them to make mortuary offerings to him, is of especial interest. 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' hw`t-ḥtphr); he saith:

"I have made this tomb as a just possession, and never have I taken a thing belonging to any person. Whosoever shall make offering 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 3this tomb as their mortuary property or shall do an evil thing to it, judgment shall be had with them for it, 4by 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 PTAHSHEPSESa

254. This document is especially important for the concluding history of the Fourth Dynasty, and the chronology of the first half of the Fifth. Ptahshepses was born under Menkure, of the Fourth Dynasty, and was still living under Nuserre, the fifth king of the Fifth Dynasty; thus deter

a From a false door in his mastaba, discovered at Sakkara by Mariette, published by Mariette, Mastabas, 112, 113; Rougé, Recherches sur les monuments qu'on peut attribuer aux VI premières dynasties, 66–73; Rougé, Inscriptions hiéroglyphiques, 79-80; Sethe, Urkunden, I, 51-53.

bHe was priest in Nuserre's sun-temple (Mariette, Mastabas).

a

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 off at the top. The first two lines are occupied by two reigns, showing that Ptahshepses is narrating his life by reigns. Now, ll. 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 contain 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.

256. ———a [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 (Pth-špss).

2

Reign of Shepseskaf

257.2——— [in] the time of Shepseskaf (Špss-k' f); 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

aProbably: "I was born in the time of M."

Manhood

Old age

Neferefre (name lost)

Nuserre (from Ptahshepses's titles)

than any youth (yd), Ptahshepses 3 —. His majesty gave to him the king's eldest daughter, Matkha (Mt-h) as his wife, for his majesty desired that she should be with him more than (with) anyone; Ptahshepses.

Reign of Userkaf

258. [Attached a 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 palaceb at all the Feasts-of-the-Coronation; Ptahshepses.

Reign of Sahure

259. [Attached a to Sahure, more honored by the king thana] 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 a 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-theAppearance;d beloved of his lord; Ptahshepses.e

262. 8.

Reign of Nuserre

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 king; Ptahshepses.

a Following Sethe, after Mariette, Mastabas, 375.

bCf. the parallel in tomb of Sebu (Rougé, Inscriptions hieroglyphiques, 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. eThe remaining three lines contain chiefly conventional phrases and titles. f 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-hw); King of Upper and Lower Egypt: Menkuhor (Mn k'w-Hr), 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.

aCut in the rocks of Wadi Maghara on the Peninsula of Sinai; text: Lepsius, Denkmäler, II, 39, e; Brugsch, Thesaurus, VI, 1493 (inscriptions only); Sethe, Urkunden, I, 54; Weill, Sinai, 109.

bCf. Lepsius, Denkmäler, II, 39, d, where the same phrase occurs uninjured (§ 264).

The lacuna contained the name of the official who executed the commission.