Un chef de corvée ; hiérog. f T^ » uMe»T

Dans la hiérarchie des emplois domestiques le Menh occupe le troisième rang. Voici la série telle que la donnent les papyrus du Musée Britannique :

« Lejeune ou apprenti, ^^Q^^^^^î . Le bas-officier » ^ ^ ;fl ^ ; • Le chef de corvée , xT^>

Upon an Inscription of the

reign of Shabaka.

By Ch. Wycliffe Goodwin.

In Sharpe's firsl séries of Egyptian Inscriptions', there is a copy of a very fragmentary and mulilaled inscription , from a stone now preserved in the Britisb Muséum, which bas not, as far as I know, been tborougbly stndied , but whicb , imperfect as it is , présents several points of mucb inlerest to tbe Egyptologist. M. Sharpe styles it : An unfinished and mutilated slab of the reign of Sevechus (Sabacon) ; but a careful inspection sbows that only the two upper horizontal Unes properly beiong to the time of this king , while the perpendicular columns beneatb , of which there must originally bave been about sixty , were only restored by him , and are of a far earlier date.

The top line contains (or contained) tbe name and

I PUUes 86 » 37 and 88.

The determinative me points to the original and proper meaning of the word, namely wonm or destructive animais, just as we find in coptic AoqAoq, tineœ, moths (egypt. wSi«jt) > ^sed aiso to express corruption ,\ putréfaction or corrosion. Bot supposing tbat u)orms and not corrosion be intended in the inscription before us , we are ied to infer that the original inscription was written npon wood , and tbat what we bave now engraTod upon stone is mereiy a copy of as mach of it as conld be made ont in the time of Sabako , and which was by him caused to be engraved upon the barder material. The gaps which bave apparently been left in some of the colomns , and which bave Ied M. Sharpe to defîne the inscription as t unfinished > faveur tbis conclusion.

The latter part of the second horizontal line is as foUows :

gratia firmandi nomen suum, stabiliendi constitutiones sucks in domopatrisPtah Memphiticiin longamœternitatem

Factum a filio Solis Shabaka ad patrem Ptah

Tota (nen) , qui dat vitam œternam.

It appears from tbis that the slab stood in the temple of Ptah at Memphis. The restoration of the inscription by Sabaco shows that it was considered to contain matter

of ancommoD interest, and oift may conjecture tbat there was someihing in it favorable to the tilles and claims of the Etbiopian usurper, who bere assumes tbe cbaracter of a genuine Pharao , a son of the Sun and a descendant of Ptab.

But alas t the inscription, after baving been renovated, bas suffered more woful mutilation than it did in its primitive State. Tbe wbole central part of it, comprising more than five and twenty columns, bas been wholly obliterated , apparently in modem times. It is also clear tbat we do not possess tbe commencement of tbe text , which may possibly bave been written on another slab. We cannot therefore détermine what particular interest Sabaco bad in repairing tbis vénérable monument, and perbaps he may bave bad no further view than to gain favour with the priests by sbewing bimself a zealous conservator of bistorical antiquities,

Let us now examine the inscription itself. The first part of it is contained in Plate 38 of M. Sbarpe's work. There is space in tbe page for twenty columns , but only tbe first eleven remain in a tolerably perfect state.

Tbe twenty columns which should bave fiUed Plate 37 are obliterated with tbe exception of a word or two. In Plate 36 we bave tbe remains of twenty columns , of which tbe first seven are more or less obliterated, and of tbe remainder several appear to bave been left in an unperfect state when the restoration was made.

Some necessary rectifications being made, tbe text begins as follows :

bA^oogle

Accedit ad palatium, consociatur

tn^z II - fff »wgK(*)

deis Tatanetiy Ptah domino annorum; ille (est). Erat Osiris

in terra de Castello Ant in parte boreali terrœ

hujus. Accessit ad eumquidem filins ejtisHoruSy omatns

i -k ygc k^

australi diademati , omatus boreali diademati , in domo patris Osiridis cum deis qui ante eum et qui

drcum eum.

Curant continuo eum,

ducunt eum ad terram ; accedit ad

porticus stabiles s qtuB sunt in adytis

MÉLANGES É6TPT0L0GIQUES.

tum œtemitatis adverstis f ortum ,

I viis solis in occxdentc,

loco quo fuit ut Osiris mergeretur in

conspicientibus Iside (et) Nephthye. mtes illœ eum , adjuvant eum.

t Horus ad Isidem (et) Nephthin in Tattu ut iant Osiridem, ut salvent (eum) ne mergatur. Fiunt ilhe obedientes ei. Offerunt

m-'^u.r (ip-iiwii«9)

ei omnes dona sua. Tune oblataest 10 cœli et terrœ, arca Ptah; confecta est dstema

\ rinscription, le nom de Ptah est représenté par la Ûg^ite de qui manque à mon assortiment de types ( F. Chàbas ).

UPOlf AN iNâCRIPtiOW Etc. Sft3

deorum de domo Plah, domini vitœ, domini. . . ; facta

est Ankh'ta-ta prope eam. Salutat ille

A^^/vs^

societatem eorum , prceparat ille domm eorum;

stofut'r ille corpora eorum; illi conciliant eum; veniunt dei in corporibus suis y cum lignoonmi, ctitn lapide omni^ * ceim sac^^/o omni , r ^frei^ omm6ii9 vigentibus; qui circum eum sunt dei, offerenUs

Tes quascumque, bona sunt.

We may hère pâuse to give some explânation and jastification of our corrections and of our latin interlinear version.

i. The first cbaracter is obliterated in M. Sharpe's copy, bot we bave little hésitation in supplying the

cbaracter î, Xnum, lo whicb the ^ is the supplé-

mentary consonant. Theword ^^, to unité with, h of fréquent use and requires no fnrther illustration.

2. The Word ^^ has been explained by M. Birch as title of theking or the king's palace, and it is used in at sensé hère. It is ordinarily accompanied by the adtional sigD ci , house. The character «i^i^ is often

changed for its variants ^|^^ ^^d 0. Thus , Burton , :c. hierog., pi. 83 ; j J^|^r-. ^^p f

*" Â '^^^^T' , / was in favor with the king above ail the msellors. Also, Dumichen, Hist. Inschr., IV, 41: Jl'^ *=^ ^^ 9 ' il r ' ^ ^^^^^9^ ^0 the king \ Sometimes the word is used not for the king , but for palace , which is the primary meaning of the group p (-J. Thus, Recueil IV, pi. 43 : Established upan

^ throne in the palace (|^f^^, x^— 5? n )• What the exact meaning of this title is has not , I thiok, ^n explained , nor am I in a position to do so comple- ^. It is however clear that i> — .•ir-r* means somebeneent function performed by a deity or by a king, as is >wn by the inscriptions on the sepulchral vases, rhe egyptian gods, in the attitude of exercising the leficient action of 'iHf», are represented as extending ir hands open over the person who is the object of ir protection*. Itis clear that in our case, l> — . is the

Berlin , Pap. I , l. 215 occurs |^ j-j, which is to be transcrisa, This phonetic value is now admitted by ail Egyptologists for SigD HHS-* and its variants* Cbibâs, Pap. Mag, Harris, pi. 914.

▼erb expressing this action ; the usual rendering eligere is not the best word , an^sofep bas certainly severai other meanings only remotely connected with the idea ofchoose OT chaic£. For instance, on thecofïinof Seti T, I find

^P^' where5or^has the determinative appropriate to deadly and fatal acts. M. Brugsch* suggests the fundamental idea o(cutting , dividing. Possibly in the phrase /^--^•«H*, the idea may Be /o dealout, distribuer, austheilen.

It is not only to gods that Ihis bénéficient action is attributed. In the inscription of Una published by M. de Rongé in bis Researches , I Hnd a phrase which occurs

twice. Thefirst example is in PI. VII, I. 9 : -<s>- '^^z::* <=>

the meaning of this appears to me to be : / acted to the gratification of his majesty, wken the king performed SOTEP-SA , and when he went a journey. The other place,

PI. VIII, lig. 34, confirms this: f f-^ ^ f ^

U=> re^ , when it pleased hisMajesty to de-

vote his time fRASU, vigilare) to solep-sa, 1 was put in the place of attendant in préférence to ail lords.

M. deRougé aiso quotes (p. 111) a passage from another inscription , in which the phrase occurs :

iBONOMI, pi. 4, 7, 18, etc.

* DicUonn. , p. 1343.

2&6 MÉLANGES ÉGYPTOLOGK

(I îoas one) who went in every iMp i who went upon the joumeys of the kit

In thèse ÎDStances 1 conjecture perhaps mean distribution o faims or and it could appear that the earlier k bit of making progresses for the exi bounty. The title of distributor of ai favors is a very natural title for a anglo-saxon title Beâh-gifâ , giver oj poeticaliy synonymous with king , an source ofbread, from whence the me derived,

3. The pronoun \\ is used in eg beginningor at the end of a sentei either subject or objeot. In whal wa cap only be determined by the cont case, instead of joining '\\ wilh g mity with whatappears to be the sensé, atlached it to

the preceding words. I take | ^^==^ |[| ^^ , he is Ptah theold , to be anexplanation of ^^ ';^ , Tatanen, hère used as synonymous with Ptah, though properly it means the land or province over which he ruied. The appellation Ptah Tatanen or Ptah of the land Tanen is coodmon in the texts , and for this we sometimes find the

Ptah presiding over Tanen.

* IVSaUier. Back.p. 1,1. 17.

4 ji^=^ . Osiris. We lind here the person who is Ihe

sabject of the flrst paragraph of the text , namely Osiris ; and it is manifest that the beginning of the inscription is wanting. How mucb aiay hâve been lost, it is impossible to say , but it seems to me probable that the legend of the life of Osiris mast hâve preceded , and that we hâve on ihis slone merely the concluding part of it, namely Ihe retum of Osiris to Egypt after his wanderings over the world , related by Diodorus Siculus , in his first book, , chap. 17, to20.

• I translate Ihis : Caslellum Anl. The Hgure

in the castellated enclosare 1 take to be identical with that which appears as the name or symbol of theO*** nome of lower Egypt', and alsoof ihe PehuKy of the 2** ngme*,

and which is phonetically written "^ * «wr*. In

the fourth nome is aiso a Pehu of the same name *. The castle of Ant may hare been in oneof thèse places, or it may hâve been in some other place named from this same personage Ant. In any case we can hâve little hésitation in identifying this place with the ancient town called Antœus , where according to the narrative of Diodorus*, the batle took place in which Isis subdued Ty-.

< m Recueil, PI.XITI,A,9.

« lbid.,P!. XXIV, C, 2.

3 Ihid.. PI. XIII À, 3, C , and elsewbere.

* Ibid. , PI. LXII.

5 Bk. I.cb. 21.

nged the dealh of her husband Osiris. The fied this witb Antœpolis in Upper Egypt , lity was in tbe north part of the land. old Egyptian king or hero Ant had aoy conaroon with the libyan Antœus, said to in by Hercules, than the resemblance of

ust reniain doubtful. Perbaps *^

cal witb ^^i Ji, Anta, the bull (qu.f mentioned on tbe Tanis obelisk' of Bastion formerly contained further particulars is castle of Ant (See M. Sharpe's Plate 37, late 36 , col. 3] ; but the context is extra-, éd. In the former of thèse two passages made of building tbe castle of Ant.

I phrase;^, lilerally, he does, deserves îlearly superfluous hère, and bas , I believe, uification than that of an adverborconjuncgreek ^ïJ or the latin igitur, quidem, vero. es of this Word ;^ or 1);^ occur in the dduce one or two to illustrate its use :

xerpta hierog^ PI. XXXIX. See Brugsch, Geog. I, Is or tbe obelisk are :

iw^vy.»-

I bave mucta e should not considertbesewords as two titles of 1er ofÀnata, hull (son?) of Set.

l'PON AN INSCRIPTION ETC. 259

thou blockest up forsooth the road against us ; dost thou not FORSOOTH allow us to journey on the road"^ In the

same papyrus the phrase y^ ^ ^ *^ jjjjj)' ^ , hit quidem hortulanus ille... , frequently recurs. And so aiso in ihe 17 chapterof the Ritual we hâve repeatedly

such phrases : ^f [^ P ^^^1"^"=" ^ '^ I ^ P» Quid QUIDEM iWsil Uta est in hord sud. Here the subject ofthe question being feniinine, it is ciear that ;^, which bas the masculine pronoun cannot be referred tu it , but must be a disconnected interpolation.

I will quote likewise : Q^ fl ^^ f ||

1^^^^ fflj 1^ X -^ Isi* • ^f^^^f^ y^ be silent indeed , yegods {or whether) godtalks wilhgod. In the inscrip-

lion of Canopus. I. iZ , \\\Z lMr-Ê\Z l answers to the greek i *at tto^Xwv ôyaraîv «px»! yryovtv, and it is traoslaled very accuraielly by Dr Lepsius : Seiend wohl dieser Tag der Anfang. . . .

In Ihecoptic the particle riToq (lit. he, it) seems to be Qsed in a somewhat similar way : zmi k«\t«\ c^pg MTAT , H MToq 2611 Kor6 * thcy wko are carnal or indeed others; pcoue uiu ii peqepiioee h uuoii MToq e zeu

* Pap. Berlin lî. lig. B.

2 Todtb. ch. 78 , lig. 4.

3 ZOEGA, caUl. p. 385.

jpiJOBo AM ne * , ail men who are sinners , or else îD those who are not sinners.

rhe phrases ^ jg^ ^ and ^ ^^ \^ are written

B ioscriplioD parallel to one anolher, and several nces of tbis antithetic arrangement occur further on e lexl, where iwo simullaneous slates or actions are 3uled lo one person. This observation will enable I explain certain passages towards tbe end of tbe iption, wbich would olherwise be unintelligible. — fl isapparently used for house, wilhout the usual

ion ^. It will be observed that in this inscription

! is a great economy of determinatives as well as of itive phonetic characters. Thus, immediately prece-

tbis Word, we hâve |^^ for |^^^^, ust afterwards occurs the shorlened form 8*,^ for ,, with.

■ , Paxar. Thecoptic <t>A})pi , remedium,

s the most obvions explanation of this word ; the nal idea seems to be to attend to , curare. M. Brugsch

:s the word identical with B R*"^ ^, and consi-

the fundamental idea to be that of surrounding\ the meaning curare, remedium is supported by ses such as occur Sharpk II , pi. 83, 14 ; Sharpe I,

Isiis Sophia , p. 275 , i. 2ô.

xtion. , p. 500.

pi. 80, H. In the Prisse papyrus we hâve: s

* <^ ^ \^ „ ' , ffa^r thon a son u

despises not God, one who is careful in attending to business. In another place there is an exhortation t

man to love and care forhis wife :

"^"^ 5 (^ ! ' ^^^^^ ^*^ ^*''* quicquid ad metn ejus pertinet.

In the passage in our texl, Ihe words pexar-sn expi some service or office performed by the gods to Osii ofw^hicllthe exact nature is not clcar. A character been oblileraled after sn ; il may bave been only §

Ihe mark of the plural , but M. Sharpe's copy leaves

o r in doubt. j, literally, ad tempus , means {

haps forthwith , at once, or ad tempus opportunum, at time when he required it. Compare the passage Riti

Chap. I , col. 12 : give ye bread and haq "=> ^^ (jj J

is usually translated to approach ,

wonld seem hère to be used with a causative sensé œnduct , lead or cause to approach.