Registros del pasado, 2.ª serie, Vol. IV

RECORDS OF THE PAST

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BEING ENGLISH TRANSLATIONS

OF THE

ANCIENT MONUMENTS OF EGYPT AND WESTERN ASIA

NEW SERIES

EDITED BY A. H. SAYCE

Hon. LL.D. Dublin; Hon. D.D. Edinburgh

VOL. IV

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Multæ terricolis linguæ, cœlestibus una

LONDON

SAMUEL BAGSTER AND SONS, LIMITED

15 PATERNOSTER ROW

[1890]

Printed by R. & R. CLARK, Edinburgh.

[Front Cover and Spine]

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Front Cover and Spine

[Title Page]

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Title Page

PREFACE

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p. v

PREFACE

Thanks to my contributors, I have this year been able to redeem my promise of issuing two volumes of the Records of the Past during the same season. The monumental records of the ancient oriental world are so numerous, and so much new material is continually being brought to light, that it is difficult for either contributors or editors to keep pace with the discoveries that are constantly being made. All we can hope to do is to lay before the public the most important of the documents which have thus been rescued from forgetfulness, and the latest and most authoritative renderings of the texts.

The latest discovery of interest to the student of the Old Testament has been announced from Berlin. Among the tablets from Tel el-Amarna which have been acquired for the Museum at Berlin, five are found to have been despatches sent from the king or governor of Jerusalem to the kings of Egypt. I had already recognised the name of Uru’salim or "Jerusalem" in a tablet now in Cairo (Academy, 19th April 1890, p. 273); the tablets at Berlin

p. vi

give us further and unexpected information in regard to the later capital of the Judæan kingdom. In the fifteenth century before our era Jerusalem was governed by a certain Abdi-dhaba, or Ebed-tob as his name would have been written in Hebrew; and it is his letters which have just been deciphered by the German Assyriologists. He claims to have occupied a more independent position than the governors of the other cities of Palestine at the time. They were merely Egyptian officials, whereas he, though owning allegiance to the Egyptian monarch, claims to have been appointed to his office by "the oracle of the mighty king." This "mighty king" is shown by one of the despatches to have been the deity who was worshipped at Jerusalem. Abdi-dhaba, accordingly, must have been a priest-king like Melchizedek, "the priest of the most high God." A broken tablet which I copied in M. Bouriant's collection tells us what was the local name of the deity in question. Here we read: al sad Uru’salim-KI al bit AN NIN-IP: sumu Mar-ruv al sarri padarat asar nisi al Kilti-KI," the city of the Mountain of Jerusalem, the city of the temple of the god Uras, (whose) name (there is) Marru, the city of the king, defending (?) the locality of the men of the city of Keilah." Consequently "the most high God," of whom Abram was blessed, was locally known under the name of Marru, which seems to be connected with the Aramaic marê, "lord," and was identified with the Babylonian Uras, the Eastern Sun. It is

p. vii

possible that the name of the god may throw light on that of Moriah, "the mountain" on which his sanctuary was erected.

Abdi-dhaba describes himself as having had dealings with the Kassi or Babylonians, and in one of his letters he says: "so long as a ship crosses the sea—this is the oracle of the mighty king—so long shall there be a continuance of the conquests of Nahrima and the Babylonians." Nahrima represents the Aram Naharaim of Scripture, and it is interesting to find that the conquests of a king of that country were known and feared in southern Palestine a hundred years before Israel was oppressed by Chushan-rish-athaim, the king of Aram Naharaim (Judg. iii. 8–10). The mention of the Babylonians is also interesting since Manetho avers that when the Hyksos were expelled from Egypt they built Jerusalem as a defence against the "Assyrians." In the age of Manetho "Assyrians" and "Babylonians" were synonymous terms.

While we are thus learning the inner history of Palestine in the century before the Israelitish invasion, the history of the fall of the Assyrian empire, late as it comparatively is in time, is still shrouded in obscurity. Two new facts only have been acquired of recent years in regard to it. One is that the Assyrian king whose name was doubtfully restored as [Bel-sum-]iskun was really called Sin-sar-iskun; the other is that Assur-etil-ilâni-yukinni, the son and successor of Assur-bani-pal, was acknowledged

p. viii

in northern Babylonia as late as the 4th year of his reign, tablets of that date having been found at Niffer by the American expedition. Since Sin-sar-iskun seems evidently to be the Sarakos of Abydênos and Alexander Polyhistor, we must regard him as the last king of Assyria, of whom it was said that he had burnt himself to death in his palace. But between Assur-etil-ilâni-yukinni and Sin-sar-iskun it would appear that there was at least one king, possibly two. A tablet (K 195) was discovered by Mr. George Smith from which he translates the following passage: "Sin-inadina-pal son of Assur-akh-iddin (Esar-haddon), king of Assyria, whose name on this tablet is inscribed, to the government in the earth, in the presence of thy great divinity Shamas great lord, he is proclaimed and established." 1 The name of Sin-inadina-pal, or rather Sin-iddina-pal, reminds us of the classical Sardanapallos, and the tablet on which his name occurs belongs to a peculiar group, distinguished from all others in the Kouyunyik collection by their style of writing and expression. They begin with the words: "O Sun-god, great lord, I beseech thee; remove (our) sin."

Two tablets of this group (K 4668 and S 2005) were published by myself for the first time in 1877, in the Appendix to my Babylonian Literature (pp. 78–82). 2 I there pointed out that they belong to the closing days of the Assyrian Empire, and that

p. ix

the Esar-haddon mentioned in them must be a later king than the Esar-haddon otherwise known to history. I have since seen no reason to change my opinion. Before examining their contents, however, it is as well to translate such portions of them as give a continuous sense.

K 4668.

1. "O Sun-god, great lord, I beseech thee; O god of fixed destiny, remove [our] sin!

2. From this day, [from] the 3rd day of this month, even the month Iyyar, to the 15th day of Ab of this year,

3. for these too days (and) too nights religious ordinances (and) holy days the prophets have proclaimed in writing (?).

4. Whether Kastariti with his soldiers, or the soldiers of the Gimirrâ (Kimmerians),

5. or the soldiers of the Madâ (Medes), or the soldiers of the Mannâ (Minni), or (some other) enemy are capturing,

6. overflow, (and) plot, as to whether on the seventh day or …

7. or on a holy day with the weapons of war and combat, or with fire or engines that discharge bolts and missiles,

8. or with a battering-ram (?) or siege (?), or with famine,

9. or by oaths in the names of god and [king], or by …

10. or by a covenant in writing they shall occupy the … of the city.

10. The city of Kisa’s’su they have taken; a [trophy? in] the midst of the cities of Khartam? (and) Kisa’s’su they erect:

12. the cities of Khartam (and) Kisa’s’su their hands capture.

13. Into their hands is delivered thy great divinity. The …

p. x

14. … of the cities of Khartam (and) Kisa’s’su the enemy seize with the hands.

15. From this day to the day of the lesser feast, in the land, in the presence of thy great divinity

16. during the day within their …

17 they plot, they return and …

…………

26. Since that this day, even the 3rd day of this month Iyyar, until the 11th day of the month Ab of this year,

27. Kastariti with [his] soldiers, the soldiers of the Gimirrâ, the soldiers of the Mannâ,

28. the soldiers of the Madâ and [the enemy] are capturing,

29. the cities of Khartam (and) Kisa’s’su [they have taken], the cities of Khartam (and) Kisa’s’su they have entered,

30. the cities of Khartam (and) Kisa’s’su [their hands] capture; to their hands they are delivered."

S 2005.

1. "[O Sun-god], great [lord], I beseech thee, O god of fixed destiny remove [our sin]!

2. [Kas]tariti the lord of the city of Kar-Kassî, who to Mamiti-arsu

3. [the lord of the city] of the Madâ sent, saying: We are confederate with one another, from the country [of Assyria let us revolt.]

4. [Mami]ti-arsu listens; he is obedient; he sets his face

5. [to revolt] this year from Esar-haddon king [of Assyria.]

The rest of the tablet is too broken for translation, but mention is again made in it of "Mamiti-arsu" or "Vavit-arsu," "the lord of the city of the Medes," and we are told that the city of Zaz was captured. Reference is also made in the tablets to

p. xi

the city of ’Sandu-litir and the ’Sapardâ or Sepharad of Obadiah (20), as well as to the fact that the enemy had "entered the city of Kilman."

The language of the tablets is not that of a powerful conqueror like Esar-haddon the son of Sennacherib. Moreover, the historical situation presupposed by them does not suit the history of his reign. He defeated the Gimirrâ on the northern frontier of his kingdom and drove them to the west. Their leader was Teuspa, not Kastarit, and he is called a Manda or "nomad." The Gimirrâ, furthermore, who were led by Teuspa, were not in alliance with the Medes or with any other of the populations of the north. The war of Esar-haddon with the Medes did not take place until long after the defeat of the Kimmerians, and so far were the Medes from being the aggressors that it was Esar-haddon who invaded their territory in the distant east. The Medes, in fact, were not yet in contact with the frontiers of Assyria. Finally, their leader was not Mamiti-arsu. The "city-lords" who were attacked and subjected by Esar-haddon bore the names of Sidirparna, Eparna, Uppiz, Zana’sana, and Ramateya. There is a plentiful choice of names here, but that of Mamiti-arsu does not appear among them.

On the other hand, the confederacy of which Kastarit was the head strikingly resembles that which is called upon in the prophecies of Jeremiah (li. 27, 28) to destroy the empire of Babylon. The prophet summons the "kingdoms of Ararat, Minni,

p. xii

and Ashkenaz," and "the kings of the Medes" to march upon Babylonia. Ararat or Van and Ashkenaz, the Assyrian Asguza, take the place of Kastarit and the Gimirrâ, but otherwise the situation is the same 'as that which is represented in the tablets. It is clear from Jer. 1. 17, li. 34, that the prophecy was written while Nebuchadrezzar was still upon the throne of Babylon, and it would follow that the tablets which depict a similar political situation cannot belong to a much earlier date.

The Esar-haddon of the tablets, therefore, must be a later prince than Esar-haddon the father of Assur-bani-pal. The conclusion is confirmed by a tablet, published in W. A. I., iii. 16, No. 2, which has been the subject of a special study by M. Amiaud. 1 It reads as follows: "Order of the daughter of the king to the lady Assur-sarrat. Now do not inscribe thy tablet, do not utter thy word, lest perhaps they say: 'This (is) the mistress of Serua-edherat, the eldest daughter of the harem of Assur-etil-ilâni-yukinni, the great king, the powerful king, the king of legions, the king of Assyria.' Yet thou (art) a mighty princess, the lady of the house of Assur-bani-pal, the eldest royal son of the harem of Esar-haddon king of Assyria." It would appear from these words that the wife of Assur-bani-pal, the eldest son of Esar-haddon, "king of Assyria," had attempted to assume authority over the dowager queen of Assur-etil-ilâni-yukinni. As the latter king

p. xiii

was the successor of Assur-bani-pal, it is obvious that the Esar-haddon referred to in the tablet could not have been the father of Assur-bani-pal, and that the Assur-bani-pal whose wife was Assur-sarrat must have been a different prince from the famous Assyrian monarch. We must see in him a brother of Sin-iddina-pal, and it is possible that the Greek Sardanapallos has originated out of a fusion of the names of the two brothers Assur-(bani-pal) and (Sin)-iddina-pal.

However this may be, we must regard the existence of Esar-haddon II as an ascertained fact of history. Whether he was succeeded by one of his two sons Sin-iddina-pal and Assur-bani-pal II we do not know. All that seems clear is that between Assur-etil-ilâni-yukinni, the immediate successor of Assur-bani-pal, and Sin-sar-iskun the last Assyrian king there intervened the reign of Esar-haddon II, and that under him the foes of the empire first began to gather against it from the north-east. The king turned for help to the gods and the prophets; and the armies that had once made the name of Assyria terrible throughout the eastern world could no longer defend the cities they had garrisoned.

A. H. SAYCE.

Queen's College, Oxford,

October 1890.

Footnotes

viii:1 History of Assurbanipal, p. 324.

viii:2 See Records of the Past, xi. first series, pp. 79–84. Other tablets belonging to the same group are K 4270, S 384, and S 2002.

xii:1 "Esarhaddon II" in The Babylonian and Oriental Record, ii. 9.

TABLE OF

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

PAGE

I.

The Official Life of an Egyptian Officer, from the Tomb of Amen-em-heb at Thebes. By Philippe Virey

1

II.

Hymn to Osiris on the Stele of Amon-em-ha. By D. Mallet

14

III.

The Synchronous History of Assyria and Babylonia. By the Editor

24

IV.

Inscriptions of Shalmaneser II (on the Black Obelisk, the Kurkh Monolith, and the Gates of Balawât). By the Rev. Dr. Scheil

36

V.

A Votive Inscription of Assur-natsir-pal. By S. Arthur Strong

80

VI.

Inscription Of Rimmon-nirari III. By S. Arthur Strong

86

VII.

Votive Inscriptions. By S. Arthur Strong

90

p. xvi

PAGE

VIII.

Babylonian Contract-Tablets with Historical References. By Theo. G. Pinches

96

IX.

The Dedication of Three Babylonians to the Service of the Sun-God at Sippara. By the Editor

109

X.

The Great Inscription of Argistis on the Rock of Van. By the Editor

114

XI.

Monolith Inscription of Argistis King of Van. By the Editor

134

EQUIVALENTS OF THE HEBREW LETTERS IN THE TRANSLITERATION OF ASSYRIAN NAMES MENTIONED IN THESE VOLUMES.

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‏א‎

a, ’

‏ל‎

l

‏ב‎

b

‏מ‎

m

‏ג‎

g

‏נ‎

n

‏ד‎

d

‏ס‎

’s, s

‏ה‎

h

‏ע‎

e

‏ו‎

u, v

‏פ‎

p

‏ז‎

z

‏צ‎

ts

‏ח‎

kh

‏ק‎

q

‏ת‎

dh

‏ר‎

r

‏י‎

i, y

‏ש‎

s, sh

‏כ‎

k

‏ט‎

t

N.B.—Those Assyriologists who transcribe ‏ש‎ by sh use s for ‏ס‎. The Assyrian e represents a diphthong as well as ‏ע‎.

In the Introductions and Notes W. A. I. denotes The Cuneiform Inscriptions of Western Asia, in five volumes, published by the Trustees of the British Museum. Doubtful words and expressions are followed by a note of interrogation, the preceding words being put into italics where necessary. Lacunæ are denoted by asterisks or by…, the insertion of supplied words between square brackets. Words needed to complete the sense in English, but not expressed in the original, are placed between round brackets. The names of individuals are distinguished from those of deities or localities by being printed in Roman type, the names of deities and localities being in capitals.

THE OFFICIAL LIFE OF AN EGYPTIAN OFFICER, FROM THE TOMB OF AMEN-EM-HEB AT THEBES

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p. 1

THE OFFICIAL LIFE OF AN EGYPTIAN OFFICER, FROM THE TOMB OF AMEN-EM-HEB AT THEBES

Translated by Philippe Virey

It is to Prof. Ebers that the honour belongs of having discovered and published this celebrated inscription, although Champollion before him had penetrated into the tomb of Amen-em-heb, of which he gives a short description in his Notices, 1 under No. 12. But the description is so summary that no inscription is noticed as existing in the tomb; nothing but the indication of the names of the defunct and his wife, and the mention of the cartouches of Thothmes III and Amenophis II allows us to affirm that it is really the tomb of Amen-em-heb. The monument, moreover, was buried in the sand, and had been completely forgotten when Prof. Ebers, during his stay at Thebes in 1872–73, had the good fortune to rediscover it. The great historical inscription contained in it attracted his attention, and he made a copy of the text, which he published in

p. 2

1873, 1 with a translation and interesting notes. My predecessors have already acknowledged the merits of this translation, 2 which can be appreciated by every Egyptologist. In my turn, I shall insist on the excellence of the copy, and I believe that I possess special qualifications for delivering such a judgment. Having myself had to transcribe all the texts in the tomb of Amen-em-heb, 3 I know well what difficulties Prof. Ebers has victoriously surmounted, and can recognise with what patience and sagacity he has made out the most obscure passages in a way that admits of no doubt, saving me from painful efforts and perhaps from unsuccessful conjectures.

If I now attempt to publish a new rendering of an inscription already translated by the masters of Egyptological science, it is that I wish to add a little sheaf of my own to the abundant harvest of facts collected at once by Prof. Ebers, and to put forward some new ideas derived from the study of other parts of the tomb of Amen-em-heb as well as of a neighbouring tomb belonging to an official of the same rank 4 as himself, entitled tennu n suten tennu n menfiu ("vicar of the king in the army," or substantially a minister of war). The great inscription

p. 3

tells us in the first place what were the glorious services by which Amen-em-heb rose to so high a dignity.

What was the exact signification of his title? The word tennu, which Dr. Brugsch has carefully examined in the Revue égyptologique, 1 does not always signify a minister in the sense in which we ordinarily understand the word; but I hope to show that it certainly has this meaning in our inscription. It properly signifies, as Dr. Brugsch has pointed out, "a deputy," "a delegate," "a vicar." Prof. Maspero, in his Manuel de Hiérarchie égyptienne, 2 explains that the military chief of a nome had at his side a tennu of the troops, a lieutenant of the forces, who could act in his place, more particularly, as his title indicates, at the head of the troops who were in service, but probably also in the offices of the administration. The tennu or vicar of a military officer will therefore be his lieutenant; the tennu or vicar of the governor of a city will be an assistant governor; the tennu or vicar of the Chancellor 3 will perhaps be an undersecretary of state; but the vicar of the king will be a minister. I have elsewhere 4 come to the conclusion that the tennu of the troops, who in the provinces was only a sort of administrative officer or military intendant, was at Thebes, under the title of tennu n

p. 4

suten, 1 the deputy of the king, an actual minister of war. We see from the paintings which represent the conscription that he received recruits from all countries; in the tomb of Pehsukher many of them are Nubians and negroes. It was then the royal army which was administered by this functionary, but the royal army with the auxiliaries as distinct from the provincial contingents. In the different inscriptions of the tomb Amen-em-heb is further distinguished by a series of titles, all of which are thoroughly applicable to a minister of the king. But the most conclusive example is found in line 46 of our inscription, where the king says to Amen-em-heb: "Advance in dignity; be tennu of the army; and from the moment that this is said, watch over the royal forces." These words can have been addressed only to a minister; the meaning of "military intendant" is impossible here, for Amen-em-heb was already in command of the royal guard 2 when the king appointed him tennu, saying to him, "Advance in dignity." It would not have been an advancement for the commander of the guard to be appointed military intendant. I should add that Dr. Brugsch sees in the tennu or aten "of the world" and "of the two worlds" a sort of viceroy of Egypt or prime minister of the Pharaoh, and that Chabas remarks that there were atennu of foreign countries, of the treasury, and of the private house of the

p. 5

[paragraph continues] Pharaoh: "We recognise among them ministers of protected states, of finance, etc." The tennu Mahu, who was charged with the installation of Amen-em-heb, 1 was perhaps one of these ministers, but the text does not state what was the department which he administered. Sometimes, moreover, we find the terms tennu n suten, tennu n hon-f ("minister of the king," "minister of his majesty,"), without any further explanation.

In his new office Amen-em-heb superintended the recruiting of the army as well as its discipline and instruction. Several of the scenes depicted on the walls of his tomb represent him in the exercise of these functions. We notice among them a document which gives us a high idea of the organisation of the Egyptian troops, and enables us to understand their superiority to the hordes of Asia. "Behold the arm of Egypt," 2 says Amen-em-heb to the king, pointing out to him at the same time the officers who defiled before him: "behold the numerous force which is under thy hand. We form a complete whole, having but one mouth, one arm, one hand, all of us, the soldiers [keeping their ranks (?)], 3 and none quitting them."

The maintenance of the troops, accordingly, depended on the superior direction of the tennu. We see him presenting the officers of the commissariat to the king. "He causes the officers of the administration

p. 6

of the army, the officers of the commissariat, to march past before the Pharaoh, in order that the sacks may be filled with provisions, bread, beef, wine, biscuits, all sorts of vegetables, and all good things."

The tomb of Pehsukher shows us even the operations of harvest, in districts doubtless appropriated to the maintenance of the army, and sets before us a scene representing the inspection of the magazines of food. A clerk sums up the amount, and certain officers taste the quality of the provisions. The tennu thus has at his disposal a numerous administrative staff, and is at the same time at the head of the army. The officers who presented themselves before him were first of all received by the "scribe of the writings or the secretary of the tennu." And in a transport of pride the latter exclaimed: "There is none greater than myself! There is none greater than myself!" 1 thus asserting that he held the first rank among men, and next to the monarch who represented the divinity, and whose minister he consequently was.

Footnotes

1:1 Page 505.

2:1 Zeit and Thaten Tothmes III, in the Zeitschrift für ægyptischer Sprache (1873).

2:2 Chabas, Mélanges égyptologiques, 3me série.

2:3 They will appear in the Mémoires publiés par les membres de la Mission archéologique française au Caire.

2:4 The tomb of Pehsukher. The contents of the tomb will be published along with those of the tomb of Amen-em-heb.

3:1 I. pp. 22 sq.

3:2 page 37.

3:3 Examples are cited by Dr. Brugsch.

3:4 In my work on the tomb of Rekhmara, Governor of Thebes under the eighteenth dynasty, p. 8, in the Mémoires publiés par les membres de la Mission archéologique française au Caire, v. (1889).

4:1 The example is taken from the tomb of Pehsukher.

4:2 End of line 33 of the great inscription.

5:1 Line 46.

5:2 Literally "the smiter of the double earth."

5:3 Illegible.

6:1 Stêlê of Pehsukher, line 23.

THE GREAT INSCRIPTION OF AMEN-EM-HEB. 1

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p. 7

THE GREAT INSCRIPTION OF AMEN-EM-HEB. 1

1. As for me, I was the very faithful 2 [instrument] of the sovereign; the half of the heart of the king of the south, the light of the heart of the king of the north, while I followed

2. my master in his expeditions to the regions of the north or of the south, [those which] he desired; for I was as the companion of his feet, and that

3. in the midst of his valour and his power, in order to give testimony. Now I captured in the country of

4. Nekeb, 3 and brought back (certain) Asiatics, three

p. 8

men as prisoners, alive. When his majesty reached Naharain 1

5. I brought thither the three men as booty, whom I placed before thy 2 majesty, as living prisoners.

6. Another time 3 I captured (it was in the expedition 4 to the country of mount Uan, to the west of Aleppo 5), and I brought back

7. (certain) captured Asiatics, as living prisoners 13 men, 70 asses alive, 6 13 basons of iron, … basons of worked gold…

8. … Another time I captured (it was in an expedition to the country of Carchemish 7) and brought away…

9. … as living prisoners. I traversed the water of Naharain 8 without letting them escape, 9

10. [and] I [set] them before my master. Behold, therefore,

p. 9

he rewarded me with a great reward, namely …

11. … I saw the victory of the king, the king of the south and of the north, even Ra-men-kheper, 1 the life-giver, in the country of Senzar. 2 He made …

12. … them. There I captured before the king and I brought back a hand. 3 He gave me the gold of guerdon, namely

13. 2 rings [of gold] and silver. When I began again to behold his valour, I was among his bodyguard, 4 at the capture of

14. Kadesh, 5 without quitting the place which was under him. I brought back of the Marinas 6 2 personages as [living prisoners].

15. before the king, the lord of the two worlds, 7 Thothmes … who gives life eternally. He gave me gold for my valour in the presence of the master,

16. namely the collar of the lion of gold, 2 shebi collars, 2 helmets and 4 bracelets. And I saw my master …

17. …

18 … Ha; 8 then afresh [it was] overthrown 9 As for me, I ascended towards …

19. I began again to see his valour in the country of Takhis; 10…

p. 10

20. I captured there before the king and brought away (certain) Asiatics 3 men 1 alive as prisoners. Then

21. my lord gave me the gold of guerdon, namely, 2 collars, 4 bracelets [with] 2 helmets [and] a tame 2 lion.

22. I began again to see another perfect action performed by the master of the two worlds in the country of Nii. 3 He took in hunting 120 elephants for their tusks. …

23. The largest among them attempted to fight face to face 4 with his majesty. As for me, I cut off his foot, 5 although he was alive …

24. … I entered for thee 6 into the water which is between the two stones 7; then my master rewarded me with gold.

25. … Behold, the prince of Kadesh drove 8 a mare

26. straight against … as it charged among the soldiers I hurried to meet it 9

27. on foot, with my dagger, [and] I opened its stomach. I cut off its tail [and] made of it a trophy 10

28. in the royal work of giving thanks to God because thereof. 11 That caused joy to take possession of my heart [and] cheerfulness to alight upon my limbs. 12

p. 11

29. His majesty despatched the most valiant of his soldiers to force the newly-constructed rampart of Kadesh. It was I who

30. forced it, for I was in advance of the most valiant; no other [was] before me. When I left (it) I brought back (with me) of the Marinas 1

31. 2 personages as living prisoners. My master began again to reward me because of this with every sort

32. of good thing, 2 for it was pleasing to the king that I had made this capture. 3 Being an officer …

33. it was I who directed the manœuvre in … as captain of his body-guard.

34. … in his fair festival of Apet, when men [were] full of joy …

35. Behold for the king, the age he passed 4 of years abundant and happy, as a strong man, as a …

36. as a truth-speaker, 5 from his happy first year until his 54th year, the last day of the month Phamenoth. 6 Then the king of the south and of the north,

37. Ra-men-kheper, the truth-speaker, ascended to heaven, to unite himself with the solar disk, and to follow God, who penetrates when he makes himself luminous

38. under the form of the solar disk which illuminates the sky at the same time that it shines. The king of

p. 12

the south and of the north, Ra-ââ-khepru, the son of the Sun, Amen-hotep, 1 the giver of life,

39. establishing himself on the throne of his father, reduced under the royal banner all that made opposition to him. He pierced the wretches 2 …

40. and of the desert; he immolated their chiefs, rising like Horus 3 the son of Isis, taking possession of …

41. … the extremity (?) of all those who exist and breathe, all the mountain and plain, bowed as it were before his wishes, their tributes on their backs. 4

42. [He] granted unto them the breath of life. Behold his majesty saw me sailing with him in his bark

43. named Khâ-m-suten-uaa, while I was at … of the fair festival of Apet-rest, conformably to custom. 5

44. … when I re-ascended, even I, into the interior of the palace, an order [was given] to stand in the presence [of the king] … Ra-ââ-khepru; it was

45. a great honour. I flew, even I, on the spot, into the presence of his majesty. He said to me: "I know thy conduct …

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46. serving my father. Advance in dignity; be tennu of the army; and from the moment that this is said watch over the royal forces." The tennu Mahu 1 executed all his words. 2

Footnotes

7:1 The text of this great inscription has been published by Ebers in the Z. D. M. G., 1873, and in the Mélanges of Chabas (3d series). Stern (in the Z. D. M. G.) has proposed some corrections. A new edition of the text will appear in the Mémoires of the French mission at Cairo.

7:2 Mâ ur n ati ânkh uza senb ("the true great one of the sovereign, who is life, power, and health," that is, "one who does things truly great," "who accomplishes the designs of his master.") The idea of confidence contained in that of truth may also indicate that the king had confidence in the fidelity of his servant.

7:3 Here begin the campaigns of Amen-em-heb. It was in the 29th year of Thothmes III, since line 4 informs us that it happened when the king reached Naharain, and the following campaign (line 13) was directed against Kadesh, which was captured for the first time in the thirtieth year of Thothmes. Amen-em-heb therefore took no part in the battle of Megiddo in the twenty-third year, at which time he was doubtless still very young. Moreover, he did not enter the royal guard at once; he had first to traverse a considerable distance before he could present to the king, who was in Naharain, the prisoners he had taken in Nekeb. Nekeb is the Negeb or "southern country" of Palestine, frequently mentioned in the Old Testament (see Gen. xiii. 1, xx. 1; Josh. x. 40, etc.). The course of events would have been:—The federated Asiatics under the prince of Kadesh, taught by their recent defeats, seem to have avoided a battle, and fortified themselves in their cities, which had to be besieged one after the other. Hence Thothmes, with the main part of his army, occupied himself with this work, while flying columns compelled the chiefs who would p. 8 have interfered with his operations to look to their own defence, and prevented others from joining in the revolt. Amen-em-heb was in one of these columns, and consequently his first exploits in the countries of Nekeb, Uan, and Carchemish took place at a distance from the king.

8:1 The Aram-Naharaim, or Aram of the two rivers, of the Old Testament (Judges iii. 8), placed by Prof. Maspero between the Euphrates and the Orontes. [The tablets of Tel el-Amarna, however, show that the chief seat of the king of Naharain was on the eastern bank of the Euphrates, opposite Carchemish, as they identify the Naharain of the Egyptian monuments with the country of Mitanni, whose position is known from the Assyrian inscriptions.—Ed.]

8:2 Amen-em-heb addresses his inscription to the deified Thothmes III.

8:3 Literally "anew."

8:4 Literally "this expedition to the land of Mount Uan."

8:5 Kharbu or Khalep. The expedition probably took place while Thothmes was besieging Aleppo. Help might have been sent to Aleppo from the land of the Hittites on the north-west, which would explain the despatch of an Egyptian force in this direction.

8:6 Or perhaps "heads" or "beings," equivalent to sa ("human being").

8:7 Doubtless during the siege of Aleppo, to which Carchemish was near. [Carchemish, the Hittite capital, was situated on the western bank of the Euphrates, a little to the north of its junction with the Sajur, and is now represented by the mounds of Jerablûs, from which Hittite sculptures and inscriptions have been brought to the British Museum. Its fortifications on the river-side are depicted on the bronze gates of Balawât. It commanded the great ford over the Euphrates, and the defeat of the Egyptian Pharaoh under its walls established the empire of Nebuchadnezzar in Western Asia (Jer. xlvi. 2).—Ed.]

8:8 Probably the Euphrates.

8:9 Literally "they being in my hand."

9:1 That is to say, Thothmes III.

9:2 According to Chabas the district on the left bank of the Euphrates, adjoining that of Aleppo and Carchemish. Henceforth Amen-em-heb remained in the corps commanded by the king; after the first siege of Kadesh he was among the body-guard. His admission into them was the reward of his first exploits.

9:3 Perhaps the hand of an enemy slain in single combat.

9:4 Literally "his followers."

9:5 [Subsequently the southern capital of the Hittites, on the Orontes close to the modern Bahr el-Qadis, or Lake of Qadis, westward of Horns.—Ed.]

9:6 Or "chiefs."

9:7 Or "the double earth," that is Egypt.

9:8 Some country is doubtless referred to which was protected by its distance from Egypt, and after the withdrawal of the Egyptian forces was therefore able to recover its independence. Thothmes spread terror by the suddenness of his appearance in the most distant quarters.

9:9 I imagine that the country whose name is lost is here meant.

9:10 Amenophis II subsequently punished a revolt of this country [which lay near the Orontes].

10:1 Prof. Ebers's copy has "women."

10:2 Literally "slave."

10:3 Not Nineveh, but, as Prof. Maspero has pointed out, a locality in northern Syria.

10:4 Literally "facing." The elephant turned against the king and charged upon him.

10:5 Literally "hand"; either the front foot or the trunk.

10:6 That is, the king.

10:7 Perhaps a dangerous passage where Amen-em-heb showed his courage, or, as Chabas suggested, the two stelæ erected by Thothmes III on the two sides of the Euphrates to mark the western limit of his empire.

10:8 Literally "caused a mare to go out against."

10:9 Literally "I was hurrying myself against it."

10:10 Literally "I arranged it."

10:11 Probably the mare had caused confusion in the Egyptian ranks, so that the king gave thanks to God for deliverance from peril.

10:12 These events occurred in the forty-second year of the reign of Thothmes III. The prince of Kadesh, whose capital had already been captured (lines 13–14) in the thirtieth year of his reign, and its walls razed, had revolted after having rebuilt his fortifications. Hence Amen-em-heb p. 11 speaks of "the newly-constructed rampart of Kadesh." But before shutting himself up in the city the prince offered battle, and employed the stratagem which was baffled by Amen-em-heb.

11:1 Or "chiefs."

11:2 No doubt there were no more decorations for Amen-em-heb to desire.

11:3 After the second capture of Kadesh Syria submitted, and the campaigns of Amen-em-heb under Thothmes came to an end. Henceforth he commanded the royal bodyguard in Egypt, where the king resided after the conclusion of his wars.

11:4 Literally "behold the king as to the duration of his time in years." The campaigns of Thothmes ended, Amen-em-heb has nothing more to record.

11:5 Mâ-kheru ("whose voice makes true," or "realises," the privilege, in the first place, of the deity and then of the deified dead). The king is also mâ-kheru, because he realises the designs of the deity whose incarnation he is upon the earth.

11:6 The third month of winter.

12:1 Amenophis II.

12:2 The new king is compared with the rising sun, which pierced with its rays the shadows where the evil principles hide themselves. A revolt seems to have broken out at the time among the desert tribes, who are likened to the race of Set or Typhon, the god of aridity.

12:3 The result of the comparison between the new king and the rising sun.

12:4 This is represented in three pictures below the inscription. The upper picture shows us, according to the epigraph, "all the princes of Upper Rutennu, who proclaim: Great are thy desires; thou puttest fear in all the double land (of Egypt), and all [foreign lands are] under thy sandals." One prince is prostrate; two others, on their knees, extend their arms in supplication; a fourth, standing, presents a vase; a fifth, also standing, offers suppliantly a small child whom he holds in his arms; another child is in front of him. A sixth chief also brings a child. Other persons follow of different physiognomies and head-dresses; but owing to the mutilation of the wall the end of the scene is indistinct. In the second picture are "all the chiefs of Lower Rutennu;" but the scene represented in it does not differ from that of the first picture. The legend attached to the third picture is almost entirely effaced. A person is represented in it prostrate and accompanied by three others who are kneeling, and two more who carry vases of various forms. Beyond this the wall is mutilated.

12:5 As had been the case under Thothmes. Amen-em-heb means that he preserved his old functions.

13:1 For the meaning of this title see the Introduction.

13:2 Zettu nebu-f. I think the form zettu-f nebu or nebt would be more regular. Perhaps we should read zettu neb-f ("the words of his master"), and suppose that the Egyptian artist has committed an error in copying the inscription from a hieratic original, by confusing the determinative of neb ("master") with the sign of the plural.

HYMN TO Osiris ON THE STELE OF AMON-EM-HA

[figure]

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HYMN TO Osiris ON THE STELE OF AMON-EM-HA

Translated by D. Mallet

This hymn to Osiris is engraved on a semi-circular stele of limestone which forms part of the collection of the Bibliothèque Nationale at Paris. It comprises 28 lines of hieroglyphics, in a very good state of preservation, excepting only that the name of the god Amon, which once figured in several proper names, has been carefully chiselled out, in the age of the so-called heretic kings Khu-n-Aten (Amenophis IV) and his successors.

The text may have been sculptured on the stele in the time of the eighteenth dynasty—Chabas has remarked that the wife of Amon-mes, the father of Amon-em-ha, bore the same name as the favourite wife of Amenophis I—but it reproduces a religious work of more ancient date, which goes back at least to the epoch of the twelfth dynasty, as is shown on the one hand by the small number of determinatives and on the other by the use of certain formulæ, e.g. the position of the father's name before that of the son: "Osiris son Horus" in the sense of "Horus

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son of Osiris." The references of the monument to the cult of Osiris are consequently very ancient, and they thus possess all the greater importance for the history of the Egyptian religion.

The text has been reproduced for the first time and translated by Chabas in the Revue archéologique (May-June 1857), from a squeeze furnished him by Devéria. Chabas published a new translation, which differed considerably from the first, in the first series of Records of the Past, vol. vi. pp. 99 sqq.

The semicircular part of the stele is divided into two compartments. At the top is the ring in the form of a seal, accompanied by the two sacred eyes. The first compartment includes two scenes of unequal importance. On the left, Amon-em-ha presents the table of offerings, filled with provisions of all sorts, to his father and mother, seated side by side in a large armchair, the wife resting the left hand, as usual, on the shoulder of her husband. Behind the chair is a child, with a long lock of hair, who puts his left hand to his mouth and holds a flower in the right. Behind him runs a vertical inscription: "His son Amon-em-ua." Above the two seated personages we read: "The superintendent of the oxen Amon-mes; his wife, the mistress of the house, Nofri-t-ari." Above the table of offerings is: "His son Amon-em-ha." On the right, a person clothed in a panther's skin, the characteristic garb of the priests, presents a seated lady, "the mistress Baki-t, deceased"—doubtless another wife of Amon-mes—

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