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BOSTON
PUBLIC
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Park St. Church, Boston]
I

PUBLISHERS' NOTE
Messrs. Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co., Ltd., beg to
announce that they have still in stock a limited number of the
larger edition of the hieroglyphic text

and translation

of the

Book of the Dead, with the hieroglyphic vocabulary by Dr. Wallis Budge, which appeared in
three volumes under the title " Chapter of Coming Forth

Theban Recension

by Day,"

of the

late in 1897.

Price for the Entire Work,

10s.

Volume I. contains all the known Chapters of the Theban

Recension of the Book of the Dead, printed in hieroglyphic
type (pp. 1 517), and a description of the papyri in the British
Museum from which they have been edited, and a list of
Chapters, etc. (pp. i. xl.). This edition is the most complete
which has hitherto been published.

Volume

II.

contains a

full

vocabulary (pp. 1

hieroglyphic texts of the Chapters of the

the Book

the

of the

Sa'ite

Dead and

386) to

all

the

Theban Recension

of

to the supplementary Chapters from

Recension which are given therewith in Volume

The volume contains about 35,000

I.

references.

Volume.III. contains
Preface and list of Chapters (i.-xxxvi.).
1. Introduction (pp. xxxvii.-cciv.)
Chap. I. The History of the Book of the Dead.
This
Chapter is accompanied by eighteen plates which illustrate the palaeography of the various Recensions of the
Book of the Dead from the Vth Dynasty to the Roman
:

Period.

VOL.

II.

Chap.

II.

III.

IV.

Osiris and the Resurrection.

The Judgment of the Dead.

The Elysian Fields or Heaven.

extracts

B.C.

With

from the Pyramid Texts.

V. The Magic of the Book of the Dead.
VI. The Object and Contents of the Book of the Dead.
VII. The Book of the Dead of Nesi-Khonsu, about
1000 (English translation).

The Book of Breathings (English translation).

IX. The Papyrus of Takhert-puru-abt (English

VIII.

translation).

Translation of the Book of the Dead

The volume also contains three scenes from the
354).
(pp. 1
famous Papyrus of Ani representing the Judgment Scene, the
Funeral Procession, and the Elysian Fields, which have been
reproduced in full colours by Mr. W. Griggs, the eminent
2.

English

photo-lithographer.

3&ooks on

EQppt

anfc Gfoalfcaea

A HISTORY OF EGYPT
From the End of the Neolithic Period to
the Death of Cleopatra VII.

Vol.

B.C.

II.

EGYPT UNDER THE

GREAT PYRAMID BUILDERS

30

1Booh$ on Eg^pt an& Cbal&aea

UNDER

THE GREAT PYRAMID BUILDERS

BY

"

E.

A.^WALLIS BUDGE,

M.A., Litt.D., D.Lit.

KEEPER OF THE EGYPTIAN AND ASSYRIAN ANTIQUITIES

IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM

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NEW YORK

HENRY FROWDE
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
AMERICAN BRANCH
1902

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PREFACE

In the pages of this Volume the history of Egypt has

been continued from the end of the Illrd Dynasty to
the

of the

close

famous

reign

for the despatch of

was the

last

chapter

is

Seankh-ka-Ka, who

of

was

an expedition to Punt, and

king of the Xlth Dynasty.

The opening

devoted to a summary in which the general

condition of the country, and the state of civilization

of the

people,

and the progress

of

the

Egyptians

during the Archaic Period are briefly described.

facts related in it illustrate the

civilization

of

the

manner

in

The

which the

dynastic Egyptians developed out

of the primitive culture of the indigenous predynastic

peoples

of Egypt,

after

it

had been modified and

improved by the superior intelligence of a race of men,

presumably of Asiatic

origin,

who invaded and

con-

The chapters which follow deal with

the period of the Great Pyramid Builders, one of the
most fascinating epochs of Egyptian history. In it we
see the broad-headed, dominant race in Egypt at their
quered Egypt.

best,

and

it

has been truly said that

it

was the kings of

PREFACE

Vlll

the IVth Dynasty, with their architects, and practical

mechanics, and

artists,

and

and

sculptors,

who

scribes,

made the great reputation which the Egyptians have

enjoyed ever since throughout the world.

It

may

be

argued that the Pyramids are useless monuments of

misdirected energy, and of misapplied ability, to say

nothing of the vanity of the kings who made them

a vanity which some think was as colossal in
as the actual buildings

but

it

is

way

its

the fact that the

master minds which planned and the mechanical

which

built

skill

them remained unsurpassed, and even

unequalled, in

all

the subsequent history of Egypt.

Cheops and his immediate successors certainly deserve

praise for

the

good

giving their great

free

hand

in their

sense

which they displayed in

architects

and clerks of works a

mighty undertakings

and

it

must

never be forgotten that the sculptures and bas-reliefs

executed during their reigns are as wonderful for their
delicacy

and

and beauty as the Pyramids are

That

solidity.

sculptors of the

the

Saite Period

from which they worked

it

scribes,

is

and

for their size

and

artists,

made them the models

not to be wondered

at,

and

borders on the marvellous that the best and greatest

period of Egyptian art and sculpture must be assigned

to the time of the

In the following

IVth Dynasty, or about

pages no mention

is

B.C.

made

3500.

of the

various ingenious theories which have gathered round

the Great Pyramid, and which would assign to that

vast sepulchral

monument hidden purposes and mean-

PREFACE
ings, for it is

was

that

it

any

esoteric

now admitted by
built

doctrines

all

competent authorities

tomb and not

for

IX

to

illustrate

with the Hebrew

connected

Patriarchs and others.

In discussing the Xlth Dynasty, a brief narrative

of the Antef kings has been included, because the late

Dr. Brugsch and Prof.

have included

ologists

Wiedemann and
them among the

other Egyptrulers of that

Dynasty, and the general reader will expect to find

them there

but

it is

probable, as the forms of some of

the prenomens of the Antefs, and the peculiar shape of

their

coffins

period,

after the

i.e.,

The

Dynasty.

that they reigned

indicate,

XHIth and

are

taken

from

charming old rendering of the

which was published

E.,"

before the

later

XVIIth

extracts from the History of Herodotus,

given in English,

"B.

at

in 1584.

and

quaint

two Books by

first

E. A.

THE Famous

the

Wallis Budge.

History of
HERODOTUS Conteynwg the
dyuers Countreys, the succession of theyr Kyngs
the actes and exploytes
atchieued by them the Lavves and customes of euery nation: with the true Description and Anti- quitie
of the time.
Deuided into nine Bookes, entituled with the
names of the nine Muses.
Printed by Thomas
At London
Marshe : 1584.
1

Discourse

of

CONTENTS

Summary of the Archaic Period. PreDYNASTIC AND DYNASTIC INHABITANTS OP EGYPT COMPARED.
Their Dwellings, Methods of Burials,
Tombs, etc. Art of Writing and Inscriptions,
Names of Te, Ee, and Ka. Development of
Egyptian Language and its
Hieroglyphics.

Chapter

I.

Egyptian Eeligion of Indigenous

Origin. Antiquity of Belief in a Future Life.
Names of
Osiris. Oldest Figure of a Goddess.
Goddesses in use in the Archaic Period. Neith,
Ptah-Seker-Asar, Horus, Apis, Mnevis, etc.
Great Antiquity of parts of the Booh of the Dead.
Semti, the Editor of parts of it. The Followers
Class of
of Horus. Early Statues of Besh.
Stele
Use.
Green Slate Objects of Unknown
of Vultures Compared. Evidence of Jar-seal ings.
Early Titles of Officials. The Set and
Horus Names of the King. Pharaoh. The
Serekh or "Cognizance." The Title "Son of
The Queen or Eoyal Mother.
the Sun."

Affinities.

Privileges of

Women

Chapter II. Fourth Dynasty. Seneferu. His Forts

and Pyramid. Queen Merti-tef-s. Khufu or
Meaning of the
Cheops and his Pyramid.
Word "Pyramid." Descriptions of the Great
Pyramid by Herodotus, Diodorus, Pliny, Strabo,

CONTENTS

Xll

PAGE

by Christian Writers.
Construction of Great Pyramid. Khufu's Son,
Heru-tata-f. Ea-tet-f or Eatoises.
Kha-f-Ea
or Chephren and his Pyramid. Temple of the
Sphinx. The Sphinx. Mention of, by Pliny and
'Abd al-Latif. Mycerinus and his Pyramid.
His Coffin and Sarcophagus. Shepses-ka-f

Abu'l-Fida.

Chapter

III.

Notices

Fifth

Dynasty.

Userkaf

and

21

his

Pyramid. Sahu-Ea and his Pyramid. Eut-Tetet,

the Wife of Ea-user and her Three Sons.
Ea-en-user and his Works at Sinai.
The

Mastaba of

Men-kau-Heru and his Works

at Sinai. Assa and the Wadi Hammamat. He
SENDS TO THE IjAND OF THE GHOSTS FOR A PYGMY.
Ptah-hetep, the Author of the Precepts. Unas.
Thi.

His Pyramid, inscribed with Important Eeligious

Texts. Unas Kills and Eats the Gods
.

Chapter IV.

67

Teta and his Pyramid.

Pepi I. The Official Una and his Expedition
to the South.
Clears the old Canal at
Elephantine.
Mer-en-Ea.
His Pyramid and
Sixth Dynasty.

Mummy.

The Official Her-khuf. Pepi II.

Her-khuf to the Pygmy Land.
Nttocris. Greek Legends of Ehodopis-Nitocris.
Decay of Power of the Government of Memphis
at the End of the VIth Dynasty
Mission

of

...

Chapter V. Summary of the IVth, Vth and VIth

Dynasties. Limits of Egyptian Eule. NaramSin and the Babylonians. Makan. The Menti,
the Anu (Troglodytes), the Sati, the Heru-Sha,
the petchti-shu, the thehennu, the llbu,
(Libyans), the Neiiesu (Nubians).
Expeditions
of Her-khuf. Punt. Use of Metals. Bronze
Iron.
The Great Pyramid and the
Age.
Mastabas.
The Shekh al-Balad.
Egyptian
Houses.
Early Temples.
Ptah-hetep the

89

CONTENTS

Xlll

PAGE

Moralist, and Kaqemna. Eoyal Titles. Priests

of the Pyramids.
Worship of Kings. Tombs
and Monuments of the Early Empire. Priests
of Heliopolis.
Position of
"Women.
The

Peasant

128

VIIth to XIth Dynasties.

Chapter VI.
logical

Difficulties.

kleopolis.

Khati

Dynasties

Khati

from

Khian

Chrono-

Hera.

161

Chapter VII. The XIth Dynasty.

Growth of
Thebes, the city of Amen. Karnak. Princes
of Thebes Conquer those of Siut. The Antef
Kings.
Edict of Antef V. at Coptos.
The
"^Lament of the Harper.
The Menthu-hetep
Kings.
Amen-em-hat, the Mining Engineer.
Pyramid of Menthu-hetep III. Merti-Sen, the
Sculptor. Hennu's Expedition to Punt in the
Eeign of Seankh-ka-Ea

177

I.,

II.,

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
1.

2.

3.

.........

The goddess Ta-urt. Archaic Period. (British

Museum)
5
use,
with
reliefs.
Green slate object of unknown
10
(British Museum)
Portion of a green slate object of unknown
use, with reliefs.
(British Museum)
.13
.

4.

Drawings from a fragment of a similar object

5.

Ancient form of the Serekh

6.

EOCK-RELIEF OF SENEFERU AT

7.

8.

19

WaDI MAGHARA

The Step Pyramid at Medum

EOCK-RELIEF OF KHUFU, OR

10.
11.

EOCK-RELIEF

22
25

CHEOPS,

WaDI

AT

Maghara
9.

15

29

OF

KHUFU, OR

CHEOPS,

WaDI

AT

Maghara
View of the Great Pyramid and Sphinx
Diagram showing
Pyramid

30
.

31

the passages in the Great

42

12.

Portrait statue of Khufu, King of Egypt

44

13.

Portrait statue of KhAf-Ra, or Chephren

48

14.

Portrait of Men-kau-Ra, or Mycerinus

53

15.

Cover of wooden coffin of Mycerinus.

(British

Museum)

60

16.

Sarcophagus of Mycerinus

17.

Portrait statue of Usr-en-Ra, King of Egypt

73

18.

Relief of Men-kau-Heru, King of Egypt

76

19.

20.

Unas Section

Tomb of
Tomb of Unas Plan

61

82
82

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

XVI

PAGE
21.

Bull weight inscribed with the name and titles

of Teta, King of Egypt. (British Museum)

....
....
.

Museum)

90

22.

Vase of Pepi

23.

Museum)
98
104
Vase of Pepi I. (British Museum)
Vase of Mer-en-Ra, King of Egypt. (British
Ill
Museum)
Vase of Pepi II., King of Egypt. (British Museum) 116
Portrait statue of an official, IVth Dynasty.
135
(British Museum)
Portrait statue of Ka-tep and his wife Hetepet137
hers. (British Museum)
.139
The Great Pyramid with mastaba tombs
141
Statue of the "Shekh al-Balad"
Statue of An-kheft-ka, IVth Dynasty. (British
142
Museum)

24.
25.

26.
27.

28.

29.

30.
31.

32.

I.

(British

Inscription of Pepi

(British

I.

....
.

Terra-cotta model of Egyptian house.

(British

Museum)
33.

96

143

Terra-cotta model of Egyptian house, with steps

.145
leading to the roof. (British Museum)
.

34.

Terra-cotta model of Egyptian house, with steps

.147
leading to roof. (British Museum)
.

35.

Hard

stone portrait statue of the official Hapi.

(British
36.

Hard
Hard

Museum)

stone

Anpu.
37.

stone

Hard

stone

151

Portrait

(British

Mersebes.
38.

statue

of

portrait
(British

portrait

153

statues of

Museum)
of

an

Alabaster vase.

40.

Head

(British

An-senf and

....
....

official.

Museum)
39.

the Official

Museum)

Museum)

155

(British

157

159

of Se-user-en-Ra Khian, King of Egypt.

(British

Museum)

174

EGYPT
UNDER THE

GREAT PYRAMID BUILDERS,

CHAPTER
ARCHAIC PERIOD.

,With

I.

SUMMARY.

the ending of the Illrd Dynasty

we

close our

chapter on the archaic period of Egyptian civilization.

The remains

of the

considerable,

show that the

first

three dynasties, which are

now

civilization of this period,

while marking the beginnings of Egyptian culture, as

contrasted with

many

that

interesting

of

points

the

"New

of difference

Eace,"

exhibits

from the fully

may

be

begun with the rule of the kings

of

developed civilization of the Nile Valley, which

said really to have

the IVth Dynasty.

The

"

New

Race," or indigenous

inhabitants of the Nile Valley, lived in

booths made of wattles and

of the 1st

houses,

Dynasty

which

had

mud

lived in

openings

mud

huts, or in

but the Egyptians

wooden and brick-built

both

for

doors

and

windows, and which were ornamented in front with

cornices and decorative wood- work.

VOL.

II.

The "New Race"

B

ARCHAIC PERIOD

SUMMARY

buried their dead in the beds of streams, on the banks

of the Nile, and in holes scooped out on the edge of the

desert

but the Egyptians of the 1st Dynasty laid

their dead in

tombs which had substantial brick walls

and wooden roofs supported by

pillars,

and which were

usually floored with wood, but sometimes with stone as

tomb of Semti, which was paved

in the case of the

The use

with slabs of red granite.

of stone in

tomb

building increased steadily, and already in the Illrd

Dynasty we

Egyptians were able to

that the

find

build the stone pyramid of Sakkara, which has been

described above.

The Egyptians
the

custom

buried
there

their

of

of the first three dynasties followed

indigenous

their

dead

in

seems to be no

retained

predecessors

contracted

evidence

position,

and,

but

to prove that they

generally the custom of systematically muti-

Towards the end of

lating the body before burial.

the archaic period of Egyptian history dead bodies were

sometimes buried at

length and

full

backs, and gradually this

method of arranging the

dead body became universal.

offerings to the

dead, which

the peoples of the "

New

lying on their

The custom

of

making

was widespread among

Eace," was certainly adopted

addition to the

by the early dynastic Egyptians,

for, in

pottery and small

have been found in

articles that

graves of the primitive people, the dynastic Egyptians

buried with their dead amulets of
ivory figures, plaques,

etc.,

many

kinds,

and

which display very consider-

EARLY INSCRIPTIONS

able skill in working the material employed.

"New

of the

Eace

"

The graves

neither contain inscriptions nor

display any knowledge of the art of writing, but

certain that before the 1st

of boats,

animals,

birds,

the

of

characteristic

Dynasty the
standards,

primitive

it

is

isolated pictures
etc.,

period,

which are

had

been

elaborated and combined into a system of expressing

connected ideas by means

names

of picture

of the dead were therefore first

at the time

when the Nile Valley was

two kingdoms,
earliest

i.e.,

writing.

The

commemorated

still

divided into

the South and the North, for the

Egyptian inscriptions known

to us consist of

the names of the predynastic kings of the south called

Te, and Ke, and Ka.
of the roughly

officials,

it is

due to the preservation

hewn and roughly

stelae of the earliest

and

And

that

inscribed funereal

Egyptian kings, and their nobles,

we owe

a great part of our knowledge

of the social conditions under

which the Egyptians lived

during the archaic period of their history.

The inscriptions of the 1st Dynasty contain a large

number of hieroglyphic signs, the greater number of
which are identical with the hieroglyphics of the
periods but are more archaic in form
are, of course,

many

of

later

them

crude pictures of objects, but some, even

in that early period, exhibit signs of conventional treat-

ment.

Inscriptions written with

such unconvention-

alized pictorial hieroglyphics are of the utmost value

for the identification of the objects

in

a purely conventional

manner

which are depicted

in the

later texts,

ARCHAIC PERIOD

when the

SUMMARY

correct forms of the

original objects

they represented had become forgotten.

also

date

shows

many

that

comparison

with the texts of a

of the archaic inscriptions

later

which

the

of

early

picture

characters became obsolete as far back as the period of

the IVth

Dynasty

difficult to

for

this

reason

it

extremely

is

read with certainty the inscriptions of the

The

1st Dynasty.

inscriptions of the period

which we

possess are very short, and, because they consist chiefly

of

names and

titles,

they are rarely long enough to

form grammatical sentences

the

longest inscription

consists of but a few words, such as " great heads

chiefs)
so, it is

A(?).' M

come tomb; he gives

(i.e.,

This being

impossible either to draw any final conclusion

as to the

language

grammatical peculiarities of the Egyptian

at this early period, or to

make any

definite

statement as to the group of languages with which

was cognate;
to

in the 1st

Dynasty

its

it

construction seems

have been even more simple than in the time of the

IYth Dynasty, and

as

far

as

relationship to any Semitic dialect

more apparent.

now its
becomes in no way
many of the funda-

can be seen

It is certain that

mentals of the Egyptian language, and even

writing, were of indigenous

and not Asiatic

of the

origin,

and

a very large portion of the vocabulary in use in the

early dynasties

consisted

of words of an

origin.

See Royal Tombs, plate

16,

No. 20.

indigenous

AFRICAN ORIGIN OF RELIGION

Similarly, the fundamentals of the Egyptian religion
are

and

seems as

it

perhaps

of

Kace

"

origin,

standards of the gods, and

the

to

"

the

of

Asiatic

objects

veneration

peoples

not

sacred

were

animals,

the

if

the

of

and

indigenous

of

also

New

before the advent

of their conquerors from

the East.
that

the

It

is

"New

believed in a

clear

Eace
bevond

life

the grave, for they laid

offerings of food, etc., in

the graves of their dead,

and unless they had such

a belief they would never

have made provision for

their wants in a future
life.

and

This

primitive

retained

other

beliefs

by

the

were
early

dynastic Egyptians, who,

however,

added

thereto

The goddess Ta-urb.

Museum, No. 35,700.

British

religious

ideas

of

different character,

which were due partly

comers and partly to natural development.

the 1st Dynasty
religion,

and

it

we enter the

seems as

if

to the

new-

Thus, with

iconic age of

Egyptian

the god Osiris was already

ARCHAIC PERIOD

SUMMARY

fashioned in mncli the same form as that in which he

The

appears even in the latest times.

a deity which

we

possess

goddess Ta-urt, which

which

is

now

is

that of the hippopotamus

is

represented on p. 5

in the British

period.

breccia

this image,

Museum, must belong to the

archaic period of Egyptian art, for

peculiar red

oldest figure of

which

is

it

made

is

and we are probably right in assigning

the 1st and Ilnd Dynasties.
slate object bearing the

name

of that

characteristic

Its artistic treatment points to the

it

of the

same

age,

to the time of

The remarkable green

of

Nar-Mer

(see Vol.

I.,

pp. 185-187) by its reliefs proves that the cow-goddess

Hathor was

at that

remote time a favourite object of

veneration, and the British

Museum

possesses a

roughly worked in the shape of her head (Vol.

I.,

flint,

p. 84,

No. 32,124), which must be considerably older than the

reign of Nar-Mer.

known

Many

other deities must have been

in the archaic period,

and the name Mer-Nit

shows us that the warrior-goddess, whose emblem was

the shield with two arrows crossed upon

it,

was

already worshipped, and traces of the worship of Seker

appear in the form of the hieroglyphic of the

Hennu

Boat, and of the bandy-legged figure, which in later days

became the type of the triune god of the Resurrection,

Ptah-Seker-Asar.

Horus, the sky-god, was certainly

the supreme god at this period, but as yet no image of

him

in

human hawk-headed form has been found

always appears in the form of a hawk, and, indeed,

is

he
it

worthy of note that in the archaic period the custom

BOOK OF THE DEAD

theriomorphic

representing

of

bodies

IN SEMTl's

siderable development in the

At

new

indicates that

is

human

this period a con-

ideas

religious

Egyptians seems to have taken place

important proof of this

with

deities

had not yet grown up.

REIGN

of

the

incidentally an

supplied by Manetho,

who

institutions in connection with the

worship of the bulls Apis and Mnevis, and of the ram

by Ka-kau, a king of the

of Mendes, were established

According

Ilnd Dynasty.

traditions

to

preserved in the rubrics of some of

Book of

the

its

which

chapters, the

Dead, in some form or other, must already

have been in existence in the 1st Dynasty.

the

coffin

Menthu-hetep, a

of

queen of

Dynasty, we have two copies of the

in the rubric to the first the

whose reign the chapter

is

is

name

said to

given as Menthu-hetep, which

take

for

are

Men-kau-Ra

Thus in
the Xlth

LXIVth Chapter
of the king during

have been " found

is,

"

of course, a mis-

or Mycerinus, the fourth king

IV th Dynasty, but in the rubric to the second

Thus
the king's name is given as Semti or Hesepti.
it is clear that in the period of the Xlth Dynasty it
of the

was believed that the chapter might alternatively be

as old as the time of the 1st Dynasty.

Again, in the

Papyrus of Nu, a document which dates from the

period of the
also

first

half of the

have two copies of the

shorter version

is

XVIIIth Dynasty, we

LXIVth

Chapter, and the

attributed to the time of Semti, or

Hesepti, and the longer to that of Men-kau-Ra.

1

See Goodwin, Aegyptisclie Zeitschrift, 1886,

p. 54.

When

THE HENNU BOAT OF THE GOD SEKER

we remember that on the plaque

p. 195) we find depicted a figure
before a god,
figure of the

who is probably
Hennu Boat of

Semti

of

L,

of this king dancing

and

Osiris,

see thereon a

the god Seker, and also

tomb was one

consider that Semti's

(see Vol.

of the finest of

those of the early dynastic kings found at Abydos,

certain that this king inaugurated

it is

some ceremonies in

connection with the burial of the dead, or developed

old ones to such an extent that his successors
to associate certain chapters of the

with his name.

And

it is

Booh of

saw

the

" or

revision

of the chapters which are connected with his

had the

Bead

more than probable that he

took some part personally in the " editing

for

fit

name

scribes of a later period wished merely to

LXIVth

ascribe great antiquity to the

Chapter, they

could have done so more effectually by mentioning in

connection with
" Followers of

of a king

dynastic

it

the

of Egypt.

medical papyrus (see

to

Mena

or Menes, or the
it to

the time

the founder of the rule of the

have been a learned man,

seem

of

Horus/' than by referring

who was not

kings

name

In any case Semti must

for

p. 199),

he

is

also

mentioned in a

and both he and Tcheser

have contributed largely to the medical know-

ledge of the period.

We
period,

have already referred

to the

tombs of the archaic

and we have seen that the

structures in brick and stone

had

art

so far

of building-

improved by

the middle of the Illrd Dynasty that Tcheser found

himself possessed of such mechanical means and

arclii-

THE STEP PYRAMID OF TCHESER

tectural

knowledge as were necessary

build the oldest of the pyramids,

i.e.,

Sakkara; the height of perfection

at

to enable

were used to line the interior of this

making statues

of

him

to

which the

arts

had attained

faience tiles
edifice.

which

The

is

art

of any size in the round seems to date

from the time of Besh, the

first

king of the Ilnd Dynasty,

but the art of sculpturing in relief was known at a

earlier period,

to

the Step Pyramid

of the potters and of the workers in glaze

shown by the beautiful blue glazed

and indeed

it

much

seems to have been employed

as far back as the time of the predecessors of Menes, to

whose period many of the small figures in the round

must

also date.

To

this period,

i.e.,

to the time of the

" Followers of Horus," or the half-civilized predynastic

rulers of

Upper Egypt, must be assigned the two most

archaic of the green slate objects already referred to in

Vol.

I., p.

2
184, the designs on which are here reproduced.

A mere glance at these two objects is sufficient to convince

the archaeologist that they are the most ancient of their
class,

and that they

are, in

point of date, considerably

anterior to the sculptured reliefs of the kings

Nar-mer.

The

larger of

them

is

Aha and

incomplete, and the

small portion missing has never been found

the re-

mainder consists of three large fragments, two of which

1

Specimens are preserved in the British Museum

see Xos.

2437, 2438, 2440, 2441, 2445.

2

See also Mr. Legge's comprehensive and sensible description

whole class of objects in Proceedings Soc. Bill, Arch., May,

they are also mentioned in connection with Mycenaean
theories by H. R. Hall, Oldest Civilization of Greece, p. 151 ff
of the

1900

PREDYNASTIC HUNTING SCENES

10

are in the British

Museum, an d one

Museum

in the

The

the Louvre.

of
re-

upon the larger

liefs

object represent hunt-

ing

the

deer

hunted

desert

kind,

and hares be-

jackals,

ing

see

horned animals

lions,

of

We

scenes.

the

in

by half-savage
and

chiefs

who wear

warriors

feathers on

their

heads,

and

at

their

backs

tails

of

some animal, probably

a jackal, hanging from

This

a girdle or belt.
tail,

which was worn

by

simple

the

end of

generally
chiefs

the

at

predynastic

age,

an

arti-

survived, in

form,

ficial

as

ceremonial

ornament

which was

worn

by

the kings, and which

was
Green slate object of unknown use dating
from the latter part of the predvnastic
period.

British

Museum, Nos.

20,790, 20,792.

also regarded

the

part

of

of a

god.

as

apparel

This fact

PREDYNASTIC STONE WEAPONS

alone

indicate

to

sufficient

is

which must be assigned

We

object.

must

to this

the

great

antiquity

extremely interesting-

of all note that

first

II

some of the

warriors carry standards or emblems of the gods, the

most noticeable being that which

hawk

the

of

the heads

Horus

of the

is

surmounted by

others have bows and

latter

arrows,

being of the squared

flint

type which appears to have been commonly used

that

epoch

others

hold stone-headed

others most curious weapons which

wooden

celts fastened into

hafts.

at

and

maces,

consist of stone

Two men

are

armed

with double-headed axes, which were probably made of

or

chert,

The use

and fixed in forked wooden handles.

flint,

of stone weapons, indicated

on this object,

certainly emphasizes its archaic character, for on similar

which are known to belong

objects

to the

days of

Aha

On

the

and Nar-mer metal weapons are depicted.

upper part are two pictures which represent a double-

headed

bull,

and a

coffin

or funeral chest, which, from

their position in the scene

connection with
if this

be

so,

it,

and their obvious want of

must be intended

they are the earliest specimens of Egyptiau

writing known.

In the later hieroglyphic system the

latter survives in a practically

unchanged form ^5J and

the former in the form ^2, which

meaning

As

for ideographs

is

read

Ahem ;

here, however, cannot be stated with certainty.

a characteristic of the art of the period

noted that the eyes of the

drilled,

their

and

it

is

it

may

be

men and animals have been

probable that they were inlaid with

TREATMENT OF PRISONERS AFTER A

12

small pieces of bone or some other light-coloured substance.

Another object of the same material

and

style,

which probably dates from the same period as that just

described, is also preserved in the British
is

The scene on the Obverse, taken

here figured.

whole,

as a

probably represents the treatment which was

meted out

to prisoners of

war by their

hand top corner we

right

Museum, 1 and

On

captors.

the

hands

see a captive with his

tied behind his back, being thrust out into the desert

by an

official

who wears

Five of the captives appear

fringe.

to

be dead, and are

being devoured by a lion and vultures

one, however,

seems to have worked his hands and arms

endeavouring to escape.

(?)

a long ornamented robe with

and

free,

is

All the captives, except one,

are circumcised, and they wear beards.

The

artistic

treatment of the scene suggests a comparison with the

well-known Stele of the Vultures, which was made for

the early Babylonian
nagin,

On

who

is

king E-annadu,

or

E-dingira-

supposed to have reigned about

the Eeverse

we have the lower

B.C.

portions of the bodies

of two giraffes which evidently were feeding

palm

tree.

The Beverse

of a fragment

have formed a part of the above

now preserved

in

the

4500.

upon a

which seems

to

and which

is

object,

Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, 2

supplies us with the head of one of the giraffes feeding

on the leaves of the palm

1

tree,

and a bird; and on the

No. 20,791.
See Legge, Pruc. Soc. Bibl. Arch., June, 1900.

BATTLE

Reliefs

on a green

IN

slate object of

PREDYNASTIC TIMES

unknown

use.

British

Museum, No.

13

20,791.

EARLIEST FORM OF THE HORUS STANDARD

15

Obverse we find the earliest piece of Egyptian symbolism

known

to us.

hands

tied

Here we have two

behind

their backs,

apparently,

being,
led

by

slaughter

to

ani-

mated

hawk-

standards,

each

of

which

is

with a

human arm

provided

hand

and

captives, with their

which

grasps the arms of

the

captive

under

charge.

its

It

is

Fragment

hard not

that

clude

two

in the Ashruolean

con-

to

Museum, Oxford.

Obverse.

these

monuments

were made in the

time of the followers
of

Hawk

the

and

Horus,

the second of

god
that

them

probably represents
the

ment

actual

which

vanquished

treat-

the
indi-

genous inhabitants
received
~*

at

Fragment

the

hands of their conquerors.

in the

Ashmolean Museum, Oxford.

Eeverse.

The development

of the

EARLY DEVELOPMENT OF EGYPTIAN ART

l6

art exhibited

by the whole group of the green

now known can be

objects

well studied'

slate

by means of

the facsimiles published by Mr. Legge, and therefrom

it

may

be seen that archaic Egyptian

fruits of

the

first-

which are well illustrated by the two

slate

art,

objects already described, developed itself on lines which,

until quite recently,

would not have been considered in

any way of Egyptian character.

One

chief

of its

characteristics is a frequent use of monstrous or exag-

gerated forms of animals,

in historical times

and
of

magical

in the time

towns and
teresting

names
tomb

objects

to

From

character.

objects (see Legge, plate

slate

of

note

3),

existed

that

certain

the walls

these

evident that

important fortified

Egypt,

in

of

and

it

is

in-

of those of which

are given are crenellated like the walls of the

of

Aha

at

Nakada, and

like the fortified palaces

of the kings of the city of Shirpurla in Babylonia.

names

which

and documents

5) it is

Aha and Nar-mer

cities

to

Legge, plate

never appear on the monuments,

in fact, confined

are,

etc. (see

of such cities are, as

simple form,

e.g.,

The

might be expected, of very

Ka, Em, Khu, Kheper,

Ha

(?), etc.

In later times, judging by the evidence supplied by

the jar-sealings, large estates were possessed by the king

and by his nobles, and when

it

was necessary to record

the names of such on seals they were usually enclosed

in

similar

officials

crenellated

ovals.

The names

and nobles who owned landed property

known by

many
are made

of

the jar-sealings and other inscribed objects

EARLY TITLES AND OFFICES

1J

may

be

y^(Q,

or

from the tombs at Abydos, and among such

mentioned king Ten's "royal chancellor"

\$Z ^\)
who was

Hemaka

J?

[_)

the " chief prince "

man

or

and Henuka |

g),

and "royal axe-

literally " the

more

two axes of the

a title which is not met with

king,"

Many

Dynasty.

[_J

the

after

1st

other office-bearers of the same period

are mentioned on stelae, and on ivory

jar-sealings, etc., their titles being

and ebony plaques,

more or

less of the

same type as those which are found in the IVth and

We

succeeding dynasties of the Early Empire.

must

here note that no trace of the existence of any regular

priesthood has so far been found on these most ancient

monuments,

j^S

"priest"

"reader" |

seem

to

common

for the

/fi

or

Jl,

signs for

"servant of the

literally,

" libationer " or

god"

\)

or

"the holder of the book/'

have been unknown.

All priestly functions

were probably performed by each head of a family, from

the king downwards, though

with

all

human

man

of

magic and

nature being probably

the same then as now, no doubt carried on a

thriving business

From
the

certain, as is the case

primitive peoples, that the

medicine existed, and,

much

it is

the monuments

Ilnd Dynasty, we

VOL.

II.

of

Besh, the

learn

that

he

first

king of

possessed a

THE KING

l8

THE ARCHAIC PERIOD

IN

name which belonged

to

him

as the representative of the

god Set as well as a Horns name

The head
by the

many

title

of

the

of

the

of

not

p. 207).

known

yet

accustomed

are

f\$^ suten

e.g.

I.,

"Pharaoh," yet bears

or

which we

titles

with him,

associate

though

state,

"Per-aa,"

(see Vol.

belt,

"king

to

of the

South, king of the North ;" and J^&i, which must have

had exactly the same

consists of the

Egypt

names

signification

for "

king

"

the

in

of these

first

Upper and Lower

and the second describes the king as

respectively,

lord, or possessor of the

and Lower Egypt,

i.e.,

two most ancient

Upper

cities in

Nekheb and Per-Uatchet, the

seats of the vulture

and the snake goddess respectively.

The kings

Dynasty did not enclose

of the 1st

in cartouches, nor did they use a " throne

the

first

their

name "

king of the Unci Dynasty, was the

names
Besh,

first to

inaugurate both these customs, though the occurrence

of the throne

Empire.

name

The king

as

is

not frequent during the Early

head of the community represented

on earth Horus, the sky-god, who was at that time

garded as the king of the gods

re-

he was therefore under

the special protection of Horus, and in this capacity had

a special

name which was

inscribed

object called

in Egyptian

" cognizance,"

i.e.,

upon a rectangular

"Serekk"

" the thing which

fl

mrfrTrl

or

makes one known."

This object has been held to be a banner by some, and

a piece of sculptured work by others, but in reality

it is

THE HORUS STANDARD

Horns on which the

a part of the standard of the god

king's

name was

The accompanying

inscribed.

tration shows two

19

Horus standards of the time

the fifth king of the 1st Dynasty,

each with an uninscribed " serekh

illus-

of Semti,

"

hanging from the perch on which

the

Hawk-god

period,

stands.

At a

later

which cannot be exactly

in-

Horns name became

in

dicated, the

some way
" double

"

identified with the

of

the

king,

ha or

and

the

Horus name therefore became the

Ancient form of the

serekh, or cognizance
of the king-.

name

the king's

of

ha;

this

for

name of the king is often called

The title of the king most familiar

reason the Horus

the ha name.
to us,

i.e.,

" Son of the Sun," does not occur on the

contemporaneous

and the

titles

monuments

of

the

archaic

period,

" good god," " great god," do not occur

until a later period.

Although not yet

in the archaic period seems to

deified,

the king

have been an autocratic

and absolute monarch, whose people were

little

better

than slaves, and whose nobles owed their existence and

their social position entirely to

him; as the kinsman

and representative of the god Horus he was the absolute

lord of life

and death.

or royal wife,

The queen, whether

royal mother

though not mentioned on the

earliest

monuments, no doubt occupied the same exalted position

1

For an

p. 15.

earlier

form

of the

same object see the

illustration on

20
as

PRIVILEGES OF
was assigned

WOMEN

IN

THE ARCHAIC PERIOD

to her in later clays.

Manetho

tells

ns

that in the reign of Ba-en-neter, the third king of the

Ilnd Dynasty, "it was determined that women should

" enjoy royal privileges,

i.e.,

that they should not be dis-

" qualified from ascending the throne and enjoying all the

" dignity and state which appertained thereto."

This

not to be wondered

women

in

at, for

the social position of

Egypt was always much higher than

is

in other Eastern

countries; an Egyptian generally traced his pedigree

from a maternal ancestor, as

primitive peoples,

house," enjoyed in

is

the

case with

many

and the mother, or " lady of the

Egypt a position

of authority

importance rarely met with among other nations.

and

21

CHAPTEE

II.

THE PERIOD OF THE GREAT PYRAMID BUILDERS.

FOURTH DYNASTY.

i.

Ok

Cpji]
With

or

FROM MEMPHIS.

MffiEJ]

Seneferu, whose

Neb-Maat, and who,

j?

Seneferu

>

Horus name was

besides

\S, lord of

the shrines of the goddesses Nekhebet and

Uatchet,

i.e.,

"lord of the South, lord of

the North," called himself also the " Golden

Hawk,"

iTirm

or " Golden

Horns"

\^

we begin

Neb-MaIt,
the

IYth Dynasty;

Horus name the

this

king-

according

of Seneferu.

to

It

is

Manetho,

twenty -nine

years.

noteworthy that the Tablet of Karnak begins

with his name,

the

reigned

compilers

a
of

fact

such

which seems

King

Lists

to

did

show

that

not

hold

themselves bound to follow historical considerations

in
to
to

such

cases,

and

that

they

allowed

themselves

make whatsoever selection of royal names seemed

them best.
Seneferu appears to be the first

SENEFERU AT WADI MAGHARA

22

king of Egypt

who

on a large scale
important
in the

we

relief,

carried

and this

which

Wadi Maghara

is

war

fact is illustrated

in the Peninsula of Sinai. 1

foe of

by an

Here

wearing a crown with plumes

Rock-relief of Seneferu at

uraei,

into foreign countries

found sculptured on the rocks

see a figure of the king,

and

[B.C. 3766

Wadi Maghara.

engaged in the slaughter of a typical Sinaitic

Egypt

head with the

the king
left

is

seizing

hand, and

is

him by the hair

of the

about to aim a blow on

it

See the late Professor Palmer's Sinai from the Fourth Egyptian
Dynasty to the present Day, London, 1878, and Lepsius, Denhmdler,
plate 2.
The reliefs on the rocks at Sinai were noted by
ii.
1

Niebnhr as far back as 1762.

THE MINES AT WADI MAGHARA

B.C. 3766]

23

with a mace which he holds in his uplifted right hand."

Above the

scene, in a cartouche, are the five

titles of the king

names and

given above, and below is the inscription,

"Seneferu, the great god, the subduer of foreign countries,

"giver of power, stability,

"heart for ever;" on the right

Egyptian king to

visit

turquoise mines,
supplied

name

Seneferu was the

first

Tcheser, a king of the Illrd

and that the famous

thither,

which were worked in the

him with

of the

the Peninsula of Sinai as a con-

we know that
Dynasty, made his way
queror, for

the Horns

is

It is improbable that

king.

health, and all joy of

life, all

district,

materials for ornamenting the cham-

bers of his pyramid.

Seneferu, however, conquered the

inhabitants of the country, and seized the mines, and

built strong forts in the neighbourhood for

Egyptian

garrisons to live in, and to serve as places of refuge for

the miners

when suddenly attacked by the

which

ruins of certain stone buildings,

Wadi Maghara

to this day,

natives
exist in

the

the

have been identified by

The

modern

travellers

spiritual

wants of the miners seem to have been minis-

tered to

by the

there,

and

to

with the forts of

priests of the temple

and which was dedicated

Horus-Sept.

worked by means of

The mines
flint tools

Seneferu.

which was

to the goddess

built

Hathor

are said to have been

only, but

some think

that instruments of bronze were also employed.

See an article by Benedite in the Becueil, torn. xvi. p. 104,
where Tcheser's Horus name is figured it was, apparently, first
noted in the work of the English Survey made in 1869.
1

PYRAMID OF SENEFERU AT DAHSHUR

24

[B.C. 3766

Seneferu built a pyramid which he intended to serve

for his

tomb

must be

at

Dahshur, and another which

or near

identified

with the Pyramid of Medum, and

is

situated at a distance of about forty miles to the south

Each pyramid was

of Cairo.

Kha Q,

called

name

which indicates the place where the dead king would

with glory to the
rises

life

beyond the grave, even as the sun

with splendour on this world

but the j3yramid at

Dahshur was distinguished by the addition

" Southern/'

i.e.,

Medum, which has long been

Kadda-b,"

i.e.,

of the

word

/\ X,; the two pyramids together

were indicated by the phrase

of

rise

A A

The pyramid

called "

Al-Haram

al-

the " Lying (or False) Pyramid," by the

Arabs of the desert round about, was opened by M.

Maspero in 1881-82, and other excavations were made

on the

120

site in

subsequent years.

The pyramid

and consists of three

feet in height,

stages,

which

are about 70, 20, and 30 feet high respectively

stone

of

which

Mukattam

hills,

is

it

but

was brought from

built

it

was never

finished.

over

is

the

the

When

opened in modern times, the sarcojDhagus chamber was

found to be empty, and

it

was discovered that the

pyramid had been broken into and plundered in the

time of the

XXth

Dynasty, about

remarkable building, and

pyramid tombs, although

side.

Originally

it

it is

B.C.

1100.

It is a

quite unlike the ordinary

it is

entered from the north

consisted of a rectangular, truncated

building with sides which sloped to a

common

centre

PYRAMID OF SENEFERU AT MEDUM

B.C. 3766]

at an angle of about 74

25

the king, wishing to enlarge

the mass of masonry, from time to time built round

and

sides thick layers of masonry,

at

its

the same time

At length

added to the height of the original building.

the tops of the layers of masonry formed a series of

seven steps, and Seneferu no doubt intended to cover

all over,

it

from apex to base, with a covering of polished

The

stones.

following

illustration

is

taken

from

r-\
r

It ...

/////////
The Pyramid

Medum. Plan showing- the original building with

mummy-chamber and the corridor leading thereto.

of

the

Medium by

Prof. Petrie,

additions,

who, on the east side of the

pyramid, close to the casing, discovered

courtyard

wherein stood the remains of the small temple which

had been
altar,

The

built of limestone

by the

side of

inscriptions in

in the courtyard

which stood two uninscribed

was an
stelae.

and about the pyramid, which were

XVIIIth Dynasty, prove

time regarded as the tomb

written by visitors during the

that the building was at that

of Seneferu.

To

the

north and east of the

pyramid

26 A MAGICIAN
of

several

the

MAKES THE WATERS OF THE

of

officials

were buried in

Seneferu

"mastaba," or " bench-shaped

;
'

[B.C. 3766

tombs

the largest of

these were built for Ra-hetep and his wife Nefert, and

Nefer-Maat and his wife Atet, and the statues and

for

painted scenes which were found in

Ea-hetep are among the

Near the pyramid

seen.

finest

the mastaba of

which have ever been

of Seneferu a

number

of tombs

were also found, in which the bodies had been buried in

a contracted position, the knees being sharply bent, and

The right arm

was usually in front, and the left arm was usually
under the body and legs, with the hand under the

the thighs at right angles to the body.

knees

1
;

such burials

are, of course, survivals of

the old

indigenous custom, and the people thus buried were, no

doubt,

members

of some tribe of the indigenous race

which

had survived until this period and which had been brought
into a state of subjection

The

wife of Seneferu

by the dynastic Egyptians.

was

called Mertitefs

<=>
^ \\

and she seems to have been held in high honour

husband's death by his successors
his daughter Nefertkau
priest Seneferu-khaf,
is,

according to

M.

3^-H

after her

Khufu and Khafra

was the grandmother of the

whose tomb

is at

Gizeh.

Seneferu

GolenischefT, mentioned in connection

with a year of famine and an invasion of the

hostile race of Asiatic origin.

An

Amu,

interesting story,

well worthy of mention here, is told of Seneferu

which

is

in the

Westcar Papyrus. 3
Medum,

It appears that on a certain

Petrie,

Aegyptische Zeitschrift, 1876, p. 110.

p. 21.
3

Ed. Erman,

p. 9.

LAKE TO STAND UP

B.C. 3766]

day the king was weary and

IN A

depressed,

applied to his nobles to find some

him

as they

had nothing

27

and that

means of cheering
who, having been

brought into the presence, advised the king to go

sail

for a

he should make

He next proposed that

on the lake.

lie

to suggest, the king sent for

Tchatcha-enl-ankh,

the magician

HEAP

the necessary arrangements for the king, and having

brought a boat with twenty young and beautiful virgins

in

it,

each of

whom was

inlaid with gold,

provided with a paddle of ebony

he invited the king to embark, and

the boat was rowed out on the lake.

As the maidens

were rowing, one of them dropped a turquoise ornament

into the water,

and when the king had learned what

had happened, he promised

Having

to

have

it

found for her.

called the magician into his presence

and told

him what was wanted, Tchatcha-em-ankh spake

certain

words of power which he knew, whereupon one section

of the water of the lake straightway raised itself and

placed itself upon the other portion, which thus became

twenty-four cubits deep instead of twelve as formerly

the magician then found the turquoise ornament lying

on the bed of the lake, and taking

the maiden.

it

up he gave

it

to

This done, he uttered certain words of

power, and the section of the water which had raised

itself

up out

and

of its place

set itself

upon the other

portion at once descended to its former place, and the

whole lake resumed

Thus we

its

normal level of twelve

see that in the

cubits.

XYIIIth Dynasty, when the

copy of the story as given in the Westcar Papyrus

THE GREAT PYRAMID

28

[B.C. 3733

was made, the Egyptians believed that their ancestors

in

the IVth Dynasty were able to work magic of a

powerful and far-reaching kind.

to call to

mind, in connection with the above story, the

narrative in
of his

Exodus which

tells

rod and words of power,

Israelites

It is impossible not

how Moses, by means

made

through the waters of the

way

for the

that they

sea, so

might pass over on dry ground whilst the waters stood

up on each

side of

them

IfwU

YW)

2.

like walls.

\ji Khefu, or Khufu,

Khefu, or Khufu, the Souphis of Manetho,

and the Kheops of Herodotus, was, according
to the

OT>

Westcar Papyrus, the son of Seneferu,

and he

is

said

by Manetho

sixty- three years.

mighty

Matchetu,
the Horus name energies
of Khufu.

builder,

at Gizeh,

and

have reigned

was, beyond all doubt,

it

seems as

if all

his

were spent in arranging for and

watching the

Pyramid

He

to

construction

which he intended

of

the

Great

to be his tomb,

and which has excited the wonder and admiration of

On

the world.
relief in

which

a rock

in

the

Wadi Maghara

regarded

is

as

he, like his father, Seneferu, is repre-

sented in the act of clubbing a typical Sinaitic

but there

is

foe,

no record to show that he was ever

a

great

warrior.

In

connection

with

B.C. 3733]

KHUFU AT WADf MAGHARA

this relief it is interesting

"Khnemu Khufu/' and

29

to note that

he

is called

that the clubbing of the foe

taking place in the presence of the god Thoth,

who

stands there in the form of an ibis-headed man.

To

is

Khufu belongs the

credit of

having built the

and

first

greatest pyramid, in the strict sense of the word, just as

Rock -relief

of

Khufu

at

Wadi Maghara.

to Seneferu belongs the credit of

true step pyramid.

derivation of the

having built the

In passing we

word

" pyramid,"

may

i.e.,

note that the

7rupa/j,^, is

ently unknown, and no entirely satisfactory

it

has been put forward

Aryan

origin,

it

first

appar-

meaning

for

may, of course, be a word of

but we should probably rightly set aside

all

DERIVATION OF THE

30

WORD "PYRAMID"

[B.C. 3733

with the Greek

the fanciful etymologies which connect

it

word

from some words

for "fire,"

and should derive

of Egyptian origin

which were in use in the

Egyptian history.

of

made by

it

very reasonable attempt was

Prof. Eisenlohr in

1877 to derive "pyramid"

from the Egyptian words "per-eni-us

}j

L___:_J

which seem to express l the conception of

Rock-relief of

later periods

Khufu

at

<s

C2

" height," or

Wadi Maghara.

" high," and until a better derivation

is

proposed this

one must form the best that has been made.

According

to

Herodotus 2

(ii.

builder of the Great Pyramid,

124),

Cheops,

the

was "a man fraughte

"Pir-em-us, Ursprung des Wortes irvpa/jils, entweder die Kante

an der Pyramide oder die Gerade, welche von der Spitze der
Pyramide auf die Mitte der Grundlinie gezogen wird." Ein
mathematisches Handbuch der alien Aegypter, p. 260. Borchardt
1

renders the words

Linie"
2

"Die aus ws (Grundflache) heranstretende

see Aeg. Zeitschrijt, Bd. 31, p. 14.

B. R.'s translation,

fol. 1031;.

THE CHARACTER OF KHUFU

B.C. 3733]

" with all

kynde of vicious demeanour, 1 and wicked con-

" versation.

For causing the temples of the gods

" fast locked up, he gave out

"

31

Empyre, that

it

through

all

myght not be lawfull

to be

quarters of hys

for

any Aegyptian

" to offer sacrifice, to the ende, that beeing

seduced from

" the service and reverence of the gods, he might securely

The Great Pyramid

"

of

employ them in his owne

Khufu (Cheops)

affayres.

at Gizeh.

Some were appoyn-

mountayne Arabicus, and

" from thence, to convey them to the river Nilus, where
"they were receyved of others which pheryed them over
"ted

to digge stones in the

" the river to the roote of a greate hill

1

Compare Manetho (Cory,

op.

cit.,

p. 102),

named
"He

towards the gods, and wrote the sacred book, which

the Egyptians as a work of great importance."

Africus.

was arrogant
regarded by

is

BUILDING OF THE GREAT PYRAMID

32
"

The whole number

" the

Kings

[B.C. 3733

of those that were conversaunt iu

was tenne thousande men, serving by

affayres,

" turnes, every three monethes a thousand.

"

In which

manner, he helde the people the space of tenne yeares,

" in all

whiche tyme, they did nothyng but lie we and cary

" stones, a labour of

" mente) then to

" stone,

which

no lesse importaunce

have built the pyre

it selfe,

in length five furlongs,

is

" tenne paces,

and in height where

"number

eyght

of

(in

" curiously carved

or towre of
in

breadth

greatest, to the

it is

beeyng framed of stone,

paces,

and ingraven with the pictures of

" beastes. Heerein also were

" causing certayne

my judge-

consumed other tenne yeares,

chambers to be cut out under the

"grounde, undermining the stoneworke upon the which

" the towres

" sepulcher.
" Ilande,

were founded, whyche hee provided

The

situation

heereof was in

for

hys

a small

through the whyche by a trench or small

" draught, he caused the river to

The

have passage.

"pyre was made stearewise, ascending by steppes or

" degrees orderly placed one above another.

"suche

Havyng

in

sorte finished the lower worke, they devised

" certayne engines or wrestes to heave up stoites from

" the

grounde to the

" to the seconde,

and

first

stayre,

and from thence

so consequently tyll they

came

to

" the place where the stone shoulde lye,

havyng uppon

"

is

each stayre a wreast

" using one for all,

"intente

it

or (that

whyche

more

likely)

beeyng framed of lyght wood, to the

might the more

"grosse worke finished,

easily be remoouved.

they began

to

polishe

The
and

B.C. 3733]

BUILDING OF THE GREAT PYRAMID

33

" beautifie the towre from the toppe downewarcles,

" niing last of all to the

"

made

com-

neathermost stayre, wherein they

a finall ende and conclusion of the beautie and

" grace of all theyr woorkemanshippe.

In thys pyre, were

" intayled certayne letters in the Aegyptian language,

" declaring the expence the

King was

at in the time of his

" building, for mustardseed, oynyons, and garlike,

" (as I remember) the interpreter told me, did

which

amount

to

summe of a thousande five hundred talents. If this

" were so, how much shal we deeme to have bene spent
"upon other things, as upon tooles, engins, victuals,
" the

"

labouring garments for the workemen,

" yeares busied in these affayres.

being tenne

I reckon not the time

"wherein they were held in framing and hewing of

" stones to set them in a readinesse for the mayne worke
:

"

nevther

all

the space that [was] passed over in the

"conveyance and cariage of the stone

to the place of

" building,

which was no small numbers of dayes, as also

" the time which was consumed in undermining the
" earth, and cutting out of chambers under the grounde,
" all

whyche things drave the King

to

such a narrow

" straight, that he was fayne to cloute out his devises

" with

a most

wicked invention, which was this

" Perceiving his golden

"might daunce

mine

to

draw low that the

in the bottome of his bagge

" never a crosse, he

made

would come, in case they refused not

" pleasure, sithence

vol.

11.

divell

and finde

sale of his daughter's honestie,

"willing hir to entertayne tagge and ragge

"

to

pay

all

that

for their

Venus accepteth not the devotion of

D

KHUFU DEGRADES

34

" sucli as

"

DAUGHTER

HIS

pray with empty hands and threadbare purrses.

The Lady,

" herselfe,

and

to

meane

advannce her fame to the notice of

had accesse unto

" the building

" determined,

many

memorie of

to prolong the

" ages that should ensue, wherefore she

" suche as

King her

willing to obey the testes of the

" father, devised also the

"

[B.C. 3733

all

made request

to

her, to give her a stone to

and erection of a worke which she had

wherewith

(as the brute goetli) she

gave so

stones as served to the framing of a whole pyre,

" situate in the middest of the three former in full view

" and prospect to the greatest pyrame, which

"an

acre

every

is

way

and an halfe square."

According to Diodorus

(i.

63), the

Great Pyramid was

by Chemmis, the eighth king from Remphis, who

built

was from Memphis, and reigned

"

fifty years.

He

built

" the greatest of the three pyramids, which were accounted

" amongst the seven wonders of the world.

"

They stand

towards Libya, 120 furlongs from Memphis, and 45 from

" the Nile.

" cessive

The greatness of these works, and the exlabour of the workmen seen in them, do even

" strike the beholders with admiration and astonishment.

"The

greatest being

" square,

700

feet of

four-square, took

ground in the

"

till

it

came up

" cubits square.

"rough work, but

" be

now

and

little,

which was

six

marble throughout, of

of perpetual duration: for

a thousand years since

" above three

little

to the point, the top of

It is build of solid

on every

and above 600

basis,

"feet in height, spiring up narrower by

up,

it

was

built,

though

it

(some say

thousand and four hundred), yet the stones

THE NARRATIVE OF DIODORUS

B.C. 3733]

35

" are as firmly jointed, and the whole building as entire

"and without the

least decay, as they

" laying an erection.

"long way
."raised

off,

The

stone, they say,

at the first

was Drought a

out of Arabia, and that the work was

by making mounts of earth; cranes and other

" engines being not

known

is to

"

seems to

imprudently

"where there

laid, as it
is

And

at that time.

"is most to be admired,

" nor

were

that which

see such a foundation so

be, in a

sandy place,

not the least sign of any earth cast up,

marks where any stone was cut and polished

" that the whole pile seems to be reared all at once,

" fixed in the midst of heaps of sand

tell

and

by some god, and

"not built by degrees by the hands of men.

" the Egyptians

so

Some

of

wonderful things, and invent strange

" fables concerning these works, affirming that the

mounts

" were

made of salt and salt-petre, and that they were

" melted by the inundation of the river, and being so
" dissolved, everything
" itself.

But

was washed away but the building

this is not the truth of the thing

but the

" great multitude of hands that raised the mounts, the

"

same carried back the earth to the place whence they dug

"it; for they say, there were 360,000

"this work, and the whole

"twenty years time."

men employed

was scarce completed

(Booth's translation, p. 65.)

the opinion of Diodorus the architects

Pyramids are "much more

to be

in

In

built the

admired than the kings

" themselves that were at the cost.

"

who

in

For those performed

by their own ingenuity, but these did nothing but

" by the wealth handed to them by descent from their
all

PLINY'S

36

" predecessors,

ACCOUNT OF THE

and by the

[B.C. 3733

and labour of other

toil

"men.'

The account

of the

and

16, 17) is of interest,

"

The

Arabia
said,

largest
;

Pyramids given by Pliny

is

Pyramid

as follows

three hundred and sixty thousand men,

completed

three were

They

four months.
:

of stone quarried in

is built

were employed upon

writers

(xxxvi.,

iu

are

Herodotus,

it is

twenty years, and the

it

seventy-eight

years

and

described by the following

Euhemerus, Duris of Samos,

Aristagoras, Dionysius, Artemidorus, Alexander Poly-

Demetrius, Demoteles,

histor, Butoridas, Antisthenes,

These authors, however, are disagreed

and Apion.

as to the persons

by

whom

they were constructed;

accident having, with very considerable justice, con-

who

erected

such stupendous memorials of their vanity.

Some

signed to oblivion the names of those

of these writers inform us that fifteen

hundred talents

were expended upon radishes, garlic, and onions alone.

The most

difficult

problem

is,

know how the

to

materials for construction could possibly be carried to

so vast a height.

According to some authorities, as

the building gradually

against

it

vast

were melted

mounds
after

of nitre

its

they heaped up

advanced,

and

salt

completion,

beneath them the waters of the

river.

which

piles

by introducing
Others, again,

maintain, that bridges were constructed, of bricks of

clay,

and that, when the Pyramid was completed,

these bricks were distributed for erecting the houses

GREAT PYRAMID OF KHUFU

B.C. 3733]

" of private individuals.

For the

^7

level of the

river,

" tliey say, being so mucli lower, water could never

" any possibility have been brought there by the

" of canals.

" with the river,

it is

which communicates

The method of

thought.

" ing the height of the Pyramids and

shadow

" equal in length to the

"

the

them

that we

may

is,

" of the kings

body projecting

Pyramids

that

all

was

he measuring

hour of the day at which

at the

" the marvellous

ascertain-

similar edifices

all

" was discovered by Thales of Miletus

" of

medium

In the interior of the largest Pyramid there

" is a well, eighty-six cubits deep,

" the

by

it.

it

Such

is

are

but the crowning marvel

most admired of

smallest, but

no surprise at the opulence

feel

built

"This woman was once the

by Ehodopis, a courtesan

fellow-slave of Aesopus the

" philosopher and fabulist, and the sharer of his bed;

"but what

is

much more

surprising

is,

that a courtesan

"should have been enabled, by her vocation,

" such
"

enormous wealth.

The

largest

to

amass

Pyramid occupies

seven jugera of ground, and the four angles are equi-

" distant, the face of each side

being eight hundred and

The

"thirty-three feet in length.

"the ground

to

" twenty -five feet,

" sixteen feet

the

summit

is

and a half in

" hundred and fifty-seven

third

is

from

seven hundred and

and the platform on the summit

circuit.

"Pyramid, the faces of the four

"The

total height

feet

is

Of the second

sides are each seven

and a half in length.

smaller than the others, but far more

"prepossessing in appearance

it is

built of Aethiopian

ACCOUNTS OF THE GREAT PYRAMID

38

" stone,

and the

between the four corners

face

"hundred and sixty-three

The account given

meagre

he says

" stadia from

"
"

"

feet in extent."

of the

(xvii. 1. 33)

Memphis

is

Pyramids by Strabo
"

At the distance

a brow of a

hill,

is

of 40

on which are

'

quadrangular shape.

Their height somewhat ex-

" ceeds the length of each of the sides.

" a little larger than the other.
" in one of the sides is a stone,

when that

upon the same

" of the

" less than the

which may be taken out

is

an oblique passage

are near each other,

the third pyramid, which

is

two others, but constructed at

"greater expense
" as the middle,

is

for

it is

is

and

Farther on, at a greater height

level.

mountain,

They

One pyramid

At a moderate height

removed, there

is

" [leading] to the tomb.

"

three

is

many pyramids, the tombs of the kings. Three of them

are considerable. Two of these are reckoned among the
Seven Wonders.' They are a stadium in height, and

" of a

"

[B.C. 3733

much
much

from the foundation nearly as far

built of black stone."

Many of the

Arab writers have described and discussed the Pyramids.

Thus

'Abel al-Latif,

that the Great

quoting other authorities, says

Pyramid

is

317 cubits high, and that

sloping sides are each 460 cubits in length

he doubted these measurements,

and

He

thought that of

all

400

to verify these

he

cubits,
figures.

the great works in Egypt the

See Silvestre de Sacy, Relation

171, 177, 219.

its

personally

states that

believes the height of the building to be

and that he one day intends

d-s

VJEgypte, Paris,

1810, pp.

BY STRABO AND ARAB WRITERS

B.C. 3733]

Pyramids were the most

39

be admired, and he gives

to

concerning the attempts which were made to

details

wreck the Great Pyramid by Othman and other

madan
The

rulers.
fullest

and most interesting account of the

Pyramids given by any Arabic writer

Makrizi
p.

Ill

Muham-

see the

Bulak

is

that of Al-

edition of his works, vol.

i.,

if.

Abu'1-Fida in his Geography

describes the Pyramids,

Al-Akram, and Al-Haraman, as being the tombs of

and he mentions their great height; Mas'udi

ancients,
relates
built,

a description of the

according to statements

Copt, and adds a

texts

manner

little

in

which they were

made on the

geographer Yakut has collected

number

by a

account of the contents of the

which were inscribed on their

sources a

subject

of very curious

sides

from

and the

Muhammadan

and interesting

tradi-

tions concerning the observations of stars taken near

the Great Pyramid.

Among

who have

the

described

Christian Syrian writers

Pyramids we may mention

Dionysius of Tell Mahre, who flourished in the IXtli

century of our era.
tells

us:

"We

In the course of his travels he

saw in Egypt the pyramids of which

"the Theologian speaks in his songs.

They

" the granaries of Joseph, as certain folk

have thought,

See the edition of the Arabic text by Reinaud and

de Slane, Paris, 1840, p. 108.

2
Prairies cVOr, ed. B. de Meynard, torn.
3

Ed. Wustenfeld,

torn. iv. p.

ii.

p. 401.

963 (Al-Haraman).

are not

McGuckin

THEORIES OF THE CONSTRUCTION

40

"but marvellous

structures which have been built above

" the tombs of aucient kings.

They

which

"it

is

exists

on the side of one of these pyramids, and

We were able to ascertain

about forty cubits deep,

" that these pyramids are built of

" laid one

" base

upon the other

which

are solid and massive,

We examined the opening

" and not hollow and empty.

"

[B.C. 3733

is

hewn

in such wise that they form a

hundred cubits

five

stones which are

in length on each

" side, and the layers continue to diminish in size as they

" ascend until that at the top
"

is

only one cubit [square].

The pyramids are two hundred and

Each stone measures from ten

" height.

"each way, and the pyramids

" high mountains."
of Heliopolis,

fifty

cubits in

to fifteen cubits

at a distance resemble

Dionysius also mentions the obelisks

which he describes as being sixty cubits

high and six cubits square, and made of hard stone. In

his time, apparently, the " white brass " caps with which
their points are said to have been covered were

still

upon them, and he says that each metal cap weighs one
thousand pounds. 1

The method actually followed in the construction of

the Great Pyramid and of its fellows has been much
discussed from the time of Lepsius downwards.

ing to this

eminent man, after a suitable

Accord-

had

site

been chosen

and

possible,

in the middle of the area to form the

left

cleared,

core of the building

pyramid was
1

built,

See Chronique

cle

mass of rock was,

if

around this core a truncated

layer

by

layer,

the

steps being

Denys de Tell-Mahre, Paris, 1895,

p.

xxv.

OF THE GREAT PYRAMID

B.C. 3733]

filled

up with suitably shaped blocks of

after coat

of stone

41

Coat

stone.

was built round the work, which

grew larger and larger until

it

was

finished.

Dr. Lepsius

thought that on ascending the throne a king built for

his

tomb a small but complete pyramid, and that he

new coating of stone round it every year and

that when he died the sides of the pyramid, which then
built a

resembled long flights of steps, were finished

filling

up the

of stone.

and

steps with right-angled triangular blocks

This explanation has been generally accepted,

certainly answers satisfactorily

it

by

off

more objections

than do the views of other theorists on this matter

pyramid

Prof. Petrie, however, thinks that the "great

"

was

set out

" that

it

first

upon a vast

scale

could not have been designed of any

" smaller size

" sages.

from the

and

much

shown conclusively by the internal pas-

is

The entrance

to these

would have been quite

"impracticable in design on any size of building not

"much

over two-thirds of the present base.

"

size,

"

Mechim were designed

The

actual

moreover, shows that both this and the Pyramid of

to

an exact dimension/'

the other hand, Herr Borchardt

is

On

convinced, after an ex-

haustive study of the subject, that Dr. Lepsius's pyramid

accretion

theory

is

substantially correct, and

needs correction in a few minor points only.

that

it

In certain

cases the original plans were strictly adhered to, but in

others they were modified or enlarged according to the

fancies of those
1

who

built

for themselves

History of Egypt, vol.

i.

p. 3S.

pyramids.

AREA OF GREAT PYRAMID AT BASE

42

[B.C. 3733

This last view agrees very well with the known facts

by the trained

a matter of this kind must be settled

and not by the Egyptologist.

architect

The Great

Pyramid, which was originally covered with inscribed

slabs of
feet

smooth limestone or polished granite,

high,

and the greatest

four sides at the base

is

length

of

about 755 feet

is

451

each of the
originally its

of the passages in the Great Pyramid, and

the position of the sarcophagus chambers.

Diagram showing the arrangement

"

sides

were 20 feet longer, and

higher.

The

it

was about 30

feet

cubic contents of the masonry, according

to a recent calculation,

amount

to over 3,000,000 yards,

and the pyramid covers an area of twelve and a half

acres;

^J

in

A,

Egyptian the building was called

i.e.,

"Glory."

Khut

The Great Pyramid has

formed the subject of some of the most fanciful theories

HERUTATAF AND THE MAGICIAN

B.C. 3733]

whicli have ever been evolved concerning

43

a building,

and until quite recently certain writers solemnly declared

that beneath

with gold, and

tities

it

and inside

it

silver,

it

there were chambers filled

and precious

stones, in vast quan-

cannot be too clearly stated that this pyramid

was a tomb, and that

had no connection whatsoever

it

with antediluvian patriarchs, and was not built by or

for

any one mentioned in Holy Scripture.

Of Khufu,

or

Cheops,

preserved an interesting

Westcar Papyrus has

the

story whicli

power of the magician of the period.

was one day

king's son, Herutataf,

skill

the

illustrates

It seems that the

telling

him

of the

possessed by the ancients in working magic, and in

answer

to

some remark made by his

Herutataf

produce a magician who lived in Tet-

vjromised

to

Seneferu,

who was 110

years old, and

power of re-attaching to
been cut

father,

off.

Khufu

at

its

who had

the

body a head which had

once ordered his son to go

and bring the sage into his presence, and the royal
barge having been brought, Herutataf set out to
his father's behest.

the

fulfil

In due course the abode of Teta

and when he had been

magician was reached,

informed of the cause of the prince's

and with his help reached the

barked on the royal barge

visit,

river,

after

he rose up

where he em-

a time

the

party

arrived at Ivhufu's palace, and the coming of the sage

was announced.
the king asked

When
him

if

Teta had entered the presence,

he could do according to what

Herutataf had declared, and Teta ha vino- answered in

%&

THE POWER OF THE MAGICIAN

44
the

affirmative, the

[B.C. 3733

king wished to have a prisoner

brought that he might see the doom inflicted upon

him

but the magician

objected to exercising
his skill

and suggested

being,

that
or

upon a human
sacred

bird

animal should be

brought for the purpose.

Thereupon

goose

was

fetched,

and Teta, having cut

off its

head, laid the

body on one side of

the apartment and the

head

on

the

other

up

this done, he rose

and began

to utter cer-

tain words

of power,

whereupon

the

began

to

body

move

and

the head likewise, and

each time they moved

they came nearer to
each
Khufu, King(The original

is

Egypt.
in the Egyptian Museum,
of

other,

until

at

length the head moved

Cairo.)

to its former place

the neck of the bird, which straightway cackled.

on

The

experiment was then repeated by Teta upon another

THE REIGN OF RA-TET-F

B.C. 3700]

45

kind of bird, and afterwards upon an ox, and in these

cases the heads were rejoined to their bodies,

and beast stood

4y^ (Off

3.

Ratetf, who
the

Abydos

he

PaTOL<T7)<;.

placed next to

Khufu

follows that of

is

said

make him

of Khaf-Ra, and others of

name

in the Tablet

to be the successor

Men-kau-Ra, but until some

monuments

sure testimony from the

Khnfn

have reigned twenty-five

to

authorities

position of his

1 Ra-TET-f,

most certainly to be identified with

is

name

Some

years.

as before.

of Manetho, is

Ratoises

because his
of

and lived

ivp

and bird

forthcoming the

is

in the Tablet of

Abydos must be

regarded as indicating his true place among kings of

On

the IVth Dynasty.

the other hand,

forgotten that Mertitefes, the

tions

of

Khufu and Khaf-Ra

her husband.

It

widow

it

must not be

of Seneferu,

men-

as the immediate successors

will

be remembered that the

magician Teta lived in a district which was probably

named

after

Ratetef

"

Ratetef or Tetef-Ra, and the "Field of

was owned by an

official

called Per-sen.

Of

the details of the reign of Ratetef nothing whatsoever

known, but

is

so long as

Etudes

may

Manetho

of this king
builders,

it

be assumed that

it

was either not

declares, or that if it was, the glory

was dwarfed by that of the great pyramid

Khufu, Khaf-Ra, and Men-kau-Ra.

E~gyptologiques,

Premieres Dijnasties,

p. 37.

torn.

ix.

p.

62;

de

Rouge,

Six

THE REIGN OF KHAF-RA

46

4^) [O

4.

Q *~- J

[B.C. 3666

Kha-f-Ka, Xe$pi)v.

Kha-f-ba, or Khepliren, the

Manetho,

whom

he declares to have reigned

sixty-six years, is

known

close
theHorasnanie(ii.

by that of Khufu

thing

64),

(i.

mentions the

succeeded, not by his

tomb

Herodotus says

after saying the

same

theory that Khufu

was

brother Khepliren, but by his

Which

Khabruen.

cannot be

built for his

129) that Khaf-Bfi was the brother of

Khufu, but Diodorus,

son

to history chiefly

by the pyramid which he

TjSER-AB,

Suphis of

said, for the

of

the

two views

is

monuments supply no

correct
decisive

information on the matter; but Diodorus goes on to

say: "All agree in this, that the successor, in imitation
" of his predecessor, erected another pyramid like to the
" former,

both in structure and

artificial

workmanship,

" but not near so large, every square of the basis being
" only a furlong in breadth.

"was

Upon

the greater pyramid

inscribed the value of the herbs and onions that

" were spent upon the labourers during the works, which
"

amounted

to

above sixteen hundred talents.

" nothing written

upon the

lesser

" ascent is only on one side, cut

" stone.

it

"there buried.

For the

is

the entrance and

by steps into the main

Although the kings designed these two

" sepulchres, yet

"by

There

for their

happened that neither of them were

people, being incensed at

them

the reason of the toil and labour they were put

to,

THE PYRAMID OF KHAF-RA

B.C. 3666]

47

"

and the cruelty and oppression of their kings, threatened

" to drag their carcases out of their graves, and pull them
"
"

by piecemeal, and cast them to the dogs and therefore

both of them, upon their beds, commanded their servants
;

"to bury them in some obscure place."

lation, p. 66.)

"

On

(Booth's trans-

the other hand, Herodotus says

(ii.

27)

Ensuing the raigne of Cheops, whose kingdome con-

"ment was committed

the chiefe governe-

fifty yeares,

"tinued the space of

to Chephrenes, his brother,

which

" followed the steps of his predecessor as well in other

" things, as also in building of a pyre, howbeit, not so

huge

"

and great as that which his brother had finished before

"

him, for we took the measure of them

"

such underworke wrought out in caves and chambers

" under the ground as

" are
"

wanting in

is to

Moreover,

be seene in the pyre of Cheops,

this, besides

worke which they had

all.

the laborious and toilesome

to derive

and drawe the river to

" that place, which hath his course through the middest
" of

the

former pyre,

" wherein it is situate:

" they
"

affirme that

whome

hemming

in

the

whole Hand

within the compasse whereof,

in his lifetime, an house

" stone alone, diversly coloured,

was framed of one

which he had out of the

"countrey of Ethiopia, forty foote lower then the

"it

selfe,

yet planted

"foundation.

By

Cheops himselfe was buried.

pi re

and built upon the selfesame

Chephrenes also (by the computation

" the Aegyptians) ruled the countrey fiftie yeares,

"

of

by

which meanes they make account that their miserie

"continued an hundred and

five yeares, at

which time

THE PYRAMID OF KHAF-RA

48

[B.C. 3666

" the temples of their gods were unfrequented, abiding

" still

from time to time sealed up and unopened

"wherefore these princes the Aegyptians will not name

"for the hatred they beare them, calling their pyres

"the towres of the

" shepeheard Phili-

who

"tio,

that

at

" time kept

sheepe

" in those places."

The pyramid of
Khaf-Ea was called
by the
"

Ur "

Egyptians

^, i.e.,
"Great"; the name

of

this

king

has

not been found inscribed on any part

of

but the frag-

it,

ment

of a

object

Khaf-Ra,

marble

inscribed

which

was found near the

temple close by this
pyramid,
Kha-f -Ra, King of Egypt.
(The original is in the Egyptian Museum, Cairo.)

and there

is

confirms

the

statements

the

Greek

of

writers,

no reasonable ground for doubting the cor-

rectness of the generally received view on the subject.

This pyramid, which was

first

opened in modern times by

THE SPHINX AND

B.C, 3666]

Belzoni in 1818,

is

49

about 450 feet high, and the length

of each side at the base

a recent calculation

TEMPLE

ITS

about 700 feet

is

according to

the cubic measure of the masonry

now 2,156,960 yards, and it is said to weigh 4,883,000

tons.
The pyramid is entered by two openings in the
is

north

and the rock upon which

side,

scarped

on the north and west

Connected with

foundation level.

Khaf-Ka

Temple

the

is

sides

of

Pyramid

the

Mariettein 1853

pillars are also

made

was discovered by

Sphinx

of the

The

two halls of the

which nine statues of Khaf-Ba

a well in

The remains

were found.

at G-izeh.

of granite, and are in shape square.

east of the smaller of the

is

built of

about forty yards to the south-

it lies

east of the right foot

of

commonly

Seker-Osiris,

granite and alabaster, and which

building

make the

Temple of the Sphinx, which was

called the

To the

to

was

rests

it

of this temple are eloquent

witnesses to the skill which the Egyptians had acquired

in the art of working

and polishing granite and other

hard stones.

To

the period of the

or second of the three

first

great pyramid builders

we

assigning the Sphinx,

although

that

may

it

much

be

shall probably be right in

older

it

it

is

is

quite

possible

one of the most

wonderful and imposing of the monuments of Egypt.

It is

hewn

repaired.

out of the living rock, but has been often

It represents a

VOL.

II.

man-headed

Baedeker, Egypt,

lion

the body

p. 115.

is

THE SPHINX A FORM OF HARMACHIS

50

[B.C. 3666

about 150 feet long, the paws 50 feet long, the head

30

feet long, the face

14

feet wide,

of the head to the base of the

about 70

The

feet.

face

and from the top

monument

was painted

the height

is

and above

reel,

the forehead was sculptured the uraeus, the symbol of

divinity and royalty, but most of the traces of these

disappeared during the course of the

Some hold the view

em-hat

III., a

XlXth

century.

that the Sphinx represents

Amen-

king of the Xllth Dynasty, and that

it

was fashioned by him, but no conclusive evidence has been

adduced in support of this view, and the general opinion
of the best informed authorities

The Egyptians

older period.
x

^K

JbsS,

is

that

it

called the

belongs to a far

Sphinx "

Hu "

and he represented Harmachis, a form of

the Sun-god

the fact that they connected

it

with this

ancient god seems to indicate that they assigned a high

antiquity to the object.

We

have no mention in the

was

early texts of the Sphinx, but a red granite tablet

found between

and

clearing,

effected

its

paws which records the excavation,

and repairs of the Sphinx which were

XVIIIth

by Thothmes IV., a king of the

Dynasty.
to the king

It is stated thereon that

Harmachis appeared

and promised to bestow upon him the crown

of Egypt, if he

out of the sand.

would dig his image,

i.e.,

the Sphinx,

In the thirteenth line of the inscription

the cartouche of Khfif-Ba occurs, but the text

mutilated to see in what exact connection

is

too

there is

no good reason for asserting on the authority of the

inscription that

Khaf-Ba made the Sphinx, but

it is

THE SPHINX AND

B.C, 3666]

ITS

who

quite certain that the scribe

XVIIIth Dynasty,

was in some way connected with

that this king

a native tradition of this kind

subject

and

51

drafted the text repre-

sented the tradition current in the

respect

AGE

entitled to far

and

more

statements made on the

belief than the

by modern

is

it,

The

writers.

Brugsch

late Dr.

thought that the Sphinx already existed in the time of

Khaf-Ra, and his opinion was shared by M. de Rouge

and Dr. Birch

2
;

the view taken by M. Maspero of

the meaning of the allusion in the text to Khaf-Ra

that this king excavated

is

or

from sand, and that we have in

proof that
cessors

lion

at

it

the

Sphinx

an almost certain

Khufu and

of his prede-

Sphinx was already buried in the sand.

the

The name

the time of

in

cleared

"

Sphinx

"

was given

to

the manheaded

Gizeh by the Greeks, probably because they

connected

it

with

their

own mythological

figure,

which, however, had the winged body of a lion, and

the breast and upper part of a

woman

though, that the Sphinx in any form

origin,

a view which

is

is

it

seems,

of Egyptian

supported by several Greek

traditions.

Egypt under the Pharaohs, vol. i. p. 80.

Vyee, Pyramids of Gizeh, vol. iii. p. 115.
3 "II
y avait la, je crois, l'indication d'un deblaiernent du
Sphinx, opere sous ce. prince, par suite, la preuve a peu pres
certaine que le Sphinx etait ensable deja au temps de Kheops et de
and compare Wiedeses predecesseurs " (Les 0rigine3, p. 366)
1

mann, Aegyptische
4

Geschichte, p. 187.

See Aelian, Hist. Animal.,

xii. 7.

THE SPHINX THE FATHER OF TERROR

52

Of

Sphinx Pliny and 'Abd

tlie

[B.C. 3666

al-Latif say

"In front of these pyramids is the Sphinx, a still

"more wondrous object of art, but one upon which
" silence has been observed, as
" divinity

it

is

looked upon as a

by the people of the neighbourhood.

" their belief that

Harmais was buried

" will have

it

"

it

The truth

" solid rock

that

and they

was hewn from the

it

and from a feeling of veneration, the face

" of the monster

" the head,

it,

was brought there from a distance.

however, that

is,

in

is

The circumference

coloured red.

measured round the forehead,

is

hundred

"

and forty-three, and the height from the belly

"

summit

asp on the head sixty-two."

of the

"About

Hist. Nat., xxxvi. 17).

"pyramids a man may

bow

'

"head belongs

is

it is

'

"

which

red-coloured,
is

" is very beautiful,

which this

to

and

Judging

cubits in length.

and on

its

"of grace and beauty, and

pp. 179, 180.)

body

body by that of the head

as brilliant as if

"graciously."

this figure

buried under the ground.

"must be more than seventy

is

To

head

Father of Terror) has

(I.e.,

said that the

" of the dimensions of the

" face

(Pliny,

shot from these

" and neck emerging from the ground.

been given, and

to the

see the colossal figure of a

"the name of Abu'1-hawl

it

of

one hundred

" and two feet, the length of the feet being one

"

It is

it

is

was new.

red

it

The

varnish,

This figure

mouth bears the impress

it

('Abd al-Latif,

may be said to smile

De Sacy's translation,

THE REIGN OF MYCERINUS

B.C 3633]

5-

(O e= 1^1

4as

e^ y
c

Men-kau-Ra,

53

Mevxepw*) ov

MvKepivos.

v..

Of the

life

whatsoever

known,

are

Mane th o,
reigned

and history of Men-kau-Ra no

and

though,

details

according

to

he

sixty

three years, the

event

principal
of

this

period

long-

rule

of

seems

have

to

been the buildat

Gizeh

the

third

pyramid,

which

ing
of

he intended for

tomb

his

but

referring

before

to this buildingit

will

to
is

him

be best

repeat

what

said

about

by

Greek

writers.

Accord-

ing

Herodo-

tus

to

(ii.

Men-kau-Ra, King of Egypt.

(The original is in the Egyptian Museum, Cairo.

129),

"Chephrenes

dying,

yeelded

the

Kingdome

to

MYCERINUS THE WISE AND GOOD

54

" Mycerinus, the

" escliuing the

sonne

of

[B.C. 363

brother Cheops, who,

liis

wicked acts and detestable practises of

" his father, caused the temples to be set open, giving

" libertie to the people being so long distressed under the

"

governement of his father and uncle, to follow their

"

owne

affayres,

and returne to their ancient custom of

" sacrifice, ministering iustice above all the Kings that

"

were before him

for

which cause, none of

" princes that have borne rule in Egypt

"praysed and renowmed, both

" were wisely taken

"for

this, that a

" that the

" he

up by him

so greatly

for other causes

which

and

chiefly

in iudgement,

certayne Aegyptian

King had wronged him

commaunded him

is

the

all

much complayning

in deciding his cause,

to value the losse

which he had

" suffered by him, which the partie doing, he gave him so

"

much

"

Mycerinus in this wise governing the common weale

of his

owne goods

to

make him

a recompence.

" with great clemency, and seekying by vertue to advance

"his fame, was sodeinely daunted by a great misfortune,

"the death of his onely daughter, having no more

"children but her, which was the
" hartbreake that befell

"which

cause,

being

him

in

stricken

first

and greatest

his

kingdome.

with

sorrowe

For
above

" measure, and desirous to solemnize her funeralles

" the

by

most royall and princely kinde of buryall that

" could

be devised

he caused an oxe to be made of

"wood, inwardly vauted and hollow within, which being

" layde over and garnished most curiously with
" inclosed therein the

wanne and

gilt,

he

forlorne corpse of his

NARRATIVE BY HERODOTUS

B.C. 3633]

best beloved daughter.

55

This royal tombe was not

interred and buryed in the grounde, but

rem ayned unto

our age in the city Sais in open view, standing in a

certayne parlour of the King's pallace, adorned and set
foorth for the same purpose, with most beautifull and
costly

The custome

furniture.

is

evermore in the

daye time to cast into the belly of the oxe sweete and
precious odoures of

all sortes

that

in the nighte to kindle a lampe,

tomb

till

may

be gotten

and

which burnetii by the

In a chamber next adioyning

the next daye.

women that were the concuMycerinus, if we may beleeve the talke of those

are certayne pictures of

bines of

that in the same city of Sais are professours in religion,

forsomuch as there are seene standing in that place

certayne mighty images

made

of wood, tvventye or there-

aboutes in number, the most parte of them bare and

naked,

but what

pictures they be,

women they
I am not able

resemble,
to alleadge

or

whose

more then

hearesay, notwithstanding, there were which as touch-

ing the gilded oxe, and the other images framed this
tale,

that Mycerinus being inamoured of his

own

daughter, dealt unlawfully with her besides the course

of nature,

who

for intollerable greefe

hanging her

was intombed in that oxe by her father

her mother causing the hands of
be cut

off,

all

selfe,

the Queene

her gentlewomen to

by whose meanes she had been betrayed

serve her father's lust, for

to

which cause (say they) are

these images portrayed, to declare the misfortune which

they abode in their lifetime.

But

this is as true as the

MYCERINUS AND THE OX

56
"
"

man
may

" age,

in tlie moone, for that a

man

clearely perceive, that their

[B.C. 3633

Avitli lialfe

hands

an eye

fel off for

very

by reason that the wood through long continuance

" of time

was spaked and perished, whiche even to our

"

memory were to be seene lying at the feete of those

"which were portrayed. The oxe wherein the young

" princesse lay was sumptuously clad, and arayed

all

the

"

body with a gorgeous mantle of Phenicia, hys head and

"

necke beeyng sponged and layde over with braces and

" plates of golde of a marvaylous thickenesse.

" his

homes was

Betweene

set a globe or circle of golde, glistering

" as the sunne.

Neyther

"

feete,

up uppon hys

is

the oxe standing and borne

but kneeletli as

it

were on hys

" knees, equal! in bignesse to a great heighfer.

"

manner

is

The

once a yeare to bring this image out of the

" parlour wherein

is

it

kepte, having first of all well

"beaten and cudgelled a certayne image of one of theyr

" Saintes,

whome

" to us to name.

in thys case

The

wee thinke

talke goeth, that the

it

not lawfull

Lady besought

"the Kyng her father that beeing dead, she might once a
"yeare behold the sunne, whereof sprang the custome and
"

maner aforesayde.
"

After

this,

him another mischiefe

there befell unto

" that fate as neere his skirtes as the

"

insomuch that he was readie

" selfe in sorrowe.

shoulde ende hys

" be ruled of another.

runne beyonde hym-

prophecie arose in the city of

"Butis, that the tearme of

"Kyng

to

death of his dilling,

five yeares fully expired, the

lyfe,

leaving his

Kyngdome

to

Whereof the Kyng beeing adver-

HE CHANGES HIS COURSE OF LIFE

B.C. 3633]

"tised,

and greately greeving

"dealing of

"where the

tlie

and unmst

gods, sped a messenger to the place

seate of prophecie

" with the god, for

"unckle,

at the rigorous

57

was helde,

what cause

who had beene

so

(since

to expostulate

hys father and

unmindful of the gods, shut-

"ting up their temples, and making havocke of the

" people,

had lived

he hymselfe, that had dealte

so long)

"better with them, and caused these thynges to bee

"restored agayne, should so soone be deprived of the

" benefite of lyfe, to

whome aunswere was made,

that hys

" dayes were therefore shortened because bee tooke a

"wrong course and dyd not

"

appoynted by the

" of

Aegypt should

as he should do,

celestiall powers, that the

suffer miserie,

and be

"their princes ye space of an hundred and

"

beyng

conntrey

afflicted

by

fifty yeares,

which the two former princes well understanding,

"was

neverthelesse by

" formed.

him neglected and

left

unper-

Mycerinus hearing this round reply,

"perceiving that his thread was almost spoon, set

"revell,

making great provision

of lights

and

and
al at

tapers,

" which at eventide he caused to be lighted, passing the

" night in exceeding great mirth

and princely banquet-

" ting, letting slip

no time wherein he either wandered

"not alongst the

river,

and through the woods and

" groves of the countrey, or entertayned the time in some

"pleasant devises, following

all

things that might eyther

" breede delighte, or bring pleasure,

which things he

"to the end he might proove the prophecie

" convince the god of a

lie,

false,

making twelve yeares

did,

and

of five,

THE PYRAMID OF MYCERINUS

58
"

by spending the nightes

"

Mycerinus also built a pyre, not equall

"his father had

"but twentie
"being built

to that

up before him, beeing

set

which

in measure

and

then that, of three acres in compasse,

to the middest of the stone of Ethiopia."

(B. R.'s translation,

fol.

105a if.)

According to Diodorus

him who

(i.

64),

"Mycerinus, the son

built the first pyramid,

" [pyramid], but died before

"of the

as he did the dayes.

foote square, framed quadrangularly,

" another lower

" of

also

[B.C. 3633

it

was finished; every square

was three hundred

basis

began a third

feet.

The

walls for

" fifteen stories high were of black marble, like that of

" Thebes, the rest
" pyramids.

was of the same stone with the other

Though

the other pyramids went beyond

"this in greatness, yet this far excelled the rest in the

"curiosity of the structure, and the largeness of the
" stones.
" north,

On

that side of the pyramid towards the

was inscribed the name of the founder Mycerinus.

"This king, they

say,

detesting

the severity of the

" former kings, carried himself all his days gently

" graciously towards all his subjects,

"possibly he
" towards

"

him

and did

could to gain their love

;

all

and
that

and goodwill

besides other things, he expended vast

sums of money upon the oracles and worship of the

" gods ; and bestowing large gifts upon honest men,

" he

whom

judged to be injured, and to be hardly dealt with in

"the courts of

justice."

(Booth's translation.)

Hero-

dotus relates that the Greeks thought the Pyramid of

Mycerinus to be the "work of the courtesan Rhodopis,"

THE PYRAMID OF MYCERINUS

B.C. 3633]

and this legend

Strabo

(xvii.

1)

Sappho the

is

"A story

says

latter

poetess, she

the following

by both Diodorus and

repeated

the

was

59

that,

according to

called Doriche,

and adds

of her, that,

when she

is told

" was bathing, an eagle snatched one of her sandals from

"the hands of her female attendant and carried

"

Memphis

to

the eagle, soaring over the head of the king,

"who was

it

administering justice at the time, let the

" sandal fall into his lap.

The

king, struck with the

" shape of the sandal, and the singularity of the accident,

"sent over the country to discover the

"

it

"

and brought

She was found

belonged.

to the king,

" her death she

woman

to

whom

in the city of Naucratis,

who made her

At

his wife.

was honoured with the above-mentioned

" tomb."

The
called

Pyramid of Mycerinus

large
"

Her

"

sloping surface
corrected

stones

is

built

at Grizeh,

which was

upon a rock with a

the inequality of the surface has been

by building up courses of large blocks of

upon

The remains

it.

of the old outside granite

casing are visible to a depth of about thirty feet

length of each side at the base

its

height

is

little

is

about 350

the

feet,

and

The pyramid

over 210 feet.

is

entered on the north side, and the slanting granitelined

corridor

passed through
halls,

about

is

104

feet

horizontal passage

a shaft which leads to the

reached;

this

and some sixty

chamber
feet

long,

is

and having

and two large

mummy-chamber

is

about forty-five feet long,

below the level of the ground, and

THE COFFIN OF MYCERINUS

6o
in

it

[B.C. 3633

was found the sarcophagus of Men-kau-Ra.

In

a lower chamber were discovered a wooden coffin in-

name and

scribed with his

a

human body wrapped

and the remains of

titles,

in a coarse woollen cloth of a

yellow colour, and a part of the cover

The

of the stone sarcophagus.

stone

having been cased

sarcophagus,

strong timbers, was with great

in

diffi-

culty taken out of the pyramid, and

having

been

taken

was despatched

to

Alexandria,

to

London on board

merchant ship in 1838

the ship was

never heard of after her departure

Leghorn on October 12th of

that year, and it is presumed that

from

she was wrecked off Carthagena, for

some

parts

picked

up

wooden

coffin

wreckage

the

of

near

and

that

were

The

port.

human

the

re-

mains, those of a man, safely reached

London, and they are now preserved

in the British
as

"Remains of the cover

of the coffin of Mycerimis. (British Museum,
No. 6G47).

1883,

certain

Museum.

M. Maspero
Egyptologists

the wooden coffin of

be a " restoration
original piece of

" of

the

XXVIth

So far back
stated

that

had declared

Men-kau-Ra

to

Dynasty, and not an

work of the IVtli Dynasty, and more

Guide du Visiteur de Boulaq,

p. 310.

THE SARCOPHAGUS OF MYCERINUS

B.C. 3633]

have adopted their view

writers

recent

6l

but, like

Dr. Birch, he was of opinion that the coffin certainly

belonged to the IVth Dynasty, and adduced in support

of his views the fact of the existence of portions of a

similar coffin of Mehti-em-sa-f,

king of the Vlth

The statements put forward

Dynasty.

in support of

the " restoration " theory are inconclusive, and quite

insufficient to set aside the opinion of the experienced

archaeologists mentioned above.

The Sarcophagus

of the coffin, which

" Osiris,

King

is

The

text on the cover

of Mycerinus.

here reproduced, reads

of the South and North,

" [Hail]

Men-kau-Ea,

" living for ever, born of heaven, conceived of Nut, heir

Thy mother Nut spreadeth herher name of 'mystery of heaven'

" of Seb, his beloved

"self over thee in

" she granteth that thou

"thy

foes,

King

" living for ever

1

mayest exist as a god without

of the South and North,

Men-kau-Ea,

"
!

See Aeyyptische

Zeitschrift,

Bd. xxx. pp. 94-100*

THE BOOK OF THE DEAD

62

The pyramid

of Mycerinus

hands of certain

Muhammadan

are told that

down

all

Al-Mainun

the great pyramids.

a.d. 1226, states that a

i.e.,

much

suffered

set to

[B.C. 3633

at

the

rulers of Egypt,

and we

work seriously

to pull

who wrote about

ago the Ked Pyramid,

Idrisi,

few years

that of Men-kau-Ea, was opened on the north side.

After passiDg through various

passages, a

room was

reached wherein was found a long blue vessel

sarcophagus],

quite

pyramid was

effected

treasure

The opening into this

by people who were in search of

empty.

they worked at

it

with axes for six months,

and they were in great numbers.

basin, after they

[i.e.,

They found

had broken the covering

of

in this

the de-

it,

cayed remains of a man, but no treasures, excepting

some golden tablets inscribed with characters of a

language which nobody could understand. 1

Men-kau-Ea

nection with the reign of

be

made

to

In con-

reference

must

some important work which seems to have

been carried out by the prince Heru-ta-ta-f on certain

chapters of the Book of the

Dead; what

cannot be exactly described, but

prince " found " Chapter
sions of the

LXIVth

XXXb., and one

and

of the ver-

upon a block of

had been inlaid with

when he was journeying about

inspection of the temples. 2

work was

said that this

is

chapter, inscribed

iron of the south which

lazuli,

it

this

to

lapis-

make an

In the texts of a sub-

Vyse, The Pyramids of Gizeh, vol. ii. pp. 71, 72.

See my Chapters of Coming Forth by Day (translation, pp. 80
119).

IN

B.C. 3600]

THE REIGN OF MYCERIN^S

63

sequent period references are made to Heru-tataf in

such a way that

clear that he

it is

piety and learning, and

" found "

chapters which were

edited or partly re-written

6.

4|s
a <c*

^k _^_
"

V Jul

(Herodotus,

AJ

SHEPSES - KxV - F,

oi

Abydos, Men-kau-Ea was

by Shepses-ka-f, but Manetho names one

twenty-two years

name

Bicheris

may

it is

reigned

be either a corruption

name

of the king,

perfectly certain from the evidence

of the

monuments

kau-Ea

in the rule of Egypt.

136),

says that he

Shepses-ka-f, or another

but in any case

(ii.

ZePepxepV?

Aav^).

Bicheris as his successor, and

of the

by him were either

by him.

According to the Tablet

followed

very probable that the

is

it

was a man of great

that Shepses-ka-f followed

"after Mycerinus,

" dominion of Asychis,

Men-

According to Herodotus

ensued the raigne and

by whome

(as the priests report)

" was consecrated to Yulcane a princely gallerie standyng

" to the East, very fayre and large,
" curious
" it

and exquisite workemanship.

had on every

side

"

For besides that

embossed the straunge and lively

" pictures of wilde beastes,

"graces

wrought with most

and sumptuous

it

had

in a

ornaments

manner

that

imagined to the beautifying of a worke.

" amiddest other his

1

all

the

coulde

be

Howbeit,

famous deedes, this purchased him

See de Rouge, Six Premieres Dynasties Egyptiennes, pp.

66, 73, 77.

tSe pyramid OF SHEPSESKAF

64

"the greatest

dignitie, that perceyving the land to be

and many creditours like to be

" oppressed with debt,

"indamaged by great
"

who

inacted foorthwith, that

losse, lie

borrowed aught uppon

so

[B.C. 3600

" pledge the dead

body of his

credite,

shoulde lay to

father, to be

used at the

" discretion of the creditour, and to be buryed

"what manner he woulde,

" that tooke

for a

pennaunce

to all those

any thing of loane providing moreover, that

;

" in case he refused to repay the debt,

"be buryed

by him in

in the

tombe of his

he should neyther

fathers, nor in

any other

" sepulchre, neyther himselfe, nor the issue that should

" descend

and spring of his body.

"to surpasse
"

that had been before him,

all

memorie of himselfe an excellent pyre built

"wherein was a stone

"

'

"
'

"
'

"
'

"
'

"

This prince desiring

'

Compare me not
surmount as

set

left

in

all of clay,

ingraven in these wordes:

the rest of the pyres, which I

to

farre as Iupiter excelleth the

meaner

gods, for searching the bottome of the river with

scoupe, looke

what clay they brought up, the

same they employed

to the building of

forme and bignesse as you

may

me

beholde.'

" did Asychis imagine to advance the fame of

" to the time to come."

called "

Qebh "

mud

Pyramid

2
,

And

this

him

selfe

The pyramid here mentioned

was undoubtedly built of

identified with the

in such

is

bricks, but that it is to be

of Shepses-ka-f,

very unlikely.

which was

During the

108a,

B. R.'s Translation,

See de Rouge, Six Premieres Dynasties Egyptiennes,

fol.

p. 74,

THE CAREER OF PTAH-SHEPSES

B.C. 3600]

reign of Shepses-ka-f the

official

65

Ptah-skepses flourished,

and on the walls of his tomb, which M. Mariette

covered at
benefits

dis-

Sakkara, are recorded a number of the

which were showered by the king upon the man

who afterwards married his eldest daughter. He says *

that the king Men-kau-Ka and the king Shepses-ka-f
placed him among the royal children that he had access
;

and to the king's own apartments

to the palace

and that

he was more pleasing in the sight of the king than any

When

other child.
age,

he had arrived

"His Majesty gave him

at a marriageable

[his] eldest royal daughter,

" Maat-kha, to be his wife, for he preferred her to be

" with

him more than with any

[other]

man," and he was

more esteemed by the king than any other servant.

His Majesty also

set

every kind whatsoever

out,

him over
it

pleased him to have carried

"

and he did his duty so well that he

" the heart

" allowed

of his

him

to

" to the

ground

gods at

all

"

lord every day."

bow down

made happy

His Majesty

his head on his leg (or

" knee) in homage, and did not

"

the secret works of

all

make him

to

bow down

and he entered into the boat of the

the festivals

" beloved of his lord."

of the

In return

gods, for

he was

for his devotion,

he

was made " superintendent of the house of divine food

"

" superintendent of the private apartments (or affairs)

"

For the text see de Rouge,

ojp. tit.,

p.

66

ff.

and Mariette, Les

Mastabas, Paris, 1889, p. 113.

2
I.e., instead of making him to kneel on the ground, and touch
the earth with his forehead, the king accepted as his correct

homage the bowing

VOL.

II.

of Ptah-shepses's

head

to the royal knee.

THE CAREER OF PTAH-SHEPSES

66

" chief of the crystal

Seker in his every seat

which was

"

" servant

chief of the

of

the god

royal estate

set apart to supply offerings for the temple

of the god Seker

of the

"

house

[B.C. 3600

"
;

ur-kherp-hem and superintendent

"

Temple of Seker

" ur-kherp-hem in the double

sanctuary of the Aged One, the Temple of Ptah,"

Thus we

see that

portant

offices

Ptah-Shepses held a number of imwith the property and

connection

in

worship of the gods, and the

" great chief of the

i.e.,

etc.

title

of " ur-lcherp-hem"

hammer," shows that he was

the high priest of the Smith-God Ptah, and so played

the most prominent part in the performance of the cere-

monies which took place daily in the shrines of the gods

Seker and Ptah of Memphis, when their arks and boats

were

lifted

upon

their sledges,

and were drawn round

about the sanctuary at sunrise and sunset, probably in

imitation of the motions of the celestial bodies.

The Sasychis
like the

King

Diodorus

is

probably to be identified,

Asychis of Herodotus, with Shepses-ka-f. In the

List of Manetho, following the

whom we have
Thamphthis,
that

of

of

name

Sebercheres,

identified with Shepses-ka-f, is the

@a/j,<j>dkj

king

the

which has been identified with

4w

I-em-hetep
1

Brugsch and Bouriant

name

ft

^ ^g

^v

neither the Tablet of Abydos

nor the Tablet of Sakkara mentions this king, and the

grounds for the proposed identification are

1

Le Livre

ties

6.

fiois, p.

with Sebek-ka-Ra

=f_^C)

Here

insufficient.

also Sebercheres is identified

g^ Li

B.C. 3568]
(

67

CHAPTER

III.

THE FIFTH DYNASTY. FEOM ELEPHANTINE.

1-

^_

The name

UsER-KA-F, Ovaepxeprjs.
of

Userkaf

follows that of

Shepses-ka-f on the Tablet of Abydos, and

<2>

there

no doubt that he represents the

is

Usercheres of Manetho,

Dynasty,
years

and who reigned

this

is

Sekhem-ka-Ra

of

of Userkaf.

de Rouge,

the Vth.

twenty-eight

proved by the inscription

Ari-MaIt, the

Horus name

who began

who

which

is

quoted by

says that he held office

under " Khaf-Ra, Men-kau-Ra, Shepses-ka-f, Userkaf,

"

and Sahu-Ra."

According to the Westcar

Papyrus,

king Userkaf was the high priest of the god Raof Annu,
or Heliopolis, and he seems to have
in

the land to add

titles

had

sufficient

the title " son of the

Sun

power

" to the

which the kings of Egypt had already adopted

from the Vth Dynasty onwards the second cartouche

of a king always contained the

name which he bore

Six Premieres Dynasties, p. 77.

See Erraan, op.

cit.,

plate

ix. ff

GROWTH OF RA WORSHIP

68

In the reign of Userkaf the worship

as the son of Ra.

of the Sun-god

[B.C. 3533

Ra

increased greatly, and his cult as

understood and proclaimed by the priests of lieliopolis

The

became dominant in the land.

inscriptions of the

period mention under various names certain shrines of

the god Ra, and such

names indicate

either the dwelling-

place of the god, or some spot which

him

determinative

the

obelisk

each case

a truncated pyramid a

or

in

favoured by

is

either

is

an

which shows

that such buildings were dedicated to the worship of

Ra. 1

Userkaf built a pyramid

name "Ab-ast"/^8
its

to

which he gave the

and we may assume that

remains will be found at Abusir, or Busiris, where

the pyramids of

Sahu-Ra and Ra-en-user, kings

of the

same dynasty, have already been found.

el\\l

Sahu-Ra,

Sahu-Ra was the

and he

is,

Zecpp/]?.

successor of Userkaf,

no doubt, to be identified with the

Sephres of Manetho, who reigned thirteen

years

a relief sculptured on the rocks in

Wadi Maghara

the

represents this king in

the traditional attitude of clubbing; a native

neb-khIu, the
Horus name of
sahu-Ra.

of

Sinai,

but this does

not

necessarily
J

imply that he led an expedition into the

He

Peninsula.
1

built

See Aegyptisclie

pyramid called

"

Zeitsclirift, 1889, p. 111.

Kha-ba,"

PYRAMID OF SAHU-RA

B.C. 3533]

S '^^ A
in the

the remains

of which

69

have been found

most northerly of the three largest pyramids

at Abnsir;

there

fication, for the

no reason

is

name

to

of the king

doubt this identiis

traced in red, as

Lepsius pcinted ont, 1 on several of the blocks there.

Sahu-Ea's pyramid

now about

is

length of each side at the base

Westcar Papyrus
birth of

20 feet high, and the

about 220

of his predecessor Userkaf, and

Kakaa.

It

seems that king Khufu or-

dered a magician at his court called Tetta,

to bring

him

The

feet.

contains an interesting legend of the

Sahu-Ea and

his successor

is

ft ft I

certain writings from Heliopolis, but Tetta

refused, saying that the "eldest of the three children

"were

womb

in the

" should bring

<=
of Eut-Tetet,

^^\ I

^^

J)

The king asked who Eut-Tetet

them."

was, and the sage told

him

that she was the wife of a

god Ea of Sakhabu uh

priest of the

who

&-&

J(V

who was about to bring forth three children of the god

Ea, who had promised to bestow upon them honours and
dignities of all kinds in the land,

and had decreed that

the eldest of the three was to be the high-priest of

Memphis
sad.

and when the king heard this he was very

And when

Ea-user were

the

days of the wife of the priest

fulfilled,

and birth-pains were coming upon

Lepsius, DenhnaUr,

ii.

See Erman, op.

p. 11

cit,,

plate 40.
ff.

THE BIRTH OF THREE KINGS

70

Ba

god

her, the

Sakhabu sent

of

Khnemn

Meskhenet, Heqet, and

who

her children,

ing forth

Isis,

[B.C. 3533

Nephthys,

to assist her in bring-

return

in

would build

temples in their honour and provide their altars with

meat and drink

The goddesses,

offerings in abundance.

having disguised themselves as dancing women, went

with the god

Khnemu

to the

house of Ba-user, who

straightway brought them into the room where his wife

was

soon

after this

But-Tetet gave birth to three

whom Isis named Userkaf, Sahu-Ba, and

Kakaa, and for whom Meskhenet prophesied sovereignty

male children,

over the entire land.

The goddesses then came out

of

the birth-chamber and announced to Ba-user that three

when he heard this

the
barley to them

children had been born to him, and

news he wished

to

make

goddesses accepted the

a gift of

gift,

and departed, but

finally

they brought the barley back, and having placed

it

in

royal diadems, presumably for the three children, they

caused

it

to be stored in a secret

Whensoever

house.

this

time, sounds of singing,

heard to come forth from

which

is

to be put

the legend itself

from

the

chiefly
lore,

time

is

chamber of Ba-user's

chamber was

and music, and dancing were

it.

The

exact interpretation

on this legend
very old, and

of the

visited after this

not clear, but

is

may

it

Vth Dynasty

it

well

date

has value

from the point of view of comparative folk-

but

it

is

also important as indicating the order

of the succession of the first three kings of the

Dynasty.

Vth

KAKAA, SHEPSES-KA-RA, NEFER-F-RA

B.C. 3466]

3.

As the name

uu

KakaA

Jl

of this king follows that of

Sahu-Ra

in

the Tablet of Abydos, and also in the Westcar Papyrus,

is

it

order here

placed in that

in

Tablet of

the

Sakkara the two names which follow that of Sahu-Ra

are

T3S

OI

^$) (o

JS2>-

Lll Ra-nefer-ari-ka.

LiJ Ra-shepses-ka.

It has been suggested that

Snn" name
but there
view.

At

is

Kakaa

of Ra-nefer-ari-ka

or of Ra-shepses-ka,

no satisfactory evidence

Manetho

this juncture

the " son-of-the-

is

to support either

also fails us, for

he gives

the names of kings Nephercheres, Sisires, and Choires

as the successors of Sahu-Ra, and says that they reigned

twenty, seven, and twenty years respectively

sible that

name

Ra-nefer-ari-ka,

Sakkara.
built,

Nephercheres

is

it is

pos-

the equivalent of the Egyptian

which

given by the Tablet of

is

The pyramid which

4w (o 1
H

named

this last

probably at Abusir, was called "

Ba "

^ a ~ nefer

<fe^

king.

This name follows that of Kakaa in the Tablet of

Abydos, and

may

be the equivalent of the king called

THE PYRAMID OF USER-EN-RA

72

tss (o
kara

q 1]

Ra-kha-nefer

name

the

Heru-a-ka-u

" son-of-the-Sun "

if

pyramid,
"

this king

(j

\J ^k

wliicli
J

may

be the

of Ra-nefer-f or of Ra-kha-

ever -existed.

presumably

Abusir,

at

Ra-nefer-f bnilt

which was

called

1 <=> ^|L A

Neter-baiu "

5.

name

Tablet of Sak-

tlie

Vth Dynasty

occurs in the tombs of the

nefer,

in

[B.C. 3433

Mf

1(1<=>]

^2

ffl^l

RA- EN -USER,

son of the Sun, An, 'PaOovprj?.

Ra-en-user, the Rathures of Manetho,

who
J

said to have reigned forty- four years,

also styled in the inscriptions, "

is

Lord of

the shrines of Nekhebet and Uatchet " j^w

"

AST-AB-TAUi,
the Horus name
ofRa-en-nser.

is

and the seat of the heart of the divine

j*.

w ith

of five names.

his

He

" Men-ast

_5^

Horus name, was

and

thus,

the possessor

pyramid 2 which he called

built a

A and which has been idenE3

titled with the middle one of the three large pyramids
A*/WV\

which are found

cLI

cjj

dJ

at

Abusir

he also waged war in the

See Wiedemann, Aegyptische Geschichte, pp. 198, 199.

His name is also found upon a pyramid at Rikka see Wiedemann, op. cit., p. 199.
-

THE MASTABA OF THI

B.C. 3533]

73

Peninsula of Sinai, for a relief on the rocks in the

Maghara

him

represents

and in the text he

in the act of clubbing a native,

called the subduer of all the double

is

r^-^N-o

land of Menthu
ever,

by

^37
It must,

how

be remembered that

Egyp-

this time the

had obtained such

tians

Wadi

footing

sure

the

in

Peninsula that almost as

a

matter of course the

courtiers

each

of

king-

would take care that a

rock relief should be cut

Wadi Maghara,

in

the

in

which he would

be

represented in the tradiattitude

tional

the

of

conqueror of the country.

During the reign

of

this king there flourished

the

s=>

high
( (

Thi

official

who

for

built

himself one of the most

interesting

of the

mas-

taba tombs which have

been spared to us
king,

Usr-en-Ba,

King

of Egypt,

he was a close personal friend of the

and he held a number of the most important

1

See Lepsius,' Denl-mdler, Bl, 152a.

civil

THE MASTABA OF THI

74

and religious

offices.

He was

[B.C. 3433

the chief reader, and

overseer of the priests and scribes, and overseer of the

sacred building and domains which the king had dedi-

cated to the service of Ra, and president of the palace,

and superintendent of the royal works, and director of

the private business of the king in every place, and
secretary to his majesty, and overseer of the pyramids
of Ka-nefer-ari-ka,

and Ra-en-user,

etc.

The inscriptions

tomb mention neither his father nor his mother,

and there is nothing in them which indicates that he
was of noble birth; his wife, however, was a "royal

in his

kinswoman
office

"

called

Nefer-hetep-s, and

of priestess to the goddesses

Whether Thi

she

held the

Hathor and Neith.

attained to the various important offices

which he held by merit or through the influence of his

wife cannot be said. 1

The

chief features of interest in

the tomb of Thi are the bas-reliefs, which are, probably,

the best of their class which have ever been seen

figures of

human

is

excellent,

the

beings are depicted according to the

conventional canon which was then in

work

use,

and the

but the figures of the animals and

inanimate objects are wholly admirable.

The

scenes

depict the feeding and fattening of birds, the reaping

corn, the ploughing of the land

and

the sowing of seed, the treading in of the corn by

flat-

and winnowing of

horned rams, carpenters at work sawing planks and

making
a boat,

articles of furniture, etc.,

men

boat builders building

lopping branches off trees,

1

De Eonge,

op.

cit.,

p. 96.

etc.

It is in-

THE MINES OF

B.C. 3500]

is

75

one relief a dwarf leading an

teresting to note that in

ape

SINAI

represented, and in another the emptying of fish

out of a wicker basket in which they have been caught

the basket in form closely resembles the bottle-shaped

reed basket which the natives

of the Tigris

^>

employ

live

along the banks

for catching fish to this day.

^Y

who

MEN-KAU-HERU, Mevxepfc.

Heru-men-kau, the Menkheres

Manetho,

said to have reigned nine

he carried on the mining works

in the

Peninsula of Sinai, where a

years

is

of

mutilated relief containing his Horus

and other names

MEN-KHAr,
Horus name
Heru-men-kau

is

He

found.

built a

pyramid, presumably at Abusir, which

the
of

but

it

was

has not, as

yet,

called

"Neter-ast"i

iiJA'

The Museum of
wherein we have what

been identified.

the Louvre possesses a bas-relief

appears to be a fine portrait figure of the king Heru-

men-kau

it is

a beautiful piece of work.

The

found by Mariette in a wall of the Serapeum

where

it

at

slab

was

Sakkara,

was probably taken from the funeral chapel

which was built in front of the pyramid of the king.

Doubts

have been cast upon the antiquity of the

relief,

Krall, Grundriss der AUorientaUsclien GescTii elite, p. 21,

PORTRAIT OF MEN-KAU-HERU

76

but, as said de

[B.C. 3400

Kongo, who also gave a reproduction

the monument, the surface of the stone proves that

was exposed

to the action of the

long time before

it

was buried

The king

of Apis.

is

of
it

atmosphere for a very

in the wall of the

Tomb

represented as a young man, and

he

wears

mented

helmet,

which

of

front

with

orna-

is

the

the

uraeus,

the symbol of royalty.

hand he grasps

the

right

the

emblem

of

"

and the "Kherp"

and

in the left

long staff;

costume

is

In

life "

-r*

sceptre,

he holds a

attached to his
the tail of some

animal, the custom of wear-

ing which as a part of the

dress

was introduced into

Egypt

in predynastic times.

Above

his

vulture

goddess Nekhebet,

" the

lady

head

is

of heaven,

the

and

mistress of the two lands/'

Men-kau-heru, King of Egypt.

who

holds in one claw the

symbol of a ring Q, shen, typical ol the sovereignty

which she has bestowed upon the king, and other

emblems

her wings are stretched out over him, and

indicate that he
1

is

under the protection of the goddess.

Six Premieres Dynasties Egyptiennes, p. 99, and plate

vi.

THE WADI HAMMAMAT

B.C. 3368]

77

Ea-tet-ka, son of
J

Sun, Assa, TW^ep???.

tlie

Eatetka,

Tet-ka-Ea,

i.e.,

of Manetho,

Tancheres

said

is

reigned forty-four years

Assa,

Sakkara gives the prenomen of

as

Ea-Maat-ka

fact that

4^ Cq

(5

|J 1

have

Tablet of

the

to

the

this king

but the

Eatetka and Assa represent one

and the same king was discovered so

tetkhi'u, the

far

back as the time of Champollion-Figeac. 1

of Assa.

In the fourth year of his reign Assa caused his Horus

and other names

to be inscribed

also

is

the traditional

Wadi Magkara, and his

found on the rocks in the Wadi

manner upon the rocks

cartouche

in

in the

Hammamat, i.e., the "Eehenu Valley,"

of the hieroglyphic inscriptions

(J

thus the working of

the copper and turquoise mines in the Peninsula of Sinai

was continued, and under Assa the Egyptians apparently

opened new quarries from which to obtain hard stone

and certain parts of buildings in

suitable for statues

The Wadi Hammamat formed a very ancient

highway between Kena in Upper Egypt and Kuser on
general.

the

Eed

memorial
1

Sea,
all

and

it

is

probable that from time im-

the merchandise and

Egypte Ancienne,

p.

281

traffic

Wiedemann,

op.

from the East

cit.,

p. 200.

ASSA SENDS BA-UR-TET TO

yS

entered Egypt by this route

numbers

large

rocks by the

work

the quarries there contain

of inscriptions

officials

which were cut in the

who were

sent there to carry on

Pharaohs, and, as these frequently mention

for the

the names

[B.C. 3366

masters,

of their royal

Valley

the

we

were worked

quarries

in

Dynasty

to the time of the Persians.

that the

see

from the Vth

Hard sandstone

and granite were the principal kinds of stone quarried

there.

Assa
and

called

it

presumably

pyramid,

built

"Nefer,"

i.e.,

at

Abusir,

the "Beautiful."

According to the inscription of Her-khuf, which was

discovered in a tomb of the Vlth Dynasty at Aswan,

and which

is

now

in the

Museum

at Cairo, 1

king Assa

sent one of his high officials to the land of the ghosts,

=^= ^b*
^
J) 7

the

it

was called Ba-ur-Tet ^~^

^^

seems that he made his way into the pygmy

way

.few
AA/VAAA

back a pygmy, "tenk,"

'

country by
rj

to bring

J ^iat ^ e mi S nt dance before him and amuse him;

official

and

% J J J,

P^^l

]ie

of Nubia,

and having reached Punt,

secured the

pygmy and returned

to

Egypt, where the king bestowed high honours upon

him.

These

facts are of considerable importance, for

they show that in the Vth and Vlth Dynasties the

kings of Egypt were in the habit of sending to the
1

See Vol.

I., p.

197.

CENTRAL AFRICA FOR A PYGMY

B.C. 3366]

and

for pygmies,

South

it

79

would seem that they only

followed the example set by their predecessors in the 1st

Dynasty, for in the small chambers close to the tomb

Semempses the skeletons of two dwarfs, and two

of

on which dwarfs were depicted, were found. 1

stelae

It

possible that the country of the pygmies extended

is

much

further to the north than

a journey from

Lakes,

if

Memphis

it

does now, but even so

to the great Central African

not further, must have

undertaking, and he

who performed

been a hazardous
it

successfully well

deserved any honour that could be bestowed upon him.

Among

the famous

Assa must be

men who

specially

flourished in the reign of

mentioned the " governor of the

town," Ptah-hetep, but whether he

is

to be identified

with the Ptah-hetep whose mastaba tomb

Sakkara

is

known to us

number

in the

exists at

Ptah-hetep, the contemporary

not certain.

of Assa, wrote a

still

of " Precepts," which are

famous papyrus which was purchased

and published by Prisse d'Avennes, 2 and which

preserved in the Bibliotheque Nationale.

now

is

This papyrus

not older than the Xllth Dynasty, but

is

made

it is

clear

from the archaic forms and words which occur in the

chapters that they belong to a far older period, and that

the composition must have remained practically un-

touched by the copyist

word of the copy,

1

in

this fact is proved

which the

by the

scribe says, " It

last

hath

See Petrie, Royal Tombs, p. 13.

Facsimile d'un papyrus Egyptien en caracteres hieratiques, trouve

a Thebes, Paris, 1847.

THE PRECEPTS OF PTAH-HETEP

8o
"

gene out

Here endeth the document) from the

(i.e.,

" beginning to the

"in the

[B.C. 3333

writing."

end thereof, according as

1

it

was found

These "Precepts" show that the

Egyptians in the Vth Dynasty possessed moral ideas

ot

a very high character, and that their conceptions of truth,

duty, humanity, and of a man's duty towards

justice,

his neighbour, were not inferior to the counsels on the

same subjects which are

to

be found in the Books of

Proverbs and Ecclesiasticus.

will be

few extracts from them

found in the next chapter.

M> f ^

ft

Unas "Owos.

ill

Unas, the Onnos of Manetho, and the

last

king of the Vth Dynasty,

is

said to

have reigned thirty-three years ; he was the

immediate successor of Assa, and de Eouge
thought that he was associated with this

He

is

have built a temple to Hathor

at

king in the rule of the kingdom.

Uatch-tatji,
the Horus name
of Unas.

said to

Memphis, and

quarrying operations in
built a

pyramid

at

J\

seems that he carried on

it

the

Sakkara which he

_S
4i

\\

Wadi Hammamat
called

he

" Tet

_S>
H

THE PYRAMID OF UNAS

B.C. 3333]

Ast"

It

was thought

Si
for

some time

by Mariette that this pyramid was represented by the

ruins

at

Dahshur

which the name Mastabat

to

Bench

Fir'aun, "Pharaoh's

(or Bed),"

al-

has been given

by the Arabs, because the name of Unas was found

on some of the blocks of stone there.

This, however,

was disproved by the results of the excavations made

Sakkara by M. Maspero in 1881, when

at

it

was

found that Unas was buried in the pyramid which

numbered IV. on the plan

The pyramid

the plan of Lepsius.

little to

of Perring,

and

of

XXXV.

is

on

Unas stands a

the south-west of the great Step Pyramid, and

was broken into and pillaged in the IXth century of

our era; when complete it was about sixty-two feet
high, and the length of each side at the base was about

220
is

feet.

entered,

The
is

slanting corridor,

about 23 feet long,

uninscribed chamber

by which the pyramid

and ends in an empty,

a corridor about 19 feet long, with

sides of fine calcareous stone, leads out of

it

to a

passage

about 27 feet long, built of granite, which was closed

by means of three massive blocks of granite which

down

in grooves after the

slid

manner of portcullises, and out

of this a short passage, about five feet long, the sides of

which are covered with inscriptions, leads into the antechamber.

On

to the serdab,

which leads

the

left

hand

is

and on the right

to

the

mummy

a short passage leading

is

another short passage

chamber.

Many

of the

walls of these chambers and corridors are covered with

vertical lines of hieroglyphics inlaid with green paste.

vol. u.

THE PYRAMID OF UNAS

82

The sarcophagus
wrenched

off

all

of black basalt, and its cover

is

with violence by the thieves

The

into the tomb.

and

mummy

that remained of

it

Tomb
linen bandages

of

pieces,

were the right arm, a

ribs,

was

who broke

had been broken in

fragments of the skull, and the

at Cairo.

[B.C. 3333

tibia,

and some of the

Unas Section.

these are

all

The accompanying

preserved in the

Museum

plan, copied from that of

M. Maspero, will give an idea of the general arrangement of the chambers and corridors of the pyramid,

Tomb

which,

it

of

Unas Ground Plan.

seems, formed the model

respect, except for the selections of texts

1

Transcripts of

all

almost every

in
l

inscribed on

these texts, printed in hieroglyphic type,

were given with French translations by M. Maspero in the third

and following volumes of Recueil de Travanx, Paris, 1882.

THE PYRAMID OF UNAS

B.C. 3333]

83

the walls, for the pyramids of the immediate successors

As

of Unas.

building the

comparatively

ot

of value

the

interest,

little

and

as illustrating the decadence

building such a
for

pyramid of Unas

monument

of the

many

line

The

religious texts

inscriptions

known

than anything

are

the

of

ines-

is

Egyptian

oldest

illustrate better

the views about the future

at

Annu, or Heliopolis,

them

a few extracts from

period,

the

and as they

to us,

else

which were current

art ot

parts

walls of its chambers and corridors, its value

timable.

chiefly

is

but viewed as a repository

which

inscriptions

it

is

are here

at

life

that

given

"

Behold Unas cometh, behold Unas cometh, behold

" Unas cometh forth
And if Unas cometh not of his

I.

"

own

accord, thy message having

Unas maketh

come

him

to

shall

way to his abode, and

Cow goddess of the Great Lake boweth down before
"him; none shall ever take away his food from the
"bring him.

his

" the

"

Great Boat, and he shall not be repulsed at the White

"

House

of the

Great Ones by the region Meskhent on the

" border of the sky.

" height of heaven,

" boat of the Sun,

and he seeth his body in the evening

and he

the uraeus

"satisfied

" Sun,

Behold, Unas hath arrived at the

in

and hath washed

toileth therein

he hath

the morning boat

it.

of

the

The Henmemet beings

" have borne testimony concerning him, the winds and

" storms of heaven have strengthened him,
" introduce

"heaven

to

him

to Ka.

make

and they

the two horizons of

embrace Unas, so that he

may go

forth

THE LADDER OF

84
"

OSIRIS

[B.C. 3333

make the two horizons

embrace Unas, so that he may go forth

toward the horizon with Ra.

" of

heaven to

" towards

the

horizon

" machis) and Ra.

along with Heru-khuti (Har-

Unas

is

happily united to his double

" (ka), his panther skin and his grain bag are upon him,
" his

"

whip

in his hand, his sceptre is in his grasp.

is

him the four Spirits who dwell

Horus, who stand on the eastern

They bring

" tresses of

in the

to

"heaven,

and who are glorious by reason

" sceptres,

and they announce the

fair

name

side of

of their

of

Unas

to

" Ra, and they

make him to escape from Neheb-kau,

" and the soul of Unas liveth in the north of the
" Sekhet- Aaru, and he saileth about in the Lake 'of
Whilst Unas saileth towards the east side
"Kha.
" of the horizon, whilst

he

saileth, saileth

towards the

" east side of heaven, his sister, the star Sothis, giveth
"

him birth
IT. "

in the Underworld."

He who

setteth

up the Ladder

for Osiris is

Ra,

" and he
"
"

who setteth up the ladder is Horus for his father

Osiris when he goeth forth to his soul; Ra is on one
side and Horus is on the other, and Unas is between

" them, being indeed the god of holy dwelling-places

" coming forth from the sanctuary.

"and

is

Horus;

" receiveth

" Those
"

who

"gods.

who

Unas

him, soul in heaven

are

happy and who

are content and

If this

" also shall

sitteth

Unas standeth up
down and is Set; Ra
and body
see [Unas],

who contemplate

in

earth.

and those

[him] are the

god come forth towards heaven, Unas

come forth towards heaven

and he shall

UNAS KILLS THE GODS

B.C. 3333]

"

have his souls with him, and his books shall be upon

"both
"

85

and his inscribed amulets shall be

sides of him,

upon his

and the god Seb shall do

feet,

"hath been done

" city of Pe,

The

for himself.

for

him what

divine souls of the

and the divine souls of the

Nekhen

city of

"shall come unto him, along with the gods of heaven

"

and the gods of earth, and they shall

Come

"their hands.

" enter therein in thy

"

forth, then,

name

of

'

lift

Unas up upon

Unas, to heaven, and

Heaven hath

Ladder.'

been given unto Unas, and earth hath been given unto

"him

this is the decree

which Tern hath issued

to Seb,

" and the domains of Horus, and the domains of Set, and
" the Sekhet-Aaru with their harvests adore thee in thy
"

name of Khonsu-Sept."
The following passage from the pyramid of Unas
contains a myth of the hunting and devouring of
the gods by the deceased in the Underworld which

probably based upon

earlier period,

which

terror

king

and

all

both

The

intended to depict in words the

creation would feel

up in the

life

men and

heavens

" archers

"take

drop

go round

" gods tremble,

it is

to flight

when

it

saw the

beyond the grave in the form

water,

about,

and mothers,"

The passage

gods.

the

stars

the bones

see

Unas

rise

runs

throb,

of the

and those who are in bondage

when they

For the text see

much

of a

beliefs

god who devours "his fathers

of

"

rise

and

and

views

is

up

to

]
:

the

Akeru

them

as a soul, in

Recite il de Travaux, vol. iv. p. 59, vol. v. p. 50.

UNAS COOKS AND EATS

86

" the form of the

"

[B.C. 3333

god who liveth upon his fathers and

who maketh food

Unas

of his mothers.

the lord of

is

"wisdom, and his mother knoweth not his name.

" gifts

Unas

in heaven,

and he hath become

in the horizon like unto

Temu, the father that

of

"mighty
" gave

The

him

birth,

are

and

after

Temu gave him

" became stronger than his father.

birth

The doubles

Unas

of Unas

" are behind him, the sole of his foot is beneath his feet,
" his

gods are over him, his uraei are seated upon his

" brow, the serpent guides of

"and

Unas

are in front of him,

the spirit of the flame looketh upon [his] soul.

"The powers

of Urnis protect

him; Unas

a bull in

is

"

heaven, he directeth his steps whither he wills, he liveth

"

upon the form which each god taketh upon

"

and he eateth the

who come to fill

power in the Lake of

flesh of those

" bellies

with the words of

"

is

Unas

himself,

their
Fire.

equipped with power against the shining

" spirits thereof, and he riseth up in the form of the

"mighty

one, the lord of those

who dwell

in power.

"

Unas hath taken his seat with his side turned towards
Unas hath weighed his words with the hidden
"god (?) who hath no name, on the day of hacking in

" Seb.

" pieces the firstborn.

" untier of the knot,

Unas is the

and he himself maketh abundant

" the offerings of meat and drink.

" and liveth

lord of offerings, the

upon the gods, he

is

Unas devoureth men

the lord to

"ings are brought, and he counteth the

"

He

whom

lists

offer-

thereof.

that cutteth off hairy scalps and dwelleth in the

"fields

hath netted the gods in a snare;

he

that

THE UNDERWORLD

HIS GODS IN

B.C. 3333]

" arrange tli

his

87

head hath considered them good

for

" Unas and hath driven them unto him; and the cord" master

Khonsu the

hath bound them for slaughter.

"slayer of [his] lords hath cut their throats and drawn

" out their

" to drive

inward parts, for

them

in

it

was he

whom Unas

sent

and Shesem hath cut them in pieces

"

and boiled their members

"

Unas hath eaten

in his blazing cauldrons.

their words of power,

" swallowed their spirits

the great ones

and he hath

among them

" serve for his meal at daybreak, the lesser serve for his

" meal at eventide, and the least among them serve for his
"

meal in the night.

" become

fuel

for

The

old gods

his furnace.

and the old goddesses

The mighty ones

"

heaven shoot out

"

heaped up with the haunches of the firstborn

" that

in

under the cauldrons which are

fire

maketh those who

live in

and he

heaven to revolve round

"Unas hath shot into the cauldrons the haunches of

"their women; he hath gone round about the two
"heavens in their

entirety,

and he hath gone round

" about the two banks of the celestial Nile.

"great Form, the

" of the

Form

of forms,

gods in visible forms.

Unas

and Unas

is

is

the

the chief

Whatsoever he hath

"

found upon his path he hath eaten forthwith, and the

"

word

"

(i.e.,

"

is

of

power of Unas

spiritual bodies)

is

who

before that of all the sahu

dwell in the horizon.

the firstborn of the firstborn.

" thousands
;

Unas hath gone round

and he hath offered oblations unto hundreds

" he hath manifested his might as the great

"

Unas

Sah (Orion) [who

is

Form through

greater] than the gods.

Unas

UNAS OBTAINS EVERLASTING LIFE

88

repeateth his rising in heaven, and he

the lord of the horizon.

He

is

[B.C. 3333

the crown of

hath reckoned up the

bandlets and the arm-rings, he hath taken possession

Unas hath eaten the red

of the hearts of the gods.

crown, and he hath swallowed the white crown

food of

who

Unas

live

forth,

the inward parts, and his meat

upon the words of power

Unas

hold,

is

the

is

those

in their hearts.

Be-

eateth of that which the red crown sendeth

he increaseth, and the magical charms of the

gods are in his belly

him

that which belongeth to

is

Unas hath eaten the whole

not turned back from him.

of the knowledge of every god, and the period of his

life

is eternity,

and the duration of his existence

is

everlastingness, in whatsoever form he wisheth to take

in whatsoever form he hateth he shall not labour in

the horizon for ever and ever and ever.

the gods
the

is

in

offerings

Unas, their

spirits are

made unto him

made unto the

The

gods.

bones, for their soul

is

are

fire

of

The

soul of

with Unas, and

more than those

Unas

is

in their

with Unas, and their shades

who belong unto them. Unas hath

been with the two hidden Kha gods who are
the seat of the heart of Unas is among those who
are with those

live

upon the earth

for ever

and ever."

B.C. 3266]

39

CHAPTEK
THE SIXTH DYNASTY.

M [g]

1.

Teta, the

reigned

is

SE

?he

HoruI

'

" Tet-Ast "

resembles
described.

first

thirty

a warrior

that

and

years,

said

is

of

it

of

seems as

his
if

at
,

op.

have

cit.,

p.

nothing

life

he was neither

He

Sakkara which he

built

called

and which in many respects

Unas, which

The pyramid

to

have been

to

nor a great builder.

pyramid
jr

king of the Vltli Dynasty,

the details

of

known, and

Teta, >O06rp.

by his spearmen (Cory,

slain

104)

FEOM MEMPHIS.

of Manetho,

the Othoes

^D

IV.

has

of Teta is called

the " Prison Pyramid," because

it

been

already

by the Arabs

stands in the neigh-

bourhood of some ancient ruins which local tradition

1

See the vase in the British

have

Museum

(No. 29,204), where

sgDjaj

we

BULL-WEIGHT OF TETA

go

[B.C. 3266

declares are the ruins of the prison of the patriarch

Joseph.

plunderers,
its

was broken into

It

who succeeded

ancient

in

in forcing

their

days

way

by
into

innermost parts, and finding nothing of value in the

chambers, they devoted their energies to smashing the

walls,

in

which they appear

to

have thought that

The pyramid was excavated

treasure was concealed.

Bull weight inscribed with the names of Teta.

British Museum, No. 29,211.

in

1881, and paper squeezes of the inscriptions were

made by MM. E. Brugsch and Bouriant.

glyphics

smaller than those

are

Unas, but larger than almost

in the

Pyramid
1

of Pepi

I.

all

in

The hierothe Pyramid of

1

those which are found

The grayish

Becaeil de Travaux, torn, v. p. 2.

basalt sarco-

INSCRIPTIONS INSIDE TETA'S PYRAMID

B.C. 3266]

phagus of the king had been broken into

gi

at one corner,

mummy

was dragged ont through the hole

made there the only remains of Teta found by M.
Maspero consisted of an arm and shoulder, which
and the

seemed

show that the body had not been

to

as carefully

preserved as that of Unas.

The

religious compositions

the walls in Teta's tomb

importance

as

which are inscribed on

are

of great

the views

illustrating

Egyptians concerning the future

life,

"Ye have

taken Teta to you,

"

what ye

eat,

"

upon that upon which ye

"

sit,

is

and

by the

held

and as specimens

contents the following extracts are given

of their

he

interest

ye gods, and he eateth

he drinketh what ye drink, he liveth

live,

he sitteth down as ye

mighty with the might which

" saileth about even as ye sail about

is

yours, he

the house of Teta

"is a net in the Sekhet-Aaru, he hath streams of run"

ning water in Sekhet-hetep, the offerings of Teta are

" with you.

"

even as

[is

ye gods, the water of Teta

that of] Ka, Teta revolveth in heaven like

"Ea, and he goeth round about the sky

" (line

"thee,
"

59

The two doors

ff.).

like

Thoth

of heaven are opened for

Teta, for thou hast raised

up thy head

for

thy bones, and thou hast raised up thy bones for thy

" head.

Thou

hast opened the two doors of heaven,

"thou hast drawn back the great

"

as wine,

is

moved the

thou hast

seal of the great door, and,

" like that of a jackal

" lion,

bolts,

and a body

re-

with a face

like that of a fierce

thou hast taken thy seat upon thy throne, and

RELIGIOUS INSCRIPTIONS INSIDE

92

thou
'

'

me

to the Spirits,

criest

Come

to

Come

'

to nie

Come

to

Horus, who hath avenged his father,

Teta who will lead thee

for it is

[B.C. 3266

Thou puttest
and with thine arm thou

thy hand upon the earth,

in.'

doest battle in the Great Domain, and thou revolvest

there

among the

Horus.

Hail,

Spirits,

and thou standest up

Horus

Teta,

Osiris

like

come

hath

to

embrace thee with his arms, and he hath made Thoth

away

to drive

for thee in defeat the followers of Set,

and he hath taken them captive on thy

behalf,

he hath repulsed the heart of

is

than Set

and now, thou

Set, for

he

and

stronger

come forth before him,

art

and Seb hath watched thy journey, and he hath

set

thee in thy place and hath led unto thee thy two

and Nephthys.

sisters Isis

Horus hath united thee

unto the gods, and they show themselves as brothers

unto thee in thy name

name

thee in thy

'

Sent,'

Atert.'

'

and they do not repulse

He

hath granted that the

gods shall guard thee, and Seb hath set his sandal

Thou hast

upon the head of thine enemy.

[the enemy], thy son

driven back

Horus hath smitten him, and he

hath plucked out his own Eye and given

it

unto thee

in order that thou mayest be strong thereby,

and that

thou mayest gain the mastery thereby among the

Horus hath permitted thee

Spirits.

enemy
thine

in

to

hack thine

pieces with this [Eye], he smiteth

enemy with

it,

for

Horus

is

stronger than he

and he passeth judgment upon his father who

thee in thy

name He whose
'

down
is

is,

in

father is stronger than

THE PYRAMID OF TETA

B.C. 3266]

93

The goddess Nut hath made thee to be a

" god unto Set in thy name of God,' and thy mother
" Nut hath spread out her two arms over thee in her
" name of Coverer of heaven.'
Horus hath smitten
" Set, and he hath cast him down beneath thee, and

" 'heaven.'

'

'

"he beareth thee up and

" thee,

inasmuch as he

"which

"Horns hath granted

the great one of the earth

is

he ordereth in

mighty one beneath

is

thy name of

Tatcheser-ta.

that Set shall be judged in his

"heart in his house with thee, and he hath granted

him with thy hand whensoever

with thee. Hail, Osiris Teta, Horus

" that thou shalt smite

"he doeth battle

"hath avenged thee, and he hath caused
"

which

his double

thee [to make] thee to rest in thy

is in

"of Ka-hetep

(line

156

Nu

ff.).

name

hath adjudged Teta

"to the god Tern, and Peka hath adjudged Teta to

"

Shu.

He

granteth that

the

two doors of heaven

" shall be opened, and he hath decreed that Teta shall

"be among men without name; but behold, thou hast

"grasped Teta by the hand, and thou hast drawn him
"to heaven so that he may never die upon earth among

"men

(line

198

ff.).

This Teta

is

Osiris

and he hath

" motion, this Teta hath detestation of the earth and he

" will not enter into Seb.

This Teta hath broken for

" ever his sleep in his dwelling

"

The bones

of Teta flourish,

which

The

obstacles

upon

and obstacles

" destroyed, for he is purified with the

"

is

Eye

to

earth.

him

are

of Horus.

which he encountered are beaten down

"by Isis and Nephthys, and Teta hath

cast to the earth

USER-KA-RA AND HIS PYRAMID

94

The

" liis seed in Kes.

sister of this Teta, the

" the city of Pe, bewaileth him,

" created Osiris also created
"

Shu and Ea

"

thy

"

among

is

heaven like

in

Eise up, Teta, and

one, to go

lift

up

and seat thyself

the gods, and do thou that which Osiris hath

House

in the

of the Prince

" thou hast received thy spiritual

" shall

lady of

and the two nurses who

him; Teta

if.).

most mighty

legs,

"done

271

(line

[B.C. 3266

set

bounds

to

body

is

(sdh),

in

Annu

and none

thy foot in heaven, and none

The

"shall repulse thee on earth.

"children of Nut,

which

who

spirits

whom Nephthys hath

are the

suckled, have

" gathered together to thee, thou standest

up upon thy

"strength, and thou doest that which thou must do for

" thy spirit in the presence of
" to the city of Pe,

"thou goest
"

" behold,

thou art

to the city of

Thou

and returnest.

all

glorified,

and returnest

Nekhen, thou

art glorified,

doest that which Osiris did, and

most mighty Spirit Teta

this

Thou goest

the spirits.

is

upon his

"throne and standeth up, being provided [with

" things] like the goddess

Sam-ur.

None

shall repulse

"thee in any place wherein thou wouldst

"

none shall

" place

set

wherein

2.

it

all

enter,

and

bounds to thy foot concerning any

pleaseth thee to be."

Q
H^| C

-]

Lj] Ea-user-ka.

Of Ea-user-ka, whose name

the Tablet of Abydos, nothing

follows that of Teta in

is

known, and

in

Mane-

PEPI

B.C. 3233]

name which

Sakkara

95

no name occurs which can be

tho's list

the

MERI-RA

I.

is

yss ffl^

equivalent

its

follows that of Teta in the Tablet of

Ati

that of the king of the South and North,

00

aR d many Egyptologists have decided

IL

him with Ea-user-ka, and some would make

him the first king of the Vlth Dynasty. An inscription

to identify

in the Wiidi

that an

Hammamat

Ptah-neku,

official called

there in the

(I)

|]:(|

king's rule are

3-

says

came

year of the reign of Ati to fetch stone

first

for building the royal

baiu,"

published by Lepsius

pyramid, which was called " Ati-

but other details

*y&& A,

of

this

unknown.

M (4J3i ^

Colt]

Ra-meki, son of the

Sun, Pepi, $/o?.

Meri-Ea,

or

Manetho, who

Pepi
is

said

I.,

to

the

Phios

of

have reigned

fifty-three years, in addition to his other

titles

adopted those of "Lord of the shrines

of the cities of Nekhebet and Uatchet,"

i.e.,

"three -fold hawk

Meri-tatji,

the Horus name

of Pepi I.

Egypt
1

of

king of the South and North, and

of

gold"

^^^

Pepi seems to have made his rule over

a

very

Lepsius, Denlcmaler,

effective
ii.

115

f.

character,

and judging

and see de Rouge,

op. tit., p. 149.

CONQUEST OF THE MENTHU

96

by the number
found, he

of

wherein

names

his

are

must have been an energetic and capable

He worked

ruler.

places

[B.C. 3233

the turquoise mines in the

Wadi

Maghara, and the inscriptions indicate that he found

it

necessary to put

down with

a strong

hand a con-

federation of the tribes of the Sinaitic Peninsula

Alabaster vase inscribed with the names and

British Museum, No. 22,559.

are described collectively as "

In a

relief

titles of

Menthu

Pepi

who

I.

/vww\

on the rocks we see the king clubbing a

representative of these peoples in the presence of the

winged

disk,

and above him are his

tional appellations

of " Beautiful

titles

god

"

with the addi-

and " Lord of

COPPER STATUE OF PEPI

B.C. 3233]

the two lands." 1

97

I.

Strictly speaking, the invasions of the

Peninsula of Sinai by the Egyptians were undertaken at

more

this period

than for the

for the purposes of trade

extension of the boundaries of the Egyptian Empire.

Hammamat

In the Wadi
active,

the king's agents were very

and numerous inscriptions there indicate that

many quarries were worked there during

his reign.

granite quarries near Aswan, and further

Cataract, were also

worked by him, and

that the granite statues,

his reign

at

etc.,

which were

Tanis were hewn in them.

up

The

in the First

probable

it is

set

up during

In short, the

reign of Pepi was a reign of industrial progress, and

although he did not leave behind him a mighty pyramid

Khufu

like

posterity that he

to prove to

builder, his reign

was one which

left

good upon the handicrafts of Egypt.

handicrafts

was a great

a deep

mark

In connection with

must be mentioned the wonderful

statue of the king,

made

for

life-size

of plates of copper or bronze,

fastened together with nails of the same material, which

was found by Mr. Quibell in the course of his excavations

at Hierakonpolis

with

it

was

also

found a statue of his

son which was rather more than two feet high.

The

copper statue was, unfortunately, discovered in a state

of collapse, but the portions of

and

re-joined,

when the

it

which had been cleaned

writer saw

them

of Grizeh, testified to the great skill to

1

Lepsius, Derikmaler,

He

Museum

which the workers

115.

also styled himself

pyramid,

VOL.

ii.

in the

Meri-khat

compare the text in

line 65.
II.

his

SEAL-CYLINDER OF PEPI

98

in bronze in Pepi's time

had

attained,

[B.C. 3233

I.

and

it is

much

to

be regretted that the ravages of time, and perhaps of

Egypt's enemies, have not permitted us to see in a

complete form an object in bronze which, for

and

size, is

the period.

face

shows that the

the statue wished to give to

ma' l J

y.

artist

who designed

^y
/

1 1$ f^

'

from a bronze seal-cylinder inscribed with the name and

Pepi

I.

British

of

the repose and dignity

it

Inscription

age

any work of antiquity

as remarkable as

The

its

Museum, No.

titles of

6495.

which are seen on the best stone statues of the period,

and

it is

clear that both artist

had considerable experience

and
in

artisans

the

must have

manipulation

oi

metal before they could attempt to produce a bronze

figure of life size.

gave additional

It is noticeable, too, that the artist

life to

the eyes, a process

the face by his method of treating

already somewhat familiar to us

THE OFFICIAL UNA

B.C. 3233]

from the

fine stone statues of

gg

size of the earlier

life

dynasties.

Pepi must have been

It goes without saying that

served by a number of skilled as well as loyal

and among these worthy of

\,

special

officials,

mention

Una

is

and, as he gives a short autobiography of

himself cut in hieroglyphics upon a slab in his tomb, 1

the important information which he gives us

Una began

regarded as authentic.
that

is to

say,

" tied a girdle "

he

the Majesty of Teta;

phrase

is

doubtful, but

he was old enough

the king.

the exact
it

to be

seems to

life

may

be

under king Teta,

upon himself under

signification

me that

of the

in Teta's time

charged with certain duties by

After the death of his

first

patron Teta,

Una

who confirmed him in

his appointments, and soon promoted him to the rank
of smer, and. made him inspector of the priests who
came under the notice of Pepi

I.,

were attached to the service of his pyramids.

Una was

next made a judge, and his relations with the king were
of such a confidential nature that he was allowed to be

present in the palace while some case in connection with

certain ladies of the king's household

by the chief

officer of

for his services

the law.

was

tried the,re

Apparently in reward

on this occasion the king presented to

him a white stone sarcophagus, with

its cover,

and with

the slabs of stone necessary for building the door,

1

The

44, 45

original text

the

first

is

given by Mariette, Abydos,

English, rendering of

(Records of the Past, 1st ser. vol.

ii.

p. 1

it

torn.

ii.

i.e.,

plates

was given by Dr. Birch

ff.)'.

UNA'S PROMOTIONS

100

[B.C. 3233

the side posts, lintel, and threshold, and His Majesty

sent the divine chancellor,

^\) M

of troops to the quarry of Ke-au,

which

is

with a company

^^ ^\ [v^vq

bank of the Nile

situated on the eastern

in

almost a straight line with the pyramids of Zawiyet

al-'Aryan on the western bank, and about ten miles to

Such an honour as this

the south of the modern Cairo.

had never been paid

to

any servant before, says Una,

and he adds, " but I was good, and I was well pleasing
" unto

His Majesty, and I

His

satisfied the heart of

" Majesty."

The king next made Una a

seer
still

of the

palace,

" smer uat," and over-

and his duties brought him into

closer relations with his master, but he performed

them with such

satisfied

tact

and address that Pepi was entirely

Soon

with him.

after this the

king had a

dispute of a serious character with the chief royal wife

Amtes,

<a

was allowed

M,

and

official

who

apartment to

in-

he afterwards, with the help of a

up a statement on the matter

who was wholly

case

the only

to enter into the lady's

vestigate the matter

judge, drew

Una was

satisfied

had been inquired

for the king,

with the manner in which the

into

Subsequently king Pepi found

by his trusty servant.

it

necessary to wage war

In Strabo's day a district near the quarry bore the name

and there is no doubt that he is referring to the same
quarry, for he says that the stone for building the pyramids came
1

Tpoia,

from

there,

and that

it

was opposite them

see

Book XVII.

i.

34.

UNA'S EXPEDITIONS

B.C. 3233]

Aamu

against the

Heru-sha,

^ ^J J J
1

V> _

a confederation of tribes, some of

a,

them

01

<^>
per-

_Zf o o o

haps of Semitic origin, who were causing trouble in the

Eastern parts of the Egyptian kingdom, and especially in
Sinai
of

whether on his own initiative, or whether on that

Una cannot be

said,

but

it is

men with

to fight these bold desert

Una

the Eastern Sudan.

certain that Pepi decided

blacks drawn from

forthwith began to raise

in tens of thousands from all parts of

men

Egypt and from

Setcher, and Khen-setcher, and levies of negroes from

Arerthet,

and

r^/i

from

and from Tcham,

^I

|\

r^M

and from Kaau,

V\ K\

Amain,

and from Ta-tham,

i.e.,

Libya.

f\

r^^i

ft

V\

from

i^s\
,

Uauat,

\> f\
or

f\,

Thameh,

It is impossible to state the exact position

and limits of each of these countries, but the peoples indicated formed, no doubt, the most powerful of all the
desert tribes that lived in the Nile Valley between

Aswan

on the north and Gebel Barkal on the south. At the head

of this great

army

of men Pepi placed

Una, and this cap-

able official naively remarks that although he

only an overseer of the house of Pharaoh,

it

attached to the

'
'

Per-aa,

command not only to

all the generals and nobles who were
expedition
and his command was so

was he who gave the word

the army, but to

had been

of

SLAUGHTER OF THE HERU-SHA

102

man was

strict that eacli

which were

compelled to perform the duties

and none of the

allotted to him,

plundered the people through

and no man carried

which belonged

whom

man

bread or sandals, and no

village,

[B.C. 3233

levies

they passed of

bread from any

stole

ram, or ewe,

off the animal,

In due course the

to the inhabitants.

expedition marched against the Heru-sha and defeated

them, and the havoc which

terrible.

In

its

wrought must have been

it

passage through the enemy's land

slew the people by tens of thousands,

vines and fig-trees,

waste the

fields,

it

cut

down the

overthrew the villages, and laid

it

and having burnt

all

that could be

burnt, carried off the wretched remainder

habitants, and

it

" returned in peace "

of the in-

For these

acts

Una

received the greatest commendation from the king, and he

tells

us that he was sent on similar punitive or raiding

On

expeditions five times.

one

occasion

he had to

pursue the Heru-sha in boats, and having landed near

the northern part of their territory, he

army and slew them

to a

man.

Soon

fell

upon

their

after these events

Pepi the king died, and was succeeded by his

Mer-en-Ra.

The new king

at

once appointed

Una

be the bearer of his chair and sandals, and he

him

Jul

prince, <==^

son

made

and governor of Upper Egypt

this indefatigable official performed his duties with

zeal

to

such

and discretion that his new master was as pleased

with him as his old one.

cellence of conduct

Una

declares that the ex-

which he practised

in the perform-

ance of his duties in Upper Egypt was such that

it

UNA'S LABOURS AT ELEPHANTINE

B.C. 3233]

IO3

ought to become the standard for that of the governors

who should

While Una held the

succeed him.

already described his king despatched

of Abhat,

IT]

phagus, with

which were

K\

to bring

and a small pyramid,

its cover,

Abu

slabs of granite

to the district

back a stone sarco-

to be placed in the royal

also sent to

him

offices

etc., all

pyramid

of

he was

(Elephantine Island) to bring back

which were

to serve as false doors, etc.,

in the pyramid, and in the famous quarry of Het-nub,

near the modern Tell el-Amarna, he hewed an alabaster

table of offerings.

down the

All these massive objects he floated

river in boats of very broad beam,

were transported in due course

pyramid.

Finally

Una was

make arrangements

and they

to their places in the

sent to the First Cataract

for the bringing of a larger

supply

of granite for the building of the royal pyramid,

and he

to

went there and seems

to

have cleared out the canal in the

Cataract sufficiently to admit of the entrance of a number

of boats of broad beam,

which he had been ordered

build for the transport of the granite required.

chiefs of the

Nubian

tribes against

whom

to

The

he had fought

down the wood for him, and having built

the boats he loaded them heavily with granite, and
floated them down to Memphis
he brings his autobiofive

times cut

graphy to a conclusion by telling us that he was enabled

to

do

all

" souls,"

these things

^sb>

because he prayed unto the

of his king

more than

to

any other god,

and because everything happened according as it had been

104

PEPl'S

commanded

to

LJ

m,

PYRAMID AT SAKKARA

of the " double,"

happen by the behest

Ka. of the king.

It

[B.C. 3233

seems that lame hollows

were dug in quarry beds when the Nile was low, and
that large, flat-bottomed barges were built in
the blocks of granite were

moved on

them

to these barges,

which were built quite near the spot whence the blocks
were hewn, and when the Nile rose the barges floated
easily

and were towed out into the main stream and

down the

floated

The

river.

paragraph of

last

Una's inscription
considerable

is

of

interest,

for it proves that

dead

kings were worshipped

as gods,

of

affairs

were

and that the

believed

directed

world

this

be

to

by the doubles

of living kings.
22559

Pepi

Alabaster vase inscribed with the

and titles of Pepi I.
British Museum, No. 22,559.

at

it

built a

Men - nefer,"

was opened by Mariette in 1880, but

was not cleared out until the

beginning

According to Perring, on whose

map

No.

5,

the

outer

covering

of

this

The Arabs

called

it

of

1881.

was marked

it

pyramid

built entirely of well-cut blocks of stone

1

pyramid

Sakkara which was

called
T

I.

names

was

which were

the " Pyramid of Shekh abu Mansur."

ITS

B.C. 3233]

DIMENSIONS AND INSCRIPTIONS

quarried on the eastern banks of the river

greater

number

of

them had already

removed by the natives

105

and the

in his time been

purpose of building

for the

houses, tombs, and the foundations of water-wheels,

also been the

which has

case with

The

coverings of pyramids in the Sudan.

of the pyramid in Perring's day

outer

The internal
much the same

is

Unas and

Teta, and the

many

walls of its various parts were covered in

by

who broke

thieves,

smashed
the king

It

was entered
the granite

in

sarcophagus, and

mummy

in one corner of the sarcophagus

was a small red granite

chest,

which

places

ancient times

cover in pieces, and wrecked the

its

and the

feet,

feet.

construction of the pyramid of Pepi

with inscriptions.

stone

actual height

was 40

length of each side at the base 240

as that of the pyramids of

the

of

chamber

at one time held

the Canopic jars and the alabaster vases which were

deposited in the tomb.
scriptions were

Paper impressions of the

made by E. Brugsch Bey and

in-

others,

and the complete text was published, with a French

by M. Maspero. 1

translation,

modern

interest

also, for

The pyramid

of Pepi has

the inscriptions in

it

dis-

proved a view, which M. Mariette held with considerable

tenacity, to the effect that

pyramids never did contain

any inscriptions inside them, and that

was only waste

money to open them he carried his view

when shown the paper squeezes bearing the

of time and
so far that,

it

See Recueil de Travaux,

torn. v. p.

157

ff.

THE PYRAMID OF

106
characters

00

PEPI

Pepi pen,

i.e.,

[B.C. 3233

"this Pepi/' he

declared that the pyramid was only a raastaba of very

dimensions which

large

called Pepi-pen.

The

belonged to an

individual

following extract will illustrate the character of

the contents of the inscriptions inside the pyramid of

Pepi (line 1
" on,

ff.)

thou Pepi, thou journeyest

" Hail,

thou art glorious, thou hast gotten power like the

" god

who

"thy

soul within thy body, thou hast thy power behind

is

on his throne, that

" thee, thy ureret

" dress is

crown

is

who acclaim

thee

" thee, the followers of the

God

on both sides of

are following after thee,

God are upon both

and they make the God to come the God
;

" cometh and Pepi

The

are

face is in front of

spiritual bodies (sdhu) of the

" sides of thee,

"

Thou hast

upon thy head, thy head-

upon thy shoulder[s], thy

"thee, those

"the

Osiris.

is,

Spirit

cometh upon the throne of Osiris.

which dwelleth in the

" and the power

city of Netat cometh,

which dwelleth in the nome

of Teni.

" Isis speaketh with thee,

and Nephthys holdeth converse

"with thee; the

come unto thee paying homage

" [unto thee],

" at thy feet

Spirits

and they bow down, even

by reason of thy book,

to the ground,

Pepi, in the cities

" of Saa.

Thou comest forth before thy mother Nut, and

" she strengtheneth thine arm and she giveth unto thee
" a path in the horizon to the place where Ka is.
The
" doors of heaven are opened for thee, the gates of Qebhu
1

Maspero,

op. cit., p. 157.

B.C. 3233]

AND

ITS RELIGIOUS INSCRIPTIONS

" are unbolted for thee,

107

thou findest Ea, who guardeth

"thee, and he strengtheneth for thee thy hand, and

a
he guideth thee into the northern and southern

"heavens, and he setteth thee upon the throne of

" Osiris.
" Hail, thou Pepi, the
"

Eye

of

Horus cometh unto thee

and holdeth converse with thee ; thy soul which dwelleth

" with the gods cometh unto thee, and thy Power (sekhew)
" which dwelleth

among the

cometh unto thee.

Spirits

"In the same way that the son avenged his father,
" in the same way that Horus avenged Osiris, even so
" shall Horus avenge Pepi upon his enemies. And thou
" shalt stand [there],
" provided

Pepi, avenged, and armed, and

with the forms of Osiris who

is

upon the throne

" of the Governor of Amenti, and thou shalt have thy

" being as he

"And

hath his among the indestructible

Spirits.

thy soul shall stand up upon thy throne provided

" with

thy attribute[s], and

"thou hast thine

it

shall

have

in the presence of

its

being as

him who

is

the

" Governor of the Living Ones, according to the decree

" of Ea, the great god,

who

"the barley and give

it

" Hail,

Ea who hath

" life

thou Pepi,

and strength

" thy body.

" the

"

it is

shall

plough the wheat and

unto thee as a

given unto thee

for ever, along with

And thou

gift therein.
all

thy speech and

hast received the attribute[s] of

God, and thou hast become great therein before the

Gods who dwell on the

" soul standeth

lake.

Hail, thou Pepi, thy

among the gods and among the

" and the fear of thee constraineth their hearts.

Spirits,

Hail,

THE PYRAMID OF PEPI

108

[B.C. 3233

"Pepi, inasmuch as thou hast set thyself upon thy

" throne of the

Governor of the Living,

"

which worketh upon their hearts

"

upon

earth,

"

and take thy seat

and thy

at the

and

Rise thou

ever.

thou of great strength,

head of the gods; and do thou

which Osiris did

"in Annu (On).

"

it is

and groweth old upon earth, and thou shalt

Pepi, stand thou up,

" the things

book

and thy name liveth

" neither perish nor decay for ever

" up,

tliy

in the house of the Prince

Thou hast received thy

spiritual body,

foot shall not be restrained in heaven,

and thou

" shalt not be repulsed upon earth.

" Hail, Osiris Pepi, arise, stand up, for thy

"Nut hath
"

given birth unto thee, and Seb hath ar-

The Great Company

ranged thy mouth for thee.

" the gods have avenged thee,

"

mother

enemies beneath thee.

"taken his

staff,

of

and they have put thine

Pepi

pure.

is

Pepi hath

he hath provided himself with his

"throne, and he hath taken his seat in the boat of the

"Great and

Little

Companies of the gods; Ra trans-

and he stablisheth the

"porteth Pepi to the West,

" throne of Pepi above the lords of the doubles (kau),

" and he writeth

down Pepi

"The Peh-ka which

at the

dwelleth in

" this Pepi, and the iron

" onwards; his panther skin is

and

flail

"double

(Ayi).

is

opened unto

happy with
This Pepi

and he passeth through

upon him, and his sceptre

And

are in his hand.

"flesh, he is

Qebh

living.

which formeth the ceiling of the

" sky is opened unto this Pepi,

"

head of the

Pepi

is

sound with his

his name, he liveth with his

is

indeed a god, and the angel

B.C. 3233]

AND

" of God.

This Pepi cometh forth to the eastern part of

RELIGIOUS INSCRIPTIONS

ITS

" heaven where the gods are born,

"is born as Heru-khuti.

" quired the

Pepi

IOg

and where he himselt

is

a being

power of making to come

who hath

ac-

to pass everything

" which he uttereth, and the double (ha) of Pepi hath the
"

same power.

He

" eat, he liveth

eateth of that which ye

upon that upon which ye

" on apparel like unto the apparel

(i.e.,

live,

the gods)

he putteth

which ye put

he

on,

"aDointeth himself with the sweet-smelling substances

"wherewith ye anoint yourselves, he receiveth his water

" with you at the

Lake

of

Mena

of this Pepi,

and he

" drinketh

it

" forth into

heaven among the stars which never diminish,

out of the vessels of the spirits.

" his sister is Septet (Sothis),

ing

Star, leadeth

" himself there

" heads,

and

" Sema-ur.
"

him

upon

He

Pepi goeth

and his guide, the Morn-

and he seateth

to Sekhet-hetep,

his iron throne

feet in the

'

which hath

form of the hoofs of the bull

standeth up there in his vacant place

between the two great gods, and his sceptre, which

"in the form of a papyrus, he hath with him.

" stretcheth

homage.

is

He

out his hand over the henmemet beings,

" and the gods

"

lions'

come

The two

to

him bending

their backs in

great gods watch

one on each

" side of him, and they find Pepi, like the Great and

"Little Companies of the gods, acting as the judge

" of words, being the prince [over] every prince.

"

They

bow down before Pepi, and they make offerings unto

"him as unto the Great and Little Companies of the
" gods."

no

THE PYRAMID OF MER-EN-RA

[B.C. 3200

Ka-mer-en, son of the Sun, Mehti-em-sa-f, 1 MeOovaovcfyfc.

Ba-mer-en, or Mer-en-Ka,

Mehti-em-

Methusuphis

is

sa-f, the

to

Manetho,

of

have reigned seven years, but of the

details of this short reign nothing is

Inscriptions at Aswan and

3

mat prove that work was

the

inscription
lr

known.

inWadiHamma-

carried on in the

quarries at these places, and

ankh-khItt,
from
the Horus name
of Ra-mer-en.

said

we may gather
which has

of Una,

'

fo^

qU0 ted above, that the activity in

building, which began in Pepi's reign, was maintained
during that of his son.

Sakkara which

at

Mer-en-Ka

is called

built a

" Khil Nefer,"

pyramid
T

in

the ancient Egyptian texts, and by the modern Arabs

"Haram

es-Sayyadin,"

Hunters."
plan,

i.e.,

"Pyramid

the

This pyramid, which

the

of

No. 8 of Perring's

is

was opened by M. Mariette in January, 1880

reading* of the first character of this

name

,f a %,

and

The

Other

titles

were

is

doubtful.

and

lis3

Here the king

is

seen standing on the

emblem

the South and North in the presence of the god

Lepsius, Denkmiiler,

ii.

1166.

of the

union of

Khnemu

see

THE MUMMY OF MER-EN-RA

B.C. 3200]

in Perring's time

it

feet high,

was about 260

of the base

side

was about 88

III

and each

long.

feet

It

was

broken into and plundered by robbers, who not only

mummy

wrecked the

in

king, but smashed the

dug a large hole

walls and

masonry of the

in the

of the

floor,

their frantic search for

They forced up

treasure.

the lid of the black granite

sarcophagus, and succeeded

in pushing
to enable

the

it off far

them

drag out

to

mummy, and

enough

stripped

it

The pyramid was

naked.
again

entered

ginning
century

the

at

of

the

XlXth

by

the

natives

of Sakkara,

44-93

be-

Alabaster vase inscribed with the

names and titles of Mer-en-Ra.
British. Museum, No. 4493.

who brought out from

the inscribed alabaster vases which

The mummified remains

known.

preserved in the

Museum

at

it

are

number of
now so well

of the king are

Cairo,

now

and M. Maspero

declares that an examination of the body proves that

Mer-en-Ka must have died when he was very young.

The

features are well preserved,, but the lower

wanting

youth

"

to the right side of the

was

is

when the remains were dispyramid. The above facts prove that

still

covered in the

head

jaw

the " lock of

attached

the arts of embalming and swathing the bodies of the

1

Maspero, Recueil,

torn. ix. p. 178.

THE OFFICIAL HER-KHUF

112

[B.C. 3200

dead had reached a high pitch of perfection in the YIth

Dynasty.

The

inscriptions

which cover certain parts of the

mnnimy chamber are, for the most part,

with those already known from those found

passages and
identical

the

in

pyramids of Unas, Teta,

texts are

additional

and Pepi

I.

the

merely amplifications of

ideas,

hinted at or expressed in earlier religions documents,

We

and therefore need no illustrating by extracts here.

have already seen how
fidential capacity

Una was employed

by Pepi

was sent by Mer-en-Ka

I.,

and how this able

to the land of

the black granite sarcophagus, which

pyramid as a

silent witness of the

the engineer of the day

Abhat

still

official

to fetch

exists in his

mechanical

we have now

a con-

in

skill of

to notice

an

important piece of work which was performed by another high

official called

distinguished
inscription

man

at

Her-khuf.

Aswan

The tomb

contains

recording the chief episodes in his

of this

valuable
life,

and

thus we have authentic information about some very

interesting events

Her-khuf,

Mer-en-Ka.
son of a

Abu

man

^ H

p>

*^

was the

of high rank in the old frontier city of

Mekhu, whose tomb

is

at

the top of the

See Brugsch, Zwei Pyramiden mit Inschriften in Aeg. Zeitand Maspero, Recueil, torn. ix. p. 179 ff.
1881, pp. 1-15
See Schiaparelli, Una Tomba Egiziana, Rome, 1892
and

sclirift,
2

(Elephantine, Syene), and he was related to the

great chief
1

which took place during the reign of

Maspero, Revue Critique, November 28, 1892.

AND HIS EXPEDITION TO AMAM

B.C. 3200]

which

staircase

Contra-Syene

cut in the solid rock in the hill of

is

he held the

II3

of

offices

chancellor and

a"kher heb" priest, and

mean "only

divine chancellor, and he was

" smer uat," a title usually explained to

The king Mer-en-Ka

friend."

father

Ara

rv

J?

therein

<g^

(1

vkk.

M\

the

to

him with

sent

country

in order to open out a [trade] route

months, and returned laden with stuff of

The king was

Her-khuf again

to the south,

time he went without his father

Y\ he went
,

and Meskher, v\
and Arertheth,

(1

in travelling

goods of

all

kinds.

i^^i

^\

^\

r^^i

^>~^i

and having spent eight

he returned to Egypt laden with

He

us that he visited the

tells

pleased,

he found that the king of

and Arerthet, and that

official

thither by
as he

of

Abu

before.

and again sent him

way

to

of an Oasis

was travelling on his way

Amam

was marching

with the king of the land of Themerj

VOL. H.

and Terres,

Amam, and he marched

(Uhat,

Abu

had never been done by any

Again the king was

and this

passing by

to Arerthet,

courts of Sethu, /^jj ^v\ r^^i

this

kinds.

all

so pleased with the result of the expedi-

tion that he sent

months

Amam,

of

the father and son made the journey in seven

(Syene),

his

s=>

to battle

^b\

Q
I

ft

MEETING OF HER-KHUF AND UNA

114

[B.C. 3200

Libya, in the west, and joining him he gave him

i.e.,

and went with him

gifts

to

Her-khuf was

Themeh.

very successful in this his third mission, for he per-

suaded the king of A mam to send a company of his

soldiers with

him

to

Egypt, and

it

is

clear that they

were intended to form an escort for the 300 asses laden

with incense, ebony, ivory, skins of animals, boomerangs,

On

etc.,

which were going with him to Memphis.

way back he passed through the lands of

Arerthet, Sethu, and Uauat, and when the king of these
countries saw the large company of soldiers who were
the

with Her-khuf, he was astonished, and hastened to send

a gift of oxen and goats.

him

It is interesting to note

down the

that Her-khuf tells us that, as he was going

river,

he met his brother-official

Una on

his

way up

to

meet him with a number of boats, laden with wine and

other luxuries, which Mer-en-Ea had sent to

reward

for all the toil

narrative

is

much more
far

and labour of his

if

we could

would be

find out exactly

Her-khuf went towards the south.

ivory and ebony

it

naturally leads us

as a

This

travels.

one of considerable interest, but

valuable

him

how

The mention
to think

of

of the

country near Dar-Fiir, and even further south, but

it

home of these
products was then probably very much farther to the
north than it is at the present time. The expeditions

must

also

be remembered

that

the

undertaken by Her-khuf were of a trading character,

and

it

says

much

for the tact

and

ability of this official

that his journeys were so successful.

PYRAMID OF PEPI

B.C. 3166]

5.

[o|Lj]

II.

AT SAKKARA

115

son

Ra-nefer-ka,

Qjjj]

of the Sim, Pepi, $iu>ty.

Ba-nefer-ka, or Nefer-ka-Ra, Pepi

was the brother of Mer-en-Ra, and

or Phiops,

son of Pepi

S>

I.

according to Manetho, he

began to reign when he was six years

and
"

" he reigned until he

hundredth year

Of the

Neter Khait,
the Horus name

"

(Cory, op.

Maghara

On

known.

is

a rock in the

a fine relief in

his

p. 104).

cit.,

00

is

old,

had completed

details of the long reign of this

no thing
o

of Pepi II.

II.,

king
<~>

Wadi

which we see the

Horus name and prenomen of the king placed together

in

serekh

his

hawk

of

North

or

cognizance,

while

Horus wearing the crowns

the

inscription

on

the

above
of the

right

is

it

the

South and

shows that

it

was executed in the second year of the reign of Pepi II.

and that on the left records the names of his mother
and

wife.

that the

number

works went on

inscriptions

prove

in the large quarries

during

of

small

his reign as in the time of his predecessors, but the

reliefs

and texts which are found in mastaba tombs

of the period have not the beauty, accuracy,

which are such characteristic

qualities of the

the early years of the Early Empire.

pyramid

at

and

work of

Pepi II. built a

Sakkara which the ancient Egyptians

1

See Lepsius, Denlcmaler,

ii.

finish

plate 116.

called

n6
"

ALABASTER VASE OF PEPI

Men-ankk,"

nr

but

representatives have given the

al-Mastaba," because

which

is

commonly

the plan of Lepsius

Perring No. 9

which their modern

to

name "Haram (Pyramid)

situated near the building

is

it

called "

On

Mastabat al-Fir'aun."

marked No.

it is

[B.C. 3166

II.

and on that of

41,

in his time its actual height

and the length of each side

was 95

feet,

was 245

at the base

feet.

This pyramid was opened

in 1881

by M. Maspero,

who found
badly

to

it

workmen were
the

the

in serious

the

sides

which

places

so

that

built

danger of

be

of

they

were clearing out falling

them

upon

in

was,

MM.

Maspero

Alabaster vase inscribed with the

and titles of Pepi II.
British Museum, No. 4492.

name

were

shut

hours

it

all five

II. is identical

we have already

are of the

inscriptions in the others

on

sudden collapse of a part

plan of the pyramid of Pepi

the inscriptions in

in

one occasion, owing to a

of the vaulted roof.

four of the class which

it

Bouriant and

several

for
4492

as

The

with the other

described,

and

same character as the

indeed

it is

quite clear that

were planned by one group, perhaps even by one

See Recueil, torn.

xii. p. 56.

DESTRUCTION OF THE KING'S MUMMY

B.C. 3166]

family, of architects,

chosen for
to the

all

of

and the inscriptions were probably

them by the

priests

who were attached

same religions brotherhood,

Ra-Temu

i.e.,

The pyramid

of Heliopolis.

broken into by Arab

like the others,

117

the priests of

of Pepi II. was,

who

spoilers,

left

behind them one or two green glazed earthenware lamps.

One

of the

workmen x

M. Maspero that

related to

his

grandfather, as a child, had worked in the excavations

which were made

at the

end of the XVIIIth century by

the people of the village of Sakkara with the view of

entering the pyramid, and he added that they had found

numbers of objects in alabaster

clear that

is

it

referred to the beautiful vases inscribed with the

and

titles

known.

of Pepi II., of

which

The sarcophagus

is

of granite

state of preservation, for the thieves

aside the cover,

which now

names

many examples

so

and

is

managed

rests partly

he

in a

are

good

to thrust

on the sarco-

phagus and partly on the two buttresses, which are built

of

unbaked

bricks,

and which were placed between the

sarcophagus and the west wall in order to support the

cover whilst the

workmen were

getting

resting-place on the sarcophagus.

have made away with the king's

no trace of

it

The

it

thieves seem to

mummy

whatsoever was found

into its final

entirely, for

scattered about

the sarcophagus chamber were some fragments of linen

bandages, a fact which seems to show that the

was broken

to pieces in the

frantic search for treasure.

1

mummy

tomb by the thieves in their

The hieroglyphics

Recueil, torn. xii. p. 54.

of the

FURTHER MISSION OF HER-KHUF

Il8

inscriptions are very

smaller than those in the

and notwithstanding

of Unas,

texts

much

[B.C. 3166

all

the lost para-

graphs which were destroyed when the thieves broke

the walls to pieces in their search for gold, the total

amount
Pepi

II.

of text

still

equal to

is

pyramids of the

We

preserved to us in the pyramid of

class.

that found in the other four

all
1

have already mentioned the three expeditions

to

the Eastern Sudan, which were undertaken by Her-khuf

for

Mer-en-Ea, the elder brother of Pepi

II.,

and which

were successfully carried out during that king's reign,

and we must now mention the services which

tinguished

man performed

In addition

Pepi

for

to the inscription in his

II.,

his

this dis-

new

master.

tomb which supplies

the account of three expeditions given above (see p. 112),

the walls are inscribed with the copy of a letter which

was sent him by Pepi

third

month

king's reign

dated on the 16th day of the

II.,

of the inundation of the second year of the

;

that

it

is

a copy of a letter actually re-

ceived by Her-khuf there

it

is

no reason to doubt, and as

was copied on the walls of

his

tomb

it is

only reason-

able to assume that the contents of the royal despatch

are faithfully reproduced there.

After the address the

king states that he knows the contents of Her-kkuf's

letter,

of

informing him that he had entered the country

Aniam with

brought back

his soldiers in peace, and that he

to

Egypt

all

had

the good things which Hathor,

Recueil, torn. xii. p. 56.

JOURNEY TO PYGMY LAND

B.C. 3166]

the lady of

Ammaau,

f\

(I

^\

Iig

^K

^fe\

r^^i

had

given to the double (ka) of the ever-living king Nefer-

ka-Ka,

i.e.,

Pepi

khuf's letter to

The king then

II.

him

in

god

from

like

the

Her-

which he reported that he had

brought back a " Tenk

the

refers to

(i.e.,

Land

pygmy) of the dancers of

of

the

fr^k u\\

Spirits,

unto the Tenk which the divine chancellor

Ba-ur-Tettu brought back from Punt in the time of

Assa," and

which Her-khuf declared

to be the only one

by any

of the kind ever brought back

visitor to

Amain.

Pepi next mentions the watchful devotion which Her-khuf

shows on behalf of the king's

him

"

and he promises
he

that, in return for this loyal service,

upon his
all

interests,

son's son

the people

The

like

will

bestow

such exceedingly great honours that

who

them

shall hear of

will

exclaim,

hath never before been done to that which

" hath been done for the

'

smer uat

'

Her-khuf when he

"went to the country of Amain, and he watched that he

"might do what [the king] wished, and approved and
"

commanded." Following

this

comes the royal command

that Her-khuf should set out forthwith for the palace

by boat, and that he should bring with him the pygmy

which he had brought out of the Land of the

Spirits,

sound and whole, that he might gladden and make

happy the heart of the king, who

see the rare being.

is

And Her-khuf

curiously eager to
is

ordered by his

HER-KHUF BRINGS BACK A

120

sovereign to provide proper people,

to prevent the

way down

pygmy from

[B.C. 3166

nf nt

falling into the water on the

the river, and proper people are to watch

behind the place where he sleeps, and to look into

times during the course of each night that they
sure that all

is

well with him,

" Majesty wisheth to see this

" of

Bata and Punt. And

"this

pygmy with

for,

all

be

My

tribute

thou comest to court having

if

sound and whole,

thee,

may

says the king, "

pygmy more than

ten

it

my

Majesty

"will do for thee more than was done for the divine

"chancellor Ba-ur-Tettu in the time of Assa, and con" formably to the greatness of the desire of the heart of
"

my

The last paragraph

Majesty to see this pygmy."

of

the inscription seems to refer to an order given by the

king to every
the

priest, or superintendent of a temple,

way between Aswan and Memphis

khuf and

his party with whatsoever they

for their journey.

inscriptions of the

much
kind may be

Desert and beyond

shall probably be

had need of

hoped that other

how

far in the

it

Baruda

the early Egyptian tra-

Una, and Her-khuf penetrated.

wrong

men were

Her-

forthcoming, for then

to say

Khartum

vellers like Ba-ur-Tettu,

distinguished

to be

It is

would probably be possible

We

to supply

on

the

if

first

we assume that these

to make their way into

the Sudan for trading purposes, for the ebony and ivory
tablets

which have been found in the tombs of the kings

of the 1st Dynasty,

and of their immediate predecessors,

prove that commercial relations between the Sudan and

Egypt must have existed from time immemorial.

In

PYGMY SAFE AND SOUND

B.C. 3133]

121

the earliest times the route followed would be, no doubt,

that of the desert on the west bank of the Nile, for the
great bend of the river between

Hanimad,

to say

nothing of the

Second, Third, and Fourth

period of the Inundation

Wadi Haifa and Abu

difficulty of

Cataracts, except at the

when the Nile was

would make the shorter desert route

From Dar-Fur and

passing the

highest,

to be preferred.

the neighbourhood the old road ran

on the west bank almost directly to the Oases in the

Western Desert, and

until the last few years

it

was the

one chosen by the heads of caravans in preference to

way

that by

of the river.

O
rsp\
d
C V^

AAAAM

M, ^\
^=y

^fcirv^-

^^^

I
J\

Ra-mer-en-

MEHT-EM-SA-F.
Pepi

II.

was succeeded, according

to

Manetho, by a

king called Menthesuphis, who reigned only one year

this

king

is,

whose names,

no doubt, to be identified with the king

as king of the

South and North and as

son of the Sun, are enclosed within the above cartouche,

which

is

supplied by the Tablet of Abydos.

Up

to the

present no inscriptions of this king have been found,

and there

is

no mention of him in any known

K

tsr

O U1

Ra-neter-ka.

This name follows that of Menthesuphis

Tablet of Abydos, but

is

text.

II. in

the

wanting both in the Tablet of

DECAY OF THE POWER AT MEMPHIS

122

Sakkara and

King

in the

known, and there

tions of this king are

him

of

is

any text hitherto discovered.

in

the end of

Government

at

no inscrip-

no mention
There are

monuments which belong

the YIth Dynasty that the central

numerous indications
to

Manetko

List of

[B.C. 3100

in the

Memphis was growing gradually weaker

and weaker, and that the kings of the period possessed

far less

power throughout the country than formerly.

The mastabas and other tombs are less well built, the
reliefs are coarser and more carelessly executed, and the
exhibited in the scenes and reliefs of the

fine motif,

IYth Dynasty,

8
*

1^2 C

entirely wanting.

is

^ u l %?* G*

Bi MEN-KA
-

<^> \\1

>

son of the Sun, Netaqeeti, NYtw/c/h?.

The prenomen of this king, i.e., the name by which

he was known as king of the South and North,
Ea-men-ka, or Men-ka-Ea, is supplied by the Tablet
of Abydos, where

name Netaqerti

is

it

follows that of Ea-neter-ka

monarch

woman who was

beautiful

it

was

first identified

According to Manetho (Cory, op.

106), the last

at

of the

once

of her time

the

supplied by the Eoyal Papyrus of

Turin, on a fragment of which

de Eouge.

the

cit.,

by
p.

YIth Dynasty was a

"bravest

and most

her complexion was " red and

ytrviKwrcLTii) na\ ev[xap(pOTa.T7],

NITOCRIS OF EGYPT

B.C. 3100]

white,"

123

and traditions of her great beauty have been

preserved in various forms by different writers.

cording to Herodotus

whom

(ii.

100),

other kings

the priests enumerated from a book there were

and one woman, and the name

eighteen Ethiopians
of this

woman who

reigned was the same as that of the

They

Babylonian queen Nitocris.

brother

her

among the 330

whom

reigning over them

said that she avenged

the

Egyptians

and

after

him, destroyed

many

had

while

slain

they had slain him, they

then delivered the kingdom to her

and

she, to

avenge

of the Egyptians by stratagem

and, having caused an extensive apartment to be

underground,
consecrate

it,

she

to

but in reality had another design in view.

whom

she

have been principally concerned in the murder,

she gave a great banquet, and

she

made

pretended that she was going to

For, having invited those of the Egyptians

knew

Ac-

let in

when they were

feasting,

the river upon them, through a large, con-

cealed channel.

This

is all

that,

when she had done

room

full of

they related of her, except

this,

she threw herself into a

hot ashes in order that by killing herself

she might escape punishment.

It

need hardly be said

that the legend related by Herodotus

by the evidence of the

is

not supported

inscriptions.

According to Manetho, she built the Third Pyramid,

i.e.,

the Pyramid of Men-kau-Ba, the Mycerinus of the

Greeks, and reigned twelve years, and there

According to another version
skinned with rosy cheeks."
1

avdr) Te ttjv

xpoav

is

virdfj^aaa,

little

" fair

THE SARCOPHAGUS OF NITOCRIS

124

[B.C. 3100

doubt that this writer was repeating a tradition which

when he

The similarity
between the queen's prenomen Men-ka-Ra and that of
was current

at the time

wrote.

her great predecessor, Men-kau-Ra, the actual builder of

the Third Pyramid,
sion,

given rise to some confu-

though it hardly seems likely, and the investigations

made
for

may have

in the

Pyramids of Gizeh by Perring show that

Manetho's statement some historical evidence

In the course of his work

Pyramid

of

exists.

Perring found that the

Mycerinus had been

enlarged,

and he

thought that the granite covering of the outside had

been placed on
her expense.

it

during the reign of Nitocris, and at

In the ante-chamber he found fragments

what must have been a magnificent sarcophagus

of

made

of fine-grained blue basalt,

and herein the body

of the queen rested. 1

Some

times associated with the

Rhodopis,
referred

name

Egypt

of the Greek travellers in

the

(see

name

courtesan, to
p.

Rhodopis,

58)

i.e.,

the

Nitocris

whom we

according

of

to

in ancient

that

of

have already

M.

" Red-faced,"

Piehl,

the

was

first

given to the Sphinx at Gizeh, the face of which, as

everyone knows,

was originally painted

red,

and

it

seems that Nitocris was called the " Red-faced," and

the evil spirit with

Sphinx

became

the

identified

red face which lived in the

with the

Rhodopis whose

This view was accepted by de Rouge, Bunsen, Lepsius, and

others.

THE

B.C. 3100]

THE PYRAMID

SPIRIT OF

body was interred in the Third Pyramid. 1

having identified

the

of Apries,

also,

lived

in

to Nitocris

and a

distant echo of this

both by Wiedemann and Maspero.

pyramids

the

and

the spirits of those

those

who

it,

of

He

quoted

the

ancient

and presumably by

who were buried

built them.

spirit of the

spirits,

is

According to this

temples

Egyptians were inhabited by

in

by them, and

reaches us in a story from Murtadi, which

writer

Egypt

which Rhodopis

character

had acquired was attributed

by their successors

The Greeks

with Rhodopis, the well-

Nitocris

known Lesbian courtesan who

the time

125

in them, or of

goes on to say that the

southern pyramid never appears outside of

except in the form of a beautiful

woman who

is

when she wishes to bestow

upon anyone, and to make him lose his

absolutely naked, and that

her favours

senses, she smiles at him,

whereupon he approaches her

straightway, and she draws

him

so infatuated with love, that

to her

and makes him

he loses his senses imme-

and wanders round about the country.

diately,

Many

persons have observed her wandering about the pyramid

at noon,

and about the time of sunset. 2

pyramid

" is,

the beautiful

woman 3

clearly is Rhodopis-Nitocris.

Trans. Soc. Bibl. Arch., vol.

Vattier, P., L'Egypte de Murtadi,

Pyramides,

xi.

fils

du Gapliiphe, ou

etc., Paris, 1666,

pp. 61, 65.

"forme d'une femme nue, dont

les parties

sont descouvertes, belle au reste."

The

pp. 221-223.

" southern

no doubt, the pyramid of Mycerinus, and

traite des

The

il

est

honteuses niesnie

CESSATION OF

126

WORK

IN

THE QUARRIES

[B.C. 3100

fact that a sovereign called Netaqert reigned over

at the

end of the Vlth Dynasty

is

beyond donbt, but

some Egyptologists have asserted that

was a man

there

Egypt

this sovereign

however, nothing to surprise us in

is,

Manetho's statement that Netaqert was a woman, for

the

very high, and we

know

the Ilnd Dynasty

it

eligible

that already in the time of

was decreed that women were

the highest

for

by women in Egypt was

held

position

social

offices

of

the

state.

whether Netaqert was a man or a woman

But

matters

little historically.

It

is

not

difficult

gather from the absence of

to

contemporaneous monuments that the rule of the central

Memphis must have been very weak,

and it cannot even be said from them if Netaqert
was the last sovereign of her dynasty or not. The

government

probability

at

is

that she

was

certain that

none of her

descendants

of

the

not,

and

successors,

their feeble reigns no

who were

pyramid-builders

Dynasty, was able to make his rule

tolerably

is

it

of

the

effective.

work was carried on

the

Vlth

During

in the great

quarries of Egypt, or in the turquoise mines of the

Peninsula of Sinai, for their names are not mentioned

on the rocks at Elephantine, Het-nub,

Tura, or the

Wadi Maghara.

Hammamat,

What happened

in those

times must have been similar to that which always

took place in Egypt whenever the strong hand of a

vigorous
in

the

king was wanting.

various

parts

of

the

The hereditary

princes

country asserted their

B.C. 3100]

AT THE END OF THE SIXTH DYNASTY

127

independence, small local chiefs began to quarrel with

each other and to usurp each other's possessions, and

the

the

common people flocked naturally to the standard

man who was most powerful or most successful

making good

in

Meanwhile

or unjust.

his claims, just

of

the worship of the gods was neglected, and their shrines

became impoverished, and

what was right in

arts

his

declined because

own
no

every
eyes.

man

man

literally

The trades and the

could afford to build

mastaba tombs, or pyramids, or sepulchral

any kind, and the condition of Egypt

YIth Dynasty must have been

in the East at the present day.

did

at the

edifices of

end of the

that of certain provinces

128

CHAPTEE

V.

THE FOURTH, FIFTH, AND SIXTH DYNASTIES.

From what

SUMMARY.

has been said in the account of the IVth,

Vth, and Vlth Dynasties

clear that

it is

we

are dealing

with a period of comparatively rapid development of

Egyptian civilization which was followed by an almost

In the period of the

equally rapid period of decline.

first

three

dynasties the rule of the

appears to have been limited to

which extended from

south to Buto in the north

Vlth Dynasty we

or

Silsilis

find the

Egyptian

king-

a tract of country

Hermonthis

the

in

but by the end of the

Egyptian frontiers pushed

forward to Elephantine in the south, and to the Mediter-

ranean on the north.

The

tribes of the Delta

swamps,

to in the texts of the time of the

which are referred

Vth and Vlth Dynasties and onwards under the name

of

"

Haau " and

"

Hau

nebu,"

# ^\

jj

%>

or

1
These tribes have been discussed by W. M. Muller, Asien und
Europa, p. 24, and by H. R. Hall, Oldest Civilization of Greece,
p. 157 ff., who shows that, although in later times the Egyptians
included the Greeks in the term Haau-nebu, under the Early
Empire this name meant the dwellers in the swamps and fens of

the Delta, and nothing more.

THE BABYLONIANS
7

JL,

tribes

VISIT SINAI

120,

which were certainly not Egyptian

and which were always regarded by the Egyptians as

being outside the pale of the Egyptian religion, were
brought into subjection to the Egyptian

We

rule.

have

already mentioned that the Egyptians had obtained a

foothold in the Sinaitic Peninsula as early as the time

Dynasty

of Tckeser, a king of the Illrd

IYth Dynasty the portion

were

Peninsula wherein

of the

the copper mines was

situated

under the

systematically

occupied by the Egyptians, and the copper mines were

worked by Egyptian labour and defended by Egyptian

soldiers.

About

this

period the Peninsula must also

have been visited by expeditions from Babylonia, under

the leadership of the kings Sargon of Agade and his

son Naram-Sin, which are

Omen

mentioned in the

The

texts written in the Assyrian cuneiform character.

of such

object

expeditions

was

obtain

to

stone

for

building purposes, which was so rare in Babylonia, and

is

it

probable that Egypt itself was visited by these

kings, for the native tradition

Omen

in the

texts

which was reproduced

Naram-Sin went

asserted that

Makan, 1 a country which can only be

torily

[]

with Sinai, and conquered

"Naram-Sin

v ^yyy ^^e

Makan, and

his

went
*~*~]

identified satisfac-

it

and

to

the

W\

]]

its

iv. plate 34,

king.

land

of

col.

of

vii.

11.

11.

15

II.

See

ff.

10 ff.

plate 17, col. vi.

VOL.

Makan

Makan."

K. 2130, Rev.

See De Sarzec, Lecouvertes, plate 16,

11. 26 ff., 38 ff.

We

he to k the iand

hand captured .... the king

Cuneiform Inscriptions, vol.

2

t^\

to

and

THE TRIBES OF

I30

may

SINAI

Babylonian

note here in passing that Gudea, a

king who reigned about

thousand years

after

2500,

B.C.

i.e.,

more than one

Sargon and Naram-Sin,

us in

tells

a contemporary inscription that he brought stone for

Makan, and gold dust and ushu wood

his statues from

from Melukhkha

Makan and Melukhkha must then

represent Sinai and

Egypt, identifications which are

confirmed by the inscriptions of Ashur-bani-pal, king of

Assyria, in which

Egypt

is

name

referred to under the

Melukhkha.

of

The native

tribes of Sinai

and the adjacent country

were known to the Egyptians

names

"

of

Menthu

"

and

this

at

" Menti,"

time by the

^^ s=
A/WW\

ii

n in

iiiiiiiiii.

which, in later days, are spelt

/www

AAA/W\

these

former of
makers,"

The Menti

t=3

name Sathet
an Asiatic,

and

Troglodytes,

i.e.,

dwellers."

Sathet " H

names means "diggers,"

is

^,

the

" the

derived from

"cave-

latter

"rock-

Menti of

Menti of Asia
jT

>\ M

literally a " shooter " or

or

are also called the "

i.e.,

"
j

Sathti,

"hunter."

the
i.e.,

Other

The name Sathet which occurs in the pyramid text of Pepi

of the cataract
(1. 90) must refer to Asia, and not to the region
this is proved by the ivory plaque in Petrie, Royal Tombs, plate 17,
1

No. 30, where the name

Asiatic prisoner.

'

"

is

given above the figure of an

THE LIBYANS AND THE NEGROES

tribes of the deserts to the east of Egypt,

I3I

which were

probably raided by the Egyptians yearly, were known

by the name " Heru-sha,"

sand,"

*
a,
^\
000
^>

the "'dwellers on the

i.e.,

who

known

are also

as "

Aamu-

Ti

Heru-sha/'
barian

dwellers

t\

J J

on

the

i.e.,

"Bowmen

is

rZo,i.e., "bar-

name " Aamu

another name for the

" Petchti-shu,"

of the desert."

r^-^i

The

in the earliest times

tribes

Egypt were

by the name "Thehennu,"

name "Libu" not occurring

o, the

Libyan

to the west of

which dwelt in the deserts

known

"

^ r~vn

fv

the

sand,"

signifying " eastern barbarians

same group of tribes

q
*

j)

until a

much

The negroes and the negroid tribes of the

Sudan were known by the general name of "Nehes,"

later period.

(\

Ha

and they appear

to

have occupied the

Nile Val ey as far north as Elephantine.

Under the

kings of the Vlth. Dynasty their countries of Aain,

Uauat, Arerthet,
to

were more or less in subjection

etc.,

Egypt, for in the wars which Pepi

Una

the Heru-sha his general

from

Arerthet,

assist the

of Pepi

countries

times

the high

of

brought negro troops

Sethu,

In the reign of Mer-en-Ka, and

official

and

Her-khuf was sent

to the

Aam

three

Arerthet,

on the occasion of his third

1

waged against

Metcha, Aam, Uauat, and Kaau, to

Egyptians.

II.,

I.

and

visit

See Miiller, Asien unci Europa,

he went to the

p. 16.

THE LAND OF PUNT

132
last

named country by way

Aam

found the prince of

TheheDnu,
prince of

Aam

at

Libyans.

the

i.e.,

of the Great Oasis, and

war with Themeh or

He

the gifts which the king of Egypt had

sent to him, and brought back to

the people of

Aam,

" of Arerthet,
" people of

my

asses

of

laden with

panther skins, boomerangs,

in his narrative adds that "

Her-khuf

and

Egypt a number

three hundred

ivory, ebony, incense,

"

presented to the

etc.

when the king

Sethu, and Uauat saw the troop of the

Aam that was

soldiers

coming to the palace with me

who had been

" wondered, and gave

sent with me, this chief

me oxen and goats." In connection

with the negroes the land of Punt must be mentioned,

although the peculiar relations of this country with

Egypt and

its

identity have been already discussed. 1

I., p. 46 f.
In recent years it has been posiMashonaland is the land of Pnnt, whence the
Egyptians obtained gold, and that it is also the Ophir, whence
Solomon obtained gold. The most serious attempt to prove these
statements made in recent years is given by the Hon. A. Wilmot
in his Monomotapa {Rhodesia), London, 1896.
The author, who
writes quite in good faith, was commissioned by the Right Hon.
Cecil Rhodes to write the history of Monomotapa, and he spent a
great deal of time in visiting Rome, Lisbon, and London in search
of documentary evidence in support of his settled conviction that
Monomotapa is the " Ophir of King Solomon," and, of course, he
found it. Mr. Wilmot begins by assuming that Mr. Bent proved
that the ruins at Zimbabwe were those of buildings erected by the
Phoenicians, but Mr. Bent "proved" nothing of the kind, as
several competent archaeologists told him.
Mr. Wilmot then
sketches out a history of Phoenicia, and finally concludes, "It is
" certainly a startling fact, illustrating the truth of the aphorism
that there is nothing new under the sun
when we find what
1

See above, Vol.

tively asserted that

'

'

'

'

OPHIR AND PUNT

Under the

YItli

Punt seems

to

133

Dynasty regular communication with

have been maintained overland by way

Upper Nile Valley and the adjacent countries

of the

of the Negroes, for both Ba-ur-Tettu, an officer of

King

" was very probably tlie mines of Ophir one thousand years before
" Christ becomes the most recent diggings of the British South
'

'

"Africa Company, in the reign of Queen Yictoi'ia" (p. 118).

Statements of this kind may suit a mining company's prospectus
very well, but when set out as archaeological facts they can only
be described as incorrect and misleading. In Tlie Times of
October 23rd, 1901, appeared the following letter from Mr. Carl
Peters on " Ophir and Punt"
:

Sir,

Since

writing to you in August

011

the subject of

my

researches regarding the Punt question I have received, through

the kindness of Mr. Fairbriclge in Umtali, tracings of three newly-

Bushmen

discovered

paintings in Eastern

paintings, which I shall be pleased to

terested in these matters,

art.

The head-dresses

in

show

distinctly

Mashonaland.

These
any scholar inthe influence of Egyptian

show

to

one of them are absolutely identical with

paintings on Egyptian hieroglyphic representations.

see

from

the researches of the late Ed. Glaser on the Punt question that
he, without

1899,

of

knowing

my

discoveries of this year, was, already in

opinion that Mashonaland was a part of the ancient

Egyptian country " Poen-at " or "Punt."

mahritic

" Punt

prefix;

Glaser brings forward

name Ras-Hafun ("Ha" being

"Fun" being identical with "Phoun" or

as evidence for his

theory the

beg to add to this philological evidence that the

name " Pun-gwe " in East and South
Africa (for instance, the Pungwe river, coming from Manicaland
and with its mouth at Beira) leads us to the same conclusion. I,
therefore, think that even Professor Keane will now be convinced
").

repeated appearance of the

some conclusive evidence for the theory that the

ancient Egyptians got their Punt gold from South Africa. The
representation of the Punt expedition under the Queen Hat-Shepsut
(XVIIIth Dynasty, B.C. 15161481) in the temple of Deir-el-Bahri
proves that the ancient Egyptian ships were stronger than the
modern Arabic dhows, and, therefore, absolutely fit to cross the
that there

is

THE LAND OF THE PYGMIES

134

:*

II.,

made

that the

land

Assa, and Her-khuf, 1 in the time of Pepi

expeditions thither
of the

and

it

is

clear

Negroes on the south was bounded

land of the pygmies, specimens of

whom were

by the

taken from

time to time to Pharaoh's court at Memphis.

The general advance

in civilization in the period of

the IVth, Vth, and YIth Dynasties

marked by con-

is

siderable progress in the use of metals

the Egyptians

That Punt was an African and not an Asiatic

proved by the single fact that giraffes are among the

Indian Ocean.
district is

It is proved, therefore, by philocountry Punt reached further south than

Cape Guardafui, and by zoological evidence that it was an African
district.
Now we find in South Africa, between the Zambesi and
Copper is menSabi, the grand relics of ancient gold-mining.

articles of the return freight.

logical evidence that this

tioned as one of the products of the Punt expeditions.

have

discovered a chain of ancient copper workings along the Sabi river

Can any

this year.

scholar who, like Professor Flinders Petrie,

forward any similar evidence?

now prove that the ancient
can
Therefore
Egyptians as well as the Jews of King Solomon's period got their
gold mainly from South Africa, that Punt and Afur (Hebrew,
Ophir) are the same country East Africa from Cape Guardafui
down to the mouth of the Sabi. South Africa, therefore, was the
Eldorado of the most ancient nations of history.
I am, Sir, your obedient servant,'
Carl Peters.
locates

Punt
I

in Somaliland, bring

am

of opinion that I

The whole question of the position of Punt has been fully discussed
by MM. Maspero and Naville, whose works on the subject have
been already mentioned, but it is important to state that no
evidence exists which would place Punt further south than the
Elephant river on the East coast of Africa, and that all the
Egyptological evidence at present available contradicts Mr. Peters'
<c
got their gold mainly from South
assertion that the Egyptians
Africa."
1

ller-khuf describes Punt as the " land of the spirits or ghosts."

THE USE OF METALS

135

of the first three dynasties used copper and flint indis-

Egyptians of the IVth Dynasty

criminately, but the

employed chiefly tools made of bronze.

Flint was

still

used largely in making teeth for

sickles, knives, etc.,

and

end of the Middle

it

not

is

until nearly

Empire, about

was

of

employed

to

the

knives,

etc.,

ceremonial

for

But

purposes.

use

its

confined

making

2000,

B.C.

reached that

is

the

would

it

be wrong to assert that

Egyp-

at this period the

tians were living in the

"

Bronze Age

country,

"

of their

known
used by them

certainly

discussing,
B.C.

Iron

to

and

in

the

which we are

centuries

about

was

iron

for

from

i.e.,

3800

to 3000.

of

objects

the

Ancient Empire are exceedingly rare,

but the word for iron

met with
of

the

in the

time

the
tools,

official.

IVth Dynasty.
British

Museum, No.

2i, 714.

is

Pyramid Texts

of

which weapons,
i.e.,

Statue of an Egyptian

it is true,

of Unas,

and paintings

Ancient Empire are known in

etc.,

are painted blue or black,

the colour by which iron

is

indicated.

In face

BRONZE STATUE OF PEPI

136
these

of

facts

hazardous

is

it

I.

as

declare,

to

lias

been done, that iron was not known to the Egyptians

before B.C.

"New

the

1000. l

In the most primitive graves of

Eace

period

"

we

find

only in use, and Egypt was then in

at

the

implements

flint

its

Neolithic

Age

end of the preclynastic period we find that

copper has been introduced, and we

may

fairly

assume

that the knowledge of this metal and the working of

were

brought

into

Egypt

soon

after,

but whether

it

people

the

Followers
known as the
making bronze was introduced

generally
art of

by

"

who

of Horus."
into

it

are

The

Egypt very

was brought from Babylonia

or not cannot at present be

decided

certain that the Egyptians of the

it

is,

however,

Vlth Dynasty were

very skilful in manipulating the metal, a fact which

is

proved by the large bronze statue of Pepi L, the remains

of which were found by Mr. Quibell at Hierakonpolis.
Iron was certainly
the

known

to the

Vth Dynasty, and from the

Egyptians as early as
fact that iron plays a

great

part in ancient Egyptian myths,

that

was known by them

it

the firmament of heaven

is

it

probable

Thus

at a far earlier period.

is

described as a rectangular

iron plate, each corner of which was supported by a

pillar,

and the throne of the supreme god

ornamented with the faces of

1

lions

is

made

and with

of iron

feet in the

The whole subject has been exhaustively discussed by

Prof.

Piehl in Ymer, Stockholm, 1888, p. 94 ff. (Bronsalder i Egypten?),

and the gist of his arguments will be found in H. E. Hall, Oldest
Civilization of Greece, p. 198, note

2.

IRON IN EGYPTIAN MYTHOLOGY

form of the hoofs of bulls. 1
sary to

state

that

It is

perhaps hardly neces-

"baa,"
J

137

can mean

nothing else but "iron," for the form " baa en-pet "

The Egyptian

official

Ka-Tep and Ins wife Hetepet-hers.

British Museum, No. 1181.

"baa of heaven,"
" iron "

IVth Dynasty.

the original of the Coptic benipe,

" baa en-pet," then,

The remains
1

is

i.e..

means meteoric

iron.

of the buildings which can be certainly

See Recueil de Travaux, torn.

vii. p.

154

(11.

309, 310).

THE GREAT PYRAMID

138

assigned to the period of the IVth, Vth,

and Ylth

Dynasties prove that the Egyptians had already acquired

most remarkable

skill in architecture, for

no buildings

which can rival the pyramids of G-izeh have ever been

These mighty works, which were constructed

erected.

dawn

in the

of civilization, seem destined to outlast the

greatest efforts of

history shows

modern

architects and engineers, for

that already they have withstood the

attacks of the elements, of time, and of

of six thousand years.

man

The account given by Herodotus

means by which they were erected

of the

correct, for

for a period

is

probably

mechanical appliances for raising the stones,

though of an elementary kind, must have been used

in

addition to these the only requisites for the erecting of

monuments

of this kind were the use of an inclined

plane of sand, and unlimited supplies of labour and

The conception

material.

masterpiece of the
the

Avhich

of the Great

human

architect's

Pyramid

mind, and the

plan was carried

is

with

skill

out

by the

way unworthy of the grandeur of the

The kings who built these pyramids intended

builders is no
design.

them

to be their

and were designed

tombs
for

they are nothing but tombs,

no more mysterious purpose

but

the effect which they have produced upon the mind of

man

in all ages has been so great that they, above all

other Egyptian monuments, have been

made

the subjects

of ignorant and superstitious beliefs which have been

often paraded before

garb.

the world in a pseudo-scientific

MASTABA TOMBS NEAR THE GREAT PYRAMID

Less massive and

sepulchres sufficed

less elaborate

needs of the royal

the

for

139

noblemen and

officials,

and "houses of eternity" which were constructed

them took the form

called "

mast aba,"

for

from the fact

that a building of the

when half buried

kind,
in

sand,

closely

^? a,.,s
m

re-

sembled the long, low

is

common

so

-."- -". I

which

or bench,

seat,

in

The

Oriental houses.

mastaba

is

massive

building,

CO CM O O * O

heavy,

"=i*"'t JMC

of

rectangular shape, the

four
are

which

of

sides

Fi^S

sym-

walls

four

"'"///,

metrically inclined to-

wards

their

The

centre.

surfaces are
for

the face

exterior

not

flat,

of each

masonry,

of

course

common

formed of stones laid

vertically,

behind
neath

is

the
it,

and

little

one
if

be-

The Great Pyramid with the mastaba

tombs of officials and others arranged
in rows behind it.

these

recesses were a little deeper, the external

of each side of the building

1

From

the Arabic

appearance

would resemble a
sJa.**

" bench.

flight

DESCRIPTION OF THE MASTABA TOMB

I40

The

of steps.

stones which,

form the building are

of a moderate size, and, with the exception of those

used for the ceiling and architrave, have an average

height of 18 or 20 inches.
of the

The width and length

mastaba vary; the largest

is

about 170

feet

long by 86 feet wide, and the smallest 26 feet long

by 20
30

wide

feet

The

feet.

best examples of the mastaba are found

and round about the Great Pyramid, where

at Sakkara,

they are

they vary in height from 13 to

arranged symmetrically,

the plan

of

their

arrangement resembling the squares on a chess board

we have seen that

priestly, military

in the earliest

and

civil officials,

times the king's

as well as private

noblemen, were buried in small side chambers of the

royal tomb, but under the Illrd and following Dynasties

we find that the

royal

tomb forms the centre

The mastaba was built

necropolis.

consisted of three parts

serdab,

of stone or brick, and

the chamber for offerings

or partially closed

pit

which was excavated in the

down which the deceased

subterranean

The

in his coffin

of the

the

was placed

solid rock,

was lowered

mummy-chamber into which the pit

interior walls

niche in the chamber for

offerings wherein the statue of the deceased

and the

of a regular

chamber

for

and

to the

opened.

offerings were

ornamented with scenes, either painted or sculptured,

which are

chiefly biographical,

and which represent the

daily occupation of the deceased, his amusements, and

the routine work of the artisans and labourers wlio were

maintained by him upon his estates.

The

texts

which

SCULPTURE

IN

THE FOURTH DYNASTY

141

accompany such scenes usually record the name and

titles of the deceased at great length, and sometimes
explain in a few simple

words the meaning of the

pictures

religious texts

are, in the case of private

persons, usually confined

to the prayers to Osiris,

Ap-uat, Anubis,

for

etc.,

the granting of a happy

after a

hurial

and a regular supply

age,

of

good old

funeral

offerings

tombs.

their

usually

cut

hieroglyphics
entrances,

to

These are
bold

in

over

and

the

other

in

prominent places in the

tombs.

The

statues

which

have been mentioned in

connection with the ser-

dab have already in the

IVth and Vth Dynasties

reached the culminating
point

and

of

Egyptian

art,

The Shekh

el-Balad.

(From, a cast in the British Museum.)

in later dynasties

no

sculptor ever produced any statue which could in any

way

rival

such works of his predecessors as the famous

I42

FOURTH DYNASTY BAS-RELIEFS AND STATUES

"Shekh al-Balad"
of the

Museum

in the

Museum

at Cairo, the

"Scribe"

of the Louvre, and the statue of

kheft-ka

British

the

in

An-

Museum. The sculptor of

the
IVth Dynasty endeavoured to reproduce the

and

faces

of

figures

and

sitters in fac-simile,
is

quite

The

succeeded.
reliefs

that

certain

and

his
it

he

finest bas-

found

statues

in the mastabas belong to

the end

the beginning

Dynasty

IVth and

of the

of the

at the

Yth

end of the

Yth Dynasty both design

and workmanship are less
good, and by the end of the

VI tli Dynasty

whole

the

character of funeral buildings,

and of the

reliefs

and

paintings employed to orna-

ment them, has undergone

iv

decided

change

for

the

worse, a change which foreStatue of An-kheft-ka.

shadows the

IVth Dynasty.
British

Museum, No.

porary

which Egyptian

state

of tem-

1239.

art

fell

during

degeneration
the

into

period which

elapsed between the Early and Middle Empires.

The

THE KING

TOMB

I43

chambers of the royal pyramids of the IVth Dynasty

were neither inscribed with texts nor ornamented and
painted with
it

reliefs,

but at the end of the Vth Dynasty

became the custom

to

chambers

corridors

and

selections

from a

loiag

ornament the walls of the

of

the

series

of

and prayers, which were designed

king's
spells,

tomb

with

incantations,

to ensure the safe

:Eyptian model of an ancient Egyptian house. IVth to Vlth Dynast v.

British Museum, No. 32,613.

arrival

of the deceased king in the realm of Osiris,

the god and judge of the dead, and his reception as a

powerful god by the gods, and by the spirits and souls

of the righteous

who were

living in Amenti.

collections of magical texts are

"

known

generally as the

Pyramid Texts," and they represent the

of the Eecension of the

Booh of

the

These

earliest

form

Bead, which

is

HELIOPOLITAN BOOK OF THE DEAD

144

called " Heliopolitan."

ever,

perusal of these texts, how-

shows that they were probably based on very early

documents, no copies of which have come down to us

the Heliopolitan character of the texts

is,

of course,

due to the influence of the priesthood of Heliopolis

(Annu, or On), which, during the period of the Vth
Dynasty, had become dominant in the religious colleges

The

of Egypt.

and religious texts

selections of magical

which are found in the pyramids of the Yth and Vlth

Dynasties constitute the whole of the religious literature
of the best period of the Early

Empire

towards the end

of this period texts of this kind were divided into sections

and

classified,

and their editors seem

arrange them in the form which

later

is

to

have begun

to

familiar to us from

Kecensions of the Booh of the Dead.

As an

example may be mentioned the texts on the sarcophagus

of Beb,

now

which was found

Museum at Cairo
many of which have

in the

of texts,

Denderah, 1 and which

at
;

is

here we have a selection

titles

and are identical

with Chapters found in the Theban Eecension of the

Booh of the Dead.

The inscriptions and remains which belong to the
whole period of the Egyptian Empire show that the
gods and goddesses of Egypt were the same substantially in the earliest as in the latest

days of

its history,

with the exception of the Theban triad of Amen, Mut,

and Khonsn, who, from occupying a very subordinate

See Petrie, Devderah, plate 37.

TEMPLES
among

position

Dynasty,

rose,

IN

THE FIRST DYNASTY

145

the lesser gods in the period of the Vtli

with the rising fortunes of the kings of

Thebes, until they practically usurped the position of

the principal

gods of ancient Egypt.

original temples of the period in

worshipped have come down to

built

None

of the

which these gods were

us, for

they were

all re-

under the Xllth and following dynasties

we

Egyptian model of an ancient Egyptian house. IVth to Vlth Dynasty.

British Museum, No. 32,610.

know, however, from isolated monuments which have

been preserved in the existing temples that the greater

number

of

them were founded

the IVth Dynasty.

Hierakonpolis,

it

Of a few

can

at least as far

back as

temples, e.g., that of

be definitely stated that they

were founded in the remote period of the 1st Dynasty.

Sir

Norman Lockyer has

VOL.

II.

argued, and has produced

WRITING

I46

THE FOURTH DYNASTY

IN

strong evidence based on astronomical data in support

of his argument, that the oldest temples in
built

upon

Egypt were

which had been occupied by religious

sites

from the remotest antiquity, and the general

edifices

trend of the

evidence which

archaeological

now

is

forthcoming entirely supports this view, in the writer's

opinion.

We

have already described the archaic character of

hieroglyphic writing under the

three dynasties.

first

In the period of the IYth Dynasty, although a few

archaic signs are

had adopted

retained, the writing, as a whole,

still

hieroglyphic form, and had so far

its final

developed that in the time of Assa, a king of the Vth

now commonly
had already come into use. The
known
use of the reed pen and ink was known in the time of
the 1st Dynasty, when flakes of stone and plaques of
Dynasty, a cursive form of

it,

which

is

as " hieratic,"

ivory, etc.,

formed the materials chiefly used

upon

a later period, which

clearly

at

indicated,

for writing

cannot, however, be

the Egyptians

discovered

how

to

prepare the layers of the stem of the papyrus plant for

writing upon.

The

oldest

written upon with ink

accounts in which the

known example

is

name

said to be the papyrus of

of Assa

written in hieratic, and portions of

in the

Museum

period the best

at Cairo.

of a papyrus

it

Of the

known examples

is

mentioned

are

now

it is

preserved

literature

of the

are the " Precepts of

Ptah-hetep," and the " Precepts of Kakemna," which

contain a remarkable collection of counsels, proverbs,

PTAH-HETEP THE MORALIST

147

and aphorisms of a religious and moral character, and

which

the high morality the attainment of

illustrate

which was the ideal of every cultured Egyptian of the

period.

Now

Ptah-hetep was, we know, a contemporary

Yth Dynasty, and Kakenma

the YIth Dynasty, but we have no

of Assa, a king of the

lived in the time of

contemporary copies of their works

the oldest versions

Egyptian model of an ancient Egyptian house. I-Vth

British Museum, No. 32,612.

known

to

us

are

contained in the

to

Vlth Dynasty.

famous

Prisse

Papyrus, 1 and cannot be older than the time of the

Xllth Dynasty.

That the form of the Precepts

which we now have them

1

is

substantially

that

in
in

For the text see Prisse d'Aveimes, Facsimile cVvn Papyrus

Egyptien, Paris, 1847.

THE MAXIMS OF PTAH-HETEP

I48

which they

their

left

reason to doubt

authors' hands

"

god of the two crocodiles

little

l
:

Ptah-hetep

saitb,

my

Osiris),

(i.e.,

by

lord,

mature age turneth into old age, infirmity cometh

"upon man, and

" vigorous
"

is

their character is best illustrated

giving a few specimens of them

" (1)

there

youth.

powers

failing

Some

take the place

[additional]

cometh

failing

upon him each day, the eyes become dim and

of

lose their

" power, the ears become stopped, and decline in strength

"advanceth upon him always.

" speech faileth, the

memory

"not even [the matter

"all his body

"now
man

faileth,

He

silent,

hath pain in

that which was once pleasant to

hath

him

is

lost the sense of

Old age bringeth miseries of every kind upon

his nostrils

is

and he remembereth

of] yesterday.

repulsive, for his palate

" taste.
"

The mouth

"failing

strength

become stopped, and by reason of his

he can hardly draw his

breath."

Ptah-hetep saith to his son, "(2) Be not puffed up because

" of the

knowledge which thou hast acquired, and hold

" converse Avith the unlettered

as with the learned

no obstacle to knowledge, and no handi-

"for there

is

" craftsman

hath attained

" of his art.

man

knowledge

thou art in command of a company

(5) If

" of men, deal with

to the limit of the

them

after the best

manner and

in

" such wise that thou thyself mayest not be reprehended.

"Law

(or, justice, or,

right)

is

great, fixed

and unchang-

Renderings are given by Chabas in the Revue Archeologique

dii nionde, etude sur le Papyrns
Prisse)
and Virey, Etudes sur le Papyrus Prisse, Paris, 1887.
1

1858 (Le pins ancien livre

;

THE MAXIMS OF PTAH-HETEP

" ing,

and

149

hath not been moved since the time of

it

" (6) Terrify not men, or

God

will terrify thee.

Osiris.
(7)

If

among a company of men and women in the

man who is greater than thyself, take whatsoever he giveth thee making obeisance gratefully.

"thou

art

" abode of a

"

Speak not oftener than he requireth,

" not

what may displease him

for one

knoweth

speak when he speaketh

"to thee, and thy words shall be pleasing unto him.

" (8) If thou art charged with a message from one noble" man to another, deliver it exactly as thou hast received
"it.

If thou art an

(9)

" of the field

"

A man

" tribe

husbandman, harvest the crop

which the Great God hath given unto thee.

becometh a god when he

which putteth

"homage

its trust

before a greater

"doing what

is

is

at the

(10) In doing

in him.

man than

thyself thou art

most pleasing unto God.

" diligently whilst thou hast

" thou

hast been

"time

is

life,

head of a

(11)

Labour

and do even more than

commanded to do waste not thy

"vigorous prime, for he who maketh a bad use of his
:

reprehensible.

Neglect not to add to thy

" possessions daily, for diligence increaseth wealth, but

" without diligence riches disappear.

"perfect

"which

(or,
is

wise) man, bring

pleasing to God.

(12) If thou art a

up thy son in a manner

(18) If thou wouldst be

"held in esteem in the house wherein thou enterest,

" whether

it

" a friend, or

be that of a nobleman, or of a brother, or of

any other abode in which thou

"not the women.

" do], nay,

'tis

It is not in

goest, touch

any way a good thing

a senseless act, for a thousand

[to

men have

THE MAXIMS OF PTAH-HETEP

150

" destroyed themselves

and gone

to their deaths for the

" sake of the enjoyment of a pleasure

"as the twinkling of an

"

behave well and be

" for this is a vice

"

free

eye.

from

which

keep thy temper,

all evil,

which leadeth to

tempered man cannot continue to

strife,

and an

live.

It divideth

"fathers and mothers, and brothers and

"maketh the husband and

as fleeting

thou wouldst

If

(19)

is

sisters,

ill-

and

it

the wife to hate each other.

" (21) If thou wouldst be wise, rule thy house, and love
" thy wife wholly

and constantly.

stomach and

Fill her

"clothe her body, for these are her personal necessities

"love her tenderly and

" thou hast thy
" great

life,

for she is

reward upon her

" she will

all

fulfil

her desires as long as

an estate which confer reth

Be

lord.

not harsh to her, for

be more easily moved by persuasion than by

"force; take thou heed to that which she wisheth, and

" to that to

"which she

which her
flxeth her

" thereby shalt thou

"

desire runneth,

mind [and obtain

make her

thou resistest her will

it is

it

ruin [to thee]

love.

to that

upon

for her], for

thy house.

to stay in

"to her heart and show her thy

"

and

If

.... speak

(30) If

thou hast

become a great man having once been of no account,

" and if thou hast become rich having once been poor,

" and hast become the governor of the

" that

city,

thou dost not act haughtily because thou hast

"attained unto this high position.

Harden not thy

"heart because thou hast become exalted,

" only the guardian of the
"

take heed

unto thee.

for

thou art

goods which God hath given

Set not in the background thy neighbour

PTAH-HETEP AND KAKEMNA

''who

as thou wast, but

is

make

thyself as

151
if

he were

"thine equal."
" Precepts "

The

of

Ptah-hetep seem to have

been written when their
author was an old man.

In his younger days he

was, undoubtedly, like his

Kakemna, one

successor
of the

nobles

principal

Pharaoh's

of

Ptah - hetep

court.

the

held

dignities of " governor of

t\ <=>

the city/'

and chief minister,

and from the
he

calls

royal

that

fact

himself " eldest

son of his body,"

he was probably of royal

descent;

his other title,

Q -=^,i.e.,
a
"hereditary prince," in-

"erpaha,"

dicates

he was a

that

prominent

an

member

important

family.

princely

Kakemna,

the city, held the

of

Hard stone

an offic'al
Vlth Dynasty.

figure of

Hapi.
British

Museum, No.

called

32,190.

besides being ivazir and governor of

office of

"judge,"

^^ S3.

OFFICES AND TITLES

152

The highest rank which

man

could

hold under

the king was that of "erpa ha," which originally

known

that the

man who

an independent clan or
so

by hereditary right

The

Vlth Dynasties the

there,

who

" erpa

ha

of the highest order of nobles.

came

from time to time

to court

and tendered his homage

nobles

head " of

but under the powerful kings

title

old feudal chief

was

it

made

and that he had become

tribe,

of the IYth, Vth, and

became merely the

held

the "

the king, but the later

to

held this rank came to court and stayed

and were buried near the pyramids of their

Pharaohs.

During the period between the Vlth and

Xllth Dynasties, the "erpa ha" resumed

powers, and certain of
dignity of a king

old

his

them assumed the rank and

who was

thus Antefa,

name and

of Thebes, placed both his

" erpa

ha

"

his title within a

cartouche, and his successors, the Menthu-hetep kings

of the

Xlth Dynasty, dropped

their title

"erpa ha,"

and proclaimed themselves kings of Upper and Lower

Egypt.

The next highest

of "chancellor,"

\^\)

dignity was apparently that

f

which was in existence as

early as the time of the 1st

Dynasty

the " smer uat/'

It

>

something like "only friend,"

of the king

another

title

the highest nobles and

over the secrets,"

title

i.e.,

after this

came

which must mean

a confidential adviser

which was often borne by

officials

n
D

^w*.

was "he who

is

set

very ancient and

THE COURT OF THE KING

favourite title throughout
" suten rekk,"

all

153

the early dynasties was

i.e.,

Y
" one

to the king "

known

seems that at

it

this

first

implied kinship to the

title

but

king,

meant

subsequently

more

little

an honourable

it

than

distinction.

The above-mentioned

titles

are those of most frequent

occurrence, but in addition

common use

there were in
a

number

considerable

and

legal, military, priestly,

the enumera-

civil titles, for

which there

tion of

of

is

no

space here.

The pomp

and

dignity

which surrounded the court

of

king

the

greatly

Egypt

of

during

increased

the period of the IYth and

Vth Dynasties.
as

the

As

beginning

of

early

the

IVth Dynasty he assumed

the

title

of

"the golden

Horus," or "the Horns of

Anpu, an
British

official.

Vlth Dynasty.

Museum, No.

32,187.

and Assa seems to have been the

gold,"
(PhrtO

first

154

THE KING

kins to

call

S0N 0F THE sun

.'

<

AS

himself "son of the Sim,"

fev.

under

the Vlth Dynasty the king was already held to be a

semi-divine being, and

rank and

that his

is clear

it

position were as exalted at that time as were those of

XVIIIth Dynasty

the great kings of the

The king having during

period.

his lifetime arrogated

to himself the attributes of a god,

that worship should be paid to

early as the Illrd

as

priestly

which were due

Shera

were

officials

was only natural

after death

find

hence

that

certain

apart to perform the rites

memory

of deceased kings, e.g.,

performed commemorative services

at that time

him

it

Dynasty we
set

to the

at a later

honour of Sent, a king of the Unci Dynasty.

in

priests were maintained out

Such

with which the kings

had endowed

selves

of the
relatives

offerings

of the

who

their

built

pyramids

funeral

chapels,

revenues
for

them-

and

out

which were made in them by the

dead and by devout

service of each of the larger

were attached, and there

in the case of

of the

many

is

of the

folk.

To the

pyramids several priests

evidence which shows that,

more important kings,

their

chapels were maintained, and services were regularly

performed in them through

periods of Egyptian

we reach the time of the Ptolemies.

history until

must

all

not, however, forget that the nobles of the king,

and even the commonest person, became divine

We

tomb are preserved

Museum, Oxford, and

Parts of his

the Ashmolean

in the

Museum

in the British

after

of Cairo, in

Museum.

THE
death, but as

"

SERVANT OF THE KA

155

when he was upon earth the king was

king of men, so in the world beyond the grave he was

still

king, only there his subjects

had acquired a divine

nature similar to

own

his

the king-

became

Osiris,

but

also

did

the

meanest

of

his

subjects.

But the

ordinary

man was

so

naturally

unable

guarantee

to

the

perpetuity of the
funeral

which

services

he wished

have held

to

chapel,

his

in
for,

whereas the king's

priests were court
officials,

appointed

succession

in

to

carry on the tradition of his worship, the priest of

the ordinary man,

i.e.,
^0

the

"hen

ka,"

The high-priest An-senf, and the lady Mersebes,~ fJ

dJ

British

J 0'

VIth Dynasty-

Museum, No.

13,320.

"the servant of the double," could only be that

man's direct descendant, and when his family died

out the services at his tomb necessarily came to an

METHODS OF SEPULTURE

156
end,

even

if

The

they had not ceased long before.

office of the "

hen ka

" is

one of the oldest connected

with the Egyptian religion, being the outcome of one

of its fundamental dogmas.

An

examination of the tombs and funeral monuments

of the Egyptians of the Ancient

Empire shows that the

old systems of burying the dead in contracted positions,

or in mutilated condition,

which were in use among

the primitive inhabitants of the Nile Valley, and which

we have already

described, continued in vogue,

no doubt chiefly among the lower orders of

well on in the

IVth Dynasty.

its

back, which

by the "Followers

society, until

After this period, the

custom of burying the body at

upon

though

full

length and lying

had apparently been introduced

of Horus,"

became universal, and

from this time onwards the art of mummifying the

human body becomes more and more

highly developed,

and ceremonies connected with the depositing of the

body in the tomb are seen

to be

more and more elaborate.

The Pyramid Texts prove that

in the case of kings the

funeral ceremonies were long and elaborate, and that

many

of

them were

of a highly symbolic

character

incense of several kinds was burnt, libations of wines

and other liquids were

offered,

out,

were

sacrifices

and suitable prayers and words of power were

recited alternately
(later "

poured

Sem

"),

by the " Setem

" priest,

and by the " Kher-heb

case of persons of lesser

" priest.

lj\

In the

rank the ceremonies were

THE KING

DIVINE NATURE

*57

probably shorter, and as time went on they were re

duced to very simple forms.

An

examination

of

the

monuments and other

re-

mains

the

period

the IVth,

Vth,

and Vltli

Dynasties

enables

of

glimpse

obtain

social

condition

of

us

to

the

of

the

of

The

country at that time.

king appears to have been

regarded

an

as

autocrat

with a semi-divine nature,

and his

will

was performed

by a number of high
some of

cials,

kinsmen,

his

whom

whom
and

offi-

were

all

of

regarded him as the

fountain of honour, and the

bestower of ranks, dignities,

and

positions.

nobles

held

of the

various

court were

at

offices

mere

who

Many

officials,

not

but chiefs of

great power and importance

in

their

own nomes, and

Figure of an

official in hard stone.

Vltli Dynasty.
British Museum, No. 32,188.

were in fact the ancestors

of the

great

acquainted

feudal

under

princes with

the

whom we become

Xlth Dynasty.

separate

HIGH PRIESTS OF MEMPHIS AND HELIOPOLIS

158

priesthood can hardly as yet be said to have existed

the male head of every family was the priest (hen ka,
of his

(Tj)
"

heb

and the

ancestors,

"Sem"

and " Kher-

were certainly at this time kinsmen of

priests

We

the deceased.

have,

it is true,

the existence of a college

vague indications of

Ea-Temu at
chief official, who

of priests of

Heliopolis, under the headship of its

was known as the " Great Two Eyes," or the " Great
Seer,"

"Ur-maa,"

^ ^^_

V&,

of

Ea-Temu;

this,

however, must have been a very different institution

from the powerful confraternities of later days, although

was

influence

its

sufficiently great to

throne of Egypt a dynasty of kings

to

its

We

interests.

Memphis the high

also

place

who were devoted

find that there existed at

priest of the

god Ptah, whose

was the " Great Chief of the Hammer,"

title

Ur-kherp-hem
body of

able

upon the

official

^*

f,

he must have controlled a consider-

priests,

but one which could not for a

moment be compared with that of the priests of Ea

even at this period.
Commerce in the modern sense of
the term can hardly have existed at this early time, for

each of the great estates into which Egypt was divided

was self-supporting, and each produced

own

needs.

The common people

sufficient for its

lived on the estates on

which they were born in a state of absolute dependence

upon

their lords, but they usually dwelt in their

towns and

villages,

own

which were situated within the

boundaries of these estates.

Under a strong

central

CONDITION OF THE PEOPLE

159

Government the condition of such people was, on the

whole, a happy one, and they appear to have been

humanely treated by

their lords,

who were

not divided

from them by any differences of religion or class preju-

Alabaster vase.

dice

Vltli

Dynasty.

British

Museum, No.

but when the central Government

and the Princes of

Siut, the

fell

30,4.50.

into decay

modern Asyut, warred

against the Princes of Thebes, both families acknow-

ledging the over-lordship of the kings at Herakleopolis,

THE POSITION OF WOMEN

l6o

the condition of the "sekhti" H

Q Q Q

" field

man," or

He was

" fellah, "

^d^i

\\

v&,

i.e.,

became indeed deplorable.

taken from his land, and sent to fight against

his fellow countrymen with

whom

he, personally,

had

no quarrel, and meanwhile his honse and farm were

practically left to take care of themselves

back unhurt

it

was often

the

story

of

if

he came

to find himself the prey of

some unjust steward or extortionate

tensa in

Merui-

bailiff like

the Peasant,

who took the

opportunity of the lord's absence to play the petty

tyrant.

Egypt

To the unique

position

in the earliest times

held by

women

we have already

and the passage which has

been

in

alluded,

quoted from the

Precepts of Ptah-hetep shows that the estimate which

the Egyptians had formed of the importance of a just

and proper treatment of women was

far in

advance of

that held by other nations of antiquity, and that

little inferior to

it

was

our own.

See Proc. Soc. Bill. Arch.,

vol. xiv.,

June

14, 1892, p.

459

ff.

i6i

CHAPTER

VI.

THE SEVENTH TO THE ELEVENTH DYNASTIES.

The

information of an

accurate

possess concerning this period

and

it

is

is

character which

we

exceedingly limited,

impossible to give any connected account of

the succession and reigns of the kings.

the version of

According to

Manetho by Julius Africanus, the years

of the dynasties of this period are as follows

Vllth Dyn. From Memphis

70 kings in 70 days.

Vlllth Dyn. From Memphis

27 kings in 146 years.

IXth Dyn. FromHerakleopolis; 19 kings in 409

years.

Xth Dyn. FromHerakleopolis; 19 kings in 185 years.

Xlth Dyn. From Thebes 16 kings in 43 years.
;

The versions
others differ so
it is

of

Manetho given by Eusebius and

much from

that of Julius Africanus that

quite clear that as far as this period

figures

have been garbled

we

is

concerned the

are therefore driven to

rely for information about the period of these dynasties

almost entirely upon the few monuments which can with

safety be assigned to

it.

in this difficulty by the

VOL.

II.

We
King

are not in

any way helped

Lists which were compiled

DYNASTIES

162

by the

scribes of the

The Tablets

VII.

XlXth

XYIIItli and

Karnak and Sakkara

of

[B.C. 3033

XI.

Dynasties.

are of very little

use for the whole period of the Middle Empire, for in

much confused, and as

said above, the reason in no way concerning us here,
they are manifestly incomplete. The Tablet of Abydos
of the kings

them the order

is

is

of considerable value here, for

of the following kings

TO^ f

^J
M jU^^M l Ka-nefer-ka-Khentu.
^^ fl^^ 1 Meb-en-Hebu.

&'

T2*R

6.

4^

%^ f O U ^ 2^j

"

M 0^o U

TOM oIUDDOO

4.

10-

names

LJ 1 Ra-nefer-ka.

3-

gives us the

=jy| f

2-

it

LJ

Se-NEFER-KA.

LJ

O "^ U 1

Ra-en-ka.

To} f

LJ

Ra-nefer-ka-tererl.

Heru-nefer-ka.
l

Ra-nefer-ka-Nebi.

t)[)1

J JRa-nefer-ka-Pepi-senb.

\\

Ra-nefer-ka- annu.

DYNASTIES

B.C. 2500]

11.

m (ga

12.

4 f O

13

M CMS]

14

4w O

15.

4w f O

^=^

16.

^ fo

It

is,

mm]

^
!

bi-

VII.

XI.

KAU

163

Ra-nefer-kau.

^RU-NEFER-KAU.
LJ ] Ra-nefer-ari-ka.

1 Ra-neb-kheru.

^ ul

Ra-seankh-ka.

perhaps, hardly necessary to say that these

names do not represent the

full

number

of kings

who

reigned during the period of the Yllth-XIth Dynasties,

and that we have here only a selection from them.

Royal Papyrus of Turin does not help us

difficulties,

which

it

The

to decide the

although here and there the indications

gives are useful,

was not the

e.g., it

last sovereign

of the

shows that Nitocris

YIth Dynasty.

At

the end of the YIth Dynasty must probably be placed

an isolated king called

whose name

is

mamat, where

4s^

fl

^\

^b

found on the rocks in the

I-em-hetep,

Wadi Ham-

seems to have been inscribed by the

"divine chancellor, the captain of the soldiers, Kait

nefer," ^3^6 ^|\ T

The two names Ra-neb-kha

HERAKLEOPOLITAN DYNASTIES

164
or

Neb-kha-Ra,
T

J,

Cq ^=^

jL

and Hebu-hen-nefer,

Hen-nefer-Heeu, which

or

to this period, are at present implaceable

if

the latter

of the

name

is

[B.C. ?

that of a king at

are attributed
;

it is

doubtful

Of the kings

all.

Vllth Dynasty the only inscribed remains known

are scarabs of

Ra-en-ka or En-ka-Ra\,

(q ^w^jjj,

and Ra-nefer-ka-Nebi or Nefer-ka-Ra-Nebi of the

VHIth Dynasty, the last which reigned at Memphis,
;

no remains or monuments of any kind whatsoever have

been identified, It seems very probable that during
the

weak

rule of the kings of the

Yllth and VHIth

Dynasties, the princes of Herakleopolis, the Suten-henen,

9)

T AMAM

JJ

A/

^
W

or

Henen-su of the hieroglyphic m-

scriptions, succeeded in gaining their independence,

and

that they were the founders of the IXtli Dynasty, to

which must belong Khati and others.

NINTH AND TENTH DYNASTIES.

FEOM HERAKLEOPOLIS.

son of the Sun, Khati.

AKHTHOES

B.C. ?]

Khati, who

is

165

no doubt the Akhthoes,

Manetho, 1

'A^Oot]?, of

is

made known

to

us by a

bronze vessel, preserved in the

Museum

of the Louvre, which has round its

upper part, in hollow work, the inscription,

"The

living

Horus,

loved of

the heart,

king of the South and North, Meri-ab-Ka,

lord of the city of the vulture and of the
mkri-ab-tatji,
the Horus name

city

of

the

uraeus,

Meri-ab,

of Khati.
'

Sun,

Khati, giver of life"

son

^^kWQ^

,W?S
Of Akhthoes Manetho says

(Cory, op.

BfA-
cit.,

that he became more terrible than all those

before him,

Egypt,

that

and

that

he did

afterwards

and was destroyed by a

king
fact

is

evil

p.

he

crocodile.

fell

106)

who went

unto the people in

into

The name

all

madness
of this.

found [upon a rock in the First Cataract, 3 a

which indicates that work went on in the quarries

there during his reign, and that he

his

of the

power in the land

had consolidated

sufficiently to carry

on building

The names of the immediate successors of

this king are unknown, unless we assume that certain
royal names which are found upon scarabs, apparently
operations.

1
See Griffith, Proc. Soc. Bill. Arch., vol. xiv. 40; it has been
suggested that Akhthoes is to be identified with the XovOrjp of
Eratosthenes (see Bunsen, Egypt's Place, vol. i. p. 704; and Petrie,

History, p. 115).
2

See Maspero,

See Sayce, Academy, 1892,

ibid., vol. xiii. p. 429.

p. 332.

SCARABS OF MAA-AB-RA, ETC.

i66

belonging to this period, represent them

[B.C.

but

it

must

be borne in mind that the possibility exists that they

may belong

to the period

which

which we

refer

between the

The following

and XYIIIth Dynasties.

to

lies

XHIth

are the

names

ii'

ii

o
.

/vvv vv>

LJ

LJ

Ka-Maa-ab.

Ka-sekha-en.

Ka-nub-taui(?).

11

II

IP

LJ

LJ

Ea-aa-hetep.

Ea-kha-user.

Museum, Nos. 30,510, 32,287, 32,363,

Museum, Nos. 30,511, 28,201, 32,342.
British Museum, No. 30,512.
British Museum, No. 28,097British Museum, Nos. 32,331, 4110, 24,113.

British

British

3
4
5

17,212.

KA-MERI-RA

B.C. ?]

It

167

must be pointed out that each

preceded by the
god," and

if

title

" neter nefer"

is

""beautiful

i.e.,

the scarabs on which these names occur

IXth Dynasty,

really belong to the period of the

the earliest appearance of the

not be forgotten that this

in the

names

of these

XHIth

title in

question.

this is

It

must

was a very favourite one

title

Dynasty, from which fact

it

argued that these scarabs and the kings

might be

whom

they

commemorate

in reality date from a period subsequent

to that of the

Xlllth Dynasty.

For the

present,

how-

we may assume that they belong to the period of

the IXth Dynasty; one of the chief reasons for this
ever,

assumption

is

the striking resemblance of these scarabs

to those of the kings of the

Besides

this, it

Vlth and Vllth Dynasties.

has been pointed out that Eratosthenes

mentions a king Meures, Mevprjs, 1 immediately after

Chouther, and

follows that if

it

Chouther, Maa-ab-Ra

may

Ab-meri-Ra Khati be

very well represent Meures.

The next name which meets us on contemporaneous

monuments
or

is

that of

Ka-meri-Ra,

interesting

of

4=^

U ^ 001 Ra-ka-meri,

whose reign we have an exceedingly

monument

in the

Tefaba, a prince of Siut.

We

tomb of Khati, son of

know

the names of three

of the princes of Siut at this period,

Tefaba, his successor, and Khati

cessor of Tefaba,

meri-Ra.
1

Khati

See Bunsen,

who
I.

II.,

Khati

p.

705

and

I.,

the son and suc-

flourished in the reign of

was established

ojg. cit.,

i.e.,

as a prince

Petrie, op.

cii.,

116.

Kaby a

l68

SYSTEM OF IRRIGATION OF KHATI

king whose name

[B.C. ?

I.

not mentioned, but who was probably

is

one of the successors of Ab-meri-Ka, and some details of

by the inscriptions which he had

his life are afforded us

placed in his tomb.

Stripped of the naively conceited

phraseology of the Egyptian noble, his words

tell

us that

he occupied himself with cutting canals and attending

to the irrigation of his district, in the course of

which

work he made dams and embankments, by which he

succeeded in raising the level of the waters of the Nile
to that of the lands at the foot of the hills,

his time
ductive.

which before

had remained unwatered and therefore unproHe was rich in flocks and in herds, and his

crops were abundant, and with his earthly goods he

He was

endowed the temple of his god.

mighty warrior and

skilled in the use of the

the sword, and he raised a

company

consisted of hundreds of picked

of thousands of

himself a

bowmen from

bow and

of troops,

men from

which

the North and

He

the South.

possessed

boats in large numbers wherein the king was pleased to

journey up and down the

^=^

appointment as ha,
just man,

river.

Khati

prince,

I.

received his

because he was a

and because he had taken no part in any

rebellion against the king,

He

loyal to his lord.

ends his inscription with the

words, "

He

" nobles

who were arrayed

(i.e.,

and had remained consistently

me

at the

head of his

in royal apparel,

and he made

the king) set

1
For the Egyptian texts see Griffith, The Inscriptions of Sitit and
Der Rifeh, London, 1889 and for translations see Griffith, B. Sf 0.
Record, vol. iii., and Maspero, Revue Critique, 1889, p. 410 ff.
;

THE FLEET AND ARMY OF KHATI

B.C. ?]

"

me

swim with the royal

to learn to

169

I.

children.

I return

my

"thanks, and I have been free from rebellion against

" master

who brought me up when

my

" rejoices under

I was a child.

Henen-su adoreth me, and the

rule,

" lands of the South and the North say,

" 'prince

The

commandeth, that

allusion

is

the

'

Whatsoever the

command

which this prince makes

of Horus."'

men

to his picked

from the North and his archers from the South

interest, for it

Siut

is

of

shows that he was able to support his

by loyal deeds, and his

boats on the river made Khati

loyal words

forces

his

I.

friendship was greatly to be desired.

on land and

a prince whose
It

is

easy to

understand from his reference to his own loyalty that

the condition of the country must have been in a very
unsettled state, and that dissension and strife prevailed
in all parts of

it.

The

feeble

Memphite kings had

allowed a number of petty chiefs to usurp gradually

very considerable powers, and

came

to

when the Ylllth Dynasty

an end the tribes of the Delta asserted their

independence, and a violent struggle for the crown of

Egypt

arose between the princes of Herakleopolis

those of Thebes.

Khati

I.

and

seems to have taken no active

part in any war against these princes of Thebes, but his

sympathies were with the princes of Herakleopolis, and

there

is

to battle

no doubt that his forces would have marched

with

theirs,

had the princes of Thebes attempted

the invasion of the northern country on a large scale.

From

the inscription in the

successor of Khati

I.,

we

tomb

of Tefaba, the

are able to see

how matters

TEFABA'S ARMY DEFEATS THE THEBANS

170

developed in the reign of Ka-nieri-Ba.

he was a benevolent man, and a

[BC.

Tefaba says that

man

wise in counsel,

and a man useful in his town, and one who always

hearkened unto

the cry

the

of

afflicted,

He was

never defrauded the widow.

and who

beloved of his

parents and their slaves, and he devoted himself to

redressing the injuries which had been inflicted upon

by

his people

of the country under Tefaba's rule

man might
to

sleep

The condition

soldiers or marauders.

lfe

was

so safe that a

clown at night by the highway, and go

with as

little

concern

at

the

thought

of

danger as he would in his own house, and the flocks

and herds were as secure in the

been in their own sheds

fields as if they,

had

the thief and the robber

became abominable men, and they no longer had power

to oppress

At length war broke

any man.

out,

and the

people of the districts from Elephantine northwards

came in a body
Herakleopolis

to do battle

against the princes

of

they were attacked by Tefaba's soldiers

Whenever Tefaba attacked the

town of an enemy he threw down its walls and took its
governor captive, and when he had defeated every chief
on the left bank of the river, he passed over to the
and utterly defeated.

right,

and did the same there

he says that he was

like

a bull [on the day of battle], and that he conquered

wheresoever he went.

The boats

of his adversary were

dashed to pieces against the river banks, his soldiers

became

like

bulls

in the presence

of a lion which is

about to leap upon them, he surrounded the town from

KHATI

B.C. ?]

one side of

it

II.

PROTECTS THE KING

to the other,

possessions and cast

them

that he was able to effect

and he seized the enemy's

He

into the flames.

all

171

declares

these things through the

counsels and plans of Apuat, the god of Thebes, and

that he overthrew the happiness of every place which

fought against the king

that his progress through the

provinces of the South was like that of a flame of

fire,

and that there was no part of the desert which was too
remote for the terror of him to penetrate.

In his

success and prosperity Tefaba did not forget the gods

and

of his country, for he gave gifts to their temples

caused religious ceremonies to be performed in their

honour.

The

which the

success

princes

of

Herakleopolis

enjoyed in the time of Tefaba was continued under his

son and successor Khati

II.,

sprung from the bodies of

who

is

declared to have

and

five princes,

to

have

been the sou of a prince, and the son of a daughter of

a prince, and the offspring of an ancient family which

had been the ruling power

The

times.

in

inscription in his

greatly beloved

Siut from the earliest

tomb

states that

by Ka-meri-Ba, that he had spread

terror throughout all the land of Egypt,

had

inflicted

king had become unpopular with the

and nobles of Herakleopolis, and that eventually

he had

to seek safety in flight to his friend

prince of Siut
forces

and that he

punishment upon the country of the South.

It seems that the

chiefs

he was

this redoubtable

and collected his

man

Khati

II.,

assembled his

boats, and, having

made the

KHATI

172

II.

RESTORES THE KING TO POWER

[B.C. ?

king to take his seat in one of them, he escorted

Ka-meri-Ea down the river

established

him

to

his capital city,

and

When the

in the rule of his kingdom.

saw the forces which accompanied the king they

rebels

trembled and were greatly afraid, and every town by

which he passed gladly submitted and made peace with

him

on his arrival in his

city the

women

turned out to welcome him,

old

men

as well as children.

whole population

as well as men,

and

The king thus owed

his

restoration to power entirely to the vigorous help of

how

the prince of Siut, and this fact shows

great was

the influence which Khati II. possessed in the land,

and the prominent part which he took in arranging the

Had

he been disaffected

when Ka-meri-Ea was driven out

of his capital, his

government of his country.

troops and boats would probably have been placed

at.

the disposal of the princes of Thebes, and the rule of

the princes of Herakleopolis would have ended

sooner than

We

much

it did.

have already mentioned

certain

royal

names

which are found only upon scarabs that have been

thought to belong

to the period of the

IXth and Xth

Dynasties because of the peculiar character of their

workmanship, and in respect of the names

already

quoted there seems to be some reasonable ground for

this

assumption

another

small

but

group

chiefly on scarabs that

and workmanship,

same cannot be said of

the
of

names

have

been

also,

which

are

found

on grounds of style

attributed

to

this

period.

EMBRACER OF LANDS

B.C. ?]

KHIAN,

The

group consists of

latter

w^ f

P 11

mm^\

^^ f

Khian, who took

atebu " 1

ft

Uatchet, and
first

of these

known

is

name

inscribed upon

it also,

II.

to us

the

Museum

The

from a mnch-broken
at

Bubastis

of Khian,

which must have been

was erased, and an inscription of

was cut over the older inscription.

Museum
still

"Anq

1 T Q_^\1 '

which

is

the portions

bear the

name

of the

now
first

in the
statue,

of Khian, are preserved in

Khian's name as " king of the

of Cairo.

South and North,"

These

probably to be

regarded as a portrait of king Khian, are

which

title

Ipeq-Heru.

(1)

Se-user-en-Ka

which was found

portions, including the head,

British

i.e.,

portions of a second statue were also

found, but the

Osorkon

^1

Qj

colossal statue of the king

by M. Naville

"V

" embracing lands," (2)

(3)

names

names,

Horns name the

as his

A*

AAA/W

three

173

i.e.,

Se-user-en-Ra, occurs on a

Baghdad
by the late Mr. George Smith, and the name of the
king was found by Mr. A. J. Evans upon a jar lid

small rough basalt lion, which was obtained at

5

which he discovered in the course of his excavations

in the

On

Mycenaean palace

of Knossos (Kephala) in Crete.

inscribed seals and cylinders

1

2
3

Khian

is

See Naville, Bubastis, 1891, plate 12.

British Museum, No. 32,319.
British Museum, Nos. 32,441, 32,344.

British

British

Museum, Nos. 1063,

Museum, No. 987.
l

1064.

described as

KHIAN, PRINCE OF DESERTS

174

" heq semtu,"

r^^i

ill

i.e.,

[B.C. ?

"prince of the deserts "

this peculiar title, taken in connection with his remark-

able

Horns name mentioned above, the foreign type of

Se-user-en-Ra Khian,

the

King

of

Egypt.

British

Museum, No.

name Khian, and the un-Egyptian

1063.

character of his

portrait heads from Bubastis, as well as the fact that

his chief

monuments

are all found in

Lower Egypt,

khian's

B.C. ?]

name at knossos

175

have been usually regarded as proofs that this

belonged to the Hyksos
however,

it

Dynasty.

In

late

upon the

style of his scarabs, that

he belongs to the period of the Xth Dynasty

arguments are inconclusive,

many

for

but such

although these scarabs

respects resemble those of the

Vllth Dynasties, and are very similar

we have

years,

has been maintained, solely on the ground

of arguments based

do in

king-

tentatively ascribed to the

YIth and
which

to those

IXth Dynasty,

yet

these resemblances are not strong enough to enable us

to set aside the

weighty evidence which we have duly

above, from which

set forth

it

may

be assumed with

some show of reason that Khian was a Hyksos king.

This view receives very substantial confirmation from

Mr. Evans' discovery of Khian's name

at Knossos, for

the oldest parts of the palace which he discovered there

may

well be as old as B.C. 1800, the date which

be roughly assigned to the Hyksos period.

Khian belong,

scarabs of

may

If the

in reality, to the time of the

Hyksos, the scarabs of Maa-ab-Ka and other kings,

whom we
Dynasty,

Xllth

have provisionally assigned to the IXth

may

belong to a period subsequent to the

Dynasty.

The

scarabs

of

Ipeq-Heru

and

Uatchet are identical in style with those of Khian,

and their names are of the same foreign character

it

Khian was a Hyksos king,

Ipeq-Heru and Uatchet were Hyksos kings, and they
must have reigned about the same time, i.e., about
follows therefore that if

B.C.

1800.

We

are,

then, not justified in

assuming

END OF THE EARLY EMPIRE

176
that

an

invasion

of

Egypt by

Asiatic

[B.C. ?

tribes,

who

way of the Delta, took place in

the period between the Ylllthand Xlth Dynasties; the
only invasion of the kind known to us was that of the
entered the country by

Hyksos, which took place several hundreds of years

later.

Another invasion which was formerly ascribed

this period,

i.e.,

that of the

"

New

on insufficient grounds described

now

for several years past

having taken place.

The

"

Eace,"

to

who were

as " Libyans," has

been recognized as never

New Eace "

were simply, as

M. J. de Morgan has pointed out, the primitive Egyptians

who lived in the period preceding the 1st Dynasty.
The Xth Dynasty ends the Early Empire, the closingyears of which were, as we have seen above, marked by
strife

and

civil

war, caused by the persistent attempts

of the princes of Thebes, a city hitherto

Egyptian history,

to

The result is
which we possess is

Lands.

obtain the mastery of the

in

Two

that the knowledge of this period

of the scantiest description, but

the principal facts of which

theories

unknown

we can be

certain,

upon which most reliance can be

be found to have been given above.

and the

placed, will

*77

CHAPTER

VII.

THE MIDDLE EMPIRE.

THE ELEVENTH DYNASTY. EEOM THEBES.

We

have already mentioned that under the rule of

Xth Dynasty,

the kings of the

i.e.,

Ka-meri-Ra and his

predecessors, the princes of Siut formed a bulwark of

kings

the

at

Herakleopolis

against

attacks of the princes of Thebes.

the

This

persistent

which

city,

is

generally alluded to in the inscriptions of the period

as the " city of the south,"

now

into prominence, and prepares to

position which

it

comes

for the first time

assume the predominant

occupied in Egyptian history for more

than two thousand years.

Ancient Thebes stood on

both sides of the Nile, and was commonly called "Uast

that part of the city which was situated on the

east bank,

and which included the temples of Karnak and

nn
Luxor, appears to have been called Apet,

whence, by the addition of the feminine

k^.

>

II.

(ix.

381

article

comes the Greek form of the name,

mentioned in the Iliad of Homer

VOL.

if.),

Ta-,

Gr//3ai,

a passage

THE RISE AND GROWTH OF THEBES

178

which must

The Copts

B.C.

the latest, from the

elate, at

prefixed the feminine article to the

name Apet, and

called the city

Tape, which

a corruption of the Greek form, but

is

"

No"

"city," that
"

and

No- Anion,"

is to say,

the later Greek and

and

the Egyptian word "Nut,"

the

i.e.,,

call it Ni'

"The City" par

is to say,

^^ J, that

i.e

not

The cuneiform

and the Hebrew Scriptures

(Ezekiel xxx. 14),

is

derived directly

from the old Egyptian words Ta-apet.

inscriptions

IXth century

excellence;

" Nut- Amen,"

Egyptian

"The City of the god Amen";

Eoman

writers call

it

Diospolis, or

Diospolis Magna, because of the identification of the

god Zeus with Amen, the king of the gods of Egypt.

It

is

impossible

to

Diodorus says that

Egypt

some say

it

far,

however,

any inscription

was the most ancient

that, like

Menes, and others, that

So

when Thebes was founded.

say

Memphis,

it

city in

was founded by

was a colony from Memphis.

it

name has never been found in

anterior to the Xth Dynasty.
The
its

spot upon which ancient Thebes stood

is

admirably

The mountains on
the east and west side of the river sweep away from
it, and leave a broad plain on each bank of several
The great god of Thebes was
square miles in extent.

adapted for the

called

great city.

site of a

"Amen,"(l

mean the "hidden god"

*fl,

his

name which

name

is

is

said

to

mentioned in the

religious texts of the Vltli Dynasty, but only as an

inferior deity,

who occupied an unimportant

position in

AMEN OR AMEN-RA

179

the theological conceptions of the priests of Heliopolis.

Originally he was of far less importance in the country
of the south than Min, or

and Menthn

Amsu, the ithyphallic

Horns

Hermonthis, and

of

god,

Edfu.

of

Under the Xlth Dynasty, when the Theban princes

first

assumed the rank and

kings,

titles of

he

first

acquired as the local god of their city a position of

prominence, which was almost equal to that of the old

god of the Thebaid, Menthu,

local

of the

Xlth Dynasty

whom

the princes

Under the

specially venerated.

Xllth Dynasty Amen became the chief god

of the

Thebaid, and the cult of Menthu declined, the chief

attributes of this

whom
less

Min, or

identified.

god being absorbed by Amen, with

Amsu, was

also

The kings

of

founded a shrine in honour of

now

called

gradually more
the

Amen

Xllth Dynasty

in a part of

Thebes

Karnak, and from this time down to the

Temple of Amen

Ptolemaic period the

centre of the religious

life

chief god of

Egypt by

became

of all Egypt.

XVIIIth Dynasty Amen usurped the

the

Under the

position of the

entirely absorbing the

god Ra,

becoming henceforth Amen-Ra, and taking over

and the whole of his cult;

his attributes

onwards his

title

official

is

often mentioned under the

cult of their son

the time of the

The

princes

of the

of

Mut

His wife

Xllth Dynasty, but the

Khonsu remained unimportant

XXth

all

from now

"Amen-Ra, king

gods, lord of the thrones of the world.'"'

is

or

until

Dynasty.

Thebes who

fought

against

the

PRINCE ANTEFA

l80

princes of Siut like theni bore the title of " erpa ha,"

who

is

=^

or " hereditary chief."

known

One

of these princes

and who may very well have been

to us,

a contemporary of

the princes

Siut whose names

of

have been mentioned above, bore the name of Antefa,

A

was the

known which

It is not

I,

first

assume the

to

South and North," but

it is

of the group of kings, of

title

of his successors
of "

King

of the

probable that he was one

whom

each bore the name of

Menthu-hetep, whose reigns must be assigned to the

Xlth Dynasty.

The

authorities for the reconstruction

of the history of this dynasty are few,

drawn up

Lists

almost entirely

in the

fail us.

Karnak and Sakkara

and the King-

XVIIIth and XlXth Dynasties

For this period the Tablets of

are useless, for

though they supply

the names of kings of the Xlth, Xllth, and following

Dynasties, these names are not given in any consecutive
order,

and to follow the guidance of the Lists here

be misled.

been generally held that a

It has

kings, each of

whom

bore the

name

of Antef,

is to

series
l\

of
,

which name was sometimes elaborated into Antef-aa,

<-=*,

formed,

together

with the

series

of

Menthu-hetep kings already mentioned, the kings of

the

Xlth Dynasty

but there seems

now

to be

no doubt

that this arrangement of the kings of that dynasty

erroneous.

It is certain that the

belong to the Xlth Dynasty, but

is

Menthu-hetep kings
it

is

by no means

THE PRENOMENS OF THE ANTEF KINGS

that

certain
reasons.

Antef kings

the

In the

first place,

which the Antefs bore

e.g.,

the prenomens, or names

Seshes-her-her-maat-Ka

the Horus

name

South and North,

as kings of the

and Seshes-ap-maat-Ka

the following-

for

do,

"^

3^

and

Y ,

Heru-uah-ankh, v\

of

l8l

are

entirely different in character from the simple preno-

mens

of

(^37 ^n]'

such

Menthu-heteps,

the

anc^

Neb-kheru-Ka

Ra-neb-taui

^3^1

are of the type of the

J;

as

"s37

Neb-hetef

==

jL

and whereas the

and
latter

names of the kings of the Early

Empire, the prenomens of the Antefs strongly resemble

those of the kings

of the

Xlllth Dynasty, and are

name belonging to the Early Empire,

or to the first years of the Xllth Dynasty.
Further,
some of the Antefs added to their names the epithet

utterly unlike any

" aa,"
in

^=>, " Great," which was an important element

the prenomens of the Hyksos monarchs, and was

adopted by the "

Taa "

kings of the

and was not fashionable

at

XVIIth Dynasty,

any other period.

reason for assigning the Antef

Another

kings to the period

between the Xlllth and XVIIth Dynasties may per-

haps be deduced

from

the

shape of

their

coffins.

Under the Early and Middle Empires rectangular

wooden coffins with flat wooden covers were in general

THE SCARABS OF THE ANTEFS

l82

use for nobles and

a coffin
face is

made

known

men

of high rank,

in the shape of a

and no example of

mummy

to belong to these early periods

Antef kings were buried in

mummy

form

first

is

but the

coffins of this latter class

The

not in the old-fashioned rectangular chests.

in

human

with a

and

coffin

found in general use at the

beginning of the period of the XVIIIth Dynasty, and

it

somewhat

is

difficult to

assume that the

coffins in

which the Antefs were found do not belong

period immediately preceding.

may

It

rwn |$

Nub-kheperu-Eci,

is

the

further be noted

that the style of the scarabs of the Antefs,

(

to

much more

e.g.,

of

elaborate

than that of the scarabs of the Menthu-heteps, which

resemble those of the Early Empire.

must be taken into consideration the

Finally, there

fact that a decree

dated in the 3rd year of Nub-kheperu-Ka Antef

on a doorway of Usertsen

I.,

is

cut

king of the Xllth

Dynasty, at Coptos, which proves that JSTub-kheperu-Ka

Antef reigned

made

after

to explain

An

attempt has been

this deduction

by supposing that

Usertsen

away

the existing inscription

is

I.

a copy of the original decree

cut in or after the time of Usertsen, but

it is

extremely

improbable that such a copy would have been inscribed

in such a place.

The above reasons seem

sufficient for placing the

Antef kings

at the

to us to be

beginning

XVIIth Dynasty, but because general Egyptological tradition assigns them to the Xlth Dynasty, we
treat of their reigns here before we discuss the kings
of the

THE ANTEF-AA KINGS

who undoubtedly belong

the

to

183

The

Xlth Dynasty.

to the

names of the kings which should be transferred

XYIIth Dynasty

are as follows

m (ana era

SESHESH-HER-HER-MAA.T,
Sun, Antef-aa

SOn

Ki the

of

(I).

n
^ G S ^1
> GfXID^ CUE]
2

Son

'

Ra seshes
-

Antef-aa

im [ ^ j]

*2~

of tlie

>

-AP- Maat, son of the

Sun,

(III.).

^J

Antef-aa

Sun Antef-aa

Son

of

tlie

Sun

'

with the Horus

(IV.),

name Uah-ankh.

if

kheperu, son of the Sun, Antef,

with

the

Horus name Nefer-

KHEPERU.

Of Antef-aa
coffin,

which

is

this coffin is

black,

and

Birch,

who

it

I.

onlv

monument known

preserved in the

made
is

of wood,

Museum of

the face

it

and translated

is

his

the Louvre;

being painted

ornamented with feather work.

described
1

the

Dr.

the hieroglyphic

Aegyptisclie Zeitschrift, 1869, p. 52.

THE COFFIN OF ANTEF-AA

184

texts inscribed

upon

it,

II.

thought that the cartouche and

name had been added at a period subsequent

The texts contain addresses
lines of inscription.

the royal
to the

to the deceased

king in the character of Osiris.

Of Antef-aa
his coffin,

II.

is

which resembles that of his brother Antef-aa I.

shape and character, but

in

monument known

also the only

of ornamentation

of being

instead

design of coloured feather work

It also is

inscription

to Anubis, lord of Sepa,

upon

in respect

covered with a
all over.

of the Louvre.

contains a prayer

it

/t<

it

gilded

it is

Museum

preserved in the

The hieroglyphic

from

differs

and mentions

the fact that the coffin was provided for Antef-aa II. as

k,f K^
n

it Isis

"

We

n /WWV\
V

v&

place our arms as protectors of thee,

Of Antef-aa
monument is his
British

Museum

II est

III.

Osiris,

king

the

contemporaneous

principal

gilded coffin, which

(No. 6652).

The

is

preserved in the

uraeus, or serpent,
is

wanting.

dore et decore d'ailes qui enveloppent et protegent le

corps du defunt."
2

On

which originally surmounted the forehead

"

and Nephthys address the deceased king, saying,

Antef-aa mad-kheru."

k^.

Pierret, Recueil, p. 86.

Birch, ibid., p. 52.

These words are always added after the names of the blessed
They mean the state of knowledge which will enable a man
to utter commands, whatever they may be, in such a manner as
will cause them to be carried out by those to whom they are
addressed, whether gods or devils.
dead.

THE COFFIN OF ANTEF-AA

The

face appears to be a portrait of the deceased

made

eyes and eyelids are

limestone

work and

istic of

the period of the

to

star

Nephthys, and read

"we

by the

"We

did for Osiris, and

thy heart

"burial;

Nephthys."

desses say, "

" thee,

is

The

coffins.

king

the

inscriptions are

goddesses Isis

and

bring thy hands to thee as

we grant UDto thee a happy

in

thy body, say

In the inscription

We

The

dynasties.

earliest

ornaments appear to be character-

feather

addresses

the

and blue

of black, white,

the

of

statues

closely resemble those found in the

and

obsidian, inlaid,

"

185

III.

at the

Isis

and

foot the god-

come, and we embrace thy bones for

Antef-aa, thou king of the South and North."

In the Abbott Papyrus (British Museum, No. 10,221)

we have

a reference to the tomb of this king, which was

examined

officially

during the

royal tombs at Thebes to see

been done to

it

the robbers of the

what damage,

if

any,

is

the following entry

pyramid tomb (mer T 1\ <z=> A

" South, Ea-seshes-em-apu-Maat

"the son of the Sun, Antuf-aa

" The

of the king of the

(life,

(life,

strength, health!),

strength, health

" was found to have been actually broken into

"

hand of the robbers

"pyramid is placed.
" day

" not

it

was found

know how
1

had

by them, and in the document which

records the examination

"

trial of

to

at the place

where the

by the

stele of the

Having been examined on

to be intact, for

make

way

into it."

!),

this

the robbers did

l

From

See Maspero, Enqiiete Judiciaire, Paris, 1871,

p. 17.

this it

ANTEF-AA

l86

IV.

AND HIS DOG BEHUKA

seenis that the robbers tried to effect

and that they did some damage

side of the stele,

evident from

an entry by the

the

nse

of

the

word utennu

in

is

the

inscription.

The name of Antef-aa IV. as king of the Sonth and

North is unknown to us. The tomb of this king is
mentioned in the Abbott Papyrus, where we have the
following entry
" An[tef]aa

(life,

"

!),

of the king of the South,

strength, health

" to the north of the

" health

The tomb

!),

which

Temple of Amen-hetep

of the court-yard of the tomb.

" been broken into at the place

" position,

"

The tomb hath

The image

stele is represented in

^^^v^V' between

" been examined on this day,

strength,

which faceth that wherein

and be hath his dog, which

[situated]

(life,

" the sepulchral stele hath been set up.

"the king on the

is

it

is

of

a standing

called

his legs.

was found to be

Behuka,

Having
intact."

This king built for himself a brick tomb on the western

bank of the
opposite

Nile, at a place

it

of the site is

Drah abu'l-Nekka.

unbaked brick pyramid, each

the modern

Vftv

aa/naaa

6>V
^

f]
f

ruin."
2

Maspero,

op. cit., p. 16.

which m eans

name

This tomb consisted

side of

base did not measure more than about

i

almost exactly

was discovered by the

Brugsch Pasha in the year 1860

of an

is

the modern village of Karnak, and not far

from Der al-Bahari, and here

late

which

which at the

fifty feet.

The

"to overthrow," "to

THE STELE OF ANTEF-AA

187

IV.

pyramid was built on the rock, and the chamber in

which the

mummy

hewn

lay was

either out of the rock

of the stone foundations of the

entirely, or partly out

The tombs

pyramid and partly out of the rock.

class

and period which were made

for the Antefs

their immediate successors consisted of

buildings,

of this

and

unbaked brick

which were either pyramids or had pointed

In a chamber in the building

roofs like pyramids.

itself,

or in a grave in the foundation or solid rock, lay the

mummy

on one side of the building was the funeral

chapel,

which joined on to

chapel,

fixed

sepulchral stele

made by the

the

in
;

it,

and

at the

tomb-building

end of this

was

itself,

the

in this chapel funeral offerings were

relatives

and prayers were

and priests of the deceased king,

said.

Sepulchral buildings of this

kind were not oriented on any uniform plan, and they

were rarely as much as thirty-five

feet high,

and stone

was used but sparingly in their construction.

mummy-chamber was always

carefully closed,

The

and was

usually approached by means of a square vertical or

inclined shaft; in the

of funeral furniture,
bread, fruit,

etc.,

mummy-chamber itself the objects

i.e.,

vases, tools, weapons, wheat,

were deposited, and such things have

never been found in the upper or outer chamber of the

building,
to

which was reserved

for the visitors

pray there on certain prescribed days.

The
1

Stele

of Antef-aa

IV.,

to

who came

which reference

See Mariette, Trans. Soc. Bill. Arch., vol.

iv. p. 194.

is

THE HUNTING DOGS OF ANTEF-AA

l88

made

in the

IV.

Abbott Papyrus, was found by Brugsch in

the upper chamber of the tomb, and

The upper part

able interest.

of very consider-

is

of the stele

was broken

away, as well as parts of the seven vertical lines of inscription

which were cut

In front of the

tween his legs

9

left

leg of the king are three dogs, and be-

another.

is

<g\

to the left of the figure of the king.

^>3

The first dog is called Behukaa,

which

is

clearly the

dog referred

to in the

Abbott Papyrus, although his name

by the

spelled

XXth Dynasty

occupy the position which

He

report.

tomb

mis-

and he does not

assigned to

him

in the legal

was probably the most famous of the dogs

of Antef-aa IV.,

the

is

scribe,

is

and by his name and peculiarity enabled

to be at once recognized.

called Abaqeru,

^\

The second dog

<r^> <^-3

2
,

is

the third'Pehetes,

V-?, and the dog between the legs of the king Teqru

ru-

J=&

^=S> behind the king stands the

whose name seems

to

have been Tekenru,

figure of a

^3^

<z^> ^v\

/WW\A

and who probably held the

hounds.

stele

of master of the royal

which probably

powers and characteristics

"Mahetch" the

21

Three of the dogs have epithets applied to

them on the

office

man

third "

refer to their physical

thus the

Qemu" and

Birch, Trans. 80c. Bill. Arch., vol.

first is

said to be

of the fourth

it is

said

iv. p. 174.

M. Maspero compares this word with the Berber name for

greyhound, " abaikour" ; Trans. Soc. Bibl. Arch., vol. v. p. 127.

ashur-bani-pal's hunting dogs

" uhat neb khanfet"

we

but the meanings of these words

In connection with the dogs of Antef-aa

are uncertain.

IV.

i8g

are reminded of the fact that fine terra-cotta

models of Ashur-bani-pal's dogs were found, with the

among the

inscribed tablets and fragments

On

king's palace at Kuyunjik, or Nineveh.

name

either a

is

" biter of foes,"

thus

it

or a

"

each dog

"capturer of foes,"

title, e.g.,

making the

ruins of this

evil to

go forth,"

and

appears that the same views in respect of dogs

of the chase were held

The

of Assyria.

inscription

figure of the king

is,

from what remains of

it

vessels of great price,

which accompanies the

has been

as

provided the temple of

of the gods,

by a king of Egypt and a king

said, mutilated,

but

we learn that Antef-aa IV. had

Amen

Thebes with libation

at

and had built up the divine houses

and raised their battlements, and established

and had captured the

offerings in perpetuity,

Abydos, and entered into

its secret

places

city of

having done

According to Dr. Birch, Mahetch means "white antelope";

Qemu, "black"; uhat neb khanfet, "cutting off all under his
1

breath," and Abaqeru, "pied Sphinx."

There

is

no proof that

all

these dogs have Libyan names.

^^

!*-$=

K ^THPHf !** ^T-

the other two dogs are

^J ^||<y

JJ>-J

^tT ^ttJ and t=!T Hf HHMf

tallic-ebush-kaka, and Da-an-ri-gish-shu.

The names

^ ^-

t=T

Ml>

of

J^<|

Le -> Epar

THE TOMBJDF ANTEF

19

great good to his city,

lie

V.

arranged that his son should

succeed him, and the inscription declares that the tablet

was

up

set

in the fiftieth year of the

king of the South

and North, the son of the Sun, An-aa,

Following the royal name is the title

I,

i.e.,

i.e.,

"

Antef-aa. 1

nem mestu,"

"repeater of births," the allusion being to

the idea that the king was like the Sun-god

was reborn daily;

this title

Ka who

became a great favourite

with the kings of the Xllth Dynasty.

Of Antef
this

V., the last of the series of kings bearing

name, we

have

also

mention

the

in

Papyrus, where we find the following entry

"tomb

of the king of the South,

" strength, health

" health

!),

!),

Nub-kheperu-Ka

son of the Sun, Antuf

was found

to

Abbott

" The

(life,

(life,

strength,

have been actually broken into

"

by the hand of the robbers, who have made a breach in

"the outer covering thereof to a depth of two cubits
" and a half, and also an opening one cubit (in length or
" breadth) in the outer hall of the

tomb

of Aurei, the

" chief of the supply of offerings to the temple of

"

which was destroyed.

Amen,

mummy-chamber)
" was intact, the robbers not having known how to force
" an entrance therein." 2 The tomb of this king was discovered by Mariette, who found in front of it two small
obelisks, one of

the other a
1

little

drawing of the

Maspero,

(i.e.,

the

which was about eleven

higher, and
stele is given

plate 49.
2

It

op. cil., p. 17.

feet high,

who mentions

and

that there

by Mariette, Monuments Divers,

THE OBELISKS OF ANTEF

igi

V.

was upon one of them an inscription which recorded

their restoration

by a

The remains of the

the Bulak Museum
were

lost

at

later king,

to

in 1881, but, according to Mariette,

Kamula by

From

by boat

obelisks were despatched

the foundering of the boat

which contained them, owing

captain.

perhaps Kameses IX. 1

the

to the stupidity of the

on

inscriptions

these

obelisks,

which were published by Mariette, we learn that the

Horns name of Antef was Nefer-kheperu, and that he

adopted the old

V\, and

called

himself

" beautiful god, lord of the two lands, the lord

making

things

"

(i.e.,

title

creation),

also

"

and the

King

On

and North who resteth upon his throne."

of

one of the obelisks his names

grouped,

and

interesting

the

The

of this king Antef

text of

the

of

ac-

dated in

decree

year

third

were

by the

companying block.
an

the side

titles

shown

as

South

of the

was

reign

cut,

ap-

parently during his lifetime, upon

the

side

of

gateway of the

temple which was

dedicated

to

the god Min, or Amsu, at Coptos

Names and titles

by Usertsen L, and from

of

Antef.

gam some

a matter which took place

1

See Mariette,

op. cit., p. 16.

it

we

.,

interesting details of

concerning the
Op.

cit.,

Temple

plate 50.

THE TEMPLE OF AMSU AT COPTOS

ig2

Amsu

of

that

in

from

gather

Usertsen

after

an

it

and

not

also

Antef reigned

that

indication

I.,

may perhaps

and we

city,

been

has

as

before,

The decree is dated on the

the third month of the season Pert,

commonly supposed.
25th day of

and

described as a royal decree addressed to the

is

and

chancellor

^? _M^ o~=^

and

\t\

ha

priest

the royal son in command at

AMAM
AAAAAA
and to the chancellor

to

i'

Coptos Qa-enen

Menkhet

Amsu

^Sp, and

temple Nefer-hetep-ur

7)

and to

The

"you

to

text

"

know
hath made

" scribe and divine chancellor of

"

the soldiers

man employed

in the

This decree cometh unto

cause you to

"strength, health!)

all

the

of

scribe

rank and grade whatso-

service of the temple of every

continues

the

to

of Coptos, and to each and every

ever.

Amsu-em-hat,

Coptos

of

that
to

my

Majesty

(life,

come [unto you] the

Amen

Amen-sa,

[called]

and the chief inspector Amen-user to make an inspec-

" tion of the temple of

Amsu.

" officer of the

temple of

my father Amsu came

" Majesty

strength, health!), saying, 'A wicked act 1

"

'

"

"

'

(life,

Now, inasmuch

hath been committed in the temple, that

the

man whose name

is

hath received an enemy

unto

my

is to say,

Teta, the son of Amsu-hetep,

[therein],' come,

" upon the ground in the temple of father

as an

Literally " evil speech "

^&J

throw ye him

Amsu, turn ye

f\

^s*'

THE DECREE OF ANTEF AT COPTOS

B.C. ?]

" liini out of the exalted position

" temple,

and

[his] son's son,

I93

which he holdeth in the

and his

offspring's offspring.

" Hurl ye them forth on the ground [outside the temple],

" let his allowance of bread be taken

away from him,

"his portion of meat from the holy offerings-be cut

" and let his

name be no more had

in

" this temple, even according to that

"any man who

"

becometh a

" house

off,

remembrance in

which

is

done unto

unto him, and who rebelleth and

is like

Erase ye whatsoever he

foe of the god.

" hath written in the temple of

" likewise

let

Amsu and

everything

which he hath written in the double white

(i.e.,

treasury)

And any king

or

any noble who

" shall allow Teta to be reconciled unto him shall never

" receive the

White Crown

and shall never bear [on

"his head] the Ked Crown \/ and he shall never take

,

" his seat

"live;

upon the Horus throne of the divine ones who

and the Vulture goddess (Nekhebet) and the

" Uraeus goddess (Uatchet) shall never be propitiated by

"him

[or

show him]

" ha prince

who

their love.

shall

come

And

to the

every governor or

Lord

(life,

strength,

"health!) to sue for peace on his behalf shall be com" pelled to

make over

his menservants and maidservants,

" and his goods and possessions, and his fields as a divine

"oblation to father
" lifetime of

such a

Amsu of Coptos, and during the

man none of the kinsfolk, either of

"his father or of his mother, shall occupy that exalted

"position.

And, moreover, the dignity [which Teta

" held] shall be transferred to the chancellor

vol.

11.

and overo

THE DEPOSITION OF TETA

IQ4
" seer of

tlie

" given unto

" offerings

palace,

[B.C.?

Amsu-em-hat, and there

him the bread and the meat

sliall

be

of the holy

which appertain thereunto according

to the

"regulations which stand written in the books of the

" temple of father

" son,

and unto his

Amsu

of Coptos,

and unto

offspring's offspring."

[his] son's

Whether the

committed by the delinquent was connected

offence

with blasphemy or with rebellious conduct against the

king cannot be

said,

but

it

seems much more likely that

Teta had made cause with a heretic than with a mere

of the king

enemy

expulsion from the service of the

temple, with the consequent loss of rank, position, and

emoluments accruing therefrom, was a meet punish-

ment

for

blasphemy or

probable that the priest

heresy,

who

and

seems most

it

uttered words of treason

or the like against the divine majesty of the king of

the South and North would have swiftly received the

punishment of death and not a mere deprivation of

In connection with king Antef

priestly office.
also be

Dirge,

may

mentioned the poem of lamentation, or Maneros's

which

is

said to have been [written] in front of

the harper in the temple of the blessed king Antef.

The

ideas set forth in this interesting composition are

as follows
"

" It is a fortunate lot for

been decreed that as one

1

and
2

The

slab bearing this decree

the text is given

See Herodotus

by

is

man

man hath
now

in the

is

it

hath

passed away

Museum

at Gizeh,

Petrie, Koptos, plate 8.

II. 79.

This dirge was said to have been called

after Maneros, a son of the first king of Egypt,

early youth, and

that

who

died in his

analogous to the Cyprian Linos, or Ailinos dirge.

THE LAMENT OF THE HARPER

B.C.?]

" another hath taken his place.

195

The gods who

lived in

" olden times and

" saints

who now rest in their tombs, and the

and blessed dead who lie in their graves, built

" houses, but they no longer exist, and

"

come of them

" I-em-hetep

" their places

The

writer hath heard the words of

and Herutataf, 2 but what hath become of

Their walls are overthrown, and their

"places no longer
" never been

what hath be-

exist,

and they are as

if

they had

and no one corneth [from the dead]

to give

" us information concerning them, or to speak of their

" qualities, or to bring comfort to our heart and to lead
" us

unto the place whither they have gone.

" thy heart be at rest,

and

let it forget these things,

" follow thou its desires as long as

" scented unguents

But

thou

let

and

Put
upon thy head, and array thyself in
livest.

" apparel of the finest byssus cloth which hath been

" steeped in the choicest perfumes.

Go

and enjoy

on,

" thyself

more than thou hast enjoyed thyself up to

"present, and let not thine appetite for enjoyments

"and according
" thine affairs
"

this
fail,

to the dictates of thine heart arrange

upon

this earth in such a

way

that thou

mayest follow after the wish of thine heart and the

" gratification thereof.

"

thou wilt

The day will come to thee when

not hear the voice, and when he whose heart

"is at rest shall not hear the voice of those

" and lamentations avail not
1

A man

of great learning

him that

is

who weep

in the tomb.

who nourished during

the period of

the Early Empire.

2

The son

of

Khufu

or of Men-kau-Ra, the editor or author of

certain chapters of the Book of the Dead.

PRINCE Antefa

ig6
"

Enjoy

thyself,

man

" no

and be diligent

[B.C. ?

in thine enjoyment, for

can carry his possessions away with him; and

" behold, none

The above

who goeth

ideas,

different words,

expressed in

with the

great favourites

reproduced in

thither cometli back again."

the

Egyptians,

were

and they are

Song of the Harper

and other

similar compositions. 3

The above four kings who bore the name of Antef-aa,

and their successor Nub-kheperu-Ba Antef, form, as we
have said before, a single group of kings, the date of whose
reigns
lies

is to

be assigned probably to the period which

We

between the Xlllth and XVIIth Dynasties.

known of the reigns of

the Xlth Dynasty.
The

have now to describe what

is

the undoubted true kings of

founder of the Dynasty was, most probably, the local

chief of the

Thebai'd

Antefa, whose titles were " erpa

ha," or hereditary chief, "great prince of the

11

the Thebaic!, the

" the

filler (i.e.,

nome

the satisfier) of the heart of

king, the controller of the gates of the Cataract,

" the support of the South, making his two banks

1

of

See Goodwin, Trans.

Soc. Bill. Arch.,

vol.

iii.

p.

386; and

torn.

edition of the Egyptian text

and a German translation

fasc. 2, p. 178

ff.

of

the latest

Maspero, Etudes Egyptiennes,

i.

will be

found in Miiller, Die Liebespoesie cler alten Aegypter, p. 29.

2
A complete drawing of the stele will be found in Mariette,

Monuments Divers, plate 50.

3
The title "neb taui," ^=^
"lord of the two
always means the two banks of the Nile, and here the
emphasized by the determinative 3=r
the title should
c
tinguished from "neb taiu "
= "lord of
v.
y ^=

^=

>

i.e.,

of the world.

lands,"
fact

is

be dislands,"

MENTHU-HETEP

B.C. ?]

"

Nile to

tlie

live, chief of

I97

I.

the priests, and venerated in the

" presence of the great god, 1 the lord of heaven, Antefa."

jK&p^^

<=>

(ft

o=k

Sli'flMTS-kl!

lllllllll

On his
we

stele

see this prince seated in a shrine on a chair, beneath

which

him

is

is

him,

is

his favourite dog.

making

offerings,

One man standing

another,

we

stands behind

fanning him, and a third, also behind him,

holding his staff and his sandals.

stele

who

before

see servants slaughtering

offerings of all kinds to him.

is

Elsewhere on the

an animal and bringing

Antefa seems to have

ruled the Thebaid under theHerakleopolite kings of the

Xth Dynasty, and

it

was either he or one of his

immediate descendants who assumed the

title

of king,

although there seems to be no authority for putting his

name in a cartouche. Antefa was succeeded in the rule

of Upper Egypt and of the whole country by an
independent king called

1-

H} f ^ "ri

^ S ^1

Neb-hetep, son of the

Sun, Menth-hetep.

the god Osiris.

For the enumeration of them see Wiedemann, Aeg.
I.e.,

p. 225.

Gescli.,

ig8

WORKS OF MENTHU-HETEP II. AT HAMMAMAT

Menthu-hetep
j^P

title

[B.C.?

adopted the ancient

I.

which had been borne by his

predecessors of the Early Empire, and for

his

Horns name he arrogated

title " divine white

the

H
theHOTus

crown," which he

a l so placed before his title of

'

He

South and North.

MentS-Vetep

to himself

King

of the

carried on works in

the quarries in the First Cataract and also

Wadi Hammamat,

in the

for his

names and

titles are

On

the Island

found at those places cnt in the rocks.

Kunnssaw

of

in the First Cataract his cartouche

is

found inscribed above figures of the deities Khnemu,

Amsu, and Satet, and enough remains of the

tions to show that these gods promised to
lands under his

"foreign

island his cartouche

is

On

sandals."

inscripset

all

same

the

found with figures of the deities

Menthu, Amsu, and Net, or Neith, and beneath the

of

feet

Amsu

bows

are piled fifteen

to indicate the

various barbarian countries which these

make
a

is

subject unto the king.

dual god

the

act

of

Amsu-Heru

The working
that he must

of the

making

an

will

Hammamat

on a rock, in which the king

scene

sented in

In the Wadi

deities

is

offering

repreto

the

of the double city of Coptos.

quarries

by

this king

indicates

have built temples in honour of the

gods.

ii.

Copies
150.

of

the

three

scenes

are

iu

Lepsius,

Denkmiiler,

B.C. ?]

AMEN-EM-HAT THE MINING ENGINEER

taui, son of the Sun,

Menthu-hetep.

Menthu-hetep

II.

of the ancient kings,

and

for his

titles

Horns
title

"lord of the two lands "; he was the

first

king known to us to
of

Menthu-hetep

adopted the

name he bestowed upon himself the

Neb-taui, the

Horusnameof

igg

gold,"

'

11^
I

himself "gods

call

Of the

details

of

the

H^OTi

reign of this king nothing

known, and

is

whether he fought with any of Egypt's hereditary foes

cannot be said

we know, however, that he

carried on

Wadi Harn-

great works in the famous quarries in the

marnat, for no less than six important inscriptions con-

cerning him were found 'there. 1

official called

Amen-em-hat, whose

He

sent a very high

titles are set forth at

great length in an inscription dated on the 15th day of the

second month of the season Shat in the second year of

the king's reign, 3 to this quarry to bring back for him a

huge sarcophagus and blocks of stone

objects

worked into

to be

employed in temples and tombs

one block of

stone which he got out of the quarry in a few days

measured 4 x 8 x 2

cubits,

'

TTif

Of greater
1

<=^>

mi

<z^>
_

Mil.
D

interest is the record preserved in another

Lepsius, Denkmaler,

ii.

149.

Ibid., inscription

e.

MENTHU-HETEP

200

to

make

how

tells

workmen and

The year

thirst.

was done

of cutting the well

several thousands of men,

in

might not

or boatmen.

he was " born

/www

o a\

II

die of

work

seems most likely

was superintended by

It is interesting to note

of
A

thousand

including three

same inscription Menthu-hetep

the

that

it

Amen-em-hat, especially as he had with him

official

carriers

n <=>

this useful piece of

not mentioned, but

is

work

that the

'
I

their beasts

which

in

men

the king ordered his

a well ten cubits square

so that the

the

which

inscription

[B.C. 2533

III.

the

royal

v\

lb,

Wiedemann pointed out

mentions

II.

mother Amam,"
a fact

which,

1884, indicates

in

that

as

that he

succeeded to the throne by virtue of the royal rank of

Menthu-hetep was a devoted worshipper

his mother.
of

Amsu, and

is

represented in

in a rock scene in the

incense

to

plumes

like the

raised;

this

this

king's reign

the
god,

act

of

who

is

same place he

making an

offering

ithyphallic,

and wears

of

god Amen, and has his right hand

took place in the

when a Set

second year of the

or thirty-years' festival

was

celebrated.

3.

jffiffa

^=^

son of the Sun,

1

N^

'

PvA-NEB-KHEKU,

Menthu-hetep.

Lepsius, Denhnaler, inscription

/,

lines 3

and

4.

B.C. 2533]

THE PYRAMID OF MENTHU-HETEP

201

III.

Menthu-hetep III., who adopted

his Horus name the title " Uniter of
two lands/' and,

like his

for

the

two predecessors,

styled himself the lord of the cities of the

Nekhebet and Uatchet, was the

shrines of

Horus name

name

of

Menthu-hetep
ni.

Meru

of all the kings

greatest

tmiTt

Sam-taui, the

who bore

-i

that his rule was a long

his

one
..

is
_

evident from the fact that the btele oi

in Turin

is

dated in the forty-sixth year of his

The names and titles of Menthu-hetep III.

2
as king of all Egynt are found upon a rock at Aswan,
and as his prenomen is given on the Tablets of Abydos
and Sakkara the scribes of the XlXth Dynasty must

reign.

have considered him

to

He was

be a great king.

buried in a pyramid tomb, or in a tomb with a roof

pointed like a pyramid, which was built in the Biban

Tombs of the Kings, at Thebes, and in the

Abbott Papyrus 3 we have the following entry concerning
it
"The tomb of Ra-neb-kkert (life, strength, health !),
al-Muluk, or

"the son of the Sun, Menthu-hetep

"health!),
" Tchesert,

of

which

was

is

in the funeral

intact."

The name

mountain called

of the pyramid

Menthu-hetep III. was "Khu-ast,"

which we learn from the funeral

strength,

(life,

^^

stele of

jj

tomb

a fact

one Tetu, who

was the "chief reader," and "superintendent of the

offerings,"

and a scribe connected with the worship

1

Wiedemann,

See Lepsius, op.

Maspero, Enquete Judiciaire,

op. cit., p. 226.

cit.,

p. 149&.
p. 21.

MENTHU-HETEP

202

which took place there

of the king
at

[B.C. 2533

III.

Tetu was buried

Abydos, 1 and in a short inscription

in.

his

tomb he

asks every priest, and every reader, and every scribe of

the temple to remember that he was a scribe in the

In his later years Menthu-hetep III.

temple there.

war against a number of

carried on

tribes

who

lived in

Nubia, and also in the Western Desert, and before his

death his empire extended from the sea-coast on the
north to a point some considerable distance to the south

An

Aswan.

of

interesting scene

in

which he

presented receiving the homage or adoration of

of the Sun, Antef,"
of the road

is

a" son

found cut on a rock on the side

which leads inland from Hosh Gebel

on the Nile.

is re-

Here we have a

Silsila

colossal standing figure

and a

of the king holding a club in the right hand,

sceptre in the left

above his head are his Horus name

and his name as king of the South and North.

Before

him stands the royal personage

who

called Antef,

is

followed by Khati, the chancellor, and overseer of the

seal
(1

and behind him

and a

a who
}

is

the

divine

mother Aahet,

holds a lotus flower in the right hand,

staff in the left. 2

To the

reign of Menthu-hetep III. belongs the famous

inscribed stele of Maati-sen, or Merti-sen,

Wiedemann,

op.

cit.,

p.

227;

Mariette, Catalogue, No. 605,

p. 135.
2

First published

by Eisenlohr from a drawing by Harris

Proc. Soc. Bill. Arch., 1881, p. 100.

in

THE SCULPTOR MERTI-SEN

B.C. 2533]

an

and sculptor of great

artist

we may

believe

artistic

powers.

The

several

times/

day,

if

and

skill

own

his

and repute in his

description

considerable

of

interest,

shows that the kingdom of Egypt was

it

consolidated to

and

artists

of his

has been published

inscription
is

203

for

sufficiently

admit of the employment of skilled

Maati-sen says, "I know the

sculptors.

things

of sacred

and

the regu-

'

secret

'

lations of the festivals,

which a man should be provided therefor; I have never

literature,

and every word of power with

workman

'

put them away from me.

'

skilled in

'

hath risen above

'

cerning the water flood [of the Nile], and of the rising

'

of the scales in

'

how

I am, moreover, a

who by

reason of his knowledge

[all others].

I have knowledge con-

his craft,

making reckoning by weighing, and

to depict the

motion of a limb when

it is

extended

know [how to depict] the

man, and the way in which a woman beareth

and withdrawn to

its place.

'

gait of a

'

herself,

'

abodes of the Monster, and

'

equalled eye which striketh terror into the fiends, and

'

how to balance the arm

and the two arms of Horus, and the twelve

how

to gaze

in such a

way as

with that un-

to smite

down

the hippopotamus, and [how to depict] the stride of him

that runneth.

'

will enable

soever,

'

know how to make the amulets which

us to go unharmed through every fire whatI

and which

will

keep us from being washed away

by any water whatsoever.

1

The text

is

No man

getteth skill in

given with an English version by Maspero

Trans. Soc. Bibl. Arch., vol. v. p. 555

ff.

in

SE-ANKH-KA-RA

204
" tliese

matters except myself and the eldest son of

"body, unto

whom God hath

" advance in them.

"

[B.C. 2500

my

decreed that he should

I have seen the productions of his

two hands and his beautiful work in precious stones of

" every kind,

and in

gold,

w^ fo

and

and in ebony."

in silver,

Lil Ea-se-ankh-ka.

The name of Seankhka-Ea as " son of

the Sun" is unknown, but it has been

conjectured

that

that this

fact.

it

was " Antef," and,

king

Sun

adoring Menthu-hetep III.

the

be

this

Horus name
of

so

not,

is

it

that he was monarch of

Se-ankh-ka-Ra.

we know

that

he

but whether

quite

all

styled

called himself the "

Horus

certain

Egypt, and

himself " lord

Nekhebet and Uatchet

of the shrines of

Abydos

or

"

who is seen
at Hosh Gebel

Silsila as already described

Se-ankh-taui-f,

be identified

is to

with the " son of the

in

"

he also

In the Tablet of

of gold."

Amenemhat I.,
king of the Xlth

his cartouche precedes that of

and he appears
Dynasty.

have been the

to

Of the reign

details, for, like

last

of this king

we have very few

most of his immediate predecessors, he

seems to have taken no special trouble to commemorate

his exploits.

of which has

One very important document,

come clown
1

to us, gives us

Petrie, History, p. 141.

the text

an account of an

HENNU'S EXPEDITION TO PUNT

B.C. 2500]

205

expedition to Punt, which was placed by the king under

Q AAMAA

the direction of a general called Hennu,

this

document

mamat,

and

is
is

\\J

inscribed on a rock in the

Q
nft

Wadi Ham-

dated on the third day of the season

She in the eighth year of the reign of Seankh-ka-Ra.

According to the

Punt

to bring

text,

Hennu was

back the dnti unguent,

which had been collected

spice,

by the

sent to take ships to

'v\

for the

He

set out

or

king of Egypt

who

chiefs of the great tribes of the desert

in fear of hini.

lived

from the town of Coptos

on the Nile, and his majesty ordered him to take with

him armed men from the noine

and a number of skilled

of the Thebaid,

artificers,

who were

also to be

armed in such a way that they would be able

meet

to

and overcome the opposition of any organized force that

might be encountered on the way.

He

started on his

journey with three thousand men, and passed through

Atert-Teshert (Red Town) and Aat-en-Sekhet (House
of the

Wood), by which time he had presumably reached

the desert road of

He

Wadi Hammamat.

next made

ready water-skins and yokes on which to carry them,

and made a regulation whereby each man was

In a wood

his turn in carrying the water for the army.

he dug a reservoir, and at Atahet,

reservoirs, one of
1

(I

<=^a

which measured a hhet

Published in Lepsius, Denhndler,

ii.

to take

v\

two

by twenty
150<x.

HENNU'S EXPEDITION TO PUNT

206
cubits,
(

and the other a khet by thirty cubits

>kV

r^^i

at

Aaheteb,

he also dug a reservoir which measured

At these

ten cubits by ten cubits.

made

drank, and so

[B.C. 2500

their

way

Hennu's troops

wells

to the coast of the

Ked

Sea near the modern Kuser (Kosseir), 1 where goats, and

cows, and oxen were sacrificed as thanksgiving offerings
for their safe arrival.

Punt

for

From

in ships or boats

this place

which he

Hennu

built,

set out

and having

arrived in that country and ladeu his boats with products

of every kind, he sailed back to the port from

had

started,

and coming back by Uak,

Pe-henu, he brought with him blocks of

able for

Hennu

"Jf ]

which he
>

an(l

fine stone suit-

making statues of the gods and of the king.

tells

us that such a thing had never been per-

formed since kings had existed, and that no one who

had been sent

to

these

places,

i.e.,

Punt

and

its

neighbourhood, had ever done the like since the time

of Ea,

meaning that

it

was possible that the gods might

when they were reigning

The
over Egypt, but that no man had ever done so.

have performed such a

feat

above facts are very important as showing that already

Xlth Dynasty the Egyptians had commercial

relations with the country of Punt by sea, and that when it

in the

was necessary they were able

of a considerable

number

to provide for the transport

of men.

It is probable that

Chabas read the name of the place as Sba, and thought the
was the Leukos-Liruen of the classical writers

place referred to
see Voyage, p. 58.

RELATIONS BETWEEN EGYPT AND PUNT 207

B.C. 2500]

Hemra

sent on companies of

ready the reservoirs,

where

it

i.e.,

to

men

in advance, to

make

break up the stone in places

was known by experience that water would be

found beneath the surface, so that by the time when the

main body of his army arrived water would have

A number of such reservoirs are to be

collected in them.

found in many places in the Eastern Desert, especially

in and near the

leading into

it

Wadi

'Ulaki,

and along the desert routes

from the north and south.

There

is

reason to believe that the Egyptians always kept up

friendly relations with Punt.
of this land that in the

history the

It

may have been byway

earliest

dawn

victorious foreigners from

of Egyptian

the East

ap-

proached the place on the western coast of the Ked Sea,

whence they entered the Wadi

Nile Valley.

The

Hammamat and

dnti spice or unguent

prized in Egypt, that

it

was

so

the

much

probably was necessary for

caravans to go once or twice a year to meet boats from

Punt, and exchange and barter must have taken place

between the Egyptians and the people of Punt from the

earliest dynastic times.

on a large
care that

scale,

and

The expedition

this able official,

his skilful conduct of the

recorded.

END OF VOL.

II.

of

Hennu was

no doubt, took

same should be

LONDON
gilbert and rivington, limited
st.

John's house, clerkenwkll, e.c.

BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY

3 9999 06561 189 7

'

/.