DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4203#0051
■
42
DENDEREH.
Eventually the gods decreeing favour to the
dead became very numerous, and were often
summed up as " all the gods." In the Xllth
Dynasty the formula on the tomb-stones changed
considerably. Its type then is, '' Favour accorded
by the king and Osiris, &c. ; may he (Osiris)
give pert-Jcheru to the ha of N." ; but of this
the mastaba inscriptions from Dendereh, which
are all of the Old Kingdom form, furnish
no examples, though it is not without a
parallel in the Pyramid texts of the Vlth
Dynasty.
48. Pl. I. This plate must be studied in
connection with the other inscriptions from the
tomb of Mena reproduced on pis. ii., iii. The
earliest inscription, however, in the whole series
from Dendereh, is shown on pl. ii., and is that
of Seten-n-abu. As is clear from the later
spelling of the name on pis. viii. and xi.A,
Seten-n-abu, not Abu-seten, is the correct read-
ing. As meaning "king of hearts," this name
may be compared with the common Khenti-hau,
" first of has." Seten-n-abu was rehh seten, hen
neter HetJier, " royal acquaintance and priest of
Hathor"; any other titles he may have held
are lost, but no doubt he was the chief man of
his day at Dendereh.
We now reach one of the most important
series of inscriptions, those from the tomb of
Mena, who lived in the reign of Pepy II. of the
Vlth Dynasty, and probably also under the
preceding kings, Pepy I. and Merenra: he was
certainly sheikh of the pyramid cities of all
three kings. From one of the slabs (pl. ii.) we
see that he was also called Men-ankh Pepy, a
name compounded with that of the pyramid of
Pepy II., and probably received in old age: for
a similar compound compare the name Men-
nefer Pepy on pis. vii., xiii. Mena is one of the
very few Egyptians known named after Menes,
the founder of the first historical dynasty of
Egypt. The occurrence of this name at
Dendereh is not without weight in connection
with the theory that the king whose tomb was
lately found at Naqada is Menes himself. As
at Kahun, not far from the two pyramids of
Senefru, the name Senefru was common durino;
the Xllth Dynasty, so it may well have been
that the name Mena was used during the Vlth
Dynasty at Dendereh, owing to the proximity
of Menes' tomb. ISTaqada is but twenty miles
south in the adjoining nome ; Abydos, the
supposed capital of the first two dynasties, is
fifty miles west, and separated from Dendereh
by the Vllth nome of Upper Egypt. More
examples of the name should be looked for
north and south of Naqada, and around the
entrances of the Quser road from the Red
Sea.
The stela (pl. i.) shows a folding door with
bolts, decorated with two sacred eyes, indicating-
protection or watchfulness; on the lintel are
inscribed the titles and name of Mena, implying
that he is the owner of the house. There are
four representations of the figure of Mena
approaching this door, each of them accom-
panied by an inscription giving his name and
titles; above is the announcement, " Favour
given by the king and Anubis, pert-hheru to the
/ta-prinee, &c, Mena, who is deserving well of
Osiris." The underlying idea seems to be that
the house contains a banquet for Mena. A
similar inscription runs along the cornice of
the stela, and below it is a picture of Mena
sitting at his banquet in a chamber or court
of the house. He wears a leopard-skin, and
before him is a table spread apparently with
palm-branches or reed-stems; behind and be-
low it are numerous trays of offerings. In the
earliest representations of this scene the table
is covered with halved or quartered loaves of
broad, but these became more and more con-
ventionalized, until towards the end of the Old
Kingdom the meaning was lost and the shapes
became unintelligible; so they continued to be
drawn throughout the Middle Kingdom, after
which the conventional half loaf form was for a
time resumed. At Dendereh constantly, and
arte*
a'
m<»
Iv inter*
out*
food:^
;:;0I1 immediately a
■ oar accorded by "
,Bdofbread,athoi
,i, of m
#,of widgeon
:,i and of thread,
fables and of all
-Jena,"
entitled ha,
Lower Egypt, gover
iiitial friend of 1
I, M the ex<
I b new, these ai
ii people of the tiro
kq) seems \
plii.); ot
ij mht," coi
i*" y,detc
flew wore
■•tot of Hathor
; a quite different
-'%ch,Di(
"^erinstan
^ The five
Sfonsslio*
^ ^imens j
■>the0]
the kin
°d and
-,- :,<r~
42
DENDEREH.
Eventually the gods decreeing favour to the
dead became very numerous, and were often
summed up as " all the gods." In the Xllth
Dynasty the formula on the tomb-stones changed
considerably. Its type then is, '' Favour accorded
by the king and Osiris, &c. ; may he (Osiris)
give pert-Jcheru to the ha of N." ; but of this
the mastaba inscriptions from Dendereh, which
are all of the Old Kingdom form, furnish
no examples, though it is not without a
parallel in the Pyramid texts of the Vlth
Dynasty.
48. Pl. I. This plate must be studied in
connection with the other inscriptions from the
tomb of Mena reproduced on pis. ii., iii. The
earliest inscription, however, in the whole series
from Dendereh, is shown on pl. ii., and is that
of Seten-n-abu. As is clear from the later
spelling of the name on pis. viii. and xi.A,
Seten-n-abu, not Abu-seten, is the correct read-
ing. As meaning "king of hearts," this name
may be compared with the common Khenti-hau,
" first of has." Seten-n-abu was rehh seten, hen
neter HetJier, " royal acquaintance and priest of
Hathor"; any other titles he may have held
are lost, but no doubt he was the chief man of
his day at Dendereh.
We now reach one of the most important
series of inscriptions, those from the tomb of
Mena, who lived in the reign of Pepy II. of the
Vlth Dynasty, and probably also under the
preceding kings, Pepy I. and Merenra: he was
certainly sheikh of the pyramid cities of all
three kings. From one of the slabs (pl. ii.) we
see that he was also called Men-ankh Pepy, a
name compounded with that of the pyramid of
Pepy II., and probably received in old age: for
a similar compound compare the name Men-
nefer Pepy on pis. vii., xiii. Mena is one of the
very few Egyptians known named after Menes,
the founder of the first historical dynasty of
Egypt. The occurrence of this name at
Dendereh is not without weight in connection
with the theory that the king whose tomb was
lately found at Naqada is Menes himself. As
at Kahun, not far from the two pyramids of
Senefru, the name Senefru was common durino;
the Xllth Dynasty, so it may well have been
that the name Mena was used during the Vlth
Dynasty at Dendereh, owing to the proximity
of Menes' tomb. ISTaqada is but twenty miles
south in the adjoining nome ; Abydos, the
supposed capital of the first two dynasties, is
fifty miles west, and separated from Dendereh
by the Vllth nome of Upper Egypt. More
examples of the name should be looked for
north and south of Naqada, and around the
entrances of the Quser road from the Red
Sea.
The stela (pl. i.) shows a folding door with
bolts, decorated with two sacred eyes, indicating-
protection or watchfulness; on the lintel are
inscribed the titles and name of Mena, implying
that he is the owner of the house. There are
four representations of the figure of Mena
approaching this door, each of them accom-
panied by an inscription giving his name and
titles; above is the announcement, " Favour
given by the king and Anubis, pert-hheru to the
/ta-prinee, &c, Mena, who is deserving well of
Osiris." The underlying idea seems to be that
the house contains a banquet for Mena. A
similar inscription runs along the cornice of
the stela, and below it is a picture of Mena
sitting at his banquet in a chamber or court
of the house. He wears a leopard-skin, and
before him is a table spread apparently with
palm-branches or reed-stems; behind and be-
low it are numerous trays of offerings. In the
earliest representations of this scene the table
is covered with halved or quartered loaves of
broad, but these became more and more con-
ventionalized, until towards the end of the Old
Kingdom the meaning was lost and the shapes
became unintelligible; so they continued to be
drawn throughout the Middle Kingdom, after
which the conventional half loaf form was for a
time resumed. At Dendereh constantly, and
arte*
a'
m<»
Iv inter*
out*
food:^
;:;0I1 immediately a
■ oar accorded by "
,Bdofbread,athoi
,i, of m
#,of widgeon
:,i and of thread,
fables and of all
-Jena,"
entitled ha,
Lower Egypt, gover
iiitial friend of 1
I, M the ex<
I b new, these ai
ii people of the tiro
kq) seems \
plii.); ot
ij mht," coi
i*" y,detc
flew wore
■•tot of Hathor
; a quite different
-'%ch,Di(
"^erinstan
^ The five
Sfonsslio*
^ ^imens j
■>the0]
the kin
°d and
-,- :,<r~