§ 494] INSCRIPTION OF UNI 135
■ I. CAREER UNDER KING TETI
292 . Under this king Uni passed his childhood and entered
upon his official career at the bottom of the ladder as an
under-custodian of a royal domain.
Introduction
293. [Count, governor of the South], chamber-attendant, attached to
Nekhen, lord of Nekheb, sole companion, revered before Osiris, First
of the Westerners, Uni (Wny). He says:
Beginning of Career
294. '[I was a child]* who fastened on the girdle under the majesty
of Teti (Tty) ; my office was that of supervisor of ■" — ' and I filled*' the
office of inferior custodian of the domain of Pharaoh. =
[Continued §§306 £f.]
^Restored from the stela of Simontu (§ 597, 1. 5); that we are to read "girdle"
here, and not "crown" (Maspero, Dawn, 417). is shown by a pyramid passage
(Pepi I, 1. 428); see Erman; also Piehl, Sphinx, II, 134. Hence, the current
description of the garland-wearing children is without support from the inscriptions.
bLit.: "made," as often elsewhere.
"^Perhaps a word lost at end of line here.
REIGN OF PEPI I
HAMMAMAT INSCRIPTIONS*
295. It is a question whether these inscriptions are the
record of three expeditions or of one. If only one party left
these records, it is probable that the jealousies between the
bureau service and the practical craftsmen can be discerned
in them.'' They are further interesting, because the master
pyramid-buUder accompanied the expedition, the object of
which must therefore have been the securing of the hard
and costly stone for the finer portions of Pepi I's pyramid
and its temple at Sakkara.'
I. THE king's inscriptions
296. The royal memorial of this expedition occurs twice:
in the first"* the king's figure appears twice, back to back,
enthroned in the jubilee-hall, accompanied by his titulary
and the words: "First occurrence of the Sed Jubilee." The
second' shows the king with staff and war-club standing
before the ithyphallic Min; above is his titulary, and in
front: "Beloved of the lord of Coptos (Min)." Behind the
king: "First occurrence of the Sed Jubilee."
^Engraved on the rocks of the Hammamat quarry; on this place, see Erman,
Life in Ancient Egypt, 472. They are published by Lepsius, Denkmaler, II, 115,
li, b, c, e, g, i, k; Sethe, Urkunden, I, 93-96.
tiSee Schaefer, Zeitschrijt jiir dgyptische Sprache, XL, 75-77.
'See Schaefer, loc. cit.
■iLepsius, Denkmaler, II, 115, a; Sethe, Urkunden, I, 96 A.
^Lepsius, DenkmMer, II, 115, e; Sethe, Urkunden, I, 96 B. Three other
inscriptions on vessels made for the jubilee celebration, and merely bearing the
king's name and the words, "First occurrence of the Sed Jubilee," will be found in
Sethe, Urkunden, I, 97 C, D, E.
136
§ 299] HAMMAMAT INSCRIPTIONS 137
n. THE expedition's inscription*
297. This is the inscription recording the expedition as
a whole, led by the chief architect and the two treasurers of
the god.
298. Year'' after the eighteenth occurrence (of the numbering),
third month of the third season (twelfth month), day 27 of the king of
Upper and Lower Egypt, Merire (Pepi I), who lives forever; first
occurrence of the Sed Jubilee. Royal commission which the chief of
all works of the king, the sole companion, master-builder of the king,
attached to the Double House, Merire-meriptah-onekh ; his son, the
ritual priest, Merire-meriptah-onekh; and the treasurers of the god,
Ikhi (Y^y) and Ihu (Yhw), carried out.
The names of five "assistant artisans" and of three
" king's-confidants and master-builders" are then recorded
below.
III. CHIEF architect's INSCRIPTION "=
299. This record places all the bureau ofl&cers first and
the two treasurers of the god last.
Year after .
Royal commission which the chief of all works of the king, sole
companion, master-builder of the king, attached to the Double House,
Merire-meriptah-onekh, carried out.
^Lepsius, Denkmaler, II, 115, g; Sethe, Urkunden, I, 93 (collated with draw-
ing by Lepsius' expedition.)
^The date of the Sinai inscription, which is also coincident with the Sed Jubilee,
is eleven days later. The discrepancy is easily explained by the fact that these
expeditions were both sent out to secure materials for monuments in the year of
this festival; the dates given were not intended to indicate its exact day. If the
numberings took place every two years, then the first Sed festival occurred in the
thirty-sixth or thirty-seventh year, which we know is impossible. Meyer supposes
that the numberings had now become more frequent {AegypHsche Chronologic,
169-70), which is probable. See also Sethe, Untersuchungen, III.
<: Lepsius, Denkmaler, II, 115, k; Sethe, Urkunden, I, 94.
138 SIXTH DYNASTY: PEPI I [§ 300
Overseer of the administration of divine offerings, attached to the
Double House, first under the king, judge, inferior scribe, Sesi (Ssy).
Scribe of the king's records, Khenu (Hnw).
Judge, attached to Nekhen, Khui (Hwy).
Treasurer of the god, Ihu.
Treasurer of the god, Ikhi.
IV. INSCRIPTION OF THE TREASURER OF THE GOD, IKHI*
300. One of the two treasurers of the god, perhaps in-
censed at being placed at the foot of the list in the preceding
inscription, has in this inscription recorded himself alone as
the leader of the expedition, omitting the chief architect and
the bureau officials entirely, and even his colleague, Ihu.
At the extreme right, framed between two scepters and
the sign for heaven at the top, is the titulary of Pepi I,
accompanied by the words: "First occurrence of the Sed
Jubilee." At the left of this appears the inscription:
301. Royal commission which the treasurer of the god, Ikhi (Yfpy),
carried out.
His son, the ship-captain Ikhi.
Below appear the names of five "assistant artisans of
the palace" and the "master pyramid-builder, Thethi."^
SINAI INSCRIPTION^
302. I. The titulary of the king in one line at the top is:
"King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Favorite of the Two
Goddesses; Merikhet (Mry-ht); Merire (Mry-R^), Pepi I,
^Lepsius, Denkmaler, II, 115, c; Sethe, Urkunden, I, 94, 95.
''Another inscription (Lepsius, Denkmaler, II, 115, 6) contains only the names
of the sons of some of the officials.
<=Engraved on the rocks at Wadi Maghara; text: Lepsius, Denkmaler, II,
116,0; Brugsch, Thesaurus, VI, 1496, No. 26; Sethe, Urkunden, I, 91-92 (from
squeeze); Morgan, Recherches, I, 235; Weill, Sinai, 121.
|304] INSCRIPTION IN THE HATNUB QUARRY 139
given all life forever." It surmounts two reliefs: that on
the right contains the Horus-name of the king: "Meri-towe
(mryy-Pwi, 'Beloved of the Two Lands')," and the figure of
the king striding as at a ceremonial, preceded by the words:
"First occurrence of the Sed Jubilee." Establishment^ of the
field r ^. The relief on the left shows Pepi I smiting
the Asiatics in the manner conventional since prehistoric
times.
303. 2. Below the reliefs is the inscription of the officers
of the expedition, as follows:
Year after the eighteenth occurrence (of the numbering), fourth
month of the third season (twelfth month), day 6. Commission
which the commander of the army Ibdu (Ybdw),^ son of the
commander of the troops Merire-onekh, carried out.
Then follows a list of fifteen subordinate officials and
members of the expedition; such a list, better preserved
will be found in § 343.
INSCRIPTION IN THE HATNUB QUARRY"
304. In the year of the twenty-fifth numbering, Pepi I
sent an expedition to the alabaster quarries of Hatnub, back
of Tell el-Amarna, under charge of the nomarch of the
Hare nome (XV) of Upper Egypt. Attached to the king's
name is the phrase "First occurrence of the Sed Jubilee," and
on any theory of the Sed Jubilee this date is in glaring con-
tradiction of Pepi I's Sed JubUee in the year of the eighteenth
»(W)ii "put" or "place;" perhaps an endowment of land is indicated.
bOr "Ibdu's son .... Merire-onekh."
<:Blackden-Fraser, Hieratic Graffiti, PI. 15, i; Sethe, Urkunden, I, 95, 96,
after Blackden-Fraser, but with useful corrections of evident errors; whence also
the restorations.
140 SIXTH DYNASTY: PEPI I [§ 305
numbering. Is it used here at Hatnub only as an epitheton
ornans, in recollection of the feast?
305. Horus: Beloved of the Two Lands (wrjiy-P wy) ; king of Upper
and Lower Egypt: Merire (Pepi I), given life forever. First occurrence
of the S[ed Jubilee]. Year of the twenty-fifth occurrence (of the num-
bering), first (month) of the first season, [day] — .
[rRoyal commission which''] the sole companion, chief [of the six
courts of justice], — , first under the king, master of se[cret things]
, marshal of the two thrones, governor of the palace, ""reaP
governor of the South, great lord of the Hare nome, Khuu's (^ "^ tiw)
son, Nenekhseskhnum {Ifnm-n-'-nl},-ss), [rexecutedi].
INSCRIPTION OF UNI
[Continued from § 294]
II. CAREER xnSTDER PEPI I
306. Pepi I promoted the obscure under-custodian of
the royal domains, to be a judge of the Nekhen court; at the
same time giving him rank among the courtiers and an
income as inferior prophet of the pyramid-temple. As
judge he soon gained the confidence of his superiors. The
king granted him the equipment for his tomb, which was
brought from the Troja quarry for him, and then promoted
him to a superior custodianship of the royal domain. He
rapidly gained royal favor, and when it became necessary
to prosecute one of the king's wives, probably for conspiracy,
he was chosen to hear the case with only one colleague.
He was then called upon to organize an army for a cam-
paign against the Bedwin north of Sinai, and five times he
was sent to quell revolts in this region. He finally pushed up
into southern Palestine, which is the first Egyptian invasion
of that country known in history.
§ 309] INSCRIPTION OF UNI 141
Appointment as Judge
307. ^ [I was] eldest of the r — ' chamber under the
majesty of Pepi (Ppy). His majesty appointed me to the rank of com-
panion and inferior prophet of his pyramid-city. While my office was
— 3his [majesty made me] judge attached to Nekhen {N}}n). He
loved me^ more than any servant of his. I "heard,"*" being alone
with (only) the chief judge and vizier, "= in every private matter * — in
the name of the king, of the royal harem and of the six courts of
justice;"^ because the king loved me ^ more than any official of his, more
than any noble of his, more than any servant of his.
Equipment of His Tomb by the King
308. sThen I [bejsought — the majesty of the king^ that there
be brought for me a limestone sarcophagus from Troja (R^-^w).^
The king had the treasurer of the god ferry over, together with a troop
^oP sailors under his hand, in order to bring for me this sarcophagus
from Troja; and he arrived with it, in a large ship belonging to the
court, together with [its] lid, 'the false door; the ""settingi, two f — 1, and
one offering-tablet.s Never was the hke done for any servant, for I
was excellent to the heart of his majesty, *for I was pleasant to the
heart of his majesty, for his majesty loved me.
Appointment as Superior Custodian
309. While I was judge, attached to Nekhen, his majesty appointed
me as sole companion and superior custodian of the domain of Pharaoh,
and r — ^^ of the four superior custodians of the domain of Pharaoh,
who were there. I did so that his majesty praised me, when preparing
»Lit.: "his heart was filled with me."
^Meaning: heard cases in court as judge.
cOne person; this vizier, whose name is not mentioned, was perhaps Zau
(§§344ff-).
dLit.: "six great houses."
"Lit.: "the majesty of the lord."
'Quarries opposite Memphis, five or six miles south of Cairo.
eCi. note on I. 40, § 322. Gmhw is connected by l^emm with gmh't "wick,"
and thought to be an oil basin {Zeitschrift fiir dgyptische Sprache, 1887, 115).
^NS with a strange determinative; see Gardiner, Inscription of Mes,
p. 25, n. 2.
142 SIXTH DYNASTY: PEPI I [§310
court,* when preparing the king's journey (or) when making stations.
I did throughout '"so that his majesty praised me for it above every-
thing.
Prosecution of the Qtieen
310. ^When legal procedure was instituted in privatet" in the harem
against the queen,'= Imtes (Ymts)^ his majesty caused me to enter, in
order to hear (the case) alone. No ''chief judge and vizier at all, no
prince at all was there, but only I alone, because I was excellent, because
I was pleasant to the heart of his majesty; because his majesty loved
me. I alone was the one who put (it) in writing, "together with a single
judge attached to Nekhen; while my office was (only) that of superior
custodian of the domain of Pharaoh. Never before had one like me
heard the secret of the royal harem, except that the king caused '^me
to hear (it), because I was more excellent to the heart of his majesty
than any official of his, than any noble of his, than any servant of his.
War against the Bedwin
311. His majesty^ made war on^ the Asiatic Sand-dwellers
C^ ' m-hryw-i ■=) and '"his majesty made an army of many ten thousands :
in the entire South, southward to Elephantine,^ and northward to Aphrodi-
topolis; in the Northland on both sides^ entire '^in the Tstronghold',^
and in the midst of the ''strongholds'', among the Irthet {yrtt) negroes,
the Mazoi {Md^) negroes, the Yam (Ym^m) negroes, '^among the
Wawat (W^w^'t) negroes, among the Kau (K^^iv) negroes, and in the
land of Temeh (Tmh).^
»There is a contrast here between his duties at the fixed court and making
preparations for the king's journeys. The third reference is perhaps to the duty
of assigning court stations to noblemen according to rank.
bLit.: "When the matter was contested." Cf. similar phrase, note 1. 14 and
note 1. 29.,
<:Lit.: "great king' s^wife." "lAcc. to Sethe, yw' (Verbum I).
=Lit.: "repulsed the matter oj the A" {(psf yjyt), which Erman holds to be an
idiom for "-punish" (fiesprach, 72).
*See §320, 1. 33 and note. sSee GriflSth, Kakun Papyri, II, 21.
'^Some particular stronghold is apparently meant; Erman suggests "the old
fortress in the eastern part of the Delta," but this is a conjecture.
'This list of Nubian lands has been treated by Brugsch, Zeitschrijt fur dgyp-
tische Sprache, 1882, 30-36; Cf. also Lepsius, Nuhische Grammatik, Ixxxvii ff.
The discovery of the Harkhuf inscription has thrown light on the location of 'Yam,
showing that the journey thither and return occupied seven months.
§313] INSCRIPTION OF UNI 143
Uni Leads the Campaign
312. His majesty sent me at the head of this army ''while the
counts, while the wearers of the royal seal, while the sole companions
of the palace, while the nomarchs and commanders of strongholds
belonging to the South and the Northland; the companions, the caravan-
conductors, '^the superior prophets belonging to the South and the
Northland, the overseers of the crown-possessions, were (each) at the
head of a troop of the South or the Northland, of the strongholds and
cities which they commanded, and of the negroes of these countries.
'9l was the one who made for them the plan while my office was (only)
that of superior custodian of the domain of Pharaoh of ^ 1.
Not one thereof ■" — ^* with his neighbor; =°not one thereof plundered
•"dough! (or) sandals from the wayfarer; not one thereof took bread
from any city; *'not one thereof took any goat from any people. I
despatched them from the Northern Isle, the Gate of Ihotep (y-htp),
the bend*' of Horus, Nibmat'' {Hr-nb-m^'^t, Snefru).'^ While I was of
this rank " everything, I tinspected'^ the number of these
troops, (although) never had any servant inspected.^
Return of the Army
313. This army returned* ^^in safety, (after) it had hacked up the
land of the Sand-dwellers; this army returned in safety, (after) it had
destroyed the land of the Sand-dwellers; ""this army returned in safety,
(after) it had overturned its strongholds; this army returned in safety,
(after) it had cut down ^sits figs and its vines; this army returned in
aVerb. ''A river bend, or a district.
<:See Sethe, Zeilschrift fiir dgyplische Sprache, XXX, 62.
dAre these three places in apposition or are they three different localities?
Erman {Zeilschrift filr dgypHsche Sprache, 1891, 120, n. i) thinks we should, as in
some other analogous cases, consider the two following names as partitive apposi-
tions denoting two places located in the "northern isle." The latter is, I think,
the same as the "Isle of Snefru," reached by Sinuhe on his ffight through the same
region (§ 493, 1. 9). In view of the "bend of Snefru" above, this is at least very
probable. The name is of course due to the activity of Snefru in this frontier
region necessitated by his opening the mines in the Sinai peninsula.
ew6 3. It occurs also in Harkhuf inscriptions, § 334, where the meaning is
modified to "explore."
fThis verb is regularly used of the return from Asiatic campaigns in the
Empire, and must have the same meaning here.
144 SIXTH DYNASTY: PEPI I [§314
safety, (after) it had thrown fire in all its ftroopsi]; this army returned
^*in safety, (after) it had slain troops therein, in many ten thousands;
this army returned in safety (after) [it had carried away*] ^'therefrom a
great multitude as living captives. His majesty praised me on account
of it above everything.
Revolts of the Bedwin
314. His majesty sent me to despatch [this army] =*five times, in
order to traverse the land of the Sand-dwellers at each of their rebellions,
with these troops. I did so that [his] majesty praised me [on account
of it].
Campaign in Southern Palestine
315. "'When it was said there were revolters because of a matter
among these barbarians in the land of Gazelle-nose,^ I crossed over
3°in troop-ships with these troops, and I voyaged tb'= the back of the
height of the ridge"^ on s'the north of the Sand-dwellers. When this
army had been ^brought'' in the highway, I came and smote them all
s^and every revolter among them was slain.^
[Continued §§3i9ff.]
''There was probably a first object before ymf, with which "multitude" was
in apposition.
^mSrtf — ^1. The reading "Tiba" for this name, given by Maspero (Zeit-
schrifl jur dgyptische Sprache, 1883, 64) is not supported by the careful collation
of Erman and Borchardt, nor by Piehl {ibid., 26, 112); nor by Sethe.
■^The same use of ns as in Harkhuf, 11. 6 and 8, et passim in that text.
<iThe Palestinian highlands; Maspero in placing this region between Gaza and
the Serbonis Lake seems to have overlooked the word "ridge;" there are no
highlands in the locality defined by him. Uni must have landed a little
farther north and reached the highlands of southern Palestine. See also Miiller,
Asien und Europa, 33.
'The end of Uni's career under Pepi I is marked by a line of separation on the
stone.
REIGN OF MERNERE
INSCRIPTIONS AT THE FIRST CATARACT
316. These important inscriptions, which record a visit
of Mernere to the region immediately above the first cataract,
are supported in their statement that the Nubian chiefs
came to do him obeisance, by the biography of Uni (11. 46-47,
§ 324), whom Mernere sent to excavate a channel through
the cataract. The same negro tribes who furnished the
wood for Uni's quarry-boats, here do reverence to his king.
This visit and his construction of the canal, are important
evidences of Memere's activity on the Nubian frontier, thus
preparing the way for the conquest of lower Nubia in the
Twelfth Dynasty.
Northern Inscription^
317. The king stands leaning upon his staff, with the
lion's tail as his only symbol of royalty. Behind him is
the god KJinum, and before him the chiefs of Nubia. ^ Over
his head are the usual name and titles :° "King of Upper and
Lower Egypt, Mernere;^' behind him the words:'^ "Beloved of
Khnum, Lord of the Cataract;" below him the date: "Year 5,
second month of the third season' {tenth month), day 28."
^RougWy cut on a block of granite south of the first cataract "on the eastern
bank of the Nile, facing the southern extremity of the island of El-Hesseh;"
(not " on" the island as stated, Egypt Exploration Fund Archceological Report, 1903-
1904, 12); text by Sayce, Recueil, XV, 147; manuscript copy by Borchardt; Sethe,
Urkunden, I, no.
'■There must be a row of Nubian chiefs before him (not noticed by Sayce) as
in §318.
cThe treasurer's seal at the beginning is probably an error in the reading.
^Belonging to the lacking Khnum figure, for undoubtedly there is a figure of
Khnum at the left of this column, not noticed by the copyists.
«Sayce has ^If't.
I4S
146 SIXTH DYNASTY: MERNERE [§318
Before the king is a column of text, as follows:*
The coining of the king^ himself, standing'^ behind the hill-country,
while the chiefs of^ Mazoi {Md^),^ Irthet (Fr«), and Wawat {Ww^'-t),
did obeisance* and gave greats' praise.
Southern Inscription^
318. This is practically a duplicate of the preceding, but
there is no date; one of the Nubian chiefs is still visible
standing before the king, and the accompanying record is
slightly fuller, thus:
The coming of the king himself, appearing behind the hill-country,
tthat he mighf see that which is in the hill-country, while the chiefs of,
etc. (as above).'
INSCRIPTION OF UNI
[Continued from §315]
III. CAREER UNDER MERNERE
319. By Mernere Uni is at length appointed to exalted
office, for this king made him governor of the South. As
such he was entrusted by the king with the expedition to
the granite quarries at the first cataract to secure the neces-
*Tliis text contains apparently only the beginning of this column; for the rest
we fortunately possess a duplicate in Petrie, Season in Egypt, XIII, 338. See § 318.
^"King" is from Petrie, Season in Egypt. ^Read '^h'^.
dSo far Petrie, Season in, Egypt, is parallel and must be corrected to st hk^w
nw; the copyists could read no farther, as the line is badly preserved.
«The final t is of course misread from the determinative. Later: Verified by
Borchardt's copy.
^sn-t^ "smelted the earth;'' Sayce has misread the P-sign as n.
BAdverb wr't.
'■On the rocks, "road valley near Philae," Petrie, Season in Egypt, XIII, 338
= Lepsius, DenkmUler, II, 116, 6=de Morgan, Catalogtie des monuments, I, 17,
No. 78. Sethe, Urkunden, I, in (from the publications); de Morgan's text is
simply a copy of Lepsius, Denkmdler, with all the mistakes; the best copy is
Petrie, Season in Egypt.
'But only the m of "mazoi" and part of the word "praise" can be read.
5 32o] INSCRIPTION OF UNI 147
sary stone for the royal pyramid. Likewise he led another
expedition to the quarry of Hatnub, back of Amarna, to pro-
cure an alabaster altar of vast size for the p3Tamid-temple.
He then canalized the first cataract, excavating five channels,
probably the first ever made there. This is in accordance
with the interest in Nubia, displayed by Mernere, who
visited the cataract in person and received the homage of
the lower Nubian chiefs (§§3i6£f.). Finally, under Mer-
nere, short as his reign was, Uni seems to have died.
Appointment as Governor 0} the South
320. When I was fmaster of the footstool" of the palace and sandal-
bearer, the king of Upper and Lower Egjrpt, Mernere {Mr-n-R'^, my
lord, who lives forever, made me count {h^ty-'^), and governor of the
South, 33southward to Elephantine, and northward to Aphroditopolis ;^
for I was excellent to the heart of his majesty, for I was pleasant to the
heart of his majesty, for his majesty loved me.
34When I was ""master of the footstooP and sandal-bearer, his majesty
praised me for the watchfulness*" and vigilance, which I showed in the
place of audience, above his every oflScial, above [his every] noble, 3 'above
his every servant. Never before was this office conferred upon any
servant. I acted as governor of the South to his satisfaction.<= Not
one therein f — ""^ with [his] neighbor. 3^1 accomplished all tasks;
I numbered everything that is counted^ to (the credit of) the court in
this South twice; all the corvde that is counted to (the credit of) the
court in this South twice. I performed the f 3' 1* in this
*The northern and southern limits of Upper Egypt. See Griffith, Ptahhotep,
II, p. 25.
bRead hr rSw (with determinative of staff and hide) these determinatives
make it certain that we have the word rs "watch" as in Harkhuf (Letter 1. 14, also
with the hide).
cLit.: "jor him . . . to satisfaction." dgame verb as in 1. 19.
eFor the same use of "count to" see Rekhmire, II, 717.
f This obscure sentence is plainly parallel with the preceding, thus:
1- ypy yh^ "* yp^ " ^"'"' "* " '^^'
2. yry srt yrt kdmrs pn; this suggests the rendering: "/ exercised the prince-
ship that is exercised r — i in this South." Srt would then be a feminine abstract
from sr "prince;" but M remains a problem. Possibly my has been omitted before it.
148 SIXTH DYNASTY: MERNERE [§321
South; never before was the like done in this South. I did throughout
so that his majesty praised me for it.
Expedition to the Southern Quarries
32 1 . His majesty sent me 3*to Ibhet^ ( Ybh ^ ' 0, to bring the sarcopha-
gus (named) : "Chest-of-the-Living," together with its lid and the costiy,
splendid pjrramidion for the pjTramid (called): "Memere-Shines-and-
is-Beautiful," of the queen.^
322. 39His majesty sent me to Elephantine'^ to bring a false door
of granite,"^ together with its ofEering-tablet, doors and f'settings'' of
granite; '*°to bring doorways and offering-tablets^ of granite, belonging
to the upper chamber of the pyramid (called): " Mernere-Shines-and-
is-Beautiful," of the queen.^ Then I sailed down-stream *Ho the
pyramid (called): "Mernere-Shines-and-is-Beautiful," with 6 cargo-boats,
3 rtowi-boats and 3 •" — ^i-boats to only one warship. Never had Ibhet
^This unknown quarry must be in the vicinity of Assuan, where black granite
is found; the material of the sarcophagus (not given here) as discovered in Mer-
nere's pyramid at Sakkara in January, 1881, by Mariette (just a few days before
his death) is a fine black granite. (See Maspero, Recueil, IX, 178, and Proceed-
ings oj the Society of Biblical Archceology, XI, 312). Brugsch however says: "aus
rothgesprenkeltem Granit" {Zeitschrift filr agyptische Sprache, 1881, 4, and
Brugsch, Thesaurus, VI, 1478). Maspero is corroborated by Petrie (History of
Egypt, I, 97). The lid mentioned in our text is pushed back, but still lying on the
sarcophagus, within which Mariette's native assistant, Mustapha, found the body
of the king Mernere, now in Cairo Museum. — The " pyramidion" or final cap-
stone of the pyramid was of finer material than the other masonry; it is no longer
preserved, but tomb paintings often show this final block colored black by the
artist. Cf. Maspero, Proceedings of the Society of Biblical Archceology, XI,
312.
''The exact place and meaning of the last three words are uncertain; possibly
they refer to a burial place of the queen in connection with the pyramid.
cThis voyage was made in connection vrith the preceding, as Ibhet could not
have been far from Elephantine (see 1. 42).
dLit.: "Granite, a false door."
=These terms have been compared with the pyramid as existent today by
Maspero {Proceedings of the Society of Biblical Archceology, XI, 304-17). The
meaning of rwt "false door" and st "offering-tablet" had already been estabhshed
by Erman {Zeitschrift filr agyptische Sprache, 1882, 22 and Festschrift far Georg
Ebers, 431); the <^w or "doors" Maspero thinks are the three portcullises found
in the entrance passage; and the rwyt, he thinks are the granite settings in the side
walls in which the portcullises played. His identification of the "upper chamber"
with the exterior chapel is obvious (so also Erman).
§ 324] INSCRIPTION OF UNI 149
and '•sElephantine* been visited^ in the time of any kings with only
one warship. Whatsoever his majesty commanded me I carried out''
completely according to all that his majesty commanded me.
Expedition to the Alabaster Quarry at Hatnub
323. His majesty sent me to '•sHatnub (^t-nb) to bring a huge
offering-table of hard stone"* of Hatnub. I brought down this offering-
table for him in only 17 days, it having been quarried^ in Hatnub, and
I had it proceed down-stream in this* cargo-boat. **1 hewed for him
a cargo-boat of acacia wood of 60 cubits in its length, and 30 cubits
in its breadth, built^ in only 17 days, in the third month of the third
season (eleventh month). Although there was no '*Swater on the "^ — ^,
I landed in safety at the p3rramid (called): " Mernere-Shines-and-is-
Beautiful;" and the whole was carried out by my hand, according to
the mandate which the majesty of my lord had commanded me.
Second Expedition to Southern Quarries
324. His majesty sent [me]' to dig five canals i ^^in the South and
to make 3 cargo-boats and 4 ""towi-boats of acacia wood of Wawat
^Showing both were visited on one trip.
*Lit.: "been made or done;" this rare idiom "to do a place" meaning "to visit
it" occurs ako in Harkhuf (Letter 1. 9); and Khui (§ 361); see Breasted, Proceed-
ings of the Society of Biblical ArchtBology, May, 1901, 237-39.
'^^pr transitive.
^Rwdt " enduring or hard stone'' (not is, alabaster, which is masculine) is
applied to the stone of Hatnub in the Middle Kingdom also; (see § 696, 1. 2).
^This word wh = is used of cutting grain, papyrus, plucking grapes, separating
blocks from the quarry, and the like. It is used (in pseudo-participle) exactly as
here, in the Hammamat inscription of the official Sesostris (Lepsius, Denkmdler,
II, 138, e): twt .... wh'^m rnp't tn, "a statiie .... quarried in this year;" and
often in the quarry inscriptions. The meaning "suppression" given it in Pro-
ceedings of the Society of Biblical Archceology, XI, 315, does not exist.
'The boat of which the description follows.
BLit.: "bind" {sp), taken from the binding of reed boats, cf. Breasted, Pro-
ceedings of the Society of Biblical Archaeology, May, 1901, 238 f., note. It occurs
also in Pepinakht, 1. 12 (§ 360).
•^This uncertain word (<iw)=perhaps "flats" a pure guess. Maspero guesses
"dos de sable." The word also occurs in Ikhernofret's stela (§ 669, 1. 21). Petrie
has made our passage the basis for reckoning the date of the period {Season, 19-21);
but see § 43 above.
'Omitted in text.
) These must be for passing the cataracts; cf. the canal of Sesostris III
(§§642ff.).
ISO SIXTH DYNASTY: MERNERE [§325
(W^w^-t). Then the negro chiefs of Irthet ( Yrrtt) , Wawat, Yam (Y^m)
and Mazoi {MpY "'drew timber therefor, and I did the whole in only-
one year. They were launched and laden with very large granite
blocks for the pyramid (called): "Mernere-Shines-and-is-Beautiful."
I then f — ^ "^r the palace in all these 5 canals, because I honored,
because I f — \ because I praised the fame of the king of Upper
and Lower Egypt, Mernere, who lives forever, more than all gods,
and because I carried out everything tPaccording to the mandate which
his ka commanded me.
I was one beloved of his father, and praised of his mother; first-
born so — pleasant to his brothers, the count, the real governor, of the
South, revered by Osiris, Uni (Wny).
INSCRIPTIONS OF HARKHUF"
325. The important inscriptions of this tomb inform us
more fully than any other source, of the commercial relations
of the Old Kingdom with the Negro peoples of the extreme
*The same chiefs do obeisance to King Mernere at Assuan in the year 5. See
§§3i6ff.
^snds.
<=The tombs of the Assuan nobles were first noticed (1885) and excavations
in them were begun by Mustafa, British consular agent at Assuan. They were
then excavated by Gen. Sir F. W. Grenfell (1885), assisted by Budge in 1886. See
Budge, Proceedings of the Society of Biblical Archaology, X, 4-40, and Bouriant,
Rectieil, X, 181-98 (supplemented by Scheil, Reciieil, XIV, 94-96), who published
the shorter texts, discovered before the end of 1886. The entire series of inscribed
tombs discovered up to date has been published with plans by de Morgan
{Catalogjie des monuments, 141— 201). They are seventeen in number, and unfor-
tunately de Morgan's copyists have collated so carelessly that the more difficult
texts are worthless. Only three of the tombs have furnished texts of length or great
historical importance: that of Sebni (§§3623.), of Pepi-nakht (§§3SSff-)i ^'^^
Harkhuf. Curiously enough, the fellahin on the island of Elephantine discovered
a mass of correspondence on papyrus belonging to the same noblemen who are
interred in the cliffs opposite. These papyri of the Old Kingdom are in a very frag-
mentary condition, but will be published by the Berlin Museum, where they now
are. One letter has already been translated by Erman in Aus den Papyrus der
Koniglichen Museen, Berlin, 1899, 91, 92.
The inscriptions of Harkhuf were first noticed by Schiaparelli and published by
him in Memorie delta Reale Accad. dei Lincei anno CCLXXXIX, Ser. 4*, Vol. I,
Part 1, 2 1-53 (1892). It was discussed by Maspero, Revue Critique, 1892, II, 357-66;
§328] INSCRIPTIONS OF HARKHUF 151
south, involving indirect traffic with the Sudan. Harkhuf
was the most successful of the energetic caravan-leaders
among the Assuan nobles. He made four journeys to the
distant southern Nubian country of Yam and finally thence
westward into unknown regions. Three of these journeys
were under Memere (§§ 332-35) and the last under Pepi II
(§§ 350 fif.). His inscriptions and those of the other Assuan
nobles, for the first time reveal to us the active commerce
with the south conducted by these nobles residing on the
southern frontier.
326. Harkhuf's full titles were:* "Count (h^ty-^), governor
of the South,^ wearer of the royal seal, sole companion,
ritual priest, caravan-conductor ^ Besides these offices, he
was also, "chamber-attendant, attached to Nekhen, lord of
Nekheb."
327. He first enumerates some of the less important inci-
dents of his life, in connection with some of the qualities of
his character.
328. I came today from my city, I descended from my noma, I
built a house, I set up the doors. I dug a lake, and I planted trees.
The king praised me. My father made a will for me, (for) I was
excellent [one beloved] of his father, praised of his mother,
translated and discussed by Erman, Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenldndischen
Gesellschaft, XLVI, 574-79; with text, Zeitschrijt jiir agypiische Sprache, 1892,
78-83 (journeys), and ibid., 1893, 65-73 (letter). The entire tomb with plan and
texts is published by de Morgan (Catalogue des monuments, I, 162-73), but very
inaccurately. As Erman's text (in Zeitschrijt jiir agyptische Sprache) is based on
indistinct photographs, no accurate text has yet been published. The accom-
panying translation is based upon my copy of the Berlin squeezes, photographs by
Borchardt, and Erman's recent collation of the original, which he kindly placed at
my disposal.
Since writing the above, the excellent text of Sethe has appeared {Urkunden,
I, 120-31).
"This and the following statement of his virtues are inscribed over the door of
the tomb. See also the list of titles introducing the journeys.
tiHarkhuf must have succeeded Uni in this office, who held it under Memere
also, dying under this king; but it was now becoming merely a rank.
l^
152 SIXTH DYNASTY: MERNERE [§329
whom all his brothers loved. I gave bread to the hungry, clothing to
the naked, I ferried him who had no boat.
329. O ye living, who are upon earth, [who shall pass by this tomb
whether] going down-stream or going up-stream, who shall say: "A
thousand loaves, a thousand jars of beer for the owner of this tomb;"
I will r — 1 for their sakes in the nether world. I am an excellent,
equipped spirit, a ritual priest, whose mouth knows.*
330. As for any man who shall enter into [this] tomb [as his mor-
tuary possession, I will seize^] him like a wild fowl ; he shall be judged
for it by the great god.
331. I was one saying good things and repeating what was loved.
Never did I say aught evil, to a powerful one against any people, (for)
I desired that it might be well with me in the great god's presence.
Never did I [judge two brothers'^] in such a way that a son was deprived
of his paternal possession.
IntroAuciion^
332. 'Count, sole companion, ritual priest, chamber-attendant,
judge attached to Nekhen, lord of Nekheb, wearer of the royal seal,
caravan-conductor, privy councilor of all affairs of the South (tp-riy),
favorite of his lord, Harkhuf {Hr-}ywf), ^ ® who brings the
products of all the countries to his lord, who brings the tribute of the
royal ornaments, governor of all countries of the South {tp-rSy), who sets
the terror of ^Horus* among the countries, who does that which his
lord praises,^ the revered by Ptah-Sokar, Harkhuf.
First Journey
333. tHe says:
The majesty of Mernere {Mr-n-R '^) my lord, sent me, together with
my father, the sole companion, and ritual priest, Iri {Yry) to Yam
(F'ot), in order to explore a road to this country, si did it in only seven
*This is again a promise to intercede with the powers of the hereafter on
behalf of the living who repeat a prayer for the sake of the deceased; as in § 252.
^See Seneni, § 338, 1. 4. ^See Pepinakht, § 357, 11. 3, 4.
"^At the right of the door in fourteen columns on the fafade, before the figure
of Harkhuf with stafif.
^Some of the same titles repeated. 'The king.
§335] INSCRIPTIONS OF HARKHUF 153
months,^ and I brought all (kinds of) gifts from it f 1. I was very
greatly praised for it.
Second Journey
334. His majesty sent me a second time *alone; I went forth upon
the Elephantine road, and I descended^ from Irthet {YrU), Mekher
{M '^ \j,r), Tereres (Tns), Irtheth {Yrt{), being an affair of eight months.
When I descended*" 'I brought gifts from this country in very great
quantity. Never ^before was the like brought to this land.'' I
descended from the dwelling of the chief of Sethu*^ {Stw) and Irthet
(YrU), "after I had explored^ these countries. Never had* any com-
panion or caravan-conductor who went forth to Yam (Y^m) '"before
this, done (it).^
Third Journey
335. His majesty now sent me a third time to Yam; "I went forth
from f — 1 upon the Uhet (Wh ^ ' t)^ road, and I found the chief of Yam
'Agoing to the land of Temeh (Tmhy to smite Temeh '^as far as the
western comer of heaven. I went forth after him to the land of
Temeh, '■'and I pacified him, until he praised all the gods for the
king's sake.
*This is the length of the entire journey to and from his destination, including
his stay there.
^'Descend" usually means "return;" but it is uncertain whether it has this
meaning in both cases here, though it certainly does in the second.
cEgypt.
dSee Maspero {Recueil, XV, 103 f.), who places Sethu on both sides of the
river south of Keneset, which is the first district south of Assuan.
=w6', cf. §312, Uni, 1. 22, note. ^Gmyy is perhaps a particle.
sThe conclusion of this journey describes the unusual road taken to reach
home, after he has already narrated the journey out, and the gifts brought
back.
•^According to the analogy of 1. 6 {"Elephantine road"), Uhet must be the
starting-point of the road. Hence Griffith's proposal to identify this word with
■uPh't "oasis," seems to me improbable {Proceedings of the Society 0/ Biblical
Archmology, XVI, 50). The verb lalf,^ commonly means "to quarry stone;" may
this not be a word for "quarry," and the road is then the old quarry road still used
at the cataract ? Harkhuf then later crosses to the west side.
"Same as later Temeh {Tmh) or Temehu {Tmhw).
1 54 SIXTH DYNASTY: MERNERE [§336
-^ Supplement to Third Journey^
336. ' ^1,"= Yam (Y^nC) who followed in order to
inform the majesty of Memere, my lord, * ^ after the chief of
Yam. Now when I had pacified that chief of Yam 3 below^
Irthet (Fr«) and above Sethu {Stw), I found the chief of Irthet,
Sethu, and Wawat 4_ _ r \
I descended with 300 asses laden with incense, ebony, heknu,
grain, sfpanthers, \ ivory, rthrow-sticksi, and every good product.
Now when the chief of Irthet, Sethu, ''and Wawat saw how strong and
numerous was the troop of Yam, which descended with me to the
court, and the soldiers who had been sent with me, (then) 'this [chief]
brought and gave to me bulls and small cattle,^ and conducted me to
the roads of the highlands of Irthet, because I was more excellent, vigi-
lant, and — *than any count, companion or caravan-conductor, who
had been sent to Yam before. Now, when the servant* there was
descending to the court, one^ sent the — , "sole companion, the master
of the bath, Khuni (ffwny)}^ up-stream with a vessel laden with date-
wine, Tcakes^, bread, and beer. '°The count, wearer of the royal seal,
sole companion, ritual priest, treasurer of the god, privy councilor of
decrees, the revered, Harkhuf. .
[Continued §§3Soff.]
»In horizontal lines from right to left, on the left side of the door (on the fafade).
Below it Harkhuf's son, Zemi {Dmy), offers him incense.
I'Over one-third line. Harkhuf evidently sent a messenger to inform the
Pharaoh that he had gone "ajter the chief of Yam."
'Either Wawat or Irthet preceded, as determinative shows.
"IHe is here giving his return route. * Modest for "I."
*Or gazelles; not asses. KThe king.
•■Or R^-wny, the iJ' or ^sign is possibly a hole; one is tempted to find our
old friend Uni here.
REIGN OF PEPI II
CONVEYANCE OF LAND BY IDU, CALLED ALSO SENENI^
337. Idu, or Seneni, was priest of Pepi I, Memere, and
Pepi II, This document recorded in his tomb constitutes a
gift of land to his wife, apparently as her mortuary endow-
ment, though it is not so called. Strangely enough, the
location, size, and limits of the field are not given.
338. 'Seneni, he saith:
^"As for this field, which I have conveyed ^which I have
given to my beloved wife, Disnek (Dyys-nk) fit is her^] true fpos-
session. As for any persons'"] ^who shall take it from this Disnek,
they shall be — ^ for it by the great god, 'lord of heaven, and I will
seize them [like'=] wild fowl. I am (now) an — and excellent spirit.
I know * '[I have done] this for this Disnek,
because she was so greatly honored in '°my heart; she said nothing to
oppose my heart "
Disnek, she saith:
"I was one amiable , beloved of her entire city. As for any
persons who shall take this land from me, I will enter into judgment
with them, by"^ the great god."
SINAI INSCRIPTIONS^
339. There is no relief with the king's titulary, but
the queen-mother is depicted with her inscription. The
^Inscription in his cliff-tomb in Kasr-es-SaiyM; published by Lepsius,
DenkmiUer, II, 114, a; Sethe, Urkunden, 1, 115-117.
•'Some verb of condemnation is lost.
'See Harkhuf, § 330. ^We expect "before."
«Cut on the rocks of Wadi Maghara; text: Lepsius, Denkmdler, II, 116, o, and
Brugsch, Thesaurus, VI, 1496, No. 25; Sethe, Urkunden, I, 112, 113; Morgan,
Recherches, 236; Weill, Sinai, 126; see Roug^, Recherches sur les monuments
gu'on peiU attribuer attx VI premibres dynasties, 130, 131.
iS6 SIXTH DYNASTY: PEPI II
1340
date, the royal names and titles occupy four vertical
columns, and beneath these is the inscription of the
oflScers and ofl&cials who conducted the expedition.
Date
340. Year of the second numbering of all large and small cattle
of the North and South."
King's Name
Horns: Nuterkhu, Neferkere {Ntr-}}'^w, Nfr-k^-R^, who lives
forever; King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Golden Horus: Kherep;
Neferkere, who lives forever, like Re.
Queen's Name
341. King's-mother, attached to^ the pyramid: "Neferkere-
Remains-Living," king's- wife, his beloved, attached to the pyramid:
"Merire-Remains-Beautiful," Enekhnes-Merire, whom all the gods
love.
Leader oj the Expedition
342. Royal commission, sent with the treasurer of the god, Hepi
{Hpy), to the terrace, the name of which is " Malachite :'"*
Members of the Expedition
343. Captain, Bekneptah.
Overseer of stone- work,"^ Uzai (Wd^y).
Chief scribe, Senezem.
Captain and ) j Merire-onekh.
Caravan-conductor ) ( Neke-onekh (N-k^-'^nf/).
^Cf. the same fiscal date under Isesi (§266). It is remarkable that we find
"North" placed first here.
bThis is not a simple genitive n(y)t belonging to the preceding as it has always
been rendered, but an independent title: n(y)t Njr-k^-R^ mn 'nl). = "One who
belongs to the pyramid, etc.;" compare the title of the princess Henetre: n{y)t
Wnys nfr ySwt (Mariette, Mastabas, 360). N masculine is employed in the same
way with kings' names, as in Sabu's tomb (Mariette, Mastabas, 375).
cSee duplicate under Isesi (§ 266). ^Read St, see § 239, note.
§344] STELA OF QUEENS ENEKHNES-MERIRE 157
Captain | ( Yekerib (Ykr-yb).
and Chief > -^ Khnum-enkhef (Jfww-^w^'/).
Overseer ) ( Hemukhrow {Hmw-J],rw).
Judge and ) ( ZaXy {D^'tyy).
Scribe ) I — khet.
Leader of the ) ( „ • ^t-x x
_ ( ) Henenu (ffMwj' or -'m)').
_ . I ) Senezem.
Recruits ) \
Caravan-conductor, — khuf ( — ^w/)-
STELA OF THE TWO QUEENS, ENEKHNES-MERIRE^
344. The history of the royal family disclosed by this
stela is of great interest as well as of historical importance.
Zau, the vizier and chief justice under Pepi II, and perhaps
earlier, erected the monument in memory of his brothers
and sisters at Abydos. He was the son of a prince, named
Khui, and his mother's name was Nebet. Both his sisters
married king Pepi I; one became the mother of Mernere,
the other of Pepi II, so that besides being half-brothers,
the two kings were on the mother's side also cousins. The
family tree appears thus:
Khui— Nebet
Enekhnes-Merire I — Pepi I — Enekhnes-Merire II Zau
Mernere Pepi II
With both his sisters queens and likewise successively
the mother of the king, we can see how Zau became vizier
^Tablet found built into a well at Abydos by Mariette, now in Cairo, No. 1431 ;
complete text: Mariette, Abydos, I, 2 ; Roug^, Inscriptions hieroglyphiqties, 153, 154;
see also Mariette, Catalogue gSn&ral d' Abydos, No. 523. and Roug6, Recherches sur
les monuments qu'on pevt attribtier aux VI premieres dynasties, 129-84; I also had
access to Erman's collation for the lexicon, which corrected a number of mistakes in
the published texts. This collation is now published by Sethe, Urkunden, 1, 11 7-19.
iS8 SIXTH DYNASTY: PEPI II [§ 345
and chief justice under Pepi II; Pepi II 's mother Enekhnes-
Merire II was much honored by him, and appears with
him in the dating of his Sinai inscription (§ 339).
Inscription over First Queen
345. King's-wife, (attached to)* the pyramid (called): "Merire-
Remains-Beautiful," very amiable, very favored, fgreat in possessions',
companion of Horus,^ f — ^1 of Horus,^ king's-mother, (attached to) the
pyramid (called): "Memere-Shines-and-is-Beautiful," Enekhnes-Merire.
Inscription over Second Queen
346. King's-wife, (attached to) the pjramid (called): "Merire-
Remains-Beautifiil," very amiable, very favored, daughter of the god,
■"great in possessions,' companion of Horns,'' ^ — ' of Horus, king's-
mother, (attached to) the pyramid (called): " Nef erkere-Remains-
Alive," Enekhnes-Merire.
Inscription over Man
347. Their brother, the chief justice and vizier, Zau (D'^w).
Below the preceding is Zau's dedicatory inscription in-
troduced by an enumeration of his five brothers, all of whom
bore the name Zau . Thus, the whole family, six brothers Zau ,
and two sisters Enekhnes-Merire, are all commemorated.
Dedicatory Inscription
348. Their brother, the real hereditary prince, count {h^ty-') and
governor of the pyramid-city, chief justice and vizier, overseer of the
king's records, prophet of the gods of Buto, prophet of the gods of
Nekhen, chief ritual priest, sem priest and master of all wardrobes,
wearer of the royal seal, judge f — ', revered by the god, Zau.
349. I made this in Abydos of Thinis, as one in honor with the
majesty of the king of Upper and Lower Egypt, Neferkere, who lives
"That the pyramid names in these titles are to be so rendered is made certain
by the Wadi Maghara inscription of Pepi, I (§§302 £[.), where they occur also,
but with n{y)t preceding; see note, ibid.
bThe king.
§3So] INSCRIPTIONS OF HARKHUF 159
forever, with the majesty of King* Merire and King^ Mernere, out of
love for the nome in which I was born by the favorite of the king,
Nebet (Nb't), to my father the hereditary prince, count, (meri-nuter)
priest, honored by the great god, Khui {E[wy). O ye Kving, who are
upon earth, every superior prophet, every prophet, every •" — i, of the
temple of the majesty of my lord, Osiris {ffnty ymntyw) ; as the king
lives for you,'' ye shall take for me the mortuary offerings from the
income of this temple, of that which I have conveyed by a decree, and
of that which ye convey for yourselves, when ye see my offices with
the king; because I was more honored by my lord than [any] noble
INSCRIPTIONS OF HARKHUF
[Continued from § 336]
LETTER OF PEPI II
350. Harkhuf has made a fourth voyage to Yam, and
having sent word to the king of his safe return with many
products of the south and especially a dancing dwarf, the
king writes him a letter of thanks, promising great rewards,
etc., if the dwarf is safely brought to court. This letter,
Harkhuf had engraved on the fagade of his tomb, which
was already complete, so that a further space for the letter
had to be smoothed on the extreme right of the fagade,
where none of the other Assuan tombs has any inscriptions
at all. Thus was preserved to us the only complete royal
letter of the Old Kingdom." It is as follows:
^Same as preceding title of Neferkere. Both these kings were deceased at
this time, as they do not receive the predicate "who lives forever."
''An oath.
cWith the exception of the Berlin papyrus fragments (§ 325, note) and the frag-
mentary letters (§§ 271, 273), it is the only letter of any kind surviving from the
Old Kingdom.
i6o SIXTH DYNASTY: PEPI II [§351
Date and Introduction
351. 'Royal seal, year 2, third month of the first season, (third
month), day 15.
'Royal decree (to)^ the sole companion, the ritual priest and cara-
van-conductor, Harkhuf (Hr-fpwj).
Acknowledgment of Harkhuj's Letter
31 have noted the matter of this thy letter, which thou hast sent
to the king, to the palace, in order that one^ might know that thou
hast descended '•in safety from Yam with the army which was with
thee. Thou hast said [in] this thy letter, that thou hast brought 'all
great and beautiful gifts, which Hathor, mistress of Imu (Ym^^w) hath
given to the ka of the ^king of Upper and Lower Eg3fpt Neferkere
{Nfr-k^-R'^), who liveth forever and ever. Thou hast said in this thy
letter,'^ that thou hast brought a dancing dwarf"^ 'of the god from the
land of spirits, like the dwarf which ^the treasurer of the god Burded
(B^-wr-dd) brought from Punt in the time of Isesi (Yssy). Thou hast
said to my majesty: "Never ^before has one like him been brought by
any other who has visited^ Yam."
Harkhuj's Rewards
352. Each year r — i thee '°doing that which thy lord desires and
praises; thou spendest day and night ^with the caravani in doing that
which "thy lord desires, praises and commands. His majesty wiU make
"thy many excellent honors to be an ornament for the son of thy son
forever, so that all people wUl say '^when they hear what my majesty
doeth for thee: "Is there anything hke this* which was done for the sole
companion, Harkhuf, ''•when he descended from Yam, because of the
^Omitted also in both the letters to Senezemib (§§ 271, 273).
''Circumlocution for "the king."
cBy emending in accordance with the preceding sentence.
dLit.: "a dwarf of dances;" cf. the same usage in Hebrew syntax. See
Erman's explanation, Zeitschrift fiir dgyptische Sprache, 1893, 72, 73, and Pietsch-
mann, ibid., 73, 74.
«The verb is yry "to make or do" with Yam as direct object; the reading is
certain. The same usage occurs in Uni (1. 41), and Khui (§361); see Breasted,
Proceedings of the Society of Biblical Archaology, May, 1901, 237-39.
mf.
|3SS] INSCRIPTIONS OF PEPI-NAKHT i6i
vigilance which he showed, to do that which his lord desired, praised
and commanded ! "
King's Instructions
353- ^^Comenorthward* to the court immediately; '' — i"*thou shalt^^
bring this dwarf with thee, which thou bringest Uving, prosperous and
healthy from the land of spirits, ''for the dances of the god, to rejoice and
■"gladden! the heart of the king of Upper and Lower Egypt, Neferkere,
who lives forever. '^When he goes down with thee into the vessel,
appoint excellent people, who shall be beside him '"on each side of the
vessel; take care lest he fall into the water. When [he] sleeps at night
appoint excellent people, '°who shaU. sleep beside him in his tent;*^
inspect ten times a night. ^'My majesty desires to see this dwarf more
than the gifts of Sinai "= and ""of Punt (Pwnt). If thou arrivest at court
this dwarf being with thee "^alive, prosperous and healthy, my majesty
will do for thee a greater thing than that which was done for the treasurer
of the god, Burded {B^-wr-dd) "^in the time of Isesi (Yssy), according
to the heart's desire of my majesty to see this dwarf.
354. "^Commands have been sent to the chief of the New Towns,"^
the companion, and superior prophet, to command that sustenance^ be
taken "%om him in every store-city and every temple, without stinting
therein.
INSCRIPTIONS OF PEPI-NAKHT f
355. This nobleman of Elephantine was of high rank, and
was entrusted with important commissions by King Pepi II.
»It is not necessary to emend d^'t to dpt; undoubtedly Ifdt, infinitive of fpd
"sail down-stream" is meant; jpd makes feminine infinitive in early texts; see
Sethe, Verbum, I, 238.
I'This word (J}n) is certain from Merneptah's Karnak text, 1. 62 (III, 589),
where it also means "tent."
'^By'^, the name of a mining region in Sinai; as it is sometimes used with the
demonstrative {pn, "this"), I have rendered it "mine" in the inscriptions of the
Middle Kingdom, where it is not uncommon.
dSee § 628.
«M'=lit.: "a causing to he satisfied;" the reference is to the provisioning of
the expedition by the places passed as it returns. The king has sent orders to
the proper oflScer in each place that he shall furnish such provision.
fProm his cliff -tomb opposite Assuan (see §325, note, on the excavation
of this tomb); it is No. 9 in de Morgan's plan {Catalogue des monuments, 142).
The inscription occupies the fajade, seven columns on each side of the door; and
i62 SIXTH DYNASTY: PEPI II [§356
He led two campaigns in Nubia (§§ 358, 359), and a remark-
able expedition to the north Red Sea for the rescue of the
body of a nobleman bound for Punt, who had been killed
by the Sand-dwellers while building his ship for the voyage
(§ 360)-
356. His titles were as follows:*
'Custodian of the domain, scribe of the phyle of the pyramid
(called): "Neferkere-Remains- Alive," wearer of the royat seal, sole
companion, Hekib {Hh^-yb)-^ governor of the pyramid-city: "Pepi-
Remains-Beautiful," sole companion, ritual priest, caravan-conductor,
who brings the products of the countries to his lord, Pepi-nakht; ^chief
of the phyle of the pyramid: " Mernere-Shines-and-is-Beautif ul ; " who
sets the terror of Horus [among] the countries, the revered Hekib,
■•count, sole companion, chamber-attendant, judge attached to Nekhen,
lord of Nekheb, revered by the great god, Pepi-nakht.
One more title: "Governor of foreign countries, ^^ is found
in column 14.
357. His narrative inscription'' is as follows:
I d
Pepi-nakht's Character
'1 was one who said that which was good, and repeated that which
was loved. Never did I say anything evil to a powerful one against any
.people, (for) I desired that it be well with me in ^the great god's pres-
ence. I gave bread to the hungry, and clothing to the naked. Never
originally four lines of titles at the top on each side, but only two remain on the
north (right) side. The texts (with plan of tomb) are published in de Morgan,
Catalogue des monuments, 174-76, but de Morgan's copyists (see 325, note) have
failed of the correct reading in all difficvdt passages. The accompanying transla-
tion is based upon my copy of the Berlin squeezes; a collation of the original by
Erman and Steindorff, very kindly placed at my disposal. [Later: Sethe's
collation with the squeezes has since been published by him {Urkunden, 1, 131-35).]
^Four lines at the top, south side, omitting repetitions.
''North side, last upper line states that this was Pepi-nakht's "beautiful name."
'^Seven columns on each side of the door; we take the right side first.
liTitles (next the door); numbering then passes to outside (right) and pro-
ceeds toward the door.
§ 36o] INSCRIPTION OF PEPI-NAKHT 163
did I judge two brothers '•in such a way that a son was deprived of his
paternal possession. I was one beloved of his father, praised of his
mother, swhom his brothers and sisters loved.
First Nubian Expedition
358. The majesty of my lord sent me, to hack up Wawat (W^w^'t)
and Irthet (Yrtt). I did *so that my lord praised me. I slew a great
number* there consisting of chiefs' children and excellent commanders
of r — \ I brought ^a great number of them to the court as Uving prison-
ers'', while I was at the head of many mighty soldiers as a hero. *The
heart of my lord was satisfied with me in every commission with which
he'= sent me.
Second Nubian Expedition
359. Now, the majesty of my lord sent me to pacify these countries.
"I did so that my lord praised me exceedingly, above everything. I
brought the two chiefs of these countries to the court in safety, '"bulls
and live rgoats"! which they ■" — i to the covu-t, together with chiefs' chil-
dren, and the two commanders of ■" — ', who were with them. ''
that which the lords of the South do, because I was excellent in watch-
fulness and because I did that which my lord desired.
Expedition against Asiatics
360. Now the majesty af my lord sent me '^to the country of the
Asiatics ('^'ot[w]) to bring for him the sole companion, ''commander'''^
of the sailors, the caravan-conductor, Enenkhet (^ n- "^ n^t), who was build-
ing a ship there for Punt, '^when the Asiatics (^^mw) belonging to the
Sand-dwellers^ 0tr{y)'w-i'^) slew him, together with a troop of the army
which was with him^ '" ^
Hr a variant of tnw. t>£)eterminative of men and women.
cThe pronoun (/) is in the joint of the masonry.
dSome such title must have been in the lacuna; this title and the preceding
{smr) "companion" are written beside the coliunn. The whole is totally unrec-
ognizable in de Morgan, Catalogue des monuments.
=The Sand-dwellers have either pushed very far south at this time (if able to
disturb the building of ships for the Punt voyage) or these ships were built in the
extreme northern Red Sea. The former supposition is the more probable.
'An Idiom for: "under his command."
ePepi-nakht's name and titles.
i64 SIXTH DYNASTY: PEPI II [§361
's ii 16 ''among his people. I '' — 1 and I slew
people among them, (I) and the troop of the army which was with me.
b
INSCRIPTION IN THE TOMB OF KHUI<=
361. One of the pillars contains the following text over
Khnemhotep, one of the officials so commonly called hrp-
sh, who is carrying offerings to Khui (Hwy) :
The hrp-sh, Khnemhotep, says: "I went forth with my lord, the
count and treasurer of the god, Thethi {Tty) to Kush, and (my lord
the count and treasiurer of the god), Khui"! m'"'y), to Pimt, fii' times.
I was brought back in safety after I had visited'^ these countries.
INSCRIPTIONS OF SEBNI*
362. The adventure which Sebni engraved upon the
j /fagade of his tomb is not merely a tale of the greatest interest,
but also very important for its religious, geographical, ad-
^It is probable that this fragment of four lines (of which only two are preserved)
form the conclusion of the expedition against the Asiatics. Sethe has also inserted
them here.
Tepi-nakht's name and title.
cin the cliffs opposite Assuan; No. 9 on de Morgan's plan {Catalogue des
monuments, 142); texts, ibid., 157, 158, but so badly that it is very difficult to use
them, and I unfortunately had no other copy (for this tomb was overlooked by
both Budge and Bouriant, see § 325, note on excavation), for my note {Proceedings
oj the Society of Biblical Archceology, May, 1901, 238), where text is also published.
Sethe has since published the same text {Urkunden, 1, 140, 141), and his explanation
is more probable than mine, though it does not affect the conclusions of my note.
dit is quite incomprehensible that Khui's name should not appear here as the
lord of Khnemhotep. Hence Sethe's restoration is very probable. ThisThethi's
tomb is located in the same cUff (de Morgan, Catalogue des monuments, 199) ; besides
the titles above, he bore the title: "who brings theproduas of the southern countries
to the king," which we should expect of one who voyaged to Kush.
eLit.: "done," as in Uni, §322, 1. 41 and Harkhuf, Letter, §351, 1. 9.
fProm his tomb hewn in the cliffs on the west shore at Assuan (for the excava-
tion see §325, note); it bears the No. 26, and is called No. 2 on de Morgan's
plan {Catalogue des monuments, 14). It is the largest tomb at Assuan. It is
described by Budge with plan {Proceedings of the Society of Biblical Archaology,
X, 16-23) and by Bouriant {Recueil, X, 182-85) both of whom took squeezes and
§ 363] INSCRIPTIONS OF SEBNI 165
ministrative, and historical data, coming from a period of
which we know so very little. Unfortunately, we possess only
the second half of the narrative, and this in a condition so
fragmentary that a general outline is necessary in order to
make the contents clear.
363. The first half, now no longer legible, must have
contained the narrative of an expedition into Nubia by
Sebni's father, Mekhu. On this expedition Mekhu in some
way meets his death.* Here the surviving portion of the
inscription begins; information of Mekhu's death is brought
to his son Sebni, and he sets out with troops and 100 asses,
laden with presents to rescue his father's body for embalm-
ment; otherwise of course there would be no life hereafter
for Mekhu (11. 1-3). He sent messengers to the king to inform
promised (1887) soon to publish the long text. It was finally published (1893) by
de Morgan (Catalogtie des monuments, 147, 148), but his copyists have clearly
spent no time on the difficult collation, and the publication is unusable; the inscrip-
tion has never been translated or treated. The long text occupies nineteen columns
on the right of the door; these are the continuation from the beginning on the
left of the door, which has now unfortunately almost totally disappeared. The
nineteen columns are crossed by six wide horizontal cracks, some of which were
filled up and did not interrupt the scribe's writing, and some of which he jumped
over. It is always a question whether the crack has caused a lacuna, e. g., in 11.
I i-i 7 in the third crack from the top there are no lacunse. Moreover, the whole
text is very badly weathered, and one can sit for hours pouring over one Une in vary-
ing lights, without being certain of the reading. The accompanying translation
is based on my copy of the Berlin squeezes, collated with Erman's collation of the
original; Erman and I then spent an entire day going over the doubtful passages
in the squeezes together, and it is to be hoped that the text is now fixed. Sethe
has since published all our readings and his own collation of the squeeze {Urkun-
den, I, 135-40).
^It is certainly remarkable that of the three narrative inscriptions of Assuan,
two contain accounts of the death of a nobleman on a foreign expedition and the
rescue of the body: Mekhu in Nubia and Enenkhet on the northern shores of the
Red Sea (§ 360). For the tomb of an Egyptian buried in Sinai, see Borchardt,
Zeitschrift filr dgyptische Sprache, 1897, 112. Another Egyptian who apparently
perished in the desolate quarries of Hammamat is commemorated on the rocks as
follows: "O ye living, the ones who come to this land, who desire to return to the
king, hearing their gifts to their lord; say ye, ' 1000 loaves, 1000 jars of beer, etc.,
etc., for the wearer of the royal seal, etc.,Sheme {Sm^).'" Text in Gol6nischeflf,
Hammamat, III, No. x.
i66 SIXTH DYNASTY: PEPI II [§364
him of his departure and the purpose of his journey (1. 3).
He reached Wawat, and pacified it and its further neighbors,
secured the body of his father and started upon the return
(II. 3-6). On reaching Wawat again, he sent the officer Iri
and two companions to the court with some of the native
products which his father had acquired (11. 6, 7). They
were evidently instructed to return with embalmers and
equipment for embalming the deceased Mekhu, for as Sebni
descended the river he met Iri returning from the court with
all the people and paraphernalia necessary for the embalm-
ment (11. 8-10). Iri brought also written instructions from
the king to Sebni, containing promises of great reward for
his pious deed (11. 10-12). Sebni then buried his father and
proceeded to Memphis with the Nubian products which his
father had gotten (11. 12, 13). He was highly praised by the
king, and given very rich gifts (11. 14-16). Later a com-
munication from the vizier reached him, conveying to him
a gift of land, either as a further reward for his good deed to
refund him his expenses, or as an endowment of his father's
tomb (11. 17-19).
364. Sebni's titles are:^ Count, wearer of the royal seal,
governor 0} the South, sole companion, ritual priest, Sebni
(S^bny).
365. The long text is as follows:
Information of Mekhu's Death
' ^ [rThen camel] the ship captain, Intef (Yntf), and the
overseer of — r— i — Behkesi {Bhksy)," to give information'^ that the
sole companion, and ritual priest =Me[khu] fwas deadi].
^De Morgan, Catalogue des monuments, 146, omitting repetitions.
''One-third line.
Improbably the name of a Nubian; it is determined by the soldier, but bearing
an <: = >»-dub; a similar club is before the y (!) which renders the reading question-
able. Of course, one thinks of nhSy, but we have the wrong j.
^r rd't rlf ntt.
1 369] INSCRIPTIONS OF SEBNI 167
Departure of Sebni
366. pThen I tooki] a troop of my estate, and 100 asses with me,
bearing ointment, honey, clothing, oil {thnt) and i" — ' of every sack,*
in order to fmake presents [in]! these countries fand I went out to")
these countries of ^the negroes.
Sebni's Message to the iCing
367. ^ IfThen I sent^] people^ who were in the Door,"*
and I made letters to give information that I had gone out to bring
this my father, from Wawat (W^w^'t), and Utheth (Wtt).
Expedition of Sebni
368. I pacified ''these countries ® nn" the countries of " — '
the name of which is Mether (Mtr). fl loaded!] the body of this
sole companion upon an ass, and I had him carried by the troop of
my estate. 'I made for him a coffin * I brought >" — ^
in order to bring him out of these countries. Never did I send r — ■
or any negro-caravan * .s I was greatly praised on account
of it.-
Return of Sebni
369. I descended to Wawat and Uthek (Wtk)^ and I [fsent*] the
royal attendant Iri (Yry) with two people of my estate as ^ — ',' 'bearing
incense, clothing,' ,^ 3 cubits long, one tusk, in order to give
information that my 'T)est one' was 6 cubits long; one liide', and that
I had brought this my father and all kinds of gifts from these
countries.
»Or "every equipment" (,'^pr) or "every costume" {db') ?
^One-third line,
'The determinative and pltiral ending are all that is visible.
"^Elephantine is often called the "Door of the South;" and it is probably meant
here.
eOne-quarter line.
f One-quarter Une, followed by fragmentary words.
gOne-quarter line.
bOr " Uthek of Wawat." The i of Uthek is doubtful.
•It is possible that this curious word contains the names of the two people.
imnlf't^r. ''One-fifth line.
i68 SIXTH DYNASTY: PEPI II [§ 370
Embalmment of Mekhu
370. ®When I descended to give information " from the
bend, {W^r't) behold, Iri f came^ from the court, ''as I^ came, to embalm''
the count, wearer of the royal seal, sole companion, ritual priest, "this
Mekhu (M}}.w). He brought embalmers, the chief ritual priest,
ymy-w'^b, — shd,'^ the mourners and all offerings of the fWhite^ House.
He brought festival oil from the double AA^te House '°and secret things
from the double w'^b' ^^ouse, from the ' /s ' -house, clothing of the
double White House, and all the burial equipment which is issued from
the court, Uke the issuance for the hereditary prince, Meru.
Sebni's Letter from the King
371. Now, when this ''Iri arrived, he brought to me a command
(also), ftoi] praise me on account of it. It was said in® this command:
"I will do for thee every excellent thing, as a reward for this great deed,
because of bringing thy [father]* . ''[Njevers has the Uke
happened before.
Mekhu's Burial
I buried this my father in his tomb of the necropoUs; never
was one of his rank'' (so) buried [before].
Sebni's Honors at Court
372. I [went north] to Memphis' bearing the gifts '^of these
countries which this countJ had brought. I deposited every gift which
this my father deposited — before this my army and the negroes f 1.
'■♦The servant'^ there was praised at the court, and the servant there
Tgave praise^ to the king, because the servant there was so greatly favored
aOne-fifth line. ^Titles of funeral functionaries.
''Or ceremoniously to receive. ^The "pure" house.
^r as in the letter of Harkhuf, § 351, 1. 7.
'The determinative of "father" is still visible.
sThe negative n is not visible either on the squeeze or original.
hLit.: "his equal." Zau affirms the same regarding his father (§ 382) ; there
is a remarkable resemblance between this and the inscription of Zau.
'Lit.: "the wall," a designation for Memphis, e. g., several times in Papyrus
Harris.
iHis father. '^Common circumlocution for "I."
§375] INSCRIPTIONS OF IBI 169
by fthe king"" 'sr — ^1. There was given to me a chest of carob wood, —
containing — and containing ointment; there was given [to me] ■" — '
with clothing; ^^there was given to me the gold of praise;
there were given to me rations, meat, and fowl. Now, when ■" — '
r — 1 i7by my lord.
Sebni's Reward
373. Said the servant *there: "There came to me a command of
the chief judge [lord of] Nekheb, '^the inferior prophet Ini
(Yny) while he was r — "^ in Per*'-Hathor-Resit {Pr-Hthr-riy t) fsaying:
that I might bring'=l]l this [Tmy father^] immediately "that I might bury
this [rmy father^ in his tomb north of Nekheb.
Sebni's Reward
374. There were given to me 30 {+^x) stat of land in the North
and Southland, in the domain^ of the pyramid: " Nef erkere-Remains-
Alive," in order to honor the servant there.
INSCRIPTIONS OF IBI^
375. The nomarch, Ibi, begins the history of a new family
in the twelfth nome, whose relations with the royal house are
especially instructive. In all probability Ibi was the son of
the powerful Zau of Abydos (§§344flf.), nomarch of the
Thinite nome, whose two sisters became the queens of Pepi
I. Ibi was a contemporary of Pepi I, Mernere, and Pepi II
during the first part of his reign. Although Mernere ap-
pointed him to the nomarchy of the Cerastes-Mountain, it
^Common circumlocution for "I." <=I see traces of nd on the squeeze.
^See II, 728. ^Not more than 70.
*Or possibly "as custodian of the domain of the pyramid, etc.;" meaning that
he received the gift by virtue of his office.
'From his tomb in the southern necropolis of Der el-Gebr^wi;. published by
Davies, The Rock Tombs of Deir-el-Gebrdwi, PI. 23 and 7; Sethe, Urkunden, I,
142-5 (from Davies).
I70 SIXTH DYNASTY: PEPI II [§376
is also probable that he was appointed to it in confirmation
of his title to it through his marriage to a lady named
Rahenem (R'^hnm), in whom we may recognize the heiress
to the said nome. He thus became the head, not only of his
hereditary nome of Thinis, the ancient capital of Egypt, but
also of the twelfth nome. To the latter for some reason he
transferred his residence. It is possible that he had not at
first received the Thinite nome, and that on his marriage,
he went to the Cerastes-Mountain first, as his only nome,
and remained there even after his appointment to the Thinite
nome. But it is his office in the latter of which he is most
proud.
376. The office of "great lord" or at least that of "count"
Qt^ty-'^) of a nome, was at this time evidently one of appoint-
ment by favor of Pharaoh. The royal house thus maintained
control of the landed lords, who were the descendants of
the local governors of the Fourth and Fifth Dynasties.
Ibi introduced a severe and effective discipline into the
organization of the nome, and must have prospered greatly
from its revenues. His son Zau-Shemai succeeded him in
both nomes. ^ (§ 380)
377. = Wearer^ of the royal seal, commander of a strongholdj sole
companion, great lord of the Thinite nome, Ibi ( Yhy) ; he saith :
"I was a youth who bound on the gir[dle under] ""the majesty' fof]
the King of Upper and Lower Eg3rpt [Merire (Pepi I)]."
["The majesty of] ^my lord, the King of Upper and Lower Egypt,
Mernere, living — ■" ' [appointed me] as count {h^ty-"^), sole com-
panion, and great lord of the nome of the Cerastes-Mountain."
378. "The majesty of my lord, the King of Upper and Lower
Egypt [Neferkere (Pepi II)], appointed me governor of the South."
The real governor of the South, ^Ibi; he saith: "As for any people
who shall enter into this tomb [as] their mortuary property, [I] will
"Davies, ibid., 33, 34. tiOver the east wall, on the left, Davies, PI. 23.
§38o] INSCRIPTION OF ZAU 171
seize [them] 'like wild fowl. I am an excellent, equipped soul, I know
every charm and the secrets of the court, the ■" — ^ which is in the nether
world. I was We beloved of [his] father [praise]d of his mother, hon-
ored by the king, honored by his city-god, possessed of love, Ibi."
" "Now, I gave [bread] to [the hungry], clothing 'to the
naked of grain, ^of oxen, and of the peasants of my domain.
379. ' ''I have made this'' from the towns of my domain
as a mortuary possession, and from the royal mortuary offering which
the majesty of my lord gave to me ; in order to make for me
^with peasants of my domain, filled with bulls, goats, and asses, as f — 1
— , except the possessions of my father, while I was commander of the
stronghold of the granary: 203 stat of land [which] the majesty of my
lord gave [to me], to make me rich.
INSCRIPTION OF ZAU'^
380. This nomarch of the Cerastes-Mountain was the
grandson of Ibi whom Mernere had appointed to this nome.
Ibi's son Zau-Shemai died early, and his son Zau succeeded
him. He was a contemporary of Pepi II, under whom he
held the office of "keeper of the door of the South," an office
usually belonging to the nobles of Elephantine. At his
father's death he was obliged to petition the king that he
might succeed to the paternal nomarchy." His account
aOver the east wall, on the right; Davies, PL XXIII.
^On the east wall over the scenes of cattle and under women bringing oflEerings
(Davies, PI. VII). The omitted introduction contains only name and titles of
Ibi, preceded by "For [the k^ of]."
<:The endowment from which the offerings depicted before him are drawn.
It includes eleven villages or settlements.
•iln the Gebel Marftg, marked on the Fund map (PI. IV) as " D6r-eI-Gebra.wi
Tombs," north of Assiut on the east side of the river. Text copied by Sayce and
pubhshed in Recueil, XIII, 65-67; comments by Maspero, ibid., 68 flf. Corrections
by Sayce, ibid., XX, 170 flf.; better by Davies, Deir-el-Gebrdwi, II, PI. XIII, but
unfortunately the inscription suffered much in the interim between Sayce's and
Davies' visits; Sethe (from Davies), Urkunden, I, 145-47. See also Newberry,
Egypt Exploration Fund ArchcBological Report, 1892-1893, 14, 15.
"See Davies, ibid., II, 35 £f.
172 SIXTH DYNASTY: PEPI II [§381
of his construction of a common tomb for his father, and
himself, is the most remarkable expression of sentiment
which this remote age has bequeathed us. He seems to
have been the last of his line.
Introduction
381. 'His eldest son, his beloved, of his body; 'his favorite,
his darling,^ prince of the palace, wearer of the royal seal, commander of
a stronghold, ^real sole companion, great lord^ of the nome of Cerastes-
Mountain,'"^ Zau (D'^w). I say: "I twas one beloved of his father,
praised of his mother, 'whom his brothers and sisters loved.
Father's Burial
382. I buried *my father the count, Zau, beyond the splendor,
beyond the goodliness of any [requaP] of his 'who was in this South.
I requested as an honor"^ %om the majesty of my lord, the king of Upper
and Lower Egypt, Neferkere (Pepi II), who lives forever, that "there
be taken^ a cof&n, clothing, and festival perfume '°for this* Zau. His
majesty caused "that the custodian of the royal domain should bring
a coffin of wood, festival perfume, "(5/^)oil, clothing, 200 (pieces) of
prime Qt^tyw) linen, '^and of fine southern linen of ■" — 1, taken from the
double White House "*of the court for this Zau. Never had it been done
''to another of his rank.
Son's Burial
383. Now, I caused that I should be buried in the same tomb '*with
this Zau, in order that I might be with him in one place; "not, however,
because I was not in a position^ to make a second tomb; but I did this
in order that '*I might see this Zau every day, in order that I might be
with him in one place."
*Lit.: "in his heart, belonging to the place of his heart."
''The rule that this title (Jiry-d ^ d = - ■: =) is to be found only in the Middle "Kingdom
{Bersheh, II, 4) does not hold. The title arose in the Sixth Dynasty.
•^Name of the Antaeopolite nome.
dThe same rare word i^r "honor" as in Harkhuf, Letter, §35^, 1. 11.
^Sd; it occurs in precisely the same connection in the Abydos inscription of
P'w, see § 349, and is the regular word for legally collecting.
*The demonstrative is customary in referring to the dead; cf. the deceased
Mekhu in the Sebni inscription or the pyramid texts passim.
el/.r-'^; lit.: "having the hand" or "power."
§ 38s] INSCRIPTION OF ZAU 173
Zau's Prayer
384. The count, commander of a stronghold, sole companion, ''Zau;
I say: "O ye living, who are upon earth, servants like me; those
whom the king shall love "°and their city-god shall favor, are they who
shall say: 'A thousand loaves, beer, oxen, geese, clothing for Zau, son
of Zau.' "
Zau Succeeds His Father
385. I requested ''[fro]m [his majesty]* that I might fulfil the office
of count, of this Zau. His majesty caused that there be issued (lit.,
made) the decree appointing him^ count, as an offering which the king
gives. •=
^Something similar must have been in the lacuna (nearly one-third line);
there is not room for "as an honor from," as in 11. 7, 8.
*The change of person is very sudden, but Zau can be referring to no other
than himself, from the standpoint of the command issued.
'The mode of obtaining the office oih^ty-'- "count" at this time, points clearly
to its source in the royal favor. The designation of the appointment as " on offering
■which the king gives." the usual term for a mortuary gift of the king, certainly
indicates that this term did not originally designate solely a mortuary gift, but must
have at first enjoyed a wider application, which in course of time was narrowed
to exclusively funerary largesses of the king. [Later: A letter from Eduard
Meyer suggests that the rank of count was given to the deceased father after his
death as a mortuary honor. This would explain its designation as a mortuary
gift, and the pronoun "him,"]
REIGN OF ITY
HAMMAMAT INSCRIPTION^
386. This is the only inscription of King Ity known.
His pyramid mentioned in the inscription has never been
found'' and the place of the king in the series of Pharaohs is
uncertain. The inscription is dated in his first year, and
records an expedition which was sent to procure the finer
stone necessary for the king's pyramid.
387. Year of the first occurrence (of the numbering), fourth month
of the first season, day 2.
— Ihy (Yhy); Khufu {ffwf); commander of the army — Yakhe-
tirni (Y^fy't yrniy))."
Came the ship captain, Ipi {Ypy), and Nekuptah (Pth-n-k^w) to
do the work on the pyramid (called): "Fame-of-Ity" {Yty); together
with 200 soldiers and 200 ^workmen, making' 200 (sic!).
"Cut on the rocks in the Wadi Hammamat; text: Lepsius, DenkmSler, II,
115 f.; partially GoUmscheS . Hammamat, VII; Sethe, Urkunden, I, 148; see
Maspero, Recvsil, 17, 56 £f.
''See Maspero, ibid., 56 flf.
cThese names were perhaps later inserted between the date and the following.
174
REIGN OF IMHOTEP
HAMMAMAT INSCRIPTION
388. This unknown king, from whom we have no other
documents, sent his eldest son Zaty, who held the ofl&ce of
treasurer of the god, as well as that of general in the army,
to the Haramamat quarries to procure a monument, possibly
a statue for the king. Zaty left the following record of the
enterprise :
389. 'Commission which the eldest king's-son, the treasurer of the
god, commander of the army, Zaty (D^ty), called Kenofer {K^-nfr)
executed.
390. =^1 was at the front of the people (/f'w) in the day of battle,
3l controlled the going in the day of attack, by my counsel, '•i ^as
exalted above multitudes, I made this work of Imhotep^ Swith ^1,000
men of the palace, 100 quarrymen, 'i^aoo rsoldiersi and 50 r — '. ^His
majesty sent this numerous troop "from the court. '°I made this
work while ■" — ' in every ■" — \ while his majesty gave ''50 oxen and
200 asses^ every day.
Palace-overseer, Intef.
Scribe of the marine, Mereri.
»The name is in a cartouche with the determinative of a king.
Tor the transport of the monument.
"75
THE NINTH AND TENTH DYNASTIES
INSCRIPTIONS OF SIUT*
391. Of the five inscribed tombs of Siut, three'' date
from the period of the Ninth and Tenth Dynasties, and
form our only contemporary source of information for that
obscure epoch. They belonged to three princes of the
Lycopolite nome: Tefibi (§§393-97), his son Kheti I
(§§398-404), and another Kheti (II) (§§405-14), whose
relation to the two others is not clear. These princes as
nomarchs all bore the same titles: "Hereditary prince,
count, wearer of the royal seal, sole companion, superior
prophet of Upwawet, lord of Siut." They were the con-
tinual friends and supporters of the weak Heracleopolitan
kings, forming a buffer state, warding off the attacks of
the rebellious Theban princes, who are the ancestors of the
Eleventh Dynasty." Unfortunately, they do not mention
any of the Thebans against whom they fought, and only
one of the Heracleopolitans whom they served — Merikere.
392. The language of these texts is exceedingly obscure
and difficult; these hindrances, together with the very
^In an upper row of three tombs, side by side, high up in the face of the cliffs
overlooking the modern city of Assiut (or Siut). First copied by the expedition pf
Napoleon, they were almost wholly neglected till late in last century, having in the
interim been frightfully mutilated (serving as a stone quarry!). Finally, after
repeated visits, from 1886 to 1888, Mr. F. LI. Griffith pubhshed a careful text, not
only of the difficult original, but, where necessary, also of all existing earlier frag-
mentary copies {The Inscriptions of Smt and D$r Rtjeh, London, 1889). Mr.
Griffith furnished an account of his edition, and a digest of the content of the texts
in the Babylonian and Oriental Record, III, 121-29, 164-68, 174-84, 244-52, where
he also gives an exhaustive bibliography. Maspero {Revue critique, II (1889),
410-21) reviewed Griffith's work and gave a very free paraphrase of the texts,
some of which is repeated. Dawn, 456-58.
''For the remaining two, which belong to the Twelfth Dynasty, see §§ 535 ff.
cSee §§ 415 2-
179
i8o NINTH AND TENTH DYNASTIES [§393
fragmentary state of the texts, often make translation quite
impossible. The restorations make no claim to reproduce
the lost words, but merely indicate the probable connection.
I. INSCRIPTION OF TEFIBI*
393- The conflict with the South is here clearer than
anywhere else, but unfortunately the unfinished condition of
the inscription (see 1. 16, n., § 396) breaks all continuity. The
content in outline is as follows: Tefibi adjures all passers-by
to pray for him (1. i). He sets forth the beneficence of his
rule — a rule without distinction of persons, maintaining the
. security of all, even if abroad at night (11. 2-12). Because
of his beneficent rule his son, when a chUd, succeeded him
without opposition (11. 13-15). On his (Tefibi' s) first cam-
paign, the southern nomes from Elephantine to an uncertain
point on the north were united against him (1. 16). He
defeated them first on the west shore, driving them as far
as ^Hhe fortress of the port of the South" (Abydos ? 11. 16-18).
He then crossed to the east shore, where he defeated a
second army of the enemy (11. 19-22) and also discom-
fited a hostile fleet (11. 23, 24). He thus suppressed rebel-
lion and had opportunity to promote deserving officers
(11. 25-27). The result was widespread respect for his
energetic government, prosperity of the temples, arid envy of
the evil-minded (11. 36-40). ,»sa ''
Address to Passers
394. 'O ye living ! O ye who are upon earth, children who shall be
born ; those who shall sail down-stream, those who shall sail up-stream,
^Tornb III. The southernmost of the three tombs on the same terrace, north
wall east of pillars. Published by Griffith, Siid, 11, 12. See above, §391,
note.
§395] INSCRIPTIONS OF SIUT i8i
those who shall come in the following of Upwawet, lord of Slut, those
who shall pass by this bend,* those who shall enter into this tomb,
those who shall see that which is in it; as Upwawet, lord of Siut and
Anubis, lord of the fcave^, live for you, ye shall pray for the mortuary -
offering for the prince Tefibi.
Tefibi's Kind Rule
395. 'The hereditary prince, count, wearer of the royal seal, sole com-
panion, superior prophet of Upwawet, lord of Siut, Tefibi (Tf-yby), says:
^ 3r — 1. Hearken to me, ye who are to come. I was open-
handed to everyone, r 1 ^ "^ ", I was one of excellent
plans, one useful to his city, one f — 3 of face toward a petition, ^
sr 1 one of open face to the widow I was a Nile"^
'' *for his people ' ^ "When night
came, he who slept on the road gave me praise, for he was like a man
in his house; the fear of my soldier was his protection '3.
Then^ came my son in my place, the officials were funder' his rauthority".
He ruled as a child^ of a cubit (high) ; the city rejoiced over him, she
remembered "*the good.s Because, any noble who shall do good to
the people, who shall surpass the virtue of him that begot him, he shall
be — ''blessed in the hereafter, his son shall abide in his father's house,
his memory shall be pleasant in the city, his statue shall be glorified
and Tcarried* by the children of his house.
*Used alike of the cliffs or the river. tiAbout one-third line.
=Amenhotep IV also calls himself a Nile for his people.
dThe omissions contain obscure phrases, chiefly referring to Tefibi's kindness
to his people.
=See Sethe, Zeitschrilt jilr agyptische Sprache, 1893, 108.
*The text has "person." The stature indicated, "i cubit," is that of a new-
born child, as shown by Papjrus Westcar (X, 10), where the three children are
each "0/ one cubit" at birth. The same statement is made of Khety II (§ 413,
1. 21), where it is confirmed by the context), and seems to be a favorite boast of
such princes: in Benihasan (Tomb 13), the owner, Khnumhotep, boasts of being
one "whose place was advanced while he was a child." The Pharaohs make the
same boast.
sMeaning the good his father had done, as the following shows.
hit shall receive the proper ceremonies and be carried in the festal processions.
Cf. the contracts of Hepzefi, §§ 535 ff.
i82 NINTH AND TENTH DYNASTIES [§ 396
War with the South
396. '*^The first time that my soldiers fought with the southern''
nomes, which came together southward as far as Elephantine and
northward as far as f — '° ^ , fthey smote themi] as far ''as the
southern boundary."^ '' — ^ the west side."= When I came to the
city,* I overthrew fthe foe^] ^ fl drove him'] '* — as far as the
fortress of the port of the South.'' He gave to me land, while I did not
restore his town ^ "r 1 1 reached the east side, saihng
up-stream; fthere camel] another,' Uke a jackal ■" ' s
»Lines 16-40 were never finished; the lower third was never cut (my restora-
tions chiefly indicate the probable connection). Moreover, they were plastered
over, and a new inscription containing the conventional encomium was painted
on the plaster. As the content of this very portion of the text is political, this must
have been the motive for effacing it. See Griffith, Babylonian and Oriental Record,
III, 128. As the effacement was done before the inscription was finished, it would
seem that there was interference from the south during the construction of the
tomb.
tiThe word "southern'' is broken and not quite certain. It exactly fits the
remaining traces as well as the context, and later course of the war.
cMaspero reads "Gaou" (^au), (Revue critique, 1889, II, 416), but wisely
adds ? The same name occurs at Benihasan (§ 620, note), but cannot be located.
dThe southern boundary of the Heracleopolitan kings ( ?), which was then not
far north of Abydos; cf. § 423. In this case there would have been an invasion of
the Heracleopolitan kingdom by the Thebans, who were then driven out.
^A reference to his campaign on the west shore of the river; the east shore
follows in 1. 19.
*This must have been a city on the frontier between the territory of the north
and south, for he has just passed "the southern boundary," and in the next line
reaches "the fortress of the port of the South."
KAbout one-third line.
tSee Erman (Zeitschrift filr dgyptische Sprache, 1891, 120), who suggests
that tp rSy is really the south, and im'^ middle Egypt. This distinction is apparently
maintained in these Siut texts, and is clear at this point, where Tefibi drives his
enemy as far as the southern (rSy) border of the Northern Kingdom, and then "as
far as the fortress of the port of the South {tp rSy)." The northernmost point to
which tp rSy is applied is the Thinite nome. Now, the Theban king, Intef (Horus:
W^h 'nl;,), states that he captiu-ed all of the Thinite (Abydos) nome, and "opened
all her fortresses" (§423), using the very word for fortress (yth) employed in 1. 18,
above. He also made the AphroditopoUte nome (just north of the Thinite nome)
"the door of the North" {ibid.). Remembering that Tefibi's campaign is thus far
confined to the west shore, one would suspect that Tefibi's "port of the South"
is Intef 's "door of the North." All the indications, therefore, point to this region
as the southern extremity of Tefibi's campaign.
'With the determinative of a person.
§ 398] INSCRIPTIONS OF SIUT 183
*°with another army from his confederacy. I went out against him
with one — . There was no fear .* ''He hastened to battle
like the Tight'; the Lycopolite nome — Uke a bull going forth ^
'^ — forever. I ceased not to fight ^to the end [making use' of the
south wind] as well as the north wind, of the east wind as well as [of the
west wind] " '^r \ He fell in the water, his ships ran
agroimd, his army were like bulls, ^ [fwhen attacked by wild
beasts, and running!] 24-with tails to the front.^ f 1 fire
was put * "5r ' I drove out rebellion by — , by the
plan of Upwawet, ^ '*of a mighty bull. When a man did well,
[I placed] him at the head of my soldiers * '^'for his lord.'=
* 36Heracleopolis. The land was under the
fear of my soldiers; no highland was free from fear. If he made
^ 3'fire in the southern nomes. He did it as an affair of his
land, to equip '^
Conclusion
397. 38The temples were made to flourish, offerings were made to
the gods; the wicked saw it, ^ 3 she put not eternity before
him, he looked not to the future, he saw evil * 4°
11. INSCRIPTION OF KHETI 1^
398. Klieti (called 1° to distinguish him from KJieti II
of the next tomb) was the son of Tefibi of the preceding
tomb. He inherited the lands and titles of his father, being
a nomarch by inheritance from his mother (1. 8). Besides
the usual functions of the Assiut nomarchs, he was also
»About one-third line. ''Of the pursuer.
"^The following Unes, to I. 35, inclusive, are very fragmentary and obscure.
In 1. 28 there is reference to "the South" (" Oh, speak a word to the South (tp rSy) ").
In 1. 33 the goddesses "Bast of the South" (B^sttnttp-rSy) andHereret (Hrrt) are
mentioned, and the following lines (to 1. 35, inclusive) consist of epithets in the
feminine, referring to one of them. In 1. 35 there is reference to Middle Egypt
(ifw) and the building of "its fortresses."
din the middle tomb (IV) of the three on the same terrace, on the north wall,
opposite the scene of the soldiers with large shields. Text in Grifl&th, Siut, Pis.
13, 14, 20. See also § 391.
eGriffith, Siut, IV, 75; cf. Kheti II's tide, § 410.
i84 NINTH AND TENTH DYNASTIES [| 399
"military commander of the whole land." His inscription
is of great importance for the inner history of the Heracleo-
politan kingdom, but is unfortunately fragmentary and ob-
scure. After some references to Kheti's services to the
king, Merikere (11. 1-7), and the' ancient origin of Kheti's
family (11. 7-9), it is stated that he has chastised Middle
Eg)rpt for the king's sake (1. 10), a clear indication of insur-
rection within the Heracleopolitan kingdom. This trouble
quelled, Kheti conducts the king up-river, probably to receive
the homage of the kingdom, which, including the nobles of
Ehnas, was in great fear, as Kheti's enormous fleet passed
up (11. 10-15). Returning to Ehnas-Heracleopolis, the king
is received with acclamation by old and young (11. 16, 17).
Kheti now returns to his home and is commissioned to restore
the ancient temple of Upwawet, which, at the present day,
lies somewhere beneath the modem buildings. of Siut (11.
17-31). The people lived in peace and security during the
remainder of Klheti's reign (11. 31-34).
3Q9- Of the first seven lines only the upper portion (from
a third to a half line) is preserved. The content was im-
portant, but only the merest scraps are now intelligible.
They show that the text is an address to the deceased
Kheti, of historical import, and are as follows: '"
a stock^ of ancient time 3
King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Merikere (Mry-k^-R'^)
*o/ Heracleopolis. Thou overthrowest
the rebels Hord of the two regions,
beloved of the god, shade of the whole land." These last
epithets (1. 7) refer to the king; and probably Kheti's serv-
ices to him in overthrowing the rebels, furnish the connection.
The text now becomes more connected, though still very
obscure in places.
^Referring to the ancient origin of Kheti's family; see also 1. 8.
§4oi] INSCRIPTIONS OF SIUT 185
Kheti's Lineage
400. fHeirif *of a ruler, niler of rulers,^ son of a ruler, son of the
daughter of a ruler, an ancient stock *> fson of the daughte]r
of a ruler, ^^ — 1 of the beginning, a noble ■'without' an equal
'° " ioT thou hast put rfear' in the land, thou hast chastised
Middle Egypt for his'* sake alone.
Services for the King
401. Thou didst convey him up-river, the "heaven cleared for him,*
the whole land was with him, the counts of Middle Egypt, and the great
ones of Heracleopolis, the district* fof' the queen^ of the land,
who came '^to repel the evil-doer. The land trembled. Middle Egypt
ffearedi, all the people were in terror, the villages in Spaniel, '^fear entered
into their Umbs. The officials of Pharaoh were (a prey) to fear, the
favorites to the terror of Heracleopolis. "*The land biurned in its'" flame
^Griftth {Babylonian and Oriental Record, III, 164) and later Maspero {Revue
critique, II [1889], 413) have interpreted this passage as indicating that Kheti was
the descendant of five princes. It seems to me there are two convincing objections
to this: (i) five princes could be written in Egyptian only by employing the usual
construction vrith the numeral s, not by repeating the word "prince" (hk^) five
times! (2) The usual method of indicating a line of descent is the one employed
in this very passage, by repeating the paternity of the parent (s^ s^t hk''); hence a
male descent through five generations of princes would be written {s^ hk') " son
of a ruler," repeated five times. (I have rendered the politically very unprecise
title hk' by the equally unprecise "ruler;" it is probably synonymous with nomarch
in this passage.) Of the shk^ -signs, the first is genitive after a lost noun preceding,
as shown by the surviving n; the second is nomen regens of a genitive construction
in which the following plural of hk = (written three times as often) is nomen rectum.
The last construction, written in the same way with four hk '-signs, is found in
Sirenpowet's tomb (Assuan, de Morgan, Catalogue des monuments, 185, 1. 8), and
often with other words, e. g., in the name of Amenhotep IV's queen {nfr-nfrw with
four »/r-signs).
•"About one-third line.
cKing Merikere's benefits to Kheti are referred to.
dThe king's sake.
eSee Erman {Gesprdch, 69, 70), who makes the verb transitive: "he cleared
the heavens."
f Lit.: " (river)-bend" (many different localities are so designated) apparently in
apposition with Heracleopolis. See Erman, Zeitschrift fiir agyptische Sprache, 1891,
120, and Griffith, Kahun Papyri, II, 21, and infra index.
BSome protecting goddess.
l»The pronoun refers to Heracleopolis.
i86 NINTH AND TENTH DYNASTIES [§ 402
's Never was the front of a fleet brought into
Sheshotep, while its rear was still at ^ — 1* . ; . . . .'* They
descended by water and landed at Heradeopolis. The city came, rejoic-
ing over fher^ lord, the son of her lord; women ''mingled with men,
old men and children.
Old Age
402. ^The ruler's (M') son, he reached his city, entering into the
house of his father. He saw the 'Approach! to their house," his sar-
cophagus, his old age. When a man is in his place (his tomb), the
city f 1 '"of eternity r 1.
Building the Temple
403. Thy dty-god loves thee, Tefibi's son, Kheti. He hath ^pre-
sented^ thee, that he might look to the futiure in order to '"restore his
temple, in order to raise the ancient walls, the original places of offering,
to f — 1 the venerable ground, "^ 1 which Ptah built with his
fingers, which Thoth founded, for Upwawet, lord of Siut,"^ iDyl command
of the king, *nhe ruler {hk^) of the Two Lands, the king of Upper and
Lower Egypt, Merikere, to make a monument for the souls of Anubis,
the great god; that he (the king) might spend for him (the god) millions
of years, that he might repeat Sed Jubilees; '^under the leadership* of
the confidant of the king, Tefibi's son, Kheti, great lord of Middle
aThe reading of this second locality is unfortunately quite uncertain. Maspero
reads "Hou" {Revue critique, II (1889), 418). Sheshotep is the modern Shatb
(Baedeker's Egypt, 1902, 205), just south of Assiut, while Hou is 125 miles farther
up-river. It is impossible that the fleet should have been 125 miles long. More-
over, the direction of the fleet's movement (1. 10) is up-river, so that the rear must
have been at a place below Sheshotep. The return down-river is narrated in 1. 16
following. [Since writing the above, I notice that Maspero {Dawn, 45 7) has changed
"Hou" to " Gebel-Abufodah," which would make the fleet about 30 miles long;
but this is a guess like "Hou."]
bAs the preceding paragraph closes very abruptly, it is possible that the
following paragraph contains the words of the rejoicing multitude to the king as
he enters the city.
■^His own approach to the house, meaning the tomb of his ancestors; hence
his death.
dThis "by" would of course not refer to the building by the gods, but to the
proposed restoration.
'Meaning that the building of the temple is to be under Kheti's leadership.
§405] INSCRIPTIONS OF SIUT 187
Egypt. Behold, thy* name shall be forever in the temple =*of Upwawet,
thy memory shall be beautiful in the colonnade. Some shall commu-
nicate it to others,^ r — 1 the future i" — i ^'in years, one hundred after
another hundred," of added life upon earth; thou shalt (still) be among
them that dwell on Tearth.^ *' ^
Peaceful Rule
404. How beautiful is that which happens in thy time, the city is
satisfied with thee. That which was concealed from the people, ^'thou
hast done it ^openly', in order to make gifts to Siut, — by thy plan alone.
Every ■"official^ was at his post, ^athere was no one fighting, nor any
shooting an arrow. The child was not smitten beside his mother,
(nor) the citizen beside his wife. There was no evil-doer 34in r — ^^
nor any one doing violence against his house ^ — \ Thy city-godj thy
father who loveth thee, rieadethi thee.
III. INSCRIPTION OF KHETI n'=
405. Kheti II's relation to the two preceding nomarchs
is not quite certain, but the unmolested rule which he
enjoyed would seem to indicate that he lived before the
war with the Thebans, and hence before Tefibi. His in-
scription curiously inverts the order of his life, placing his
youth last, but does not mention the name of his father.^
On the death of his maternal grandfather, who was lord of
the Lycopolite nome, KJieti's mother ruled until he grew up
to succeed to his maternal heritage (11. 40-25). Meantime,
he was educated with the royal children by the king (11.
^Pronoun refers to Kheti. '■The text has a dittography of « kt.
<=See Sethe, Zeitschrift jiir agyptische Sprache, 1893, 113.
dThe intervening lines contain praise of Kheti as builder of the temple. The
text then proceeds to the government of the nome.
^In tomb V, the northernmost of the three tombs on the same terrace, in a
false door on the back wall (11. 1-24) and on the south wall, inner half. Text,
Griffith, Siut, PI. 15. See § 391.
*0n his mother's name, see note on 1. 38.
i88 NINTH AND TENTH DYNASTIES [§ 406
22, 23), and was installed in his nome at an early age (1. 21).
His life was peaceful and prosperous, and devoted to the
development of the material resources of the nome. He
dug a much-needed irrigation canal, conducting the water
to land unreached by the inundation (11. 1-8). He was
rich in grain, which he dispensed to the people (11. 9, 10).
He remitted taxes (11. 10, 11), and his herds greatly multi-
plied (11. 11-14). He built in the temple, increased its
oflFerings (11. 14-16), was a good soldier, and, as military com-
mander of Middle Egypt, he raised a troop (11. 16-18); like
Elheti I, he had a navy (11. 18, 19). His people and those of
Heracleopolis were pleased with his government, and recog-
nized the instruction of a king in it (11. 23, 24). It is possible
that Kheti II became an official of the contemporary Theban
king (Eleventh Dynasty) after the triumph of Thebes and
the consolidation of the country (see note on 1. 38).
406. The inscription opens with the usual titles of the
Siut nomarchs,^ and KJieti states that there is no falsehood
in his narrative, but that all which he did wa^ done in the
face of the people (11. i, 2); and then proceeds:
New Canal
407. I brought a gift for this city, in which there were no families
of the Northland, nor people^ of Middle Egypt (Sm'^ ; ^making a monu-
ment in •= I substituted a channel of ten cubits."^ I excavated
for it upon the arable land. I equipped a gate rfori '•its ^ it
aSee § 391.
•"The determinative shows that people of some sort are meant, parallel with
"families." The remarkable statement perhaps means that no forced labor was
employed on the canal, from any part of Egypt composing the Heracleopolitan
kingdom, viz., the "Northland" (Delta) and "Middle Egypt."
<= About one-third line is lost; it doubtless contained some reference to an
insufficient canal. Kheti's gift to the city, is a larger canal "0/ zo cubits" prob-
ably in breadth.
^A little over 17 feet. ^About one-third line.
§4o8] INSCRIPTIONS OF SIUT 189
in the ground of f — 1 in one building, free from f — 1. I was liberal as
to the monument r — i sr — 1 .* fl sustained^] the life of the
city, I made the r — ""^ with grain-food, to give water at fmidMay, *to
■" — — 1 .^ fl supplied waterT] in the highland district, I
made a water-supply^ for this city"^ of Middle Egypt in the fmountain",^
which had not seen water. 'I secured the borders ■" — '. I
made the elevated land a swamp. I caused the water of the Nile to
flood over the ancient Qandmarksi, *I made the arable land water.
Every neighbor was fsupplied with water, and every citizen had^
Nile water to his heart's desire; I gave waters to his neighbors, and
he was content with them.
Wealth and Generosity
408. "I was rich in grain. When the land was in need, I main-
tained the city with kha* and with heket.^ I allowed '"the citizen to
carry away for himself grain; and his wife, the widow and her son.
I remitted "all imposts which I found counted by my fathers. I filled
the fpastures' with cattle, "[^everyT] man had many colors ;s the cows'*
brought forth twofold, the folds were full of '^calves. I was kind to
the cow, when she said, "It is f — '.'" I was one rich in bulls '* — his
ox; he lived well.
^About one-third line.
''The determinative is a man. The word itself ksb means " to reckon." Maspero
says: "Hobsou (reading the root as hbs) est I'homme qui paie la redevance
annuelle, le contribuable " {Revue critique, II (1889), 413, n. 8), and hence renders
"sujet," but I cannot find any such usage elsewhere. Furthermore, the gram-
matical construction is not clear.
•:The same word ('-»»«/) is used in enumerating the duties of the vizier (II, 698),
among which was care of the water-supply in the whole land.
dThis means Siut. Maspero {loc. cit., 414, n. 2) calls it Thebes. But Sm'
in these inscriptions means Middle Egypt, not South; and " this city " in a nomarch's
inscription means his own city; see II, 11.
«The sign for mountain is certain, but an uncertain sign precedes it; the
parallelism with "highlaiid" demands a word like "mountain."
*^' and hk't are measures of capacity referring here to grain. See Griffith,
Proceedings of the Society of Biblical Archaology. XIV, 425.
gDoubtless referring to breeds of cattle.
•"The text has "bulls" (!) misread from 1. 13, where the word "bulls" occurs
with "many" before it, as in this line.
•Compare the talking cows in Papyrus d'Orbigny.
190 NINTH AND TENTH DYNASTIES [§409
Kheti's Monuments
409. I was one rich in monuments of the temple, 's * [who
■"increased^ that which he found, who repeated ofiEerings. I was a favor-
ite, '« .''
His Army
410. I was one strong with the bow, mighty with his sword, ''great
in fear among his neighbors. I made a troop of soldiers "
'*as commander'^ of Middle Egypt.
His Fleet
411. I had goodly ships, a favorite of the king "when
he sailed up-river."^
His Tomb
412. I was one ■'vigilant'' in that which he said; with a •'determined'
heart on the evil fday^. I had a lofty =°tomb with a wide stair before
the chamber.
Kheti's Childhood
413. I was a favorite of the king, a confidant of his princes, his
fexalted ones^ "'before Middle Egypt. He caused that I should rule as
a child of a cubit ^ (in height); he advanced my seat as a fyouth^i.
'"He had me instructed in swimming along with the royal children. I
was one correct of fspeechi, 'Hiee from ■'opposition' to his lord, who
brought him up as a child. Siut was satisfied with "^my administra-
tion; Heracleopolis praised god for me. Middle Egypt and the North-
land (Delta) said: "It is the instruction of a king.s
*About one-half line. •'About two-thirds line.
oThe title (Ip'-tpy) was also borne by Kheti, son of Tefibi (§ 398), but with
the addition "of the whole land."
"^From Heracleopolis to Siut. =See note, § 395, 1. 13.
'The phrase is literally "as a hairy one," and the parallelism demands a word
like "child" or "youth." It is possibly a reference to the lock of childhood.
gThe description of Kheti's childhood is now continued in the fragmentary
lower ends (mostly less than half the height) of sixteen columns on the south wall
(Griffith, p. 11; but on the west wall according to PI. 15). Originally there were
twenty-four columns. The numbering of the lines on PI. 15 (11. 25-40) must
be reversed, but I have retained it for convenience, beginning with 40 and going
back to 25. The probable connection between the fragments is indicated as usual
in brackets, but without pretense to even approximate restoration for which the
basis is lost. For the interpretation of these lines, see § 405. .
§414] INSCRIPTIONS OF SIUT 191
Death of Kheti's Grandfather
414. '•"Saith [Kheti] 39r_i born of 38Si[t]a —
- night watch 3' in glorifying his'' name.
3* fThen mourned'] the king himself, all Middle Egypt
and the Northland (Delta) 3s . The king himself and the
counts were gathered together 34|Tfor the burial. He was interred in
his tomb of the'] highlands.
Regency of Kheti's Mother
The son of his daughter made his name to live and glorified 33[him].
■ fHis daughter ruled in' Si]ut, the worthy stock"= of her father
s^freigned in the cityi] beloved of Upwawet, rejoicing"^ in
doing good to Qier city' ^i e 30
beloved* of the king, his favorite.* The city was satisfied with that
which she said. '^ fShe acted asl lord, until her son became
strong-armede =*. 's ^
»The Kheti who appears with an unidentified Intef offering homage to Nib-
khru-Re=Mentuhotep at Shatt er-Regai (cf. § 425) is elsewhere an official of the
same king (§ 426), and his mother's name is Sitre. This renders it possible that
he is the same as the Siut Kheti of our text whose mother was "Si[t] — ." Our
Kheti II may therefore have become an official of the Theban Mentuhotep II
after the subjugation of the North. His tomb and inscriptions would then have
been made before the union of North and South, and show no trace of it.
''The deceased is the grandfather of Kheti.
<=With a feminine determinative. ^Feminine ending.
^This obscure phrase occurs also, Griffith, Siut, III, 7.
f Feminine. BSee Sethe, Verbum, § 366, 2.
^The remaining fragments are apparently the usual encomium, but too dis-
connected for translation.
THE ELEVENTH DYNASTY
THE ELEVENTH DYNASTY
415. The plan of these volumes does not include d)mastic
discussion, but a few reasons must nevertheless be offered
for the order of the kings here adopted. " Any arrangement
of the Eleventh D)Tiasty must proceed from the fact that
the war between the Heracleopolitans and Thebans was
still going on in the reign of Horns- Wahenekh-Intef. Now,
a great-grandson of a Thinite official of this king erected
'his tombstone at Abydos in the thirty-third year of Sesos-
tris I (§§ 529 £f.). It was therefore not less than four genera-
tions from the reign of the said Intef to the thirty-third year
of Sesostris I. Allowing 40 years to the generation, this
period was some 160 years in length, of which 53 years fell
in the Twelfth Dynasty. The close of this Intef's reign was
therefore not later than about 100 years before the accession
of the Twelfth Dynasty. The war between Thebes and the
North, therefore, continued perhaps as late as 100 years
before the accession of the Twelfth Dynasty, and Wahenekh-
Intef's accession was not later than 150 years before the
end of the Eleventh Dynasty, as we know that he reigned
at least 50 years (§ 423) .
416. Now, the Turin Papyrus gives 160 years as the length
of the Eleventh Dynasty, '' which corresponds admirably with
the above result, viz., that the Eleventh Dynasty must have
succeeded the Heracleopolitans at the latest 150 years before
the rise of the Twelfth Djmasty. The Turin Papyrus had
aOther indications will be found in connection with the following translations.
See also my essay, "New Light on the History of the Eleventh Dynasty,"
American Journal of Semitic Languages, XXI, 163 fE.
'The number is 160 +», the x not being more than 9 years, of course. That
this total refers to the Eleventh Dynasty is perfectly certain; it immediately pre-
cedes the heading of the Twelfth Dynasty, and does not reach back to a beginning
point behind the Eleventh Dynasty, because there is a summation preceding the
seven kings of the Eleventh Dynasty. See Wilkinson, fragg, 61 and 64.
19s
196 ELEVENTH DYNASTY [§417
seven kings in the Eleventh Dynasty, of whom Nibkhrure-
Mentuhotep, Senekhkere-Mentuhotep, and a lost name at the
end were the last three. The last king, whose name is lost,
was, of course, one who ruled the whole country, and whose
reign shows no trace of war with the North. Among the
remaining kings of the time the only one who clearly fulfils
these conditions is Nibtowere-Mentuhotep. The second half
of the dynasty is thus fairly certain. Working back from
Nibkhrure-Mentuhotep, we find that he was suzerain of a
vassal king, Intef (§ 424), giving us then an Intef and three
Mentuhoteps as the order of this group, thus :
Intef (other names unknown),
Nibkhrure-Mentuhotep ,
Senekhkere-Mentuhotep ,
Nibtowere-Mentuhotep.
417. The first and second of these three Mentuhoteps
reigned not less than 74 years." The third had a prosper-
ous reign, as the inscriptions of his second year in Hamma-
mat show; so that the above three Mentuhoteps may easily
have reigned in all 80 years, and the whole group more than
this. Now, Horus-Wahenekh-Intef was still reigning some
100 years before the end of the dynasty. He therefore did
not long precede the above group of four. But he never
ruled north of Abydos, for on his tombstone in his fiftieth
year he tells of having established his northern frontier
there (§423), and his treasurer, Thethi, corroborates this
(§4230). He must therefore have preceded Nibhotep-
Mentuhotep, who openly boasts of having gained the Two
Lands by conquest. But as Wahenekh-Intef was succeeded
by his son, a second Intef, both these Intefs must have pre-
ceded Nibhotep-Mentuhotep, forming a group of three
which evidently immediately preceded the above group of
four. The only other ruler of the period remaining is the
"See table on p. 197.
§ 4i8] . ELEVENTH DYNASTY 197
nomarch Intef, who of course should head the line;* but
he was not included in the Turin Papyrus.
418. We thus obtain seven names in the dynasty, as
the Turin Papyrus prescribes. As four of these are Men-
tuhoteps, we have another proof that there were not more
than three Intef s in the Eleventh Dynasty.^ Thus recon-
structed, the dynasty is as follows:
Horus-Wahenekh-Intef I .
Honis-Nakhtneb-Tepnefer-Intef II
Nibhotep-Mentuhotep I . . . .
Intef III (Shatt er-Regai)<i ....
Nibkhrure-Mentuhotep II ...
Senekhkere-Mentuhotep III ...
Nibtowere-Mentuhotep IV . . .
Total 126 (+x)
As the Turin Papyrus gives at least 160 years to the
d)masty, we have at least 34 years to be distributed among
the seven above «'s.
X
( + ^)
X
X
46«
2S
( + X)
( + *)
»As in the erratic Karnak list, Lepsius, Auswahl der wichtigsten Urkunden, I:
better in Zwolfte Dynastie; Prisse, Monuments, I; Burton, Excerpta hiero-
glyphica, I. The publications are all very inaccurate; Prisse being probably
the best. I had my own copy of the original in the Bibliothfeque Nationale. That
there may have been a series of Theban kings preceding the list of the dynasty
as given in the Turin Papyrus, is perhaps probable, in view of the Intefs and the
Mentuhotep who follow the nomarch Intef in the Karnak list.
•"Steindorff has shown that we have contemporary monuments from only three
Intefs before the Twelfth Dynasty (besides the nomarch, Zeitschrijt jilr agyptische
Sprache, 1895, 77-96). No one without preconceived opinions will appeal to the
Karnak list to prove that the Intefs all ruled before the Twelfth Dynasty. If we
are to depend on the Karnak list, then Sesostris I ruled immediately before or after
the Seventeenth Dynasty ! And such absurdities abound in this hst. But accept-
ing this preposterous list as usable, we find that it puts Nb-}fpr (w)-Re'^, Intef
eiSier just before or just after the Seventeenth Dynasty. Hence Petrie's state-
ment (History oj Egypt, I, sth ed., xxi) that "the ancient lists are entirely against"
the above arrangement of the Intefs must be rejected. All the other evidence,
moreover, is in favor of dividing the Intefs into two groups.
■=1, 423-
dEduard Meyer writes me that he would not include this vassal king in the
dynasty, but would gain the seven kings demanded by the Turin Papyrus, by
inserting a Mentuhotep before Intef I, as in the Karnak hst. This would give us
five Mentuhoteps, thus : Mentuhotep I, two Intefs and four Mentuhoteps in suc-
cession; but the value of the erratic Karnak list seems to me very dubious.
«Turin Stela of Meru, No. 1447, Cat. I, 117.
'His highest date is the year 8; his successor celebrated a Sed Jubilee in his
second year, and must therefore have been appointed crown prince 30 years earlier
by Mentuhotep III, who thus reigned at least 28 years.
el, 43S-
THE NOMARCH, INTEF
MORTUARY STELA^
419. The Kamak list'' places as first of the Intefs a
nomarch, without royal title.'= He is the founder of the
Theban line, and is so recognized by Sesostris I, who dedi-
cated a statue to him in Karnak with the inscription: " The
king 0} Upper and Lower Egypt, Kheperkere (Sesostris I);
he made it as his monument for his father, the hereditary
prince (rp'^'ty), Intefo, born of Ikui (Ykwy)."^
The following mortuary stela probably belonged to him.
420. At the top is a three-line inscription, beginning
with the usual mortuary formula, for the benefit of
The hereditary prince, count, great lord of the Theban nome, satis-
fying the king as keeper of the Door= of the South, great pillar of him,*
who makes his Two Lands' to Uve, superior prophet, Intef.
"Limestone stela, discovered by Mariette, in Drah abu-' n-Neggah, now in Cairo,
Cat. 20009; also published by him in Monuments Divers, 50, b, and p. 16; also
Maspero, Guide, pi. and p. 34; Dawn, 115; Petrie, History of Egypt, I, 126.
t'Lepsius, Auswahl der mchtigsten Urkunden, I. (See §417, note.)
"^The family came from Hermonthis, where they were nomarchs. Inscriptions
from the tomb of an Intef, one of these nomarchs, are in Copenhagen and Berlin
(No 13272; see Lange, Zeitschrijt jiir dgyptische Sprache, 34, 25-35, and plate).
^Discovered by Legrain, in March, 1899 {Recueil, XXII, 64). The addition
of (='), "great," is not found in the royal list of Karnak with the name of the
Rp c • ty Intef; but as there is only one rp'^' ty in the Karnak list, the two must be
identical.
«See Piehl, Zeitschrijt jitr dgyptische Sprache, 1887, 35, and Brugsch, ibid.,
1884, 93 f. The title continued from the Sixth Dynasty, into Saite times (IV, 995).
^This participial epithet is usually applied to Intef, but this is impossible;
for Intef, who acknowledges a king in the phrase, "satisfying the king," cannot
speak of himself, a mere nomarch, as "making his two lands live." Nor can
"two lands," so commonly in parallelism with the title "King of Upper and Lower
Egypt," be made to mean the two shores of the river in Intefs nome. Compare,
e.g., §441,1.8. S' ^nff-t^wy is an epithet, like S'mnfp-sw, designating the
king. It is in excellent parallelism with "king," and indeed serves as king
Senekhkere's Horus-name. This Intef therefore ruled before the rebellion against
the North, and the "king" referred to is an Heracleopolitan.
198
REIGN OF HORUS-WAHENEKH-INTEF I
ROYAL TOMB STELA^
421. This is the stela referred to in the remarkable
passage in the PapjTUS Abbott (IV, 514), where it is de-
scribed as bearing a figure of the king standing with one of
his dogs. The name of the dog given in the papjTnis, Behka,
is still preserved on the stela. It is a Berber name,^ and
the stela accompanies it with a translation into Egyptian.
The king stands on the right with his five dogs; before him
were seven columns of inscription, of which only the lower
half is preserved. The first two lines were occupied with an
account of the king's good works for the gods; among these
we may discern the following:
I filled his (Amon's) temple with august vases, in order to offer
Ubations I built their temples, wrought their
stairways, restored their gates, established their divine offerings for all
eternity. I ffound' .
"Lower portion of a large limestone stela, now about 80 cm. high and 130 cm.
wide; now in Cairo, No. 20512. It was discovered in i860, by Mariette, in the
brick pyramid of Intef II, at Drah abu-'n-Neggah (Thebes). After making an
incomplete and inaccurate copy, Mariette left the stela where he found it, to be
taken by a fellah, twenty years later, and broken up for use in a s3.kieh. Two
years later some of the fragments were rescued with much difl&culty by Maspero,
and installed at Bul3,q (now Cairo; cf. Guide du Visiteur, 67, and Mariette, Monu-
ments divers, Texte, 15; Transactions of the Society of Biblical Archaeology, IV,
193, 194). Apparently no search has ever been made on the spot for the upper
portion, already lacking in Mariette's time. His copy was published in Monuments
divers, 49 (p. 15 also); another copy by E. de Roug^ {Inscriptions hieroglyphiques,
161, 162). I have collated these with a careful copy of the original in Schaefer's
manuscript of the Cairo catalogue.
••On the Berber name of one of these dogs, see Maspero, Transactions of the
Society of Biblical Archceology, V, 127, and Etudes de mythologie el d'archeologie,
III, 331). The others also bore foreign names, and the ancient scribe has appended
a translation to each. Daressy {Recueil, XI, 79, 80) found a fifth dog; Basset
{Sphinx, I, 87-92) admits a second name as possibly Berber; see also Birch, Trans-
actions of the Society of Biblical Archceology, IV, 172-86. Finally, Maspero explains
another name as Berber {Recueil, XXI, 136). 1
199
200 ELEVENTH DYNASTY: INTEF I [§429
422. The statement of his good works is followed by a
narrative of his conquest of territory on his northern fron-
tier. He does not state against whom he contended, but it
is of course against the Heracleopolitans, defended by the
princes of Siut (see § 391). It is the only distinct reference
in the Eleventh D3masty inscriptions to the geographical
location of the northern enemy in the civil wars which raged
between North (Heracleopolis) and South (Thebes) for
at least several generations before the overthrow of the
Heracleopolitans.
423. 3 her northern boundary as far as the nome of Aphro-
ditopolis.* I drove in the mooring-stake^ in the sacred valley, I cap-
tured the entire Thinite nome, I opened all her fortresses, I made her
the Door of the North.'^
" like a flood, great in possessions, like a sea, splendid for
the glory of Thebes (nw t), great for the r 1 of this land, which I
myself have bequeathed to my son,"^ r — l 5— . There is no lie
that has come forth from my mouth, there is no word like that which
I have spoken. There was no rviolencel for one (dweUing) upon his
sandy land, nor — ^ for one in possession of his paternal property, nor
^ — — — ■ — them forever and ever.
Year 50, when this stela was set up r — 1 by — Horus, Wahenekh
(W^h-'^nff), King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Son of Re, In[tefl, the
great (Yn[i}-]").^
^Read the serpent and feather. That this is the proper reading is rendered
alriiost certain by the connected data. King Intef is here speaking of the estab-
lishment of his northern boundary. The inscription of Intefoker (§§529ff.)
shows that he ruled as far north as Akhmim, which is directly across the river
from the nome of Aphroditopolis, and the latter is just north of the Thinite nome.
tThis simply means "J landed," as in § 612, 1. 14; and Papyrus Ebers, 58, 9.
Cf. Sethe, Verbum, I, 257.
■^This is parallel with the phrase "Door of the SotUh" applied to Elephantine.
Thus the Aphroditopolite nome under this Intef occupied the same frontier posi-
tion in the North as the region of the first cataract in the South (see § 396, 1. 18, note).
I have retained the gender of the pronouns to show this ; the Thinite nome is masculine.
"iThis is corroborated by the treasurer Thethi (§ 423G).
^Partially broken out; read <: Ac; it is evidently a synonym of the first word
('r with determinative of bowstring), rendered "violence," with which it is parallel.
'This is the proper reading of the name as shown by 1. 7, where it occurs as
above restored, preceded by the same Horus-name.
REIGN OF HORUS-NAKHTNEB-TEPNEFER-
INTEF II
STELA OF THETHI^
423 A. This new and important document contains the
autobiography of Thethi, the chief treasurer of Intef I and
II. It is the first document from the Eleventh Dynasty
clearly narrating the succession of the kingship from father
to son,^ and it also places for us the Horus-name of
Intef II for the first time. " Besides these facts it also gives
us the northern and southern boundaries of Intef I's king-
dom, although the southern limit given cannot be identified
with certainty as yet. The northern boundary is given as
Thinis, corroborating Intef I's tomb stela (§ 423) ; but as
Thethi's stela was made after Intef I's death, it is evident
that this king never reigned north of that point. The
account of Thethi's appointment and duties is also of the
greatest interest.
Introduction
423B. '[■'Live''] Horus: 'Wahenekh; King of Upper and Lower
Egypt, Son of Re, Intef (I), fashioner of beauty, living like Re forever.
Thethi's Titles
423C. His real and favorite servant, having an advanced seat in
the house of his lord, great and favorite official, knowing the private
^Stela seen by G. C. Pier in the hands of a native dealer in 1903. Mr. Pier
was able to make only a hurried copy, which he published in the American Journal
of Semitic Langtiages and Literatures, April, 1905, 159 ff. The text is in places,
therefore, still uncertain. The following translation was also first published, ibid.,
163 ff.
tiBut see § 423, 1. 4.
'In my publication of the text, I overlooked the earlier occurrence of this
Intef 's Horus-name on a stela at Abydos (Mariette, Catalogue d'Abydos, 96, No.
544)-
202 ELEVENTH DYNASTY: INTEF II [§4230
affairs of his lord, following him at all his goings, rgreati hearted ' —
in very truth, head of the grandees of the palace, in charge of the seal
in the privy ofl&ce, one whom his lord trusted more than the grandees,
who delighted the heart of Horus (the king) with that which he desired,
favorite of his lord, his beloved, chief treasurer, in charge of ^the privy
office which his lord loved, chief treasurer, first under the king, the
revered, Thethi (Tty), says:
Career under Intef I
423D. I was one beloved of his lord, his favorite every day. I
passed a long period of years under the majesty of my lord, Horus,
Wahenekh, King of Upper and Lower Egypt, ^Son of Re, Intef, this
land being under his authority up-river as far as fThes^ and down-river
as far as Thinis; while I was his servant, his subject, his real sub-
ordinate. He made me great, he advanced my seat, he set me in his
^confidential office, in his palace because of r 1; the treasury was
put in my charge (m'^y), under my seal-ring, as one chosen for the sake
of every good thing brought to the majesty of my lord, from South
and from North at every faccountingi; for the sake of pleasing (the
king) with the tribute of this whole land; because of his apprehension
lest *this land diminish that which was brought to the majesty of my
lord from the sheiks^ who are in the Red Land; and because of his
apprehension lest the highlands diminish. Then he gave this (office)
to me, recognizing the excellence of my ability. Then I reported it
to him; never was anything lacking 'therein •" \^ because of my
great wisdom.
423E. I was one who was a real favorite of his lord, a great and
favorite official, the coolness and the warmth in the house of his lord,
fto whomfj the arms were drooped (in respect) among the grandees,
I did not r — 1<= behind *the two •" — \ for which men are hated. I was
one loving good, and hating evil, a character beloved in the house of
his lord, attending to every procedxure according to the r — T* of the
desire of my lord. Now, at every procedure on account of which he
(the king) commanded me to arise » « I did not exceed
^Compare §429. i'Nt }}sf. cWd, "put, place."
dif this is d'dw, "audience-hall," then Sm't, "going" (rendered above "pro-
cedure"), is literal, viz., "every going to the audience-hall at the desire, etc."
«When the king dismissed him, the court arose as he went out. The following
dozen obscure words indicate the compliments of the court as Thethi passed out.
§423G] STELA OF THETHI 203
the number^ which he commanded me; I did not put one thing in the
place of another*" t 10 — 1 1 did not take a thing from-a legacy,
(but) every procedure was attended to. Now, as for all royal food
which the majesty of my lord commanded to give to him, I made for
it a list of all that his ka desired; then I rendered it to him; I carried
out successfully all their administration; never "was a thing lacking
therein, because of my great wisdom.
Death of Intef I
423F. I made a barge'^ for the city, and a boaf^ for following my
lord. ^ I was counted with the grandees at every time of t ', while
I was honored and great. I supplied ""myself — l "with my own things,
which the majesty of my lord gave to me because he so greatly loved
me, (even) Horus, Wahenekh, King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Son
of Re, Intef (I), living like Re, forever; until he journeyed to his horizon^
(tomb).
Career under Intef II
423G. Then, when his son assumed his place,'3(even) Horus, Nakht-
neb-Tepnefer, King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Son of Re, Intef (II),
fashioner of beauty, living like Re, forever, I followed him to all his
good seats of pleasure. Nev^r did he r ' therein, because of
my great wisdom. He gave me the function "^which I had in the
time of his father, making it to prosper under his majesty, without
anything being lacking therein. I passed all my time on earth, as first
under the king, his subject; being mighty and great under his majesty.
I was one fulfilling his character, whom his lord praised every day.
"In treasury business.
tiPerhaps meaning that in the count he did not substitute less valuable for
more valuable things.
'Af*'. ^Shy.
«One for official use at Thebes, and another for use when the king was on a
journey.
'This is the brick pyramid-tomb on the western plain of Thebes, containing
his mortuary stela (§§421, 422), the same tomb which the Ramessid inspectors
investigated a thousand years later than this and found uninjured (IV, 514). It
has now disappeared.
REIGN OF NIBHOTEP-MENTUHOTEP I
TEMPLE FRAGMENTS FROM GEBELEN^
423H. These scanty fragments tell a remarkable story, not
yet noticed, as far as I know, in any of the histories. The
first block bears the Horus-name of the king, and thus
identifies him as Nibhotep-Mentuhotep^ (I). It repre-
sents him smiting an enemy bearing the inscription: "Chief
of Tehenu and ■" — V The second block represents the
king again smiting the enemy, four in number. The king
bears the inscription: "Son of Hathor, Mistress of Dendera,
Mentuhotep." The first enemy is without inscription, but
represents an Egyptian !•= The other three are designated
as: "Nubians, Asiatics (sttyw), Libyans.^" Over the
whole is the inscription: "Binding the chiefs of the Two
Lands, capturing the South and Northland, the highlands
and the two regions, the Nine Bows and the Two Lands"
(sic!). The king makes no distinction between his vic-
tories over foreign foes and his conquest of Egypt itself,
and actually places the figure of the conquered Eg3nptian
among those of the barbarians on the temple wall. Mentu-
^Inscribed blocks, now in Cairo, from a temple of Mentuhotep I at Gebelen,
which had been rebuilt into a Ptolemaic temple wall. They have been very inac-
curately published by Daressy (Recueil, XIV, 26, and XVI, 42) ; much better by
Frazer (Proceedings of the Society of Biblical Archaology, XV, 409, PI. XV).
Fortunately, I also found Erman's copy of them among the Lexicon manuscripts.
bThe Intef-custom of putting "Son of Re" within the cartouche is observable
here.
^Overlooked by Daressy; and seemingly not identified by Frazer.
dOf these three, the first two are the same in appearance; the Libyan as usual
wears a feather. They symboUze the foes of Egypt on south, east, and west, in
harmony with the same king's inscription on the Island of Konosso (Lepsius,
DenkmMer, II, 150, 6= de Morgan, Catalogue des monuments, 73, 44) which
states: "all countries are beneath his feet."
204
§ 423] TEMPLE FRAGMENTS FROM GEBELEN 205
hotep I therefore acquired the land of Eg)7pt by conquest,
and made no effort to conceal the source of his title by pre-
tense to legitimacy. It was evidently this conquest which
overthrew the Heracleopolitans of the Tenth Dynasty.
Hence the reign of Mentuhotep I marks the conclusion of
the war with the North. The place of his reign is clearly
after Intef II, and before the last three Mentuhoteps who
controlled the whole country.*
^Schaefer states that simUar representations were found by Borchardt in the
temple of Nuserre at Abusir. The conception may therefore be more general than
I have supposed above. See also Papyrus Anastasi II, II, 7, for similar state-
ments concerning Ramses II.
REIGNS OF INTEF III AND NIBKHRURE-
MENTUHOTEP II
RELIEFS NEAR ASSUAN
424. The Intef whom we have called the third, appears in
no other monuments which can be identified as his, because
we do not know his other names. He can hardly be the
same as the preceding Intef II, from whom he is separated
by Mentuhotep I. He was obliged to give way to another
member of the family, Mentuhotep II, who permitted him
to reign as a vassal.
425. The most important of Mentuhotep II's monuments*
is the relief on the rocks at Shatt er-Reg3,l, near Assuan,''
where, accompanied by his mother, a lady not of royal
lineage, he receives the homage of this vassal. King Intef,
who is ushered into the royal presence by Mentuhotep
II's chief treasurer, Kheti. This Kheti was an important
officer, who appears again on the rocks near Assuan in the
presence of Mentuhotep II, with the following inscrip-
tion :"=
426. Year 41,'* under (the majesty of) Nibkhrure (Nb-fyrw-R'),
came the wearer of the royal seal, sole companion, chief treasurer,
Kheti, born of Sitre," triumphant; and ships to Wawat "i \
"See list, Maspero, Dawn, 462, n. i.
^Proceedings of the Society of Biblical Archaology, 1881, 99, 100; Petrie,
Season in Egypt, XVI, 489; not in de Morgan, Catalogue des monuments; Dawn,
463-
•^Petrie, Season in Egypt, VIII, No. 213. I had also a photograph, kindly
loaned me by Professor Petrie.
^His highest date, "year 46," is on the tablet of Meru at Turin (No. 1447,
Catalogue Turin, I, 117).
'This Kheti may be the same as Kheti II at Assiut. See § 403, and § 414,
1. 38, note.
§ 426] RELIEFS NEAR ASSUAN 207
This was doubtless an expedition against the Nubians of
Wawat. Mentuhotep II's inscriptions are elsewhere not
infrequent, but contain only a word or two, chiefly his titles.
His appearance on the monuments of later generations is
such as to show that he was regarded as the first great king
of the Theban line.
REIGN OF SENEKHKERE-MENTUHOTEP III
HAMMAMAT INSCRIPTION OF HENU^
427. As the only document of Mentuhotep III, this in-
scription is of great historical importance. The lists of
Sakkara and Abydos show him as the immediate predecessor
of the Twelfth Dynasty and the successor of the powerful
Mentuhotep II; but the Turin Papyrus has after his, a lost
name belonging to the last king of the dynasty. Mentu-
hotep Ill's minister, Henu, drew men for this Hammamat
expedition from territory between Oxyrrhyncus and Gebelen
(1. 10), which shows that practically all of Egypt above the
Delta was under this king's rule. The Delta was also cer-
tainly subject to Senekhkere, for Henu calls himself (1. 8)
one "who quells the Haunebu" the peoples of the distant
north in the Mediterranean, who could only be reached in
the Delta.
Introduction
428. 'Year 8, first month of the third season (ninth month), day 3;
'his real favorite servant, who does all that he praises every day, wearer
of the royal seal, [sole] com[panion], — overseer of that which is and
that which is not, overseer of the temples, overseer of the granary and
White House, ^overseer of horn and hoof, chief of the six courts of
justice, high-voiced in proclaiming the name of the king on the day of
warding off ■" — ^ who judges the prisoner according to his desert
' ^ Satisfying the heart of the king as keeper of
2-Cut on the rocks in the Wadi Hammamat. Text: Lepsius, DenkmUler, II,
150, a; better, GoWnischeflf, Hammamat, XV-XVII. For old literature see
Maspero, Dawn, 495, n. i. I had also a collation of the Berlin squeeze by Mr.
Alan Gardiner, which he kindly permitted me to use.
bThe omitted lines contain similar but exaggerated epithets indicating Henu's
high rank and great power; but no formal titles; omissions of similar character
follow.
208
§ 429] HAMMAMAT INSCRIPTION OF HENU 209
the Door of the South; over the ^administratioii of the nomes of the
South, chief treasurer who quells (S'bdS) the
Haunebu {JFf^-nbw), to whom the Two Lands come bowing down, to
whom every office reports; wearer of the royal seal, sole companion,
'the steward, Henu says:
Preparation for the Expedition
429. [My lord, life, prosperity],^ health! sent me to dispatch a
ship to Punt to bring for him fresh^ myrrh from the sheiks over the
Red Land, by reason of the fear of him in the highlands. Then I went<=
forth from Koptos '°upon the road, which his majesty commanded me.
There was with me an army of the South from — <^ of the OxyrrhjTicus
nome, the beginning thereof® as far as Gebelen; the end thereof as far
as r — '^'^ every office of the king's house, those who were in town and
field, united, came after me. The army ■" — 1 cleared the way "before,
overthrowing those hostile toward the king, the hunters and the children
of the highlands^ were posted as the protection of my limbs. Every
official body of his majesty was placed under my authority. They
reported messengers to me, as one alone commanding, to whom many
hearken.
Departure and Provisions
430. I went forth with an army of 3,000 men. ^"I made the road
a river, and the Red Land (desert) a stretch of field,** for I gave a leath-
ern bottle, a carrying pole (sts), 2 jars' of water and 20 loaves to each
one among them every day.J The asses were laden with sandals
r 1.
^Restored from Hammamat inscription of Amenemhet (vizier), § 446, 1. 7
Lepsius, DenkmdUr, II, 149. e, 1. 7.
•"Read wd.
cNo lacuna as in Lepsius, Denkmdler. ^Read S^^ym.
dSee same phrase, § 442, 1. 13. fRead S^bt.
eThis passage indicates a campaign before the expedition, in order to clear
the country of the Troglodytes.
hSee a similar statement by the vizier Amenemhet (§ 447, 1. 10). The same
rare phrase " stretch or tract of field" (= = d) occurs also in Sinuhe (Berlin, 11. 9, 10).
•Read dS later d^.
JThe loaves are small like the German "Brodchen." The "every day"
doubtless applies only to the last two articles, the rest being intended for carrying
the rations. At the rate of 60,000 loaves a day, this expedition (which could not
have lasted less than a month) consumed r,8oo,ooo loaves, which they must have
brought with them from Coptos. Water skins could be replenished at the quarries.
See the elaborate arrangements of Ramses IV for provisioning his expedition (IV, 467).
2IO ELEVENTH DYNASTY: MENTUHOTEP III [§431
Wells Dug
431. Now, I made 12 wells* in the bush, '^and two wells in Idehet
(Yd^ht), 20 Square' cubits'' in one, and 31 'square^ cubits^ in the other.
I made another inlheteb (Y^htb), 20 by 20 cubits on each side ^
— ].
Ship Built and Sent
432. Then I reached the (Red) Sea; then I made this ship, and I
dispatched if^ with everything, when I had made for it a great oblation
of cattle, bulls and ''•ibexes.
Return and Quarrying at Hammamat
433. Now, after my return from the (Red) Sea, I executed the com-
mand of his majesty, and I brought for him all the gifts, which I had
found in the regions of God's-Land. I returned through the rvalley!"*
of Hammamat, I brought for him august blocks for statues belonging
to the temple. Never was brought down the like thereof for the king's
court; never ''was done the like of this by any king's-confidant sent
out since the time of the god. I did this for the majesty of my lord
because he so much loved me *
»Mr. Griffith {Proceedings of the Society of Biblical Archcsology, XTV, 420),
has read the sign before 12 as a measure of area; giving "a well of 12 — ?" As
this would leave the word "well" without either determinative or feminine ending,
it is improbable. The sign in question is more probably a part of the word for
well (»ot), giving lynmt as usual.
*>See Mr. Griffith, ibid.
<:Henu only equipped and dispatched the ship, but did not accompany it to
Punt; he then returned to Egypt by way of Hammamat (1. 14).
•^Possibly W^g, another land.
^Further asseverations of the king's favor follow. The same obscure phrases
also Lepsius, DenkmUler, II, 149, e, 1. i3 = GoIenischeff, Hammamat, XIII 1. 13.
REIGN OF NIBTOWERE-MENTUHOTEP IV
HAMMAMAT INSCRIPTIONS^
434. These are among the most important of the Ham-
mamat inscriptions. Besides their unusual archaeological
interest, they throw great light on the reign of Nibtowere-
Mentuhotep (IV), from whom we have no other inscriptional
material. They show clearly that the wars with the North
(Heracleopolis), had long ceased, and that the North was
now united under his rule; for he had an army of 3,000 men
from the Delta to transport the lid block of his sarcophagus
to Egypt (§453, 1. 21; similar indications in §451, 3,
11. 8-10). The only place that he can have held in the
series of Eleventh Dynasty kings is therefore at the end of
that d)niasty. The place of Mentuhotep II and III is
certain from the Turin Papyrus. Our Mentuhotep cannot
precede Mentuhotep II, who supplanted an Intef ; nor does
the Turin Papyrus perniit him to follow Mentuhotep II.
The only place open after the close of the war with the
North is at the end of the dynasty after Mentuhotep III,
where the Turin Papyrus shows a lost name.
I. THE FIRST WONDER^
435. A relief shows the king offering wine before Min of
Coptos; behind the king are the words: "First occurrence
*Cut on the rock-walls of the Wadi Hammamat. Text: Lepsius, DenkmiUer,
II, 149, c to g; Gol^nischeff, Hammamat, X-XV; and partially in the manu-
scripts of Nestor I'Hdte in the Bibliothfeque Nationale, Paris. I had also colla-
tions of the Berlin squeezes by Mr. Alan Gardiner, of which he very kindly gave
me the use.
^Lepsius, Denkmdler, II, 149, c = Gol^nischeS, Hammamat, X. Copy in
manuscript of Nestor I'Hdte; translated by Erman, Zeitschrift fur agyptische Sprache,
1891, 60.
212 ELEVENTH DYNASTY: MENTUHOTEP IV [§436
of the Sed Jubilee; at the top the date: Year 2,^ second
month of the first season (second month), day j."
436. Then the following:
'This wonder which happened to his majesty: that the beasts'*
of the ^highlands came down to him; there came a gazelle great with
young, going with her face toward the people before her, ^while her
eyes looked '"backward''; (but) she did not turn back, until she arrived
at this august mountainj^at this block, it being still in its place, (intended)
for"= this lid of this sarcophagus. She dropped her young upon it
while this army of 'the king was looking. Then they cut off her neck
■'before'''^ it (the block) and brought fire. *It descended in safety. =
437. Now, it was the majesty of this august god, 'lord of the high-
lands, who gave the offering (w'"^) to his son, Nibtowere (Nb-Pwy-R'^,
Mentuhotep IV, living forever, in order that his heart might be joyful,
that he might *live upon his throne forever and forever, that he might
celebrate millions of Sed Jubilees.
438. 'The hereditary* prince, count, governor of the city and vizier,
chief of all nobles of judicial oflEice, supervisor of that which heaven
gives, the earth creates, and the Nile brings, supervisor of everything
in this whole land, the vizier, Amenemhet.
II. THE OFFICIAL TABLET^
439. The above prodigy, which doubtless occurred soon
after their arrival, found record twelve days before the
official record of the expedition, which is as follows:
^This king was therefore nominated as crown prince 28 years before his father's
death, as he celebrates his 30-years' jubilee in his second year. Thus Mentuhotep
III reigned at least 28 years.
''Suggested by Gardiner; Erman: "Gebirgs {arheiter)."
^Undoubtedly this explanation of Erman is correct.
dRead fpnt-hr/ ? I'Hdte shows a Smssign before hr 'f; and Gardiner saw a
similar sign. The soldiers sacrificed the gazelle upon the block.
'That is, the block reached Egypt in safety.
'The leader of the expedition here adds his name and titles. A double line
separates them from the king's inscription above them.
sLepsius, Denkmdler, II, 149, d = Gol&ischeff, Hammamat, XI.
§442] HAMMAMAT INSCRIPTIONS 213
Date
440. 'Year 2, second month of the first season, day 15, '(of)
Nibtowere-Mentuhotep* (IV) living forever.
Erection of Stela
441. ^His majesty commanded to erect'' this stela to his father
Min, lord of the highlands in this •^august, primeval mountain,
s * <= in order that his ka may be satisfied and that the god
may "i — ' in his desire, as 'does a king who is upon the great throne,
first in thrones; enduring in monuments, excellent god, lord of joy,
^mighty in fear, great in love, heir of Horus in his Two Lands, whom
^the divine Isis, Min, and Mut, the great sorceress reared for the
dominion '°of the two regions of Horus, King of Upper and Lower
Egypt, Nibtowere (Mentuhotep IV), Uving Uke Re, forever; ''he says:
Dispatch of Expedition
442 . My majesty sent forth the hereditary prince, governor of the
city and vizier, chief of '"works, favorite of the king, Amenemhet, with
an army of 10,000"^ men '^from the southern nomes. Middle® Egypt, and
the ■" — 1^ of the Oxyrrhyncus '-^nome; to bring for me an august block
of the pure costly stone which is in this mountain, 'S^whoses excellent
things^ Min makes; for a sarcophagus, an eternal memorial, and for
monuments »^in the temples of MiHdle Egypt,'' according as a king
over the Two Lands sends "to bring for himself the desire of his heart,
from the highlands of his father Min.
»Full five-name titulary.
tiThe word "erect" (lit., "cause to stand") is here loosely used from habit,
although the inscription is cut on a natural wall of rock, which could not have been
"erected."
■^Eulogistic epithets of the god.
^Gardiner gives the sign as certain; Gol^nischeff also has apparently a finger
( = 10,000) ; both give the top pointing wrong, but this is a peculiarity of the Ham-
mamat inscriptions (cf. Henu, Lepsius, Denkmdler, III, 150, o, 1. 7, thrice!) and is
only one of many instances of the influence of the hieratic in these texts. This
pecuUarity occurs frequently also in the Assiut texts of the same period. Cf.
the 8,368 men of a later expedition, lY, 466. •
^Stn 1: ■ w, perhaps " South."
^Ifnty written only with the nose; determinative house.
eReferring to "stone" (feminine). ^Sw^'w, perhaps "South."
214 ELEVENTH DYNASTY: MENTUHOTEP IV [§ 443
Dedication
443. He made (it) as his monument for his father Min of Koptos,
lord of the highlands, head of the Troglodytes, in order that he (the
king) might celebrate very many [Sed Jubilees], Uving like Re, forever.*
III. THE commander's TABLET*'
444. On the same day, Amenemhet, the commander of
the expedition, engraved his own record of the achievement,
as follows:
Date and Introduction
445. 'Year 2, second month of the first season, day 15. Royal
commission, executed by the hereditary prince, count, governor of the
city, chief judge, favorite of the king, chief of works, distinguished in
his office, great in his rank, with advanced place in ^the house of his
lord, commanding the official body, chief of the six courts of justice,
judging the people (p'-'t) and the inhabitants (f^y "<), and hearing rcausesi;
to whom the great come bowing down, ^and the whole land, prone
upon the belly; whose offices his lord advanced; his favorite, as keeper
of the Door of the South; conducting for him millions of the inhabitants
{rf^y't) to do for him the desire of his heart 'toward his monuments,
enduring on earth; magnate of the King of Upper Egypt, great one
of the King of Lower Egypt, conductor of the palace, r "■ in
stretching the measuring-cord; judging without partiahty, governor of
the whole South, to whom is reported ^that which is and that which
is not; conducting the administration of the Lord of the Two Lands;
fzealousi of heart upon a royal commission ; commander of those that
command, conductor of overseers; the vizier of the king, at his
audiences, Amenemhet, 'says:
Choice of Amenemhet
446. My lord, the king of Upper and Lower Egypt, Nibtowere
{Nb-t^wy-R'^, Mentuhotep IV) hving forever, sent me, as one sending,
in whom are divine members; to establish his monument in *this land.
He chose me before his city, I was preferred before his court.
*There is an appendix here of the twenty-seventh or twenty-eighth day, which
is the latest date in the series; it is translated at the end (§§ 452, 453).
*'Lepsius, DenkmiUer, II, 149, e = Gol^nischeff, Hammamat, XII, XIII; manu-
scripts of Nestor I'Hdte.
§4so] HAMM AM AT INSCRIPTIONS 215
Personnel of Expedition
447. Now, his majesty commanded that there go forth to this august
highland "an army with me, men of the choicest of the whole land:
miners, artificers, quarrymen, artists, draughtsmen, stonecutters, gold-
fworkersi, '"treasurers of Pharaoh, of every department of the White
House, and every office of the king's-house, united behind me. I made
the highlands a river, and the upper valleys ''a water-way.^
Return with Sarcophagus
448. I brought for him a sarcophagus, an eternal memorial, an
everlasting reminder. Never descended its like in this highland since
the time of the god. "My soldiers descended without loss; not a man
perished, not a troop was missing, not an ass died, not a workman was
enfeebled. It happened for the majesty of my lord '^as a distinction,
which Min wrought for him because he so much loved him, that his
ka might endure upon the great throne in the kingdom of the two
regions of Horus. rHe made (it) as something greater than it.i^ I
am his favorite servant, who does all that he praises every day.
IV. THE SECOND WONDERS
449. Eight days after the erection of the two preceding
records, a second wonder occurred, which was immediately
recorded on the rocks, as follows:
Date
450. 'King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Nibtowere (Nb-t^wy-R'^,
Mentuhotep IV) who liveth forever, born of the king's mother, Imi
(Ymy), second month of the first season, day 23.
"Referring to the desert march. See the similar, but more explicit, statement of
Henu on the same march, §430, 1. 12. According to the figures given there, this
expedition consumed 200,000 loaves a day 1 (See note, ibid.)
i>Grammatically, the sentence is clear, but its meaning ? The same phrase in
Henu, 1. 16.
t^Gol^nischefi, Hammamal, XIV=Lepsius, Denkmdler, II, 149 f.
2i6 ELEVENTH DYNASTY: MENTUHOTEP IV [§451
Rain and a Well
451. One set* to work *in this mountain on the Hid' block'' of the
sarcophagus. The wonder was repeated, rain was made, the forms of
this god appeared, ^his fame was shown to men, the highland was made
a lake,*^ the water went to the ''margin'' of the stone,"^ a well was found in
the midst of the valley, "10 cubits by 10 cubits on its every side, filled
with fresh water, to its edge, undefiled, kept pure and cleansed from
gazelles, concealed %om Troglodyte barbarians. Soldiers of old, and
kings who had Uved aforetime, went out and returned by its side, no
eye had seen it, the face of man had not fallen upon it, (but) to his
majesty himself it was revealed * ^ Those
who were in Egypt (T^-mry) heard it, the people who were in Egypt
(Kmt), South and Northland (Delta),* they bowed their heads to the
ground, '°they praised the goodness of his majesty forever and ever.
V. COMPLETION OF THE WORK*
452 . On the twenty-eighth day of the month the work
was completed, and the following appendix was added to
the king's ofi&cial stela:
453- ''Day 28. The lid of this sarcophagus descended, being a
block 4 cubits, by 8 cubits, by 2 cubits,^ =°on coming forth from the
work. Cattle were slaughtered, goats were slain, incense was put ''on
the fire. Behold, an army of 3,000 sailors of the nomes of the Northland
(Delta) followed it in safety to Egypt.
aLit.: "laying the hand on the work." The form is an infinitive, the same
construction continuing to the end of 1. 5.
^I am not quite certain that this rendering is correct; it is lit.: "laid or set
block of the sarcophagus."
<:Water in the highland was always remarkable; compare Kheti's feat (§ 407)
who "made the elevated land a swamp" by means of a canal.
dMight also be "lake."
^Obscure references to the discovery as a favor to the king.
fit is clear that Nibtowere governs all Egypt.
BLepsius, Denkmdler, II, 149, (i = Gol^nischeff , Hammamat, XI.
tAbout 6 feet, 9 inches wide, 13 feet, 9 inches long, and 3 feet, 5 inches thick.
§457] STELA OF ETI 217
TABLET OF SENEKH*
454. This tablet does not belong to the same expedition
as the preceding, but it narrates the attempts to settle with
people the desert stations in Hammamat, and along the
road from Coptos to the Red Sea.
455. Nibtowere (Mentuhotep IV), living forever. Commander of
troops in the highlands, steward in Egypt, commander of r — i" on the
river, Senekh (S'^nfj), says:
456. I was commander of the troops of this entire land in this
highland, equipped with water skins'' (Mw), fbaskets,' with bread, beer,
and every fresh vegetable of the South. I made its valleys green, and
its heights pools of water; settled with children throughout, southward
to Thau (T "^ w) and northward to Menet-Khuf u (Jlf w "^ • t-]ff}w) . I went
forth to the sea (Red Sea), I hunted adults, I hunted cattle. I went
forth to this highland with 60 people of years, and 70 young ones of
the children'' of one (woman). I did all correctly for Nibtowere (Men-
tuhotep IV), living forever.
STELA OF ETI-i
457- This biography of an active ofl&cial is of interest as
showing the agricultural and industrial conditions in the
Middle Kingdom, when the skilful administration of re-
sources by the governing princes was necessary to prevent
a famine. Eti was so successful in this respect that he even
conveyed surplus grain to neighboring towns, and Thebes,
sent to him for supplies.
*Cut on the rocks at Wadi Hammamat; published by Lepsius, Denkmaler,
II, 149, g; and Newberry, Beni Hasan, II, 18 (where the translation is misleading).
I had also a collation of the BerUn squeeze, kindly loaned to me by Mr. Alan H.
Gardiner.
••Gardiner.
<:Or: "/ went forth to this desert as a man of 60 years, and 70 little children,
the offspring of one (woman);" "offspring" or "children" (ms'w) is of course used
in sense of "descendants."
^Limestone stela (0.47 m. by 0.75 m.) from GebelSn, now in Cairo, Catalogue,
20001; also published by Daressy, Recueil, XIV, 21,
2i8 ELEVENTH DYNASTY: MENTUHOTEP IV [§458
458. An interesting reference in 11. 7, 8, where Eti states,
"I j allowed my great lord, I followed my small lord," may
possibly indicate that we are to refer this document to the
early Eleventh Dynasty, when the Theban princes ruled
above Thebes, but were not yet kings. The powerful
Theban prince would then be Eti's "great lord," and the
local nomarch his "small lord." In accordance with this,
his field of activity did not extend below Thebes.
459. 'The assistant treasurer Eti* {Yty) I he says: '
"I was an excellent citizen {nds), achieving with his strength, the
great pillar ^in the nome of Thebes, Nehebkauf' in the upper country
{Jpityt). I sustained {s''^nh) ^GebelSn^ during unfruitful years, there
being 400 men fin distress"". ''But I took not the daughter of a man, I
took not his field. I made ten herds of goats, swith people in charge
of each herd; I made two herds of cattle and a herd of asses. I raised
all (kinds of) small cattle. I made 30 ships, (then) ^30 other ships,
and I brought grain {rsy) for Eni (Yny)^ and Hefat^ {Hp't), after
GebelSn was sustained. The nome of Thebes 'went up-stream.*
Never s^did one below or above Gebelto bring to another district.^ I
followed *my great lord, I followed my small lord, and nothing was
lost therein. I built a house ^ — i, filled with every luxury. The
people said: "He is innocent of violence to another."
His beloved eldest son,'^ — made it for him.
*He was also "wearer oj the royal seal, and sole companion."
^An uncertain epithet, "who controls his ka's," also applied to a well-known
mortuary god.
'^Yw-mytrw. ^Eni is probably Esneh (Yny't).
^Tuphium. Same as the Ophieion of the Cornelius Gallus inscription at
Philae; see Sethe, Sitzungsberichte der Berliner Akademie, 1896, 482; it is located
on the east bank of the Nile, between Thebes and Hermonthis.
f Probably for supplies.
eOr: "never did GebelSn send down-stream or up-stream (Jdy^ }}d ffnt) to
another district" (namely, to procure supplies).
•■The name of the son is lacking, but one surviving sign would indicate that
it was also Yty.
THE TWELFTH DYNASTY
CHRONOLOGY OF THE TWELFTH DYNASTY
460. As the chronology of the Twelfth Dynasty is more
fully and accurately known to us than that of any dynasty
in or before the Empire, it has seemed necessary to insert a
statement of it, with a reconstruction based on the latest
data from the monuments. The contemporary monuments
and the Turin Papjnrus enable us to make the following
table ^ of the d)Tiasty (excluding coregencies) :
Amenemhet I 20*" years
(10 years more with his son)°
SesostrisI 42"* "
(at least 3 years more with his son)^
Amenemhet II 32* "
(at least 3 years more with his son)*
Sesostris II 19S "
SesostrisIII 38^ "
(coregency of uncertain length with son)
Amenemhet III 48^"
(coregency of uncertain length with his son)'
Amenemhet IV 9 y-i 3 m., 27 d.'^
Sebeknefrure 3 y., 10 m., 24 d.''
»See Sethe, Zeitschrift fur dgypHsche Sprache, 41, 38 £f.
•"The stela of Intef in Cairo bears the double date: " Year 50 0/ Amenemhet I,
Year 10 of Sesostris I" (M.ajieite, Abydos, II, 22=Roug^, Inscriptions hierogly-
phiques, VIII = Roug^, Album photographique, No. 146; = Mariette, Catalogue
ginlral d' Abydos, 104, No. 558).
cAmenemhet I died in the thirtieth year of his reign. See Tale of Sinuhe (§491).
dThe stela of Upwaweto at Leyden (V., 4) bears the double date: "Year 44 of
Sesostris I = Year 2 of Amenemhet II" (J^psius, Ausivahl der imchtigsten Urkunden,
PI. 10; Lepsius, ZwSlfte Dynastie, II, No. 4; also my own photograph of the
original; and the Turin Papyrus gives him 45 years, so that he must have ruled
3 years with his son.
eOn the stela of Simontu (§ S94), Sesostris I is still living in the third year
of Amenemhet II.
'The inscription of Hapu at Assuan (§ 614).
sKahun papjni of the second find, fragment transliterated by Borchardt and
distributed in private copies at the Congress of Orientalists, Rome, 1899.
l>The highest date on the monuments is year 33 (Griffith, Kahun Papyri, II,
85). Sethe's reconstruction of the Turin Papyrus proves that 38 is to be restored.
•The highest date is year 46 (ibid , 86) ; 48 is certain from Sethe's reconstruction.
iLepsius, Auswahl der wichtigsten Urkunden, 10; Prisse, Monuments Sgyptiens,
9; its length is unknown.
''Turin Papyrus, see above.
221
222
TWELFTH DYNASTY
[§461
461. The Turin Papyrus gives 213 years, i month, and
17 days, as the total length of the dynasty.
The Sothis date in the Kahun Papyri enables us to estab-
lish the date of the accession of Amenemhet I as 2000 B. C."
462. We may then construct the following table:''
Length
Date B. C.
Coregencies
Amenemhet I
30 years
2000-1970
2000-1980 alone
1980-1970 with his son
1980-1970 with his father
Sesostris I
45 "
1980-193S
1970-1938 alone
1938-1935 with his son
1938-193S with his father
Amenemhet II ... .
35 "
1938-1903
■ i935~i9o6 alone
1906-1903 with his son
Sesostris II
19 "
1906-1887
f 1906-1903 with his father
\ 1903-1887 alone
Sesostris III
38 "
1887-1849
Uncertain period with son
Amenemhet III . . .
48 "
1849-1801
Uncertain period with
father<=
Amenemhet IV^ . .
9 "
1801-1792
Sebeknefrure .....
4 "
1792-1788
^Borchardt, Zeitschrijt fUr dgyptiscke Sprache, 37, 99 fF.; Mahler, ibid., 40,
83; Meyer's calculation (Aegypiische Chronologic, 51, 52, 57, 58) has slightly
modified the date as calculated by Borchardt and Mahler, without affecting the
principle employed, carrying back the beginning of the dynasty to 2000 B. C.
•"This table differs considerably in the last four reigns from that given by
Mahler (Zeitschrijt jilr dgyptische Sprache, 40, 83-85, and Orientalistische Littera-
turzeitung, June, 1902, 248 f.), as he unfortunately has overlooked the higher
dates in the reigns of Sesostris III and Amenemhet III, found since the publica-
tion of Brugsch's and Meyer's tables, upon which Mahler depends.
<^The coronation of Amenemhet III as coregent with his father was narrated
on the walls of a temple probably that of Crocodilopolis in the Fay<lm. Frag-
ments of the inscription are preserved in Berlin (Nos. 15801-4), and published in
Aegyptische Inschrijten aus den Koniglichen Museen, III, 138. The coronation
inscription of Hatshepsut at Der el-Bahri was copied from this of Amenemhet III.
I am indebted for these facts to my friend, Mr. Alan H. Gardiner, who kindly
called my attention to them.
dThe length of his coregency with his father is unknown, and hence not indi-
cated in years.
§ 462] CHRONOLOGY OF TWELFTH DYNASTY 223
The opposite table is as nearly correct as the astronomical
data will permit, the most nearly accurate of all the Egyp-
tian dynasties back of the Twenty-sixth, and the earliest
series of absolute dates known in history, in spite of the
margin of four years within which each date falls.
REIGN OF AMENEMHET I
INSCRIPTION OF KHNUMHOTEP I*
463. Khnumhotep I was the first of the powerful Beni-
hasan nobles in the Twelfth Dynasty of whom we have any
account. He was evidently of service to Amenemhet I
during that king's final and successful struggle for the
mastery and the crown of Egypt. The text is in such a
fragmentary state that much must be read between the
lines. It is, however, clear that Khnumhotep accom-
panied the king on an expedition in which "20 ships of
cedar ^^ were engaged, which resulted in expelling a certain
foe from Egypt (1. 5). This foe, referred to only by the
pronoun "him," whom it was necessary to expel from
Egypt, must almost certainly have been one of Amenemhet's
rivals for the crown. Then follows the submission of for-
eign foes, the Asiatic in the North and the Negro in the
South, and of highland and lowland alike ("the two regions, "
1. 6). This accomplished, the king rewards his faithful
adherents, and Khnumhotep is made "count of Menet-Khufu "
(1. 7) where he ruled to the complete satisfaction of the king.
464. His titles are:^ "Hereditary prince and count,
wearer of the royal seal, sole companion, ■" — ^ great lord of
the Oryx nome •" 1, attached to Nekhen (judge)." This
shows that he was later intrusted with the entire principality
of the Oryx, in agreement with the statements of his grand-
son, Khnumhotep II, whose long inscription narrates the
*Tomb No. 14 at Benihasan ; first noticed and copied by Newberry and pub-
lished by Newberry, Beni Hasan, I, PI. XLIV; see also p. 84 and II, 7, 8. The
text is painted on the west wall, and is exceedingly fragmentary.
^Ibid., II, PI. XLIV, 1. 1.
224
§ 466] HAMMAMAT INSCRIPTION OF INTEF 225
same appointments of his grandfather and follows the
history of the family (§§ 619 ff.) in this fief for several gen-
erations.
465. I came out from my city, I went to [my nome]. Never did I
commit evil against a man "* Then
appointed me [my lord] the King of Upper and Lower Egypt, 'Sehe-
tepibre (Shtp-yb-R'^), Son of Re: Amenemhet (I) living forever and ever,
to the foflScel . I went down with his majesty to ■" — \^ in twenty
ships of cedar fwhichi he Hedi, coming to — . He expelled him from
the two regions (Egypt). ^Negroes ■" \ Asiatics, fell; he seized
the lowland, the highlands, in the two regions ■" ' with the
people — remain in their positions ■" — • — ^ — f 1 ' .
Then his majesty appointed me as count of Menet-Khufu. My admin-
istration was excellent in the heart of his majesty, pleasant in — . Then
I r — 1 my city, I benefited my people. His majesty caused to be done
for me, that which my mouth uttered ■" 1 * — the — were — , the
— were — , its taxpayers were — , the citizens were servants
HAMMAMAT INSCRIPTION OF INTEF^
466. This inscription records the only oflScial expedi-
tion of Amenemhet I to Hammamat of which we know
anything.*^ Only one block is mentioned, for which Intef
spent eight days in a vain search, and only succeeded in
finding it after propitiating the local gods.
^There must have been a geographical name here, which is corrupt in the
original or has been imperfectly read.
^Cut on the rocks of Wadi Hammamat; published by Lepsius, Denkntdler,
II, 118, (i = Gol^nische£E, Hammamat, VIII=Maspero, VII le CongrSs Interna-
tional des Orientalistes, Section ajricaine, 50-54. I had also a collation of the Berlin
squeeze, kindly loaned me by Gardiner. It is, Uke all the Hammamat inscrip-
tions, strongly influenced by the hieratic ; the graver, who did not know hieratic,
has then so corrupted the scribe's sketch that much of it is unintelligible.
=The other Hammamat inscription bearing his name (Golenischeff, Hamma-
mat, II, 4 = Maspero, ibid., 156), is incomplete; it does not record an official, but
a private expedition, and the introduction, containing references to the safe con-
duct of the expedition ("/ returned none missing, none dead") does not
226 TWELFTH DYNASTY: AMENEMHET I [§467
467. Above is the full titulary of Amenemehet I,
without further date. Then follow the titles of Intef:*
^^ Hereditary prince and count, wearer of the royal [seal],
sole companion, royal messenger, superior prophet of Min.
After the conventional series of personal epithets (11. 2-6),
his narrative then proceeds :
468. * My lord sent me to Hammamat, to bring this
august stone; never was brought its like since the time of the god.
There was no hunter who knew 'the marvel of it, none that sought it
reached it. I spent 8 days searching this highland; I knew not the
fplacei wherein it was. I prostrated myself to Min, to Mut, to ■" — '
Great-in-Magic, and all the gods of this highland, giving to them incense
upon the fire. The land brightened at early morning,'' I r ^ *to go
forth to the mountain r — i Hammamat, the ■" — i being behind me, and
the ■" — ""-people scattered upon the mountains, searching this whole
[desert].*^ Then I found it, and the ■" — "■ were in festivity, the ■'entire^'*
army was praising, it rejoiced with fobeisancei;^ I gave praise to
Montu.*
mention the name of the leader as usual. Then follows (1. 3) : "Fourth month of the
third season, day 3; came the wearer of the royal seal, sole companion, inferior prophet,
privy councilor of the treasurer of the god, Idi {Ydy), (1. 4) to bring down stone for
the merintUer priest, the hereditary prince, rittial priest, sole companion, superior
prophet, governor of the South [superior prophet of Min] (restored from Gol€msche£f,
Hammamat, III, 3, 1. 3), Puioker {P'wt-ykr) (1. 5). I brought down for him
2 blocks, each one (1. 6) 10 cubits (over 17 feet) in length, — cubits in its width."
Idi has another inscription in the vicinity (Golfoischeff, Hammamat, III, 3 =
Maspero, ibid., 157) as follows: "Year r — ^l, third month of the third season, day
f — '>; came the {titles) Idi, to bring down stone for (titles) Putoker.
I brought down for him a block of 12 cubits (about 20 feet, 6 inches), with 200 men.
I brought 2 oxen, jO asses, f — ^i 5 ' — i". It is clear that Idi is here executing the
commissions of Putoker, an official of high rank, not those of the king.
^According to 1. 6, his name may have been Sebeknakht, and his father's
name Intef.
•"Read dw' dw', as in Sinuhe, 1. 248.
^Suggested by Gardiner.
AKea.d rdr-f?
"Read j»-<'?
'The last line was omitted by Lepsius, and it is possible that even in Gol^ni-
scheff's copy the conclusion is lacking, for the concluding phrase above is very
abrupt.
§47i] INSCRIPTION OF NESSUMONTU 227
INSCRIPTION OF NESSUMONTU^
469. The stela is dated at the top in the "year — ^"
of Amenemhet I, and adds the titulary of Sesostris I. As
Sesostris I was associated with his father in the twentieth
year of the latter, we must restore the above date as '■''year 24.P
470. The stela contains the conventional mortuary texts
and representations, but in the lower right-hand corner adds
nine short columns of historical content:^ showing that
Nessumontu led expeditions agaiast the Bedwin {"Sand-
dwellers") and other Asiatics at the north end of Egypt's
eastern frontier.
471. 'Respecting [every] word of this tablet, it is truth, 'which
happened by my arm, it is that which I did in ^reality.'^ There is no
deceit, and there is no lie therein. •'I ^defeated' the Asiatic Troglodytes,
the Sand-sdwellers. I overthrew the •'strongholds'^^ of the ^^nomads^,
as if rthey had never' been. T coursed^ through ?the field, I went
^Stela in Louvre (C i) ; the top lines containing the date are published by
Lepsius, Auswahl der wichtigsten Vrkunden, 10, and Lepsius, Zwolfte Dynastie,
II, 3. The entire text: Maspero in Report of First International Congress of
Orientalists at Paris, 1873, II, 48-61, and again in Maspero, Audes de mythologie et
d'archeologie, III, 153-64; Pierret, Inscriptions, 2, 27; Gayet, Steles, I. All these
are inaccurate. A good text is given by Piehl, Inscriptions, I, I-II, but he unfor-
tunately overlooked the nine lines of historical text and copied them from Maspero.
Brugsch {Thesaurus, VI, 1467) copied them from Pierret. These nine lines alone
have been carefully given by Miiller {Orientalistische Litteraturzeitung, 1900, 47-
48), who, however, does not consider his copy "einen vollig abschliessenden Text."
I therefore carefully copied and collated the original (in January, 1901, for the
Berlin Dictionary) under excellent light, which insured some additional readings,
and it is probable that my text may be regarded as final. I have since published it,
American Journal of Semitic Languages and Literatures, XXI, 133 ff- Miiller
also gives a' translation, from which mine differs in several places, but is indebted
to him for several suggestions.
''It is unfortunately only this important corner of the stela which is badly
broken and weathered, seriously mutilating the text.
'^Yr{y)f n' y pw m wn'm^^.
dThe word cannot be ^n, "tent," as Miiller suggests, for it ended in feminine t,
while ffn, "tent," is masculine, as shown by Harkhuf, Letter, 1. 20. The feminine
form cited by Muller from the Israel stela is not "tent," but "water skin" {ffn't).
I connect our word virith i^n' I, "prison."
eRead f}ns; see Muller, Orientalistische Litteraturzeitung, III, 433.
228 TWELFTH DYNASTY: AMENEMHET I [§47*
forth iDefore those who were' behind ^heir defenses, without fmy]
equal therein,* "by command of Montu, to him who followed the
plan of — .
INSCRIPTION OF KORUSKO''
472- The Nubian conquests of the Twelfth Dynasty,
were akeady begun by Amenemhet I, and the place where
the following inscription was discovered, over half-way up
to the second cataract, indicates that the statement in the
king's "Teaching" (§483) is trustworthy.
473. Year 29,' of the King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Sehetepibre
{Slttp-yh-R\ Amenemhet I), living forever. We came to overthrow
Wawat
THE TEACHING OF AMENEMHET^
474. This composition purports to be the practical
injunctions of the old king, Amenemhet I, to his son and
coregent, Sesostris I. Maspero thinks they were posthu-
'■Nn sn'y ym.
t'Cut on a rock at the entrance of the valley road leading from Korusko to
Abu Hamed. It was discovered by Dr. LUttge in 1875, and by him shown to
Brugsch (Gesckichte, 117, 118), who published it seven years later, Zeitschrift jilr
dgypHsche Sprache, 1882, 30; and in Thesaurus, V, 1213.
<=Maspero's statement {Dawn, 478, n. 2) that this inscription belongs to the
"XXXth year" must be an oversight.
"iThe text is preserved in seven hieratic manuscripts of the Empire, mostly
incomplete, as follows:
1. MiUingen Papyrus (original lost), published from copy of Peyron, by
Maspero, Recueil, II, 70, and XVII, 64.
2. Papyrus SaJlier, II, 1-3, British Museum.
3. Papyrus SaUier, I, 8, Verso (=Millingen, I, II, i).
4. Ostracon, British Museum, 5623 (=Millingen, I, II, 6).
5. Ostracon, British Museum, 5638 ( = Millingen, II, S-ii); Diimichen,
Zeitschrift jilr Hgyptische Sprache, 1874, 30 ff.
6. Papyrus, Berlin, 3019 (Milligen, I, g to II, 11).
7. Leather Manuscript Louvre, 4920, "now completely spoiled." "All these
appear to be of about one period, perhaps from the end of the reign of Ramses II
to the reign of Seti II" (Griffith, Zeitschrift fUr dgyptische Sprache, 34, 36; Millingen
§475] 1'HE TEACHING OF AMENEMHET 229
mous,* but Griffith does not agree. "^ It can hardly be
doubted that the composition is a work of the Twelfth
Dynasty, and there is no serious reason why it should not
be attributed to the old king, whose "teaching" the intro-
duction distinctly states it is. Griffith regards the occasion
of the work as the attempt on his life when the king deter-
mines "to announce his son's succession in a formal manner."
This would date the work from the beginning of the core-
gency in the twentieth year of Amenemhet I. There is a
reference in the document, however, which would indicate
a later date. In III, 2, the king speaks of his campaign
against Nubia. Now, the only campaign of Amenemhet I
in Nubia known to us was in his twenty-ninth year (§ 473).'
This reference, therefore, would date the work not long
before the king's death in his thirtieth year, and is an indi-
cation that we have in it his final instructions to his son.
475. Its chief purpose was to warn the young Sesostris
against any confidences or intimate associations with those
about him. To enforce this warning, the old king dwells
on the kindness and beneficence, the order and prosperity,
of his reign; in contrast with which he bitterly depicts the
treachery and ingratitude which have been his reward.
There is an element of pathos in these words of the old
man, which do not fail of their effect even after nearly
four thousand years.
may be later), and are in a frightful state of corruption. The best manuscript, Mil-
lingen, is unfortunately incomplete, almost all of the third page being lost. The
latest and best treatment and text, employing all the manuscripts, are by GriflSth
{Zeitschrift fiir dgyptische Sprache, 34, 35-49), from whom the above statement of
materials is taken. An excellent translation of the clearer passages by Erman
also in Aus den Papyrus des koniglichen Museums zu Berlin, 44, 45. To both
these the present version is much indebted. The older "translations" are very
free paraphrases; for bibliography of them, see Maspero, Dawn, 467, n. 2.
^Dawn, 466. ^Zeitschrift jiir agyptische Sprache, 34, 38.
<=An earlier campaign is not impossible, but remains an assumption.
230 TWELFTH DYNASTY: AMENEMHET I [§476
476. The composition is in poetic form, and the lines are
separated as usual in the New Kingdom by a dot at the end
of each line.* It must have been a favorite composition, to
judge from the number of manuscripts which have survived.
They are all, however, so excessively corrupt that much is
unintelligible, and has been omitted in the version below.
477. Whether the historical statements in the document
are authentic or not, there is no reason to doubt their truth;
on the contrary, all but the attempt upon the king's life are
corroborated by conclusive external evidence. These state-
ments, in the order of their occurrence, are as follows: (i) the
attempt on the king's life (1, 11 — II, 4); (2) Sesostris I's co-
regency (II, 5, 6); (3) the king's reorganization of Egypt
(II, 10, 11); (4) the agricultural prosperity (II, 11 — III, i);
(5) foreign conquests in Nubia and among the Bedwin (III,
2, 3) ; (6) building of a palace (III, 2-6). There seems to
be no chronological order in this enumeration, for the
reorganization of the country took place in the first years,
long before the coregency. It is fair to conclude, however,
that the attempt on the king's life was the cause of the
association of Sesostris on the throne.
478. I. ^'Beginning with the teaching, which the majesty of the
Kingof Upper and Lower Egypt; Sehetepibre, Son of Re: Amenemhet
(I) triumphant, composed.
He saith, ^while distinguishing truth,
For his son, the All-Lord;
He saith: "Shine as a god!
Hearken to that which I say to thee,
That thou mayest be king of the earth,
That thou mayest be ruler of ^the lands,
»The paragraph division, retained in the accompanying translation, is also
indicated by rubrics.
•'Numbering of pages (Roman numerals) and lines (Arabic numerals) from
Papyrus Millingen, after Griffith.
1 480] THE TEACHING OF AMENEMHET 231
That thou mayest increase good.
479. 'Harden'' thyself against all subordinates.
The people give heed ^to him who terrorizes them;*
Approach them not alone.
Fill not thy heart with a brother,
Know not a friend,
Nor make 'for thyself intimates.
Wherein there is no end.
When thou sleepest, guard for thyself thine own heart;
For a man has no people.
In the *day of evil.
I gave to the beggar, I nourished the orphan;
I admitted the insignificant as well as him who 'was great of account.''
(But) he who ate my food made insurrection.
He, to whom I gave my hand, aroused fear therein;
They who put *on my fine Unen looked upon me as ^ — '.
They who anointed themselves with my m3TTh, ^defiled 'me' ^ — •
10 II
480. It was after the evening meal, night had come.
I took '^an hoiu: of heart's ease.
Lying upon my couch, I relaxed;
II 'My heart began to foUow slumber.
''Behold, weapons were flourished'',
■"Council was held against me,!
•While I was like a serpent of ^the desert.'
I awoke to fight, utterly alone.
3
As I quickly grasped the weapons in my hand,
I hurled back the wretches
4
^But see Gardiner's careful grammatical analysis of this line {Proceedings of
the Society of Biblical Archeeology, 24, 353 f.). He renders: "That cometh to
pass, to whose terrors no thought has been given." This is grammatically better
than the above rendering, although it does not fit either the preceding or following
context.
''Lit.: "him who was not, as well as him who was," Compare the saying of
the unjust official: "The name of a poor man is mentioned, by reason of his lord"
{Eloquent Peasant, Berlin, 3023, 1. 20).
232 TWELFTH DYNASTY: AMENEMHET I [§481
481. sBehold, the abomination occurred, While I was without thee,
While the court had not (yet) heard that I had delivered to thee
(the kingdom).
While I had not yet sat with thee.
*Let me adjust thy administration;
For I do not terrify them, I do not think of them,
My heart does not endure the slackness of servants.
7 9 a
482. '"I sent to Elephantine,
I reached the Delta,
I st6od on the borders of the land,
"I inspected its interior,
I carried forward the boundaries of valor by my bravery, by my
deeds.
483. I was one who cultivated "grain, and loved the harvest-god;^
The Nile greeted me in every fvaUeyi;
None was hungry in my years, none thirsted (III) 'then ;
One dwelt (in peace) through that which I did; conversing con-
cerning me.
All that I commanded was correct.
I ''captured! ^lions, I took crocodiles,
I Tseizedi the people of Wawat,
I captiu'ed the people of Mazoi.
31 caused the Bedwin to go like hounds."
I made a fpalacei decked ''with gold, «
Whose ceilings were of lazuli, ^and the walls therein".
The floors f— — l,
'The doors were of copper.
The bolts were of bronze,
'^Made for everlastingness.
At which eternity fears. "^
*The general sense is: the conspiracy was formed in the palace.
^Bebi, in whose inscription Brugsch thought to find references to Joseph's
famine {Geschichte, 246), uses verbatim the same words (Brugsch, Thesaurus,
VI, 1527, 1. 11) regarding himself.
<=This line is sUghtly doubtful, but compare similar phrase, Piankhi, 1. 3.
■^Not being able to destroy it. The remainder of p. Ill, for which Papyrus
Millingen is wanting, is too corrupt for translation.
i486] THE TALE OF SINUHE 233
DEDICATION INSCRIPTION^
484. A relic of Amenemhet I's building activity at Karnak,
is preserved in this dedication, found on the base of a shrine
from the Karnak temple of Amon, whence it had been taken
to the Ptah-temple:
Amenemhet I ; he made it as his monument for his father Amon-Re,
lord of Thebes {Ns'wt-Pwy), making for him a shrine of pink granite,
that he may thereby be given Ufe forever.
485. Another dedication^ at Bubastis runs as follows:
Amenemhet I; he made it as his monument for his mother Bast,
making for her'= a gate .
THE TALE OF SINUHE^
486. The tale of Sinuhe is a highly artificial piece of
"fine writing" in poetical form,^ most of which is lost to
our modem taste. It is, however, so rational and sober
throughout, and breathes such an air of reality, that it is
not to be disregarded as a historical source.
^Annales, III, 102. ^Naville, Bubastis I, PI. 33A.
•^An J has been omitted, either in the publication or by the ancient scribe.
dThe bulk of this tale (311 lines) is preserved in a hieratic papyrus of the
Middle Kingdom, now in Berlin (P. 3022), published by Lepsius, Denkmdler, VI,
104-7. The beginning, lacking in the Berlin Papyrus, is preserved in a hieratic
ostracon (a large flake of Umestone) discovered in a Twentieth Dynasty tomb by
Maspero (now in Cairo, No. 27149), and published by him in Mimoires de Vlnstitut
igyptien, II, 1-23, and Pis. I, II, 1886. This fragment, excessively corrupt, is
supplemented by eleven lines from the Amherst Papyrus (Newberry, Amherst
Papyri, PI. I), which have been incorporated with the Cairo ostracon and pub-
lished in transcription by Griffith {Proceedings of the Society of Biblical Archeology,
XIV, 453, 454). The whole has been translated by Erman in Aus den Papyrus
des koniglichen Museums zu Berlin, 14-29. My materials were: all the above
publications except Maspero's (which was not accessible), the Berhn original, and
especially a transcription of the Cairo ostracon, made by Erman from the original,
which he kindly placed at my disposal.
«The Cairo ostracon containing the beginning separates the lines by red dots,
and divides into stanzas. The above translation preserves these hues and stanzas
as far as the ostracon goes, after which the division is uncertain.
234 TWELFTH DYNASTY: AMENEMHET I [§487
487. The hero, Sinuhe, a noble of high rank, is with the
young coregent. Prince Sesostris I, in the western Delta, on
a campaign against the Libyans, when the message announc-
ing the death of the old king, Amenemhet I, reaches the camp.
Sesostris I does not allow the news to be made public, but
secretly returns to the royal residence, in order firmly to
establish himself as king before any pretender can precede
him. Sinuhe accidentally overhears the message, and,
evidently for political reasons, immediately flees the country,
making Palestine his goal. Here he spends many years,
experiencing manifold adventures, until in old age, after
becoming rich and powerful, he is pardoned by Sesostris I,
and permitted to return to Egypt.
488. The date of Amenemhet's death, given in the tale
as in the thirtieth year of his reign, is corroborated by the
monuments, where his highest date is also the thirtieth year;*
hence the introductory narrative may probably be accepted
as essentially historical. Moreover, the style of the writing
in the Berlin papyrus shows that the document could not
have been written very much later than the reign of Sesos-
tris I, when the historical facts were still well known.
489. The geography of the flight^ is correct as far as
traceable, but the error of Upper Tenu for Upper Retenu,
the Empire term for Palestine, shows unfamiliarity with
one of the most important, and later the most frequent,
designations in the Egyptian's geography of Asia.'= But it
is the earliest occurrence of the name; for the tale offers us
"The stela of Intef bears the joint date: " Year 30 of Amenemhet I, year 10
of Sesostris I" (Cairo, Maxiette, Abydos, II, 22=Roug€, Inscriptions hiirogly-
phiques, VIII=Roug€, Album photographique, No. 146; Mariette, Catalogue
genital d' Abydos, 104, No. $$S).
bSee especially Miiller, Asien und Europa, 38-47.
oRetenu was, however, known in the Middle Kingdom, and is mentioned in a
Sinai inscription (see Weill, Sinai).
§ 492] THE TALE OF SINUHE 235
the oldest account of pre-Israelitish Palestine from any
source. This account appears to be essentially true to the
facts, and shows us how superior was the Egyptian of this ^
time, to the Bedwin of Palestine.
490. Hereditary prince, count,
Wearer of the royal seal, sole companion.
Judge, local governor.
King famongT] the Bedwin,
Real confidant of the king, his beloved.
The attendant, Sinuhe, saith:
I was one who follows his lord,
A servant of the royal rharemi of the queen.
Rich in praise.
491. In year 30, second month of the first season, on the 7th day.
Departed the god into his horizon.
The king of Upper and Lower Egypt, Sehetepibre.
He ascended [to] heaven, joined with the sun;
The divine limbs were mingled with him that begat him.
In the court, silence f 1.
The great double doors were closed,
The court sat (in mourning).
The people Hbowed down inJ silence.
492. Behold, his majesty had sent out
A numerous army to the land of the Libyans;
The eldest son was commander thereof.
The Good God' Sesostris.
Now, just as he was returning, having taken
Living captives of the Libyans,
And aU cattle, without limit ;
The companions of the court,
They sent to the west side,^
*These three lines are totally corrupt; the names of Amenemhet and Sesostris,
and the pyramid-city, Kenofer {K^-njr) are mentioned.
^Toward Libya.
236 TWELFTH DYNASTY: AMENEMHET I [§493
In order to inform the king^
Of their plan, conceived in the cabinet chamber.
The messengers found him on the way,
They reached him at the time of evening.
The hawk,^ he flew, together with his following,
Without letting his army know fit'.
Then sent the royal children,
Who followed this army;
No one had called "^'fto^ one of them."^
Behold, I stood; I heard his voice
^As he spoke, while I ■" \
My heart cleaved, ^my arms opened.
While trembling fell on aU my members.
I stole away tr 1 — ,
To seek for myself a place of concealment.
I placed smyself between two bushes,
To ■"avoid"' the way which they went.
I ^proceeded up-stream,
'Not intending (however) to reach the court;
I thought there was fighting (there).
493. ®I reached ■" — "■ in the region of Sycomore,
'I arrived at the Isle of Snefru.^
I tarried in a stretch '°of field,*
It grew light, I went on, when it was day.
I came upon a man, standing "in f — "■ the way;
He saluted me, and was afraid.
""When the time of the evening meals drew on,
I reached the city of '^the Ox (Ng^w).
I ferried over, in a vessel without a rudder,
^Sesostris I.
^Poetical designation of the prince, Sesostris, who now secretly leaves the
camp and hastens to the royal residence, to be crowned.
<=The BerUn papyrus begins here; the line numbers refer to that manuscript.
■iTo inquire after the absent Sesostris.
«See §312, 1. 21, note. *See §430, 1. 12, note.
^Compare the same meal in § 480.
§493] THE TALE OF SINUHE 237
^■•[By means of] a wind of the west."
I passed by on the east of the quarry,
'sPast the highland goddess, mistress of the Red Mountain.'^
As I gave '^the way to my feet, [going northward],'
I came to ''the Walls of the Ruler,
Made to repulse the Bedwin,
[And to' smite the sand-rangers]"^
I bowed 'Mown in the bushes.
For fear the sentinels ''on the fort,
Who belonged to its day (-watch), should see me.
I went on ""at time of evening,
As the earth brightened, I arrived at Peten {Ptn).^
^'When I had reached the lake of Kemwer (Km-wr)/
I fell down for thirst, =^fast came rmyi breath,
My throat was hot,
^•51 said: This is the taste of death.
I upheld my heart, I ^''drew my limbs together.
As I heard the sound of the lowing of ^^cattle,
I beheld the Bedwin.
^'^That chief among them, who had been in Egypt, recognized me.
^'He gave me water, he cooked for me milk.s
I went ^*with him to his tribe.
Good was that which they did (for me).
One land sent me on to ^^Panother,
I loosed'' for Suan (5w»),'
*This shows clearly the eastward direction of his flight.
''This is the mountain of red conglomerate just northeast of modern Cairo.
It is still called the Red Mountain (Gebel el-Ahmar), and is still used as a quarry.
See Baedeker, 74, and Murray, 418.
<=Only in Empire text.
dPound only in the Empire text. ^Unknown land.
'Lit.: "the great black," the earlier northern extension of the Gulf of Suez.
See Maspero, Dawn, 351, n. 3, and 471, n. 3, who renders "the very (wr't) black,"
although the writing is always wr [ = " great," without t); and Muller, Asien und
Europa, 39-43-
BHere the Cairo ostracon stops, and the verse division is from here on uncertain.
^Perhaps a nautical term.
•From "swn," "to trade," evidently a. trading-post on the Asiatic frontier,
like Swn (Assuan) on that of Nubia.
238 TWELFTH DYNASTY: AMENEMHET I [§494
I arrived at Kedem^ (Kdm);
I spent 30a year and a half there.
494. Emuienshi, that sheik siof Upper Tenu,'' brought me forth
Saying to me: "Happy art thou with me,
(For) thou hearest the speech ^^of Egypt."
He said this, (for) he knew my character,
He had heard of ^smy wisdom;
The Egyptians 34who were there with him, bare witness of me.
495. Emuienshi now questions Sinuhe as to the reason
of his flight, and the latter responds evasively, merging
his reply into a long hymn in praise of the king (11.
34-77). Whereupon Emuienshi replies:
496. '*" Behold, thou shalt now abide with me;
Good is that which I shall do for thee."
He put me at the head of his children.
He married me "to his eldest daughter,
He made me select for myself of his land,
8°0f the choicest of that which he had.
On his boundary with ^'another land.
It was a goodly land, named Yaa {Y^^);°
There were figs *^in it and vines.
More plentiful than water was its wine,
Copious was ^^its honey, plenteous its oil;
All fruits were upon its trees.
^''Barley was there, and spelt.
Without end all ^Seattle.
Moreover, great was that which came to me,
Which came for love **of me,
When he appointed me sheik of the tribe.
aLong misread "Edom;" first corrected by Erman, in 1885, Aegypten,
495. The region was east of Jordan and the Dead Sea, and receives the same
name in the Old Testament.
^This is the first occurrence of Upper [Re]tenu, the usual designation, in the
Empire for the higher portions of Palestine. That the text has omitted an r is
almost certain. See Miiller, Asien und Europa, 47.
■^An unknown district in Palestine; it is written as if it were the name of
some plant.
§ 497] THE TALE OF SINUHE 239
From the choicest of *'his land.
I portioned the daily bread,
And wine **for every day,
Cooked flesh, and fowl ^"in roast;
Besides the wild goats of the hills.
Which were trapped 9°for me, and tbrought' to me;
Besides that which my dogs captured for me.
"'There was much — made for me,
And milk in '"every sort of cooked dish.
I spent many years.
My children '^became strong.
Each the mighty man of "'•his tribe.
The messenger going north.
Or passing southward to the court,*
9sHe turned in to me.
For I had all men turn in (to me).
497. The tale now proceeds with examples of the personal
prowess of Sinuhe, but the remainder of over 200 lines con-
tains nothing of historical importance.^
^The court of Egypt is meant.
bThe remainder of the story can be read in the latest and tar the best transla-
tion by Erman, Aus den, Papyrus des koniglichen Museums zu Berlin, 20-29 (Ger-
man), or a very free paraphrase by Maspero, Contes popalaires, or an English
version after Maspero, by Petrie, Egyptian Tales.
REIGN OF SESOSTRIS I
THE BUILDING INSCRIPTION OF THE TEMPLE OF
HELIOPOLIS^
498. This building inscription in its present form has
a very interesting history. It is not preserved to us upon
a great stela, to which such inscriptions were usually in-
trusted, but has reached us on more fragile material — a
roll of leather. This had been used by a scribe in the third
year of Amenhotep 11^ for scratching down various data,
either for the sake of practice or for temporary preservation;
for they were often washed off and replaced by others. At
present we can read, although half washed out, part of the
legal proceedings of a sculptor against his own son, and
notes regarding the receipt and issue of lumber." To one
of these notes he has fortunately fixed the date, as given above.
On the other side of the leather our scribe copied the begin-
ning of the dedicatory building inscription of Sesostris I,
placed by him on a great stone stela"^ in his temple at Heli-
opolis. In the time of our scribe the stela had already
been standing five hundred years. It has since utterly
perished, with the temple in which it stood, and thus the
great king's building inscription has survived only in the
accidental copy of a humble scribe.
^A hieratic manuscript, written in two columns on one side of a piece of leather;
bought in Thebes by Brugsch, 1858 {Geschichte, 123); first published by Stern,
Zeitschrift filr Hgyptische Sprache, 1874, 85 £E.; then by Birch, Egyptian Texts,
49-58. It has been translated by Stern, Records of the Past, XII, and by Erman,
Aus den Papyrus des koniglichen Museums zu Berlin, 59-63. My materials were
the original now in Berlin (P. 3029) and a transcription by Erman. The above
translation depends, with a few exceptions, upon his version in loc. cit.
t'Not Amenhotep IV, as read by Stern.
<=See Erman, Aus den Papyrus des koniglichen Museums zu Berlin, 87, 88.
dSee § 501, 1. 5.
240
§ 500] HELIOPOLIS BUILDING INSCRIPTION 241
499. In form the inscription was a poem, and its lines
have been separated by the scribe by red dots, as usual
in the Empire. The content is obscured by elaborate
phraseology, but its drift is nevertheless evident. In his
third year Sesostris I called together his court, and an-
nounced his purpose of erecting a temple to the sun-god at
Heliopolis (§§501-3). The court responds with the con-
ventional encomium (§ 504), and the king then deputes the
treasurer to undertake the building (§ 505). An interval of
time having elapsed of which there is no indication in the
narrative, the ground plan of the building is laid out with
the customary ceremony (§ 506). As usual in such inscrip-
tions, there must have followed some description of the con-
struction, material, and furniture of the temple, but the
scribe unfortunately copied no farther.
500. This was of course not the first temple at Heliopolis,
but an extension of the old, undoubtedly on a much larger
scale. A fragment of a building inscription^ from the same
temple perhaps belonged to Sesostris I. It shows that he,
or one of his name, built throughout Egj^t. It reads:
'(For) a mSn' t-stone necklace, a necklace (tnnyt), many
great seals f — i ^ many great — ^ — l -•-. (For)
Anuket: a mSn't-stone necklace, a seal — a silver vase,^ a golden vase,
a bronze vase, two copper vases, an ebony censer, a silver censer. (For)
First of the Westerners, Lord of Abydos (Osiris) : 3
a bronze vase, two copper vases, an ebony censer. (For) Onouris:
in Thinis: a silver vase, a golden vase, a bronze vase, two copper vases,
an ebony censer, a silver "= censer. (For) Min (Ypw): a silver vase, a
golden vase, a bronze vase, two copper vases, an ebony censer, a silver
^Engraved on two sides of a piece of a red grit-stone door-post, now in a
native house by the Mosque of el-Azhar in Cairo. Published by Daressy, from a
copy by Ahmed bey Kamal, in Annates IV.
^Hs; all the vases herein recorded are of this form.
cThe published text is evidently to be so corrected.
242 TWELFTH DYNASTY: SESOSTRIS I [§501
[censer] " . (For) a necklace. (I) built a
temple for Satet, for Anuket and Khnum, lord of the cataract, of ''sculp-
tured''* stone. (I) built a temple for Horus of Nubia (T^-pd't) in the
(nome of) ApollinopoUs Magna {Wts-Hr)^ s . jje
[made] (it) as his monument for Atum, lord of Heliopolis: silver vessels
*•= a golden dwd't, a silver ' a
royal statue of — ^ for Sais. Buto, mistress of Pe and Dep, was fashioned,
a copper bowl ■" — i. A royal statue of Sesostris CIIP) for Pe ^ —
■' Nephthys » . (For) the Nine Gods in Kher-
eha {j^r-'^h^): a copper bowl; Hapi was fashioned. (I) sailed up-
stream to Elephantine, ofifering-tables were given to the southern gods.
(For) Hathor, mistress of Dendera: a golden » a
hm^g- /-stone necklace, a — stone necklace . (For) Hathor,
mistress of Cusae: a hm^g't-stom necklace, a mint-stone necklace
This list of the king's good works for the gods doubtless
comes from the Heliopolis temple, the building of which
is recorded in our leather roll, as follows:
501. 'Year 3
Third month of the first season, day — , under
The majesty of the King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Kheperkere,
Son of Re, Sesostris (I), triumphant.^
Living forever and ever.
^'When the king appeared in the double crown,
Occurrefl the sitting in the audience-hall,*
One took counsel with his suite.
The companions of ^the court.
^S<^h^, see IV, 231, 11. 6, 8, and ii; possibly we should render S'-h'- here with
its usual meaning, "erect," and regard the following sign (the builder), as the
determinative, and render " I erected."
•"Second nome of Upper Egypt.
cThe inscription here passes around the corner of the block; it is uncertain
whether the two faces should be connected as above.
^Remains of a cartouche. ^inserted by the Empire scribe.
'This hall (d'dw) is mentioned also in the reign of Sahure (see § 239), where
it was part of a house called: "Sahure-Shines-or-Appears-With-Crowns." The
name also occurs in the Fourth Dynasty in the same connection (Sethe, Urkunden,
I, 22, 1. 14), and must be an audience-hall.
§ S02] HELIOPOLIS BUILDING INSCRIPTION 243
The princes at the place of r — '.
One* commanded, while they heard,
One took counsel, while '•making them reveal:
"Behold, my majesty is exacting a work,
And taking thought in an excellent matter.
For sthe future I will make a monument,
And set up an abiding stela for Harakhte.
502. He begat me *to do that which he did.
To execute that which he commanded to do.
He appointed me shepherd of this land.
He recognized Qiim who should defend' 'it.
He hath given to me that which he protects,
And that which the eye,^ that is in him, illuminates.
•^Doing throughout^" as he desires.
I have frenderedi *that which he exacted t — '.**
I am a king of his character,
A sovereign, to whom he •" — ^ not.
I conquered as "a lad,
I was mighty in the egg.
He appointed me lord of the two halves,*
As a child, '"before the swaddUng-clothes were loosed for me,
He appointed me lord of mankind,
f — 1 "in the presence of the people.
He perfected me to be occupant of the palace,
As a youth, before my two >" — ' came forth.
He gave his length and his breadth [to me].
Who have been brought up "in his character, which he took.
To whom was given the land; I am its lord.
My fames has reached '^the height of heaven,
My excellence •" \
aThe king.
*'The sun; that which the eye illuminates is, of course, the earth.
<:It is all obedient to him?
dA very uncertain line. * Upper and Lower Egypt.
'A mutilated line. 8Lit.: "Fame forme "
244 TWELFTH DYNASTY: SESOSTRIS I
1503
'"•He has commanded me to conquer that which he conquered,
■" — 1 — Horus, who have* numbered Tiis limbsJ
503. I have established the offerings of ''the gods,
I will make a work, namely, a great house,
For my father Atum.
He^ will make it broad, according as he has caused me to conquer.
'*I will victual his altars on earth,
I will build my house in the r — \°
My beauty shall be remembered ''in his house,
My name is the pyramidion, and my name is the lake,<^
Eternity is that excellent thing which ^P have made;
The king '*dies not, who is mentioned by reason of his achievements.
It is my name ■" — i which is mentioned ''in reahty,
Which passes not away because of eternal things.
That which I make is that which shall be,
That which I seek is ^°the excellent things.
Excellent food is ^ — \
It is vigilance in eternal things."
504. II. 'Then spake these companions of the king.
And they answered before their god:=
"Hu is [in] thy mouth, and Esye^ ^is behind thee.
O sovereign, it is thy plans which are realized,
O king, who shinest as Favorite of the Two Goddesses,
To ^r — 1 in thy temple.
It is excellent to look to the morrow.
And with excellent things, to (coming) time.
^First person.
•^We expect "I," viz., "I will make it broad according as he has made my
kingdom broad."
•^S^h, which occurs also as the place where a temple is built, in II, 890,
1. 24.
"^Meaning that these accessories of the temple will be memorials of his name.
By a curious accident, the only witness to the king's building surviving on the spot
is his solitary obelisk (at Matarlyeh-Heliopolis), surmounted as usual by the
"pyramidion."
=The king.
f Hu and Esye are the deities of taste and wisdom.
§ so6] HELIOPOLIS BUILDING INSCRIPTION 245
The multitude completes nothing ''without thee,*
For thy majesty is the two eyes of all people.
Thou art great that thou mayest make thy monument,
sin Heliopolis, the dwelling of the gods.
Before thy father, the lord of the great house,
Atum, the buU of the gods.
Let thy house arise, *that it may ofier to the oblation-tablet;
That it may do the service for its favorite statue.
For thy figure in all 'eternity.
505. The king himself said
To the wearer of the royal seal, the sole companion.
The overseer ^oP the double *White House,
The privy councilor of f — '^:
It is thy counsel, which shall cause the work to be done.
Of which my majesty desires, "that it should be;
Thou art the commander belonging to it,
Who shall do, according to that which is in my heart,
'"vigilance.
That it may come to pass without laxity,
That all the work "
12 b
'31 have commanded those who work,
To do according as thou shalt exact.
506. The king was crowned with the diadem,
"'All the people were follovnng him,
The chief ritual priest and scribe of the sacred book stretched ''the cord,
the fstakei in the earth,''
16 — ^as done in this temple.
His majesty had "a royal scribe go fbefore^ the people,
'*Who were gathered [in] one place, south and north,
J9
"Text has nb for k — a mistake which could have been made only from the
hieroglyphic, thus showing that the scribe certainly had the stone original before
him.
•"Four verses are omitted.
cThis is a description of the usual measuring and staking out of the ground
plan of the temple, which was a sacred ceremony conducted by the king in
person.
246 TWELFTH DYNASTY: SESOSTRIS I [§507
INSCRIPTION OF MERI^
507. The usual texts of the Middle Kingdom mortuary
stelae are here preceded by seven lines referring to the build-
ing of Sesostris I's pyramid-chapel, which was intrusted to
Meri. The mention of columns and gates may indicate
that only the chapel, and not the pyramid entire, is meant. ^
If the date at the top is, as we may suppose, that of Meri's
death, then Sesostris I had completed his mortuary chapel,
and perhaps his pyramid at Lisht, by his ninth year.
508. 'Year 9, second month of the first season, day 20, ^under the
majesty of Sesostris 1,*= living like Re, forever. ^His real servant, his
favorite, who does all that which he praises every day, '•the revered
assistant treasurer, Meri (Mry), born of Menkhet (Mnfp't), says:
509. I was a zealous servant, great in character, amiable in love.
sMy lord sent me with a commission, because I was so very zealous,
to execute for him an eternal dwelling,"* greater in name than Rosta,
and more excellent^ in appointments *than any place, the excellent
district' of the gods. Its columns^ pierced heaven; the lake which was
dug, it reached^ the river; the gates,' towering 'heavenward, were of
limestone of Troja. Osiris, First of the Westerners, rejoiced over all
the monuments of my lord; I myself rejoiced, and my heart was glad
at that which I had executed.
^Mortuary stela in the Louvre (C 3), published by Pierret, Inscriptions, II,
104, 105; Gayet, Stiles, IV, V; Maspero, Melanges d'archSologie egyptienne, II,
221 f.; again Maspero, Ettides de mythologie et d'archeologie. III, 208 f.; and Piehl,
Inscriptions, I, II-IV. Of these, the only careful copy is Piehl's. He also offers
an excellent translation (ibid., 3-5).
•'This chapel and pyramid at Lisht were excavated by J. E. Gautier {Memoire
sur les fouilles de Licht par J. E. Gautier et G. Jequier [Cairo, 1902], 3-43; in
Memoires de I'Institut, VI, fasc. i).
cFuU titulary. ^The pyramid; it is lit., "an eternal seat."
eLit.: "More advanced."
fRead W^r't, originally a bend in the cliffs or river. Maspero reads wkm't,
"repeating, reproducing the excellences of the gods." Compare Piehl, Inscrip-
tions, I, 4.
KPiehl's text has "walls."
hThis may be figurative, viz., "reached," in the sense of "equaled," which
suits the context.
'Belonging to the chapel on the east side.
§ sio] INSCRIPTION AT WADI HALFA 247
WADI HALFA INSCRIPTION OF MENTUHOTEP^
510. This carries the Nubian wars of Sesostris I to their
southernmost points It was set up in the eighteenth year,
by the general, Mentuhotep."
At the top is a relief showing Sesostris I standing, facing
"Montu, Lord of Thebes," who says: "7 have brought for
thee all countries which are in Nubia {T^-pd' t), beneath thy
feet, Good God." Suiting these words, the god leads and
presents to the king a line of bound captives, symbolizing
Nubian towns. The head and shoulders of each captive
surmount an oval, containing the name of the town repre-
sented. There were originally ten of these towns (of which
four have disappeared),"^ as follows: (i) k^s, (2) y r — \
*A sandstone stela found in the sanctuary of the northernmost of the two temples
on the west shore opposite Wadi Haifa village. First noticed by Ricci, it was taken
out by Champollion and Rosellini in 1829, who failed to notice that they had left
the lower portion in situ under the sand. Tliis upper portion has been in Florence
for many years (No. 1542). Some sixty years later, (1893) Captain Lyons took
out the lower portion, and it is now in Florence; only one intermediate line has
been lost, for the two parts fit together, at one corner. The upper portion has often
been published, but with no approach to accuracy: Rosellini, Monumenti Storici,
XXV, 4; Champollion, Monuments, I, i; Champollion, Notices descrif lives, I, 34-36;
II, 692 ; Schiaparelli, Catalagtie, I, 243-46; Berend, Monuments du Musee Sgyptien de
Florence, 51, 52; Brugsch, Thesaurus, 1444 f.; a photograph in Petrie's Italian
Photographs, No. 46. The lower portion was published by Pellegrini in Bessarione,
Anno V, Vol. IX, Nos. 59, 60. I photographed and copied both portions (the
readings from my copy were incorporated in Pellegrini's publication), repeatedly
collated the original, and the Berlin squeeze (A 1375) of the upper portion, as
well as the old pubhcations for signs now lost, and published the whole in Pro-
ceedings of the Society of Biblical Archceology, May, 1901, 231-35, and three plates.
^Another expedition under Sesostris I, which extended an uncertain distance
southward, was accompanied by the nomarch of Elephantine, Sirenpowet. It is
recorded in his Assuan tomb (de Morgan, Catalogue des monuments, 183), but is
so fragmentary and so badly published, that very little can be made of it. The
following is discernible: "His majesty ]!sent me or came^] to overthrow K^ush]
the vile His majesty ^came'^ bringing "
Before the latter phrase an elephant is mentioned, to which there is probably
reference in the last line: "Four men brought him ."
<:The date and name of the officer are furnished by the newly discovered
lower portion (§512).
dAU ten were still partially readable in Champollion's time, and he gives the
complete list {Notices descriptives, II, 693); the later publications all give only
six, and do not add Champollion's material.
248 TWELFTH DYNASTY: SESOSTRIS I [§ 511
(3) prww, , (4) ym^w, (5) ^ — ">, (6) w^w,^ (7) yJprkyn,
(8) P'^-t, (9) hPy, (10) Myk. The Kummeh temple of
Thutmose III was built of "good white stone oj P'^' t"^ the
eighth district in this list, which must therefore have been
in the vicinity of Kummeh, some thirty-seven miles above
Wadi Haifa where our monument was set up. It is safe
to conclude that none of the others, although little known,
was far south of Kummeh. Thus the conquests of
Sesostris I had already reached the southern limit, later
marked, and fortified by Sesostris III (§§651-60).
511. Below, the relief were two inscriptions; the first be-
longiDg to the king — the second to Mentuhotep. Of the
king's inscription only fragments of six lines survive, show-
ing the titulary of Sesostris I, followed by the epithet,
"Horus, who seizes in an instant" (1. i)." Other phrases
discernible are: '"[^Lighf^] of the eyes, star^ of the South,
illuminating the Two Lands, white Bull, trampling the Trog-
lodytes" (1. 2) ; and in 1. 4 is a reference to "smiting Nubia."
On the lower, more recently recovered portion, two more,
fragmentary lines, continue similar epithets of the king.'
512. Mentuhotep's inscription begins with his titles, as
follows:
^Hereditary prince, count, wearer of the royal seal, sole companion,
favorite of the king -* "local governor, attached to Dep, lord
^According to ChampolUon, Notices descripHves, but the original shows the
goose as the last sign, and not w; w^ with w and eagle is also suspicious.
''Lepsius, DenkmMer, III, 67, b; Brugsch, Thesaurus, 1444.
•^Preserved completely in Champollion, Monuments, but misplaced at the
beginning of 1. i, although it belongs at the end after the royal name.
dSee Thutmose Ill's Hymn of Victory (II, 658, 1. 15).
«The king's inscription is in horizontal lines, and the following inscription of
Mentuhotep is in vertical lines.
*The nimibering of lines is continued from the inscription of the king on this
fragment. There is an uncertain amount lost at the end of each line, and even
the portions above the final break are very fragmentary.
§ SI4] INSCRIPTION AT WADI HALFA 249
of Pe " " commander of recruits, commander
of the army, "Sesostris I made me . '^Year 18, first
(month) of the second season, day 8, the day of ^''broad in
stride, the King of Upper and Lower Egypt, [Kheper]ke[re] (Sesostris I).
••^Their hfe is finished,'' slain, ''fire in the tents'^ .
'*Her grain cast to the Nile,'^ '"zealous, not trangressing
[the command of the palace] °°a man in the strength of
his ka, in '''forever, the Son of Re, Sesostris (I) ^'I
myself swear, this happened in« ^syery truth; I, the general of the
army, "^Amu's son, (^mw) Mentuhotep.
513. It is clear that 11. 12 and 13, and probably two lines
before, contained important historical statements, of which
the merest fragments are now discernible. The description
is similar to the one on the second Semneh stela of Sesos-
tris III (§§655-60).
514. Below at the left was the figure of Mentuhotep, of
which only the top of the head is preserved. This is not
the only place where his figure appeared on the stela. In
the upper relief behind the king is the figure of a hawk-
headed deity, very rudely done and not of the same work-
manship as the other figures. A close examination reveals
hieroglyphics under this figure. Over its head is a fan, the
handle of which cuts across the head and shoulders of the
figure.* It is clear, then, that this hawk-headed figure is
not original, but was cut in later to displace the figure of
^Conventional epithets.
^This phrase is common in the Twentieth Dynasty; hence the reading here
with im-sign inverted is certain.
<=The determinative is lost; it may be that we have Yam {Y^m).
dThis phrase (h^m n ylr) occurs also in Papyrus Westcar (IV, 10), where the
unfaithful wife is burned and "cast to the Nile" and on the Mentuhotep stela
(§ 748), 1. 19.
«! read m vm >»<:'; there is no loss at the end of 1. 17; for it is like 11. 18 and
ig, which are stopped by Mentuhotep's head, the top of which can barely be
seen under the lines, the rest of the head and figure being lost.
fNone of this appears in any of the old publications.
250 TWELFTH DYNASTY: SESOSTRIS I [§515
a fan-bearer, who could have been no one else but Mentu-
hotep. He must have fallen into disfavor, and for some
reason have been displaced from his position of honor be-
hind the king.
INSCRIPTION OF AMENEMHET^ (AMENI) .
515. Amenemhet was one of the most powerful of the
Benihasan*" princes. He succeeded his father (I, 465, 11.
7-8) Khnumhotep I, the founder of the Benihasan family,
in the eighteenth year of Sesostris I, and ruled twenty-five
years. He records three royal expeditions, the first of
which he accompanied as commander of the military con-
tingent from his nome, in a war against Nubia. It cannot
be certainly identified with any of the Nubian expeditions
of Sesostris I recorded in other sources.
516. The second and third expeditions were both for the
purpose of bringing gold; the destination of the third was
the mines back of Coptos,*" and that of the second, although
not stated, was probably the same.
517. The inscription concludes with an interesting and
important description of Amenemhet' s administration of his
principality.
518. 'Year 43 under the majesty of 'Sesostris I,"^ living forever
and ever; ^corresponding to year 25^ in the Oryx nome with the heredi-
*Carved on the jambs of the doorway of his cliff-tomb in Benihasan (No. 2),
copied by Champollion in 1828 and published {Monuments, 395, 399; Notices
descripiives, II, 427-30); copied by Hay in 1828 (British Museum, Add. Manu-
script No. 29813, 84, 8s); by Wilkinson in 1834 {Manuscripts, II, 22-26); by Lep-
sius in 1842, published {Denkmdler, II, 122); from Lepsius by Birch, Egyptian
Texts, 7-11; and Bunsen, Egypt's Place, 2d ed., V., 724 f.; finally by Newberry
{Beni Hasan, I, PI. VIII; see his bibliography, 24).
^On the Benihasan princes and Amenemhet's place therein, see §§ 620 ff.
t^For the mines of Wadi Foakhir, on the Coptos road, see Erman, Life in
Ancient Egypt, 463, and Wilkinson -Birch, II, 238.
dFuU titulary.
'This fixes the accession of Amenemhet in the Oryx nome, in the eighteenth
year of Sesostris I.
§S2o] INSCRIPTION OF AMENEMHET (AMENI) 251
tary prince, count, r — l Amen[emhet],* triumphant. "Year 43, second
month of the first season, day 15. .O ye who love life and hate 'death,
say ye, 1,000 loaves and beer, 1,000 oxen and geese *for the ka of
the hereditary prince, count, ■" — ', great lord of the Oryx nome, i" — \
attached to Nekhen, lord of Nekhbet, chief of prophets, Ameni,
triumphant.
First Expedition
519. I followed my lord when 'he sailed southward to overthrow
his enemies among the four^ barbarians. I sailed southward, as the
son of a count, wearer of the royal seal, and commander in chief of
the troops of *the Oryx nome, as a man represents his old father,'^
according to [his] favor in the palace and his love in the court. I passed
Kush, 'sailing southward, I advanced the boundary of the land, I
brought all gifts; my praise, it reached heaven. Then '°his majesty
returned in safety, having overthrown his enemies in Kush the vile. I
returned, following him, with ready face.'^ "There was no loss among
my soldiers.
Second Expedition
520. I sailed southward, to bring gold ore for the majesty of the
King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Kheperkere (Sesostris I), living for-
ever and ever. '^I sailed southward together with the hereditary prince,
count, oldest son of the king, of his body, Ameni. ^ I sailed south-
ward, with a number, 400 of all the choicest of 'Smy troops, who returned
in safety, having suffered no loss. I brought the gold exacted of me;
I was praised for it in the palace;* "tthe king's-son praised god for me.
»The full form of this nomarch's name is Amenemhet ( Ymn-m-h ^'t = "A mon is
in front"). In place of this, another form of name is frequently used in these
inscriptions, viz., Ameni {Ymny = " Belonging to Amon"), sometimes defectively
written "Amen."
''Compare the "four eastern countries," § 675, 1. 9.
cThis shows that he must have succeeded his father in the Oryx nome.
Although his father's name is lacking here, it must have been Khnumhotep (I),
the first of the Benihasan family (see § 627, 1. 56).
^Orders were always given "in the face of" an oflScer; an officer prepared
for efiScient service is therefore "ready of face" in the Egyptian idiom.
<=Tlns is the crown prince, who afterward became King Amenemhet II; his
name, like that of our nomarch Amenemhet often, is here in the form Ameni.
'The inscription here proceeds to the left (north) door jamb.
252 TWELFTH DYNASTY: SESOSTRIS I [§521
Third Expedition
521. Then I sailed southward to bring ore, to the city of Coptos,
together with the hereditary prince, count, governor of the city and vizier,
Sesostris. I sailed southward with a number, 600 'Sof all the bravest
of the Oryx nome. I returned in safety, my soldiers uninjured; having
done all that had been told me.
Ameni's Able Administration
522. I was amiable, and greatly loved, a ruler beloved of his city.
Now, I passed years '*as ruler in the Oryx nome. All the imposts of
the king's house passed through my hand. The gang-overseers of the
crown possessions of the shepherds of the Oryx nome gave to me*
3,000 bulls in their yokes. I was ^'praised on account of it in the
palace each year of the loan-herds. I carried all their dues*" to the king's
house; there were no arrears against me in any office of his. The
entire Oryx nome labored'^ for me '*in r '^.^
Ameni's Impartiality and Benevolence
523. There was no citizen's daughter whom I misused, there was
no widow whom I oppressed, there was no '■peasant^ whom I repulsed,^
there was no shepherd whom I repelled, '^there was no overseer of
serf-laborers whose people I took for (unpaid) imposts, there was none
wretched in my community, there was none hungry in my time. When
years of famine came '°1 plowed all the fields of the Oryx nome, as
far as its southern -and northern boundary, preserving its people alive
aThis means that Amenemhet received a herd of 3,000 cattle from the royal
herds, to be maintained by him on shares. He kept them so well that he was
praised for it each year when his payments fell due. The cattle of the king on the
estate of Thuthotep (Bersheh, I, PI. XII) are also clearly distinguished from
his own; thus: " great numbers of his cattle from the king, and his cattle
of the estate in the districts of the Hare nome;" his own cattle being those of "the
estate."
•"The dues for the herds which he had received. On this entire transaction,
see Miiller, Zeitschrift filr agyptische Sprache, 1885, 85, 86.
"^To labor or work for a king or nobleman is to pay him an impost from the
results or products of one's labor. It is used of entire countries in the Empire.
d"7« extended goings" probably meaning in widely extended activity.
'Read ^i/{w)'>fy=relative form.
§ 526] STELA OF IKUDIDI 253
and furnishing its food so that there was none hungry therein. I gave
to the widow as (to) her who had a husband; ^'I did not exalt the great
above the small in all that I gave. Then came great Niles,* possessors
of grain^ and all things, (but) I did not collect the arrears of the field.'^
STELA OF IKUDIDI"!
524. This stela was erected at Abydos on the occasion
of Ikudidi's visit there, while on an expedition to the oases
which lie in the desert behind Abydos. It is the mention
by him of the occasion of his visit which makes his stela of
importance; for this is the earliest expedition to these
peoples of which we know anything.
The inscription is very crude and difficult, and contains
many hieratic signs which the artist could not put into
hierogl)T)hic.
Date
525. 'Year 34 under the majesty of the king of Upper and Lower
Egypt, Kheperkere, the Good God, Lord of the Two Lands, Lord of
"Offering, Beloved of All Gods, Son of Re, Sesostris (I), living forever
and ever.
Prayer
526. 3An offering which the king gives, etc., ". . . .^ for
■ the revered one 'before the great god, the lord of heaven, the steward,
Ikudidi (Ykw-dydy).
^Inundations.
•'Meaning that the inundations brought these things; two kinds of grain were
apparently mentioned.
"^Meaning that he did not collect the balance due after the short payments
of taxes during the unfruitful years.
dStela frdm Abydos in the Berlin Museum, No. 1199, Ausfuhrliches Ver-
zeichniss des Berliner Museums, 89. I used a copy kindly furnished me by Schaefer.
«The usual mortuary prayer in the name of Osiris.
2S4 TWELFTH DYNASTY: SESOSTRIS I [§527
Expedition
527. I came from Thebes, as a king's-confidant, *doing all his
pleasure, in command of the youth of the recruits, to visit the r — 3 of
the land of the Oasis-'dwellers, as an excellent oflScial, whom his lord
knows, effective in plan, %hom the officials of the palace exalt.*
Tomb
528. I have made this tomb at the stairway of the great god, in order
that I may be among ^his followers, while the soldiers who follow his
majesty give to my ka of his bread '°and his rprovisioni, just as the
king's-messenger does, who comes inspecting the boundaries of his
majesty.
INSCRIPTION OF INTEFYOKER^
529. In striking corroboration of the stela of Intef I is
that of Intef yoker. Above is the date: " Year 53 under the
majesty of Kheperkere (Sesostris I), living forever." The
usual mortuary offering is then invoked :
"For the revered, scribe of ■" — '',"= supervisor of fields in the Thinite,
nome of the South (tp rSy),^ Imsu {Ymsw), southward as far as the
Crocodile nome,"= northward as far as the Panopolite nome.'= The
»Or: "who exalts the officials of the palace," their position being subject to him.
''Mortuary stela, in Leyden Museum (V, 3; Leemans, Description raisonnie
des monuments Sgyptiens a Leide, 264-66). The historical portion was first pub-
lished by de Roug^, Revue archeologique, ist ser., VI, 560; then completely by Piehl,
Inscriptions, III, XXI-XXII. I had also an excellent copy from the original by
Sethe, which he kindly loaned me.
■^Brugsch {Geographical Inscriptions, I, 211) states that this is the "Hinter-
land" of the Thinite nome.
^See § 396, 1. 18, note.
=In the list of Ramses II at Abydos (Mariette, Abydos, I, 11, a) and in the
oldest of all the lists, discovered February, igoo (MS. Borchardt's Tagebuch) by
Borchardt at Abusir, the Crocodile nome occupies the sixth place from Elephantine,
and the order is Thebes, Coptos, Crocodile (end of Abusir list), Diospohs parva,
Abydos, Akhmim. Hence the ancient Thinite (Abydos) nome was bounded on
the north by the Panopolite (Akhmim) nome, and on the south by the Crocodile
nome; the nome of Diospolis parva being a later division.
§531] INSCRIPTIONS OF MENTUH OTEP 255
father's father of my father^ was field-scribe in the waters of Abydos
of the Thinite nome, since the time of Horns: Wahenekh {W^ h-'^nj}),
King of Upper and Lower Egypt: Son of Re, Intef (I)."^
INSCRIPTIONS OF MENTUHOTEP"'
530 • The inscriptions of Mentuhotep contain little of
historical importance, but were regarded as so excellent in
style and content that they were partially copied"^ on the
mortuary stela of Sehetepibre, a nobleman living under
Sesostris III and Amenemhet III. Their favor continued
even into the Empire, when a nobleman under Queen
Ahhotep also copied them on his stela/ The text on
the front, beginning with the names of Sesostris I, proceeds
as follows:
531. Hereditary prince, vizier and chief judge, attached to Nekhen,
prophet of Mat (goddess of Truth), giver of laws, advancer of ofi&ces,
confirming* the boundary records, separating a land-owner from his
neighbor, pilot of the people, satisfying the whole land, a man of truth
before the Two Lands, raccustomedi to justice like Thoth, his like in
satisfying the Two Lands, hereditary prince in judging the Two Lands,
^Imsu's great-grandfather was therefore a contemporary of King Intef I.
Allowing 40 years for a generation, this Intef was still living over 100 years before
Amenemhet I. Cf. §415 and SteindorfE, Zeitschrift filr dgyptiscke Sprache, 1895,
90, 91, and Birch, Transactions of the Society of Biblical Archceology, IV.
tiThe king's name is not inclosed in a cartouche.
<=On his mortuary stela found at Abydos, now in Cairo (No. 20539); published
by Mariette, Abydos, II, 23 (very inaccurate; Catahgue general d'Abydos, 144,
No. 6i7)=Roug^, Inscriptions hieroglypkiques, 303, 304; Daressy has added the
verso, Recueil, X, 144-49. I ^^^.d also a copy of the original by Schaefer, which
he kindly loaned me.
^The form of the representations in the arch of the stela was also adopted.
See Daressy, Recueil, X, 144.
«The text on the verso was the one copied. It is much mutilated. Daressy
has published all three in a parallel arrangement.
«Or: "re,
2S6 TWELFTH DYNASTY: SESOSTRIS I [§ 532
supreme head in judgment, putting matters in order, wearer of the
royal seal, chief treasurer, Mentuhotep.
Hereditary prince, count, chief of all works of the king, making the
ofierings of the gods to floxuish, setting this land f ^ according to
the command of the god. ■" \ sending forth two brothers satis-
fied with the utterances of his mouth, upon whose tongue is the writing
of Thoth, more accurate than the weight, likeness of the balances,
fellow of the king in counseUng f \ giving attention to hear words,
Uke a god in his hoiur, excellent in heart, skilled in his fimgers, exercising
an office like him who holds it, favorite of the king before the Two
Lands, his beloved among the companions, powerful among the officials,
having an advanced seat to approach the throne of the king, a man of
confidences to whom the heart opens.
532. Hereditary prince over the ■" — ' of the (royal) castle {wslp'i),
finding the speech of the palace, knowing that which is in every body
(heart), putting a man into his real place, finding matters in which there
is irregularity, giving the lie to him that speaks it, and the truth to him
that brings it, giving attention, without an equal, good at listening,
profitable in speaking, an official loosening the (difficult) knot, whom
the king (lit., god) exalts above millions, as an excellent man, whose
name he knew, true Ukeness of love, free from doing deceit, whose steps
the court heeds, overthrowing him that rebels against the king, hearing
the house of the council of thirty, who puts his fterror^ among the bar-
barians {^^S'tyw), when he has silenced the Sand-dwellers, pacifying
the rebels because of their deeds, whoSe actions prevail in the two
regions, lord of the Black Land and the Red Land, giving commands
to the South, counting the fnumber^ of the r — 1 of the Northland, in whose
brilliance all men move, pilot of the people, giver of food, advancing
offices, lord of designs, great in love, associate of the king in the great
castle (wsfp't), hereditary prince, count, chief treasurer, Mentuhotep,
he says:
533. "I am a companion beloved of his lord, doing that which
pleases his god daily, prince, count, sem priest, master of every ward-
robe of Horus, prophet of Anubis of f \ the hry ydb, Mentuhotep,
prince in the seats of 'Splendor,'* at whose voice they (are permitted
to) speak in the king's-house, in charge of the silencing of the courtiers,
unique one of the king, without his hke, who sends up the truth to the
"Name of a bmlding.
§ 534] INSCRIPTIONS OF MENTUHOTEP 257
palace, great herald of good things, alone great, sustaining aUve the
people. One to whom the great come in obeisance at the double gate
of the king's-house; attached to Nekhen, prophet of Mat, pillar Hjefore'
the Red Land, overseer of the western highlands, leader of the magnates
of South and North, ''advocate of the people, 1, merinuter priest,
prophet of Horus, master of secret things of the house of sacred writ-
ings, >■ 1, governor of the (royal) castle, prophet of Harkefti, great
lord of the royal wardrobe, who approaches the limbs of the king,
^ \ overseer of the double granary, overseer of the double
silver-house, overseer of the double gold-house, master of the king's
writings of the (royal) presence, wearer of the royal seal, sole com-
panion, master of secret things of the 'divine words' (hieroglyphics),
chief treasurer, Mentuhotep." He says:
534- Here follows a mortuary prayer, after which the
concluding lines (22, 23) refer specifically to his building
commissions at Abydos, as follows: "/ conducted the work
in the temple, built his^ house (pr), and dug the lake; I
masoned the well, by command of the majesty of Horus."
The back'' also contains references to buildings at
Abydos:
I conducted the work in the temple, built of stone of Ayan
I conducted the work on the sacred barque (nSm 't),I fashioned its colors.
offering- tables of lapis laziili, of bronze, of
electrum, and silver; copper was plentiful without end, bronze without
limit, collars of real malachite, ornaments (mn-nfr't) of every kind of
costly stone. of the choicest of everything, which are given
to a god at his processions, by virtue of my ofl&ce of master of secret
things.
aThis must refer to the king or the god.
•"The text of the back as copied very copiously by Sehetepibre, has been trans-
lated only once, to save space (see §§ 746 S.). Only the references to building
are translated here. The back begins with a royal decree, commanding that
there be built for Mentuhotep "a tomb at the stairway of the great god, lord
of Abydos, recording all thy offices and all the pleasing things which thou didst."
It was to be furnished with statues and endowments; but the conclusion is
illegible.
2S8 TWELFTH DYNASTY: SESOSTRIS I [§535
THE CONTRACTS OF HEPZEFI*
535. Legal documents from civil, as distinguished from
criminal, processes of early Egypt are so rare, and the con-
tracts of Hepzefi also throw so much light on both political
and social conditions in the Middle Kingdom, that it seemed
necessary to include them in these historical translations.
They offer nothing in the political history of the family of
the Siut nobles, and it is not possible to connect the nomarch,
Hepzefi, in any way with the earlier generations, known to
us at Siut in the Tenth and Eleventh Dynasties (§391).
He doubtless marks a new family installed here by the power-
ful Twelfth Djmasty, in preference to the earlier family,
which had been friendly to the northern dynasty.
The ten contracts were made solely to secure to Hepzefi,
after his death, certain ceremonies and offerings from the
priesthoods of Siut. Similar contracts were customarily
made with the priests of Abydos. Mentuhotep and Sehe-
tepibre, nobles of the same time, say on their Abydos tomb-
stones: "7 gave contracts for the remuneration of the prophets
of Abydos"^ (§ 746). The kings did the same (§ 765).
536. The form of the contracts is sufficiently clear; but
the language is very involved, and burdened with an excess
of relative clauses. Space will not permit the full com-
mentary which they need in many places i*" but attention
^Engraved upon the east wall of the great hall in Hepzefi's cliff -tomb at Assiut
(see §391 and note). The only complete copy is that published by Mr. GrifiSth
(F. L. Griffith, The Inscriptions oj Si&t and Dir Slfeh, London, 1889), which is
a model of care and accuracy. It is unnecessary to refer to the earlier pulslications,
as Mr. Griffith has collated them all. The first adequate treatment was that of
Erman, written, unfortunately, before the appearance of Mr. Griffith's text {Zeit-
schrift fiir dgypHsche Sprache, 1882, 159-84), which fact necessitated leaving
some obscure passages unrendered. Cf. also Maspero, Etudes de mythologie et
d'arckeologie, 1, 62-74.
''Reverse of the well-known Mentuhotep stela, Recueil, X, 146.
=The general reader should refer to Erman, Life in Ancient Egypt, 145-47,
497. 498-
§536] THE CONTRACTS OF HEPZEFI 259
should at least be called to the sixth contract which Hepzefi
as count made with himself as superior prophet of
Upwawet.
Two facts in the socio-political organization of the time
are brought out by these contracts: (i) The property of
the prince was held under two different titles, viz., (a) by
inheritance from his father, the property being called the
"paternal estate" (nw-pr-yt), which he could bequeath at
wiU; and (h) by virtue of his appointment^ as "count"
(h^ty-^) by the king, the property being called the "count's
estate" {pr-h^ty-'^), which he could not legally bequeath.
The distinction between these two estates is clearly main-
tained throughout, and whenever Hepzefi bequeathes any-
thing from his "count's estate" he concedes that such a title
can endure only so long as his successors are willing to recog-
nize it, and by appeal to the common feeling in such matters,
he urges his successors to recognize it (e. g., § 547, 11. 280, 281)
(2) There are in the contracts four classes of society: the
"count" (h'^ty-'^), or nomarch; the official (Jr); the "citizen"
(nds, lit., "the small"), and the "peasant" (y'^hty), lit.,
"belonging to the field," enumerated in descending scale.
The interrelations of the four are not wholly discernible.
The "citizen," like the count, gives to the temple from fields
called "his field," which he therefore either owned or held
in rental. The peasant is called " his (the citizen's) peasant,"
and may therefore have been his serf or slave. He culti-
vated the field for the citizen, and carried the harvest offer-
ing to the temple for him (cf. 11. 280, 281). The "official"
(Sr) may have been of the same social class as the "citizen."
The importance of these contracts in a study of the
mortuary customs and beliefs is evident, but a discussion of
^On such appointment by the king, see § 385.
26o TWELFTH DYNASTY: SESOSTRIS I [§ 537
these questions does not fall within the scope of the present
translations.*
537. There is a title above (1. 260):^ "The command,
which the hereditary prince and count, etc., Hepzefi, made,"
which belongs to an introduction, giving instructions to
Hepzefi's mortuary priest, as follows:
538. ''*9The hereditary prince and count, the superior prophet,
Hepzefi; he says to his mortuary priest :'= "Behold, all these things,
which I have secured by contract from these priests, are under thy
charge. For, behold, it is the mortuary priest of a man, who should
maintain his possessions and maintain his ofifering.
='°Behold, I have informed thee; (as for) these things, which I
have given to these (w'^b-) priests, as compensation for these things,
which they have given to me, take heed lest anything among them be
lacking. (As for) every word of my lists, which I have given to them,
let thy son hear it, thy heir, ^''who shall act as my mortuary priest.
Behold, I have endowed thee with fields, with people, with cattle, with
gardens (and) with everything, as every count of Siut (does), in order
that thou mayest make offerings to me with contented heart. Thou
standest over all my possessions, which I have put ='^under thy hand.
Behold, they are before thee in writing."^ These things shall belong
to thy particular son, whom thou lovest, who shall act as my mortuary
priest, before thy (other) children, as food which I have fbequeathed^
to him; not permitting that he divide them to his children, (but) accord-
ing to this word which I have commanded thee."
I. FIRST CONTRACT
Title
539. ='3Contract which the count, the superior prophet, Hepzefi,
triumphant, made, with the lay priests of the temple of Upwawet, lord
of Siut, to-wit:
*See Erman's treatment, Zeitschrijt fiir dgyptische Sprache, 1882, 163-65.
bThe numbering of lines follows Griffith's edition.
cLit., "servant of his ka" (k^), indicating his office very clearly as a mor-
tuary one; hence the above rendering.
"^Referring either to these inscriptions or papyrus originals in possession of
the mortuary priest.
§ S4S] THE CONTRACTS OF HEPZEFI 261
What Hepzefi Receives
540. There shall be given* to him: A white loaf per individual
(w'-b-) priest, for his statue, which is in the temple of Anubis, ''"^lord of
Rekreret (Rkrrt) on the first of the 5 intercalary days, when Upwawet,
lord of Siut, proceeds to this temple.
What He Pays
541. He hath given* to them for it his share in the bull ofiEered to
Upwawet, lord of Siut, in this temple, when ='she proceeds to it, consist-
ing of his quarter, due to the count.
Source of Payment
542. Lo, he spake to them, saying: "Behold ye, I have given to
you this quarter due to me from this temple, in order that this white
bread may be endowed, ^'^which ye give to me." Lo, they had given
to him the inherited portion of the bull, for his statue, (which is) in
charge of his mortuary priest, before he gave to them of this quarter.
Conclusion
543. Lo, they were satisfied with it.
n. SECOND CONTRACT
Title
544. ""Contract, which the count, the superior prophet, Hepzefi,
triumphant, made with the lay priests of the temple of Upwawet, lord
of Siut, to- wit:
What Hepzefi Receives
545. There shall be given to him: '
(a) White bread by each one among them, for his statue, (which is)
in charge of his mortuary priest, in the first month of the first season
on the first day, '''^New Year's Day, when the house makes gifts to
its lord, when the fire is kindled in the temple.
»The verbal forms are regularly in the first clause an infinitive (lit., "concerning
giving to Mm") and in the second a relative form {"what he hath given").
262 TWELFTH DYNASTY: SESOSTRIS I [§546
(b) And they shall* go forth following his mortuary priest, at his
glorification, until they reach the northern corner of the temple, as
they do, when they glorify their own noble ones,** ^"on the day of
kindling the fire.
What He Pays
546. He hath given to them for it a heket of grain from every field
of the estate (pr-dt), from the first of the harvest of the count's estate;
as every citizen of Siut does, from the first of his harvest. Now, behold,
he begins =*°with having his every peasant give it into this temple,
from the first of his field.
Injunction to Future Nomarchs
547. Lo, he said: "Behold, ye know that, as for anything which
any official (Sr) or any citizen gives into the temple, from the first of
his harvest, it is not agreeable to him, that there should be lack ^*'therein.
Therefore shall no future count diminish to future priests, that which
is secured by contract of another count. This grain shall belong to
the lay priests, each by himself; '*'no priest, who shall give to me this
white bread, shall divide (it) to his colleagues; because they give this
white bread, each by himself."
Conclusion
548. Lo, they were satisfied with it.
m. THIRD CONTRACT
Title
549. =*3Contract which the count, the superior prophet, Hepzefi,
triumphant, made, with the ofl&dal body of the temple, to-wit:
What Hepzefi Receives
SSO» There shall be given to him bread and beer in the first month
of the first season, on the eighteenth day, the day of the Wag-feast.
List of that which shall be given:
aAn infinitive construction continued from the first clause (lit., "besides the
going forth on their part").
*>The dead.
iSS4]
THE CONTRACTS OF HEPZEFI
263
«*4Register of Names
{Kby-) Jars
of Beer
Flat
Loaves
White
Loaves
Superior prophet
Announcer
Master of secret things
TKeeper of the wardrobel
Overseer of the storehouse. . . .
Keeper of the wide hall
Overseer of the house of the ka
Scribe of the temple
Scribe of the altar
Ritual priest
4
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
400
200
200
200
200
200
200
200
200
200
10
S
S
s
s
5
5
5
5
5
What He Pays
551 . He hath given to them for it, 22 temple-days, from his property
of his paternal estate, but not from the property of the count's estate:
'*S4 days to the superior prophet, and 2 days to each one among them.
Definition 0} "Temple-Day"
552. Lo, he hath said to them: "Behold, as for a temple-day, it
is 1/360 a286Qf a year. When ye therefore divide everything that comes
into this temple, consisting of bread, of beer, and of meat for each day,
that which makes **' 1/360 of the bread, of the beer, and of everything^
which comes into this temple, is the unit Mn these temple-days which
I have given to you. =*^Behold, it is my property of my paternal estate,
but it is not the property of the count's estate; for I am a priest's (w^b)
son, like each one of you. Behold, '^"these days shall belong to every
future official stafi of the temple, since they deliver to me this bread
and beer, which they give to me."
Conclusion
553. Lo, they were satisfied with it.
IV. FOXJRTH CONTRACT
Title
554. "'"Contract which the count, the superior prophet, Hepzefi,
triumphant, made with the lay priests of Upwawet, lord of Siut, to wit :
*I do not understand the ^nt inserted here.
''Lit., "the per unum" {hr w<^), as we use per centum; hr is here the distribu-
tive preposition as in all the passages, indicating the individual priest.
264 TWELFTH DYNASTY: SESOSTRIS I [§555
What Hepzefi Receives
555. There shall be given to him:
(a) A white loaf per each individual among them, for his statue,
which is in the temple, in the first month of the first season, on the
eighteenth day, ""'the day of the Wag-feast.
(b) And they shall go forth, following his mortuary priest, at his
glorification, when the fire is kindled for him, as they do when they
glorify their own noble ones, on the day of kindling the fire in the temple.
Now, "Sethis white bread shall be under the charge of my mortuary
priest.
Wkai He Pays
556-' He hath given to them for it:
(a) A khar^ (fp^r) of fuel for every bull, and an uhet* (jwh^ ■ t) of fuel
for every goat, which they give into the storehouse of the count, when
each bull and each goat is offered to the temple, ^^as ancient^ (dues)
which they give into the storehouse of the count. Lo, he hath remitted
it to them, not collecting it from them.
(6) And hath given to them 22 jars (kby) of beer and 2,200 flat
loaves which the official body of the temple give to him in the first
month of the first season, on the eighteenth day, ^94as compensation,
for their giving white bread per each individual among them, from that
which is due to them from the temple, and (as compensation for) his
glorification.
Further Specification
S57- Lo, he spake to them, saying: " If this fuel be reckoned against
you<= by a future ^^scount; behold, this bread and beer shall not be
diminished, which the official body of the temple deliver to me, which
I have given to you. Behold, I have secured it by contract from them."
^Measures of bulk. The meaning of this clause is obscure; but probably it
means that each bull or goat due the prince (of those offered to the temple) is
given him by the priests together with fuel. This latter he now remits as part
payment for the white bread.
''Or: "as recompense for that which they give, etc."
cLit., "reckoned from you," probably meaning: "as due from you." The fuel,
etc., could not be legally conveyed by the count, because they belonged to the count's
and not to the paternal estate. If payment of the fuel, etc., should be ultimately
exacted, the lay priests would still have the bread and beer which the prince has
secured by contract from the "official body" of the Upwawet temple (see third
contract).
1 564] THE CONTRACTS OF HEPZEFI 265
Conclusion
558. Lo, they were satisfied with it.
V. FIFTH CONTRACT
Title
559. '"^Contract, which the count, the superior prophet, Hepzefi,
triumphant, made with the rkeeper of the wardrobe'' of the temple,
concerning:
What Hepzefi Receives
560. Three twicksi with which the fire is kindled for the god.
What He Pays
561. While he (the count) has given to him (the keeper) for it:
3 temple-days. Now, these 3 temple-days shall be due to every future
lieeper of the wardrobe!, because ^^'these 3 '"wicks'' are due to him
(the count).
Disposition of Wicks
562. I. Lo, he spake to him, saying: "One of them shall be given
to my mortuary priest, when he goes forth, kindling the fire with it for
the god, on the fifth of the 5 intercalary days. New Year's* m'ght, by the
Hieeper of the wardrobe^ He shall '"deliver! it *9^to my mortuary
priest after he does that wliich he does with it in the temple."
563. 2. "He shall give another on New Year's Day, in the morn-
ing, when the house makes gifts to its lord, when the lay priests of the
temple give to me this white bread, which they give to me per individual
priest (w=6), on New Year's Day. It shall be due ^'^from my mor-
tuary priest at my glorification."
564. 3. "He shall give another in the first month of the first season
on the eighteenth day, the day of the Wag-feast, at the same time with
the white bread, which they give to me per individual priest (w'^b).
This '^wick' shall be due from my mortuary priest when glorifying me,
together with the lay priests."
Lo, he said to him:
aReally the evening before New Year's Day.
266 TWELFTH DYNASTY: SESOSTRIS I [§ 565
Definition of "Temple-Day"
565. 3oo«Be}iold, as for a temple-day, it is 1/360 of a year.^ When
ye'^ therefore divide everything that comes into the temple, consisting
of bread, beer, and everything for each day, that which makes 1/360 of
the bread, of the beer, and of everything which comes into this temple,
is the unit in these temple-days which I have given ^o'to thee. Behold,
it is my property, of my paternal estate, but not of the count's estate."
Future Validity of Agreement
566. "Now, these 3 temple-days shall belong to every future ^keeper
of the wardrobe,' because these 3 ^wicks' are due to him, which thou
hast given to me for these 3 temple-days, which I have given to thee."
Conclusion
567. Lo, he was satisfied with it.
VI. SIXTH CONTRACT
Title
568. 302Contract which the count, the superior prophet, Hepzefi,
triumphant, made with the superior prophet of Upwawet,'= concerning:
What Hepzefi Receives
569. The roast of meat which is due upon the ahar, which is placed
upon the oblation-table, for every bull which is slaughtered in the
temple.
And one (sP-) jar for (every) (ds-) jar of beer every day 303of a pro-
cession; which shall be due to every future superior prophet.
What He Pays
570. He (the count) hath given him (the superior prophet) for it,
2 temple-days from his property, of his paternal estate, but not from
the property of the count's estate.
shows.
^See the same computatioii in the second contract.
^Although speaking to the keeper of the wardrobe, as the conclusion (1. 301)
<:That is, with himself! In his capacity as count he makes a contract with
himself in his capacity as superior prophet of Upwawet.
§576] THE CONTRACTS OF HEPZEF I 267
Disposition 0} Meat
571. Lo, the count Hepzefi spake, saying: "When 304this roast of
meat and this (sP-) jar of beer come for every day of a procession, they
are due to my statue, (which is) in charge of my mortuary priest."
Concltision
Lo, he was satisfied therewith, in the presence of the official body
of the temple.
Vn. SEVENTH CONTRACT
Title
572. 3osContract which the count, the superior prophet, Hepzefi,
triumphant, made, with the great (10'^ b-) priest of Anubis, concerning:
What Hepzefi Receives
573. Three fwicksT due to him, with which the fire is kindled in the
temple of Anubis:
One on the fifth of the 5 intercalary days, the New Year's night.
Another on New Year's Day.
Another ^°Hn the first month of the first season, on the seven-
teenth day, the night of the Wag-feast.
What He Pays
574. He hath given to him for it: 1,000 (h^ "/) -measures of land in
f \^ from the fields of his father, as compensation for these 3 fwicks"",
which he gives to my mortuary priest, in order to kindle the light for
me therewith.
Conclusion
575. Lo, he was satisfied therewith.
Vm. EIGHTH CONTRACT
Title
576. 307Contract which the count, the superior prophet, Hepzefi,
triumphant, made, with the lay priests of the temple of Anubis; to-wit:
^Sm ' -fSy = " the southern union," a designation of some locality in Hepzefi's
estate.
268 TWELFTH DYNASTY: SESOSTRIS I [§577
What Hepzefi Receives
577. There shall be given to him:
(a) A white loaf per each individual among them, for his statue,
in the first month of the first season, on the seventeenth day, the night
of the Wag-feast.
(6) And that they shall go forth, following his mortuary priest, and
kindle for him (the count), the fire at ^oShis glorification, until they
reach the lower steps of his tomb, just as they glorify their noble ones,
on the day of kindling the fire.
(c) And that the priest belonging in each month shall give r — 1 of
bread {p^ k) and a jar of beer for his statue, which is on the lower steps
of his tomb, when he comes forth from oflEering in ^osthe temple'' every
day.
What He Pays
578. He hath given to them for it: grain from the first of the harvest,
of every field of the count's estate, as every citizen of Siut does from
the first of his harvest. Now, behold, he begins with having his every
peasant give it from the first of his field into the temple of ^loAnubis.
Injunction to Future Nomarchs
579. Lo, the count, Hepzefi, said: "Behold, ye know, that, as for
every official (ir) and every citizen, who gives the first of his harvest
into the temple, it is not agreeable to him, that there should be lack
therein. Therefore shall no future count diminish to future priests that
which is secured by contract of another count."
Individual Payment and Remuneration
580. 3"This grain shall belong to the lay priests, per each individual''
priest, who shall give to me this white bread. He shall not divide it
to his colleagues, because they give this white bread, each by himself.
*TMs would imply that the temple of Anubis was close to the necropolis and
Hepzefi's tomb, a similar indication is seen in the fact that the officials of the
necropolis receive the wicks from the "great priest" of Anubis to be carried to the
mortuary priest. The temple of Upwawet was, on the contrary, in the town. See
Erman, Zeitschrift fiir dgyptische Sprache, 1882, 165.
''Heretofore this idea has been expressed by the distributive preposition hr,
"per;" but in this passage a remarkable idiom appears, lit., "by the mouth of
the head of each priest."
§ 584] THE CONTRACTS OF HEPZEFI 269
Conclusion
581. Lo, they were satisfied therewith.
IX. NINTH CONTRACT
Title
582. si^Contract which the count, the superior prophet, Hepzefi,
triumphant, made, with the overseer of the necropolis, and with the
mountaineers,* to-wit:
What Hepzefi Receives
583. There shall be given:''
(a) That they go to the house of Anubis, on the fifth of the 5 inter-
calary days, (being) New Year's night, and on New Year's Day, to
receive 2 fwicks', which the great priest (w'^b) of Anubis gives to the
count, Hepzefi.
(b) And that they go, at his glorification, until they reach 3>3his
tomb.
(c) And that they give this one ^mck} to his mortuary priest, after
they glorify him, just as they glorify their noble ones.
What He Pays
584. He hath given to them for it:
(a) 2,200 (h^'t-) measures of land in the ■" — ','= from his property
of the paternal estate, but not of the count's estate:
suRegister of Names (H ' ' (-) Measures
Overseer of the Necropolis 400
Chief of the Highland 200
Eight mountaineers 1,600
(b) Besides giving to them the foot of the leg of every bull, that
shall be slaughtered upon this highland, in every temple.
*Lit., "those who are upon the mountain" (tpyw-dw); they must also be con-
nected with the necropolis, and receive their name from its location in the moun-
tainous cliffs.
bThe usual "to him" is omitted.
•'W^b-t.
270 TWELFTH DYNASTY: SESOSTRIS I [| 585
What Hepzefi Further Receives
585. They have given to him:^
The Overseer of the Necropolis, 2 (ds-) jars of beer; 100 flat loaves;
10 white loaves.
The Chief of the Highland, i (ds-) jar of beer; 50 flat loaves;
S white loaves.
3isEight mountaineers, 8 (ds-) jars of beer; 400 flat loaves; 40
white loaves.
For his statue, (which is) in charge of his mortuary priest, in the
first month of the first season, on the first day, (being) New Year's
Day, when they glorify him.
Future Validity oj Contract
586. Lo, he said to them: "Behold, these (h^'t-) measures of land,
which I have given to ""youi,^ shall belong to ^i^every overseer of the
necropolis, to every chief of the highland, and to every mountaineer
who shall come (hereafter), because they shall deliver to me this bread
and beer."
Additional Stipulation
587. 317" And ye shall be behind [my] statue which is in my garden,
following it when ,<= ais^t every feast of the beginning of a
season, which is celebrated in this temple."
Conclusion
588. Lo, they were satisfied therewith.
X. TENTH CONTRACT
Title
589. 3'9Contract which the count, the superior prophet, Hepzefi,
made, with the overseer of the highland, to-wit:
^The addition of a second stipulation of payments to the count is in violation
of the usual form.
^Mr. Griffith saw traces of / {"him") in this place, which is broken, but the
context demands "you."
cFrom 1. 316 on, the lines are shorter, so that not more than five or six words
are lost here.
§593] THE CONTRACTS OF HEPZEFI 271
What Hepzefi Receives
590. There shall be given to him i (hbn't-) jar of beer, ^'°i large
( — rrt-) loaf, 500 flat loaves, and 10 white loaves, for his statue, (which
is) in charge of his mortuary priest, in the first month of the first
season, on the seventeenth day, the night of the Wag-feast.
What He Pays
591. 3 "He hath given to him for it:
(a) 1,000 (Ji^'t-) measures of land in r — i,^from his property of his
paternal estate, but not from the property of the count's estate.
(6) And 322a quarter of every bull that is slaughtered on this high-
land in every temple.
Future Validity of Contract
592. Lo, he said to the overseer of the highland: 323" Behold,
these (h^'t-) measures of land shall belong to every future overseer of
the highland, because he delivers to me this 324bread and beer."
Conclusion
593. Lo, he was satisfied therewith.
»W'b-t.
REIGN OF AMENEMHET II
INSCRIPTION OF SIMONTU^
594. Besides determining the succession of the first three
kings of the Twelfth D5Tiasty, this stela is also important
because it shows that Sesostris I was living in the third year
of his son, Amenemhet II's reign. They were therefore
coregent at least that long.
Date
595. 'Year 3 "under the majesty of the King of Upper and Lower
Egypt, Nubkure {Nb-k^w-R'^, Amenemhet II), living like Re.
Simontu's Titles
596. ^Hereditary prince, count, wearer of the royal seal, sole com-
panion, favorite of Horus, lord of the palace, who does that which his
lord praises ^every day, royal scribe, Simontu {S^-Mnlw), the revered;
he saith:
Simontu's Birth and Childhood
597. I was borns in the time of the majesty of the King of Upper
and Lower Egypt, Sehetepibre (Amenemhet I) triumphant. I was a
child who fastened on the girdle*" under his majesty (Amenemhet I),
*when he departed in peace.''
»On a stela in the British Museum (No. 828, also called "Anastasi 17");
published by Champollion, Notices descriptives, II, 697; Sharpe, Egyptian Inscrip-
tions, I, 83; from Sharpe by Bunsen, Egypt's Place, 2d ed., V, 724!.; Brugsch,
Thesaurus, VI, 1250; Maspero, Ettides de mythologie et d'archiologie, I, 39, 40;
Piehl, Sphinx, II, 131-36 after Brugsch. None of these texts is without con-
siderable divergence from the rest. A collation of the Berlin squeeze (No. 1083),
and later of the original in London, shows that no copy is without error.
''See the same phrase § 294, 1. i.
cPiehl has shown from the well-known parallel examples of the Old Kingdom
(^Sphinx, II, 13s) that the words here: "proceeded, departed, or passed on in peace,"
mean "died." This is undoubtedly correct, but the question is: Whose death is
referred to? It cannot be the death of Sesostris I, who is called "living forever,"
272
1 599] INSCRIPTION OF SIHATHOR 273
Career under Sesostris I
598. The king of Upper and Lower Egypt, Kheperkere (Sesostris I),
living forever; his majesty appointed me scribe 'of the harem r ';*
he praised me on account of it very greatly.
His majesty appointed me scribe ^of ^ — '; his majesty praised me
on account of it very greatly.*"
His majesty made me grain-registrar "in South and North; his
majesty praised me on account of it very greatly.
His majesty appointed me scribe of the great harem; '°his majesty
praised me on account of it very greatly.
His majesty appointed me royal scribe and chief of works "in the
entire land; his majesty praised me because I was silent, "= he loved me,
because I repelled the ''inflamed'','* I never repeated any evil word.
The revered royal scribe, Simontu.
INSCRIPTION OF SIHATHOR*
599. Sihathor's sole title is that of ''assistant treasurer"
an office which he really administered, and one which called p .
him to varied enterprises of historical importance, the chief
of which were his expeditions to Nubia and Sinai. After
the usual mortuary formularies follow the biographical
remarks.
and was therefore still living when the inscription was made. Grammatically, it
is also impossible to accept Sesostris as subject of the verb, when verb and adverbial
phrase precede the subject. Hence the verb must be a pseudo-participle, in a tem-
poral clause, belonging to the preceding sentence. This leaves Sesostris without a
verb, so that it must be an anticipatory subject, in apposition with "his majesty,"
of 1. 6.
als this the official called sdm in the Empire ?
^"Greatly," omitted in all the copies, is clear on the squeeze.
<^Gr, as shown by the squeeze against all the copies, which have lyr (except
Sharpe).
dSee the clever explanation of Piehl, Sphinx, II, 135 f.
^Mortuary stela from Abydos, now in the British Museum (No. 569), pub-
lished by Sharpe, Inscriptions, II, 74; Birch, Zeitschrift jur agyptische Sprache, 1874,
112 f., and Egyptian Texts, 21-24. These texts are so bad that it is difficult to use
them at all. The translation is made from my own copy of the original. See
also Brugsch, Geschichie, 136 ff.
274 TWELFTH DYNASTY: AMENEMHET II [| 600
Sihaihor's Many Commissions
600. I was real "beloved of his lord," the king of Upper and Lower
Egypt, Nubkure {Nb-k^w-R'^ Amenemhet II), hving forever. He
commanded, he sent me many times on every excellent commission,
the things which his majesty desired should be done according to the
desire of the heart of his majesty.
Pyramid Statues
601. His majesty commanded that I should be brought to the
pyramid: Amenu-kherep (Ymnw-fyrp),^ living forever, to superintend
the work on his 16^ statues of hard stone of millions of years, which
happened fwithin"= a day of two months. Never happened the like
with any superintendent f "■.
Expeditions to Sinai and Nubia
602. I visited'^ the Mine-land (Sinai) as a youth, and I forced the
(Nubian) chiefs to wash gold. I brought malachite," I reached Nubia
(t^-pd't) of the negroes. I went, foverthrowingi,^ by the fear of the
Lord of the Two Lands; I came [fto^ He (H^),^ I went around its
islands, I brought away its produce.
603. The real beloved of his lord, his favorite, saying the good and
repeating that which is loved, doing that which the Lord of the Two
Lands praises, communicating his design, not fknowing' the f — 1 hearted,
free from blemish, defending his boundary, watching his possessions,
watchful without laxity, the assistant treasurer Sihathor, triumphant.
"This is the pyramid of Amenemhet II. A similar reference to him, with
name Ameni for Amenemhet, occurs at Benihasan (§520). (See Griffith, Pro-
ceedings of the Society oj Biblical Archaology, XIV, 39 f.) The name of the pyra-
mid is also written Ameni-kherep on the Stela No. 839 in the British Museum.
''So the original; the publications all have 15. '^^m n.
dOn the verb yry {"make") in the sense of "visit," see § 351, 1. 9, note. The
Mine-land (By^) is here written with feminine /; it is elsewhere masculine, so
that it is possible that we should render it merely "mine."
^F^k^'t is of course to be read mf'k^'t as in the Pyramid Texts, see the
same writing § 266. This is equivalent to saying "/ visited Sinai," and this gives
us a second antithetic parallelism with Sinai and Nubia; that is, north and south,
as the extremes.
fRead hr i^r't?
sBirch's and Brugsch's reading "Eieha" is impossible, otherwise one would
identify the place with Heh {Jflf) =• Semneh. It is near Abu Simbel; see III, 496.
§ 6o6] SINAI INSCRIPTION 275
INSCRIPTION OF KHENTKHETWER^
604. The tablet is of particular importance, having been
found on the Red Sea at Wadi Gasus, of which it furnishes
the Egyptian name, "Sewew" {Pww), to which place an
expedition led by Khentkhetwer returned from Punt, in
the twenty-eighth year of Amenemhet II.
605. Above is Amenemhet II offering a libation to Min
of Coptos; below is the figure of Khentkhetwer with
arms uplifted in worship, accompanied by the following
inscription:
'Giving divine praise and laudation to Horus f — ", to Min of
Coptos, ^by the hereditary prince, count, wearer of the royal seal, the
master of the judgment-hall ^Khentkhetwer (E[nt-ht-wr) after his
arrival in "safety from Punt; his army being Swith him, prosperous
and healthy; and his ships having landed *at Sewew (S^ww). 'Year 28.
SINAI INSCRIPTION''
606. The inscription records the opening of a new mine
in the twenty-fourth year of Amenemhet II.
Year 24, under the majesty of the King of Upper and Lower Egypt,
Amenemhet II.
Mine-chamber which the real king's-confidant ■= the
captain of sailors,*^ Men, born of Mut, triumphant and revered,
excavated.^
^On a stela discovered by Burton (Wilkinson, General View, 364) in the Wadi
Gasus on the coast of the Red Sea opposite Coptos; now in the Museum of Alnwick
Castle (No. 1935); published first by Ennan from a squeeze, in Zeitsckrift fur
agyptische Sprache, 1882, 204, 205; then by Birch, Catalogue Alnwick Castle, pi.
Ill, 268 £f. Cf. Brugsch, Volkertafel, 54, 55, and 68; Schweinfurth, Wadi GasAs,
II, n. li.
''Cut on the rocks near the great reservoir in the Sarbftt el-Khadem; published
from British Museum squeeze, No. 99, by Weill, Sinai, 158.
^Conventional epithets, but the text is unsafe. ^Mr-'^prw.
sVerb of the relative clause ; a similar record under the same king, but without
the year, is in the vicinity (Weill, Sinai, 159).
276 TWELFTH DYNASTY: AMENEMHET II [§ 607
STELA OF KHENTEMSEMETI*
607. This stela is chiefly occupied with a pompous
recitation of honors, such as is characteristic of the time.
Many of the noble's functions in connection with the royal
person — ^he had charge of the king's wardrobe — are entirely
unintelligible. The interest and importance of the monu-
ment lie in Khentemsemeti's meager record of a journey of
inspection among the temples of Egypt, undertaken by
command of the king. He went up the river as far as
Elephantine, and on his return stopped at Abydos, where he
improved the opportunity of his official visit, as so many
other functionaries did, to erect a memorial stela at the
sanctuary of the great god of the dead. This is the stela
with which we are dealing.
Introduction
608. 'Amenemhet II, beloved of Osiris, First of the Westerners;
given life. ^His real favorite servant, master of secret things of the
king's wardrobe, Khentemsemeti (^nt-m-smy ty) ; he says:
His Honors
609. "His majesty set me ^at his feet in youth, my name was men-
tioned before my equals. His majesty greeted ''me, he f — i a daily
marvel, and I was verily f ^i; I was praised ^today more than yes-
terday. I became real king's-confidant, and his majesty received my
approaches. When the officials were placed in their stations,'' *I rheldi
office before them r v priest of the Southern Crown,
(of) the Northern Crown, '(of) Khnum; servant of the royal toilet,
adjusting (the crown called) " Great-in-Magic," supporting the White
Crown in the "Great House" (Pr-wr). Great lord of Nekheb (El
Kab), servant *of Neit in the northern palace, to whom (the goddess)
^Frotn Abydos; now in British Museum, No. 574; published by Sharpe,
Inscriptions, I, 79; Piehl, Inscriptions, III, XV, XVI. I had my own copy of the
original.
''At royal audiences.
1 613] STELA OF KHENTEMSEMETI 277
Rekhet gives the hand, one whose approach is avoided, when adjusting
the Red Crown, when 'bringing forth in splendor, Horus, lord of the
palace. Nurse of the god (Pharaoh) in the private chamber ^ ".
Chief of Sais, ^°in the administration of private afifairs, lord of fear in
the houses of Neit, great companion in the gold-house, at the birth of
the god in the morning.
His Appointment to Inspect Temples
6io. "I came at the front in the presence of his majesty, he had
me inspect the divine fathers,* to expel evil and to prosper the fashion
'^of their work, in eternal affairs.^ I commanded to fashion"^ their
offering-tables (wdh), the electrum was under '^my seal.
Arrival at Elephantine
611. I reached Elephantine according to this command; I kissed
the earth before the lord of the cataract (Khnum).
Return to Abydos
612 • I returned by ^the way! over which I had passed. ^'*I drove
in the mooring-stake"^ at Abydos.
Erection of Stela
613. I fixed my name "^at the place where is the god Osiris, First of
the Westerners, lord of eternity, ruler of the West, (the place) '^to which
all that is, flees, for the sake of the benefit therein, in the midst of ''the
followers of the lord of life, that I might eat his loaf, and come forth
by day; that my spirit might enjoy '*the ceremonies of people, kind in •
heart toward my tomb, and in hand ^'toward my stela. For I have
not done r — ^i; that the god may Qje favorable! to me in ^"judgment,-
when I am "there;"* that I may labor, being a spirit in the necropoUs-
cliff, "the ruler of eternity; that I may operate the rudder, that I may
descend into the sacred barque (nim't); that I may smell "the earth
before Upwawet. Khentemsemeti, triumphant, lord of reverence.
^Priests. bTemple matters.
<:Nb, the verb used especially of metal-work; the determinative is probably a
man with a blow-pipe.
dMeaning "I landed," as in §423.
^A designation of the abode of the dead.
REIGN OF SESOSTRIS II
INSCRIPTION OF HAPU^
614. The following inscription contains a double date,
showing that Sesostris II was associated as coregent with {.
his father in the latter's thirty-second year, the coregency
continuing at least three years. It also shows that the
forts in Nubia were subject from time to time to inspection
by officers especially sent thither for the purpose; but, un-
fortunately, not all have recorded their mission on the rocks
as did the officer Hapu.
615. On the right is the name of Amenemhet II, "be-
loved oj Satet, mistress oj Elephantine;" on the left is the
name of Sesostris II, "beloved 0} Khnum, lord oj the cataract
region;" between them is the following inscription:
616. Made in the year 3, under the majesty of Horus: Seshmutowe
{SiSmw-P wy =Korus-na.me of Sesostris II), corresponding to the year
35^under the majesty of Horus: Hekenemmat (jH'^«-w-w'='/= Amenem-
het II). The r — I," Hapu (H^pw) came, in order to make an inspection
in the fortresses of Wawat."^
^Cut on the rocks near Assuan; published by Young, Hieroglyphics, Vl. 6i
(very bad); Lepsius, Auswahl der wichtigsten Urkunden, lo (copied from Young);
Lepsius, Zwolfte Dynastie, II; Lepsius, Denkmdler, II, 123, e (good), and de
Morgan, Catalogiie des monuments, 25, No. 178 (date wrong). I also had Lepsius'
squeeze (No. 360, a) which I collated with all the publications; the text of de
Morgan, ibid., is almost as bad as Young's.
^So all the texts except de Morgan's {Catalogue des monuments, 25), which
has 36 ! As we have a double date here, this would increase the reign of Amenem-
het II by an entire year, if correct. The squeeze is quite clearly 35 ; this was also
the opinion of Sethe, who examined the squeeze with me.
'^An uncertain title C — "^-kj^-yV), which occurs also with Hapu's figure below
the inscription; see Bergmann, Recueil, VII, 187.
dThe original has the mountain-determinative against de Morgan's hill-
country.
278
§ 6i9] INSCRIPTION OF KHNUMHOTEP II 279
INSCRIPTION OF THE TREASURER KHNUMHOTEP^
617. Above stands Sesostris II, before the god Soped,
from whom he receives the symbol of life. Below stands
Khnumhotep, accompanied by the following inscription:
618. 'Year i, his monument in God's-Land was executed. ^The
treasurer'' of the god, real king's-confidant, his beloved, his favorite,
the darling of his lord, ^knowing the law, discreet in executing (it);
''zealous for him'= who favors him; Snot trespassing against the injunc-
tion of the palace, the command of the court; ^favorite of the crown,
being in the palace, praiser of 'Horus, Lord of the Two Lands ; present-
ing the court to the king, ®truly accurate like Thoth, master of the
double cabinet, Khnumhotep.
INSCRIPTION OF KHNUMHOTEP II-^
619. The inscription of Khnumhotep II is our fullest and
most important source for a study of the relations between
the powerful nomarchs, the local counts or barons of the
Twelfth Dynasty, and their contemporary kings. Like the
nobles of El Kab at the rise of the Eighteenth Dynasty, the
princes of Benihasan were a mainstay of the royal house in
the early Twelfth. Their domain was the principality of
^Stela found at Wadi Gasus on the Red Sea, opposite Coptos; now in the col-
lection of Alnwick Castle (No. 1935); first published by Erman from a squeeze,
Zeitsehrift fur agyplische Sprache, 1882, 204, 205; then by Birch, Catalogue
Alnwick Castle, PI. IV, 268-70. Cf. Brugsch, VSlkertajel, 54, 58, and 68; Schwein-
furth, Waii GasAs, 11, 11. 2; Wilkinson, General View, 364.
^This title is at the left of the second line (first vertical line), and appears only
in Birch's text.
cThe king.
dCut on the walls of the superb chapel chamber in his tomb at Benihasan;
published by Burton (Excerpta Hieroglyphica, 33, 34); by Champollion {Notices
descriptives, II, 418-22); by Lepsius {Denkmaler, II, 124, 125); by Brugsch
{Monuments de I'Egypte, 15-17; and Thesaurus, VI, 1513-25); and by New-
berry {Beni Hasan, I, Pis. XXV, XXVI). The last, the publication of the
Archseological Survey of the Egypt Exploration Fund, contains in two voluipes
the entire Benihasan necropolis. Its text of the great inscription of Khnumhotep II
28o TWELFTH DYNASTY: SESOSTRIS II [§620
the Oryx (the sixteenth nome of Upper Egypt), which in-
cluded both banks of the river between the Hare nome on
the south and the Jackal nome on the north. The desert
cliffs are not far from the river on the east shore, and the
narrow strip thus inclosed was sometimes detached from the
Oryx nome, as a separate principality, known as "Horizon
0} Horus," designated usually by its chief town, Menet-
Khufu, the birthplace of the great Fourth Dynasty king,
Khufu. The sole witnesses to the ancient power and pros-
perity of this principality are its tombs, those of the Middle
Kingdom being located at Benihasan, 169 miles above
Cairo.
620. The iirst of the family in this principality, Khnum-
hotep II's grandfather, Khnumhotep I, was appointed by
Amenemhet I; at first as count only of Menet-Khufu, and
finally of the entire Oryx nome (§ § 625, 626). The narrative
of the appointment refers significantly to Amenemhet I's
personal visit to the principality, establishing the boundary
lines, "when he cast out evil," meaning of course rebellion,
or at least of unjust aggression, the last expiring struggles of
other ambitious noblemen in their opposition to the new
dynasty,^ marking the close of the long obscure period of
such wars, between the Old and the Middle Kingdom. As
is much the best. The texts of Maspero (Recueil, I, 169-S1) and Krebs {De
Chnemothis nomarchi inscriptione aegyptiaca commentatio, Berlin, 1890) are
taken from the publications. The original text contains many patent blunders of
the scribe, which render certain parts unintelligible; Mr. Griffith furnishes some
useful emendations of such passages (^Proceedings of Ihe Society of Biblical Archa-
ology, 1890, 263-68), and some others I have added, which will be evident from
the notes. The lines of the original are so short, that the translation could not be
so often divided, and only every fifth line is there numbered. It has not been
practicable to cut up the inscription, and assign each portion to the reign which it
concerns; hence the whole has been put in the reign from which it dates.
*The reference is not so clear as those in the inscription of Ahmose of El
Kab, who narrates three rebellions against King Ahmose I at the rise of the
Eighteenth Dynasty (II, 11, 15, 16).
|62o] INSCRIPTION OF KHNUMHOTEP II 281
a special favor of the king, Sesostris I, Khnumhotep I's
sons received the same domain; Nakht being appointed to
Menet-Khufu (§627), and Amenemhet* receiving the Oryx
nome, in the king's eighteenth year (§§ 518, 11. 1-3, and 627).
At the same time, the sister of these two princes, Khnum-
hotep I's daughter Beket, married a powerful official at the
court, the vizier and governor of the royal residence city.
Nehri, who was also probably prince of the neighboring
Hare nome (§ 628) . Of this union was born Khnumhotep II,
who received Menet-Khufu as his just claim through his
mother, on the death of his predecessor, his uncle, Nakht, ^
in the nineteenth year of Amenemhet II. He ruled with
great prosperity until at least the sixth year of Sesostris II, •=
in which year a party of thirty-seven Bedwin visited him,
bringing gifts and probably desiring traffic. "^ Khnumhotep
II greatly strengthened his family by marrying Kheti, the
eldest daughter of the prince of the Jackal nome. His
eldest son, Nakht, was therefore appointed to the princedom
of the Jackal nome as his inheritance from his mother,^
while his next son, Khnumhotep (III), after honors at
^Amenemhet (Ameni) Is not mentioned by Khnumhotep II's great inscription.
See note, 1. 56.
Wakht had held the principality, therefore, 43 years.
cThis is the latest date in the tomb (Newberry, Beni Hasan, I, PI. XXXVIII),
so that Khnumhotep II ruled at least nineteen years. If born not long after his
uncle Nakht's accession, he would have been not less than forty years of age at his
own accession, and nearly sixty years old at the above latest date in his tomb.
dThis is the subject of the famous scene in his tomb, naively identified by
early Egyptologists with Abraham's visit to Egypt, with which, it is needless to
say, it had nothing to do. The accompanying inscription is as follows: "The
arrival, bringing eye-paint, which 37 Asiatics bring to him" (Newberry, Beni Hasan,
I, PI. XXX). Their leader is called: "Sheik of the highlands, Ibshe (_Yb-l^),"
a good Hebrew name. The report handed in by Khnumhotep's secretary dates
the event in the sixth year of Sesostris II, and calls them "Asiatics of the desert"
(^^mw n Sw, ibid., PI. XXXVIII).
eFor a similar inheritance through the mother, of the grandfather's office at
Siut, see §§4132.
282 TWELFTH DYNASTY: SESOSTRIS II [§621
court, was appointed to his father's countship of Menet-
Khufu.»
621. We are thus able to trace the history of the family
through four generations in this great inscription, but the
Benihasan tombs do not carry the career of these princes
farther, and, perhaps because of increasing power and cen-
tralization on the part of the kings, these tombs cease
abruptly at this point in the middle of the Twelfth Dynasty.
Introduction
622. 'The hereditary prince, count, king's-confidant, whom his
god loves, governor of the eastern highlands, Nehri's (Nhry) son,
Khnumhotep, triumphant; born of a count's {h'ty-'^) daughter, the
matron, Beket (B^k't), triumphant.
The Tomb, its Paintings and Inscriptions
623. He made (it)'' as his monument; his first virtue was in adorn-
ing Shis city, that he might perpetuate his name forever, and that he
might estabUsh it for eternity in his tomb of the necropoUs; that he
might perpetuate the name of his official staff, estabUshing (them)
according to their offices: the excellent ones, who were in '"his house-
hold, whom he raised over "his peasant-slaves (mr t) ; every office that
he sustained; all artificers according to their kind.<=
His Appointment as Count 0} Menet-Khuju
624. His mouth saith: '-f'The majesty of d
Amenemhet (II), who is given Ufe, stability, satisfaction, like Re, for-
»This is not stated in the great inscription, but is referred to in a huntinff
scene (Newberry, Beni Hasan, I, PI. XXXII): "to whom was given the rule
(hk ' • t) oj Khnumhotep (II) triumphant, inMenet-Khu/u, when his son was appointed
to the rule of r_i." To whom the last son refers is not clear, and the name
of the pnncedom is unknown. It occurs also at Siut (§ 396, 1. 16), as the northern
hmit from which the troops of the south were mustered against Siut, and must
therefore be south of Siut, and not near Benihasan.
''The tomb in which the inscription is found.
<:A11 Ws favorite servants and officials of his estate are represented in the
superb tomb paintings, engaged in their various duties, with their names added-
It IS this "perpetuation" which is meant in 11. 7-12.
dPull fivefold titulary.
§627] INSCRIPTION OF KHNUMHOTEP II 283
ever, appointed me to be hereditary prince, count, governor of the
eastern highlands, priest of Horus, and [priest] of Pakht; to the inheri-
tance of my mother's father in =°Menet-Khufu (Mn'^'i-^wfw).'^ He
established for me the southern landmark;^ he perpetuated the
northern, like the heavens. He divided the great river along its middle,
as was done for the father =sof my mother, by command which came
forth from the mouth of the majesty of <= Amenemhet I,
who is given life, stability, satisfaction, like Re, forever.
His Grandfather Appointed Count of Menet-Khufu
625. 3°He appointed him to be hereditary prince, count, governor
of the eastern highlands in Menet-Khufu. He established the southern
landmark, perpetuating the northern, like the heavens ; he divided the
great river along its middle ; its eastern side 3Sof the ' ' Horizon of Horus,'"^
was as far as the eastern highland; at the coming of his majesty, when
he cast out evil, shining like Atum himself, when he restored that which
he found ruined; that which a city had taken '»°from its neighbor;
while he caused city to know its boundary with city, establishing their
landmarks like the heavens, distinguishing their waters according to
that which was in the writings, investigating according to tsthat which
was of old, because he so greatly loved justice.
His Grandfather Appointed Prince of Oryx Nome
626. Lo, he appointed him to be hereditary prince, count, f — ',
great lord of the Oryx nome. He established the landmarks: the
southern on his boundary as far as 5°the Hare nome; his northern as
far as the Jackal nome. He divided the great river along its middle:
its water, its fields, its trees, its sand as far as the western highlands.^
Khnumhotep IPs Uncle, Nakht, Made Count of Menet-Khufu
627. He (the king) appointed his (Khnumhotep I's) eldest son,
Nakht (I) sstriumphant, revered, to the rule (fep) of his inheritance in
*The chief town of the countship. It means "Nurse of Khufu," and was
located in the region of Benihasan. See note, § 625.
bLit.: "tablet." <:FuIl fivefold titulary.
dXhe "county" or principality of which Menet-Khufu was the chief town
(see note on 11. 19, 20, § 624). It occupied the east side of the valley to the cliffs.
=The principality, or nome, therefore occupied the western side of the valley
to the cliffs.
284 TWELFTH DYNASTY: SESOSTRIS II [§628
Menet-Khufu* as a great favor of the king, by the command which
issued [from] the mouth of the majesty of king ^ ^'Sesostris I,
who is given life, stability, satisfaction, like Re, forever.
Khnumhotep IPs Birth
628. This my chief nobility is my birth, my mother having gone to
be hereditary *sprincess, and countess, as the daughter of the ruler
(hk'^) of the Oryx nome, to Hat-Sehetepibre'= to be the wife
of the hereditary prince, count, ruler Qik^) of the "New Towns," the
f — ^ of the king of Upper Egypt, the f — i"^ '°of the king of Lower Egypt,
fini his rank of governor of the residence city, Nehri (Nhry), triumphant,
revered.
His Appointment as Count oj Menet-Khufu
629. The King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Nubkure (Amenemhet
II), who is given life, stability, satisfaction, like Re, forever, brought me,
being the son of a count (h^ty-'^), into the inheritance of the rule
{hk^'t) of my mother's father, because 'She so greatly loved justice.
He is Atum himself, Nubkure (Amenemhet II), who is given life, stabil-
ity, satisfaction, gladness of his heart, Uke Re, forever. He appointed
me to be count (h^ty-'^) in the year 19, in Menet-Khufu.
His Buildings and Piety
630. Then I adorned ^°it, and its treasures^ grew in all things. I
perpetuated the name of my father; I adorned the houses of the ka's
^Although the fact remains for some reason not mentioned here, it is clear
that the Oryx nome, that is, the bulk of the principality, goes to Amenemhet, who
began his rule in the eighteenth year of Sesostris I (§518, 11. 1-3), for the Oryx
nome here remains unaccounted for, during the life of Nakht I.
^Fivefold titulary,
<=The name of the city where Nehri lived; it means: "House of Amenemhet I,"
and is followed by the usual royal salutations. As' Nehri was "governor oj the
residence city," this must be the name of the dty where the king lived. The resi-
dence city of Amenemhet I was Ithtowe {Yt-t^wy) between Medum and Memphis,
and probably that of Sesostris I, also. Griffith thinks therefore that Hat-Sehete-
pibre is simply another name for Ithtowe (Griffith, Kahun Papyri, II, 88), a very
plausible conclusion.
^Both unknown titles, here parallel.
«As emended by Griffith {Proceedings of the Society of Biblical Archasology,
1890, 263).
§632] INSCRIPTION OF KHNUMHOTEP II 285
and the dwelling thereof; I followed my statues* to the temple; I devoted
for them ^'their offerings: the bread, beer, water, wine, incense, and
joints of beef credited to the mortuary priest. I endowed him with
fields and peasants; I commanded the mortuary offering of bread,
beer, oxen, and geese, at every feast ^oi the necropolis: at the feast of
the first of the year, of New Year's Day, of the great year, of the Uttle
year, of the last of the year, the great feast, at the great Rekeh, at the
little Rekeh,^ at the feast of the 5 intercalary days, at f ', s'at the
12 monthly feasts, at the 12 mid-monthly feasts; every feast of the
happy living, and of the dead."= Now, as for the mortuary priest, or
any person, who shall disturb them, he shall not survive, his son shall
not survive in his place.
Khnumhotep IPs Honors at Court
631. Greater '°°was my praise at the court than (that of) any sole
companion. He (the king) exalted me above his nobles, I was placed"^
before those who had been before me. f — '^^ "'the official body of the
palace, giving praise according to my appointment, according to (my)
favor which came to pass in the (royal) presence, the command of the
king I '"himself. Never happened the like to servants t '.
He knew the manner of my tongue, the Tmoderation^ of my character.
''SI was an honored one with the king; my praise was with his court,
my popularity was before his "companions." The hereditary prince,
count, '^°Nehri's son, Khnumhotep, revered.
Appointment of K. IPs Son, Nakht, as Prince of Jackal Nome
632. Another honor accorded me (was): my eldest son, Nakht,
born of Kheti* was appointed to the rule {hk^) of the Jackal nome, to
the inheritance of his mother's father; "Smade sole companion;
appointed to be forefront of Middle Egypt.s There were given to him
»He means the statues of his ancestors.
bRekeh {Rkh) means "heat."
"^Lit., "every feast of the happy one in the {valley-) plain, and oj the one on the
mountain;" those who are on the plain still live, but those on the mountain are the
dead in the cliff-tombs.
dRead dy. ^One of Khnumhotep IPs two wives.
exhe verb. KOr possibly: " the South."
286 TWELFTH DYNASTY: SESOSTRIS II [§ 633
all ranks of nobility by the majesty of* ^3°. . . Sesostris II, who is
given life, stability, satisfaction, like Re, forever. He (the king) made
his monuments in the Jackal nome, restoring that which he found
obliterated, that which a city had taken from its neighbor; causing
him to know 'sshis boundary according to the frecord^ investigating
according to that which was of old, putting a landmark at his southern
boundary, perpetuating the northern like the heavens, establishing on
the fields ''•°of the low ground,'' a total amounting to 15 landmarks ;"=
establishing upon its northern fields its boundary as far as Oxyrrhyncus.
He divided the great river along its middle, '-tsits western side (going)
to the Jackal nome as far as the western highlands; when the hereditary
prince, count, Khnumhotep's son, Nakht, triumphant, revered, peti-
tioned, saying: "My waters know not the great favor of 'sothe king's"^
presence."
Honors of Khnumhotep IPs Second Son, Khnumhotep
633. Another prince (wr) is counselor, sole companion, great
■"amongi the sole companions; of numerous gifts to the palace,^ sole
companion, 'ssxhere is not one possessed of his virtues; to whom the
(sdm'w-) officers hearken, the unique mouth,* closing (other) mouths,
bringing advantage to its^ possessor, keeper of the door of the highlands,
^FuU fivefold titulary.
^Rendered by Krebs campus hostium, and treated as a proper name. The
determinative of ^rw is not that of the enemy as in Krebs' text, but merely a falling
man, as might be expected after the root ^r. It has a second determinative of land,
and the word is not unknown as "low land," the best, most fertile land, next the river.
<:The passage was rendered with essential correctness thirty years ago by
Maspero {Recueil, I, 166) giving "quinze stfeles-frontiferes " and "Ouob" =
Oxyrrhyncus. It is therefore an oversight as now rendered in his history {Dawn,
524), recording the gift to Khnumhotep of fifteen nomes extending "from
Aphroditopolis to Thebes,'' thus making one nomarch ruler of three-fourths of
Upper Egypt. The careful estabhshment of the northern boundary by erecting 15
landmarks was natural, as Oxyrrhyncus is in the vicinity of the home of the hostile
northern families, the descendants of the Ninth and Tenth Dynasties who fought
the rising Thebans of the Middle Kingdom (see §§ 391 ff.).
^Meaning the king had not yet determined the limits in this nome, and the
settling of the limits just mentioned was a result of this request.
'Lit., "numerous of gifts of the palace;" the word "gifts" indicating "that
which is brought;" cf. the Arabic hddtyylUiin.
f Meaning "unique counselor."
B"Its" refers to "advantage," not to "mouth."
§ 636] INSCRIPTION OF KHNUMHOTEP II 287
Khnumhotep, son of Khnumhotep, son of Nehri, '*°who was born of
the matron, Kheti.
His Restoration of Ancestors' Tombs
634. I kept alive the name of my fathers, which I found obliterated
upon the doorways,* (making them) legible'' in ■"form!; accurate in read-
ing, not '^'putting one in the place of another. *= Behold, it is an excel-
lent son, who restores the name of the ancestors; Nehri's son, KJinum-
hotep, triumphant, revered.
His Father's Mortuary Buildings
635. ''°My chief nobility was: I executed a cliff-tomb, (for) a
man should imitate that which his father does."^ My father made for
himself a house of the ka in the town of Mernofret, of '''good
stone of Ayan, in order to perpetuate his name forever and establish it
eternally; that his name might live in the mouth of the people and
abide in the mouth of the Uving, '*°upon his tomb of the necropohs,
in his excellent house of eternity, his seat of everlastingness; according
to the favor of the king's presence, his love in the court.
His Father's Excellent Administration
636. He ruled his city as a babe, '*sbefore he was loosed from
swaddling-clothes;^ he executed a royal commission, and his two*
plumes danced, as a child not yet circumcised; ""for^ the king knew^
»The doorways of the tombs, where it was customary to engrave the name
and titles; for similar restorations by posterity, see §§ 688, 689.
^Rff. in the negative is used in the sense of "undiscernible, illegible" on a stela,
of Sabako, in the British Museum (No. 135), see Breasted, Zeitschrift jiir Aegyp-
tische Sprache, 39, Pis. I, II, 1. 2.
'He means he was careful and accurate in reading the names, not introducing
confusion among them, by restoring a name in the wrong place.
dHe begins to tell of the construction of his own tomb, but is diverted by the
reference to his father, whose tomb and early favor at court he recounts, before
he again reverts to his own tomb and other buildings (1. 192).
«There is no doubt that this is the same word used in the description of Sesos-
tris I's youth (§ 502, U. 9, 10), although much corrupted.
f His plumes of office.
BRead r}} itny, as shown by Griffith (^Proceedings of the Society of Biblical
Archaology, 1890, 267).
288 TWELFTH DYNASTY: SESOSTRIS II [§637
the manner of his tongue, the ^moderation' of his character, ^'"Sebek-
enekh's son, Nehri, triimiphant, revered, whom he exalted before his
nobles to be rvder (/tP) of his city.
His Own Buildings
637. The achievements of the count, Khnumhotep: I made a
monument in the midst of my city; I built a colonnaded hall which I
found '9sin Trvdn^;* I erected it with columns anew, inscribed with
my own name. I perpetuated the name of my father upon them.**
I [frecordedT| my deeds upon =°°every monument.
I made a door of 7 cubits, of cedar wood without f — ^ for the first
doorway of the tomb; double doors for^ an opening of 5 cubits, 2
palms, for the shrine of the august chamber, which is in this tomb."*
A prayer ^°sfor offerings, the mortuary oblations of bread, beer, oxen,
geese, was upon every monument, which I made. I ^
greater in monuments ^in' this city than the fathers; "'"a child of this
dty, more excellent in monuments of its burial place than the ancestors,
fin the buildings' made before me.*
*This stands in place of the usual m ws "in ruin," and probably means some-
thing similar. (See Loret, Revue egyptologique, X, 87-94.) What this building in
the city was, it is impossible to say; all city buildings having perished. Compare
also the work of Kheti another member of the family, as recorded thus: "Prince
and count, sole companion, t — i great lord oj the Oryx nome, who made eternal monu-
ments in the temple {ht-riir) o}Khnum,lordof Herur{Hr-wr)" (Champollion, Notices
descriptives, II, 354).
^N and plural strokes are lost in the lacuna; the feminine s could not have
stood alone, for the building is masculine.
cLit., "of."
d" The first doorway" is, as we should expect, the main entrance to the tomb
chapel. A comparison of the height of the "door" given above (7 cubits) with the
surviving doorway shows that the door was enough higher than the doorway to
lap slightly at top and bottom. The second doorway was for double doors; the
only double doors in the tomb of Khnumhotep are those of the shrine containing
his statue, in the back wall of the chapel chamber. A comparison of the height
of this doorway, given by the inscription, with the surviving doorway itself, shows
exact correspondence. On the whole passage, see Breasted, Proceedings oj the
Society oj Biblical Archwology, XXII, 88-90.
«These lines are unintelligible.
'The syntax of both these comparisons is doubtful in several places; it is
clear in both that he is comparing his own building activity with that of his ancestors;
the first comparison referring to his works in the city, and the second to those in
the highland of the necropolis.
§ 639] INSCRIPTION OF KHNUMHOTEP II 289
Crafts Encouraged
638. I was munificent in monuments; I taught every craft "''which
had been fneglectedi in this city, in order that my name might be excel-
lent upon every monument which I ■'made'', "
Conclusion
639. '=°The hereditary prince, count, Nehri's son, Khnumhotep,
born of Beket, triumphant, revered.
" Foreman of the tomb, the chief treasurer, Beket.''
"Unintelligible.
tThis is the architect's "fecit," the signature of the official who conducted the
work.
REIGN OF SESOSTRIS III
THE CONQUEST OF NUBIA
640. Sesostris III completed the conquest of Nubia, be-
gun by his predecessors nearly one hundred years before,
and was known in the Empire as the real conqueror of the
region between the first and second cataracts. He conducted
not less than four campaigns in this district, and probably
more; and by his canalization of the cataract passages, and
the erection of fortresses at strategic points, he made this
country a permanent possession of the Pharaohs, which
was never lost except for a time during the Hyksos period,
until the dissolution of the Empire. Important material
documents, like the fortresses of Kummeh and Semneh, are
graphic witnesses of the character and permanence of this
conquest.*
641. The documentary materials for Sesostris Ill's
operations in Nubia are as follows:
I. The Canal Inscriptions (§§642-48).
II. The Elephantine Inscription (§§649, 650).
III. The First Semneh Stela (§§651-52).
IV. The Second Semneh Stela (§§653-60).
V. Inscription of Ikhemofret (§§661-70).
VI. Inscription of Sisatet (§§ 671, 672; see also §§676 ff.,
and 687).
I. THE CANAL INSCRIPTIONS
642 . In order to establish unbroken water communication
with the country above the first cataract, Sesostris III,
aA further reference to one of these Nubian campaigns of Sesostris III is
found in the life of Sebekkhu (§§ 676 fE.).
290
§645] THE CONQUEST O F NUBIA 291
cleared a channel^ which permitted the passage of his war
fleets, and later doubtless of much commerce also. Al-
though this enterprise had been begun in the Sixth Dynasty,
it was now over five hundred years since Uni's attempts to
pierce the cataract (§324). Sesostris Ill's achievement
was recorded in the two following inscriptions, cut on the
rocks of the Island of Sehel. The first, recording the
"making" of the canal, is undated, but as the second states,
he repaired {"made anew")^ the canal in the eighth year, it
must have been made before this date, and probably in
anticipation of the campaign of that year.
First Inscription'^
643. A scene above, represents the king, Sesostris III,
standing before the goddess Anuket, exactly as below (§ 646)
before Satet; below them is the inscription:
644. He made (it) as his monument for Anuket, mistress of Nubia
(T^--pd-t) , making for her a canal, whose name is: "Beauti-
fuI-Are-the-Ways-of-Khekure" (Sesostris III), that he may hve forever.
645. In the eighth year the channel was already in need
of repair, and had to be cleared for the passage of the expe-
dition of that year. This is recorded in the
»Mr. Wilbour and Mr. Somers Clarke found a rock-cut canal south of Sehel,
but its dimensions do not coincide with those given in the inscription (see Zeitschrift
fur dgyptische Sprache, 1894, 63, 64).
*'But it should be remembered that "anew'' may possibly mean "for the first
time" as it later sometimes does.
<=Text published by Lepsius, Denkmdler, II, 136, 6=de Morgan, Catalogue
des monuments, 87, No. 39. This inscription was known fifty years before Mr.
Wilbour's discovery below, but the name of the canal was misunderstood as that
of a city (e. g., Wiedemann, Aegyptische Geschichte, 252). The inscription did not
become clear until the publication of Mr. Wilbour's discovery (cf. quotation of
Erman's letter, Recaeil, XIII, 203). The old misunderstanding still survives, and
the canal appears as "an emporium" bearing the name "Ways of Khakert" in
some publications.
292 TWELFTH DYNASTY: SESOSTRIS III [§646
Second Inscription^
646. In a scene at the top stands the king, Sesostris III,
wearing the crowns of Upper and Lower Egypt, and bearing
the (w^s-) scepter and (hrp-) baton. The goddess "Satet,
mistress 0} Elephantine," stands before him, presenting him
with life; while behind him is the "chief treasurer
chief of works."^ Below is the following inscription:
647. Year 8 under the majesty of the King of Upper and Lower
Egypt: Khekure iff'^-k^w-R'^, Sesostris III), Uving forever. His
majesty commanded to make the canal anew,<= the name of this canal
being: " Beautiful- Are-the-Ways-of-Khekure-[Living]-Forever," when
his majesty proceeded up-river to overthrow Kush, the wretched.
Length of this canal, 150 cubits; width, 20; depth, 15.
648. The canal was still in use in the New Kingdom, and
was cleared again by Thutmose I and III (II, 75, 76, 649,
650).
n. ELEPHANTINE INSCRIPTION"^
649. In addition to the great works on the canal, Sesostris
III also gave some attention to the fortress'' of Elephantine
as he passed southward on the campaign of the eighth year.
The work was recorded there by Ameni, the officer com-
missioned to do it, in the following inscription:
^Discovered by Mr. Charles Wilbour, and published by him in Recueil, XIII,
202-4; later by de Morgan, Catalogue des monuments, 86, No. 20.
^He has been omitted by Wilbom-, and his name is lacking in de Morgan,
Catalogue des monuments.
■^Or possibly: "jor the first time."
dProm a small stela now in the British Museum (No. 852); it was published
by Birch {Zeitschrift jUr dgypHsche Sprache, 1875, 50), and again, Egyptian Texts,
12, 13. I used my own copy of the original, as that of Birch contains a number of
inaccuracies.
^he fortress is supposed by Maspero {Recueil, XIII, 204) to be the wall con-
necting Assuan and Philse, of which there are considerable remains at the present
day.
1 652] THE CONQUEST OF NUBIA 293
650. Year 9,* third month of the third season under the majesty of
the King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Khekure (Sesostris III) beloved of
Satet, Mistress of Elephantine, living forever. Command of his majesty
to the Magnate of the South, Ameni, fto make"!] a doorway in the fortress
of Elephantine, to make a ■" — 1 (a building) for the crown -possessions^ of
the South the — people in the region of Elephantine; when [my
lord, life! prosperity! hejalth! journeyed to overthrow the wretched
Kush.
ni. THE FIRST SEMNEH STELA''
6si. Sesostris III, having, in his eighth year, pushed his
southern advance above the second cataract, to a point
about thirty-seven miles south of Wadi Haifa, set up his
landmark, the stone marking the southern boundary of his
realm. His great-grandfather, Sesostris I, had already
conquered to this point (§§ Sioff.), but Sesostris IH was now
prepared to maintain the conquest.
652. 'Southern'^ boundary, made in the year 8, under the majesty
of the King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Khekure (Sesostris III), who
is given life forever ^and ever; in order to prevent that any Negro should
cross it, by water or 3by land, with a ship, (or) any herds of ^the Negroes ;
except a Negro who shall come to do trading in Iken® (.Ykn), Sor with
^Birch has 8, but the original has 9: the last unit on the left is very faint, and
was therefore overlooked. This is doubtless the date on which the work was fin-
ished, the order having been given as the king passed, a year previously. It is
hardly probable that there was another campaign in the ninth year after that of
the eighth.
bCf. § 522, 1. 16.
cA red granite stela discovered by Lepsius at Semneh on the west bank of the
Nile. It is now in BerUn (No. I47S3); published by Lepsius, Denkmaler, II,
136, i, and (copied therefrom) Lemm, Lesestiicke, 62. On its strange history, see
§ 653, note, p. 294.
dAt the top of the stela is the single word "West," indicating on which side of
the river it belonged. There must have been another on the other side, but it has
never been found.
^Unknown place.
294 T WELFTH DYNASTY: SESOSTRIS III [§653
a commission. Every good thing* shall be done with them, but without
allowing «a ship of the Negroes to pass by Heh^- {Hh), going down-
stream, forever.
rV. THE SECOND SEMNEH STELA"
653. After the campaign of the eighth year, it was again
necessary in the twelfth year to chastise the Nubians. Of
this expedition only the meagerest record has reached us in
an inscription'! on the rocks at Assuan, of which, beside the
date and the name of Sesostris III, we can read only the
following: "His majesty journeyed to overthrow Kush."
654. Already in the sixteenth year further disturbances in
Kush again called the king thither, and this expedition is
twice recorded: on the second Semneh stela; and on a
duplicate found on the island of Uronarti, just below
Semneh.* The duplicate contains in the first line, after the
^Read y^'t, "thing," the hieratic for which was mistaken by the copyist for
tw (Erman).
l^Modern Semneh (see Baedeker's Egypt, 1902, 379), on the west side of the river,
about thirty-seven miles above Wadi Haifa. Here and at Kummeh, on the eastern
side, Sesostris III erected two fortresses for enforcing the blockade above decreed.
<=Red granite stela set up on the west shore at Semneh in the temple in the
fortress of Sesostris III (see § 640). It has had a remarkable history since its dis-
covery by Lepsius in July, 1844. Broken into two pieces, the upper portion after
packing, was forgotten by Lepsius' workmen, and with the "First Semneh Stela"
(§§651 f.) was left in Semneh, so that only the lower portion of the "Second Stela"
-reached Berlin. Some forty years later (1886) the forgotten pieces were found by
Insinger on the banks of the river, still in Lepsius' boxes. They were taken to
Cairo, where they remained in the Gizeh (Bulak) collection for many years, but
were at last secured by the Berlin Museum, and the two portions of the " Second
Semneh Stela" were rejoined in 1899, after a separation of over fifty years (Berlin,
No. 1157). Published by Lepsius {Denkmakr, II, 136,7s); I also had a copy from
the original, kindly loaned me by Professor Erman.
dPetrie, Season in Egypt, XIII, 340. It has been omitted in de Morgan's
Catalogue des monuments.
^It was discovered by Steindorff, Borchardt, and Schaefer in March, 1900.
It is not yet published, and I collate the variants from a copy by Borchardt, cited
in the note as U. An account of it, with a copy of the title, is given by Steindorff
in Berichte der philologisck-historischen Classe der Koniglichen Sdchsischen
Gesellschajt der Wissenscha/ten zu Leipzig, Juni, 1900, p. 233.
§657] THE CONQUEST OF NUBIA 295
king's name, a variant of great historical importance, as
follows: ^^ Stela made in the year 16, third month of the second
season, when the fortress: ' Repulse-of-the-Troglodytes' ^ was
built."
65s. It was on this campaign, therefore, that the Uronarti
fortress was built. The temple in the Senmeh fortress was
already built for a feast, likewise called " Repulse-of-the-
Troglodytes,"^ doubtless in commemoration of this victory,
which was celebrated in it on the twenty-first of Pharmuthi,
a month later. This feast continued to be celebrated in the
Empire, and the enactments for offerings upon it, and the
other feasts of this temple, were reinstituted by Thutmose
III (see II, 167 ff.).
656. The "Second Semneh Stela" is as follows:''
Introduction
'Live the King of Upper and Lower Egypt, 'Sesostris III,"^ who
is given life, stability, satisfaction forever.
Boundary Established
657. 3 Year 16, third month of the second season,^ (occurred) his
majesty's making the southern boundary as far as Heh^ mh)- ""I
*This is certainly the name of the fortress on Uronarti; we could render:
"the fortress which repulses the T." for which we have the parallel: "the walls of
the prince, made to repulse the Bedwin" (§ 493) ; but the fact that a feast of Sesostris
III, probably celebrating this victory, was also called " Repulse-of-the-Troglodytes"
(II, 171), is clear evidence that we have here a name for the fortress. Moreover,
another fortress of Sesostris III is mentioned in the same way in the inscription
(Lepsius, Denkmdler, 151, c) of an officer of one of the first Sebekhoteps, cut on the
neighboring rocks to record the height of the Nile (§§ 751, 752).
''There was another feast celebrating a similar victory in this temple, called
" Binding-of-the-Barbarians" (see II, 171, 1. 12), at which offerings were made to
the queen, "great king's-wife Merseger."
=The variants in the duplicate are chiefly of grammatical importance, but
where they clear up the meaning, I have adduced them in the notes.
dText has full titulary.
«This phrase is lacking in U; and in its place appears the statement above
(§ 654) regarding the fortress.
296 TWELFTH DYNASTY: SESOSTRIS III [§658
have made my boundary beyond* (that) of my fathers ; I have 'increased
that which was bequeathed to me.^ I am a king who speaks and
executes; that which my heart conceives *is that which comes to pass
by my hand; (one who is) eager to possess, and f powerful' to "" — l;
not allowing'^ a matter to sleep in his heart * fattack-
ing him who attacks', silent in a matter,"^ or "answering a matter accord-
ing to that which is in it ; since, if one is silent after attack, it strengthens
'°the heart of the enemy. Valiance is eagerness, cowardice is to slink
back; he is truly a craven "who is repelled upon his border; since
the Negro hearkens rto' the r — "• of the mouth; ''it is answering him
which drives him back; when one is eager against him, he turns his
back; when one slinks back, he begins to be eager. '^But they are not
a people of might, they are poor and broken^ in heart.. '^My majesty
has seen them; it is not an untruth.
Plundering of Nubia
658. I captured their women, I carried off's their subjects, went
forth to their wells, smote their bulls; I reaped* their grain, and '*set
fire thereto. (I swear) as my father lives for me, I speak^ in truth,
without a lie^ therein, ''coming out of my mouth.
Future Maintenance oj Boundary
659. Now, as for every son of mine who shall maintain this bound-
ary, '%hich my majesty has made, he is my son, he is born to my
^Lit., "in front of," which is to an Egyptian the same as "southward of."
''At this point the narrative is interrupted by a encomium on himself by the
king, which is in poetic parallelism, and in parts is unintelligible. It merges into
satire on the Negroes, and continues to 1. 14, where the narrative is resumed.
<=U has tm ssdr, Ht., "not causing a matter to sleep."
dU has gr mdt.
=U has sd'Tv "broken, pierced," heretofore known only in connection with a
wall, an egg, or the like; it has nothing to do with "tails," as rendered, Petrie,
History of Egypt, I, 180.
*This word does not mean "destroy," as so often rendered, but is used of
gathering the harvest, the vintage, or even getting stone from a quarry, e. g., inscrip-
tion of Uni (§323, 1. 43). U has the finite form: ivk^'ny, "I reaped."
kU has "/ have spoken" {dd-ny).
tU has : }}n ym n'^b'^,m which we are to read ^» re <: 6 = together like ^pn-n-mdwt;
^re re is a pleonastic phrase before nouns indicating speech (see Erman, Glossar, s. v.).
§ 662] THE CONQUEST OF NUBIA 297
majesty, the likeness of a son who is the champion of his father, '"who
maintains the boundary of him that begat him. Now, as for him who
shall relax it, and shall not fight '°for it; he is not my son, he is not
born to me.
Royal Statue at Boundary
660. Now, behold, my majesty caused a statue^ "'of my majesty to
be made upon this boundary, which my majesty made; in^ order that
ye might prosper because of it, and in order that ye might fight for it.''
V. INSCRIPTION OF IKHERNOFRET'^
661 . The following commission of Ikhemofret to Abydos,
of great interest and importance in many respects, is inserted
here especially for its bearing on the Nubian wars of Sesos-
tris III. It is not dated, but we are able to date it from
another source with considerable probability. Ikhemofret
was accompanied to Abydos by one of his officials, Sisatet;"
each of the two men erected a stela there on this occasion,
and that of Sisatet states that the visit was made "when
Sesostris III journeyed to overthrow the wretched
Kush, in the year ig." The gold taken from Kush (11. 3, 4)
was therefore probably captured in the campaign of the
sixteetith year (§ 657). We have nowhere else any record of
the campaign of the nineteenth year.
662. Ikhemofret narrates how he executed the king's
commission, and adds a statement of the functions which
*No trace of this statue has ever been found.
t'U has the proper genitive n. |=Or: "upon it," the boundary.
■iOn his memorial tablet erected at Abydos; now in Berlin (No. 1204, Aus-
filhrliches Verzeichniss des Berliner Museums, 90, 91); published by Lepsius,
Denkmakr, II, 135, h. It is in bad condition, and full of gaps. I had a copy
made from the original, which Schaefer kindly placed at my disposal; it filled
nearly all of the gaps in Lepsius' Denkmdler. Schaefer has since published it,
with full translation and commentary, in Sethe's Untersuchungen, IV, but I have
not yet seen it.
«§§67i£f.
298 TWELFTH DYNASTY: SESOSTRIS III [§663
he fulfilled at the feasts of Osiris and the celebration of the
sacred drama, re-enacting incidents from the myth of the
god. Among these duties, there is one of the greatest in-
terest, viz., the conduct of Osiris "to Ms tomb before Peker."
This is, of course, none other than the tomb of the hoary
old King Zer, which already at this time was misunderstood
as the tomb of Osiris.
Introduction
663. 'Live the King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Khekure (Sesos-
tris III),^ wjio is given life forever and ever.
Royal Letter; Introdtiction
664. ^Royal command to the hereditary prince, count, — , wearer
of the royal seal, sole companion, lord of the double gold-house, lord
of the double silver-house, chief treasurer, Ikhernofret (yy-^r-nfr' t),
revered :
Commission to Abydos
665. 3" My majesty commands that thou shalt be sent up-river to
Abydos,^ to make monuments for my father Osiris, First of the West-
erners, to adorn his secret place with the gold, '•which he'= caused my
majesty to bring from Upper Nubia in victory and in triumph. Lo,
thou shalt do this in 5 for offering, in satisfying my father Osiris,
since my majesty sendeth thee, my heart being certain of thy doing
everything ^according to the desire of my majesty; since thou hast
been brought up in the teaching of my majesty; thou hast been in the
training of my majesty, 'and the sole teaching of my palace. My
»Full fivefold titulary.
•"The reference shows the royal residence was down-river, that is, northward
from Abydos. An inscription of the king's sixth year, hitherto unnoticed, furnishes
further indication of his interest in the Abydos temple. The mortuary stela of a
certain Sebekhotep (British Museum, No. 257) after the usual prayer, states:
"His majesty commanded to dispatch the servant (the deceased) to the crown posses-
sions oj Thinis oj the South {tp rSy), to cleanse the temples. He did them; ^ cleansed*
that they might be pure for the monthly feast, and clean for the half^monthly feast."
At the top is the date.
<=Probably Osiris.
§668] THE CONQUEST OF NUBIA 299
majesty appointed thee — , while thou wast a young man (hwn) of 26
years. My majesty hath done this, ^(because) I have seen thee to be
one excellent in character (sffr), ready of tongue on coming forth from the
body, and sufficient in speech. My majesty [sendeth]^ thee 'to do
this, (since) my [majesty] has recognized that no one doing it possesses
thy good qualities. Quickly go thou, and do thou according to all
that my majesty has commanded."
Execution 0} the Commission
666. '°I did according to all that his majesty commanded, by
adorning all that my lord commanded for his father, Osiris, First of the
Westerners, lord of Abydos, great, mighty one residing in Thinis.
Temple Monuments and Utensils
667. "I acted as "Son, Whom He Loves," for Osiris, First of the
Westerners, I adorned the great — forever and ever. I made for him
"a portable shrine,'' the "Bearer-of -Beauty" of the " First-of-the-
Westerners," of gold, silver, lazuli, fragrant woods, carob wood, and
meru wood. (I) fashioned the gods '^belonging to his divine ennead,
(I) made their shrines anew.
Priestly Duties
668. I caused the lay priests to fknow howl] to do their duties, (I)
caused them to know "tthe stipulation of every day, the feasts of the
beginnings of the seasons. I superintended the work on the sacred
barque (niml't]), I fashioned (its) chapel.'= 'sj decked (Shkr) the body
of the lord of Abydos with lazuli and malachite, electrum, and every
costly stone, among '^the ornaments of the limbs of a god. I dressed
(db^) the god in his regalia (fy'^w) by virtue of my office as master of
secret things, and of my duty as (^wtb^-) priest. •'! was pure-handed
in decking the god, a (sm-) priest of clean fingers.
aOnly the determinative of a verb of going or motion is preserved.
cThis word {sntyy, perhaps snyt, as on the Piankhi stela,) has a determinative
exactly like the chapel or cabin in the determinative of nSm't.
30O TWELFTH DYNASTY: SESOSTRIS III [§ 669
Osirian Festival Drama
669. I celebrated the (feast of) "Going Forth" of Upwawet, when
he proceeded to champion his father. '*I repelled the foe from the
sacred barque {nim't), I overthrew the enemies of Osiris. I celebrated
the "Great-Going-Forth,"^ following the god at his going. ^'I sailed
the divine boat {dp't) of Thoth upon . I equipped the barque
(called): " Shining-in-Truth " of the lord of Abydos, with a chapel.
^°(I) put on his regalia when he went forth to — Peker; I led the way
of the god to his tomb*' before Peker; I ^'championed Wennofer at
"That Day of the Great Conflict;" I slew all the enemies upon the
''flats'"^ of Nedyt (Ndy t). I conveyed him "^into the barque (called) :
"The Great," when it bore his beauty; I gladdened the heart of the
eastern highlands; I — ed the rejoicing in the western highlands
"sWhen they saw the beauty of the sacred barge, as it landed at Abydos,
they brought [Osiris, First of the Westerners, lord] of Abydos to his
palace, and I followed the god into his house, ^^to attend to his — , when
he fresumedi his seat. I loosed the knot in the midst of
his •'attendants'', among his courtiers.
670. Below appear five of Ikhernofret's relatives, among
them Sisatet, whose stela follows herein (§ § 671-73), Sitameni,
the mother, is also mentioned, as she is likewise on the
stela of Sisatet.'^
VI. INSCRIPTION OF SISATET"
671. After a prayer for the benefit of Sisatet's father,
Ameni, follows a long list of his near relatives, beginning
»This is the designation of a funeral procession "going forth" to the necropo-
lis, as is evident from the description in Bergmann, Hieroglyphische Inschrijten,
VI, 1. 12. It refers above to the funeral procession of Osiris in the drama.
bThis is unquestionably the tomb of Zer, already in the Twelfth Dynasty mis-
taken for the tomb of Osiris.
<:This is the word {tsw) used in Uni (§ 323, 1. 45 ; see note) for "flats" or the like.
^Ikhernofret's mortuary stela, erected at Abydos on his death, is now in Cairo
(Catalogue No. 20310). It contains nothing of historical importance.
oQn his family mortuary stela, from Abydos, now in the Museum of Geneva;
published by Maspero in Mllanges d'archeologie igyptienne, II, 217-19, and again,
Maspero, Etudes de mythologie et d'archSologie, III, 211-15. I had also my own
copy of the original.
§675] HAMMAMAT INSCRIPTION 301
with his mother, Sitameni. The inscription of Sisatet then
follows, giving the occasion of his visit to Abydos, during
which, of course, he erected this stela to secure for his family
the favors of Osiris in the next world. It is as follows:
672. Master of the double cabinet,* Sisatet; he saith: "I came to
Abydos, together with the chief treasurer, iKhernofret, to carve (a
statue of) Osiris, lord of Abydos, when the King of Upper and Lower
Egypt, Khekure (Sesostris III), living forever, journeyed, while over-
throwing the vreetched Kush, in the year 19."
673. Some nineteen years later, perhaps at Sisatet's death,
his own memorial stela^ was erected at Abydos. The in-
scription above begins:
"Year i, under the majesty of the King of Upper and Lower Egypt,
Nematre {N-m^^'t-R^, Amenemhet III), Kving forever and ever. Stela
which the master of the double cabinet of the office of the chief
treasurer, Sisatet, made, in order that his name might endure at the
stairway of the great god.
HAMMAMAT INSCRIPTION"
674. The principal interest attaching to this inscription
arises from the destination of the stone taken out, which is
stated to be Ehnas Heracleopolis. The text is so barbarously
cut that much is unintelligible:
675. 'Year 14, fourth month of the first season, day 16, under the
majesty of ' the King of Upper and Lower Egypt,
Khekure (Sesostris III), living forever and ever, sbeloved of Min-
Hor of Coptos. Behold, his majesty commanded to dispatch me to
»His title on his own mortuary stela is: "Master of the double cabinet of the
office of the chief treasurer."
^Now in the LoUvre (C s); published by Gayet {Stiles, VIII-IX, very inaccu-
rate).
^Engraved on the rocks in the Wadi Hammamat; published by Lepsius,
Denkmdler, II, 136, a.
302 TWELFTH DYNASTY: SESOSTRIS III [§676
"•Hammamat, to bring a monument, which his majesty commanded to
make sfor Harsaphes (Hr-i'f), lord of Heracleopolis, for the sake of
the life of *the King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Khekure, living forever
and ever; being a beautiful block of 'black basalt.^ He sent me as
foreman of the work, because I was valuable in the opinion of his
majesty, a true leader ■" 1 for his lord, smiting for him the four east-
ern countries,^ bringing for him the good products of Tehenu, by the
greatness of his majesty's fame; saying good things, and reporting
pleasing things, at the utterances of whose mouth there is satisfaction;
knowing the place of his — , free from lying, kind-hearted, void of ■" — \
excellent in speech, — hearted, reporting to the king; one whose foot
is firm, real king's-confidant, his beloved, his favorite, steward of the
storehouse of the leader of works, Khui (^H'^wy) born of Hapi (J^^py)."
STELA OF SEBEK-KHU, CALLED ZAA<=
676. This stela, as furnishing the only mention of an
invasion of Sjria by any Pharaoh of the Middle Kingdom,
is of great importance. Sebek-khu, who states at the top
of the stela that his other or "beautiful name" was Zaa (d^^),
gives a brief outline of his career on this mortuary stela
which he erected at Abydos. He was born in the twenty-
seventh year of Amenemhet II (1. 11), at whose death he
was therefore five years old.
677. Of his life during the nineteen years' reign of Sesos-
tris II he says nothing, but with the accession of Sesostris
III, Sebek-khu, who was now twenty-four years old, was
»This stone (i^») is the same as the two obelisks in the British Museum
{Description, V, 21, 22), which are stated by the inscription to be blyn. An
examination, kindly made by Mr. Gardiner, shows that the obelisks are of ttie black
basaltic rock of Hammamat.
''Compare the four countries in the inscription of Ameni, § 519, 1. 7.
"A small limestone stela discovered at Abydos (Ardbah) by Mr. John Garstang,
and published by him {El Ardbah, Quaritch, London, 1901, Pis. IV, V), with a
translation by Newberry {ibid., 32, 33); see also MuUer, OrientalisUsche Liiteratur-
zeitung, VI, 448, 449.
§ 679] STELA OF SEBEK-KHU, CALLED ZAA 303
made an attendant of the king (1. 13), with six men under
him (1. 14). He was presently promoted among the per-
sonal troops of the king as "attendant (lit., follower) of the
ruler" (1. 14), and commanded sixty men on an expedition
of the same king into Nubia. Which one of Sesostris Ill's
Nubian campaigns (§§640-73) this was, it is impossible to
say, but Sebek-khu's gallantry won him a promotion as a
"commander" (Jhd) of the king's personal troops, with one
hundred men under him.
678. His next expedition was against a region called
Sekmem {Skmm) in Retenu, or S}Tia.'' We are unfortu-
nately unable to locate this Sekmem with certainty, but it
could hardly have been very far northward.'' A battle oc-
curred here (1. 2), during which Sebek-khu commanded
the reserves (1. 3). When finally his men mingled in the fight
(1. 3) he personally captured a prisoner (1. 4), whom he
delivers to two of his men, to be disarmed. Continuing the
battle (1. 4), he is finally rewarded by the king with a rich
gift of arms, as well as the weapons of his prisoner." There
is no evidence that this, the only Syrian campaign known
under the Twelfth Dynasty, gained anything more than
plunder for Sesostris III, or that any attempt was made to
hold the territory of the conquered Sekmem. <^
679. Sebek-khu now became "^commandants (w'^rtw)
of the (residence) city" the office which he held when he
aThis campaign was so important in Sebek-khu's life that he places it at the
beginning of his autobiography, though it chronologically belongs toward the end.
bMiiller {I. c.) suggests Shechem, and would explain the second m as the
plural ending of a nisbe, which is of course exceedingly doubtful.
^Compare the same gifts to brave officers of the Eighteenth Dynasty kings;
this is the earliest example of the custom.
dThis Syrian expedition is not likely to have been the only one made by this
dynasty. The language of Sinuhe, exiled in Syria, just before Sebek-khu's time,
shows that the power of the Pharaoh was known and feared there, this implies
similar expeditions thither under the first kings of the dynasty.
304 TWELFTH DYNASTY: SESOSTRIS III [§ 680
erected this stela (11. 7 and 10), some time before the death
of Sesostris III. He doubtless, like so many officials visiting
Abydos, erected the stela himself, hence it does not contain
the end of his career. A number of years later, in the
ninth year of Amenemhet III, when Sebek-khu could not
have been less than sixty-six years old, he appears superin-
tending the king's observations of the height of the inunda-
tion at the second cataract.^ He then held the rank of
"f commandant^ of the ruler," but of the end of his carper
we know nothing.
Asiatic Campaign
680. 'His majesty proceeded northward, to overthrow the Asiatics
(Mntyw-Sti). His majesty arrived at a district, Sekmem (3kmm)^
was its name. ^His majesty led the good way° in proceeding to the
palace^ of "Life, Prosperity, and Health," when Sekmem had fallen,*
together with Retenu {Rtnw) the wretched, ^while I was acting as rear-
guard.
Sebek-khu's Valor
681. Then the citizens^ {'^n}j,w) of the army mixed in, to fight with
the Asiatics {"mw). Then ■»! captured an Asiatic ("m), and had his
weapons seized by two citizens (^nlyw) of the army, (for) one did not
^Lepsius, Denkmdler, II, 136, 6.
•"Possibly Skmkm.
cThis idiom {dy -j tp •/ njr) is parallel with the similar one common in the
Empire (Sspip w^'t njr't). It has no connection with tp-njr "good conduct," an
inseparable compound, into which / could not be inserted.
■iThe successful outcome of the adventure and the return home are indicated
at the beginning, as is common in oriental narrative. Moreover, the following
battle may have occurred on the return march.
'Lit., "Sekmem, it had fallen."
f These men (<^ nlp-w) are of the class to which belong the men under Sebek-khu
(who with the bodyguard is in the rear), as is shown by 1. 4, where two of them are
under his command. They now rush forward into action. (See also wild-cattle
hunt of Amenhotep III, II, 864, and especially Decree of Harmhab, III, 51, 57, 59);
they are always spoken of as "0/ the army."
§ 686] STELA OF SEBEK-KHU, CALLED ZAA 305
turn back from the fight, (but) my face was to the front, and I gave not
my back to the Asiatic {"m).^
His Rewards
682. As Sesostris lives, 'I have spoken in truth. Then he gave to
me a staff of electrum into my hand, a bow, and a dagger wrought with
electrum, together with his^ weapons.
His Titles
683. *The hereditary prince, count, firm of sandal, satisfied in
going, treading the path of him that favors him, 'whose plenty the Lord
of the Two Lands has furnished, whose seat his love has advanced, the
great ''commandant^'' of the (residence) city, Zaa (P^^).
His Tomb
684. *He says: "I have made for myself this splendid tomb; its
place is inserted at the stairway of 'the great god, lord of life, presider
over Abydos, at the bend : 'Lord-of-Offerings,' and at the bend: 'Mis-
tress-of-Life;"^ ""that I may"" smell the incense '°that comes forth from
this — as the odor of the god."
His Career; Birth
685. The chief attendant of the (residence) city, Zaa; ^'he says:
"I was born [in] the year 27 under the majesty of the Ejng of Upper
and Lower Egypt, Nebkure (Amenemhet II), triumphant.
Commander 0} Six
686. "The majesty of the King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Khekure
(Sesostris III), triumphant, appeared with the double diadem upon the
^He means that as the fight kept on he was unable to disarm his prisoner,
and therefore turned him over to two privates, while he himself continued fighting.
There is also a touch of boasting in it, as it took two men to manage the prisoner
he had captured alone.
''Those of the Asiatic whom he had captured.
cW<-rtw. This uncertain title is shown to be, here at least, that of the officers
of the king's personal troops; but the frequent defining additions show that it was
a title of general meaning, like "chief," or "leader," (see Miiller's useful note
Recueil, IX, 173, i).
^Evidently two promontories of the desert margin in the cemetery of Abydos.
3o6 TWELFTH DYNASTY: SESOSTRIS III [§687
Horus-throne of the living. '3 His majesty caused that I should render
service as a warrior, behind and beside his majesty, with six men of
'■♦the covu"t.
Campaign in Nubia
687. Then I made ready at his side, (and) his majesty caused that
I be appointed to be an 'attendant of the ruler.' '^i furnished* sixty men
when his majesty proceeded southward to overthrow the '^Troglodytes of
Nubia. Then I captured a Negro in — ^ alongside my city.'^ "Then I
proceeded northward, following with six"* of the court; then he
appointed (me) commander of the attendants, and gave to me 100
men^ as a reward."
INSCRIPTIONS OF THUTHOTEP*
688. Thuthotep and his line were nomarchs of the Hare
nome, the chief city of which was Khmunu (Hermopolis,
Eshmunen) nearly opposite el-Bersheh, where the tombs of
the family are located. Their immediate neighbors on the
north were the princes of the Oryx nome, with whom they
were probably related. Thuthotep's family was an ancient
^Or. "commanded sixty men (lit., heads)."
''Geographical, as shown by the determinative.
cit is inconceivable that Zaa's city should have been in Nubia. He probably
means the city where he held command temporarily in Nubia.
ilThe original six of his command, the sixty during the Nubian campaign
being a temporary command.
«Lit.: "heads."
'From his tomb at el-Bersheh. The scene of the transport of the colossus
early drew attention to this tomb (discovered by English travelers in 1817), but
beyond this scene very little in the el-Bersheh group was copied. After many
years of neglect, during which they suffered lamentable mutilation, the tombs
were exhaustively copied and surveyed by the Archsological Survey of the Egypt
Exploration Fund in 1891-92, and pubUshed in two volumes: Bersheh, I (New-
berry and Frasei), Bersheh, II (Griffith, Newberry, and Fraser), London.
This work has consulted and collated all the earlier publications. The scene of
the transport will also be found: Rosellini, Monumenti civili, II, 48, i; Wilkin-
son Birch, Manners, II, 305; Lepsius, Denkmaler, II, 134, 135; Chabas, M Manges
igyptologiques. III, PI. V (long inscription only); and often in the later histories.
See full account of literature and existing manuscripts in Bersheh^ ^. ~— ^-
§69o] INSCRIPTIONS OF THUTHOTEP 307
one, and regarded the hoary Sixth Dynasty princes, who
were buried in the neighboring tombs of Shekh Sa'^ld, as
their ancestors. Their interest in these remote predecessors
of theirs was such that at least two of them repaired their
ancestors' fallen tombs at Shekh Sa'^id, and recorded the
pious deed in the following words:*
689, He made (it) as his monument for his fathers, who are in the
necropolis, the lords of this promontory; restoring what was found in
ruin and renewing what was found decayed, the ancestors, who were
before, not having done it. By the count, fmarshal of the two thrones',
superior prophet, overseer of the king's-house, governor of the South,
great lord of the Hare noma, great in his office, great in his rank,
of advanced position in the king's-house, Thutnakht, born of
Teti.
690. It is, however, very difficult to trace back the earlier
family.^ The neighboring alabaster quarry of Hatnub con-
tains a number of inscriptions (hieratic graffiti) recording
the incessant activity of the famUy there, in which the
princes frequently boast of their wealth and power. These
records also show that the princes of the Hare nome were
not merely provincial nobles, but that they sometimes held
high offices under the king. Only one royal date, however
(thirty-first year of Sesostris I), occurs in these quarry in-
scriptions; otherwise they are dated according to the year
of the nomarchy, which is a striking indication of the inde-
^This inscription occurs four times in the tombs of Shekh Sa<: Id; three times
with the name of Thutnakht (Lepsius, Denkmaler, II, 112, e, and 113, b, c); and
once with the name of Ihe (7^^) (Bersheh, II, 10), both of whom were themselves
buried at el-Bersheh. See also Davies, Shekh Said, PI. XXX,and cf . ibid., PI. XXIX.
The same inscription occurred at least once at el-Bersheh also (ibid., 11), showing
the restoration of pre-Middle Kingdom tombs there also. At Kasr-es-SayS.d there
are also records of the restoration of Sixth Dynasty tombs by Twelfth Dynasty
nobles (Baedeker's Egypt, 1902, 216).
bThe material from the tombs of el - Bersheh and the quarry of Hatnub has
been carefully sifted in an interesting reconstruction of the family tree by Griffith
Bersheh, II, 4-14. The following data have been taken thence.
3o8 TWELFTH DYNASTY: SESOSTRIS III [§ 691
pendence of these princes at some time, probably before the
Twelfth D5Tiasty. Probably at least four generations lived
during the Eleventh Dynasty. Two of these earlier princes
say: "I rescued my city in the day of violence from the i" — '*
terrors of the royal house," ^ which may be a reference to
the aggression of the Eleventh Dynasty as it pushed north-
ward.
691 . The tomb of Thuthotep is the only one at el-Bersheh,
in which royal names have been preserved. It contains the
names of Amenemhet II and Sesostris II and III, under
whom Thuthotep lived. His appointment as prince of the
Hare nome, in which he succeeded his grandfather, is referred
to in the tomb as follows:^
692. His utterance before his father, that he might [establish] the
name of him from whom he came forth. Are not these praises very-
great before my father and before my god, in that he appoints me chief
of his dty and great lord of the Hare nome, as successor of him who
begat him ? He was the staff of the old age of this*^ his father, and he
hath appointed me as chief of his city.
693. His father calls upon the people to rejoice, and
adds:
See this! which my lord has done for me; hear"^ this! which my
^Graffiti Nos. I and VIII. Blackden and Fraser, Hatnuh, transliterated by
Griffith, Bersheh, II, PI. XXII.
•"Inscription of the shrine, Bersheh, I, PI. XXXIII (=Lepsius, Denkmdler,
II, 134), accompanying Thuthotep and his father Key, who stand facing each other;
essentially Mr. Griffith's rendering {ibid., II, 13).
•^''This his father" is of course Key's father; the use of "this" implying that
he was now deceased. His name was Nehri. Thus Nehri lived to a very advanced
age, and Key was so old at his father's (Nehri's) death that he immediately resigned
the succession to his own son. This would explain the succession from grand-
father to grandson, in which Key seems to have the appointing power. The ref-
erences to the father and son (Key and Thuthotep) as together deserving the
praise of the people C§§ 700-704) are thus explained by the fact that Key survived
his son Thuthotep's accession.
^Sdm, not hsb "reckon" (as in the Survey notes).
§6953 INSCRIPTIONS OF THUTHOTEP 309
god has done for me, in that he hath appointed my son as chief of
his city, great lord of the Hare nome, as successor of him that begat
me.*
694. The well-known scene of the transport of the colos-
sus has made the tomb famous. The only other inscriptions
of historical importance are those connected with this scene.
They throw much light upon the power and organization
of the government in a Middle Kingdom nomarchy, and,
of course, the whole scene is of unusual archaeological
interest.
695. The quarries from which the great block for the
statue was cut are located ten miles from the river in the
desert back of el-Amama.'' The difficult road from the
quarries over the desert, down the cliffs, and across the
plain to the river at the modem village of Hagg-Kandil, had
been in use since the days of Khufu, and Uni had trans-
ported stone upon it (§323). Along this road the block
was transported to the river," and then floated down-stream
to Hermopolis-Eshmunen, where the statue was sculptured.
'^"Him that begat me" is the grandfather Nehri. He may be the same Nehri
who was the father of Khnumhotep II.
*
"They were first seen by Mr. Newberry, who was taken there by natives in
1891. Excellent map by Petrie {Amarna, XXXIV) and very useful description
{ibid., 3, 4) ; also by Fraser {Proceedings oj the Society of Biblical Archaology, XVI,
73 £f.). They contain numerous grafiSti published by Blackden and Fraser {Col-
lection oj Hieratic Graffiti from the Alabaster Quarries of Hatnub).
'That the statue would be sculptured in the desert quarry, nearly a day's
journey from water and supplies, then to run the risk of the long and dangerous
transportation to Eshmunen, as is usually supposed, is a priori exceedingly improb-
able. The inscription is also clearly against this supposition. The scene depicts
the arrival of the statue at its destination, and natiurally the inscription begins with
that event, which it describes in six lines. Then (1. 6) it reverts to the work of get-
ting the stone from the quarry, and says distinctly that on leaving the quarry the
statue was "a squared block." After this the ships for the river transport are referred
to, and then Thuthotep mentions his arrival "in the district of this city" (doubtless
Eshmunen). Similarly the statue of Amenhotep III, now lying unfinished at the
Assuan quarry, was merely roughed out to reduce its weight for transportation
(de Morgan, Catalogue des monuments, 62 f.).
3IO TWELFTH DYNASTY: SESOSTRIS III [§696
It was then conveyed to its destination, some building* in
the city where it was permanently deposited. This event
is depicted with great detail in the famous scene of the
transportation. Behind the statue march the "foremen of
the work on this statue" and other officials, who are followed
by Thuthotep himself; accompanied by the following in-
scription:
696. 'Following a statue of 13 cubits,^ of stone of Hatnub. Lo,
the way, upon which it came, was very difficult, beyond anything.
Lo, 'the dragging of the great things upon it was difficult for the heart
of the people, because of the difficult stone of the ground, *= being hard
stone.
697. I caused 3the youth, the young men of the recruits to come,
in order to make for it (the statue) a road, together with shifts of
necropolis-miners and of quarrymen, the foremen and the wise. The
people of strength said: "We come to bring it;""* while my heart was
glad; the city was gathered together rejoicing; very good it was to see
sbeyond everything. The old man among them, he leaned upon the
child; the strong-armed together with the tremblers, their courage rose.
*Their arms grew strong; one of them put forth the strength of 1,000
men.
698. Behold, this statue, being a squared block on coming forth
from the great mountain, = was 'more valuable than anything. Vessels
were equipped, filled with supplies, fin advance^ of my army of recruits,
the youth *bore ^ — in advance of it. Their words were laudatio'n, and
my praises from the king. My children » — adorned were behind me.
^Perhaps the "house of the ka" {h't-k^), which appears as part of the temple
at Siut and at Benihasan. See also the contracts of Hepzefi (§ 535 ff.) for the
services and ceremonies due to such statues.
bOver 22 feet, indicating the height. It would weigh toward 60 tons, and is
the largest alabaster statue known. The immense alabaster statue of Amon
found in 1899 by Legrain at Karnak may have been nearly as large.
oThe stony ground through which the road passed; such stone would be
alabaster at the quarry, and limestone afterward. Rwd 't ("hard stone") is applied
to the stone of Hatnub also in Uni (§ 323, 1. 42); it is later "sandstone."
^Another possible rendering is: ". . . . the foremen and the wise; saying:
'O people of strength, come to me to bring it.' "
•This is a reference to the crude block which was brought from the quarry.
§?oi] INSCRIPTIONS OF THUTHOTEP 311
My nome shouted praise. I arrived in the district of this city, '°the
people were gathered together, praising; very good it was to see, beyond
everything. The counts who were of old; the judge and local gov-
ernor who were appointed for " — in this city, and established for the
r — ^1 upon the river, their hearts had not thought of this which I had
done, ""in that I made! for myself " — established for eternity, after
that this my tomb was complete* in its everlasting work.
699. The statue is drawn by 172 men in four double
rows,*" manning four ropes. The middle two rows consist
of the priests and the soldiers; the outside two, of the
youths from the two banks of the river." Each row is
accompanied by an inscription as follows:
First Row
700. The"^ youths of the west of the Hare nome come in peace.
Utterance: "The west is in festivity, their hearts are glad, when they
see the monuments of their lords, the heir who comes in their midst,
his house and the house of his father when he was a child. ."
Second Row
701. The youths of the warriors of the Hare nome arrive in peace.
Utterance of the recruits of the youths whom their lord mustered, the
heir who prospers in the favor of the king, the lord: "Let us come,
let us prosper his children after him ! Our hearts are glad at the favor
of the king who abides permanently."
*The text is poetic and has, lit., " had rested from its everlasting work." Thut-
hotep means that after the work on his tomb was complete, he had the great statue
made for it, and that his ancestors had never conceived such a great enter-
prise.
^A man, standing on the knees of the statue, beats time for the men at the
ropes. He has the inscription: "Beating time for the soldiers by the 'foreman^ [0/]
Thutkotep, beloved of the king." Before him is a man offering incense, whom the
inscription calls the artist of this tomb. Beneath are men of the "estate" "carrying
■water," and with them workmen "carrying planks for the dragging." For further
details, see the Archaeological Survey volumes.
=On the social relations of these men, see Griffith, Kahun Papyri, II, 24, 25.
^From above.
312 TWELFTH DYNASTY: SESOSTRIS III [§702
Third Row
702. The courses of the priests of the Hare nome come in peace.
Utterance: "He whom Thoth loves, Thuthotep, beloved of the king,
he whom his city loves, whom all its gods praise; the temples are in
festivity; their hearts are glad, when they see thy favor with the king."
Fourth Row
703. The youths of the east of the Hare nome come in peace.
Utterance: " My lord hath proceeded to Thereti (Triy), the god rejoices
over him; his fathers are in festivity, their hearts are glad, rejoicing
over his beautiful monuments."
704. Over the men at the ropes are platoons of youths
bearing (palm?) branches; inscription:
The Hare nome is in festivity, its heart is glad; its old men are
children, its youths are refreshed, its children jubilate; their heart is in
festivity, when they see their lord, the son of their lord as a favor of the
king, making his monument.
705. In advance of all these, oxen are being slaughtered,
and rows of servants approach laden with offerings; inscrip-
tion:
Bringing forward the chief offerings which the districts that are in
the Hare nome have brought, for this statue of the count, Thuthotep.^
706. A doorway appears behind these people, which is
intended to be the entrance of the building for which the
statue is destined. It bears the name and titles of Thuthotep
and the name of the building itself: " The love 0} Thuthotep
abides in the Hare nome."^
*This inscription clearly settles whose the statue is, and there is no ground for
the supposition that it was a statue of the king.
''In the doorway at one side appears the figure of Thuthotep standing with
staff. This is the usual figure, cut on the thickness of the doorway, which is here
swung out, as it were, like a door, that it may be seen.
§ 709] HAMMAMAT INSCRIPTIONS 313
HAMMAMAT INSCRIPTIONS^
707. Already in his second year Amenemhet III carried
on work at Hammamat, under an officer named Amenemhet.
His inscription'' is dated: Year 2, third month of the first
season, day i, and is followed by ten lines of self-praise, in
which we find the only phrases of historical value: "smiting
the Negro, opening the land of the Asiatic" (1. 7). His titles
occupy two lines (11. 11, 12): "commander of troops (mnfyt),
commander (shd) of followers, Amenemhet, son of Ibeb (Ybb),
triumphant; his father was Aabu (^^^bw)." At the end there
is only the following meager record of one line; "7 came to
this highland in safety with my army by the power of Min,
lord of the highlands." Exactly a year and two days later
four officers recorded the date and their names.*" The chief
expedition was in the nineteenth year, of which we have
three records. The material taken out was intended for
a place or building called Enekh- Amenemhet, "Life of
Amenemhet." We naturally think of his pyramid- temple
at Hawara. The first record, "^ is as follows:
708. 'Year 19, first month of the second season, [day] 15; "the
Good God, Lord of -the Two Lands, Lord of Ofiering, King of Upper
and Lower Egypt, Nematre (Amenemhet III), who is given life, sta-
biUty, satisfaction, like Re, forever.
709. 3His majesty sent to bring for him(self) monuments from tthe
valley of Hammamat, of beautiful black (basaltic) stone^ as sfar as
"Enekh- Amenemhet,"* living forever and ever; at *the house of
Sebek, of Crocodilopolis :s 10 statues of 5 cubits,'^ upon a throne.
^Besides the publications I had also for these inscriptions a collation of the
Berlin squeezes, kindly furnished by Mr. Alan Gardiner.
•"Cut on the rocks in Wadi Hammamat; published by Lepsius, Denkmdler,
II, 138, a-
<:Lepsius, Denkmaler, II, 138, h. ^^See § 675, note.
■ILepsius, Denkmdler, II, 138, e. *See above, § 707.
8An adjective {nisbe) belonging to Sebek; it does not necessarily show that
the temple was in Crocodilopolis.
hPive cubits high (8J feet) when seated.
314 TWELFTH DYNASTY: SESOSTRIS III [§710
'quarried in this year by the real "beloved of his lord" »
the overseer of the r — i (gs) of the miners, Sesostris.
710. Another official'' has left a record ■= of the same ex-
pedition; in which he also refers to the "10 statues 0} 5
(cubits)."^ He also adds the numbers of the men in the
expedition: "His soldiers of the necropolis, 20; quarrymen, jo;
sailors, 30; a numerous army, 2,000."^
711. Still another officer* dates an inscription^ in the
nineteenth year of Amenemhet III, which doubtless refers
to the same expedition. The date occupies one line, the
usual phrases in eulogy of self thirteen lines, and the follow-
ing record is in the last line: "He came to this inaccessible
highland of Hammamat, on a commission 0} Horus, lord of
the palace (the king), to bring a monument for his majesty."
712. The latest and only other record*" is dated: Year 20,
third month of the first season, day /j.
INSCRIPTIONS IN SINAI
I. WADI MAGHARA
713- The earliest inscription of Amenemhet III in the
peninsula of Sinai, is that of Khenemsu ' in the Wadi Mag-
hara. It is as follows:
»The usual encomium of self, made up of obscure phrases.
bHis name is uncertain, but may have been "Meri's son, Hu (Hw') " accord-
ing to 1. 8.
'Lepsius, Denkmaler, II, 138, c =; Gol^nischefif, Hammamat, IX, No. 1. It is
very obscure and uncertain, but seems to refer to difficulties in getting out the blocks
for the ten statues.
dHe omits the word "cubits," 1. 13. 'Lines 14, 15.
fHis name is likewise uncertain (it is at the beginning of 1. 14).
BLepsius, Denkmaler, II, 138, d = Gol^nischeff , Hammamat, IX, No. 2.
hLepsius, Denkmaler, II, 138 f.
'Cut on the rocks in the Wadi Maghara; published by ChampoUion, Notices
dtscriplives, II, 689 = Burton, £x;cer/>to hieroglyphica, XII = Lepsius, Denkmaler, II,
137, c = Brugsch, Thesaurus, VI, 1492 =Laval, Voyage dans la Peninsule Arabique,
§717] INSCRIPTIONS IN SINAI 315
Inscriptions of Khenemsu
Year 2 under the majesty of the King of Upper and Lower Egypt,
Nematre {N-m^'^-t-R'^), Son of Re, Amenemhet (III), living forever and
ever. The treasurer of the god, master of the double cabinet, chief of
the treasury, Khentkhetihotep-Khenemsu was dispatched, in order
to bring malachite and copper. List of his soldiers: 734.
714. Below stands the king before Thoth and Hathor,
and three petty officers have appended a mortuary prayer
at the bottom.
715. Khenemsu's expedition (§§713, 714) also operated
in Sarbtit el-Khadem in the same year, " and his officers have
left their names on the rocks, surmounted by the date and
a relief showing Amenemhet III before "Hathor, mistress
of the malachite country."^
716. Below are the figures of four officers accompanied
by their names:
1. Treasurer of the god, master of the double cabinet, chief of the
treasury, Khenemsu.
2. Deputy of the chief treasurer, Ameniseneb.
3. — seneb, son of Stira {Sty-r^) .
4. Master of the double cabinet of the treasury, Sebeko, son of
Metenu.
Inscription of Harnakht
717. The following inscription"^ of Harnakht, a subordi-
nate treasury official, evidently connected with the preceding
PI. 5, No. 2=Weill, Sinai, 129; see last for British Museum squeeze and manu-
script sources. An official of the same expedition named Sesostris-Seneb dates a
prayer on the rocks in the year 2 (Brugsch, Thesaurus, VI, 1487); Weill, Sinai,
131, 132. Below is a list of his workmen (/. c).
^Another inscription at Sarb(it el-Khadem, of the year 20, shows only the date
(Lepsius, Denkmaler, II, 137).
''Lepsius, Denkmaler, II, 137, a.
cBack of the king stood the chief treasurer, but his figure is now gone, and
only a portion of his titles is still visible.
dWadi Maghara; published by Brugsch, Thesaurus, VI, 1488; better by
Spiegelberg, after squeeze by Euringer, Reateil, 21, 51; and Weill, Sinai, 134.
3i6 TWELFTH DYNASTY: SESOSTRIS III [§718
expedition, is of especial interest as showing that the journey
to Wadi Maghara was made by water. Even if the custom-
ary point of departure was at the extreme north end of the
Gulf of Suez, a wearisome desert journey in Sinai was thus
avoided.
718. Year 2 under the majesty of the king of Upper and Lower
Egypt, Nematre (Amenemhet III), living forever. The chosen before
his subjects, who treads the path of his benefactor, (says) : " I crossed
over the sea, bearing luxuries* (ip^S), by commission of Horus, lord of
the palace (Pharaoh)." OflSdal of the treasury (yry-'^t-n-pr-hd), chief
fowler,^ Harnakht (Jffr-n^t); his beautiful name, Harnetamehu (Hr-n-
P-mhw).
Inscription' of Sebekdidi
719- An inscription of the year 41"= records an expedition
in the Wadi Maghara, which was conducted by a palace
official named Sebekdidi-Ranefseneb. It reads:
Year 41 under the majesty of the King of Upper and Lower Egypt,
Lord of the Two Lands, Nematre (N-m^'^-t-R'^, Amenemhet III), given
life, like Re, forever.
720. The real king's-confidant, his beloved, his favorite, conductor
of the palace, Sebekdidi-Ranefseneb. May Ptah-South-of-His-Wall,
and Hathor,"* mistress of the malachite country, love him who shall
say: "An offering which the king gives for the ka of the treasurer, the
assistant of the chief treasurer, Sesostris {S[n[-Wsrt ).
Below is a short list of subordinate officers.
»The connection would indicate that these were offerings from the Pharaoh
to be presented to the local Hathor; although ipSS'w are frequently the costly
stones of Sinai.
bThis not uncommon title {hb- c ', with determinative of a goose), has been
strangely misunderstood in the last two editions of the text.
"^Lepsius, Denkmaler, II, 137 f. = Ordnance Survey, III, PI. 3 = Burton,
Excerpta hieroglyphica XII; Weill, Sinai, 137, 138. A short inscription of the
year 30 is in Weill, Sinai, 135; it is without historical content beyond the state-
ment of the official: "/ worked {yryny) the gmy and the malachite therein."
<lMisread by Weill.
§723] INSCRIPTIONS OF SINAI 31?
Inscription of Ameni
721. In the year 42 there was evidently an important
expedition in the Wadi Maghara, for which the following
meager record is our only source:*
Year 42, under the majesty of the king, Lord of the Two Lands,
Nematre (Amenemhet III), living forever, [beloved]'' of Hathor, mis-
tress of the malachite country.
722. The master of the double cabinet, chief of the White House
(wr pr hd), Ameni, triumphant, beloved of Hathor, mistress of the
malachite country.
The treasurer,'^ assistant of the chief treasurer, Sesostris — seneb-
Sebekkhi, favorite of Hathor, mistress of the malachite country, of
Soped, lord of the east, of Snefru,^ lord of the highlands, and of the
gods and goddesses who are in this land.
723. There were made for Hathor, all beautiful (mine) -chambers.
May he be beloved and arrive in safety who shall say: "An offering
which the king gives for the ka of the treasurer, the assistant of the
chief treasurer, Sebekhotep, beloved of Hathor, mistress of the mala-
chite country; the storeroom-keeper, Yatu {y^-tw); mmu ( —
mmw); the chief of the house of Pharaoh, Senebtefi; and 2o« (-f-a;)
quarrymen •
Another expedition left a short inscription in the year 43.'
aChampollion, Notices descriptives, II, 690= Burton, Excerpia hieroglyphica,
XII = Lepsius, Denkmaler, II, 137, g = Ordnance Survey, III, PI. 3 = Brugsch,
Thesaurus, VI, 1490 (inaccurate) = Weill, Sinai, 140, with full literature. There
is another inscription of the same year at this place, but only the date, king's name,
and epitheta, with two signs at the top of each of three lost vertical lines, are pre-
served.
^Omitted by the scribe; see Lepsius, Denkmaler, II, 137, h.
"It is clear that this official, who has attached the longest blessing to his name,
was the personal leader of the expedition.
dSnefru as a god of Sinai. His name is here in a cartouche (with Horus-
hawk as determinative); he appears in the same way with Soped, and Hathor in
an inscription of Amenemhet Ill's sixth year (Brugsch, Thesaurus, VI, 1491,
No. 9).
eNot more than thirty; a list of subordinate workmen followed, but it is now
broken off.
£l£psius, Denkmaler, II, 137, i=Weill, Sinai, 142.
3i8 TWELFTH DYNASTY: SESOSTRIS III [§724
II. sarb6t EL-KHADEM
724. Amenemhet III began work here as early as the
year 2,* and dated inscriptions of the years 20,^ 30,'' and
38= indicate its continuance, although they are without his-
torical content, and show only the date and the king's
name.
Inscription of Sehek-hir-hab
725. In the year 44, however, the king opened a new
mine, and Sebek-hir-hab, the official in command, has left a
record of the event there, which he had engraved in the form
of a stela,** on the walls of the reservoir furnishing the water-
supply of the expedition. The place of the stela indicates
some connection between the expedition of Sebek-hir-hab
and the completion of the reservoir.
Opening of the mining chamber^ successfully; " Flourish-its-Army-
Which-Delivers-That-Which-is-in-it," is its name.
Year 44 under the majesty of the King of Upper and Lower Egypt,
Amenemhet III, beloved of Hathor, mistress of malachite,
given life, like Re, forever. O ye who live upon earth, who shall come to
this Mine-land! As your king has established you, as your gods favor
you, that ye may arrive (at home) in safety, so say ye: "A thousand
loaves, jars of beer, cattle, fowl, incense, ointment, and everything on
which the gods live, for the ka of the master of the double cabinet of
»List of his officials in that year (perhaps the same expedition recorded in
Wadi Maghara in that year, § 713), in Weill, Sinai, 163.
•"Weill, Sinai, 164. "Ibid., 165.
^Copied by Ricci, and from his copy, by Champollion, as published in Notices
descriptives, II, 691. Birch says of it: "Tablet engraved on the rock inside of
the large reservoir, which is one mile due south of the Sarb(it el Khadem" {Ord-
nance Survey, 1, 183, 184). Published much better, from British Museum squeezes,
by Weill, Sinai, 166.
«The word used (ht-t) is the usual one for a quarrying or mining excavation;
but as the inscription is cut on the wall of an excavated reservoir, it might be the
reservoir which is here meant. Against this is the name of the excavation, which
refers to its valuable content. Hence some new mine in the vicinity is probably
meant.
§728] INSCRIPTIONS OF SINAI 319
the treasury, Sebek-hir-hab {Shk-hr-Jib) , living again happily, repeating
a happy life {whm '^nlj. njr), born of the matron Henut (Hnwi), tri-
umphant."
726. Master of the double cabinet, Sebek-hir-hab; he says: "I
excavated a mine-chamber for my lord, and my youths returned* in
full quota, all of them. There was none that fell among them."
This official, he says: "O ye king's-grandees, companions of the
palace! Give praise to the king, exalt [his] fame, laud the king, and
watch that which belongs to him. The mountains bring forth what is
in them and the hills bear their wealth.'' His father Keb,''
he gives it, because of — .
727. Sebek-hir-hab then closes with an account of his
offerings to Hathor:
I brought for her offering-tables of mesnet stone, linen (pk^'t)
I presented to her divine offerings, bulls, rfowli .
She led' me fini by her gracious going r — '^ to the — terrace,
which I made for her. I swear, I have spoken in truth.
Inscription of Ptahwer
728. The last dated inscription "^ of Amenemhet III at
the Sarbtit el-Khadem is of the year 45, and it reads as
follows:
Year 45 under the majesty of the Good God, Lord of the Two
Lands, Nematre (Amenemhet III), given life forever, beloved of Hathor.
fl was one sent""] to bring plentiful — from the land of — ," ready
in his reports to his lord, [delivering] Asia (SU) to him who is in the
palace (the Pharaoh), bringing Sinai (Mntw) at his heels, traversing
inaccessible valleys, bringing unknown extremities (of the world), the
master of the double cabinet, chief of the treasury, Ptahwer, triumphant,
bornof Yata (Y^-P).
aLit., "came."
bSimilar phrases, Weill, Sinai, 178, and again, 179.
cThe earth-god. A similar idea is found in the Kubbin Stela (III, 288, 11.
17, 18).
dWeill, Sinai, 168. ^Lost name ending in kwy.
320 TWELFTH DYNASTY: SESOSTRIS III [§729
729. An undated inscription* of this reign records the
opening of a mine called " Vision-of-the-Beauty-oj-Hathor;"
and another^ contained a memorandum of a month's supplies
delivered: "/ measure of grain, 25 large and small cattle,
2 w^d-fowl, JO mnyt-geese," followed by a list of six petty
officials.
Inscription of Amenemhef^
730. The king who dispatched this officer to the SarbAt
el-Khadem, where his inscription is engraved, is not men-
tioned, but as the officer's name is Amenemhet, he certainly
belongs under a Twelfth Dynasty Pharaoh. The reference
to Snefru is of interest, and, besides this, it is evident that
Amenemhet worked somewhere else, evidently Maghara,
before going to Sarbtit el-ELhadem. This conclusion is
corroborated by the same thing observable in the expedition
of Harurre(§§ 733-38).
Work in Wadi Maghara ( ?)
731. This god dispatched the treasurer of the god, the master of
the double cabinet, leader of recruits, companion of the palace, Amen-
emhet, to bring splendid, costly stone for his majesty. This treasurer
of the god says: "I came to the mine of Ka"^ (K^)', I exacted the impost
ihkw), I attended to the levying of the impost of malachite, being r — 1^
for reveryi 5* men every day correctly f "■. Never had the like
been done since the time of the King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Snefru,
triumphant.
^Weill, Sinai, 169.
^Ibid., 170.
cNiebuhr, Reisen nock Arabien, I, Tab. XLV; Lepsius, DenkmUler, II, 144, q
=Laval, PI. IV, 5; mentioned by Birch, Ordnance Survey, I, 185, but is not
among the photographs of the Sm:vey.
dThe name of the man in charge, who was evidently responsible for a fixed
amount each season.
eHere was evidently the amount exacted from each gang of men daily.
*Or possibly 15.
§734] INSCRIPTIONS OF SINAI 321
Work in SarhUt el-Khadem
732. Then I arrived at this land,* and I completed the work suc-
cessfully. The might of the king . It is a rcommand' of his
majesty .
Inscription of Harurre^
733. This interesting stela is unfortunately not dated,
but it is unquestionably of the Middle Kingdom, and is
here provisionally placed in the reign of Amenemhet III.
It is of importance because it shows that expeditions were
not customarily sent to Sinai in summer. Harurre, treasurer
of the god, in the service of an unknown king, erected our
stela to inform future generations, who might come in the
same unfavorable time of year, that he had survived the
heat, when "the mountains brand the skin," and had brought
more than the amount of ore exacted of him. He arrived
at Maghara in the seventh month; then later transferring
his force to Sarbtit el-Khadem,'' he completed the work in
the ninth month. These two months of the civil calendar
fell in summer, thus corroborating the place of the calendar
furnished by the ICahun Sothis date.
734. The language of the monument is in a number of
places very obscure and difficult, chiefly in the speeches, so
that the general sense of the whole document is fortunately
not in doubt. The remarkable use of the word ynm "skin,''
which appears four times — three times with a meaning
»That is Sarbflt el-Khadem; the malachite mine was therefore in another
locality, which he had first visited.
''Stela in Sarbdt el-Khadem (Niebuhr, Reisen nach Arabien [4to, Kopenhagen,
1778], Tab. XLV; Laval, IX, 2; Ordnance Survey, III, 10 [photograph]; Weill,
Sinai, 174, after manuscript copy by Burton, and squeeze in British Museum).
I had also a photograph by Borchardt, which gives more in the last line than Weill.
cThe sudden statement that he "arrived in this land" (Sarbftt) long after
the account of his arrival in Sinai, can be explained in this way only. The same
thing is observable in the inscription of Amenemhet (§§ 730-32).
322 TWELFTH DYNASTY: SESOSTRIS III [§ 735
evidently quite unusual — is noteworthy. What its meaning
may be is not evident. I have not burdened the translation
v?ith conjectures in any of the questionable passages.
Work in Maghara ( ?)
73$. 'The majesty of this god dispatched the treasurer of the god,
master of the double cabinet ■" — i, Harurre (Hr-^wr-R^'^) ^to this Mine-
land (By^); I arrived in this land in the third month of the second
season {prt), although it was not the season for going ^to this Mine-
land.
736. This treasurer of the god saith to the officials who shall come
to this Mine-land at this season:* ^"Let not your faces flinch on that
account j'^ behold, Hathor will turn it 'to profit. I looked to myself,
and I dealf with myself; when I came from Egypt, *my face flinched,
and it was hard for me r — ^ 1. The highlands are hot 'in summer,
and the mountains brand the skin f — i. When morning dawns, *a
man is f \ I addressed the workmen concerning it : "' How favored
is he who is in this Mine-land!' They said: 'There is malachite '°in
this eternal mountain; it is ■" — "^ to seek (it) at tliis season. « "One
like us hears the like of (such) marvels,* coming at this season. It is
r — Id i^to c — 1 for it in this evil summer-season.'"
Work in SarbUt el-Khadem
737. Now, when '^i was dispatched to this Mine-land; the souls
of the king put it in my heart. 'tXhen I arrived in this land, and
I began the work prosperously. 'sMy army arrived in full quota,
all of it, there was none that fell among them. My face flinched
not '^before the work.
"Viz., the hot season.
Wiz., because they have come in the wrong season.
cLit., "did something with myself," probably meaning: "I struggled with
myself."
^Ynm (with the sign of a skin); but it evidently is here a folk-etymology for
something quite different from "skin," the usual meaning of the word.
^Summer time.
*Or: "Our hearing is like a marvel, etc."
§ 740] TURRA INSCRIPTION 323
738. I succeeded in mining the good sort,* and I finished in the
first month ''of the third season (Imw). I brought genuine costly
stone for the luxuries, more than '%ny one who came (hither), and
(more than) all the exactions t '» 1. It was better
than the accustomed seasons thereof. Offer ye, =°offer ye to the mis-
tress of heaven, appease ye Hathor; if ye do it, it will be profitable "'for
you. If ye increase to her, it shall be well among you. "1 led my
army very kindly, and I was not loud-voiced ^^toward the workmen.
I acted before all the army and the recruits, "»and they rejoiced in me,
— ofi&cial =5 b
TURRA INSCRIPTION^
739. At the top is the date: " Year 43,'^" beneath which,
with accompanying names of Ptah, Anubis, and Hathor, is
the name of the king: "Son of Re, Amenemhet;" this must
be the third, for no other Amenemhet ruled so long.
740. 'Quarry-chambers were opened anew,® to quarry' fine lime-
stone of Ayan {^yn), for the temples of rthis prophet,^* of millions ^of
years. Executed under the hand of the hereditary prince, count, wearer
of the royal [seal], sole companion * ^ s .
*The same statement is found in two other inscriptions at SarbAt el-Khadem
(Weill, Sinai, 179 and 180).
•"Possibly one more line lost.
cCut in the walls of the quarry at Turra; published by Vyse (Operations, III,
opp. p. 94) and Lepsius {Denkmaler, II, 143, »).
^Omitted by Lepsius, Denkmaler.
eThe n after m-Wt is an error for the book-roll; cf . Lepsius, Denkmaler, III,
' 3,a-
*This remarkable phrase (quite clear in both texts) designates the king, for
in the Ttura inscription of Ahmose (II, 26 £E.) we have "his (the king's) temples"
as a parallel; but this is so unusual that an error in the text is more probable,
possibly for "this god?"
sThe name of the official is lost. Cf. the similar inscription of Ahmose (II,
26 ff.) at the beginning of the Eighteenth Dynasty. They are so similar that one
cannot imagine the usually accepted lapse of one thousand years between
them.
324 TWELFTH DYNASTY: SESOSTRIS III [§741
EL KAB STELA*
741- If the "Wall of Seshmu-iowe" is a designation of
the stronghold of El Kab, then its famous wall is the work
of Sesostris II, whose Horus-name is Seshmu-towe. This
stela was found at El Kab. The only place there which
could conceivably contain a temple inclosure is the town
within the wall. This document, therefore, shows that
Sesostris II should be regarded as the builder of the famous
wall of El Kab.
Above are the Horus- and throne-names of Amenemhet
III, "beloved of Nekhbet, mistress of heaven;" and below is
the following inscription:
742. Year 44, under the majesty of this god. He made (it) as his
monument; his majesty commanding to build the inclosure wall, which
is in "Wall of Seshmu-towe,'"' triumphant ,
INSCRIPTION OF SEHETEPIBRE«=
743- Besides a meager record of works, which he executed
for Amenemhet III at Abydos, Sehetepibre also placed
upon his mortuary stela a very interesting poem containing
aFound at El Kab by Rev. H. Stobart in 1854-55; it has since disappeared-
published in Egyphan Antiqwities Collected on a Voyage Made in Upper Egypt
etc., by Rev. H. Stobart, M.A. (Paris and Berlin, 1855), PI. I, and from Stobart
by Legrain, Proceedings of the Society oj Biblical ArchcBology, March, 1905.
tin cartouche; it is a designation of the king, meaning "Leader or adminis-
trator of the Two Lands," the Horus-name of Sesostris II. There is nothing
unique in the use of the Horus-name in a cartouche. M. Legrain's recent expla-
nation of the name as "Samou" (reading "two lands" as m. Proceedings of the
Society of Biblical ArchcEology, March, 1905, 106 ff.) is impossible, as the horizon-
tal m does not occur until long after the Twelfth Dynasty.
^Mortuary stela discovered by Mariette at Abydos, now in Cairo (No 20538)-
pubUshed very inaccurately by him, Abydos, II, 25 { = Catalogue general d' Abydos'
No. 670). It IS accurately published by Piehl, Inscriptions, III, Pis. IV-Vn'
I was also able to use a collation of the BerUn squeeze by Sethe, and afterward a
copy of the original by Schaefer.
§745] INSCRIPTION OF SEHETEPIBRE 325
instructions to his children regarding the proper plan of life.
It consists simply in serving the king faithfully and culti-
vating his favor. With the exception of this instruction, a
large portion of the inscriptions was copied from the stela
of Mentuhotep, " a powerful official under Sesostris I.
744. Above '=' is the Horus-name of Amenemhet III, sur-
mounted by the Horus receiving life from Osiris; below is
the following inscription, which is a good example of the
exaggerated titular epithets conventionally applied to the
Middle Kingdom noble of power and favor at court.
Titles and Honors
745. 'The hereditary prince, count, wearer of the royal seal, sole
companion in love, magnate of the King of Upper Egypt, great one of
the King of Lower Egjrpt, prince at ^the head of the people, overseer of
horn, hoof, and feather, *= [■'overseer"'] of the two pleasure-marshes,'^
whose coming is heeded by the court, 3to whom the bodies tell their
affairs, whose excellence the Lord of the Two Lands sees, whom he
hath exalted before the two regions, possessed '•of silver and gold,
mighty in costly stones,^ a man of truth before the Two Lands, a truth-
ful witness 'like Thoth, master of secret things* in the temples, chief of
all works of the king's-house, more accurate than the weight, *the like-
ness of the balances, taking thought,^ excellent in counsel, speaking
that which is good, repeating that which is loved, 'taking thought,
without his like, good at listening, excellent in speaking, a prince who
*See §§S3off-! compare Daressy {Recueil, X, 144-49), ^'^o arranges both
parallel. He unfortunately uses Mariette's inaccurate text of Sehetepibre without
revision.
''Recto. 'The live-stock of the royal estate.
^These are the " preserves " of fish, wild fowl, etc. There were officially two,
in deference to the conventional fiction, one for Upper and one for Lower Egypt.
^Lit., "Belonging to silver, etc;" these and the epithets in 1. 2 are poetical
references to his office.
fThis has no reference to esoteric teachings, for Sehetepibre was not a priest,
but refers simply to the secret chambers of the temples, containing costly images, etc.
sLit., "putting the heart" (exactly parallel with the Hebrew 33 D'^P) I
find it used in paralleUsm with s}}^ = " remember" (e. g., Lepsius, Denkmaler, 11^
149, e, 1. 10).
326 TWELFTH DYNASTY: SESOSTRIS III [§746
looses the knot," whom his lord exalts before millions, real image of
love, free from acting deceit, favorite of the heart of the king, to whom is
assigned (the office of) "Pillar of the South" sin'' the king's-house,
who follows his lord at his goings, entering into his heart before the
court; belonging behind his lord, being the favorite of the Horus,
'"excellent in the palace; the real favorite of his lord; to whom secret
matters are told, who finds the word of counsel, ' 'sweetening mis-
fortune, doing things by good rule, the wearer of the royal seal, over-
seer of royal property, deputy of the chief treasurer, Sehetepibre; he
saith:<=
Ahydos Tomb
746. "^Now, I made this excellent tomb, ^and beautified its place.
I gave contracts for the remuneration of the prophets ^of Abydos. I
acted as " Son-Whom-He-Loves " in the conduct of the house of gold, in
the secrets of the lord of Abydos. ■*! conducted the work on the sacred
barque, I fashioned its colors, I acted as Hakro {H^k-r^) 'of his Lord
(at) every procession of Upwawet, making for him all the festal offer-
ings, which the prophet read. I clothed the god at his processions by
virtue of my office as master of secret things, and my duty as ■" — ' — \
I was one whose two hands were ■" — i in adorning the god, a {sm-)
priest with pure fingers.^ May I be a follower of the god, ^in order
that I may be glorious and mighty at the stairway of the lord of Abydos.
The Instruction
747. The beginning of* the teaching which he composed before
his children. "I speak great things, I cause you to hear, I cause you
to know the eternal manner, the true manner of '°lifes — the passing of
life in peace.
^Referring to difficult matters; compare our "knotty problem."
''Mentuhotep has: "of the king's-house."
"^A mortuary prayer follows.
■IThis new numbering begins on the verso.
<rhe reference is to the festal processions in which the god appeared in public.
The festal decoration of the figure was the work of Sehetepibre, and for this duty he
possessed the requisite ceremonial purity.
^Lit., "The beginning with the teaching," the usual introduction of such
compositions.
eN-m ' ' w-R S a pun on the following name of the king, N-m ' c 'l-R t ; but its
meaning is not certain.
§ 748] INSCRIPTION OF SEHETEPIBRE 327
Adore the king, Nematre (Amenemhet III), living forever, in the
midst "of your bodies;
Enthrone his majesty in your hearts.
He is Esye* (Sy^) in the hearts;
His two eyes, they search "every body.
He is the Sun, seeing with his rays;^
He illuminates the Two Lands more than the sun-disk.
He makes the Two Lands green '3 more than a great Nile;
He hath filled the Two Lands with strength.
(He is) life, cooling the nostrils;
When he begins ''•to rage,'= he is satisfied to ^ — 1.
The treasures"^ which he gives are food for those who are in his
following;
He feeds those who tread 'shis path.
The king is food (k^),
His mouth is increase.
He is the one creating that which is;
He is the Khnum^ of '"all limbs;
The Begetter, who causes the people to be.
He is Bast protecting the Two Lands.
He who adores ''him shall ■'escape'' his arm,
He is Sekhmet* toward him who transgresses his command.
He is fgentle' toward him who has f — \
748. Fight for his name,
'^Purify yourselves by his oath.
And ye shall be free from trouble.
The beloved of the king shall be '^blessed;
There is no tomb for one hostile to his majesty;
But his body shall be thrown^ to the waters.
Do ye this, and your limbs shall be sound;
Ye shall be glorious f — ' forever.'^
aQod of wisdom and knowledge. The argument is: honor the king in your
innermost hearts, for he knows your hearts.
'>Or: "by whose rays there is seeing" (passive participle).
cOr: "He is far from raging, he is satisfied, etc."
dRead 'h'^iu "heaps;" but it possibly belongs to preceding.
eOne of the gods, who created man. s^W n, see §512, 1. 18.
'Goddess of war and terror. hAnother mortuary prayer follows.
REIGN OF AMENEMHET IV
KUMMEH INSCRIPTION^
749. All of the few dated records of Amenemhet IV are
beyond the borders of Egypt. The earliest is the rock in-
scription of Kummeh, recording the height of the Nile there.
Height (r^) of the Nile of the year 5, under the Hiajesty of the King
of Upper and Lower Egypt, Makhrure {M^^-^rw-R'^, Amenemhet IV),
living forever and ever.
SINAI INSCRIPTIONS
750. Amenemhet IV continued the exploitation of the
Sinaitic mines at least as late as his sixth year. At Wadi
Maghara his officials have left two records, the first '■ con-
taining only the date and the leader's titles, as follows:
Year 6 under the majesty of the King of Upper and Lower Egypt,
Makhrure (Amenemhet IV), given life forever, — beloved of Soped,
[lord of the East] and Hathor, mistress of malachite.
"= desire, treading the way of him (the king) who favors
him; whom the soldiers love, ■" — i his designs, giving attention, ■"
1, storeroom-keeper of the palace, Kheye (If^^y), [born of] Henut
{Hnw[i]).
A further inscription"^ also bears the same date, but con-
tains only a mortuary prayer.
At Sarbtit el-Khadem two inscriptions'^ contain only the
Pharaoh's name.
^Engraved on the rocks above the river at Kummeh; Lepsius, Denkmdler,
II, 152 f.
''Lepsius, Denkmdler, II, 137, d; Weill, Sinai, 145.
^Titles of the ofladal. dWeill, Sinai, 148.
^Lepsius, Denkmdler, II, 140, u. p.; Weill, Sinai, 171, 172.
328
FROM THE THIRTEENTH DYNASTY TO
THE HYKSOS
REIGN OF SEKHEMRE-KHUTOWE
RECORDS OF NILE-LEVELS^
751- These four inscriptions are the latest of the well-
known records on the rocks at Semneh, above the second
cataract, which mark the maximum level of the river.
They begin under Amenemhet III, and continue into the
reign of Sekhemre-Khutowe, when they abruptly cease with
these four, here discussed, which thus possess a certain im-
portance. These NUe records are indeed our only his-
torical inscriptions from the reign of this obscure king,^ and
the first ray of light after the fall of the Twelfth Dynasty.
They continue uninterruptedly from the year i to the year 4,
inclusive, but only that of the year 3^^ contains more than
the words, "Height of the Nile of the year — ;" it is as follows:
752. Height of the Nile of the year 3, under the majesty of King
Sekhemre-Khutowe (Sfym-R'^-ftw-Pwy), living forever; when the wearer
of the royal seal, the commander of the army, Renseneb {Rn Snb), was
commanding in the fortress: " Mighty-is-Khekure " (Sesostris III).'^
^Inscribed on the rocks above Semneh; published by Lepsius, Denkmdler,
II, 151, a-d.
^Administrative documents from his first, and probably also his second and
fifth years, are found in the Kahun Papyri (Griffith, Kahun Papyri, PI. X, 11. i, 3;
and PI. IX, 1. 9; see Griffith's remarks, p. 86). Blocks bearing his name were
found also at Bubastis. There is no evidence connecting this king with the name
Sebekhotep.
<=Lepsius, Denkmdler, II, 151, c,
^This is evidently either the fortress of Semneh or that of Kummeh opposite.
331
REIGN OF NEFERHOTEP
GREAT ABYDOS STELA^
753. As the only considerable document of this king,
containing more than his name or those of his family, this
inscription is of great importance; but, besides this, its
unique content renders it of especial interest. Neferhotep
was the son of a priest, "the divine father, Ha-enkhef (h^-
'^nhf)" and "the royal mother, Kemi (Kmy),"^ through
whom he possibly inherited royal blood, although he is
more likely to have usurped the throne, thus giving his
mother her title. Like the ephemeral Khenzer, he gave
special attention to the maintenance of the Abydos temple,
and this stela, erected to testify to his zeal, tells how he in-
vestigated the ancient records at Heliopolis to ascertain
exactly what was due to Osiris, particularly the proper
form for the divine statue, as it was at the beginning of the
world.
754- In order to carry out what he had found in the
records, he proceeded in person to Abydos, sending a mes-
^A sandstone stela, nearly 6 feet high and over 3 feet wide, set up on the wall
of the road leading to the Middle Kingdom Osiris-temple. It was in such bad
condition that Mariette left it in situ; but, after years of exposure to weather and
vandalism, it has now been brought to the Cairo Museum. It was evidently exceed-
ingly indistinct and difl&cult to copy, and the two copies of Mariette and Dev&ia,
from which the text is published (Mariette, Abydos, II, 28-30; Catalogue general
d' Abydos, 233, 234, No. 766) contained many errors, only a portion of which it is
possible to correct. These and the frequent lacunae render a complete translation
impossible, but enough has been given to make the essential progress of the narra-
tive clear. A better text is now hardly a possibility.
•"Family list cut on the rocks at Assuan (Petrie, Season, in Egypt, XIII, No.
337=Lepsius, Denkmdler, II, 151, e = Text, IV, 126) and on Sehel at the first
cataract (Mariette, Monuments divers, 70, 3); also on several scarabs (Petrie,
Scarabs, Nos. 293-98.
332
§ 7s6] GREAT ABYDOS STELA 333
senger thither before him, to bring forth the statue of the
god to meet him. The divine image was carried in festal
procession to the sacred barge, which sailed out on the
canal, probably to the Nile, seven miles away, where the
king was met and accompanied back to the temple amid a
celebration in which the incidents of the Osiris-myth were
dramatically enacted by the priests. On his arrival the
king personally carried out all that he had discovered in
the records of Atum. He then admonished the priests to
vigilance and pronounced a curse on those who should dis-
regard his established offerings.
Introduction
755. 'Year 2, under the majesty of King Neferhotep,* born of the
royal mother, Kemi (Kmy), who is given hfe, stability, satisfaction,
like Re, forever. =His majesty appeared^ upon the throne of Horus in
the palace, "''Structure''-of-Beauty."'= His majesty spake to the nobles,
and companions, who were in his suite, the real scribes of the hiero-
glyphs, the masters of all secrets:
King's Speech
756. "My heart hath desired to see the ancient writings of Atum;"!
open ye for me for a great investigation; let the god know concerning
his creation, and the gods concerning their fashioning, their offerings
and rtheir' oblations (let) me know the god tin his
form, that I may fashion him as he was formerly, when they made the
■"statuesl in their council, in order to establish their monuments upon
earth. ^ They have given to me the inheritance fof Re as far asi the
^FuU fivefold titulary.
''Read jfi, lit., "the appearance of his majesty . . . ."
<=Ot: "Bearer {wts)-of-beai4y," which must be the name of the palace.
dThe sanctuary of Atum was at Heliopolis, and his writings would be there;
this explains why the messenger of the king journeys southward to Abydos (1. 14),
whereas he would have gone northward from the royal residence in Thebes.
'The reference is apparently to a council of the gods in which the form of
the god's statue was determined once for all. This the king expects to find in the
ancient writings.
334 THIRTEENTH DYNASTY: NEFERHOTEP [§757
circuit of the sun s I will increase that which I shall
have investigated,* and they shall '"increase'' love for me — to Mo accord-
ing to that which they command."
Reply of Court
757. These companions said: "That which thy ka hath ''com-
manded'''' is that which happens, O sovereign and lord. Let thy
majesty proceed to the libraries, •= and let thy majesty see every hiero-
glyph."
Examination of Ancient Rolls
758. His majesty proceeded *to the library. His majesty opened
the rolls together with these companions. Lo, his majesty found the
rolls of the House of Osiris, First of the Westerners, lord of Abydos.
King's Purpose
759. His majesty said to these companions: "My majesty ^hails
my father Osiris, First of the "Westerners, lord of Abydos. I will fashion
liim, his limbs — his face, his fingers'' according to that which my
majesty has seen in the rolls '' '^ his ''form'' as King of 'Upper and
Lower Egypt, at his coming forth from the body of Nut.^ '
Messenger Sent to Abydos
760. His majesty had the king's-confidant, who was in his majesty's
suite, called to him; his majesty said [to] him: 's" Betake thyself
southward ^together with] troops^ and marines. Sleep not night
nor day until thou arrivest at Abydos ; cause the First of the "Westerners
aOr: "that which is assigned to me." He means he will increase what his
investigation shows is demanded in the ancient writings.
''The emendation is almost certain. Cf. the similar statement in the instruc-
tion to the priests of Abydos (II, 91, 1. 5).
"=Lit., "houses 0} writings or rolls."
dHe means he has found in the writings the original form of the god as king
at his birth.
*The remainder of the king's speech contains only conventional phrases, in
the course of which, reference is again made to " making the monuments oj Osiris
and perpetuating the name of Wennofer" (1. 10). The answer of the courtiers is
very short (occupying the first half of I. 12) and very fragmentary.
J 763] GREAT ABYDOS STELA 335
(Osiris) to proceed (forth).* May I make his monuments according to
'■•the beginning."*'
Reply of Court
761. These companions said: "fThat which thou commandest
[is that which happens, O sovereign]'''^ and lord; thou doest all — in
Abydos for thy father, First of the Westerners."
Messenger Departs
762. This official betook himself southward"^ [to do] ''that which
his majesty commanded him. He arrived at [Abydos] ■" — ^ .
The majesty of this god came to the sacred barge of the lord of eter-
nity ■" '^ the banks of the river were flooded [""with his fragrance and
with'^ '*the odors of Punt.^ [The majesty of this god] arrived in the
midst . One came to inform his majesty, saying: "This god
has proceeded in peace."
King Goes to Abydos
763. His majesty proceeded [rini] "the sacred ship '
together with this god, causing that sacred offerings be presented to
his father, the First of the Westerners: myrrh — • '*and sacred things
for Osiris, First of the Westerners, in all his names s
those hostile to the sacred barge were overthrown. Lo, the majesty
of this god appeared in procession,'* his ennead united [Twith himi].
"'Upwawet was before him, he opened the ways'
^In order to meet the king at his coming to Abydos, as the conclusion shows.
bThe original form as at the beginning of the world, which he learned from
the rolls.
^Restored from 1. 6.
"^Because the royal party is at Heliopolis (see note, 1. 3) there is no reason
here to suppose that the royal residence is in the north.
eThere is no trace of an expedition to Punt here, as frequently stated; the
description is the usual one accompanying the bodily approach of a god; see that
of Amon, II § 196.
f Evidently the meeting of the king and the god occurred at this point; there is
a reference to the "head of the canal," probably the canal on which the god voy-
aged in his barge to meet the king. See Great Abydos Inscription of Ramses II,
1. 29.
eA series of incidents in the myth of the god are now dramatically enacted by
the priests as the procession of the king and the god moves toward Abydos.
tHe leaves the barge, to retxirn in procession to the temple.
•The name of the god Upwawet (Wp-w^wt) means: "Opener of the ways.''
One of the priests, wearing a jackal mask, acts the part of Upwawet.
336 THIRTEENTH DYNASTY: NEFERHOTEP [§764
King Executes Temple Works
764. Lo, rhis majesty caused that this god should proceed^ to " — 1
that he should rest [on] his throne in the house of gold; in order to
fashion the beauty of his majesty* and bis ennead, his oblation-tables
of ^°every splendid, costly stone of God's-Land. Behold, [the
king] himself led the work on them — gold, (for) his majesty was pure
with the purity of a god ^
King's Concluding Speech
763. 33 Be ye vigilant for the temple, look to the
monuments 34which I have made. I put the eternal plan before me,
I sought that which was useful for the future by putting this example
in your hearts, which is about to occur in this place, which the god made,
because of my desire 3Sto establish my monuments in his temple, to
perpetuate my contracts^ in his house. His majesty loves that which
I have done for him, he rejoices over that which I have decreed to do,
Cfori) triumph lias been giveni to him. 36I am his son, his protector,
he giveth to me the inheritance of the earth.'^ [I] am the king, great
in strength, excellent in commandment. He shall not live who is hostile
to me; he shall not breathe svthe air who revolts against me; his name
shall not be among the living; his ka shall be seized before the offi-
cials; he shall be cast out for this god, [^together withi] him who shall
disregard the command of my majesty and those who shall not 3*do
according to this command of my majesty, who shall not exalt me to
this august god, who shall not honor that which I have done concern-
ing his offerings [who shall not] give to me praise 3!»at every feast of this
temple, of the entire [lay priesthood]^ of the sanctuary of this temple,
and every office of Abydos. Behold, my majesty has made these monu-
^The god; he is taken to the workshop of the goldsmith, that a new statue
may be made.
bThe further execution of the work is narrated in a few very fragmentary
sentences, in which is the interesting statement: "No scribe who was in the suite
of his majesty had ever found it" (1. 21), referring doubtless to the king's discovery
in the rolls. The continuation merges (1. 22) into a. long speech of the king,
addressed to the god; at 1. 27 begins a prayer of the king, which merges at 1. 32 into
an address to the coiurt.
'See § S3S. &"The estate of the earth," literally.
•Restored from Roug^, Inscriptions hUroglyphiques, XXI, 1. 15.
§769] BOUNDARY STELA 337
ments, for my father, Osiris, First of the Westerners, Lord of Abydos,
4obecause I so much loved him, more than all gods; that he might give
to me a reward for this [which I have done], * consisting of
millions of years
BOUNDARY STELA^
766. This stela was one of two, erected one at each end
of a part of the Abydos cemetery, and bearing a decree of
Neferhotep forbidding all public access to this part of the
necropolis.
Dedication
767. He made (it) as his monument for his father Upwawet, lord
of Tazoser.
Entrance Prohibited
768. Year 4. My majesty, L. P. H., decrees that the cemetery
(Tazoser) south of Abydos shall be protected and defended •= for his
father Upwawet, lord of Tazoser, as Horus did for his father Osiris-
Wennofer; not permitting any persons to set foot in this cemetery
(Tazoser).
StelcB Bearing Decree
769. Two"* stelae are set up at its south and at its north, engraved
with the great name of my majesty, L. P. H. The southern (stela) is
made in addition® to these stelas,' which are as far as the south, and
the northern (stela) in addition* to these stelse, which are as far as the
north.
»The reward consists of millions, etc.
''Limestone stela, round-topped, found by Mace at Abydos; published by him,
El Amrah, PI. XXIX.
•^AU sacred things, including the king's person, are " protected' and defended"
{Jyuiy mky) by the gods; cf. IV, 424, 528, 1. 7, the last also of a cemetery.
dOne at each end. «Lit., "upon."
f Which were already there; other stelae already existed, and the two bearing
this decree are added to the former.
338 THIRTEENTH DYNASTY: NEFERHOTEP [§770
Penalties
770. As for him* whom anyone shall find within these stelae, whether
a craftsman or a priest at his business, he shall be branded.''
As for any official, who shall have a tomb made for himself within
this cemetery (yS't-dsr't), he shall be reported, and the law shall be
executed upon him, and the necropoUs-custodian as on this day.<=
People's Burial Place
771. Now, as for any addition to this cemetery (yS 't-dir't), (in) the
place where the people make tombs for themselves, there shall they be
buried.
Benediction
^^2. May he (the king) be thereby given life, stability, satisfaction,
health ; may his heart be glad together with his ka, upon the throne of
Horus, like Re, forever.
*See another example of nty-tw in Recueil, XV, 84, 1. 8.
''See same word, Lepsius, Denkmaler, III, 257, a, 1. 36.
'Or: "from this day" f
REIGN OF NUBKHEPRURE-INTEF
COPTOS DECREE^
773- In addition to its significant content, this decree is
important as showing beyond doubt that one of the Intefs
lived after the Twelfth Dynasty, for it is engraved upon a
doorway of Sesostris I, and must, of course, be later than
his reign. ^
774- The document itself decrees the degradation from
office of a count of Coptos, with the loss of all income ap-
pertaining to the office, both to himself and his posterity;
and the appointment of another to the position. The crime
thus punished, vaguely called "an evil thing," is, of course,
treason, and is doubtless one of the many attempts, at re-
bellion such as produced the downfall of the Middle King-
dom. Teti, the traitor deposed, had he succeeded, would
have become one of the ephemeral kings, whose names
make up the long list of the Thirteenth and Fourteenth
Dynasties in the Turin Pap5nrus. The remarkable refer-
ence to mercy or favor being shown him by other rulers can
hardly designate future kings, but is doubtless an indication
of the divided state of the country under a number of petty
kings reigning contemporaneously with Intef of our decree.
The history of the whole period from the fall of the Twelfth
Dynasty to the rise of the Eighteenth owes its paucity of
monuments to the endless wars growing out of such
*Cut on a doorway of Sesostris I at Coptos; found by Petrie and published
in Coptos, VIII.
tiThere can be no doubt that the Nb-^pr-R' placed just before the Seventeenth
D)Tiasty in the Karnak list, is this Intef.
339
340 THIRTEENTH DYNASTY: NUBKHEPRURE [§775
attempts, complicated eventually by the invasion of the
Hyksos. The plotting and revolts of local princes con-
tinued into the reign of Ahmose who, suppressed at least
three such (§§ 11, 15, 16), and the name of the rebel in the
third case was Teti-en (§ 16, 1. 23), almost the same as that
of the traitor in this decree.
Date
775' 'Year 3, third month of the second season, day 25, under the
majesty of the King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Nubkheprure (Nh-
fpprw-R'^), Son of Re, Intef, who is given life, like Re, forever.
Title of Decree
776. Royal decree to:
The wearer of the royal seal, the count of Coptos, ^Minemhet;
The king's-son, commandant of Coptos, Kinen (Ky-nn) ;
The wearer of the royal seal, the priest of Min, scribe of the teniple,
Nef erhotepur ;
The whole army of Coptos,
And the entire lay priesthood of the temple.
Discovery of Culprit
777. Behold, sthere is brought to you this decree, to let you know:
that my majesty, L. P. H., has sent the scribe of the sacred treasury of
Amon, Siamon, and the ■" — ^1 Amenusere (Ymn-wsr-'^, *Xo make an
inspection in the temple of Min; and that the lay priesthood of the
temple of my father, Min, applied to my majesty, L. P. H., saying:
"An evil thing is about to happen in this stemple. Foes have been
■^stirred upi by, a curse to his name ! Teti, son of Minhotep.
Punishment oj Culprit
77S. Cause him to be deposed* from the temple of my father, Min;
cause *rhim to bei cast out of his temple office, from son to son, and
heir to heir;^ ■" — 1 upon the earth; take away his bread, his rfood', and
'Lit., "Cause him to be put upon the ground;" to put upon the ground is to
annul, and is used, for example, of remitting taxes (§ 408, 11. 10, 11).
•"The penalty is entailed upon his posterity.
§ 78o] COPTOS DECREE 341
his joints of meat.* His name shall not be remembered in this temple,
'according as it is done toward one like him, ''who is hostile toward the
enemies of his god.*' His entries'^ shall be cast out from the temple of
Min, from the treasury, and on every book likewise.
No King or Dynast to Show Him Mercy
779. As for any king *or any ruler ,'^ who shall be merciful to him,
he shall not receive the white crown, he shall not wear the red crown,
he shall not sit upon the Horus-throne of the living, the two patron
goddesses shall not be gracious to him 'as their beloved. As for any
commandant or any official who shall apply to the king, L. P. H., to
be merciful. to him (the traitor), his (the applicant's) people, his goods,
his fields shall be given to the sacred property of '°my father, Min,
lord of Coptos.
Culprit's Office Given to Minemhet
780. No one of his connections, or of the family of his father or of
his mother shall be inducted into this office, "but this office shall be
given to the wearer of the royal seal, the overseer of royal property,
Minemhet. Its bread, its rfoodi and its® joints of meat shall be given
to him, established for him in writing, in the temple "of my father Min,
lord of Coptos, from son to son and heir to heir.*
*The income of his office.
bThere are no difficulties of lexicon or grammar in this clause, but the meaning
when rendered, is uncertain.
cThe registration of temple dues to be paid him.
i§fpn-yrf. The indication is strong that the king is not here referring to
future kings, his successors, but to contemporary rulers of Egypt.
«The possessive pronouns refer to "this office" and indicate the income belong-
ing to it, formerly paid to the traitor.
fThe office is hereditary.
REIGN OF KHENZER
INSCRIPTIONS OF AMENISENEB*
781. Ameniseneb was commissioned by the vizier in the
time of King Khenzer to cleanse the temple of Abydos, a
task which he accomplished so well that he was appointed
to direct all inspections in the temple during the rest of his
life. These honors he therefore recorded in the following
interesting inscriptions, one of which refers to the work of
Sesostris I on the Abydos temple over two hundred years
before Ameniseneb's tirne.
782. The first stela^ begins with the usual mortuary
prayer "for the ka of the chief of a priestly phyle of Abydos,
Ameniseneb, triumphant, son of Emku (^^-m-k^w), born of the
matron Nebetyotef (Nb't-ytf)." It then proceeds as follows:
Commission by the Vizier
783. 3He saith: "The scribe of the vizier, Seneb,'= the son of the
vizier, came to call me, by order of '•the vizier. Then I went with him,
and I found the governor of the residence city, the vizier, 'Enkhu'^
C^w^w) in his hall. Then this official laid upon me a command, sajdng:
'Behold, *it is commanded, that thou cleanse this temple of Abydos.
»On his two stelae from the Middle Kingdom temple of Abydos, now in the
Louvre (Cii and C 12). Published by Horrack {Melanges egyptolagiques,
3n>e ser., Vol. II, PI. XIV, XV), and Sharpe (Egyptian Inscriptions, II, 24).
Neither is accurate. I had also a text collated with the Berlin squeeze by Sethe,
and my own copy of the original.
'■Louvre, C 12.
'Seneb is the scribe's name, and in apposition with "son."
dThis vizier is mentioned in other documents of the time: the Account Papyrus
(Cairo, No. 18, PI. XVI, 1. 3); a stela in St. Petersburg (Lieblein, Dictionnaire,
No. 1542); and a stela in Budapest (noted by Pieper). His statue was found at
Karnak by Legrain in the great cache.
342
§ 786] INSCRIPTIONS OF AMENISENEB 343
Artificers shall be given to thee for the contract thereof, together with
the lay ^priesthood of the rdistricts^ of the storehouse of offerings.' "
Commission Executed
784. "Then I cleansed it in the ^lower house and the upper house,*
on^ its walls, behind, and within; the painters filUng with color, "with
r — '''= and with f — 1,° restoring that which '°the King of Upper and Lower
Egypt, Kheperkere (Sesostris I), triumphant, made."'^
Ameniseneb's Rewards
785. "Then came 'the protector of the oil tree'^ ''to assume his place
in this temple,* while the deputy of the chief treasurer, Sionouris (5 '-
yn-hr 'i) followed him. Then '^he thanked^ me greatly, beyond every-
thing, sapng: 'How prosperous is he who has done '■♦this for his god!'
Then he gave to me a 'heap '^ of 10 deben (weight), supplied with '^dates
and half an ox."
"Then came the official (Sr) of ■" — 1 '^down-stream; then were seen
these works; ''then was rejoicing thereat exceedingly, beyond every-
thing."
786. The other stela' furnishes the name of the king for
whom Ameniseneb executed the foregoing commission, and
^Doubtless the upper and lower story; the upper story can only be the roof
of the temple, over which awnings were drawn.
IJOr: "in-" '^Tyt and ym; the latter is probably paste.
■^Whether this indicates the whole of the temple or not, it is impossible to say.
It cannot be said that this passage makes Sesostris I the founder of a new Abydos
temple, as is often afl5rmed. On the commission to Abydos, intrusted by him to
Mentuhotep, see § S34-
«This Q}w-h ' K) is doubtless a name of the cultus image of the god.
*The image of the god had been removed during the work in the holy place,
and was now carried back to his place.
eLit., "he praised the god for me."
h" Heap " (<: .^ =) is a term commonly designating a pile of offerings, and regu-
larly used of a group of articles of food when thus presented. Cf. § 747, 1. 14, n.
The insignificant weight is not the weight of the objects received, but their value
in metal, weighing 10 deben (nearly 2§ pounds, troy). What metal is meant is
not stated, but the weight clearly shows that copper is meant.
"Louvre, C 11.
THIRTEENTH DYNASTY: KHENZER
records the rewards decreed him by the king. At the top is
the titulary, as follows:
The Good God, Lord of the Two Lands, Lord of Offering, King
of Upper and Lower Egypt, Nematre-Nekhe[re],^ who is given life
forever; Bodily Son of Re, Khenzer,'' who is given life, stability, satis-
faction forever.
The text then proceeds:
787. 'It was commanded to charge the chief of a priestly phyle
of Abydos, Ameniseneb, triumphant, sa3dng: "Behold, ^^these works
which thou hast done have been seen; the king praises thee, his ka
praises thee. ^Spend thy good old age in this temple of thy god."
Then it was Commanded ''to give to me the hind quarters of an ox, and
it was commanded to charge me, saying: "Conduct Severy inspection
which takes place in this temple." I did according to all that was
commanded; ^I had every rshrinei (mnkb) of every god, who is in this
temple, restored, ^their altars renewed with cedar, and the great fobla-
tion-tablel which was in the presence. " H executed my desire, it pleased
my god; the king praised me.
^N'-nf' t-R^ N-}}% in which the R'^is perhaps to be twice read.
•^Rather than R'^^dr (Nezerre).
eOf the god; or possibly "which was formerly there."
ADDENDUM
The reading of the name of Nibkhrure-Mentuhotep has
been shown to be Nh-hp't-R'^ (instead of Nb-^rw-R^ as
used above) by the recent excavations at Der el-Bahri. I
owe this note to the kindness of Mr. Alan H. Gardiner.
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