Burkard, Günter

Propylaeum-DOK

Inscription in the Dakhla region 
Text, translation and comments 
Gilnter Burkard 
The inscription has been analysed 
on the basis of the following docu­
ments: 
1. Photographs by W. Lama; 
2. Photographs by R. Kuper; 
3. Two tracings by B. Kuper. 
Photographs have been t aken at 
different times and under different 
lights so t ha t they complete each 
other and m a k e t h e insc r ip t ion 
r eadab le . One of t h e t r ac ings 
depicts the outline, the other one 
the whole surface. 
Size 
Width ca. 76 cm, height ca. 12 cm. 
The wr i t i ng is s h a r p and fa i r ly 
deeply carved into sandstone. 
Hieroglyphic transcription 
fel^nl^n^Sl 
Fig. 1. Map of the area with approxi­
mate position of the inscription. 
S ^ V ^ ^ S ^ J 
o . ­ j /n 
UMt*m°ff ••'••':'MttA9 
?. (( ° iL"Aaif** 
0 ^ ' S I . B M M I 
• E I Q i t o * 0 , \ 
... MilY 
L^ ^^ C^* 
3 ° ^ - ^ n ' " ^ O'WD 
s=2=ff==^'' o ^ 
° t l M i ' m 
0 
D A K Hit A } . O A S I S 
s \ . * f ' 
Commentary on the transcription 
First line 
1. There n i s no doubt abou t t h e 
r ead ing n as i t appea r s evident 
f rom B. Kuper ' s t r a c i n g and R. 
Kuper's photograph. In both cases 
the stroke above the sign standing 
for «10» is clearly visible. 
2. The r signs in prr show differ­
ences especially in the copy, but 
also in t he pho tog raphs . The 
reading is not however in doubt. A 
possible writing T , on grammatical 
grounds, i.e. an infinitive form, is 
ce r t a in ly not to be t a k e n in to 
account, if a comparison is made 
with the writing of t in rup.t-sp, in 
the first line, and in wh3.tjw, in the 
second line. 
Second line 
1. The reading in nwd is certain, 
even if particularly the tracing but 
also the photograph by R. Kuper 
show a discrepancy. In the photo­
graph by W. Lama the blade of the 
adze pointing down to the right is 
very clearly legible. 
2. The read ing <=> in nwd is not 
entirely clear in the writing, on the 
other hand there is no other possi­
bility apart from nwd. A shadow in 
W. Lama's photograph shows there 
is a smal l i n d e n t a t i o n in t h e 
surface of the rock here. Apart from 
this , the inaccuracy of execution 
can be held respons ib le for t he 
unusual writing, tha t looks like the 
writing of the sign o _ . 
3. The wri t ing of wh3.tjw «oasis 
dwellers» is remarkable: firstly be­
cause of the signs 9?° in the word, 
secondly for the unusual sequence 
of the de te rmina t ives . However, 
there is no possibility other than 
t he r e a d i n g Wfe; is to ta l ly 
unlikely, as according to the palaeo­
graphic study (see infra) there is no 
evidence of t h e sign i occurr ing 
neither in the Old nor in the Middle 
Kingdom. See also he reunde r in 
the section on dating. 
Translation 
1. In the year 23 of the Kingdom: 
the steward Mrj is on his way 
2. to meet the oasis dwellers 
Dating 
To da t e t h i s brief inscr ip t ion 
without fur ther information, either 
topographic or prosopographic, and 
without any further support is diffi­
cult and highly doubtful. In fact, 
the classical construct ion of the 
Middle Egyptian with the emphatic 
sdm=f in prr virtually excludes on 
i t s own (i.e. before t h e palaeo­
graphic study) a later date. 
Taking into account our knowledge 
of historical evolution, we are left 
with a possible datation in the late 
Old Kingdom and in the Middle 
Kingdom. Late OK, above all the 
Sixth Dynasty, was a time of pros­
perity in Dakhla, as also the results 
of the IFAO excavations at Balat 
show. A dating in the times of Pepi 
II would therefore be highly plau­
sible. From personal information 
given to me by R. Kuper on t he 
context, tha t is to say on the other 
rock engravings in this site, a date 
in the Sixth Dynasty is more likely 
than a later date. The fact tha t the 
re la t ive ly high y e a r 23 is 
ment ioned b a r s out one of t he 
in termediate periods and equally 
points to the OK/MK Taking into 
considera t ion the long re igns of 
most kings of Dynasty XII, the year 
23 points particularly, though not 
exclusively, to the MK. 
152 SAHARA 9/1997 Autore 
Originalveröffentlichung in: Sahara 9, 1997, S. 152-153 
Fig. 2. The inscription. (Photo W. Lama). 
A comparison of the writings of the 
single signs with the occurrences 
d u r i n g t h e OK a n d t h e MK 
suggests in any case the following 
results. 
First line 
n : This writing is found according 
to GOEDICKE (1988: 70) since t he 
Papyrus of Heqanachte, t ha t is to 
say since the end of the Eleventh 
Dynasty; MOLLER (1909, Nr. 624) 
quotes i ts f irst occurrence dur ing 
the Twelfth Dynasty. 
^ : The l igature occurs according 
to MOLLER (1909, Nr X) since the 
t ime of the H a t n u b inscr ip t ions , 
t h a t is to say D y n a s t y X/XI. 
According to EDEL (1980: 114-115) 
it already occurs in the second half 
of Dynasty VI. 
Second line 
S\ According to GOEDICKE (1988: 
39) th i s wri t ing possibly a l ready 
occurs in t he Sixth Dynasty, b u t 
was certainly used at the t ime of 
the Papyrus of Heqanachte. 
9: The writing of the sign w with 
the coil of rope occurs, according to 
MOLLER (1909, Nr 200B), from the 
Tenth/Eleventh Dynasty onward. 
GOEDICKE (1988: 17) quotes only 
one case from Hatnub. 
M_: In this form the sign according 
to MOLLER (1909, Nr 192B), EDEL 
(1980, 26-27) and GOEDICKE (1988: 
14) appears for the first t ime in the 
Eleventh/Twelfth Dynasty. 
From t he pa laeograph ic s tudy a 
data t ion in the Middle Kingdom, 
possibly in the Twelfth Dynasty, 
can be overall inferred, ra ther than 
in t he Old Kingdom, d u r i n g t he 
(late) Sixth Dynasty. As above, this 
r e s u l t m u s t be r e g a r d e d w i t h 
caution, or in any case with some 
degree of uncertainty. 
The prosopog raph i c c lues t h a t 
s o m e t i m e s can he lp e s t a b l i s h a 
date unfor tunate ly do not help in 
making more progress in this case. 
The name Mrj in this form, t ha t is 
to say with 1 ra ther than with 1 is 
found only one t ime in the Middle 
Kingdom, and as a female name, 
while the sequence without these 
signs M S is more f requent in the 
OK a n d in t he MK (cfr. R a n k e 
f 
1935, 159.23 and 159.21;22). The 
person who is here named Mrj is 
however not k n o w n as a n indi ­
vidual. 
Conversely , a poss ib le clue is 
of fe red by t h e word wh3.tjw: i t 
appears for the first t ime in literary 
texts of the MK (cfr. Wb I, 348. 1). 
the word wh3.t «Oasis» since the 
Old Kingdom (cfr. Wb I, 348,18­23; 
GIDDY 1987,140). The writing with 
I is in fact not found in the t ime of 
the Old Kingdom and it is also not 
unques t ionab ly f rom t he Middle 
Kingdom: the only document with 
this writing is mentioned by GIDDY 
(1987, 140) and is pLeiden I 344, 
which is k n o w n to be long to 
Dynasty XIX, even if the text itself, 
the Admonitions of Ipuwer, surely 
is not to be placed l a t e r t h a n 
Middle Kingdom. The writing can 
at leas t be t aken f rom an ear l ier 
copy. In any case this clue, as well 
as most of the others , suggests a 
si tuation in the Middle Kingdom. 
To sum up, t h e fol lowing can be 
said about this short inscription: 
In a period not better determined, 
possibly in the Sixth but presum­
ably during the Twelfth Dynasty, a 
jmj-r3 pr n a m e d Mrj was in the 
whereabouts of the sandstone rock 
as described above, and was going 
to meet not bet te r specified oasis 
dwel l e r s . T h e r e a s o n s for t h e 
meeting and the place will, as all 
the rest, remain to us obscure. 
Note by Wally Lama 
This hieratic inscription was found 
in 1992 by W. Lama (Lama Expe­
dition) about 30 km south of the 
Dakhla Oasis. Other engravings 
are to be seen on the rocks of the site. 
The inscription was first mentioned 
to Theodore Monod in March 1993 
and a picture was published in 
Monod's book (SERS J.­F., SOUS LA 
DIRECTION DE TH. MONOD, 1994. 
Desert Libyque. Paris: Arthaud, p. 
204). Subsequently, documents of 
the inscription were given to Prof. 
Dr Giinter Burkard of the Ins t i tu t 
f u r Agyptologie der U n i v e r s i t a t 
Miinchen, who worked on the trans­
lation. 
References 
EDELE., 1980. Die Felsgrabernekropole 
der Qubbet el Hawa bei Assuan. 
Palaographie der althieratischen 
Gefaflaufschriften aus den 
G r a b u n g s j a h r e n 1960-1973. 
Opladen. 
ERMAN A. UND H. GRAPOW, 1926-1931. 
Worterbuch der agyptischen 
Sprache I-V (Abk.: Wb). Berlin. 
GIDDY E., 1987 . Egyptian Oases. 
Warminster. 
GOEDICKE H., 1988. Old Hieratic Pale­
ography. Baltimore. 
MOLLER G., 1909. Hieratische Palao­
graphie I. Leipzig. 
RANKE H., 1935. Die agyptischen Per­
sonennamen. Gliickstadt. 
SAHARA 9/1997 Autore 153 


Inscription in the Dakhla region. Text, translation and comments

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Inscription in the Dakhla region. Text, translation and comments

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