297. This is the inscription recording the expedition as a whole, led by the chief architect and the two treasurers of the god.

298. Year after the eighteenth occurrence (of the numbering), third month of the third season (twelfth month), day 27 of the king of Upper and Lower Egypt, Merire (Pepi I), who lives forever; first occurrence of the Sed Jubilee. Royal commission which the chief of all works of the king, the sole companion, master-builder of the king, attached to the Double House, Merire-meriptah-onekh; his son, the ritual priest, Merire-meriptah-onekh; and the treasurers of the god, Ikhi (hy) and Ihu (Yḥw), carried out.

The names of five "assistant artisans" and of three "king's-confidants and master-builders" are then recorded

below.

III. CHIEF ARCHITECT'S INSCRIPTION

299. This record places all the bureau officers first and the two treasurers of the god last.

Year after

Royal commission which the chief of all works of the king, sole companion, master-builder of the king, attached to the Double House, Merire-meriptah-onekh, carried out.

aLepsius, Denkmäler, II, 115, g; Sethe, Urkunden, I, 93 (collated with drawing by Lepsius' expedition.)

bThe date of the Sinai inscription, which is also coincident with the Sed Jubilee, is eleven days later. The discrepancy is easily explained by the fact that these expeditions were both sent out to secure materials for monuments in the year of this festival; the dates given were not intended to indicate its exact day. If the numberings took place every two years, then the first Sed festival occurred in the thirty-sixth or thirty-seventh year, which we know is impossible. Meyer supposes that the numberings had now become more frequent (Aegyptische Chronologie, 169-70), which is probable. See also Sethe, Untersuchungen, III.

c Lepsius, Denkmäler, II, 115, k; Sethe, Urkunden, I, 94.

Overseer of the administration of divine offerings, attached to the Double House, first under the king, judge, inferior scribe, Sesi (Ssy). Scribe of the king's records, Khenu (Hnw).

IV.

Judge, attached to Nekhen, Khui (Hwy).
Treasurer of the god, Ihu.

Treasurer of the god, Ikhi.

INSCRIPTION OF THE TREASURER OF THE GOD, IKHIa 300. One of the two treasurers of the god, perhaps incensed at being placed at the foot of the list in the preceding inscription, has in this inscription recorded himself alone as the leader of the expedition, omitting the chief architect and the bureau officials entirely, and even his colleague, Ihu.

At the extreme right, framed between two scepters and the sign for heaven at the top, is the titulary of Pepi I, accompanied by the words: "First occurrence of the Sed Jubilee." At the left of this appears the inscription:

301. Royal commission which the treasurer of the god, Ikhi (Yhy), carried out.

His son, the ship-captain Ikhi.

Below appear the names of five "assistant artisans of the palace" and the "master pyramid-builder, Thethi.”

SINAI INSCRIPTIONC

302. 1. The titulary of the king in one line at the top is: 'King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Favorite of the Two Goddesses; Merikhet (Mry-ht); Merire (Mry-R), Pepi I,

Lepsius, Denkmäler, II, 115, c; Sethe, Urkunden, I, 94, 95.

bAnother inscription (Lepsius, Denkmäler, II, 115, b) contains only the names of the sons of some of the officials.

cEngraved on the rocks at Wadi Maghara; text: Lepsius, Denkmäler, II, 116, a; Brugsch, Thesaurus, VI, 1496, No. 26; Sethe, Urkunden, I, 91-92 (from squeeze); Morgan, Recherches, I, 235; Weill, Sinai, 121.

given all life forever." the right contains the Horus-name of the king: "Meri-towe (mryy-t'wi, 'Beloved of the Two Lands')," and the figure of the king striding as at a ceremonial, preceded by the words: "First occurrence of the Sed Jubilee." Establishment of the field--1. The relief on the left shows Pepi I smiting the Asiatics in the manner conventional since prehistoric times.

It surmounts two reliefs: that on

a

303. 2. Below the reliefs is the inscription of the officers of the expedition, as follows:

Year after the eighteenth occurrence (of the numbering), fourth month of the third season (twelfth month), day 6. Commission which the commander of the army Ibdu (Ybdw),b son of the commander of the troops Merire-onekh, carried out.

Then follows a list of fifteen subordinate officials and members of the expedition; such a list, better preserved will be found in § 343.

INSCRIPTION IN THE HATNUB QUARRY

304. In the year of the twenty-fifth numbering, Pepi I sent an expedition to the alabaster quarries of Hatnub, back of Tell el-Amarna, under charge of the nomarch of the Hare nome (XV) of Upper Egypt. Attached to the king's name is the phrase "First occurrence of the Sed Jubilee," and on any theory of the Sed Jubilee this date is in glaring contradiction of Pepi I's Sed Jubilee in the year of the eighteenth

a(W)d "put" or "place;" perhaps an endowment of land is indicated. bOr "Ibdu's son. .. Merire-onekh."

Blackden-Fraser, Hieratic Graffiti, Pl. 15, 1; Sethe, Urkunden, I, 95, 96, after Blackden-Fraser, but with useful corrections of evident errors; whence also the restorations.

numbering. Is it used here at Hatnub only as an epitheton ornans, in recollection of the feast?

305. Horus: Beloved of the Two Lands (mryy-t' wy); king of Upper and Lower Egypt: Merire (Pepi I), given life forever. First occurrence of the S[ed Jubilee]. Year of the twenty-fifth occurrence (of the numbering), first (month) of the first season, [day] -.

[Royal commission which] the sole companion, chief [of the six courts of justice], — --, first under the king, master of se[cret things] marshal of the two thrones, governor of the palace, 'reall governor of the South, great lord of the Hare nome, Khuu's (ww) son, Nenekhseskhnum (Hnm-n-nh-ss), ['executed].

INSCRIPTION OF UNI
[Continued from § 294]

II. CAREER UNDER PEPI I

306. Pepi I promoted the obscure under-custodian of the royal domains, to be a judge of the Nekhen court; at the same time giving him rank among the courtiers and an income as inferior prophet of the pyramid-temple. As judge he soon gained the confidence of his superiors. The king granted him the equipment for his tomb, which was brought from the Troja quarry for him, and then promoted him to a superior custodianship of the royal domain. He rapidly gained royal favor, and when it became necessary to prosecute one of the king's wives, probably for conspiracy, he was chosen to hear the case with only one colleague. He was then called upon to organize an army for a campaign against the Bedwin north of Sinai, and five times he was sent to quell revolts in this region. He finally pushed up into southern Palestine, which is the first Egyptian invasion of that country known in history.

Appointment as Judge

[I

was] eldest of the

307.

2.

chamber under the majesty of Pepi (Ppy). His majesty appointed me to the rank of companion and inferior prophet of his pyramid-city. While my office was 3his [majesty made me] judge attached to Nekhen (Nḥn). He loved mea more than any servant of his. I "heard,"b being alone with (only) the chief judge and vizier, in every private matter 4 in the name of the king, of the royal harem and of the six courts of justice;d because the king loved mea more than any official of his, more than any noble of his, more than any servant of his.

Equipment of His Tomb by the King

308. Then I [be]sought the majesty of the kinge that there be brought for me a limestone sarcophagus from Troja (R->w).f The king had the treasurer of the god ferry over, together with a troop ❝of sailors under his hand, in order to bring for me this sarcophagus from Troja; and he arrived with it, in a large ship belonging to the court, together with [its] lid, "the false door; the 'setting, two [-), and one offering-tablet. Never was the like done for any servant, for I was excellent to the heart of his majesty, for I was pleasant to the heart of his majesty, for his majesty loved me.

Appointment as Superior Custodian

309. While I was judge, attached to Nekhen, his majesty appointed me as sole companion and superior custodian of the domain of Pharaoh, and—h of the four superior custodians of the domain of Pharaoh, who were there. I did so that his majesty praised me, when preparing

Lit.: "his heart was filled with me."

bMeaning: heard cases in court as judge.

cOne person; this vizier, whose name is not mentioned, was perhaps Zau (§§ 344 ff.).

dLit.: "six great houses."

eLit.: "the majesty of the lord."

fQuarries opposite Memphis, five or six miles south of Cairo.

gCf. note on l. 40, § 322. Gmḥw is connected by Lemm with gmḥ't “wick,” and thought to be an oil basin (Zeitschrift für ägyptische Sprache, 1887, 115). hNs with a strange determinative; see Gardiner, Inscription of Mes, p. 25, n. 2.