DOI Artikel:
Griffith, Francis Ll.: Progress of Egyptology: archaeology, hieroglyphic studies, etc.
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.12052#0037
24
Progress of Egyptology.
" souls of Nekhen " and the " souls of Pe" are probably the souls of
the ancient kings of Upper and Lower Egypt, and Heliopolis, which
was probably a still earlier capital of all Egypt, likewise had its " souls
of On." The Palermo Stone, dating from the Vth Dynasty, seems
to have given merely a list of names of the " worshippers of Horus,"
without any attempt at annals; soon they became entirely mythical,
and from having been dead and departed kings they came to be viewed
as a dynasty or dynasties of the Dead reigning over Egypt after the
gods and before the human dynasties, the dead being semi-divine.
These " dead " kings had special functions in the kingdom of the dead,
and their souls were worshipped as semi-divine—those of Lower Egypt
in the form of hawks, children of Horus, those of Upper Egypt in the
form of jackals, children of Upuaut (Ophois). The priest of Ophois
served the latter, and the standard of Ophois was apparently that of the
king in warfare.
2. The names of the kings of the earliest dynasties found on the
monuments. In view of M. Naville's objections to Prof. Petrie's arrange-
ment of the kings, Sethe undertakes a re-examination of the whole series.
In the 1st Dynasty he inserts Narmer next after Menes, Petrie having
placed him at the end of the pre-Mena kings ; and omits Den II. =Merneit,
Mer(t)-neit being probably only the queen of Den-Setui. Of the some-
what unsubstantial " Dynasty 0" (pre-Mena), after Narmer's removal
nothing real is left. Erom the Ilnd Dynasty Sethe removes Khasekhem
and Kara, on account of the cartouches, into the Illrd Dynasty, when
cartouches are first found indubitably in contemporary inscriptions. There
is also an important section on the reading of some of the royal names,
"Den" being read by Sethe as Udi-mu, "Neteren" as Netri-mu, "Sen"
as Sen-mu.
3. An attempt to restore the general scheme of the Palermo Stone.
This is but a small fragment from a large slab engraved with the annals of
the kings at the end of the reign of the reign of Userkaf (as Prof. Petrie
points out in his history), the record being added to by his two immediate
successors Sahura and Neferarkara. The fragment is unfortunately too
small to give definite results as to the height and width of the slab when
complete, as to the duration of the dynasties or the length of individual
reigns; but important probabilities are brought out in a very remarkable
way by Sethe's careful argument and comparison of the figures handed
down by Manetho. For the duration of the 1st and Ilnd Dynasties the
Manethonian chronology may be closely correct, for that of the Illrd it is
probably quite wrong.
Progress of Egyptology.
" souls of Nekhen " and the " souls of Pe" are probably the souls of
the ancient kings of Upper and Lower Egypt, and Heliopolis, which
was probably a still earlier capital of all Egypt, likewise had its " souls
of On." The Palermo Stone, dating from the Vth Dynasty, seems
to have given merely a list of names of the " worshippers of Horus,"
without any attempt at annals; soon they became entirely mythical,
and from having been dead and departed kings they came to be viewed
as a dynasty or dynasties of the Dead reigning over Egypt after the
gods and before the human dynasties, the dead being semi-divine.
These " dead " kings had special functions in the kingdom of the dead,
and their souls were worshipped as semi-divine—those of Lower Egypt
in the form of hawks, children of Horus, those of Upper Egypt in the
form of jackals, children of Upuaut (Ophois). The priest of Ophois
served the latter, and the standard of Ophois was apparently that of the
king in warfare.
2. The names of the kings of the earliest dynasties found on the
monuments. In view of M. Naville's objections to Prof. Petrie's arrange-
ment of the kings, Sethe undertakes a re-examination of the whole series.
In the 1st Dynasty he inserts Narmer next after Menes, Petrie having
placed him at the end of the pre-Mena kings ; and omits Den II. =Merneit,
Mer(t)-neit being probably only the queen of Den-Setui. Of the some-
what unsubstantial " Dynasty 0" (pre-Mena), after Narmer's removal
nothing real is left. Erom the Ilnd Dynasty Sethe removes Khasekhem
and Kara, on account of the cartouches, into the Illrd Dynasty, when
cartouches are first found indubitably in contemporary inscriptions. There
is also an important section on the reading of some of the royal names,
"Den" being read by Sethe as Udi-mu, "Neteren" as Netri-mu, "Sen"
as Sen-mu.
3. An attempt to restore the general scheme of the Palermo Stone.
This is but a small fragment from a large slab engraved with the annals of
the kings at the end of the reign of the reign of Userkaf (as Prof. Petrie
points out in his history), the record being added to by his two immediate
successors Sahura and Neferarkara. The fragment is unfortunately too
small to give definite results as to the height and width of the slab when
complete, as to the duration of the dynasties or the length of individual
reigns; but important probabilities are brought out in a very remarkable
way by Sethe's careful argument and comparison of the figures handed
down by Manetho. For the duration of the 1st and Ilnd Dynasties the
Manethonian chronology may be closely correct, for that of the Illrd it is
probably quite wrong.