DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.6444#0108
9b GUKOB
p. 258). The first year was perhaps in eon-
junction with Merenptah, and the whole reign
of Sety II. may not have lasted above two
years; but if so, he must have been singularly
active in monumental work.
The first phrase after the date shows where
the king's court was at the time. Such a note
at the commencement of an entry is not
uncommon in the Ramesside period.
I. 36. The cdw fish is frequent as a hiero-
glyph in the title , but the species has not
been identified. These fish were measured in
-O medimni, see PI. xl., 1. 21.
The diary is here continued, but the entries
of nearly two months are lost between the recto
and the verso.
First Entry (11. 1-18).
Lines 4-18 were very long. They form a
tabular statement concerning oil, and as this
is given in fifteen lines, perhaps the latter
relate to fifteen days, or half a month. Un-
fortunately a considerable portion of each line
is missing from the right-hand end. Egyptian
accounts can often be restored in the missing
parts, but they are frequently obscured by
mistakes where accuracy was not of great
importance to the scribe. The present in-
stance illustrates both these peculiarities. The
first three lines may be partially restored from
what follows, and read thus :
1. [payment for the overseers (?)] ...... daily makes
bah-oil 130 henu, neheh-oil 130 henu.
2. [ditto for the workmen, neheh-oil] 2156j henu.
3. [Total bak-oH 130 henu, neheh-oil] 2286| [henu],
in detail (Table follows.)
I. 1. At the beginning read hrt hrw (?).
The detailed table given in 11. 4-18 is easy
to connect with the above statement, but the
PAPYRI.
carelessness of the scribe has obscured the
part referring to the overseers. I have inserted
the necessary corrections between ( ) in the
following translation. (See opposite.)
At the 15th entry in this table (1. 18) the
payments to the overseers are nil, and at the
11th and 13th (11. 14, 10) only the half should
appear : in all the other entries they receive
10 henu. This gives 130 henu of bah-o\\ and
the same of neheh-oil for the overseers, which
is as totalled in 1. 1.
The " men of the house," i.e. of the govern-
ment department concerned, obtain 2^- henu of
neheh-oil each, regularly, and the total of
column (c) agrees exactly with that given in
1. 2. The half-man in 1. 14 is probably a boy.
I must now give my reasons for corrections
and restorations. It is pretty clear that we
are dealing with payments of oil to workmen
and their overseers, perhaps for cultivation of
land, repair of dykes, brick-making, or what
not. Judging from the entries in the lower
part of the page, however, the work may have
been connected with the capture and curing of
fish. The entries relating to the workmen are
exactly copied from the papyrus, except for
the restoration of a few broken numerals,
which are safely furnished from the propor-
tions and summations: the numbers are abso-
lutely certain, and absolutely correct. With
regard to these varying amounts it was
necessary for the scribe to be careful. On the
other hand, in entering the accounts of the
overseers he was extremely careless, since
these were so regular and unimportant that
their entry was little more than a formality,
mechanically carried out and resulting in
absurd mistakes.
In the first place, we cannot be wrong in
considering "overseers" of some kind the
subject of this part of the accounts: the
correctness of the assumption is proved from
the context and from the analogy of other
documents. Secondly, in 11. 14 and 16, where
p. 258). The first year was perhaps in eon-
junction with Merenptah, and the whole reign
of Sety II. may not have lasted above two
years; but if so, he must have been singularly
active in monumental work.
The first phrase after the date shows where
the king's court was at the time. Such a note
at the commencement of an entry is not
uncommon in the Ramesside period.
I. 36. The cdw fish is frequent as a hiero-
glyph in the title , but the species has not
been identified. These fish were measured in
-O medimni, see PI. xl., 1. 21.
The diary is here continued, but the entries
of nearly two months are lost between the recto
and the verso.
First Entry (11. 1-18).
Lines 4-18 were very long. They form a
tabular statement concerning oil, and as this
is given in fifteen lines, perhaps the latter
relate to fifteen days, or half a month. Un-
fortunately a considerable portion of each line
is missing from the right-hand end. Egyptian
accounts can often be restored in the missing
parts, but they are frequently obscured by
mistakes where accuracy was not of great
importance to the scribe. The present in-
stance illustrates both these peculiarities. The
first three lines may be partially restored from
what follows, and read thus :
1. [payment for the overseers (?)] ...... daily makes
bah-oil 130 henu, neheh-oil 130 henu.
2. [ditto for the workmen, neheh-oil] 2156j henu.
3. [Total bak-oH 130 henu, neheh-oil] 2286| [henu],
in detail (Table follows.)
I. 1. At the beginning read hrt hrw (?).
The detailed table given in 11. 4-18 is easy
to connect with the above statement, but the
PAPYRI.
carelessness of the scribe has obscured the
part referring to the overseers. I have inserted
the necessary corrections between ( ) in the
following translation. (See opposite.)
At the 15th entry in this table (1. 18) the
payments to the overseers are nil, and at the
11th and 13th (11. 14, 10) only the half should
appear : in all the other entries they receive
10 henu. This gives 130 henu of bah-o\\ and
the same of neheh-oil for the overseers, which
is as totalled in 1. 1.
The " men of the house," i.e. of the govern-
ment department concerned, obtain 2^- henu of
neheh-oil each, regularly, and the total of
column (c) agrees exactly with that given in
1. 2. The half-man in 1. 14 is probably a boy.
I must now give my reasons for corrections
and restorations. It is pretty clear that we
are dealing with payments of oil to workmen
and their overseers, perhaps for cultivation of
land, repair of dykes, brick-making, or what
not. Judging from the entries in the lower
part of the page, however, the work may have
been connected with the capture and curing of
fish. The entries relating to the workmen are
exactly copied from the papyrus, except for
the restoration of a few broken numerals,
which are safely furnished from the propor-
tions and summations: the numbers are abso-
lutely certain, and absolutely correct. With
regard to these varying amounts it was
necessary for the scribe to be careful. On the
other hand, in entering the accounts of the
overseers he was extremely careless, since
these were so regular and unimportant that
their entry was little more than a formality,
mechanically carried out and resulting in
absurd mistakes.
In the first place, we cannot be wrong in
considering "overseers" of some kind the
subject of this part of the accounts: the
correctness of the assumption is proved from
the context and from the analogy of other
documents. Secondly, in 11. 14 and 16, where