DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.6553#0053
26
APPENDIX.
the divine abode, (may he give)" a good and great embalmment in the
Amtnti and in the west, to the all true and devoted to his lord......
an abode well provided for him......attached to the bards, delighting*
his lord with his strains, excellent in......the great abode of the god
Ra, of Athor the pure goddess,......Nofrekare the pure god,*
Shou-re the pure god, Ousrenre the pure god, Otai." In No. 3 in
the above-mentioned Plate, the same title follows the cartouche as in
No. 5. This title has been already mentioned in the " Operations carried
on at Gizeh," Vol. II. p. 9. In No. 5, Otai is represented to have been
a bard under the kings Nofrekare, Shou-re, and Ousrenre : the pre-
cedence of these monarchs is therefore ascertained. Their names, how-
ever do not appear in the only copy of the Hieratic Canon of Turin,3 to
which I have had access, neither is their relative position with the dynasty
of Cheops determined. It is, however, necessary to mention that in the
restoration of Renofre, the two arms signifying Ka, are wanting, and that
Nofre-ka-re, therefore, and Nepercheres, although highly probable, are
not positively established ; that the phonetic value of the central sign in
the cartouche of Shou-re, and of the initial signs of Ousrenre, is not
exactly determined, although the latter has been supposed to be " ou;"
besides that the list of Eratosthenes consists chiefly of names, and that
the prenomen Ousrenre is apparently connected with prenomens totally
distinct from that of Nepercheres, so that it may be supposed that
different monarchs had the same prenomen. But the most probable
solution of these difficulties seems to be afforded by the lists of Manetho,
where, in the fifth Elephantine dynasty, immediately succeeding to that
of Cheops, the first three names are Usercheres, Sephres, and Neper-
cheres,6 which, if inverted, would greatly resemble the three in ques-
tion ; and their era, immediately after the Memphite dynasty, would
coincide with the probable date of these buildings. It may be also
remarked, that there is no evidence to shew that any of the Pyramids
3 The parts between brackets are restored from contemporaneous mo-
numents.
3 The phonetic group expressing this has been translated by M. Cham-
pollion, to be " morose," CoUCOJJUL or UJujCJU. of the Coptic; but the
correction is evident from the context.
4 The term " ka" (offering) is wanting in the inscription; there can,
however, be scarcely a doubt with regard to it. Wilkinson's " Manners and
Customs of the Egyptians," Vol. III. p. 280, gives the cartouche in its full form.
* By M. Dulaurier, of Thoulouse. The liberality of the Sardinian govern-
ment has allowed Dr. Lepsius a copy for his own use.
8 Rosellini, " Mon. Stor." Tom. I. PI. I. p. 28. According to this analogy,
Usercheres would be Ousr-ka-re, not Ousrenre. That the name of Chnumis,
or Chnouphis, the tutelary deity of Elephantine, appears in the cartouche of
Cheops at the Great Pyramid, would induce a belief that the then reigning
dynasty received its title from that island.
APPENDIX.
the divine abode, (may he give)" a good and great embalmment in the
Amtnti and in the west, to the all true and devoted to his lord......
an abode well provided for him......attached to the bards, delighting*
his lord with his strains, excellent in......the great abode of the god
Ra, of Athor the pure goddess,......Nofrekare the pure god,*
Shou-re the pure god, Ousrenre the pure god, Otai." In No. 3 in
the above-mentioned Plate, the same title follows the cartouche as in
No. 5. This title has been already mentioned in the " Operations carried
on at Gizeh," Vol. II. p. 9. In No. 5, Otai is represented to have been
a bard under the kings Nofrekare, Shou-re, and Ousrenre : the pre-
cedence of these monarchs is therefore ascertained. Their names, how-
ever do not appear in the only copy of the Hieratic Canon of Turin,3 to
which I have had access, neither is their relative position with the dynasty
of Cheops determined. It is, however, necessary to mention that in the
restoration of Renofre, the two arms signifying Ka, are wanting, and that
Nofre-ka-re, therefore, and Nepercheres, although highly probable, are
not positively established ; that the phonetic value of the central sign in
the cartouche of Shou-re, and of the initial signs of Ousrenre, is not
exactly determined, although the latter has been supposed to be " ou;"
besides that the list of Eratosthenes consists chiefly of names, and that
the prenomen Ousrenre is apparently connected with prenomens totally
distinct from that of Nepercheres, so that it may be supposed that
different monarchs had the same prenomen. But the most probable
solution of these difficulties seems to be afforded by the lists of Manetho,
where, in the fifth Elephantine dynasty, immediately succeeding to that
of Cheops, the first three names are Usercheres, Sephres, and Neper-
cheres,6 which, if inverted, would greatly resemble the three in ques-
tion ; and their era, immediately after the Memphite dynasty, would
coincide with the probable date of these buildings. It may be also
remarked, that there is no evidence to shew that any of the Pyramids
3 The parts between brackets are restored from contemporaneous mo-
numents.
3 The phonetic group expressing this has been translated by M. Cham-
pollion, to be " morose," CoUCOJJUL or UJujCJU. of the Coptic; but the
correction is evident from the context.
4 The term " ka" (offering) is wanting in the inscription; there can,
however, be scarcely a doubt with regard to it. Wilkinson's " Manners and
Customs of the Egyptians," Vol. III. p. 280, gives the cartouche in its full form.
* By M. Dulaurier, of Thoulouse. The liberality of the Sardinian govern-
ment has allowed Dr. Lepsius a copy for his own use.
8 Rosellini, " Mon. Stor." Tom. I. PI. I. p. 28. According to this analogy,
Usercheres would be Ousr-ka-re, not Ousrenre. That the name of Chnumis,
or Chnouphis, the tutelary deity of Elephantine, appears in the cartouche of
Cheops at the Great Pyramid, would induce a belief that the then reigning
dynasty received its title from that island.