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Penalties

770. As for hima whom anyone shall find within these stela, whether a craftsman or a priest at his business, he shall be branded.b

As for any official, who shall have a tomb made for himself within this cemetery (yst-dsr t), he shall be reported, and the law shall be executed upon him, and the necropolis-custodian as on this day.c

People's Burial Place

771. Now, as for any addition to this cemetery (ys 't-dśr't), (in) the place where the people make tombs for themselves, there shall they be buried.

Benediction

772. 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.

aSee another example of nty-tw in Recueil, XV, 84, 1. 8. bSee same word, Lepsius, Denkmäler, III, 257, a, l. 36. cOr: "from this day"?

REIGN OF NUBKHEPRURE-INTEF

COPTOS DECREEa

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.b

774. The document itself decrees the degradation from office of a count of Coptos, with the loss of all income appertaining 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 rebellion such as produced the downfall of the Middle Kingdom. 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 Papyrus. The remarkable reference 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

aCut on a doorway of Sesostris I at Coptos; found by Petrie and published in Coptos, VIII.

bThere can be no doubt that the Nb-hpr-R‹ placed just before the Seventeenth Dynasty in the Karnak list, is this Intef.

attempts, complicated eventually by the invasion of the Hyksos. The plotting and revolts of local princes continued 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 (Nbhprw-R), Son of Re, Intef, who is given life, like Re, forever.

776. Royal decree to:

Title of Decree

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 temple, Neferhotepur;

The whole army of Coptos,

And the entire lay priesthood of the temple.

Discovery of Culprit

777. Behold, there 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 - Amenusere (Ymn-wsr-), 4to 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 5temple. Foes have been 'stirred up by, a curse to his name! Teti, son of Minhotep.

Punishment of Culprit

778. Cause him to be deposeda from the temple of my father, Min; cause him to be1 cast out of his temple office, from son to son, and heir to heir; -1 upon the earth; take away his bread, his 'food1, and

aLit., "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, ll. 10, 11).

bThe penalty is entailed upon his posterity.

his joints of meat. His name shall not be remembered in this temple, 7according as it is done toward one like him, who is hostile toward the enemies of his god.b 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,d 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 10my 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 'food and itse 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.f

aThe income of his office.

bThere are no difficulties of lexicon or grammar in this clause, but the meaning when rendered, is uncertain.

The registration of temple dues to be paid him.

dŚhm-yrf. The indication is strong that the king is not here referring to future kings, his successors, but to contemporary rulers of Egypt.

eThe possessive pronouns refer to "this office" and indicate the income belonging to it, formerly paid to the traitor.

fThe office is hereditary.

REIGN OF KHENZER

INSCRIPTIONS OF AMENISENEBa

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 time.

782. The first stelab begins with the usual mortuary prayer "for the ka of the chief of a priestly phyle of Abydos, Ameniseneb, triumphant, son of Emku (-m-kw), born of the matron Nebetyotef (Nb t-ytf)." It then proceeds as follows:

Commission by the Vizier

783. He saith: "The scribe of the vizier, Seneb, the son of the vizier, came to call me, by order of 4the vizier. Then I went with him, and I found the governor of the residence city, the vizier, 5Enkhud (nhw) in his hall. Then this official laid upon me a command, saying: 'Behold, it is commanded, that thou cleanse this temple of Abydos.

On his two stelæ from the Middle Kingdom temple of Abydos, now in the Louvre (C1 and C 12). Published by Horrack (Mélanges égyptologiques, 3me ser., Vol. II, Pl. 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.

bLouvre, C 12.

cSeneb 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, Pl. 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.

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