XVIII.—On Two Egyptian Tablets of the Ptolemaic Period

Samuel Birch Esq.

doi:10.1017/S0261340900004380

XVIII.—On Two Egyptian Tablets of the Ptolemaic Period

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 25 January 2012

Samuel Birch Esq.

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The tablets which form the subject of the following communication are two of the most remarkable of those of the Ptolemaic period, which is not rich in inscribed monuments of this kind. There is, indeed, a series of tablets of this period in the British Museum, and others are in the Louvre at Paris. None of them, however, surpass in interest those now to be described, which relate to the family of Pasherenptah. It will be seen from their contents that they shed great light on the mythology of the Ptolemaic period, add to our knowledge of the annals of the Lagidæ, and afford additional facts with regard to the functions and organisation of the Egyptian hierarchy.

Type: Research Article
Information: Archaeologia , Volume 39 , Issue 2 , 1864 , pp. 315 - 348

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0261340900004380 [Opens in a new window]
Copyright: Copyright © The Society of Antiquaries of London 1864

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^{page 315 note a} Engraved in Prisse, Monuments Egyptiens, fo. Paris, 1848, pl. xxvi. p. 5; and in Sharpe, Egyptian Inscriptions, fo. Lond. 1837, pl. 72, 73.

^{page 319 note a} Dr. Hincks (Trans. Roy. Irish Acad. vol. xix. pt. ii.) considers the date of birth to be reckoned by the years of Ptolemy Alexander, led probably to do so by certain inconsistencies in the reckoning of Pasherenptah's age. The inscription reads, however, plainly Soter. For remarks on this point see the note at the end of this communication.

^{page 319 note b} There is an ambiguity here, as it may read “going to the palace of the Greek monarchs, which is on the sea shore.”

^{page 320 note a} Perhaps “he gives to the gods.” Ptolemy IX. says to Osiris, “I tie on thee a crown of real gems.” Lepsius, Denkm. Abth. iv. 29 b.

^{page 320 note b} Clarac, Musée de Sculp, pi. 242.

^{page 320 note c} I have followed here the chronology of Lepsius, Ueber einige Ergebnisse für die Kentniss der Ptolemäer-geschichte, 4to Berlin, 1853.Google Scholar

^{page 320 note d} Herod, ii. 86–89.

^{page 322 note a} Tablet, Eg. Gall. Brit. Mus. 80.

^{page 322 note b} Sharpe, Eg. Inscr. pl. 100, 1. 1, 8.

^{page 322 note c} A statue at Berlin has “chief of the hall of the great house.”

^{page 322 note d} Eg. Gall. No. 130. Clot-Bey Papyrus, Brit. Mus. No. 9901, gives ha kha for “artificer” in the passage corr. to Lepsius, Todt. i. c. 1,1. 10.

^{page 322 note e} See Champollion, Dict. p. 151.

^{page 322 note f} Figure in Brit. Mus.

^{page 322 note g} Champollion, Dict. 151.

^{page 322 note h} Some tablets in Dr. Lee's possession have these titles; that of Royal Judge occurs on the back of a statue in the British Museum.

^{page 322 note i} The form ha is used for number or account. Chabas, Pap. Mag. d'Harris, p. 245.

^{page 322 note k} Clarac, Mus. de Sculpt, pl. 244, No. 394.

^{page 322 note l} Lepsius, Todt. lxxviii. c. 164,1. 8, 10.

^{page 323 note a} Leemans, Mon. Egypt, ii. pl. xi. No. 45 b.

^{page 323 note b} Cf. Lepsius, Denkm. Abth. iv. 42 a; in the sense of “god,” Abth. iv. 42 c; and in combination for Atum or Turn, or Thoth, 45 a. 10, 46 b. 14. In 46 a it seems used for “hail, oh god!”

^{page 323 note c} Tablet, Eg. Gall. Brit. Mus. 188. Young, Hieroglyph, pl. lxx. lxxi. The standing ape is determinative of ash, “to adore,” Brugsch, Mon. ii. lxxvii.; and of “light,” hut, or a “sunbeam,” sat. Lepsius, Denkm. iv. 82,1. 5.

^{page 323 note d} Lib. i. 14.

^{page 323 note e} Prisse, Mon. pl. xxvi. bis. 1. 6. Cf. the cynocephalus holding a jar

^{page 325 note a} Lepsius, Denkm. Abth. iv. 38, b, c.

^{page 325 note b} Prisse, pl. xxvi. bis. x.

^{page 325 note c} Lepsius, Denkm. Abth. iv. 70 f. Of. also the passage: “She has seen his elevation upon the throne in which the disc is placed, het,” Lepsius, Denkm. Abth. iv. 37 d. At Philæ also the description of the Sun's passage under the form of a scarab states Tat ap or het sen f- em hut f: “He has set up his image in his ark,” Lepsius, Denkm. Abth. iv. 17. A corresponding passage says, Tat or het hut f- em nub: “He has established (or given) his light like gold,” (Lepsius, Denkm. Abth. iv. 17 a.); as if this form, after all, was only Tat, to establish. It appears also as the name of Khnum, (Champollion, Not. Descr. p. 182,) and may be so pronounced in the sense of the verb “to join:” “He places (adds or joins) his image to his shrine,” Lepsius, Denkm. Abth. iv. 17. The disc is placed or united to its place, Lepsius, Denkm. Abth. iv. 39 d. The north wind comes forth to join his nostril, Lepsius, Denkm. Abth. iv. 42 a. He has given the upper crown, nefert, in addition to the lower crown, her tat or het enti teshr, united upon his head as the pschent, Lepsius, Denkm. Abth. iv. 47. Also in the sense of “joined;” Lepsius, Denkm. Abth. iv. 63a, “I have united thy limbs with (or by) life.” Lepsius, Denkm. Abth. iv. 70f, The goddess Het states that “she has given life to her son, and added besides breath to her child.” Also Horus placed on the throne, Lepsius, Denkm. Abth. iv. 25, 4. The phonetic power of this group is either Tat ap or Het, and it is the equivalent of the plant and serpent. These instances are all from Ptolemaic monuments.

^{page 326 note a} Sharpe, Eg. Inscr. pl. 2; but Sharpe gives here Ta en pe, “gifts of heaven,” instead of ansh, as Prisse reads.

^{page 326 note b} For urh(ek) in the sense of uræus, see Lepsius, Denkm. Abth. iv. 45 c.

^{page 326 note c} Devéria sur la Deesse Noub. A similar expression occurs, Sharpe, Eg. Inscr. pi. 54, 1. 9.

^{page 326 note d} Rhind Papyrus, pl. i. and foll.

^{page 326 note e} Tablet, Eg. Gall. Brit. Mus. 188; Young, Hieroglyphics, pl. lxx., Lepsius, Denkm. Abth. iv. 43, 77 d.

^{page 326 note f} It occurs with the determinative of “blest,” Lepsius, Denkm. Abth. iv. 41 c.

^{page 326 note g} Sharpe, Eg. Inscr. pl. 56,1. 7, 8.

^{page 326 note h} Sharpy, Eg. Inscr. pl. 77,1. 15.

^{page 327 note a} Sharpe, Eg. Inscr. pl. 75 d, 1. 33, 34, 35.

In the Calendar, 4th Sallier Papyrus, Select Papyri, pl. cli. 1. 7, the 19th Athyr is stated to be a bad day at the beginning, middle, and end. “It is the day of the birth of the north wind,” or “the Etesian gales,” in the heaven. “Do not,” add the instructions, “go out and sail on the river, nor …. the sun on that day.” De Kougé Phénomènes Celestes, p. 35. Now, according to Volney, Voyage I. p. 54, the north begins to blow in Egypt about the middle of September, say the 15th. Assuming the normal year of the Sothic cycle as having the 1st Thoth coincident with the 20th July, the date of the calendar is B.C. 1249, or the reign of Menephtah is of that date. The wind veered to the west, according to the same calendar, on the 13th Pharmouthi. Select Papyri, pl. clxv. 1. 2.

^{page 327 note b} Lepsius, Todt. xxii. c. 54.

^{page 327 note c} Sharpe, Eg. Inscr. pl. 106,1. 4.

^{page 327 note d} According to Dr. Hincks. Cf. the statue of Senmut, Sharpe, Eg. Inscr. pl. 107,1. 26–31.

^{page 327 note e} Mr. Harris, in 1855, had recognised this form, which I have found in this sense in the Rhind Papyri.

^{page 328 note a} Sharpe, Eg. Inscr. pl. 23,1. 2. Lepsius, Denkm. Abth. iii. 174.

^{page 328 note b} Mithradates, King of Pergamus, and Antipater, with 3,000 Jews, came to Pelusium B C. 48.

^{page 328 note c} Pap. Ath. 1078, 4, Brit. Mus.; Lepsius, Todt. xv. c. 28,1. 4.

^{page 328 note d} Cleopatra built a monument near this temple. Plutarch, Vit. Ant.; Sharpe, Eg. Hist. vol. ii. p. 62.

^{page 328 note e} It might be, “said his majesty,” supposing the serpent to be used for get, “say.”

^{page 328 note f} Tablet, Eg. Gall. Brit. Mus. No. 379.

^{page 328 note g} Tablet, Eg. Gall. Brit. Mus. No. 380.

^{page 328 note h} Lepsius, Denkm. Abth. iv. 23.

^{page 329 note a} Lepsius, Denkin. Abth. ii. 130.

^{page 329 note b} Champollion, Not. Descr. p. 275.

^{page 329 note c} Sharpe, Eg. Inscr. pl. 10,1. 12. Todt. xv. c. 26,1. 4. Select Pap. clv. 1.

^{page 329 note d} Lepsius, Denkm. Abth. ii. 105 b.

^{page 329 note e} Lepsius, Denkm. and Todt. xviii. c. 39,1. 2.

^{page 329 note f} According to M. Devéria, Rev. Arch. 1863, Pt. ii. p. 13, it means concubines, recluses, or Pallacides. The Papyrus Brit. Mus. 9900; (corr. to Lepsius, Todt. i. c. i. 1. 3.) has khennu, with the head of a calf as determinative.

^{page 329 note g} See Lepsius, Denkm. Abth. ii. 125 d. 188; Rosellini, M. d. C. xlix.

^{page 329 note h} Lepsius, Todt. c. 110; Champollion, Dict. 229; Lepsius, Denkm. Abth. iv. 26 a. 59, 79

^{page 329 note i} Chabas, Pap. Mag. d'Harris, p. 223; Lepsius, Todt. xxxvi. c. 99,1. 15, 30.

^{page 330 note a} Prisse, Mon. pl. xxxix. Cf. also for this word, Tablet, Eg. Gall. No 282; Lepsius, Todt. xl. c. 109, 1. 12; vi. c. 15,1. 48.

^{page 330 note b} Bunsen, Egypt's Place, i. p. 589. Le Page Renouf, Notes on some Negative particles, 8vo. Lond. 1862.

^{page 330 note c} Champollion, Dict. Egypt, p. 95; Tablet, Eg. Gall. Brit. Mus. No. 188, with the Papyrus Roll. It also means “created.”

^{page 330 note d} Lepsius, Denkm. Abth. iii. 203, 11.

^{page 330 note e} Lepsius, Todt. lx. c. 144, title.

^{page 331 note a} Lepsius, Denkm. Abth. iv. 9.

^{page 331 note b} Lepsius, Denkm. Abth. iv. 11 c. Cf. iv. 17 b. a time, and iv. 22 b. for cycles. From the passages iv. 45 c. and 46 a. 10, where it is used in the word rek, the value of the lock of hair seems to be K.

^{page 331 note c} Devéria, Mem. Biogr. de Bakenkhonsou, Mem. de l'lnst. Egypt, vol. i. p. 741.

^{page 331 note d} Burton, Exc. Hier. pl. lvi.; Tablet, Eg. Gall. Brit. Mus. 243; Lepsius, Denkm. Abth. iii. 5.

^{page 331 note e} Lepsius, Todt. x. c. 17,1. 23.

^{page 331 note f} The word mes in this passage, with the determinative of darkness, seems to mean obscurity, “chaos.” The reduplicated form mes-mes, Select Papyri, Chabas, Pap. Mag. d'Harris, p. 223, means confusion. “There is confusion in the street.” There is also “a place of confusion ”in the Ritual, Lepsius, Todt. lxvi. c. 146,1. 18. Mesi in this passage is read “bread “or “food “by some.

^{page 331 note g} Tahn is some substance; it is difficult to say what. M. Chabas reads it “crystal.” Pap. Hier. p. 83. A gate is made of it. Lepsius, Todt. lxvi. c. 146,1. 26.

^{page 334 note a} This really reads Petbast; but a very slight alteration in one of the hieroglyphs will make Petsahesi, the reading of the Other tablet. The name of Petbast, the father of Pasherenptah, is written in both tablets with other hieroglyphs, so that no doubt Petsahesi is here intended.

^{page 336 note a} See Dr. Hincks, on the Egyptian Stele, Trans. Roy. Irish Acad. vol. xix. pt. ii.; Prisse, Mon. Egypt, p. 6; Lepsius, Ueber der Ptolemäer geschichte, 4to. Berlin, 1853, p. 23.

^{page 336 note b} Lepsius, Denkm. Abth. iv. 15 d.

^{page 336 note c} Lepsius, Denkm. Abth. iv. 18.

^{page 336 note d} The dedication runs, καὶ Πτολεμαῖς ὁ υἱὀς Ἀσκληπιῷ Lepsius, Denkm. Abth. iv. 18; Böckh, Corp. Inscr. vol. iii. No. 4894.

^{page 337 note a} Similar expressions will be found, Lepsius, Denkm. Abth. iv. 25.

^{page 337 note b} Lepsius, Denkm. Abth. iv. 32 c; ni men em haak, “heals evils in thy limbs.”

^{page 337 note c} τὸ πρὸς ΜέμΦιν μέγα Ἀσκληπιεῖον. Gr. Pap. Leyd. O.; Böckh, Corp. Inscr. vol. iii. pp. 304, 305.

^{page 337 note d} Gr. Pap. Brit. Mus. Xii. ὁ Ἀσκλήπιος ἔχει λιθινὰ σπονδεῖα ἄνω ἐν τ\ddotcdomega Σεραπιείῳ. Ἔθος ἐστι σπένδειν τῷ Ἀσκληπίῳ καθ᾽ ὴμέραν. Brunet de Presle, Mémoire sur le Sérapéum de Memphis (Mem.de l'Acad.), 4to. Paris, 1852, pp. 14, 15.

^{page 337 note e} Reuvens, Lettres à M. Letronne, 4to. Leide, 1830, iii. p. 88.

^{page 337 note f} Herod, ii. 141.

^{page 337 note g} Birch, Trans. Roy. Soc. Lit. New Ser. vol. iv. p. 247; De Rougé, Étude sur une Stele, p. 162.

^{page 337 note h} Herod, iv. 172.

^{page 337 note i} Quint. Curt.

^{page 338 note a} Reuvens, Lettres, &c. i. p. 9.

^{page 338 note b} Cicero, Nat. Deor. iii. 17, 37; Ovid. Met. xi. 33; Virgil, Ecl. viii. 55.

^{page 338 note c} Pausan. i. 34, s. 4. The worshippers abstained from wine, fasted for twenty-four hours, and slept on the skin of the sheep offered.

^{page 338 note d} Eunapius, Vita Ædesii, ed. Boissonade, i. p. 27.

^{page 338 note e} καὶ Φράζει πρὸς τὸν ἄνδρα δεῖπνόν τε αὐτῇ καἱ εὐνὴν τοῦ Ἀνούβιδος είσηγγέλθαι. Joseph. Antiq. Jud. xviii. c. 4.

^{page 338 note f} See Devéria, Mém. de l'Inst. Egypt, vol. i.; Baillet, Eev. Arch. Jan. 1863, p. 44–51. These priesthoods were not for life, but for a term of years.

^{page 338 note g} Sharpe, Eg. Inscr. pl. 48, 1.

^{page 338 note h} Sharpe, Eg. Inscr. pl. 48 a; Tablet, Eg. Gall. 378.

^{page 338 note i} Sharpe, Eg. Inscr. pl. 48 a.

^{page 338 note k} Ibid.

^{page 338 note l} Ibid.

^{page 338 note m} Ibid.

^{page 338 note n} Ibid.

^{page 338 note o} Sharpe, Eg. Inscr. pl. 48 a.; Tablet, Brit. Mus. 378.

^{page 338 note p} Tablet, Eg. Gall. Brit. Mus. 379.

^{page 338 note q} Sharpe, Eg. Inscr. pl. 48 a.

^{page 339 note a} Tablet, Eg. Gall. Brit. Mus. 379.

^{page 339 note b} Ibid.

^{page 339 note c} Tablet, Eg. Gall. 378.

^{page 339 note d} Young, Hieroglyph, xlviii.

^{page 339 note e} Letronne, Kecherches, p. 134.

^{page 339 note f} Lepsius, Todt. xi. c. 18,1. 2.

^{page 339 note g} Chæremon apud Euseb. Prep. Evang. iii. 4.

^{page 339 note h} Cf. Tablet, Eg. Gall. Brit. Mus. 436.

^{page 340 note a} Lepsius, Denkm. Abth. iii. 84.

^{page 340 note b} Lepsius, Denkm. Abth. iv. 3.

^{page 340 note c} Sarc. of Nekhtherhebi, Eg. Gall. 10. r. side.

^{page 340 note d} Champollion, Mon. cccxvi.

^{page 340 note e} Prisse. Mon. xxi.

^{page 340 note f} Lepsius, Denkm. Abth. iv. 11 c; Cf. Brugsch, Mon. Eg. pl. lxi. 1. 7.

^{page 340 note g} Lepsius, Denkm. Abth. iv. 17 a.

^{page 340 note h} Lepsius, Denkm. Abth. iv. 21.

^{page 340 note i} The word ap is sometimes determined by a flying scarabæus, as api, “flying.” Eg. Eoom, Brit. Mus. No. 6966; and ap on the sarcophagus of Nekhtherhebi; Brit. Mus. Eg. Gall. No. 10.

^{page 341 note a} Lepsius, Denkm. Abth. iv. 23 f. This meaning of the ape does not appear amongst those given by Horapollo, lib. i. c. xiv.—xvi. The ape also means to “watch ”(ras). Lepsius, Denkm. Abth. iv. 82 e.

^{page 341 note b} Dr. Hincks on the Egyptian Stele or Tablet, 1. c.

^{page 341 note c} Champollion, Gr. Egypt, p. 66.

^{page 341 note d} Cf. Tablet, Eg. Gall. Brit. Mus. 204, with Lepsius, Denkm. Abth. iii. 6; and Todt. xxx. c. 78,1. 39. In Tablet 204 it has the determinative

^{page 342 note a} For the pylon, determinative of ua-ua “to meditate,” see Chabas, Pap. Harris, p. 117, Inscription Historique de Seti I. p. 12, note 40; and De Rougé, Jour. Asiat. 1856–8, pp. 357, 555.

^{page 342 note b} This word is written am; Lepsius, Denkm. 237 c.; Cf. Salvolini, Analyse Gramm. pl. A. No. 33. It means to.“find, discover, invent,” as already pointed out by De Rougé, Etude sur une Stele, p 88.

^{page 342 note c} Sharpe, Eg. Inscr. pl. 89.

^{page 342 note d} Sharpe, Eg. Inscr. pl. 94.1. 1, 2.

^{page 342 note e} Clarac, Musée de Sculpt, pl. 243, No. 379 bis.

^{page 342 note f} Sharpe, Eg. Inscr. pl. 112, 1. 7. See Horapollo, lib. i. xxxix. ἢ προΦήτην βουλόμενοι γράΦειν γράΦειν κύνυ ζωγραΦοῦσιν.

^{page 342 note g} Cf. De Rougé Journal Asiatique, 1856–8, p. 145; D'Orbiney Papyrus, p. xi. 1. 4.

^{page 342 note h} Sharpe, Eg. Inscr. pl. 78, 1. 16.

^{page 342 note i} Lepsius, Denkm. Abth. ii. 125 d. 191.

^{page 342 note k} Lepsius, Denkm. Abth. iii. 39 a, b.

^{page 342 note l} Sharpe, Eg. Inscr. pl. 78, 1. 16; De Rougé, Mémoire sur le Tombeau d'Ahmes, p. 93.

^{page 343 note a} Sharpe, Eg. Inscr. pl. 84.

^{page 343 note b} Lepsius, Todt. lxxix. c. 165, title; Cailliaud, Voyage à Meroe, pl. lxvii; Rosellini, M. R. cxxx. Brugsch, Mon. ii. pl. lxxii. 1, determined by a harpist.

^{page 344 note a} This expression for a dream has been recognised both by myself and Mr. Goodwin, who also finds it repeated in the second Sallier Papyrus, which, at the opening, gives an account of the dreams of Amenemha I.

^{page 344 note b} De Kougé Bull. Arch. 1863, p. 195.

^{page 344 note c} Lepsius, Denkm. Abth. iv. 77 a. 77 c.

^{page 344 note d} Coffin of Nekhtherhebi, Brit. Mus. Eg. Gal. No. 10, r. side.

^{page 344 note e} Papyrus Brit. Mus. 9900, (corr. to Lepsius, Todt. xxviii. c. 76, 1. 1,) as the determinative of the word hebi, “to fish.”

^{page 344 note f} Lepsius, Denkm. Abth. iv. 3 a.

^{page 344 note g} Lepsius, Denkm. Abth. iv. 41 c, 47 a. Lepsius, Todt. x. c. 17,1. 8.

^{page 344 note h} Pap. Barker 217, British Museum (corr. to Lepsius, Todt. c. 77,1. 2).

^{page 344 note i} See the base of the Karnak obelisk, Prisse, Mon. xviii. Est. Ta naf heka ham teshr em au ari: “He has given me to rule Egypt as a guardian son.” Papyrus Brit. Mus. 9900, (corr. to Lepsius, Todt. c. 112,1.2,) gives it as the determinative of asu. So also the Rosetta Stone, Brugsch, Ins. Ros. 1. 5.

^{page 345 note a} In some passages it seems to mean “except,” Goodwin, Rev. Arch. 1861, p. 134; or “opening of the mouth,” Chabas, Pap. d'Harris, p. 207.

^{page 345 note b} Lepsius, Todt, xxv. c. 64,1. 34; Tablet, Eg. Gall. Brit. Mus. 150.

^{page 345 note c} Lepsius, Denkm. Abth. iv. 65 a, and comp. Abth. iii. 194, 1. 6.

^{page 345 note d} The thigh is also found with the value of Ȃ in the word ash ma, “true or real cedar;” Brugsch, Mon. ii. lxxiv. 1.

^{page 346 note a} Select Papyri, pl. xliv. 5, lxxviii. 8; Cf. Rosellini, M. C. cx. 1.

^{page 346 note b} Also determined by a lamb or sheep, which is the animal here; or else the sheep, sa or sou, and then in the sense of drinking the living waters of all the pools or rivers in it (the Hades).

^{page 346 note c} Perhaps the Coptic moihi, “wonder.” In Brugsch, Mon. lxviii. g. it appears in a musical scene over a female clapping hands.

^{page 346 note d} Lepsius, Todt. xxxi. c. 83,1. 2.

^{page 346 note e} Compare Lepsius, Denkm. Abth. iv. 80 a and 90 c.

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XVIII.—On Two Egyptian Tablets of the Ptolemaic Period

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