DOI article:
Naville, Edouard: Egypt Exploration Fund, [1]: Excavations: Work of the Winter 1892
DOI Page / Citation link: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.10054#0020
Excavations 1892.
7
right across those of Usertesen without erasing them first; besides, an
inspector, a royal secretary, wrote his name on the lower part of the
statue and informs us that the sanctuary where the statue stood was
called "the house of Karoama," Osorkon's queen. It is curious that
records of this king, who a few years back was hardly known except
by name, were found in all my excavations; he certainly must have
been one of the most powerful of the Bubastites.
In a former excursion to Tell Mokdam, I had seen the base of a statue
of the Xllth or the Xlllth dynasty, which had been discovered in
Mariette's time and left on the spot. This monument is important
because it bears a cartouche, engraved rather carelessly, over an old
inscription. The cartouche is not very distinct, and Mariette, Devdria,
and Ebers, taking the first sign for the sign of Set, considered the oval
as being that of a Hyksos king. Ebers even reconstituted the name
as being Salatis, and for the last twenty years his interpretation has gene-
rally been adopted. This valuable monument, which has been brought
to the Ghizeh Museum at the cost of this Society, was one of the chief
attractions which induced me to go to Tell Mokdam. After a careful
study, and with the help of several paper casts, the name came out quite
clearly. It has nothing to do with Salatis, or with any of the Hyksos;
it reads Nehasi, the negro. I consider the deciphering of this name as
the most important result of the work at Tell Mokdam. It is connected
in a remarkable way with a discovery made by Mr. Petric at San. In
turning the blocks of the temple, Mr. Petrie found that " the royal prince,
the first-born Nehasi," had erected buildings to Set, the god of Roahtu.
In both cases Nehasi is written with the pole indicating foreign nations,
and I see no reason why he should not have been a genuine negro. Thus
a negro has been king of Egypt, and not by conquest, but by right of
iuheritance, since before his being a king we see him called the eldest of
the royal princes, the heir to the throne. If he were a negro, surely his
father and mother must have belonged to the same race. The king
Nehasi occurs also in the Turin papyrus among the kings of the Xlllth
and XIVth dynasties, and, according to this document, must have had a
reign of several years. This fact is very important; the statue of Tell
Mokdam perhaps throws an unexpected light on a very obscure period
of Egyptian history. Are we to suppose that in the long period,so littlo
known, which extends from the Xllth dynasty to the Hyksos, one of the
causes of the anarchy which probably prevailed at that time was
the invasions of negroes. Did the Ethiopians, before the invaders from
the East, succeed in conquering Egypt and in coming to the throne ? We
7
right across those of Usertesen without erasing them first; besides, an
inspector, a royal secretary, wrote his name on the lower part of the
statue and informs us that the sanctuary where the statue stood was
called "the house of Karoama," Osorkon's queen. It is curious that
records of this king, who a few years back was hardly known except
by name, were found in all my excavations; he certainly must have
been one of the most powerful of the Bubastites.
In a former excursion to Tell Mokdam, I had seen the base of a statue
of the Xllth or the Xlllth dynasty, which had been discovered in
Mariette's time and left on the spot. This monument is important
because it bears a cartouche, engraved rather carelessly, over an old
inscription. The cartouche is not very distinct, and Mariette, Devdria,
and Ebers, taking the first sign for the sign of Set, considered the oval
as being that of a Hyksos king. Ebers even reconstituted the name
as being Salatis, and for the last twenty years his interpretation has gene-
rally been adopted. This valuable monument, which has been brought
to the Ghizeh Museum at the cost of this Society, was one of the chief
attractions which induced me to go to Tell Mokdam. After a careful
study, and with the help of several paper casts, the name came out quite
clearly. It has nothing to do with Salatis, or with any of the Hyksos;
it reads Nehasi, the negro. I consider the deciphering of this name as
the most important result of the work at Tell Mokdam. It is connected
in a remarkable way with a discovery made by Mr. Petric at San. In
turning the blocks of the temple, Mr. Petrie found that " the royal prince,
the first-born Nehasi," had erected buildings to Set, the god of Roahtu.
In both cases Nehasi is written with the pole indicating foreign nations,
and I see no reason why he should not have been a genuine negro. Thus
a negro has been king of Egypt, and not by conquest, but by right of
iuheritance, since before his being a king we see him called the eldest of
the royal princes, the heir to the throne. If he were a negro, surely his
father and mother must have belonged to the same race. The king
Nehasi occurs also in the Turin papyrus among the kings of the Xlllth
and XIVth dynasties, and, according to this document, must have had a
reign of several years. This fact is very important; the statue of Tell
Mokdam perhaps throws an unexpected light on a very obscure period
of Egyptian history. Are we to suppose that in the long period,so littlo
known, which extends from the Xllth dynasty to the Hyksos, one of the
causes of the anarchy which probably prevailed at that time was
the invasions of negroes. Did the Ethiopians, before the invaders from
the East, succeed in conquering Egypt and in coming to the throne ? We