II. SARBÚT 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as the year 2,* and dated inscriptions of the years 20, 30, and 38° indicate its continuance, although they are without historical content, and show only the date and the king's name. Inscription of Sebek-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 watersupply 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 chambere successfully; "Flourish-its-ArmyWhich-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. 4Copied 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 Sarbût el Khadem" (Ordnance Survey, I, 183, 184). Published much better, from British Museum squeezes, by Weill, Sinai, 166. The word used (htt) 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. the treasury, Sebek-hir-hab (Sbk-hr-ḥb), living again happily, repeating a happy life (whm ‹nh njr), born of the matron Henut (Hnwt), triumphant." 726. Master of the double cabinet, Sebek-hir-hab; he says: "I excavated a mine-chamber for my lord, and my youths returneda 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.b His father Keb,c 727. Sebek-hir-hab then closes with an account of his offerings to Hathor: I brought for her offering-tables of mesnet stone, linen (pt) I presented to her divine offerings, bulls, 'fow]] She led me 'in' by her gracious going [-] to the terrace, which I made for her. I swear, I have spoken in truth. Inscription of Ptahwer 728. The last dated inscriptiond of Amenemhet III at the Sarbût 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. ['I was one sent1] to bring plentiful from the land of ,e ready in his reports to his lord, [delivering] Asia (S) 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, born of Yata (Y3-t3). aLit., "came." bSimilar phrases, Weill, Sinai, 178, and again, 179. The earth-god. A similar idea is found in the Kubbân Stela (III, 288, 11. 17, 18). dWeill, Sinai, 168. eLost name ending in kwy. 729. An undated inscription of this reign records the opening of a mine called "Vision-of-the-Beauty-of-Hathor;" and another contained a memorandum of a month's supplies delivered: "I measure of grain, 23 large and small cattle, 2 w'd-fowl, 30 mny't-geese," followed by a list of six petty officials. Inscription of Amenemhets 730. The king who dispatched this officer to the Sarbût el-Khadem, where his inscription is engraved, is not mentioned, 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 Sarbût el-Khadem. 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, Amenemhet, to bring splendid, costly stone for his majesty. This treasurer of the god says: "I came to the mine of Kad (K3); I exacted the impost (bkw), I attended to the levying of the impost of malachite, being г—1e for every 5 men every day correctly. Never had the like been done since the time of the King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Snefru, triumphant. aWeill, Sinai, 169. bibid., 170. Niebuhr, Reisen nach Arabien, I, Tab. XLV; Lepsius, Denkmäler, II, 144, 9 Laval, Pl. IV, 5; mentioned by Birch, Ordnance Survey, I, 185, but is not among the photographs of the Survey. dThe name of the man in charge, who was evidently responsible for a fixed amount each season. "Here was evidently the amount exacted from each gang of men daily. for possibly 15. Work in Sarbût el-Khadem 732. Then I arrived at this land,a and I completed the work successfully. The might of the king —. It is a "command" of his majesty Inscription of Harurreb 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 Sarbût 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 Kahun 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 aThat is Sarbût el-Khadem; the malachite mine was therefore in another locality, which he had first visited. bStela in Sarbût 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. The sudden statement that he “arrived in this land” (Sarbût) 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). evidently quite unusual-is noteworthy. What its meaning may be is not evident. I have not burdened the translation with conjectures in any of the questionable passages. Work in Maghara (?) 735. 'The majesty of this god dispatched the treasurer of the god, master of the double cabinet -, Harurre (Hrwr-R≤1) to this Mineland (By'); I arrived in this land in the third month of the second season (pr't), although it was not the season for going to this Mineland. - 736. This treasurer of the god saith to the officials who shall come to this Mine-land at this season: a 4"Let not your faces flinch on that account;b behold, Hathor will turn it to profit. I looked to myself, and I dealt with myself; when I came from Egypt, "my face flinched, and it was hard for me -d 1. The highlands are hot 7in summer, and the mountains brand the skin. When morning dawns, a man is — —1. I addressed the workmen concerning it: 'How favored is he who is in this Mine-land!' They said: 'There is malachite 1oin this eternal mountain; it is -d to seek (it) at this season. One like us hears the like of (such) marvels,f coming at this season. It is [_dato for it in this evil summer-season."" Work in Sarbût el-Khadem 737. Now, when 13I was dispatched to this Mine-land; the souls of the king put it in my heart. 14Then I arrived in this land, and I began the work prosperously. 15My army arrived in full quota, all of it, there was none that fell among them. My face flinched not 16before the work. aViz., the hot season. bViz., because they have come in the wrong season. cLit., "did something with myself," probably meaning: "I struggled with myself." dynm (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. eSummer time. for: "Our hearing is like a marvel, etc." f |