Khnumhotep, son of Khnumhotep, son of Nehri, 160who was born of the matron, Kheti. His Restoration of Ancestors' Tombs C 634. I kept alive the name of my fathers, which I found obliterated upon the doorways, a (making them) legibleb in 'form'; accurate in reading, not 165putting one in the place of another. Behold, it is an excellent son, who restores the name of the ancestors; Nehri's son, Khnumhotep, triumphant, revered. His Father's Mortuary Buildings 635. 170My chief nobility was: I executed a cliff-tomb, (for) a man should imitate that which his father does.d My father made for himself a house of the ka in the town of Mernofret, of 175good stone of Ayan, in order to perpetuate his name forever and establish it eternally; that his name might live in the mouth of the people and abide in the mouth of the living, 180upon his tomb of the necropolis, in his excellent house of eternity, his seat of everlastingness; according to the favor of the king's presence, his love in the court. His Father's Excellent Administration 636. He ruled his city as a babe, 185before he was loosed from swaddling-clothes;e he executed a royal commission, and his twof plumes danced, as a child not yet circumcised; for the king knewg aThe doorways of the tombs, where it was customary to engrave the name and titles; for similar restorations by posterity, see §§ 688, 689. bRh in the negative is used in the sense of “undiscernible, illegible” on a stela, of Sabako, in the British Museum (No. 135), see Breasted, Zeitschrift für Aegyptische Sprache, 39, Pls. I, II, 1. 2. cHe means he was careful and accurate in reading the names, not introducing confusion among them, by restoring a name in the wrong place. dHe begins to tell of the construction of his own tomb, but is diverted by the reference to his father, whose tomb and early favor at court he recounts, before he again reverts to his own tomb and other buildings (1. 192). eThere is no doubt that this is the same word used in the description of Sesostris I's youth (§ 502, ll. 9, 10), although much corrupted. f His plumes of office. Read rh stny, as shown by Griffith (Proceedings of the Society of Biblical Archæology, 1890, 267). the manner of his tongue, the moderation of his character, 19°Sebekenekh's son, Nehri, triumphant, revered, whom he exalted before his nobles to be ruler (hk) of his city. His Own Buildings 637. The achievements of the count, Khnumhotep: I made a monument in the midst of my city; I built a colonnaded hall which I found 195in ruin;a I erected it with columns anew, inscribed with my own name. I perpetuated the name of my father upon them.b I [recorded] my deeds upon 20°every monument. I made a door of 7 cubits, of cedar wood without - for the first doorway of the tomb; double doors for an opening of 5 cubits, 2 palms, for the shrine of the august chamber, which is in this tomb.d A prayer 205for offerings, the mortuary oblations of bread, beer, oxen, geese, was upon every monument, which I made. I .... greater in monuments in this city than the fathers; 210a child of this city, more excellent in monuments of its burial place than the ancestors, in the buildings made before me.f aThis stands in place of the usual m ws “in ruin,” and probably means something similar. (See Loret, Revue égyptologique, X, 87-94.) What this building in the city was, it is impossible to say; all city buildings having perished. Compare also the work of Kheti another member of the family, as recorded thus: "Prince and count, sole companion, — great lord of the Oryx nome, who made eternal monuments in the temple (ht-ntr) of Khnum, lord of Herur (Ḥr-wr)" (Champollion, Notices descriptives, II, 354). bN and plural strokes are lost in the lacuna; the feminine s could not have stood alone, for the building is masculine. Lit., "of." d" The first doorway" is, as we should expect, the main entrance to the tomb chapel. A comparison of the height of the "door" given above (7 cubits) with the surviving doorway shows that the door was enough higher than the doorway to lap slightly at top and bottom. The second doorway was for double doors; the only double doors in the tomb of Khnumhotep are those of the shrine containing his statue, in the back wall of the chapel chamber. A comparison of the height of this doorway, given by the inscription, with the surviving doorway itself, shows exact correspondence. On the whole passage, see Breasted, Proceedings of the Society of Biblical Archæology, XXII, 88–90. eThese lines are unintelligible. fThe syntax of both these comparisons is doubtful in several places; it is clear in both that he is comparing his own building activity with that of his ancestors; the first comparison referring to his works in the city, and the second to those in the highland of the necropolis. Crafts Encouraged 638. I was munificent in monuments; I taught every craft 215 which had been neglected' in this city, in order that my name might be excellent upon every monument which I 'made', . . Conclusion a 639. 220The hereditary prince, count, Nehri's son, Khnumhotep, born of Beket, triumphant, revered. 22 Foreman of the tomb, the chief treasurer, Beket.b Unintelligible. bThis is the architect's "fecit," the signature of the official who conducted the work. REIGN OF SESOSTRIS III THE CONQUEST OF NUBIA 640. Sesostris III completed the conquest of Nubia, begun by his predecessors nearly one hundred years before, and was known in the Empire as the real conqueror of the region between the first and second cataracts. He conducted not less than four campaigns in this district, and probably more; and by his canalization of the cataract passages, and the erection of fortresses at strategic points, he made this country a permanent possession of the Pharaohs, which was never lost except for a time during the Hyksos period, until the dissolution of the Empire. Important material documents, like the fortresses of Kummeh and Semneh, are graphic witnesses of the character and permanence of this conquest. 641. The documentary materials for Sesostris III's operations in Nubia are as follows: I. The Canal Inscriptions (§§ 642-48). II. The Elephantine Inscription (§§ 649, 650). IV. The Second Semneh Stela (§§ 653-60). V. Inscription of Ikhernofret (§§ 661-70). VI. Inscription of Sisatet (§§ 671, 672; see also §§ 676 ff., and 687). I. THE CANAL INSCRIPTIONS 642. In order to establish unbroken water communication with the country above the first cataract, Sesostris III A further reference to one of these Nubian campaigns of Sesostris III is found in the life of Sebekkhu (§§ 676 ff.). cleared a channela which permitted the passage of his war fleets, and later doubtless of much commerce also. Although this enterprise had been begun in the Sixth Dynasty, it was now over five hundred years since Uni's attempts to pierce the cataract (§ 324). Sesostris III's achievement was recorded in the two following inscriptions, cut on the rocks of the Island of Sehel. The first, recording the 'making" of the canal, is undated, but as the second states, he repaired ("made anew") the canal in the eighth year, it must have been made before this date, and probably in anticipation of the campaign of that year. First Inscription 643. A scene above, represents the king, Sesostris III, standing before the goddess Anuket, exactly as below (§ 646) before Satet; below them is the inscription: 644. He made (it) as his monument for Anuket, mistress of Nubia (T › · - pd ̊ t) — — —, making for her a canal, whose name is: "Beautiful-Are-the-Ways-of-Khekure" (Sesostris III), that he may live forever. 645. In the eighth year the channel was already in need of repair, and had to be cleared for the passage of the expedition of that year. This is recorded in the Mr. Wilbour and Mr. Somers Clarke found a rock-cut canal south of Sehel, but its dimensions do not coincide with those given in the inscription (see Zeitschrift für ägyptische Sprache, 1894, 63, 64). bBut it should be remembered that "anew" may possibly mean "for the first time" as it later sometimes does. cText published by Lepsius, Denkmäler, II, 136, b=de Morgan, Catalogue des monuments, 87, No. 39. This inscription was known fifty years before Mr. Wilbour's discovery below, but the name of the canal was misunderstood as that of a city (e. g., Wiedemann, Aegyptische Geschichte, 252). The inscription did not become clear until the publication of Mr. Wilbour's discovery (cf. quotation of Erman's letter, Recueil, XIII, 203). The old misunderstanding still survives, and the canal appears as "an emporium" bearing the name "Ways of Khakerf" in some publications. |