DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.5009#0369
THE PALAEOGBAPEY OF DIFFERENT NATIONS. 343
Greek writing."* (Sliarpe.) It is now in the British Museum.
-Ihis stone is remarkable for Laving led to the discovery of the
system pursued by the Egyptians in their monumental writing,
and for having furnished a key to its interpretation, Dr. Young
giving the first hints by establishing the phonetic value of
the hieroglyphic signs, which were followed up and carried
out by Champollion.
Another important and much more ancient inscription is the
tablet of Abydos in the British Museum. It was discovered by Mr.
Banks in a chamber of the temple at Abj-dos, in 1818. It is now
greatly disfigured, but when perfect it represented an offering made
by Barneses II., of the nineteenth dynasty, to his predecessors on
the throne of Egypt. The tablet is of fine limestone, and origin-
ally contained the names of fifty-two kings disposed in the two
Upper lines, twenty-six in each line, and a third or lower line with
the name and prenomen of Barneses II. or III. repeated twenty-six
times. On the upper line, beginning from the right hand, are the
names of nionarclis anterior to the twelfth dynasty. The names
hi the second line are those of monarchs of the twelfth, and the
eighteenth or nineteenth dynasties. The King Barneses II. pro-
bably stood on the right hand of the tablet, and on the other is the
lower part of a figure of Osiris. The lateral inscription is the speech
of the deceased kings to " their son " Barneses II.
The tablet of Karnak, now in one of the halls of the Eoyal
Library at Baris, was discovered by Burton in a chamber situated
in the south-east angle of the temple-palace of Thebes, and was
published by its discoverer in bis " Excerpta liieroglyphica." The
chamber itself was fully described by Bosellini in his " Monumenti
Storici." The kings are in two rows, overlooked each of them by a
large figure of Thotmcs III., the fifth king of the eighteenth dynasty.
In the row to the left of the entrance are thirty-one names, and in
that to the right are thirty, all of them predecessors of Thotmcs.
The Theban kings who ruled in Upper Egypt during the usurpa-
tion of the Ilyksos invaders are also exhibited among the lists.
Over the head of each king is his oval, containing his royal titles.
A most valuable tablet of kings has been lately discovered by Mi'.
Marriette in a tomb near Memphis. It contains two rows of kings'
names, each twenty nine in number. Six have been wholly obliterated
out of the upper row, and five out of the lower row. The upper row
contains the names of Barneses II. and his predecessors, who seem all
meant for kings of Upper Egypt, or kings of Memphis who ruled
* A second copy of this inscription, in hieroglyphic and demotic characters, lias
been found by Professor Lepsius in the court of the great temple of Isis, at Pliilro.
Greek writing."* (Sliarpe.) It is now in the British Museum.
-Ihis stone is remarkable for Laving led to the discovery of the
system pursued by the Egyptians in their monumental writing,
and for having furnished a key to its interpretation, Dr. Young
giving the first hints by establishing the phonetic value of
the hieroglyphic signs, which were followed up and carried
out by Champollion.
Another important and much more ancient inscription is the
tablet of Abydos in the British Museum. It was discovered by Mr.
Banks in a chamber of the temple at Abj-dos, in 1818. It is now
greatly disfigured, but when perfect it represented an offering made
by Barneses II., of the nineteenth dynasty, to his predecessors on
the throne of Egypt. The tablet is of fine limestone, and origin-
ally contained the names of fifty-two kings disposed in the two
Upper lines, twenty-six in each line, and a third or lower line with
the name and prenomen of Barneses II. or III. repeated twenty-six
times. On the upper line, beginning from the right hand, are the
names of nionarclis anterior to the twelfth dynasty. The names
hi the second line are those of monarchs of the twelfth, and the
eighteenth or nineteenth dynasties. The King Barneses II. pro-
bably stood on the right hand of the tablet, and on the other is the
lower part of a figure of Osiris. The lateral inscription is the speech
of the deceased kings to " their son " Barneses II.
The tablet of Karnak, now in one of the halls of the Eoyal
Library at Baris, was discovered by Burton in a chamber situated
in the south-east angle of the temple-palace of Thebes, and was
published by its discoverer in bis " Excerpta liieroglyphica." The
chamber itself was fully described by Bosellini in his " Monumenti
Storici." The kings are in two rows, overlooked each of them by a
large figure of Thotmcs III., the fifth king of the eighteenth dynasty.
In the row to the left of the entrance are thirty-one names, and in
that to the right are thirty, all of them predecessors of Thotmcs.
The Theban kings who ruled in Upper Egypt during the usurpa-
tion of the Ilyksos invaders are also exhibited among the lists.
Over the head of each king is his oval, containing his royal titles.
A most valuable tablet of kings has been lately discovered by Mi'.
Marriette in a tomb near Memphis. It contains two rows of kings'
names, each twenty nine in number. Six have been wholly obliterated
out of the upper row, and five out of the lower row. The upper row
contains the names of Barneses II. and his predecessors, who seem all
meant for kings of Upper Egypt, or kings of Memphis who ruled
* A second copy of this inscription, in hieroglyphic and demotic characters, lias
been found by Professor Lepsius in the court of the great temple of Isis, at Pliilro.