DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.3388#0053
THE SEALINGS
43
so that the number of the seal defines it. First we
may note 40, a copper adze which was in the hands
of a Gizeh dealer early in the season, and is not
likely to have come from Meydum, although bearing
the name of Snefru. It is of nearly the same form
as the adze found in the tomb of Rahotep {Medum,
xxix, 11). It belonged to a man named Mer-hez-
Sneferu, " loving the crown of Sneferu," who was a
shem su, a squire, or shield-bearing follower, as shewn
by the shield and the determinative of legs walking.
(University College, London.)
41 is a black-clay seal from a papyrus, found in
the western part of the city. It reads " Khufu, Horns
Neb..., Khnumu-Khu(jy Now the Horus name
of Khufu was Mezer, and not Neb... ; hence this
name Neb ... must belong to Khnumu-Khuf. This
strongly shews that Khufu and Khnumu-Khuf
were distinct persons. And with this agrees there
being two separate tablets in Sinai (l.D. ii, 2), two
separate cartouches together on the tomb of
Khemten (L.D. ii, 26), and different cartouches in the
same tomb of the vth dynasty (l.D. ii, 50).
42, a seal found loose in the palace, reading
" Servant of Neit, Er-shenu-un-nofer son of Zed-
bast-u-ankh." See 268 in Historical Studies.
43, a seal .found upon a papyrus document in
demotic, which Mr. Griffith would date to Darius,
or not before Amasis (see 270). The official title
mer saku, keeper of the seal, is known in connexion
with tombs in the demotic period, so it does not
imply that the king was living at the time of the
seal being used. And this prayer " Seher-ab-ra
protect the keeper of the seal, Psamtek," is like that
offered to gods on other seals (2, 9, 11, 12). It
seems therefore that this belonged to the keeper of
the tomb of king Seher-ab-ra. The document, and
another, relate to a sale of land by a certain
Harmakhri, and they are despatched by the keeper
of the seal Psamtek. The land was 104 aruras, in a
village in the nome of Herakleopolis. 44 is the seal
from the other document found with that just named
(see 269 in Historical Studies'). It reads Ptah-
hotep-her, with two ankhs.
45 is a limestone stamp or seal. It bears captives
of the three subject races, Syrian, Libyan, and Negro,
with sss and a tortoise. On the back a gazelle
bound, and a uraeus.
46 was found about the palace ; it is from a
papyrus. The main figure is one that does not
occur in Mr. Hayes Ward's great work on Seal
Cylinders. It combines the man, bull, bird, and
scorpion ; the nearest parallel is in the book of
Revelation, ch. ix: " On their heads were crowns
like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men.
And they had hair as the hair of women, . . . and the
sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots. . . .
And they had tails like unto scorpions, . . . and the
heads of the horses were as the heads of lions," in
this case as the head of a bull. The other figure is
well known in archaic Greek art (as on the bronze
plaque from Olympia), the winged female holding
lions by the legs, called by Michaelis the " Asiatic
nature-goddess." In this case the animals are
dragons, and the goddess's wing ends in a dragon's
head. The lotus border below points to this seal
having been engraved in Egypt, though it might
perhaps be derived from the Assyrian lotus borders.
47 is a badly cut seal of Ra-nefer-ab, Psamtek II.
48 shews Ptah and another figure very roughly done.
49 reads Hor-pa-sa, Horus the son (of Isis).
50 is a most interesting seal of the Jonah or Jason
type. It is absolutely dated, as it is impressed four
times upon the back of a rough pottery stamp, the
subject of which is a cartouche of Amasis, dated
therefore between 570 and 526 B.C. As an example
of vith-century Greek gem engraving, it is perhaps
the earliest dated stage of the classical school. The
minuteness of the work is surprising, the drawing
here being nearly three times the original diameter.
The subject is that of a man emerging from a sea-
monster, and resting his elbow upon the level of the
land. This is of course most familiar to us in the
story of Jonah; and the same idea is seen on
the Greek vase with the sea-monster ejecting Jason
(Vatican), though the incident does not occur in
Greek literature, and can only be identified by the
name on the vase. There is a large group of subjects
of the sea-monster, attacked by Herakles, Perseus, or
Marduk, or befriending man as Arion or Melkart,
or Melicertes. On the whole cycle of these, and the
fish as the emblem of Hades, see Hans Schmidt,
Jona, 1907. So far as our seal is concerned, there are
only the Jonah and the Jason stories to account for
it, as there is no other instance of the man issuing
from the monster.
The name Jonah, or " the dove," seems a curious
one to be borne by a man. The prophet belonged
to Galilee, as he was of Gath-hepher (2 Kings xiv
25), which is identified with El Meshed, three miles
north-east of Nazareth, where the tomb of Jonah is
honoured. Now in the Northern Kingdom the dove
was a sacred emblem, as in the Talmud,—" By
43
so that the number of the seal defines it. First we
may note 40, a copper adze which was in the hands
of a Gizeh dealer early in the season, and is not
likely to have come from Meydum, although bearing
the name of Snefru. It is of nearly the same form
as the adze found in the tomb of Rahotep {Medum,
xxix, 11). It belonged to a man named Mer-hez-
Sneferu, " loving the crown of Sneferu," who was a
shem su, a squire, or shield-bearing follower, as shewn
by the shield and the determinative of legs walking.
(University College, London.)
41 is a black-clay seal from a papyrus, found in
the western part of the city. It reads " Khufu, Horns
Neb..., Khnumu-Khu(jy Now the Horus name
of Khufu was Mezer, and not Neb... ; hence this
name Neb ... must belong to Khnumu-Khuf. This
strongly shews that Khufu and Khnumu-Khuf
were distinct persons. And with this agrees there
being two separate tablets in Sinai (l.D. ii, 2), two
separate cartouches together on the tomb of
Khemten (L.D. ii, 26), and different cartouches in the
same tomb of the vth dynasty (l.D. ii, 50).
42, a seal found loose in the palace, reading
" Servant of Neit, Er-shenu-un-nofer son of Zed-
bast-u-ankh." See 268 in Historical Studies.
43, a seal .found upon a papyrus document in
demotic, which Mr. Griffith would date to Darius,
or not before Amasis (see 270). The official title
mer saku, keeper of the seal, is known in connexion
with tombs in the demotic period, so it does not
imply that the king was living at the time of the
seal being used. And this prayer " Seher-ab-ra
protect the keeper of the seal, Psamtek," is like that
offered to gods on other seals (2, 9, 11, 12). It
seems therefore that this belonged to the keeper of
the tomb of king Seher-ab-ra. The document, and
another, relate to a sale of land by a certain
Harmakhri, and they are despatched by the keeper
of the seal Psamtek. The land was 104 aruras, in a
village in the nome of Herakleopolis. 44 is the seal
from the other document found with that just named
(see 269 in Historical Studies'). It reads Ptah-
hotep-her, with two ankhs.
45 is a limestone stamp or seal. It bears captives
of the three subject races, Syrian, Libyan, and Negro,
with sss and a tortoise. On the back a gazelle
bound, and a uraeus.
46 was found about the palace ; it is from a
papyrus. The main figure is one that does not
occur in Mr. Hayes Ward's great work on Seal
Cylinders. It combines the man, bull, bird, and
scorpion ; the nearest parallel is in the book of
Revelation, ch. ix: " On their heads were crowns
like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men.
And they had hair as the hair of women, . . . and the
sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots. . . .
And they had tails like unto scorpions, . . . and the
heads of the horses were as the heads of lions," in
this case as the head of a bull. The other figure is
well known in archaic Greek art (as on the bronze
plaque from Olympia), the winged female holding
lions by the legs, called by Michaelis the " Asiatic
nature-goddess." In this case the animals are
dragons, and the goddess's wing ends in a dragon's
head. The lotus border below points to this seal
having been engraved in Egypt, though it might
perhaps be derived from the Assyrian lotus borders.
47 is a badly cut seal of Ra-nefer-ab, Psamtek II.
48 shews Ptah and another figure very roughly done.
49 reads Hor-pa-sa, Horus the son (of Isis).
50 is a most interesting seal of the Jonah or Jason
type. It is absolutely dated, as it is impressed four
times upon the back of a rough pottery stamp, the
subject of which is a cartouche of Amasis, dated
therefore between 570 and 526 B.C. As an example
of vith-century Greek gem engraving, it is perhaps
the earliest dated stage of the classical school. The
minuteness of the work is surprising, the drawing
here being nearly three times the original diameter.
The subject is that of a man emerging from a sea-
monster, and resting his elbow upon the level of the
land. This is of course most familiar to us in the
story of Jonah; and the same idea is seen on
the Greek vase with the sea-monster ejecting Jason
(Vatican), though the incident does not occur in
Greek literature, and can only be identified by the
name on the vase. There is a large group of subjects
of the sea-monster, attacked by Herakles, Perseus, or
Marduk, or befriending man as Arion or Melkart,
or Melicertes. On the whole cycle of these, and the
fish as the emblem of Hades, see Hans Schmidt,
Jona, 1907. So far as our seal is concerned, there are
only the Jonah and the Jason stories to account for
it, as there is no other instance of the man issuing
from the monster.
The name Jonah, or " the dove," seems a curious
one to be borne by a man. The prophet belonged
to Galilee, as he was of Gath-hepher (2 Kings xiv
25), which is identified with El Meshed, three miles
north-east of Nazareth, where the tomb of Jonah is
honoured. Now in the Northern Kingdom the dove
was a sacred emblem, as in the Talmud,—" By