Table Of ContentT
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ANCIENT
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Ancient Egypt is well known for its towering monuments and magnificent statuary, but i
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other aspects of its civilization are less well known, especially its written texts. Now
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Texts from the Pyramid Age provides ready access to new translations of a representative
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selection of texts ranging from the historically significant to the repetitive formulae of Texts from the
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the tomb inscriptions from Old Kingdom Egypt (ca. 2700–2170B.C.). These royal and
private inscriptions, coming from both the secular and religious milieus and from all
Pyramid Age
kinds of physical contexts, not only shed light on the administration, foreign expeditions,
and funerary beliefs of the period but also bring to life the Egyptians themselves, revealing
how they saw the world and how they wanted the world to see them. Strudwick’s helpful
introduction to the history and literature of this seminal period provides important
background for reading and understanding these historical texts.
Nigel C. Strudwickis Assistant Keeper, Department of Ancient Egypt and Sudan, at
The British Museum. He has worked in Egypt since 1979, and in the “Tombs of the S
Nigel C. Strudwick
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Nobles” at Luxor since 1984. He is the co-author, with Helen Strudwick, of Thebes in r
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Egypt: A Guide to the Tombs and Temples of Ancient Luxor,and co-editor, with Helen d
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Strudwick,of The Encyclopedia of Ancient Egyptian Architecture.
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Texts from the Pyramid Age
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Society of Biblical Literature
Writings from the Ancient World
Theodore J. Lewis, General Editor
Associate Editors
Edward Bleiberg
Billie Jean Collins
F. W. Dobbs-Allsopp
Edward L. Greenstein
Jo Ann Hackett
Ronald J. Leprohon
Niek Veldhuis
Raymond Westbrook
Number 16
Texts from the Pyramid Age
by Nigel C. Strudwick
Edited by Ronald J. Leprohon
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Texts from
the Pyramid Age
by
Nigel C. Strudwick
Edited by
Ronald J. Leprohon
Society of Biblical Literature
Atlanta
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TEXTS FROM THE PYRAMID AGE
Copyright © 2005
Society of Biblical Literature
All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any
form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and
recording, or by means of any information storage or retrieval system, except as
may be expressly permitted by the 1976 Copyright Act or in writing from the pub-
lisher. Requests for permission should be addressed in writing to the Rights and
Permissions Office, Society of Biblical Literature, 825 Houston Mill Road, Atlanta,
GA 30329 USA.
The Semitica transliteration font used in this work is available from Linguist Software
(www.linguist software.com), 425-775-1130.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Strudwick, Nigel.
Texts from the pyramid age / by Nigel C. Strudwick.
p. cm. — (Writings from the ancient world ; no. 16)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
English translation of Egyptian texts from the Old Kingdom.
ISBN-13: 978-1-58983-138-4 (paper binding : alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 1-58983-138-1 (paper binding : alk. paper)
1. Egypt—History—Old Kingdom, ca. 2686-ca. 2181 B.C.—Sources.
2. Inscriptions, Egyptian—Translations into English. I. Title. II. Series.
DT85.S74 2005
932—dc22
2005016945
13 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05 5 4 3 2 1
Printed in the United States of America on acid-free, recycled paper
conforming to ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992 (R1997) and ISO 9706:1994
standards for paper permanence.
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To the memory of
William J. Murnane
(1945–2001)
Peter J. Strudwick
(1926–2003)
and
Audrey Strudwick
(1926–2004)
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Contents
List of Figures xi
List of Texts xiii
Series Editor’s Foreword xxv
Preface xxvii
Chronological Table xxix
Map of Egypt xxxiii
Abbreviations xxxv
I. Introduction 1
1.Preliminary Remarks 1
1.1 Range of Material Presented 1
1.2 Selection and Presentation Criteria 2
2.Previous Work on Old Kingdom Texts 4
2.1 Collections and Translations of Large Bodies of
Old Kingdom Material 4
2.2 Translations of Egyptian Literature in English
incorporating Some Old Kingdom Texts 5
2.3 The Study of Old Kingdom Texts 6
3.Historical Matters 7
3.1 Outline 7
3.2 Dating Events in the Old Kingdom 10
3.2.1 Methods of Dating Years 10
3.2.2 Sed Festivals 12
3.2.3 The Different Seasons 13
3.3 Royal Names 14
3.4 Dating Private Monuments 16
4.Literary and Linguistic Aspects of Old Kingdom Texts 17
vii
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viii Texts from the Pyramid Age
4.1 The Importance of Context 17
4.2 Are the Texts Herein “Literature”? 19
4.3 Are the Texts in Verse or Prose? 19
4.4 Old Kingdom Egyptian and Its Characteristics 20
4.4.1 Phonetics 21
4.4.2 Writing 22
4.4.3 Grammar 23
4.5 Scripts 24
5.Particular Points of Translation 24
5.1 Grammar 25
5.1.1 Second Tenses 25
5.1.2 The Infinitive 26
5.2 Titles 26
5.2.1 Honorific Titles 26
5.2.2 Administrative Titles 28
5.2.3 Priestly Titles 28
5.2.4 “King’s Son” or “King’s Daughter” 29
5.3 Other Issues 30
5.3.1 imakhu 30
5.3.2 hem 31
5.3.3 The Offering Formula 31
5.3.4 Egyptian Nomes 32
5.3.5 Pyramid Names 33
6.Principal Types of Text Translated in This Volume 33
6.1 Historiographic Texts 34
6.2 Temple Texts 35
6.3 Inscriptions Set Up by or on Behalf of Kings 36
6.3.1 Rock Inscriptions 36
6.3.2 Royal Decrees 37
6.4 State Administrative Texts 39
6.5 Texts from the Tombs of Officials 40
6.5.1 Standard Formulaic Inscriptions in Tombs 40
6.5.2 More Unusual Types of Text in Tombs, Other
Than Biographies 41
6.5.3 Private (Auto)biographical/Commemorative
Texts from Tombs 42
6.5.4 Captions 47
6.5.5 Miscellaneous Texts from Tombs 48
6.6 Private Legal Texts 48
6.7 Private Administrative Texts 50
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Contents ix
6.8 Texts of Women 50
6.9 Graffiti 51
6.10 Expedition Inscriptions 53
6.11 Builders’ or Quarry Marks 54
6.12 Letters 55
7 A Final Word 57
8 Conventions 57
II. Annals and Lists of Kings 65
III. Texts from Temples 81
IV. Royal Decrees 97
V. Objects Bearing Royal Names 129
VI. Rock Inscriptions of Kings and Expedition Leaders 133
VII. Quarry and Constructional Marks and Phyle Texts 153
VIII. Graffiti 161
IX. State Administrative Texts 165
X. Letters 175
XI. Private Legal Texts 185
XII. A Selection of Offering Formulae and Titles 209
XIII. Appeals to the Living and Warnings to Evildoers
and the Uninitiated 217
XIV. Commemorative and Dedicatory Texts 239
XV. Texts relating to Payment of Workmen and
Tomb Acquisition 251
XVI. Biographical Texts from the Memphite Region 261
