Third Row 702. The courses of the priests of the Hare nome come in peace. Utterance: "He whom Thoth loves, Thuthotep, beloved of the king, he whom his city loves, whom all its gods praise; the temples are in festivity; their hearts are glad, when they see thy favor with the king." Fourth Row 703. The youths of the east of the Hare nome come in peace. Utterance: "My lord hath proceeded to Thereti (Trty), the god rejoices over him; his fathers are in festivity, their hearts are glad, rejoicing over his beautiful monuments." 704. Over the men at the ropes are platoons of youths bearing (palm?) branches; inscription: The Hare nome is in festivity, its heart is glad; its old men are children, its youths are refreshed, its children jubilate; their heart is in festivity, when they see their lord, the son of their lord as a favor of the king, making his monument. 705. In advance of all these, oxen are being slaughtered, and rows of servants approach laden with offerings; inscription: Bringing forward the chief offerings which the districts that are in the Hare nome have brought, for this statue of the count, Thuthotep.a 706. A doorway appears behind these people, which is intended to be the entrance of the building for which the statue is destined. It bears the name and titles of Thuthotep and the name of the building itself: "The love of Thuthotep abides in the Hare nome."b aThis inscription clearly settles whose the statue is, and there is no ground for the supposition that it was a statue of the king. bIn the doorway at one side appears the figure of Thuthotep standing with staff. This is the usual figure, cut on the thickness of the doorway, which is here swung out, as it were, like a door, that it may be seen. HAMMAMAT INSCRIPTIONSa 707. Already in his second year Amenemhet III carried on work at Hammamat, under an officer named Amenemhet. His inscription is dated: Year 2, third month of the first season, day 1, and is followed by ten lines of self-praise, in which we find the only phrases of historical value: “smiting the Negro, opening the land of the Asiatic" (1.7). His titles occupy two lines (ll. 11, 12): "commander of troops (mnfy't), commander (shd) of followers, Amenemhet, son of Ibeb (Ybb), triumphant; his father was Aabu (bw)." At the end there is only the following meager record of one line: "I came to this highland in safety with my army by the power of Min, lord of the highlands." Exactly a year and two days later four officers recorded the date and their names. The chief expedition was in the nineteenth year, of which we have three records. The material taken out was intended for a place or building called Enekh-Amenemhet, "Life of Amenemhet." We naturally think of his pyramid-temple at Hawara. The first record,d is as follows: 708. 'Year 19, first month of the second season, [day] 15; the Good God, Lord of the Two Lands, Lord of Offering, King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Nematre (Amenemhet III), who is given life, stability, satisfaction, like Re, forever. 709. His majesty sent to bring for him(self) monuments from 4the valley of Hammamat, of beautiful black (basaltic) stone as far as "Enekh-Amenemhet,"f living forever and ever; at the house of Sebek, of Crocodilopolis:8 10 statues of 5 cubits,h upon a throne, a Besides the publications I had also for these inscriptions a collation of the Berlin squeezes, kindly furnished by Mr. Alan Gardiner. bCut on the rocks in Wadi Hammamat; published by Lepsius, Denkmäler, II, 138, a. cLepsius, Denkmäler, II, 138, b. dLepsius, Denkmäler, II, 138, e. *See § 675, note. f See above, § 707. gAn adjective (nisbe) belonging to Sebek; it does not necessarily show that the temple was in Crocodilopolis. hFive cubits high (8 feet) when seated. 7quarried in this year by the real "beloved of his lord" the overseer of the - (gs) of the miners, Sesostris. 710. Another official has left a record of the same expedition, in which he also refers to the "ro statues of 5 (cubits)." He also adds the numbers of the men in the expedition: "His soldiers of the necropolis, 20; quarrymen, 30; sailors, 30; a numerous army, 2,000.' g 711. Still another officer' dates an inscription in the nineteenth year of Amenemhet III, which doubtless refers to the same expedition. The date occupies one line, the usual phrases in eulogy of self thirteen lines, and the following record is in the last line: "He came to this inaccessible highland of Hammamat, on a commission of Horus, lord of the palace (the king), to bring a monument for his majesty." 712. The latest and only other record is dated: Year 20, third month of the first season, day 13. INSCRIPTIONS IN SINAI I. WADI MAGHARA 713. The earliest inscription of Amenemhet III in the peninsula of Sinai, is that of Khenemsu in the Wadi Maghara. It is as follows: a The usual encomium of self, made up of obscure phrases. bHis name is uncertain, but may have been "Meri's son, Hu (Hw')" according to 1. 8. cLepsius, Denkmäler, II, 138, c=Golénischeff, Hammamat, IX, No. 1. It is very obscure and uncertain, but seems to refer to difficulties in getting out the blocks for the ten statues. dHe omits the word "cubits," 1. 13. eLines 14, 15. f His name is likewise uncertain (it is at the beginning of l. 14). iCut on the rocks in the Wadi Maghara; published by Champollion, Notices descriptives, II, 689 = Burton, Excerpta hieroglyphica, XII - Lepsius, Denkmäler, II, 137, c=Brugsch, Thesaurus, VI, 1492=Laval, Voyage dans la Péninsule Arabique, Inscriptions of Khenemsu Year 2 under the majesty of the King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Nematre (N-mt-R), Son of Re, Amenemhet (III), living forever and The treasurer of the god, master of the double cabinet, chief of the treasury, Khentkhetihotep-Khenemsu was dispatched, in order to bring malachite and copper. List of his soldiers: 734. ever. 714. Below stands the king before Thoth and Hathor, and three petty officers have appended a mortuary prayer at the bottom. 715. Khenemsu's expedition (§§ 713, 714) also operated in Sarbût el-Khadem in the same year, and his officers have left their names on the rocks, surmounted by the date and a relief showing Amenemhet III before "Hathor, mistress of the malachite country." 716. Below are the figures of four officers accompanied by their names: 1. Treasurer of the god, master of the double cabinet, chief of the treasury, Khenemsu. 2. Deputy of the chief treasurer, Ameniseneb. 3. -seneb, son of Stira (Sty-r3) 4. Master of the double cabinet of the treasury, Sebeko, son of Metenu. Inscription of Harnakht 717. The following inscriptiond of Harnakht, a subordinate treasury official, evidently connected with the preceding Pl. 5, No. 2= =Weill, Sinai, 129; see last for British Museum squeeze and manuscript sources. An official of the same expedition named Sesostris-Seneb dates a prayer on the rocks in the year 2 (Brugsch, Thesaurus, VI, 1487); Weill, Sinai, 131, 132. Below is a list of his workmen (1. c.). a Another inscription at Sarbût el-Khadem, of the year 20, shows only the date (Lepsius, Denkmäler, II, 137). bLepsius, Denkmäler, II, 137, a. cBack of the king stood the chief treasurer, but his figure is now gone, and only a portion of his titles is still visible. dWadi Maghara; published by Brugsch, Thesaurus, VI, 1488; better by Spiegelberg, after squeeze by Euringer, Recueil, 21, 51; and Weill, Sinai, 134. expedition, is of especial interest as showing that the journey to Wadi Maghara was made by water. Even if the customary point of departure was at the extreme north end of the Gulf of Suez, a wearisome desert journey in Sinai was thus avoided. 718. Year 2 under the majesty of the king of Upper and Lower Egypt, Nematre (Amenemhet III), living forever. The chosen before his subjects, who treads the path of his benefactor, (says): "I crossed over the sea, bearing luxuriesa (špŝs), by commission of Horus, lord of the palace (Pharaoh)." Official of the treasury (yry-t-n-pr-hd), chief fowler,b Harnakht (Ḥr-nḥt); his beautiful name, Harnetamehu (Ḥr-nt'-mḥw). Inscription of Sebekdidi 719. An inscription of the year 41° records an expedition in the Wadi Maghara, which was conducted by a palace official named Sebekdidi-Ranefseneb. It reads: Year 41 under the majesty of the King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Lord of the Two Lands, Nematre (N-mt-R, Amenemhet III), given life, like Re, forever. 720. The real king's-confidant, his beloved, his favorite, conductor of the palace, Sebekdidi-Ranefseneb. May Ptah-South-of-His-Wall, and Hathor,d mistress of the malachite country, love him who shall say: "An offering which the king gives for the ka of the treasurer, the assistant of the chief treasurer, Sesostris (S[n]-Wsr't Below is a short list of subordinate officers. aThe connection would indicate that these were offerings from the Pharaoh to be presented to the local Hathor; although špśś w are frequently the costly stones of Sinai. bThis not uncommon title (hb->, with determinative of a goose), has been strangely misunderstood in the last two editions of the text. cLepsius, Denkmäler, II, 137 f. = Ordnance Survey, III, Pl. 3 = Burton, Excerpta hieroglyphica XII; Weill, Sinai, 137, 138. A short inscription of the year 30 is in Weill, Sinai, 135; it is without historical content beyond the statement of the official: “I worked (yry ́ny) the gmy and the malachite therein.” dMisread by Weill. |