DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.6444#0041
30
KAHUN PAPYRI.
put on record a general settlement of affairs,
such as might perhaps be drawn up on marriage,
but would certainly have been desirable in view
of death; and we can hardly be wrong in looking
upon I. 1 as a will. The term " conveyance"
seems to have an application wide enough to
include all the cases.
The gender of - - in this term appears
to vary according to the word to which it
refers. At Kahun we always find Imit pr,
but where there is a definite antecedent the
adjective imi agrees with it, and the masculine
im'i pr may be used even without a definite
antecedent. See examples in Be., Wtb. Suppl.
pp,
72-3,
I. 18. For another transfer of "priestly
office," see PL xiii., 1. 20.
The last group occurs in hieratic, below,
PI. xxii., 11. 1, 2, and in Pap. Prisse, v. 3,
where the sign for | is identical with that in
the present text, and is often used for J md in
mdw, " speech," see Prisse, iv. 4, v. 3, vii. 1.
In Prisse, after recounting the evils of old age,
the veteran Ptahhetep says : wdt n bk im irt
md-l'i, ih ddl nf mdw, &c, "the servant there
(i.e. himself) is commanded to make an old-
man's-staff, let me tell him the sayings of the
obedient," &c. In hieroglyphics we have on
the statue of Amenhetep son of Hepu | l (j \\ ,
Br., Th.es. 1296, where Mae., Earn., PI. xxxvii.,
1. 30, has J l (j w |^ (the \\ being in both copies
between the stick and the body of the man).
Amenhetep says, di-i srwd m?w m st dnwt-sn
md-Vi m s> mr-f, " I caused recruits to be
established in the place of those for whom they
were locum tenentes, and (I caused) the old-
man's-staff (to be established) as ' favourite
son.' " El Bersheh, 1., PI. xxxiii., cf. El B. II.,
note on p. 13, gives ~| |^ with ~| quite distinct
from |, but apparently identical with ~| in jj "jj
on the same plate. This might suggest the
Louvre C. 1, but in
reading
the copy in L. D., ii., 134c, the sign is omitted ;
so we may conclude that it is indistinct on the
original, and correct the copy to |. The
hieratic form is absolutely distinct from "jj .
At Bl Bersheh Tehutihetep speaks of himself
as having been " the ' old-man's-staff' of this
my father." The word is certainly a compound
with fj^^^f^' having the meaning of "old
man," " old age," &c. If the first element is
read | , "staff," this gives an excellent
sense. There seems, indeed, a tendency to
distinguish Q1^^^> "old age," "grow old,"
from "old man" (Kan- Pap. iii.
10), though there are exceptions (Pap. Berl. i.
168); and it is probably best to take this
case in the latter sense, as the ideogram in
the compound is always J^.
It will be seen that I consider the words to
denote a younger associate taken into his office
by an old man, who then practically retires
from active work, while retaining a " sleeping
partnership." In the history of the kings of
the Xllth Dynasty there are plenty of instances
of such association of a son by his father. In
the great majority of instances a son would be
chosen to fill the office, but it seems to me
probable, especially from the words of Amen-
hetep, that the phrase expresses a purely
business relation, without the idea of filial
piety involved in our almost identical expres-
sion, the " staff" or " support of one's old
age." Amenhetep took care that the proxy
who discharged an old man's duties should be
placed in full, possession of authority and heir-
ship, like the "favourite son," whom
we see named as chief mourner at funerals
and probably as future head of the household.
The wording^ J ft $flJL^U
in Prisse, I.e., is very curious. The
" staff," is an inanimate object that can be
KAHUN PAPYRI.
put on record a general settlement of affairs,
such as might perhaps be drawn up on marriage,
but would certainly have been desirable in view
of death; and we can hardly be wrong in looking
upon I. 1 as a will. The term " conveyance"
seems to have an application wide enough to
include all the cases.
The gender of - - in this term appears
to vary according to the word to which it
refers. At Kahun we always find Imit pr,
but where there is a definite antecedent the
adjective imi agrees with it, and the masculine
im'i pr may be used even without a definite
antecedent. See examples in Be., Wtb. Suppl.
pp,
72-3,
I. 18. For another transfer of "priestly
office," see PL xiii., 1. 20.
The last group occurs in hieratic, below,
PI. xxii., 11. 1, 2, and in Pap. Prisse, v. 3,
where the sign for | is identical with that in
the present text, and is often used for J md in
mdw, " speech," see Prisse, iv. 4, v. 3, vii. 1.
In Prisse, after recounting the evils of old age,
the veteran Ptahhetep says : wdt n bk im irt
md-l'i, ih ddl nf mdw, &c, "the servant there
(i.e. himself) is commanded to make an old-
man's-staff, let me tell him the sayings of the
obedient," &c. In hieroglyphics we have on
the statue of Amenhetep son of Hepu | l (j \\ ,
Br., Th.es. 1296, where Mae., Earn., PI. xxxvii.,
1. 30, has J l (j w |^ (the \\ being in both copies
between the stick and the body of the man).
Amenhetep says, di-i srwd m?w m st dnwt-sn
md-Vi m s> mr-f, " I caused recruits to be
established in the place of those for whom they
were locum tenentes, and (I caused) the old-
man's-staff (to be established) as ' favourite
son.' " El Bersheh, 1., PI. xxxiii., cf. El B. II.,
note on p. 13, gives ~| |^ with ~| quite distinct
from |, but apparently identical with ~| in jj "jj
on the same plate. This might suggest the
Louvre C. 1, but in
reading
the copy in L. D., ii., 134c, the sign is omitted ;
so we may conclude that it is indistinct on the
original, and correct the copy to |. The
hieratic form is absolutely distinct from "jj .
At Bl Bersheh Tehutihetep speaks of himself
as having been " the ' old-man's-staff' of this
my father." The word is certainly a compound
with fj^^^f^' having the meaning of "old
man," " old age," &c. If the first element is
read | , "staff," this gives an excellent
sense. There seems, indeed, a tendency to
distinguish Q1^^^> "old age," "grow old,"
from "old man" (Kan- Pap. iii.
10), though there are exceptions (Pap. Berl. i.
168); and it is probably best to take this
case in the latter sense, as the ideogram in
the compound is always J^.
It will be seen that I consider the words to
denote a younger associate taken into his office
by an old man, who then practically retires
from active work, while retaining a " sleeping
partnership." In the history of the kings of
the Xllth Dynasty there are plenty of instances
of such association of a son by his father. In
the great majority of instances a son would be
chosen to fill the office, but it seems to me
probable, especially from the words of Amen-
hetep, that the phrase expresses a purely
business relation, without the idea of filial
piety involved in our almost identical expres-
sion, the " staff" or " support of one's old
age." Amenhetep took care that the proxy
who discharged an old man's duties should be
placed in full, possession of authority and heir-
ship, like the "favourite son," whom
we see named as chief mourner at funerals
and probably as future head of the household.
The wording^ J ft $flJL^U
in Prisse, I.e., is very curious. The
" staff," is an inanimate object that can be