Thamphthis

Thampthis
Royal Papyrus Turin (No. III./16.)	In the original, the ruler's name has been broken off, only the year signs are preserved.
Greek Manetho - Variants : in Eratosthenes :	Africanus : Thamphthis Eusebius : missing Eusebius, AV : missing

Thamphthis is the Greek name of an ancient Egyptian king ( Pharaoh ) of the 4th Dynasty ( Old Kingdom ), who lived around 2500 BC. Could have ruled for two years. His ancient Egyptian name was probably in the destroyed entries of the existing king lists. According to William C. Hayes it may have read Djedefptah (or Ptahdjedef) ("Steadfast as Ptah ").

He is one of the rulers of the Old Kingdom that is difficult to research, as no direct contemporary evidence has been found for his historical figure . The contradictions in the few references to later sources and documents make things even more difficult. For this reason, its historical-chronological assignment as a king is intensely discussed in Egyptology .

backgrounds

Ever since research into and reconstruction of the Aegyptiaca , a historical work by the ancient historian Manetho , in which Thamphthis' name was first noted, Egyptological research has tried to link the ruler with contemporary personalities in order to obtain a continuous chronicle of rulers. The contradictions in the references and the resulting theses have led to controversy over the course of research history.

As early as 1887, Eduard Meyer regarded Thamphthis as a simple usurper , who was not allowed to be included in royal annals or a cult of the dead due to his unlawful accession to the throne . Because Thamphthis is still not archaeologically verifiable, Peter Jánosi , for example, feels compelled to view Thamphthis as entirely fictional and therefore to remove it from the official list of kings.

On the other hand, Wilfried Seipel and Hermann A. Schlögl , among others, suspect that Queen Chentkaus I could be hidden behind the figure of "Thamphthis" and that both persons are identical. The background to this assumption are representations of the Chentkaus as ruling rulers with Nemes headscarves and ceremonial beards , which are documented in their mortuary temple. An assumption of the throne for a ruler who was still under age and the founder of a new dynasty would also explain the unusually long cult of the dead around this queen. The link is made more difficult by the fact that Chentkaus is depicted like a ruling king, but her name does not appear in the cartouche typical of rulers . No other components of a royal title, such as a Horus name , are proven for them.

Wolfgang Helck considers that Chentkaus I was possibly the mother of Thamphthis. This assumption would mean that he would have to be considered the son of King Sheepseskaf . A possible wife could have been the princess and king consort Bunefer , who is regarded as the daughter of Sheepseskaf and under her the office of priestess.

Evidence of names and contradictions

In the Manethonic tradition of the historian Sextus Iulius Africanus from the 3rd century AD, Thamphthis is described as the last ruler of the 4th dynasty with a reign of nine years. In the copies of Eusebius , however, Thamphthis does not appear by name because, like some of his predecessors, according to Eusebius, he “did nothing that was worth mentioning”. The historian Eratosthenes apparently knows nothing about a Thamphthis, although he lists the remaining rulers of the 4th Dynasty.

In addition to Manetho, the Turin royal papyrus (here abbreviated as "TK") from the 19th dynasty (13th century BC) is another late source for the Egyptian royal chronology. There the names of rulers are listed, some of which are missing in other king lists. However, the papyrus is badly damaged in some places, as a result of which some names are no longer legible. It can therefore not be ruled out that the name of Thamphthis was in this papyrus, since the Manethonic mentions with regard to identity and royal order are in accordance with the Turin royal list. New and extended emendations are therefore not necessary. Both according to Chephren (TK, column 3, line 12) and according to Schepseskaf (TK, column 3, line 15) there is a gap in the list. The break in column 3, line 13 was assigned to King Bicheris as the successor to Chephren ; the second gap in column 3, line 16, may have read Thamphthis' name. Behind this gap a reign of two years is certified for the illegible royal name.

In the king list of Saqqara from the tomb of the priest Tjuloy (19th dynasty) nine kings are listed for the fourth dynasty, while the king list of Abydos only presents six rulers. Between the kings Schepseskaf (last recorded ruler of the 4th dynasty at the time) and Userkaf (first ruler of the 5th dynasty ) there were two further names in the Saqqara list. While one of the king cartouches was certainly intended for Thamphthis, the second cartridge is a mystery. In addition, the cartridges from Chephren to Sahure are badly or completely destroyed, which makes it difficult to identify the names originally registered there.

In a rock inscription from the Middle Kingdom in Wadi Hammamat there is a list with the cartouche names of the kings Cheops , Radjedef, Bauefre and the name of Prince Hordjedef . Hordjedef's name is also written here in a royal cartouche, which is why it has already been suggested that he might have ruled himself for a very short time. He and Bauefre would then close the chronological gaps. But both contemporary and later documents refer to Hordjedef (and Bauefre as well) only as the "son of the king" and not as the "king of Upper and Lower Egypt".

In the grave inscriptions of high officials , princes and priests there are no indications that the succession of rulers in the 4th dynasty was interrupted in any way or that a usurper ruled for a short time. A son of King Chephren, Prince Sechemkare , reports of a career under Chephren, Mykerinos , Sheepseskaf, Userkaf and Sahure. A “Bicheris” or a “Thamphthis” does not appear in the record. According to the inscription, an official named Netjerpunesut enjoyed numerous honors among Radjedef , Chefren, Mykerinos, Schepseskaf, Userkaf and Sahure. Here too there are no indications of an interim reign. There are also no indications in the funerary inscription of a high official and priest from the 5th dynasty, Ptahschepses, who worked under King Niuserre and performed the funeral service for Mykerinos and Sheepseskaf. Even in his biography there is nothing to suggest a dynastic chaos or interim reigns.

Egyptologists such as Miroslav Verner conclude that the lack of a royal name in contemporary documents does not have to be compelling evidence that the king in question is fictional. He compares the situation around Thamphthis with that of King Schepseskare (Greek Sisiris ; 5th dynasty ), the perhaps illegitimate successor of King Raneferef . Although Schepseskare is archaeologically proven by roll and clay seals, his name is not mentioned in contemporary graves of funeral priests. According to Verner, it may also be due to the fact that Schepseskare only ruled for an extremely short time , was forcibly driven from the throne by his successor, King Niuserre , and was not allowed to be mentioned by name. In any case, the find situation around Schepseskare suggests that there were dynastic disputes in the Old Kingdom. This could perhaps also apply to Thamphthis, but there is no contemporary reference to this. The evaluations so far only indicate that Thamphthis is a literary invention of later chroniclers and that the two years in the Turin papyrus intended for him are more likely to be attributed to King Sheepseskaf.

literature

• Jürgen von Beckerath : Handbook of Egyptian King Names (= Munich Egyptological Studies. (MÄS). Vol. 49). 2nd improved and enlarged edition. von Zabern, Mainz 1999, ISBN 3-8053-2591-6 .
• Jürgen von Beckerath: Chronology of the pharaonic Egypt. The timing of Egyptian history from prehistoric times to 332 BC BC (= Munich Egyptological Studies. Vol. 46). von Zabern, Mainz 1997, ISBN 3-8053-2310-7 .
• William C. Hayes : The Scepter of Egypt. A Background for the Study of the Egyptian Antiquities in the Metropolitan Museum. Volume 1: From the Earliest Times to the End of the Middle Kingdom. 5th printing, revised. Abrams, New York NY 1990, ISBN 0-8109-3804-9 .
• W. Helck : History of Ancient Egypt (= Handbook of Oriental Studies. Department 1: The Near and Middle East. Volume 1: Egyptology. Section 3). Photomechanical reprint with corrections and additions. Brill, Leiden et al. 1981, ISBN 90-04-06497-4 .
• Peter Jánosi : Giza in the 4th dynasty. Volume 1: The mastabas of the core cemeteries and the rock graves (= Austrian Academy of Sciences. Memoranda of the entire academy. Volume 30 = Investigations by the Cairo branch of the Austrian Archaeological Institute. Volume 24). Publishing house of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna 2005, ISBN 3-7001-3244-1 .
• Alan B. Lloyd: Herodotus book II. Commentary-Vol. 2: Commentary 99-182 (= Études préliminaires aux religions orientales dans l'Empire romain. Vol. 43). Brill, Leiden 1988, ISBN 90-04-04179-6 .
• Eduard Meyer , Johannes Duemichen : History of the ancient Egypt (= general history in individual representations. Hauptabt. 1, part 1). Grote, Hamburg 1887.
• KSB Ryholt : The political situation in Egypt during the second intermediate period. BC c. 1800–1550 (= CNI publications. Vol. 20). With an appendix by Adam Bülow-Jacobsen. Museum Tusculanum Press, Copenhagen 1997, ISBN 87-7289-421-0 .
• Wilfried Seipel : Investigations on the Egyptian queens of the early period and the Old Kingdom. Sources and historical classification. Hamburg 1980 (Hamburg, Univ., Diss.).
• Ian Shaw (Ed.): The Oxford history of ancient Egypt. Oxford University Press, Oxford et al. 2002, ISBN 0-19-280293-3 .
• Nigel C. Strudwick: Texts from the Pyramid Age (= Writings from the Ancient World. Vol. 16). Edited by Ronald J. Leprohon. Brill, Leiden et al. 2005, ISBN 90-04-13048-9 .
• William Gillian Waddell: Manetho (= The Loeb Classical Library. Vol. 350). Reprint. Harvard University Press, Cambridge MA et al. 2004, ISBN 0-674-99385-3 .

Remarks

1. ↑ Term of office 9 years.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Alan H. Gardiner : The royal canon of Turin. Griffith Institute, Oxford 1997, ISBN 0-900416-48-3 , illustration 2.
2. ^ ^{A b} Alan B. Lloyd: Herodotus book II. 1988, p. 77ff.
3. ^ William C. Hayes: The Scepter of Egypt. Vol. 1, 1990, p. 66; see: Jürgen von Beckerath: Handbook of Egyptian King Names. 1999, pp. 53-54, 180.
4. ^ ^{A b} William Gillian Waddell: Manetho. 2004, pp. 47-49.
5. ↑ Eduard Meyer, Johannes Duemichen: History of the ancient Egypt. 1887, p. 114.
6. ↑ Peter Jánosi: The tombs of the pyramid age. von Zabern, Mainz 2006, ISBN 3-8053-3622-5 , p. 151.
7. ↑ Wilfried Seipel: Investigations on the Egyptian queens of the early period and the Old Kingdom. 1980, pp. 189-190.
8. ^ Hermann A. Schlögl : The Old Egypt (= Beck'sche series. C.-H.-Beck-Wissen 2305). 3rd revised edition. Beck, Munich 2008, ISBN 978-3-406-48005-8 , pp. 99-100.
9. ↑ Wolfgang Helck: History of Ancient Egypt. 1981, pp. 57 and 61.
10. ↑ KSB Ryholt: The political situation in Egypt during the second intermediate period. 1997, p. 17f .: Inclusion of Fictitious Kings.
11. ↑ Jürgen von Beckerath: Chronology of the Pharaonic Egypt. 1997, pp. 24 and 216.
12. ↑ Peter Jánosi: Giza in the 4th Dynasty. 2005, pp. 64-65.
13. ^ IES Edwards: The Cambridge ancient history. Vol. 3, p. 176.
14. ^ Nigel Strudwick: Texts from the pyramid age. 2005, pp. 78 & 79.
15. ^ Miroslav Verner: Archaeological Remarks on the 4th and 5th Dynasty Chronology . Orientální Archives, 69th edition. Prague 2001, pp. 395-400.
16. ↑ Miroslav Verner: Who was Shepseskare and when did he reign? . In: Abusir and Saqqara in the Year 2000 . Orientální Archives, Suppl. 9, Prague 2000, pp. 581–602.

predecessor	Office	successor
Sheepseskaf	King of Egypt 4th Dynasty (end)	Userkaf

This version was added to the list of articles worth reading on November 25, 2009 .