DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.1350#0017
THE ROCK INSCRIPTIONS BELOW ASSUAN.
15
ankh-ka, as deceased and mummified, is seated by
a table of offerings, with various attendants around
him. Two nobles kneel behind him, one with
Tahuti in his name; while two attendants—one
named Mentuhotep—bring ibexes to offer to him.
In the original there is a considerable space be-
tween these last and the table of offerings, which
space is filled by a wholly different style of inscrip-
tion, which is by its position evidently earlier than
Sankhkara; this is No. 366. On a block near this
are Nos. 367-70. 363, 7, 8, and. 9 are clearly all
the same inscription written rather differently. After
these a long space is bare of inscriptions, until
reaching 371, etc. In 385 appears the cartouche of
Ra-sebek-em-saf. This seems probably to be that
of the king, as Ra was sometimes prefixed to names
which are generally without it; as for instance
Sneferka and Rasneferka, Ases-kaf and Ra-ases-kaf.
The draught-board, with signs opposite the squares,
is curious; it is marked on a flat block in the floor
of the valley, on which persons could play, but the
number of squares, 3x9, is different to the 3x10
always found in later times. The title mer ast,
" chief of the place," often occurs, as in Nos. 380-2,
398, 404, 408, 416, &c. Such of the names here as
are certainly legible, are entered in the index of
names. The Ka-name Uaj, No. 414, probably
belongs to the Xlllth dynasty from its style,
though it does not agree to any of the few known
of that age. The cartouches, 430, seem to be of
an unknown king Ra-hor-a, or Ra-em-a, with the
private name of Hotep. Though they have been
a good deal bruised, it is certain that they do not
represent any king hitherto known. The form need
not surprise us; the ending with the seated figure
a is paralleled in the name of king Aufna: and
this might possibly read Ra-em-a, "Ra is in me":
the personal name Hotep is ,very common at this
period of the middle kingdom. No. 444 belongs to
a king who can hardly be identified, although Mr
Griffith and myself examined the cartouche very
carefully; if not Ra-ma-kheru (Amenemhat IV.), it
must be a new king. The copies signed with E.
beside G.P. and <p, mark those published by
Eisenlohr in Proc. Soc. Bib. Arch., 3rd May 1881.
His remark there on the omission of makheru after
the name of Tahutmes I., in No. 476, is doubtful,
as Mr Griffith has it in his copy from which I
have drawn. It rather seems that Penati was
superintendent of the royal works under Amen-
hotep I., Tahutmes I., and Tahutmes II., placing
this inscription in the reign of the last; while,
according to No. 357, he died just after Hatasu,
and before Tahutmes III. had ordered the removal
of her name from the monuments. In No. 479, a
scribe has placed his name with that of his sove-
reign Neferhotep. And in 480 is the name of
Amenhotep I., "beloved of Horus, Lord of Meh,"
the capital of the XVIth nome of Upper Egypt.
Adjoining this, and apparently contemporary, are
the inscriptions 483 and 488. The principal object
in the valley, occupying the most prominent place,
on a flat face of rock just at the mouth, is the
large tablet of Mentuhotep and Antef (No. 489),
which is raised some distance from the ground. It
is cut in fine low relief, with well wrought details;
as in also the small tablet No. 443, which is on a
fallen block a little to the west. For the con-
sideration of the historical results, reference must
be made to the chapter on " Some Historical Data."
20. After reaching the mouth of the Seba Rigaleh
valley, a straggling succession of graffiti are to be seen
on the sandstone rocks, which border the west side
of the Nile for some three or four miles northwards.
These inscriptions (497-569) record various travellers
who passed; the most important of them, perhaps,
being the Phoenician inscription, No. 523. This is
on a low cliff face, someway above the river, but
accessible from rocks in front of the cliff; it is partly
hidden by a block which lies in front of the north
end of it. Professor Sayce translates it "Bodka
cried to Isis," and assigns it to the 6th or 5th century
B.G (see Babylonian and Oriental Record, October
1887). In No. 539 there seems to be the name of Pepi.
Along with all these inscription-graffiti is a vast
number of figures of animals, &c, not necessarily
connected with the graffiti, and in most cases wholly
distinct, and of a different age. These figures have
never received any attention hitherto, and their
number deters one from copying or even cataloguing
them. They are of all periods; some probably done
in modern times; others later than the inscriptions,
but ancient; and others older than the inscriptions.
Beneath the great Mentuhotep tablet are several
figures of giraffes, hammered in upon the rock face,
and one of these distinctly has interfered with the
arrangement of a graffito of Amenhotep I. (It is
possible that these figures are intended for camels;
but the necks are quite straight, although raised
upward, and there is no hump shown, so that it
seems more likely that they are giraffes.) With this
certain evidence of the antiquity of such animal
figures, we may be prepared to give full weight
to the collateral evidence of their weathering and
appearance. One of the clearest cases is on the
15
ankh-ka, as deceased and mummified, is seated by
a table of offerings, with various attendants around
him. Two nobles kneel behind him, one with
Tahuti in his name; while two attendants—one
named Mentuhotep—bring ibexes to offer to him.
In the original there is a considerable space be-
tween these last and the table of offerings, which
space is filled by a wholly different style of inscrip-
tion, which is by its position evidently earlier than
Sankhkara; this is No. 366. On a block near this
are Nos. 367-70. 363, 7, 8, and. 9 are clearly all
the same inscription written rather differently. After
these a long space is bare of inscriptions, until
reaching 371, etc. In 385 appears the cartouche of
Ra-sebek-em-saf. This seems probably to be that
of the king, as Ra was sometimes prefixed to names
which are generally without it; as for instance
Sneferka and Rasneferka, Ases-kaf and Ra-ases-kaf.
The draught-board, with signs opposite the squares,
is curious; it is marked on a flat block in the floor
of the valley, on which persons could play, but the
number of squares, 3x9, is different to the 3x10
always found in later times. The title mer ast,
" chief of the place," often occurs, as in Nos. 380-2,
398, 404, 408, 416, &c. Such of the names here as
are certainly legible, are entered in the index of
names. The Ka-name Uaj, No. 414, probably
belongs to the Xlllth dynasty from its style,
though it does not agree to any of the few known
of that age. The cartouches, 430, seem to be of
an unknown king Ra-hor-a, or Ra-em-a, with the
private name of Hotep. Though they have been
a good deal bruised, it is certain that they do not
represent any king hitherto known. The form need
not surprise us; the ending with the seated figure
a is paralleled in the name of king Aufna: and
this might possibly read Ra-em-a, "Ra is in me":
the personal name Hotep is ,very common at this
period of the middle kingdom. No. 444 belongs to
a king who can hardly be identified, although Mr
Griffith and myself examined the cartouche very
carefully; if not Ra-ma-kheru (Amenemhat IV.), it
must be a new king. The copies signed with E.
beside G.P. and <p, mark those published by
Eisenlohr in Proc. Soc. Bib. Arch., 3rd May 1881.
His remark there on the omission of makheru after
the name of Tahutmes I., in No. 476, is doubtful,
as Mr Griffith has it in his copy from which I
have drawn. It rather seems that Penati was
superintendent of the royal works under Amen-
hotep I., Tahutmes I., and Tahutmes II., placing
this inscription in the reign of the last; while,
according to No. 357, he died just after Hatasu,
and before Tahutmes III. had ordered the removal
of her name from the monuments. In No. 479, a
scribe has placed his name with that of his sove-
reign Neferhotep. And in 480 is the name of
Amenhotep I., "beloved of Horus, Lord of Meh,"
the capital of the XVIth nome of Upper Egypt.
Adjoining this, and apparently contemporary, are
the inscriptions 483 and 488. The principal object
in the valley, occupying the most prominent place,
on a flat face of rock just at the mouth, is the
large tablet of Mentuhotep and Antef (No. 489),
which is raised some distance from the ground. It
is cut in fine low relief, with well wrought details;
as in also the small tablet No. 443, which is on a
fallen block a little to the west. For the con-
sideration of the historical results, reference must
be made to the chapter on " Some Historical Data."
20. After reaching the mouth of the Seba Rigaleh
valley, a straggling succession of graffiti are to be seen
on the sandstone rocks, which border the west side
of the Nile for some three or four miles northwards.
These inscriptions (497-569) record various travellers
who passed; the most important of them, perhaps,
being the Phoenician inscription, No. 523. This is
on a low cliff face, someway above the river, but
accessible from rocks in front of the cliff; it is partly
hidden by a block which lies in front of the north
end of it. Professor Sayce translates it "Bodka
cried to Isis," and assigns it to the 6th or 5th century
B.G (see Babylonian and Oriental Record, October
1887). In No. 539 there seems to be the name of Pepi.
Along with all these inscription-graffiti is a vast
number of figures of animals, &c, not necessarily
connected with the graffiti, and in most cases wholly
distinct, and of a different age. These figures have
never received any attention hitherto, and their
number deters one from copying or even cataloguing
them. They are of all periods; some probably done
in modern times; others later than the inscriptions,
but ancient; and others older than the inscriptions.
Beneath the great Mentuhotep tablet are several
figures of giraffes, hammered in upon the rock face,
and one of these distinctly has interfered with the
arrangement of a graffito of Amenhotep I. (It is
possible that these figures are intended for camels;
but the necks are quite straight, although raised
upward, and there is no hump shown, so that it
seems more likely that they are giraffes.) With this
certain evidence of the antiquity of such animal
figures, we may be prepared to give full weight
to the collateral evidence of their weathering and
appearance. One of the clearest cases is on the