DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.1118#0456
8o6
IDEOGRAPHIC SIGNS ON 'CORSLET'
kilogrammes, as we have seen, or 66 pounds) was large enough to le
a good surplus for the armourer's work. In some cases the ' cuirass' '
followed by II, showing that a pair was to be supplied ; one, possibly f
the driver of the car.1
Signs on
Corslets.
Cup sign
of official
' Cup-
bearer'.
Part of 'Chariot Tablet' showing Corslet
MARKED WITH ' Cu? ' SlGN.
Ideographic Signs on the ' Corslet': Badge of the Royal Cup-bearer.
Certain linear signs—in this case used ideographically—appear on the
corslets : (v), the most usual, speaks for itself, implying that the officer
was entrusted with the feeding of the horses. The j[, which also occurs,
has been shown above to
connect itself with certain
vessels. The ' Cup' sign
Trj, of which examples also
appear in this position—
elongated as in Class B—
(Fig. 785), recalls the
shape of the long, pointed
vessel held by the Cup-bearer of the fresco.
As a matter of fact this sign is seen alternating, in a separate position,
with the 'throne and sceptre', and clearly standing as the mark of a high
Court official. On the corslet, it may well be regarded as the badge of the
royal Cup-bearer. It is, indeed, to be observed that this 'cup' sign,
following the ' throne and sceptre' appears on a series of tablets before
numbers indicating, it would seem, the quota clue to a high functionary, of
whom this was the official badge.
It is hardly necessary to recall the high position of the officials bearing
this title—the equivalent of the Medieval Pincema—in Egypt and the
great Eastern Monarchies. A trace of its importance in the heroic Age of
Greece is still reflected in the cup-bearing functions which, already in the
Iliad, are attributed to Ganymedes. For the warlike services performed
by such an official we have only to recall the case of Rabshakeh, the ' Chief
Cup-bearer' of the Assyrian king, who was also a leader of the host.
The appearance of the 'fodder' sign on the series of corslets already
mentioned offers an apposite parallel. It is well known that among the
Germanic invaders of the Roman Empire the official in charge of the roya
See Erman, Life in Ancient Egypt (Engl, eel), p. 54s.
IDEOGRAPHIC SIGNS ON 'CORSLET'
kilogrammes, as we have seen, or 66 pounds) was large enough to le
a good surplus for the armourer's work. In some cases the ' cuirass' '
followed by II, showing that a pair was to be supplied ; one, possibly f
the driver of the car.1
Signs on
Corslets.
Cup sign
of official
' Cup-
bearer'.
Part of 'Chariot Tablet' showing Corslet
MARKED WITH ' Cu? ' SlGN.
Ideographic Signs on the ' Corslet': Badge of the Royal Cup-bearer.
Certain linear signs—in this case used ideographically—appear on the
corslets : (v), the most usual, speaks for itself, implying that the officer
was entrusted with the feeding of the horses. The j[, which also occurs,
has been shown above to
connect itself with certain
vessels. The ' Cup' sign
Trj, of which examples also
appear in this position—
elongated as in Class B—
(Fig. 785), recalls the
shape of the long, pointed
vessel held by the Cup-bearer of the fresco.
As a matter of fact this sign is seen alternating, in a separate position,
with the 'throne and sceptre', and clearly standing as the mark of a high
Court official. On the corslet, it may well be regarded as the badge of the
royal Cup-bearer. It is, indeed, to be observed that this 'cup' sign,
following the ' throne and sceptre' appears on a series of tablets before
numbers indicating, it would seem, the quota clue to a high functionary, of
whom this was the official badge.
It is hardly necessary to recall the high position of the officials bearing
this title—the equivalent of the Medieval Pincema—in Egypt and the
great Eastern Monarchies. A trace of its importance in the heroic Age of
Greece is still reflected in the cup-bearing functions which, already in the
Iliad, are attributed to Ganymedes. For the warlike services performed
by such an official we have only to recall the case of Rabshakeh, the ' Chief
Cup-bearer' of the Assyrian king, who was also a leader of the host.
The appearance of the 'fodder' sign on the series of corslets already
mentioned offers an apposite parallel. It is well known that among the
Germanic invaders of the Roman Empire the official in charge of the roya
See Erman, Life in Ancient Egypt (Engl, eel), p. 54s.