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https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.3559#0010
PYRAMIDS OF ABOUSEIR.
NOTES BY MR. BIRCH.
Although these Pyramids are of less interest than those of Gizeh, the hieroglyphics upon them are of considerable importance,
because they contain the dates, prenomens, and royal standards, of two monarchs. They are evidently quarry-marks; but,
instead of having been inscribed, like those in the Pyramids of Gizeh, only upon stone brought from the Mokattam, they
were found on the blocks quarried upon the spot. This is remarkable. In the former instance, they may have been intended
to distinguish the materials, which had been prepared for a royal edifice; but in the present, their use is not obvious, and
they can have only served to denote the founder of each particular Pyramid. It appears from them, however, as will be
afterwards shewn, that the Northern Pyramid is the most antient, and the Southern the latest built.
In proceeding to examine the inscriptions, I shall therefore begin with those which were discovered at the
NORTHERN PYRAMID.
Plate V. Figs. A, B, were found on the retaining walls. They contain the prenomen of the monarch, by whom, probably, the
Pyramid was built. It has been already published by Sir J. G. Wilkinson,* by M. Rosellini, f and by Dr. Leemans;J although
the last-mentioned author has confounded it with a prenomen, probably that of Shefre, or Chrefren. M. Lenormant corrected
this mistake, and discovered the prenomen of Shore and of Nepercheres. The phonetic value of the middle character, ^^
is uncertain; but it had probably the sound of UJ or I), from its resemblance to ^P^k , which is well understood. The name,
therefore, may be read Re-shou, or rather, Shou-re, by a transposition, which is proved by my remarks on the name Menkare§
to be often necessary. The symbols immediately above this name are clearly part of the designation of one of the last four
months of the Egyptian year, Pachon, Pauni, Epiphi, or Mesori; but the inscription is imperfect, for it evidently began with
a date, the greatest part of which is wanting. The following words may, however, be made out:—" In the year.....month
......day.....powerful and living Re-shou (or Shou-re)....... The rest of the inscription is not clear.||
Plate V. Fig. C, merely contains the final titles represented by the gom and symbol of life, and which have been already said
to signify "powerful" "living"
Plate V. Fig. D, was taken from a large block in the retaining wall on the western side of the building, and had been
originally concealed by the masonry. It begins with " Horus of the two worlds, the hawk of gold " and then contains in two
places the royal standard, composed of characters in which " Tcgonr or T<£ot," Tosh or Tokh, can alone be satisfactorily read.
Beneath the standard to the right is a date, " the eighth day of Phamenoth / and above the one to the left is 2Cojul-o«&, " the
mighty and living" or &K-on£>, "restrainer of the living." It is to be remarked that these epithets likewise precede, and follow
the titles found on the eastern side of the Pyramid. The name of the king Shou-re, and his standard appear, therefore, to
be ascertained, and also fragments of two dates; but whether they relate to the beginning, or to the completion of the Pyramid,
cannot be positively determined.
The only other document, which relates to the reign of this king, is the sculpture on the rocks at Wady Magara, published
in the Travels of M. Laborde,^[ where the king Shou-re appears to hold in his left hand the hair of a captive, emblematic
of some nation which he has conquered, and to strike him with a mace held in his right. Behind the monarch is the
peculiar sceptre, distinguished by a jackal and two deities, who carry wands and maces, and are crowned with the teshr, and
ouobsh, or oueit. The representation is enclosed at the sides by two koucoupha sceptres, and is surmounted by the starry
heaven. The inscription contains " Hones, the lord of diadems, the king Shou-re, the giver of life for ever, the lord {or chief) of
all countries, the establisher (?) of all countries." At the same place also are records of Maire (or Moeris), of Cheops, of the king
Senophris, and of Ousrenre, another monarch of the same line. The plates in M. Laborde's works, however, have been so
negligently transcribed, that some of the characters, those particularly in a group below the hawk, are quite unintelligible; but
at all events it is clear that they do not describe the royal standard found at Abouseir.
MIDDLE PYRAMID.
Plate VI. Fig. A. The hieroglyphics apparently contain the title Souten Rash or Rokh, " Royal tutor, orator, or guardian"
followed by the symbols of "abode" or "palace " and the other is repeated twice upon a block on the exterior, but the hieroglyphics
are not clear. The initial signs are possibly the same as the title following those of Cheops.**
Plate VI. Fig. B, was found upon a block on the exterior. It cannot be completely deciphered, but it seems to signify
make to go. (?)
Plate VI. Fig. D, occurs several times, and appears to refer to the abode of the living moderator {the monarch).
Plate VI. Fig. E, is a quarry-mark on a casing-stone somewhat similar to that already cited. It is also imperfect. The
dates of the year and of the month (which without doubt it originally contained) at present do not appear. The fragment
is as follows:—".....the ninth day of {the king) Re-ousr {Ousr-re) .... ever....." It is extraordinary in this inscription,
that the cartouche of the king is rectangular, and that the characters are inscribed in the figure, which usually expresses " abode,
residence;" but as it is preceded by a date, it may be concluded that the name of the monarch is intended, and not "abode," or
a
edifice.
Plate VI. Fig. F, is upon a block on the exterior. It contains, in unusually large characters, two phonetic groups—Gaxc-iuep,
" the great minister."
Plate VI. Fig. G. The symbol Noub, "gold," is on a large block from the quarries at Tourah, which had formed part
of the roof of the Great Chamber, and it is the only inscription found on that kind of stone.
These characters are written in a careless linear style. The sense is not distinct, but as they express (like the inscription
Fig. B) " made to go to . . . ." they were probably directions to the workmen for the position of the blocks.
It may here be remarked, that prenomens occasionally admit of slight variations in their forms, which in some instances
are only complements of shortened or abbreviated expressions. Thus the prenomen of Thothmes the Third is written with
three or four different symbols: with a disk, a sort of basket, and a beetle, or with an undulating line after the basket.
The prenomen in the Middle Pyramid at Abouseir may therefore be the same as that at Wady Magara, which contains the
undulating line after the disk, and either expresses Reenousr " the sun of vigilance," according to M. Rosellini, or Ousr-enre,
"the strength of the sun" according to my system. The same name was found at the Pyramid of Reegah; and it will therefore
appear that the sculptures at Wady Magara, the inscriptions at Abouseir and at Reegah, and those in the plate headed the
Pyramids, in Mr. Burton's " Excerpta Hier." refer to the same monarch.
At AVady Magara the king is represented without any attendant deities, in a similar manner to the king Shore before
described. The inscription at Wady Magara gives the usual Pharaonic titles and epithets — Horus, the strength of the world,
the giver of life for ever ; the gracious god, the lord of the world, the king of the tipper and lower regions, seated in all lands ;
the divine resplendent Hawk of gold, Ousrenre, the giver of life for ever ; the gracious god Ousrenre, established in all lands." ff
Before the standard is a large vase of libations, inscribed with the name and titles of " the king Ousrenre, giver of life, power,
of dilated heart for ever."
The above-mentioned name likewise appears on a tomb near the Ninth Pyramid of Gizeh, and it is therefore connected with
the successors of the line of Cheops.
These documents comprise all that is at present known about the reign of this early monarch, for a similar cartouche in
the Tablet of Karnac cannot be ascribed to him, for reasons which will hereafter be given.
My opinion of the comparative antiquity of the Northern Pyramid of Abouseir is founded upon an inscription, No. 5 in
Plate XXVII. of Mr. Burton's "Excerpta Hier." which was discovered near the Pyramids of Gizeh, and has been apparently copied
from a tablet in the interior of a tomb. It represents a man named Otai, seated before a table or stand, with a peculiar reed-shaped
# Mat. Hieroglyph. Unpublished Kings, a. f Mon. Stor. Teste. Tav. I. % Monumens Egyptiens portants des Legendes Royaux, &c. 8vo. Leide, 1838, p. 20.
§ Inscriptions on the Mummy-board of the Coffin found in the Third Pyramid at Gizeh, fol. London, 1838, published by Mr. Fraser, Regent Street. Lenormant, " Eclaircissements sur le Cercueil du Roi Memphite Mycerinus, traduit de 1'Anglais/' 4to. Paris, 1839.
|| It consists of a man seated and a fowl, a suspended symbol, a moon, a solar disc, and a bar meaning a month; a parallelogram and three horizontal bars, terminated by a lotus flower, and may signify, perhaps, one of the last three months of the year. There is also the
koucoupha sceptre, the symbol of life. These are said to have occurred on one block, although they do not appear to be connected.
51" Voyage de FArabie Petree, fol. Paris, 1830. Tableaux Hieroglyphiques, III. ** Operations carried on at Gizeh, Vol. I. p. 283, and Middle Pyramid, Fig. 13.
ft The standard of Ousrenre is also published by Rosellini, "Mon. Stor." t. III. Tav. i. p. 46. It is analogous to that of Shore. It differs from Laborde, "Voyage de FArabie Petree," fol. Paris, 1830, p. 71. Rosellini does not give Laborde's copy, but cites a Dr. Ricci's.
NOTES BY MR. BIRCH.
Although these Pyramids are of less interest than those of Gizeh, the hieroglyphics upon them are of considerable importance,
because they contain the dates, prenomens, and royal standards, of two monarchs. They are evidently quarry-marks; but,
instead of having been inscribed, like those in the Pyramids of Gizeh, only upon stone brought from the Mokattam, they
were found on the blocks quarried upon the spot. This is remarkable. In the former instance, they may have been intended
to distinguish the materials, which had been prepared for a royal edifice; but in the present, their use is not obvious, and
they can have only served to denote the founder of each particular Pyramid. It appears from them, however, as will be
afterwards shewn, that the Northern Pyramid is the most antient, and the Southern the latest built.
In proceeding to examine the inscriptions, I shall therefore begin with those which were discovered at the
NORTHERN PYRAMID.
Plate V. Figs. A, B, were found on the retaining walls. They contain the prenomen of the monarch, by whom, probably, the
Pyramid was built. It has been already published by Sir J. G. Wilkinson,* by M. Rosellini, f and by Dr. Leemans;J although
the last-mentioned author has confounded it with a prenomen, probably that of Shefre, or Chrefren. M. Lenormant corrected
this mistake, and discovered the prenomen of Shore and of Nepercheres. The phonetic value of the middle character, ^^
is uncertain; but it had probably the sound of UJ or I), from its resemblance to ^P^k , which is well understood. The name,
therefore, may be read Re-shou, or rather, Shou-re, by a transposition, which is proved by my remarks on the name Menkare§
to be often necessary. The symbols immediately above this name are clearly part of the designation of one of the last four
months of the Egyptian year, Pachon, Pauni, Epiphi, or Mesori; but the inscription is imperfect, for it evidently began with
a date, the greatest part of which is wanting. The following words may, however, be made out:—" In the year.....month
......day.....powerful and living Re-shou (or Shou-re)....... The rest of the inscription is not clear.||
Plate V. Fig. C, merely contains the final titles represented by the gom and symbol of life, and which have been already said
to signify "powerful" "living"
Plate V. Fig. D, was taken from a large block in the retaining wall on the western side of the building, and had been
originally concealed by the masonry. It begins with " Horus of the two worlds, the hawk of gold " and then contains in two
places the royal standard, composed of characters in which " Tcgonr or T<£ot," Tosh or Tokh, can alone be satisfactorily read.
Beneath the standard to the right is a date, " the eighth day of Phamenoth / and above the one to the left is 2Cojul-o«&, " the
mighty and living" or &K-on£>, "restrainer of the living." It is to be remarked that these epithets likewise precede, and follow
the titles found on the eastern side of the Pyramid. The name of the king Shou-re, and his standard appear, therefore, to
be ascertained, and also fragments of two dates; but whether they relate to the beginning, or to the completion of the Pyramid,
cannot be positively determined.
The only other document, which relates to the reign of this king, is the sculpture on the rocks at Wady Magara, published
in the Travels of M. Laborde,^[ where the king Shou-re appears to hold in his left hand the hair of a captive, emblematic
of some nation which he has conquered, and to strike him with a mace held in his right. Behind the monarch is the
peculiar sceptre, distinguished by a jackal and two deities, who carry wands and maces, and are crowned with the teshr, and
ouobsh, or oueit. The representation is enclosed at the sides by two koucoupha sceptres, and is surmounted by the starry
heaven. The inscription contains " Hones, the lord of diadems, the king Shou-re, the giver of life for ever, the lord {or chief) of
all countries, the establisher (?) of all countries." At the same place also are records of Maire (or Moeris), of Cheops, of the king
Senophris, and of Ousrenre, another monarch of the same line. The plates in M. Laborde's works, however, have been so
negligently transcribed, that some of the characters, those particularly in a group below the hawk, are quite unintelligible; but
at all events it is clear that they do not describe the royal standard found at Abouseir.
MIDDLE PYRAMID.
Plate VI. Fig. A. The hieroglyphics apparently contain the title Souten Rash or Rokh, " Royal tutor, orator, or guardian"
followed by the symbols of "abode" or "palace " and the other is repeated twice upon a block on the exterior, but the hieroglyphics
are not clear. The initial signs are possibly the same as the title following those of Cheops.**
Plate VI. Fig. B, was found upon a block on the exterior. It cannot be completely deciphered, but it seems to signify
make to go. (?)
Plate VI. Fig. D, occurs several times, and appears to refer to the abode of the living moderator {the monarch).
Plate VI. Fig. E, is a quarry-mark on a casing-stone somewhat similar to that already cited. It is also imperfect. The
dates of the year and of the month (which without doubt it originally contained) at present do not appear. The fragment
is as follows:—".....the ninth day of {the king) Re-ousr {Ousr-re) .... ever....." It is extraordinary in this inscription,
that the cartouche of the king is rectangular, and that the characters are inscribed in the figure, which usually expresses " abode,
residence;" but as it is preceded by a date, it may be concluded that the name of the monarch is intended, and not "abode," or
a
edifice.
Plate VI. Fig. F, is upon a block on the exterior. It contains, in unusually large characters, two phonetic groups—Gaxc-iuep,
" the great minister."
Plate VI. Fig. G. The symbol Noub, "gold," is on a large block from the quarries at Tourah, which had formed part
of the roof of the Great Chamber, and it is the only inscription found on that kind of stone.
These characters are written in a careless linear style. The sense is not distinct, but as they express (like the inscription
Fig. B) " made to go to . . . ." they were probably directions to the workmen for the position of the blocks.
It may here be remarked, that prenomens occasionally admit of slight variations in their forms, which in some instances
are only complements of shortened or abbreviated expressions. Thus the prenomen of Thothmes the Third is written with
three or four different symbols: with a disk, a sort of basket, and a beetle, or with an undulating line after the basket.
The prenomen in the Middle Pyramid at Abouseir may therefore be the same as that at Wady Magara, which contains the
undulating line after the disk, and either expresses Reenousr " the sun of vigilance," according to M. Rosellini, or Ousr-enre,
"the strength of the sun" according to my system. The same name was found at the Pyramid of Reegah; and it will therefore
appear that the sculptures at Wady Magara, the inscriptions at Abouseir and at Reegah, and those in the plate headed the
Pyramids, in Mr. Burton's " Excerpta Hier." refer to the same monarch.
At AVady Magara the king is represented without any attendant deities, in a similar manner to the king Shore before
described. The inscription at Wady Magara gives the usual Pharaonic titles and epithets — Horus, the strength of the world,
the giver of life for ever ; the gracious god, the lord of the world, the king of the tipper and lower regions, seated in all lands ;
the divine resplendent Hawk of gold, Ousrenre, the giver of life for ever ; the gracious god Ousrenre, established in all lands." ff
Before the standard is a large vase of libations, inscribed with the name and titles of " the king Ousrenre, giver of life, power,
of dilated heart for ever."
The above-mentioned name likewise appears on a tomb near the Ninth Pyramid of Gizeh, and it is therefore connected with
the successors of the line of Cheops.
These documents comprise all that is at present known about the reign of this early monarch, for a similar cartouche in
the Tablet of Karnac cannot be ascribed to him, for reasons which will hereafter be given.
My opinion of the comparative antiquity of the Northern Pyramid of Abouseir is founded upon an inscription, No. 5 in
Plate XXVII. of Mr. Burton's "Excerpta Hier." which was discovered near the Pyramids of Gizeh, and has been apparently copied
from a tablet in the interior of a tomb. It represents a man named Otai, seated before a table or stand, with a peculiar reed-shaped
# Mat. Hieroglyph. Unpublished Kings, a. f Mon. Stor. Teste. Tav. I. % Monumens Egyptiens portants des Legendes Royaux, &c. 8vo. Leide, 1838, p. 20.
§ Inscriptions on the Mummy-board of the Coffin found in the Third Pyramid at Gizeh, fol. London, 1838, published by Mr. Fraser, Regent Street. Lenormant, " Eclaircissements sur le Cercueil du Roi Memphite Mycerinus, traduit de 1'Anglais/' 4to. Paris, 1839.
|| It consists of a man seated and a fowl, a suspended symbol, a moon, a solar disc, and a bar meaning a month; a parallelogram and three horizontal bars, terminated by a lotus flower, and may signify, perhaps, one of the last three months of the year. There is also the
koucoupha sceptre, the symbol of life. These are said to have occurred on one block, although they do not appear to be connected.
51" Voyage de FArabie Petree, fol. Paris, 1830. Tableaux Hieroglyphiques, III. ** Operations carried on at Gizeh, Vol. I. p. 283, and Middle Pyramid, Fig. 13.
ft The standard of Ousrenre is also published by Rosellini, "Mon. Stor." t. III. Tav. i. p. 46. It is analogous to that of Shore. It differs from Laborde, "Voyage de FArabie Petree," fol. Paris, 1830, p. 71. Rosellini does not give Laborde's copy, but cites a Dr. Ricci's.