REIGN OF AMENEMHET II

INSCRIPTION OF SIMONTU

594. Besides determining the succession of the first three kings of the Twelfth Dynasty, 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-kw-R, Amenemhet II), living like Re.

Simontu's Titles

596. 3Hereditary prince, count, wearer of the royal seal, sole companion, favorite of Horus, lord of the palace, who does that which his lord praises 4every day, royal scribe, Simontu (S-Mntw), the revered; he saith:

Simontu's Birth and Childhood

597. I was born5 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 girdleb under his majesty (Amenemhet I), "when he departed in peace.c

aOn a stela in the British Museum (No. 828, also called "Anastasi 17"); published by Champollion, Notices descriptives, II, 697; Sharpe, Egyptian Inscriptions, I, 83; from Sharpe by Bunsen, Egypt's Place, 2d ed., V, 724 f.; Brugsch, Thesaurus, VI, 1250; Maspero, Etudes de mythologie et d'archéologie, I, 39, 40; Piehl, Sphinx, II, 131-36 after Brugsch. None of these texts is without considerable 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. bSee the same phrase § 294, 1. 1.

c Piehl has shown from the well-known parallel examples of the Old Kingdom (Sphinx, II, 135) 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,"

Career under Sesostris I

598. The king of Upper and Lower Egypt, Kheperkere (Sesostris I), living forever; his majesty appointed me scribe 7of the harem ——;a he praised me on account of it very greatly.

His majesty appointed me scribe of -1; his majesty praised me on account of it very greatly.b

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,d 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 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 temporal 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.

aIs this the official called sḍm in the Empire?

b" Greatly," omitted in all the copies, is clear on the squeeze.

cGr, as shown by the squeeze against all the copies, which have hr (except Sharpe).

dSee the clever explanation of Piehl, Sphinx, II, 135 f.

Mortuary stela from Abydos, now in the British Museum (No. 569), published by Sharpe, Inscriptions, II, 74; Birch, Zeitschrift für ägyptische 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, Geschichte, 136 ff.

Sihathor's Many Commissions

600. I was real "beloved of his lord," the king of Upper and Lower Egypt, Nubkure (Nb-kw-R Amenemhet II), living 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-hrp),a living forever, to superintend the work on his 16b statues of hard stone of millions of years, which happened within a day of two months. Never happened the like with any superintendent

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,e I reached Nubia (t-pdt) of the negroes. I went, 'overthrowing,f by the fear of the Lord of the Two Lands; I came [to] He (H3), 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 knowing1 the -hearted, free from blemish, defending his boundary, watching his possessions, watchful without laxity, the assistant treasurer Sihathor, triumphant.

aThis is the pyramid of Amenemhet II. A similar reference to him, with name Ameni for Amenemhet, occurs at Benihasan (§ 520). (See Griffith, Proceedings of the Society of Biblical Archæology, XIV, 39 f.) The name of the pyramid is also written Ameni-kherep on the Stela No. 839 in the British Museum. bSo the original; the publications all have 15.

cHm n.

dOn the verb yry (“make”) in the sense of "visit,” see § 351, l. 9, note. The Mine-land (By') is here written with feminine t; it is elsewhere masculine, so that it is possible that we should render it merely “mine.”

eFɔkt is of course to be read mfɔk''t as in the Pyramid Texts, see the same writing § 266. This is equivalent to saying "I visited Sinai,” and this gives us a second antithetic parallelism with Sinai and Nubia; that is, north and south, as the extremes.

f Read hr Shrt?

g Birch's and Brugsch's reading "Heḥa" is impossible, otherwise one would identify the place with Heh (Hḥ) = Semneh. It is near Abu Simbel; see III, 496.

INSCRIPTION OF KHENTKHETWERa

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" (ww), 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, to Min of Coptos, by the hereditary prince, count, wearer of the royal seal, the master of the judgment-hall 3 Khentkhetwer (Hnt-ht-wr) after his arrival in 4safety from Punt; his army being 5with him, prosperous and healthy; and his ships having landed at Sewew (ww). 7Year 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 .. .c the captain of sailors,d Men, born of Mut, triumphant and revered, excavated.e

aOn 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 Erman from a squeeze, in Zeitschrift für ägyptische Sprache, 1882, 204, 205; then by Birch, Catalogue Alnwick Castle, pl. III, 268 ff. Cf. Brugsch, Völkertafel, 54, 55, and 68; Schweinfurth, Wadi Gasûs, II, n. 2.

bCut on the rocks near the great reservoir in the Sarbût el-Khadem; published from British Museum squeeze, No. 99, by Weill, Sinai, 158. dMr-c prw.

cConventional epithets, but the text is unsafe.

eVerb of the relative clause; a similar record under the same king, but without the year, is in the vicinity (Weill, Sinai, 159).

STELA OF KHENTEMSEMETIa

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 monument 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 (Hnt-m-smy ty); he says:

His Honors

me, he - a daily today more than yes

609. "His majesty set me 3at his feet in youth, my name was mentioned before my equals. His majesty greeted marvel, and I was verily ——; I was praised terday. I became real king's-confidant, and his majesty received my approaches. When the officials were placed in their stations, "I held1 office before them —— -1; priest of the Southern Crown, (of) the Northern Crown, 7(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)

a From 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.

bAt royal audiences.