Inscription of the Ninetjer (BM EA 35556)

Fragment BM EA 35556

Detailed view of the throne name of the Ninetjer

The inscription of Ninetjer (BM EA 35556) , also known as a volcanic stone fragment BM EA 35556 as an archaeological find , was discovered in the tomb of the ancient Egyptian king ( pharaoh ) Peribsen in the necropolis of Umm el-Qaab near Abydos . The object is exhibited in the British Museum in London with the inventory designation BM EA 35556 .

The tombs in Umm el-Qaab belong to the kings ( pharaohs ) of the late predynastic period and the kings of the 1st and two rulers of the 2nd dynasty . The find inspired the Egyptologist Jochem Kahl to examine the inscription on the artifact more closely, which led to a surprising discovery and subsequent theses. In this way he was able to link two controversial rulers' names and give new impetus to attempts at reconstruction with regard to the 2nd dynasty that are still going on today . His presentations are finding increasing support within research.

description

material

The shell fragment was found during the excavations of Flinders Petrie between 1899 and 1901 in Abydos in the royal tomb of Peribsen and published by him in his excavation report in 1901 with a photo. The object came to the British Museum in 1901 as a gift from the Egypt Exploration Fund . It is 9.5 cm long and 5 cm wide and is made of polished volcanic rock of a dark gray-brown color.

inscription

The inscription was incised and takes up almost the entire surface of the fragment. The Nesutbiti-Nebti name of Ninetjer , the third ruler of the 2nd dynasty , can now be found in the center of the inscription . The hieroglyphs with which Ninetjer's name is written face the representation of the palace Hut-sa-ha of the predecessor king Nebre on the right-hand side and are thus mirror-inverted. The representation of the palace and the name of the Nebre show partial destruction through abrasion. On the left you can see the words Ia-ra-neb ("washing every day"). Petrie noticed that the inscription originally belonged to King Nebre, but was then reworked for King Ninetjer.

The fact that early Egyptian rulers had the throne name overwritten by predecessors was nothing unusual and was limited primarily to vessels with Sedfest inscriptions and depictions of gods. In addition, this procedure has been attested since King Anedjib ( 1st Dynasty ) and thus has a long tradition .

Examination of the inscription and conclusions

Inscription of the Ninetjer (after Maria Engel)

Reconstruction according to Jochem Kahl

In 2007, Jochem Kahl examined the inscription and noticed apparently undiscovered traces of a “shave”, the original throne name of a ruler had been scratched away and overwritten by the successor king Ninetjer. The throne name Ninetjers consists of the two hieroglyphs from the Gardiner list R8 (a flag of gods) and N35 (a jagged waterline), the flag of the gods stands above the waterline. On the fragment in question, four straight lines can be clearly seen, two of which are to the left and right of the god's flag. They are positioned directly under the baskets of the Zwei-Herrinnen coat of arms . A slightly rounded triangle, which does not belong to the name of the nineteen, can be seen under the outstretched flag leaf of the sign R8 . From the arrangement four strokes + triangle , Kahl reconstructs the name ideogram of King Weneg (also read Wenegnebti ), since there is evidence that no other ruler of the 2nd dynasty (or before) used a throne name with such strokes. The "triangle" can be assigned to the mysterious Weneg flower , it is shown as a tightly upright stem with two pointed leaves near the base of the stem and with a closed, pointed lotus bud .

Previous interpretations

In the past, the Horus name of Nebre was preferred to be linked to the maiden name Nisut-bitj Nubnefer , which, however, never went unchallenged. The reason for the earlier explanation was the Ramessid cartouche name Wadjenes , which is presented in the royal lists of ancestors as the direct successor of the Ninetjer. Since none of the previously archaeologically proven Horus names could be linked to the name "Wadjenes", it was assumed that it must be traced back to a prescription. The name “Weneg” suggested itself as the originator, as the Weneg flower in the hieratic script in italics is very similar to the Gardiner special character M13B ( papyrus stem with two leaves at the base). Ramesside scribes would therefore have misinterpreted the name "Weneg-Nebti" as "Wadjenes". For the name "Nubnefer" - as a makeshift - King Nebre was looking for a suitable counterpart to the Ramessid cartouche name Kakau . This in turn is presented in the ancestral lists as the direct predecessor of Ninetjer and is therefore actually to be linked with Nebre. Therefore, for a long time it was believed that “Kakau” was a reading of “Nubnefer”.

The name Nubnefer is only documented by two slate fragments, which come from the Djoser complex in Saqqara and name a building called Menti-Anch , which was verifiably only founded under Ninetjer. Nubnefer can therefore only have ruled parallel to Ninetjer on the one hand or only after him on the other. Kahl cannot make a reliable assignment of Nubnefer's throne name and points to a possible connection with King Sa , which he himself rates with a “?”.

Equation of King Weneg with King Nebre

Vessel inscription of King Weneg

Jochem Kahl identifies Weneg with the contemporary documented and much discussed Horus name " Nebre ". He sees the volcanic rock fragment BM EA 35556 and its vessel engraving as the “key” with regard to the solution in connection with the equation of “Nebre” and “Weneg”. According to his explanation, both names were originally next to each other on the fragment, but were later overwritten. He suspects that the existing hieroglyph of the "Weneg flower" should be ground away and overwritten with the characters for the name "Ninetjer". From this Kahl concludes an equation of the names "Weneg" and "Nebre". The reasons why the Horus name of Nebre should possibly also be deleted remain unclear. Kahl points out, however, that at least four of Weneg's names were added "on the shave", so Weneg himself had the names of his predecessors overwritten. As a further argument, he relies on the assumption that the name of Hor-Nebre can be read as "Raneb" (in German "Re is my Lord") and that a deity of the same name Weneg in the 6th Dynasty as "Son of Re" was worshiped. Since he derived a common ground with regard to a sun cult that began under Nebre, he linked the names "Raneb" and "Weneg" with one another. As a third argument for equating the names "Nebre" and "Weneg", Kahl cites the so-called " gold name ", which appears in archaic form as early as the 1st dynasty and was later used as an honorary title for Ra. Kahl therefore assumes that Ra must have been a prominent deity as early as the 1st Dynasty.

Kahl's equation of the names "Nebre" and "Weneg" has meanwhile been welcomed by a large part of Egyptology.

The theories about the early dynastic existence of a sun god "Re" are still viewed with skepticism. The reason for this is the observation that the sun was not so much the focus of religious worship during the early dynastic era. From the end of the Predynastic Epoch to the beginning of the Old Kingdom , the Egyptians' belief in the state concentrated on maintaining the dualistic equality of the two highest state deities Horus and Seth . At that time, the sun was still considered a celestial body that was controlled by Horus and was only a part of him. As an important indication of this realization, Winfried Barta and Stephen Quirke , among others, cite that the name "Re" for the sun deity only gradually appeared as a component of private personal names with the beginning of the 3rd dynasty under King Djoser (as in the high officials Hesire ) and did not become the focus of religious cults until the middle of the 4th dynasty under King Djedefre . Only at this point does Re finally acquire independent status as a firmly established deity. Djedefre is the first king to dedicate his birth name specifically to the sun god Re . The name of Horus from King Nebre may therefore only indicate the first changes in cosmological thinking, which promoted the increasing worship of the sun. Egypt may have experienced a further promotion of the sun cult under Seth-Peribsen . Jochem Kahl refers to several clay seal impressions that show the Seth animal together with the sun disk above the king's serech. The sun was now considered a heavenly body that was ruled by Seth. Until the reign of King Djoser, the sun was viewed as a mere daytime star ruled by the two state gods without a personality of its own. For this reason, a reading as "Raneb" (in English "Re is my Lord") would be misleading. In Egyptology, therefore, the reading "Neb-Re" or "Neb-Ra" (to English "Lord of the Sun") has prevailed. Ben Suelzle also points out that the title "The Golden One" was also used as an honorific salutation for other deities, such as for Horus under King Qaa (1st Dynasty), where Horus is titled "Golden One of the Godheads". Or for the crown goddesses Nekhbet and Wadjet under King Khasekhemwy (whose Nebtiname was "Coronation of the two powers of the Two Ladies, her body is made of gold"). As a third example, Suelzle cites the god Seth , who was also referred to as "The Golden" under King Peribsen . “The golden one” could therefore stand for practically every deity in Egypt. A gold name is therefore not a compelling indication of a worship of a "sun god Re" in the early dynastic epochs, especially since the kings always viewed themselves as representatives of Horus and Seth, not Re.

Proposals for a new ruler's chronology

With the previous results from the analysis of the fragmented inscription, Jochem Kahl proposes a new ruler's chronology. Since Weneg can almost certainly be assigned to King Nebre, the number of contemporary verifiable rulers after Ninetjer is reduced . According to Kahl, the line of succession to the 2nd dynasty is as follows:

Old chronology (after Jürgen von Beckerath):

Graecised form of the name (up to Hudjefa I.)	Horus, throne, or cartouche name
Boẽthos	Hor-hetep-Sechemui
Kẽchoos	Hor-neb-Re
Binothris	Hor-Ni-netjer
Outlas / Tlas	Nisut-bitj-Nebti Weneg
Sethenes	Hor-Sechem-ib
Nephercheres	Neferkare I.
Sesochris	Nefer-ka-sokar
Hudjefa I.	?
Peribs	Seth-Per-ib-sen
Chasechemui	Hor-Seth-Cha-Sechemui

It should be noted here that J. v. Beckerath regards King Peribsen as the antagonist to Neferkare , Neferkasokar and Hudjefa I , although this is controversial.

Old chronology (after J. Vercoutter):

Horus and / or Sethname	In hieroglyphics	Throne name	In hieroglyphics
Hetep-Sechemui Ḥtp-ṣḫmwj		Nisut-biti-Nebti Hetep Njsw.t-btj-Nb.tj Ḥtp
Nebre Nb-r3		Nisut-biti-Nebti Nubnefer Njsw.t-btj-Nb.tj Nwb.nfr
Ni-netjer Nj-nṯr		Nisut-biti-Nebti Ni-netjer Njsw.t-btj-Nb.tj Nj-nṯr
?		Nisut-biti-Nebti Weneg Njsw.t-btj-Nb.tj Wng
Sened Ṣnd		Nisut-biti-Nebti Sened Njsw.t-btj-Nb.tj Ṣnd
Sechem-ib-per-en-maat Ṣḫmjb-pr-n-m3ˁ.t		Nisut-biti-Nebti Sechem-ib-per-en-maat Njsw.t-btj-Nb.tj Ṣḫm-jb-pr-n-m3ˁ.t
Seth Per-ib-sen Ṣtḫ Pr-jb-sn		Nisut-biti-Nebti Per-ib-sen Njsw.t-btj-Nb.tj Pr-jb-sn
Cha-sixem (ui) Ḫˁ-ṣḫm (wj)		Nisut-biti-Nebti Cha-Sechemui-hetep-nebui-imef Njsw.t-btj-Nb.tj Ḫˁ-ṣḫmwj-ḥtp-nbwj-jm = f

It should be noted here that J. Vercoutter separates the kings Sechemib and Peribsen from one another, although this is controversial.

New chronology (after J. Kahl):

Horus and / or Sethname	In hieroglyphics	Throne name	In hieroglyphics
Hetep-Sechemui Ḥtp-ṣḫmwj		Nisut-biti-Nebti Hetep Njsw.t-btj-Nb.tj Ḥtp
Neb-Re Nb-R3		Nisut-biti-Nebti Weneg Njsw.t-btj-Nb.tj Wng
Ni-netjer Nj-nṯr		Nisut-biti-Nebti Ni-netjer Njsw.t-btj-Nb.tj Nj-nṯr
Sa ? S3		Nisut-biti-Nebti Nub-nefer? Njsw.t-btj-Nb.tj Nwb-nfr
Sa ? S3		Nisut-biti-Nebti Sened? Njsw.t-btj-Nb.tj Ṣnd
Sechem-ib-per-en-maat Ṣḫm-jb-pr-n-m3ˁ.t		Nisut-biti-Nebti Sechem-ib-per-en-maat Njsw.t-btj Nb.tj-Ṣḫm-jb-pr-n-m3ˁ.t
Seth Per-ib-sen Ṣtḫ Prjb.sn		Nisut-biti-Nebti Per-ib-sen Njsw.t-btj-Nb.tj Pr-jb-sn
Cha-sixem (ui) Ḫˁ-ṣḫm (wj)		Nisut-biti-Nebti Cha-Sechemui-hetep-nebui-imef Njsw.t-btj-Nb.tj Ḫˁ-ṣḫmwj-ḥtp-nbwj-jm = f

It should be noted that Kahl equates the kings Sechemib and Peribsen with each other, although this is also controversial.

literature

• Jürgen von Beckerath : Chronology of Pharaonic Egypt - The determination of the time of Egyptian history from prehistoric times to 332 BC. BC (= Munich Egyptological Studies , Volume 46). von Zabern, Mainz 1997, ISBN 3805323107 .
• Jochem Kahl : "Ra is my Lord". Searching for the Rise of the Sun God at the Dawn of Egyptian history (= Menes. Vol. 1). Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 2007, ISBN 978-3-447-05540-6 .
• Pierre Lacau: La Pyramide à degrés. L'architecture. Volume 4: Pierre Lacau, Jean-Philippe Lauer : Inscriptions gravées sur les vases. 1: Planches (= Fouilles à Saqqarah 17). Imprimerie de l'Institut français d'archéologie orientale, Cairo 1959.
• WM Flinders Petrie : The royal tombs of the earliest dynasties: 1901. Part II (= Memoir of the Egypt Exploration Fund. Volume 21). Egypt Exploration Fund et al., London 1901 ( digitization ).
• AJ Spencer: Early Dynastic Objects, Catalog of the Egyptian Antiquties in the British Museum V. London 1980, ISBN 0714109274 , p. 42, no. 275, plate 26.
• Vladimir Vikentiev: Les monuments archaiques, Part 3. A propos du soi-disant nom de Menes dans la tablette de Naqada. In: Annales du Service des Antiquités de l'Egypte (ASAE). Volume 48, 1949, ISSN  1687-1510 , pp. 665-685.
• Toby AH Wilkinson : Early Dynastic Egypt . Routledge, London 1999, ISBN 0-415-18633-1 .

Individual evidence

1. ^ ^{A b} W. MF Petrie: The royal tombs of the earliest dynasties: 1901. Part II. London 1901, pp. 12, 26 & 51 and Plate VIII.
2. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Jochem Kahl: Ra is my Lord. Pp. 4-14.
3. ^ Toby AH Wilkinson: Early Dynastic Egypt. P. 79.
4. ^ IES Edwards : The early dynastic period in Egypt. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1964, p. 25.
5. ^ Peter Kaplony : A building named Menti-Ankh. In: Communications from the German Archaeological Institute in Cairo (MDAIK). Vol. 20, 1965, ISSN  0342-1279 , pp. 41-46.
6. ↑ after: Pierre Lacau, Jean-Philippe Lauer : La pyramide à degrés. L'architecture. 1959, object no.104.
7. ↑ see for example in Stephen Quirkes book review to: Jochem Kahls "Ra is my Lord". In: Journal of Egyptian Archeology. Vol. 95, 2009, ISSN  0307-5133 , pp. 299-300.
8. ↑ see also Hartwig Altenmüller's book review on: Jochem Kahl's "Ra is my Lord". In: Lingua Aegyptia. Studia monographica. Vol. 16, 2008, ISSN  0946-8641 , pp. 331-333.
9. ↑ Jochem Kahl: Ra is my Lord. Pp. 2-7.
10. ↑ Stephen Quirke: Ancient Egyptian Religion. British Museum Press, London 1992, ISBN 0-7141-0966-5 , p. 22.
11. ↑ see Ben Suelze's book review on: Jochem Kahl's “Ra is my Lord.” In: Eras. Vol. 10, November 2008, ISSN  1445-5218 , pp. 2 & 3, online (PDF; 24 kB) ( Memento of the original from March 28, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (English). 
12. ↑ Jürgen v. Beckerath: Chronology of the Pharaonic Egypt . P. 187.
13. ↑ ^{a b c} Jochem Kahl: Ra is my Lord. Pp. 8-9 & 16-18.
14. ^ J. Vercoutter: l'Égypte et la vallée du Nil . P. 222.