Naville, Edouard; Tylor, J. J. [Editor]; Griffith, Francis Ll. [Editor]: Ahnas el Medineh: (Heracleopolis Magna) ; with chapters on Mendes, the nome of Thoth, and Leontopolis; [beigefügtes Werk]: The tomb of Paheri : at el Kab / by J. J. Tylor and F. L. Griffith (London, 1894)

SCENES AND INSCRIPTIONS.

13

" Stand still, be not disobedient, 0 excellent
horse, /^-prince (?), beloved by his master, and
of whom the /^-prince boasts to everybody !"1
The construction of the chariot is very primi-
tive, the wheel having only four spokes.
Horses were no doubt still scarce in Egypt;
they are found, perhaps for the first time,
amongst the hieroglyphs in the tomb of
Paheri's grandfather, Aahmes, son of Abana,
during the reign of Thothmes I.2

Ploughing and sowing are shown in the
lowest of the three rows, reaping in the second,
threshing, &c, in the first, and finally loading
the corn-ships in a lower corner at the right-
hand end of the fourth row. A second figure
of Paheri is here introduced : as he goes down
to the river to the corn-ships, he passes the
ploughmen and bids them be quick.3

Two ploughs are drawn by oxen in pairs ;
with each is a driver, and a man sowing broad-
cast. They are singing—

hru nefer, tutu qebu, na en dim her dth, ta pet her art
en ab-en, bak-en en pa ser

" A fine day, one is cool, the oxen are drawing,
the heaven is doing according to our hearts,
let us work for the noble !"

One of the ploughmen calls to the other in
front of him—

as-tu, pa hati, kherp na en dhu, meh pa ha aha her
peter

" Hasten, leader, forward with the oxen! behold
the Aa-prince is standing and looking on."

Four men are breaking up the clods with
hoes. One exclaims—

khenerns as-tu em balm, te-ek uha-en er nu nefer

" Friend, hasten at the work, let us finish in
good time."

1 Translations by Maspero of many of these inscriptions
are to be found in the Zeitschrift ficr Aegyplische Spraclie,
xvii., pp. 58 ff. Others by Erman, in his Aegypten, and by
Brugsch in his Thesaurus, vol. vi., pp. 1528 ff.

2 L., D., hi., 12, G.

3 His speech is translated below.

To which the reply is—

du-d er art hau her baku en pa ser keru

"I shall do more than the work (due) to the
noble : be silent (?)."

A plough of the usual form is being drawn
in the opposite direction by four men with
ropes, an old ploughman guiding it with both
hands, and a boy sowing. Probably this is for
a different crop, e.g. flax. Behind them is
Paheri, who, coming down to the river to see
the barges laden with corn, passes by the
labourers—

uza an ha. Paheri maa. kheru er atep na en usekhu em
ta sekhet: zet-ef en na en dhutiu, as-ten, ta aht
petet-td, kher fa Hap ha urt

a

The kj-prince Paheri, deceased, proceeds to
load the barges in the (river-) meadow: he says
to the farm-labourers, 'Hasten ye, the corn-
fields are broken up (?) : the Nile was very
great.' "4

The drawers of the plough, replying—

zet-sen dry-en, mek-en ; em ar sent her ta aht, si
nefertd urt

" say, ' We are doing (so), behold us; fear not
for the corn-fields, they are very good.' "

And the old driver, taking up the last word,
exclaims—

neferui peru en re-ek pay[-d~\ sherd; renpet nefert shut
em setebu, senbet semu neb ; kher na en behesu nefer
er Met nebt

" Twice excellent is your exclamation, my son !
the year is good, free of ills; healthy in all
herbs; and the calves are excellent beyond
anything."

In the next row above is the harvest. On
the left we see the flax pulled up by men and
women, the earth cleaned from the roots, and
the stems tied in sheaves, after which the seed-
heads are torn off with a comb. The old man

4 This must be the meaning of the passage, since no
ploughing is done just before the inundation.

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