REIGN OF USERKAF TESTAMENTARY ENACTMENT OF NEKONEKHa 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 Nekonekh, 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 a From his tomb in Tehneh, excavated and copied by G. Fraser in 1890; published by him in 1902 in Annales, III, 122–30, and Pls. II-V (see also Maspero, ibid., 131-38); again from Fraser, with useful restorations and corrections by Sethe, Urkunden, I, 24–32. 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 Nekonekh 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 endowment 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. 'Stewarda of the Palace, governor of the New Towns, superior prophet of Hathor, mistress of Royenet, king's-confidant, Nekonekh (N-k3-‹nh); his wife [Hezethekenu (Hdt-ḥknw)], revered by [Hathor]. 8He makes a decree to his children, to be priests of Hathor, mistress of Royenet. aThe lines are too short at the beginning to number them all. List of the Priests of Hathor 217. These are the prophets whom I have made, of my children, of the endowment,a to be priests of Hathor. Now, it was King Menkure who conveyed two pieces of land, to these prophets to be priest therewith. 1°King's-confidant, steward of the Palace, Nekonekh; his wife, the king's-confidante, Hezethekenu; her children. aRead dt; the n is misread from the hieratic, as commonly in this word; e. g., Sebni, 1. 4 (Sethe, Urkunden, I, 136). Maspero's correction, wḍłny, 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 administered. bThis 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). |