Petrie, William M. Flinders: Dendereh: 1898 ; extra plates (London, 1900)

'

30 1Uco^lete,
reqmred tfl
original

THE INSCRIPTIONS.

49

heir

to have beei
very difficult,
'gments

all frao

3k and Ami-Ut

ha> chancellor
lfidential royal

laboured] fot

;......] its little

.............the

!1'e were har-
hat desired to

not | one who
Dendereh in |

beloved of it,
i the foreign
ings, 11 loved
.........it was

.......J but I

■ety. I was a
»

intelligible,

to say in-

perhaps the

) substituted

axamples of

found here

blocks and
L-n(?)'nezsu,
5 little," i.e.

ucellor and

false door:
id Anubis,
ornice, the
pure bread

the other,
e door are
he steward

my house,

d what the

with the

desire of offering justice unto the great god lord
of heaven (Ra).''

From these inscriptions and those on the other
two blocks given in the plate we learn the
names of " his wife whom he loveth, confidential
favourite of the king, priestess of Hathor mistress
of Dendereh, Auuta," of " his eldest son whom
he loveth, the royal chancellor, steward of the
house of war, the deserving, Merra," of "his
son whom he loveth, the royal chancellor,
steward of the house of the stores and of war,
Sebeknekht," and of " his son whom he loveth,
the royal chancellor, the steward of the house of
war, Sennetsua." Above his sons, in small

characters: "...... I conciliated them with

bread, beer, northern barley, spelt......clothing,

oil, honey : then may my name remain (even)
in the necropolis."

Pl. X. Here we see some of his daughters :
" [his daughters whom he loves], confidential
favourite of the king, priestess of Hathor lady
of Dendereh, the deserving, Hotepa," and " the
confidential favourite of the king, the deserving,
Beba."

The fragments of biographical inscriptions on

this plate are very tantalizing. "......which

my father, Avho loved his house, [built ?] for me ;
I found it as enclosures of bricks, I [renewed it
with stones? I supported?] it with standing
posts of wood of every sort; of eleven (cubits)
in height, furnished with doors of u[an-wood ?]

......gardeners (determined by a man carrying

pots of water by means of a yoke) were making
vegetables (compare the picture in El Bersheh, I.,
pl. xxvi., B. It., I., pl. xxix. right), pond-keepers
were planting trees, the little man was owner
of his bow (or yoke), every man was owner of
his own work: I did this throughout, throughout

in very truth. This is not as said.........my

father, Merra." It seems as if this belonged to
Merra, son of Senmezsu.

Another fragment gives two lines following

on a funerary inscription : "......that grew in

it, of men, northern barley, spelt, gold, copper

(or pottery?), cloth, oil.........in its length

88-| cubits in its breadth, 300 trees in it......."

The rest is not comprehensible to me.

Another fragment gives : " [of] goats, ships,
of everything."

Of inscriptions on this plate which do not
belong to Merra, we have one of a " confidential
royal favourite, priestess of Hathor of Dendereh"
named Hetepsa. Another fragment shows a
man seated with his wife, who holds out the
baby for him to dandle ; she is "his wife whom
he loves, the royal acquaintance, Redu'ahu (?) "
(i.e. " Feet-of-kine," not " Uanrkau"). On one
fragment, "Adu, whose good name is Uhaa,"
has much the same titles as Merra on pl. viii.,
viz. : " repa ha, royal chancellor, confidential
associate of the king, superintendent of divine
service, keeper of the thentet-c&ttle." Ptalrmera,
(in the lower left-hand corner), was "royal chan-
cellor, superintendent of the audience chamber."

Pl. X.a. Belonging to Sen"n(?)'nezsu there
are here several bits of funerary formulae, e.g.
" [0 ye who love life] and hate death, as ye
love [the king say ' favour accorded by the
king']." Three or four other bits may probably
be connected thus: "[the steward] Sen-n(?)*nezsu,
he saith, ' It was that my master sent me on a

peaceful commission, which I did ...... [I took

tribute of ?] their people, their trees, their fields
.........cattle. I returned in [peace.''

Of the fragments from the tomb of Ptah-mera
(cf. pl. x.) those from the cornice give minute
portions from the benevolent formulae so com-
monly met with at Dendereh, while the small
stela says: "I came forth from my house, I
entered my chamber, I said what the great
loved, what the little praised."

On the fragments belonging to Beba and his
son Sebek'nekht there is the phrase, " I made
(i.e. cultivated) men, cattle, asses, goats."

53. Pl. XI. Inscription of Beba and his
wife Henutsen : " Favour that the king accords
and Anubis upon his hill, and Ami-ut lord of
the Sacred Land, peii-khera to the chancellor,

B