XXV. On a Historical Tablet of the Reign of Thothmes III. recently discovered at Thebes

Samuel Birch Esq.

doi:10.1017/S0261340900001508

XXV. On a Historical Tablet of the Reign of Thothmes III. recently discovered at Thebes

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 25 January 2012

Samuel Birch Esq.

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Abstract

I am enabled by the kindness of Mr. Perry to lay before the Society an impression in paper from a large tablet, dated in the reign of Thothmes III., which has been recently discovered at Thebes. The impression of it was made by Lord John Hay, when on a visit to Thebes, and has only just reached this country. The tablet contains a text of twenty-four lines of hieroglyphs, accompanied by a scene representing Thothmes in adoration to the principal Thebandeities. The purport of the text is religious, announcing the benefits conferred by the god Amen Ra on the monarch, but it contains several historical allusions of importance to the history of this reign. As it helps to complete the “Annals of Thothmes III.” of which I have already given some account to the Society, I trust the short accompanying notice of the inscription and its contents may prove acceptable.

Type: Research Article
Information: Archaeologia , Volume 38 , Issue 2 , 1861 , pp. 373 - 388

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0261340900001508 [Opens in a new window]
Copyright: Copyright © The Society of Antiquaries of London 1861

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^{page 376 note a} In one text they are mentioned, antithetic to the whole world, as “thou hast cut down the world, thou hast smitten the Amu, or nations.” Champollion, , Not. Descr. p. 348Google Scholar.

^{page 376 note b} See Archæologia, XXXV. p. 116, 140, 162.

^{page 377 note a} See Archæologia, XXXV. p. 158; Brugsch, , Die Geographie der Nachbarlaender ægyptens, 4to. Leipzig, 1858, ss. 35, 36Google Scholar; Champollion, , Notice Descriptive, p. 158Google Scholar.

^{page 377 note b} The idea of the Dahæ, the old name of the Daiæ, Herodot. I. 125, does not appear to me to answer the geographical conditions, and I therefore abandon it.

^{page 377 note c} Select Papyri, pl. xi. xii.

^{page 377 note d} Brugsch, , Geogr. ii. 5,Google Scholar taf xiii. 8. taf. xvii. 1–8.

^{page 377 note e} Rosellini, , M. d. c. ii. 3; Rect. Sarc. Eg. Room, Brit. Mus. 6,665Google Scholar.

^{page 377 note f} Brugsch, , Geogr. iii.Google Scholar taf. xviii. 188; Lepsius, , Denkm. iii. 130Google Scholar.

^{page 377 note g} Lepsius, , Denkm. iii. 111Google Scholar. Gallery, Egyptian, Brit. Mus. 808Google Scholar.

^{page 378 note a} Gallery, Egyptian, Brit. Mus. 370Google Scholar.

^{page 378 note b} Greene, Fouilles à Thèbes, pl. i. line 4. Champollion, , Not. Descr. 165.Google Scholar Tablet of Philae.

^{page 378 note c} Rosellini, , Mon. Real, cxxxiv.Google Scholar In a subsequent part of the inscription the Sea and Isles are mentioned.

^{page 378 note d} Rosellini, , Mon. Real. lxiGoogle Scholar.

^{page 378 note e} Under Amenophis II. they are described “as coming on horses,” Brugsch, , Geogr. torn. i. taf. viii. 307Google Scholar; and at a later period identified with the Persians, ibid. taf. Iviii.

^{page 378 note f} Geographie, ii. taf. xvii. No. 32.

^{page 378 note g} Geographie, iii. taf. xvii. No. 146, 14, 147a, s. 56.

^{page 378 note h} Geographie, iii. taf. xvii. No. 158. It is remarkable that the Coptic for steel is stahli; hesti might be read stahi; and then, as in Bennippe, the li might be some qualificative added; but the word stahli seems borrowed from a foreign source. The form ba en pe, perhaps fqr “iron,” occurs Lepsius, , Denkm. iii. 194, 10Google Scholar.

^{page 378 note 1} Chabas, , Le Papyrus Magique Harris, 4to. Chal. 1860, p. 49, 50Google Scholar.

^{page 379 note a} Brugsch, , Geogr. iii., vii. 3Google Scholar.

^{page 379 note b} Brugsch, , Geogr. iii. taf. vii. 4Google Scholar.

^{page 379 note c} Brugsch, , Geogr. viii. 6Google Scholar.

^{page 379 note d} Brugsch, , Geogr. ix. 10Google Scholar.

^{page 379 note e} Brugsch, , Geogr. ii. s. 5. Eg. Gallery, Brit. Mus. No. 32Google Scholar.

^{page 379 note f} This word kahab, determined either by an oryx or a horn, is probably XHB to sharpen, harden, render proud. It will be found in the Inscription of Barneses II., Prisse, Mon. xxi., Kahab tu er ta Nehsi, “Giving sharp words to the negroes;” and in two passages of the Ritual the name of the demon of the fifth gate. LepsillS, Todt. lxi, 145e, lxviii. 147, 15, Nebt her kahab hat, “Faming face, exciting time.”

^{page 380 note a} Lepsius, , Denkm. ii. 19Google Scholar.

^{page 380 note b} Many examples show that in monosyllables the second consonant was not pronounced: thus, the well-known ses-mu, “mare,” is written sem-sem in Lepsius, , Denkm. iii. 276Google Scholar e, and repeated with the syllabic form sam-sam on a Ptolemaic monument, Clarac, , Mus. de Sculpt, pl. 242, No. 369Google Scholar; and the word ba-ba, the “roof,” “cap,” or “tip,” of an obelisk, is indifferently ben-ben, Lepsius, , Denkm. iii. 97Google Scholar e, 24 w; or ber-ber, Lepsius, , Denkm. iii. 237Google Scholar; Brugsch, , Geogr. xlvii. 1249–53Google Scholar.

^{page 380 note c} Champollion, , Not. Descr. p. 223Google Scholar.

^{page 380 note d} Rosellini, , Mon. Real. IxiGoogle Scholar.

^{page 380 note e} Brugsch, , Geogr. ii. s. 17Google Scholar.

^{page 380 note f} Transact, . Roy. Soc. Lit. vol. iv. 230Google Scholar.

^{page 381 note a} Cf. Brugsch, , Geogr. ii. 87; andGoogle ScholarBirch, , Mémoire sur une Patère Egyptienne du Louvre, p. 24.Google Scholar This position cannot be shaken by the list of a private tomb, such lists being often irregularly drawn up.

^{page 381 note b} Why Brugsch, , Geogr. ii. 51, asserts that it is iron,.I do not know; the word seft is both the ancient and modern word for pitch or bitumen, and appear in lists of substances as an oily, not mineral, substance, used in embalmingGoogle Scholar(Leemans, , Mon. xxxviii. 15Google Scholar; Lepsius, , Denkm. ii. 42 e.)Google Scholar See also the sefi em arp, “lees (?) of wine.” Champ Not. Descr. 195.

^{page 381 note c} Lepsius, , Denkm. iv. 67 dGoogle Scholar.

^{page 381 note d} Eg. Gallery, , Brit. Mus. 221Google Scholar.

^{page 381 note e} Cf. for example, Champollion, , Not. Descr. p. 270; andGoogle ScholarLepsius, , Denkm. iii. 80 eGoogle Scholar.

^{page 381 note f} Papyrus Salt, 828, loco Lepsius, Todt. c. 125,1. 53.

^{page 381 note g} Rosellini, , Mon. Real, cxxxiiGoogle Scholar.

^{page 382 note a} Lepsius, , Denkm. iv. 52 dGoogle Scholar.

^{page 382 note b} Wilkinson, , Mat. Hier. pl. viii. 2Google Scholar; Champollion, , Not. Descr. p. 486, Mon. clviiGoogle Scholar.

^{page 382 note c} Rosellini, , Mon. Keal. lxiGoogle Scholar.

^{page 382 note d} Rosellini, , Mon. Real, ccliiGoogle Scholar.

^{page 382 note e} Ungarelli, Interpretatio Obeliscorum. Obel. Lateran, tab. i col. 2.

^{page 382 note f} Γομαρόν τριῶν νιων γενομένων Άσχάναζην μὲν Άσχαναιοѕ ῷκισεν, οἶ νῡν Ρηγῑνεѕ ύπὸ τῶν λήνων καλοῡνται Josephus, , Antiq. i. 67Google Scholar.

^{page 382 note g} xv. 698.

^{page 382 note h} Anab. iv. 50; Ind. i. 80.

^{page 382 note i} Champollion, , Not. Descr. 207Google Scholar.

^{page 383 note a} Deveria, , Sur le Basilicogrammate Thouth ou Teti, 8vo, Paris, 1817,Google Scholar for the value a of the initial of this group.

^{page 383 note b} Lepsius, , Denkm. abth. iii. bl. 65Google Scholar.

^{page 383 note c} Lepsius, iii. 72.

^{page 383 note d} Sel. Pap. xix. 2. Tabl. Eg. Gallery, Brit. Mus. 589, has “let me be like the dogs (âu) of the court (âui.t).” Cf. Rougé, De, D'Orbiney Pap. viii. 1. 8Google Scholar.

^{page 383 note e} Champollion, , Not. Descr. p. 106Google Scholar.

^{page 383 note f} Eosellini, , Mon. Real. lxiGoogle Scholar.

^{page 384 note a} Determined by a block of stone. De Rougé has given the same sense.

^{page 384 note b} Deveria, , loc. citGoogle Scholar.

^{page 384 note c} Salvolini, An Gram.

^{page 384 note d} Ammian, . Marcellin. xvii. c 4, pp. 121–127Google Scholar.

^{page 384 note e} Lepsius, , Denkm. iii 135 a, 89Google Scholar

^{page 384 note f} Pap. Salt, Brit. Mus. 828, Lepsius, loco, Todt. c. 145Google Scholar; in the corresponding place, Pap. E. R 9900, the determinative of a branch of wood is replaced by a balance.

^{page 384 note g} Lepsius, , Todt. 125,1. 8, 9Google Scholar.

^{page 384 note h} Rougé, De, D'Orbiney Papyrus, pl. i. I. 6, pl. x. 1. 1Google Scholar.

^{page 384 note i} Rougé, De, Stèle Egyptienne, Journal Asiatique, p. 241Google Scholar.

^{page 384 note k} Geographie, Taf. xxiv. No. xvii.

^{page 384 note l} Denkm iv. 74 e.

^{page 384 note m} Lepsius, , Todt. lxii. 145, 20.2Google Scholar

^{page 385 note a} Lepsius, , Denkm iii. 128Google Scholar.

^{page 385 note b} Eg. Gallery, , Brit. Mus. No. 32Google Scholar.

^{page 385 note c} The verb tem, Ungarelli, i. iv. 16, 19; khesr, to disperse, has the sword (Rosellini, , Mon Real, cxxxix.)Google Scholar and the quiver (Lepsius, , Denkm. iv. 85 a) for its determinativesGoogle Scholar.

^{page 385 note d} Lepsius, , Todt. xlvi. 124, 9. Cf. Champ. Mon. 223 cGoogle Scholar.

^{page 385 note e} Lepsius, , Denkm ii. 149 gGoogle Scholar.

^{page 385 note f} Brugsch, , Geogr. taf. lviii. 12, 13Google Scholar.

^{page 385 note g} Lepsius, , Todt. liv. 133, 3Google Scholar.

^{page 385 note h} Papyrus Salt, 828, Lepsius, loco, Todt. 149, 27Google Scholar.

^{page 385 note i} Sharpe, , Eg. Inscr. 28, BGoogle Scholar.

^{page 385 note k} Lepsius, , Todt. xvii. 38, 1Google Scholar.

^{page 386 note a} Cf. Lepsius, , Todt. xvii. 32, 10Google Scholar.

^{page 386 note b} Lepsius, , Todt. xviii. 40, 2Google Scholar.

^{page 386 note c} Egypt. Gallery, , Brit. Mus. No. 32Google Scholar.

^{page 386 note d} D'Orbiney Papyrus, ii. 10, xi. 3.

^{page 386 note e} Brugsch, , Mon. iii.Google Scholar; Lepsius, , Todt. xxxvii. 100, 4Google Scholar; Lepsius, , Denkm. iv. 52Google Scholar a. Lately it appears M. Deveria reads this group Sat.

^{page 386 note f} Lepsius, , Denkm. ii. 106, 7Google Scholar.

^{page 386 note g} The verbal root occurs in the Chapter of the Net, Lepsius, , Todt. 153, 3Google Scholar.

^{page 386 note h} Lepsius, , Denkm. iii. 129Google Scholar.

^{page 387 note a} Rosellini, , Mon. Eeal. lviiiGoogle Scholar.

^{page 387 note b} Ibid. lvii.

^{page 387 note c} Lepsius, , Denkm. iii. 128Google Scholar.

^{page 387 note d} Chabas; Greene, , Fouilles, i. 3Google Scholar.

^{page 387 note e} Eosellini, , Mon. Real. lxiiGoogle Scholar.

^{page 387 note f} Greene, , Fouilles à Thèbes, p. 4,Google Scholar pl. i. 3; M. de Rougé, L'Athén. Fr. 1856. The phrase is kha siu her sesht, like stars in their combustion.

^{page 388 note a} Eosellini, , Mon. Real. lxiGoogle Scholar.

^{page 388 note b} Champollion, , Not. Descr. 183Google Scholar.

^{page 388 note c} Eg. Gallery, No. 32; Horus is also called the tema nekht, the “powerful swooper,” i.e. as a hawk. Champollion, , Not. Descr. p 241Google Scholar.

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XXV. On a Historical Tablet of the Reign of Thothmes III. recently discovered at Thebes

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