DAmw_in_MK

Lingua Aegyptia 15, 2007, 217-229 DAmw in the Middle Kingdom The ninth line of the stela of mr mSa wr Nesumontu (Louvre C1) mentions that he was loved by his Theban DAmw. 1 The term DAm, plural DAmw, is attested from the Middle Kingdom onward. The Wörterbuch explains DAm as referring to a collective and mentions two basic meanings: offspring; youths, generation. The word may have a military connotation, referring to young soldiers. 2 In the literature, DAmw is usually rendered as a term which defines troops of young people or young people of the same age. Berlev points out that the term DAm ('молодежь') marks recruits. According to his research, the principle of ‘young military men’ was the official doctrine of the Middle Kingdom. In the same time, this opinion presupposes the idea of the existence of a standing army, because military service was the real profession of the young men. 3 For Faulkner, DAm also means 'young military person'. 4 It seems, however, that the sources of the Middle Kingdom point to a less specific meaning of DAmw. A primary distinction should be made between examples where DAm is used alone, and examples where it is expanded by another expression. The Instruction for Merikare, a source probably composed at the end of the First Intermediate Period, says in verse 57: Rise up your DAmw and the capital will love you. 5 Several variants can

1

C. Obsomer, La date de Nésou-Montou (Louvre C1), RdE 44, 1993, 125, C/4. cf. Grajetzki, W., Die

Höchsten Beamten der Ägyptischen Zentralverwaltung zur Zeit des Mittleren Reiches, Schriften zur Ägyptologie, Berlin 2000. 127. C. Obsomer, Sésostris Ier. Etude chronologique et historique du règne, Connaissance de l’Égypte Ancienne Études 5, Bruxelles, 1995, 546-552; L. M. Berman, Amenemhet I, Ph.D. diss. (unpublisched), Yale University 1985, 107-109. 2

Wb V 523-524.

3

О. Берлев, Египетский военный флот в эпоху Среднего царства, ПС 17, 1967, 7.

4

Faulkner, R. O., Egyptian Military Organization, JEA 39, 1954, 32-47, 40.

5

Cf. verses 25, 58, 60 and 68-69.

be found in the translations of the Instruction: Lichtheim renders DAmw as youths, 6 Quack as Rekruten / Jugend, 7 Gardiner as young generation. 8 The inscription of the stela Berlin 24032 (First Intermediate Period) refers to DAmw as a part of the group to which someone belongs: 9 Dd ink nDs iqr ir m xpS.f HAt DAmw.f mi qd.f (He) says: ‘I was an excellent nDs who was active with his strong arm, foremost of all of his DAmw On the back of the statue of mr mSa snbbw (Early 12th Dynasty) there is an appeal addressed to the people of Elephantine to make a prayer to the benefit of the owner:

i anxw imyw Abw nDsw HaAw.s DAmw.s

Ë

6

È

Ì

O ye living ones, who are

Oh Lebende, die ihr in

in Elephantine, even its

Elephantine seid, ihre

common folk, its infants

(der Stadt) Bürger, Kinder

and its young men 10

(und) Jugendliche! 11

M.Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature. Volume I: The Old and Middle Kingdoms. Berkeley, Los

Angeles, London:University of California Press, 1975, 101. 7

J. F. Quack, Studien zur Lehre für Merikare, Göttinger Orientforschungen, IV/23, Wiesbaden 1992, 57.

8

A. Gardiner, New Literary Works from Ancient Egypt, JEA 1, 1914, 27. cf. Р. Рубинштайн, Поучение

Гераклеопольского царя сину Мерикара, ВДИ 2, 1950, 122-132 and J. Lopez, L'Auteur de l'enseignement pour Mérikaré, RdE 25, 1973, 181-182. 9

H. G. Fischer, The Nubian Mercenaries of Gebelein during the First Intermediate Period, Kush IX, 1961,

45ff, pl. X; cf. Lichtheim, AEL I, 90. 10

L. Habachi, Elephantine IV: The Sanctuary of Heqaib, Archäologische Veröffentlichungen 33, Mainz am

Rhein 1985, p. 75-76, no 49. 11

D. Franke, Das heiligtum des Heqaib auf Elephantine, SAGA 9, Heidelberg 1994, 53.

O

you

people

(anxw)

of

Elephantine, even its nDsw (and) its HaAw of the town (and) its DAmw

The inscription RILN 27 goes back to the beginning of 12th Dynasty: 12 DfA-in-it.f sA Hnnw sA in-it.f msy.i m rnpt-sp 10 nt nsw-bity sHtp-ib-ra mAa-xrw ink s qb(w) nt(y) m-m DAmw n iri.i iw r sHwy.i in-it.f son of Hnnw, son of DfA-in-it.f I was born in the year 10 of the King of Upper and Lower Egypt, sHtp-ib-ra, true of voice. It is me, the calm man among the DAmw, I caused no harm to my group. The rock inscription of in-it.f-iqr (RILN 73), a well-known vizier of Amenemhat I and Senusret I, found on the site El Girgâwî near Korosko, reports the campaign against Kush: in[-it.f-i]qr r[n.f nfr (?)] gm (?) dd(w) ink nDs qn n[Dm (?) m xftt-[Hr-nb].s [sS] iqr n [Dbaw.f] dHi(w) rmn qA mrwt Hm.[f dd(w) H]bsw m-Hr-ib DAmw.f [...] nfr m-Hr-ib rmT nb Sfyt m-m xnmsw.f wn.t(w) Hr qd xnrt tn aHa.n smA nHsyw spt nbt wAwAt aHa.n.i xnt.kw(i) m nxt Hr smA nHsy Hr tA.f xd.n(.i) Hr fdt it Hr swA spw nhwt.s dy(.i) xt m prw.sn mi ir.t(w) r sbi Hr nswt n sDm ky DAmw mitt ir.f Intf-ikr [whose good name is Gem]

12

Z. Žaba, The Rock Inscriptions of Lower Nubia, Prague 1974; cf. Obsomer, Sesostris Ier, doc. 102; D.

Franke, Personendaten aus dem Mittleren Reich, 20.-16. Jahrhundert v. Chr.) Dossiers 1-796 Ägyptologische abhandlungen 41, Wiesbaden 1984, no. 341.

(He) says: I am a valiant nDs, a pleasant man from [the town of] xftt-[Hr-nb].s, a [scribe] excellent with [his] fingers, a humble one, yet great in affection of [his] Majesty, [the one who distributes] clothes among his DAmw. [I speak] well in the midst of people; I am the one who enjoys respect among his fellowmen. One has been engaged in building this xnrt. 13 Then the Nubians of the entire remaining part of Wawat were slaughtered. Thereupon I sailed victoriously upstream, slaughtering the Nubian on his riverbank. I sailed downstream plucking corn and cutting down their remaining sycamore trees. I put fire into their houses, as one has to act against him who rebelled against the King of Upper Egypt. Never did I hear (about) any other DAmw which accomplished the like thereof. On the basis of the given examples DAmw denotes a group of people which might be involved in the military affairs. The stela London BM 852 seems to refer to logistical work in connection with the first Nubian campaign of Senusret III. 14 The inscription mentions “the great one of the tens of Upper Egypt”, Ameny, who built a gate in the fortress of Elephantine and a slaughterhouse in a working place, while the king “proceeded to overthrow vile Kush”. According to Wells’ reconstruction of line 4, the two-word phrase Ts DAmw, denoting the assembly of military personnel, would fit the lacuna and satisfy the context. 15 The DAmw mentioned in the Hymns of Senusret III might designate a military body. 16

13

Cf. S. Quirke, State and Labour in the Middle Kingdom: a reconsideration of the term xnrt, RdE 39,

1988, 85-86. 14

J. W. Wells, Sesosrtis III’s First Nubian Campaign, in: Essays in Egyptology in Honor of H. Goedicke,

ed. by B. M. Bryan and D. Lorton, San Antonio 1994, 339-347. 15

Wells in: Fs. Goedicke, 342; cf. Habachi, Elephantine IV, 46.

16

F. H. Griffith, Hieratic Papyri from Kahun and Gurob, London 1898, 1-10, cf. I, 11.

Lines 22 and 23 of stela Sinai 90, 17 dated to the 6th year of Amenemhat III, are worthy of notice: 22 ir.n.i mSa.i m nfr sp snw nn qAt xrw 23 r bAkt.i ir[t].n.i m wAD mSa DAmw mi qd[.sn?] ///

1

↓

↓

2

22 ... Without any voice raised

22 I conducted my expedition very

against my work, which I have

successfully. There is no boasting with

carried out to great success, did I

regard to my work. What I did was

accomplish my mission extremely

successful.

well.

23 The whole troop of recruits... 19

23 The expedition (consisting of) all the young men/// 18

3

↓

↓

4

22 I carried out my expedition

22 I have carried my expedition

brilliantly, and there was no raising

successfully. There has no arisen a

voice against my work. 23 What I did

complaint 23 against my work, which I

prospered, all soldiers and recruits

accomplished

being safe///

20

successfully.

The

expedition, all its troops remained... 21

We find here DAmw as a part of a larger unit, i.e. of mSa. The two-word phrase mSa DAmw has been translated in various ways: The expedition (consisting of) all the young men; the

17

A. Gardiner, T. E. Peet and J. Černy, The Inscriptions of Sinai, vol. I – vol. II: Introductions and Plates,

EES 45-11; London 1952-1955, no. 90. 18

R. J. Leprohon, Versification in Inscription Sinai 90 from the Reign of Amenemhat III, in: A Tribute to

Excellence. Studies Offered in Honor of E. Gaál, Ul Luft and L. Török, ed. by T. A. Bács, Budapest 2002, 343). 19

A. M. Blackman, A New Translation of the Inscription of Herwerre at SeK, BIFAO 30, 1931, 99.

20

E. Iversen, The Inscription of Herwerrec at Serâbit-al-Kâdem, in: Studien zu Sprache und Religion

äyzptens. Band I: Sparche. Fs. W. Westendorf, Göttingen 1984, 514. 21

H. Goedicke, The Inscription of Hr-wr-ra (Sinai no 90), MDAIK 18, 1962, 15

whole troop of recruits; all soldiers and recruits; the expedition, all its troops. It’s seems that the phrase may be expressed differently:

22

I

carried

out

(the

work)

successfully (with the people of) my mSa.

There

has

not

arisen

a

complaint 23 against my work, which I accomplished successfully. (The people of) mSa and all its DAmw as well ...

In the above-mentioned examples DAmw points to a group of people which may be used for military task. The word did not have, at least in the mentioned examples, any social connotations. The sources also mention syntagms in which one of the elements is DAmw: DAmw nw aHAwtyw, DAmw nw nfrw (nfrw DAmw), DAmw nw Xrdw (Xrdw DAmw), nDsw nw DAmw. The syntagm DAmw n aHAwtyw seems to points to the DAmw being units composed of members of aHAwtyw. According to Faulkner's conclusion DAmw nw aHAwtyw refers to the “troops of the warriors”. 22 The further evidence for DAmw nw aHAwtyw comes from the tomb of DjehutyHetep from Deir el-Bersheh. In the depiction of a colossal statue being hauled along a road by a large number of workmen we may see the DAmw nw aHAwtyw n wnw (DAmw of the warriors of the Hare nome); DAmw nw imnt wnw (DAmw of the west of the Hare nome); DAmw n iAbtt wnw (DAmw of the east of the Hare nome) and sAw nw wabw n wnw (phyla of the pure-priests of the Hare nome). 23 For Griffith and Newberry DAmw nw aHAwtyw n wnw mean “the troops of the fighting-men”. Two other groups of DAmww, mentioned in the first and third columns, are defined as belonging to the specific nome area only. In the beginning of the inscription above the group of the DAmw nw aHAwtyw it says: 24

22

Faulkner, JEA 39 1954, 40; Id., A Concise Dictionary of Middle Egyptian, Oxford 1962, 319.

23

F. L. Griffith – P. E. Newberry, El Bersheh I, London 1895, 19-21, pls. XII-XVI.

24

Griffith-Newberry, El Bersheh I, 21, pl. XV.

Dd mdw (in) nfrw n DAmw ir n nb.f Words spoken by the young men of DAmw, those created by their lord. In the text segment quoted there is the syntagm nfrw nw DAmw. As the inscription speaks of DAmw n aHAwtyw, which are depicted below, we can assume that in this case we are dealing with kind of synonyms in respect to the young age: aHAwtyw were organized in DAmw and they were young (nfrw) which fits in Berlev’s concept of the young military men of the Middle Kingdom. Behind the depiction of a statue, twelve lines of inscription speak of its sculpturing: 25 I made to come DAmw organized of young people [DAmw nw Hwnw-nfrw] in order to prepare a road for it together with guilds of necropolis workers and quarry workers; a supervisor being with them. From the inscription we can infer that the DAmw were organized of young men. And also in this case, as in the previous one, the guilds (sAw) are clearly distinguished from the DAmw. Line seven of the same part of the inscription mentions the transport of the stone block from which the statue has to be hewn. The people engaged in this work are called mSa n nfrw DAmw.i. 26 The expression might mean ‘personnel (mSa), which is young (nfrw) and organized in my DAmw’. In the top-most scene there are seven groups of people who are walking towards the statue. The heads of the men are bald and they hold palm leaves in their hands. These groups of people are all dressed in kilts which are very much like those worn by aHAtyw. Above the scene is the following inscription: wnw m Hb ib.s Aw iAw.s Xrd(w) DAmw/// swAD Xrdw.s Hr n[hm] 25

Griffith-Newberry, El Bersheh I, 18.

26

Griffith-Newberry, El Bersheh I, 19.

ib.sn m Hb mAA.sn nb.sn sA nb.sn m Hst ity Hr irt mnw.f The Hare nome is celebrating and its heart is full of joy, its old men, the Xrd(w) organized in DAmw are refreshed, its Xrdw are jubilating, their hearts are celebrating when they see their lord and their lord’s son in the favour of the ruler, when making his monument. Newberry, when commenting on the scene and the inscription, points out that the term DAmw, well attested in the sources, refers 1) to a group of young people who are in the proper age for military service, and 2) to trained gangs. 27 In order to fulfil their tasks, the rulers had to have, according to Newberry, a huge labour force trained for teamwork. In his opinion, the term DAmw was, as a rule, used to define this type of discipline. According to the data from the Bersheh tomb no. 2, Faulkner concludes that there are two categories of DAmw troops: 28 DAmw nw Hwnw-nfrw (troops of young soldiers / recruits) and DAmw nw aXAwtyw (troops of warriors). He supposed that DAmw nw Hwnwnfrw were subject to military conscription who, after their army service, went back to their previous occupation. On the other hand, DAmw nw aXAwtyw were professional soldiers. 29 The DAmw nw aHAwtyw on the depictions in the tomb of Djehuty-hetep are, in contrast to other DAmw, characteristically dressed and some of them, probably officers of the lower rank, had a feather in their hair. 30 The appearance of the DAmw nw aHAwtyw engaged in the transport of the statue of the nomarch Djehuty-hetep is almost identical with the depiction of soldiers in the war scenes from the Middle Kingdom tombs. 31 The inscription says that all the people engaged in this activity (mSa), except for the guilds of priests, the necropolis workers and the quarry workers, were organized in DAmw consisting of young people (nfrw) and Xrdw.

27

Griffith-Newberry, El Bersheh I, 18, n. 1.1

28

Griffith-Newberry, El Bersheh I, 15; cf. Wb II, 258.

29

Faulkner, JEA 39, 1954, 41.

30

Faulkner, JEA 39, 1954, 40; cf. Griffith-Newberry, El Bersheh I, 15.

31

Cf. A. R Schulman, The Battle Scenes of the MK, JSSEA 12/4, 1982, 164-183.

The aHAwtyw organized in DAmw are attested in the documents from Lahun. The axAwty snfrw, whose estate was in the Lahun area, mentions that his father – who was also a axAwty – belongs to the second DAmw. 32 DAmw nw nfrw are attested on the stela from Wadi Gawasis. 33 The monument is dated to the reign of Senusert I; it was erected for mr aXnwty n pr-aA and reports on an expedition to the Punt area. The central register of the stela speaks about the staff of the expedition. The beginning of this section reports that Ankhu, the leader of the enterprise, came to the South together with DAmw nw nfrw. The section ends with a remark that there were 400 nfrw. The stela Berlin 1119, from year 34 of Senusert I,34 belongs to the mr pr ddw-iqw. The monument states: ii.n.(i) m wAst m rx-nsw irr(w) Hsst.f nbt m-sA DAmw n nfrw r irt rwD(w) tA-wHAtyw m sr mnx rx(w).n nb.f iqr sxr.(f) m-bAH Tni(w).n srw n aH aHa.n ir.n.(i) maHat tn r rd n nTr aA n-mrt wn.(i) m Smsw.f aHAwtyw imyw-xt Hm.f Hr Awt xt n kA.i m aqw.f Hna tp Hsmn.f mi ir.t(w) n wpwty-nsw ii(w) Hr srwD tASw Hm.f I have come from Thebes as a rx-nsw, one who uses to do everything he praises, directing the DAmw n nfrw in order to strengthen the dwellers of the Oasis as an effective official known to his lord, of excellent council before (him), and estimated by the elders of the palace. I made this monument at the terrace of the Great God for the sake of being in his following, and the aHAwtyw serving his Majesty presented things to my ka (each one) of his bread and best hesmen oil, as is done for the royal envoy who came to secure the borders of his majesty.

32

Griffith, Kahun Papyri, I 3, pl. IX 11.1-16

33

A. M. A. H Sayed, Discovery of the Site of the 12th Dynasty Port at Wadi Gawasis on the Red See

Shore, RdÉ 29, 1977,157-162; Obsomer, Sesostris Ier, doc. 173. 34

Aegyptische Inschriften aus den Königlichen / Staatlichen Museen zu Berlin I, Leipzig 1913, 164ff; cf.

Obsomer, Sesostris Ier, doc. 14; M. Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Autobiographies Chiefly of the Middle Kingdom, OBO 84, Freiburg 1988, doc. 39.

The stela of Deduiku says that the DAmw, whose members are nfrw, might be under control of the official of civil administration. The inscription mentions that the DAmw nw nfrw under the command of the mr pr ddw-iqw were used for controlling the border areas of the Western desert. The mr pr ddw-iqw must have also had military tasks as is indicated by the appearance of aHAwtyw on his stela. The syntagm anx n DAmw nw nfrw, attested at the reign of Senusert I, is inscribed on a stela from the alabaster quarry of Hatnub. Simpson translated it as ‘conscript of the levies of recruits’, 35 but Obsomer as ‘les soldat des troupes de recrues’. 36 Simpson states that it is well known from the inscriptions that DAmw were used in expeditions, but in this case the element anx, attested as the first element of the syntagm in question, is of particular bearing. Comparing this syntagm with other examples of compound titles which contain the term anx as first element, Simpson points out that in this case anx might be translated as conscript or corvée laborer. If we consider the results obtained by Berlev, which amount to anxw meaning soldier, the phrase might be translated as ‘the soldier of the group (DAmw) (consisting of) young persons (nfrw)’. 37 However, anx means ‘the living being’ and therefore the syntagm should be understood as ‘person of the DAmw (consisting) of young ones’. Inscriptions from Bersheh and other monuments which were discussed above point to four different categories of DAmw: a) those recruited from aHAwtyw b) those consisting of nfrw c) those organized in the frame of a specific territory d) those consisting of Xrdw

35

W. K. Simpson, A Hatnub Stela of the Early Twelfth Dynasty, MDAIK 16, 1958, 298-309; cf, Id An

Additional Fragment of a ‘Hatnub Stela’, JNES 20, 1961, 25-30; W. Ward, Index of Egyptian Administrative and Religious Titles of the Middle Kingdom, Beirut 1982, no. 612. 36

Obsomer, Sesostris Ier, doc. 49

37

O. D. Berlev, O., Les prétendus “citadins” au Moyen Empire, RdÉ 23, 1971, 23-48; D. Stefanović, The

Army of the Pharaonic Egypt in the Period of the Middle Kingdom (in Serbian), Ph.D. diss. (unpublished), Belgrade University 2006, ch. V.

If all mentioned examples are dealing with young people or young soldiers, and if – according to Wörterbuch – Xrdw is one of the terms referring to young age also, 38 what would be the main difference between the mentioned units? In his study entitled К социальной терминологии древнего Египта, Berlev points out that the term Xrd might have a more specific social meaning, i.e. that it may actually mean ‘servant’, and sometimes even ‘slave’. 39 As Berlev notes, Xrdw belonging to the owners of Middle Kingdom monuments are usually rendered as his son or daughter, respectively. This practice is undoubtedly inadequate when the owner’s offspring is expressly termed sA ‘son’ or sAt ‘daughter’. The author points to the stela Bologna 1927, belonging to a member of the royal family, on which Xrdw hold the title Hry-pr. For Berlev, the Xrdw of the Middle Kingdom might be ‘domestic servant’. 40 Bearing in mind Berlev’s suggestion we may easier understand the compound term Xrd(w) DAmw 41 : during the public work at Bersheh the nomarch might use the servants of the estates and organize them in DAmw. The term Xrd n DAmw is mentioned in the inscription RILN 168, found in the area 80 km South of Aswan: 42 ddw sA rn.f-anx sA kbs Xrd pw n DAmw n nsw-bity sHtp-ib-ra Kebes, son of Renefankh,grandson of Dedu, he is a Xrd of the DAmw of the King of Upper and Lower Egypt Sehetepibre.

38 39

Wb III 396 ff. О. Д. Берлев, К социальной терминологии древнего Египта, in: Древний Египет и древняя

Африка, сб. ст . памяти акад. В. В. Струве, Москва 1967, 11-14; cf. B Schmitz, Zur Bedeutung von Xrd=f (u.a.) Xrd.f, ZÄS 108, 1981, 53-60. 40

Cf. W. Helck, Zur Verwaltung des Mittleren und Neuen Reiches, PÄ 3, Leiden 1958, 25ff; S. Quirke,

Titles and bureaux of Egypt 1850-1700 BC., GHP 1, London. 2004, 28-29. 41

Cf. R. Anthes, Die Felseninschriften von Hatnub, Leipzig 1928, 16/4; Faulkner, CD, 319.

42

Obsomer, Sesostris Ier, doc. 89.

According to Berman, the inscription should be related to the campaign of year 29 of Amenemhat I. 43 The same syntagm is attested on the monument Hatnub 16. The inscription is dated to the fifth year of the “reign” of nomarch Neheri and speaks of an action performed by his son Kai, in order to protect his town from the approaching army. 44 xtmty-bity smr waty mr niwt TAyty sAb TAty rx n nswt iw.f m Xnw iti.f nDs qn n(n) mit(w).f nb xpS aA mr(w)t wDb r n mdw Hna.f wn.(n).i m Xrd n(n) idn wi iw spd.n.i DAmw.i n Xrdw Sm.kwi r aHA Hna niwt.i. The seal-bearer of the King of Lower Egypt, the only friend, the overseer of the city, chief judge, vizier, royal acquaintance, while (still) in his father’s house, valiant nDs without equal, possessor of strength, great of love, who turns round the arguments of him who disputes with him. I was a Xrd without peer. I prepared my DAmw consisting of Xrdw and set out for the fight together with my town. The above-mentioned sources had a military context. In this case Xrdw might be considered as either youths apt for military service, perhaps younger than nfrw, or servants in the service of their lords: in the first case in the service of the king, in the second in the service of the nomarch. DAmw is, as it seems from the context, the type of formation in which the labour force of the nome, including the aHAwtyw and the Xrdw, can be organized. The inscription Hatnub 24 speaks in favour of this assumption. The monument belongs to Kai, the son of the nomarch Neheri (reign of Amenemhat I). 45 The sixth line records: 6) iw Ts.n.i DAmw.s n Xrdw n mrt aSA xprw.s iw grt DAmw.s aq.n nDsw 43

Berman, Amenemhet I, 141; Obsomer, Sesostris Ier, 241-242.

44

Anthes, Hatnub, 35-38; Obsomer, Sesostris Ier, doc. 45, 164, 201ff; H. Willems, The Nomarchs of the

Hare Nome and Early Middle Kingdom History, JEOL 28, 1983-1984, 95ff. 45

Willems, JEOL 28, 1983-1984, 101.

Hmsi(w) m prw.sn n mSa.sn m rk snD n ... 46 6) I brought up the orphan who had no father. I enlisted its DAmw of Xrdw in order that the xprw become numerous. Now its DAmw had entered at the nDsw who were sitting in their houses. They did not travel in a period of fear of the king’s house. I rescued my town in the day of plunder from the ... terror ... In order to protect his city in the civil war following the beginning of the reign of Amenemhat I, Kai had need of some additional troops which seem to have been recruited from Xrdw and organized in DAmw. After the end of the activity, the second group of DAmw, being the one that belonged to the nome, were given the status of nDsw. The Hatnub inscriptions record also the compound terms nDs n Xn DAmw (Hatnub no 27) and nDs qn n Xn DAmw (no 20, 25 and 43). 47 Both designations show that DAmw may be organized from nDsw. nDsw nDs, a term characteristic for the First Intermediate Period and the Middle Kingdom documents, meaning “small man” 48 (the opposite of “great man”), has been in the focus of many studies 49 . From the very beginning it was clear that nDs should not be treated solely as a designation of a specific social status, but also as an age indication and a military term. Berlev, 50 in the beginning of his discussion of the term, devotes his attention to the chronology of the attestations of the word nDs in ancient Egyptian records. His 46

The translation of Prof. Dr Helmut Satzinger. Cf. Anthes, Hatnub, no 26; Obsomer, Sesostris Ier, doc. 46.

47

For nDs qn n Xn(w) DAmw cf. O. Д. Берлев, Общественные отношения в Египте эпохи Среднего

царства, Москва 1978, 114ff. 48

Wb II, 385/5-12; Faulkner, CD, 145

49

For previous bibliography see: Р. Рубинштайн, Внутреняя политика фараона Ахтоя

Уахкара, ВДИ 4, 1948, 184 and Берлев, Общественные отношения, 73 sq. 50

Берлев, Общественные отношения, 73-124.

research confirmed Perepelkin’s thesis that nDsw are firmly attested in the sources of the First Intermediate Period and the Early Middle Kingdom. 51 His list of attestations shows that the reign of Senusert I was a sort of terminus ante quem for the permanent use of the word nDs. Berlev discussed the term nDsw in its three different aspects: as a social term, an age group, and a military function. He concluded that, as a social term, the word nDsw was used as a general label for those who were “great” in their own town and nome. The understanding of the word nDs largely depends on the point of view from which “the small men” were observed and confronted with “the great men”. Berlev concluded that, generally speaking, the term “small men” designated poor individuals whose status was regarded as identical with that of widows and orphans. 52 Berlev considers the age aspect of the same word as identical with the military one. The word nDs, meaning “youth”, points to the optimal age for military service. At the same time, this word could also have been applied to people short of stature. 53 In the conclusion of his study, Berlev pointed out that the word nDs, even when followed by the epithets iqr and qn, only stresses that the person in question was either young or short of stature. The word did not have, at least in the examples mentioned, any social connotations, which means that any person of different social rank could have referred to himself as a nDs. 54 The troubled times of the First Intermediate Period required a specific type of heroes-defenders as a supplement to the weak central government. Those heroes, the defenders of the weak, were the nDsw “young soldiers” regardless of their social rank. Berlev proposes to find the causes of the disappearance of the term nDs after the reign of Senusert I in the consolidation of the central government under the 12th Dynasty rulers. Egypt managed to overcome a difficult period, which brought much suffering to its common people, ending thus the defenders’ role of the nDsw.

51

Ю. Я. Перепелкин, Всемирная история I, Moсква 1955, 269.

52

Берлев, Общественные отношения, 100-101.

53

Берлев, Общественные отношения, 104, 110

54

Берлев, Общественные отношения, 118.

After Berlev’s study, no significant works concerning the nDsw appeared. However, in the last decades, as the scholars' interest in the Middle Kingdom, especially its administration and social structure, increases, the question of the nDsw's status became important again. In his study of the Middle Kingdom's literary genre of loyalist wisdom literature 55 , Antonio Loprieno touched upon the word nDs. In his opinion “The most relevant social phenomenon in the transition from the Old to the Middle Kingdom is the emergence of the class of ‘free citizens’ exempt from state corvées (wab), who – in search of intellectual emancipation (rx ixt) – exalt their efficiency (iqr) as well as their economic independence (nDs).” Further, Loprieno pointed out that the late Old Kingdom and the First Intermediate Period were periods of reaction to the centralized monarchy and of emergence of self-conscious personalities, who express their ideology in autobiographical texts. Constituent parts of this new elite were the nDsw. 56 In his study of representations of individuals in the Middle Kingdom literature, Richard Parkinson takes into consideration the question of nDsw, too. 57 He concludes that the word nDsw apparently denominate a class of commoners or free citizens whose social position is not fully understood. At the same time, Parkinson notes that the word is not applied to the poor people only, but also to individuals with titles and considerable wealth. 58 Ludwig Morenz and Juan Carlos Moreno García have treated the problem of the nDsw in the same manner and from the same starting point as the above-mentioned authors. 59

55

A. Loprieno, Loyalty to the King, to God, to oneself, in: Studies in Honour of W. K. Simpson, ed. by P.

der Manuelian, Boston 1996, 545. 56

Loprieno, in: Studies Simpson, 545.

57

R. Parkinson, Individual and Society in Middle Kingdom Literature, in: Ancient Egyptian Literature:

History and Forms, ed. by A. Loprieno, PÄ 10, Leiden 1996, 142. 58

Parkinson, in: Ancient Egyptian Literature, 142.

59

L. Morenz, Beträge zur Schriftlichkeitskultur im Mittleren Reich und in der 2. Zweischenzeit, ÄAT 29,

Wiesbaden 1996, 107ff; J. C. Moreno Garcia, Etudes sur l’administration, le pouvoir et l’ideologie en Egypte, de l’Ancien au Moyen Empire, Aegyptiaca Leodiensia, 4, Liege 1997, 32-39.

In 1998, two more works on the nDsw were published. In her study of the nonroyal epithets of the Middle Kingdom, Denise Doxey devotes a brief note to the epithets relating to the nDsw 60 . She starts her own discussion with Parkinson’s and Loprieno’s theses. Furthermore, Doxey notes that during the Herakleopolitan period nDs ikr ir m hps.f “excellent commoner who acted with his arms” was a common epithet at Naga ed Deir and that “the instruction of Ptahotep indicates that a nDs could rise in status as well. In maxime 10 the reader is advised to “serve a well-to-do-man (s iqr)… he was once a common man (nDs)”. 61 At the end of this chapter, Doxey concludes that, “Middle Kingdom officials do not identify themselves as nDsw, but rather use the term to assign a class of relatively poor but favourably portrayed figures in need of support”. 62 The second work published in 1998 is by Detlef Franke. 63 In the first part of his article, Franke gives a critical review of Loprino, Moreno García and Morenz’s works. Reanalyzing the sources in which the word nDsw appears, he concludes that in most cases they were of autobiographical form. nDs was either a person whose biography was written, or the nDsw belonged to the population group protected by the biography owner. Franke points out that there are no social connotations inherent in the word nDsw. “Dem lexem nDs ”der Kleine” kommt keine soziologisch exakt definierbare Bedeutung als Bezeichnung einer Schicht oder Klasse zu, und es gibt folglich auch kein eigenes ‘Wertsystem’ des nedjes". 64 The only link between the various uses of nDsw was youth. According to Franke, a nDs was “ein tüchtiger junger Mann” and “der nedjes als ‘amtsunabhängiger Intelektueller”, und Kultuträger des Mittleren Reiches ist als ägyptologische Phantomgestalt erledigt." 65 Regardless of the precise meaning of the word, nDsw were used for the purpose of public works or military enterprises, and was organized in DAmw.

60

D. Doxey, Egyptian Non-royal Epithets in the Middle Kingdom, PÄ 12, Leiden 1998,

196. 61

Doxey, Non-royal Epithets, 196.

62

Doxey, Non-royal Epithets, 196.

63

D. Franke, Kleiner Mann (nds) – Was bist du?, GM 167, 1998, 33-34.

64

Franke, GM 167, 1998, 46.

65

Franke, GM 167, 1998, 46.

DAmw in the titles The title mr DAmw 66 is attested on a stela of Amenemhat II from the diorite quarries beyond Toshka. The title of Tem, recorded on the Wadi el- Áôl rock inscription 13 and interpreted by Darnell as mr pr-DAmw, seems to be disputable. 67 As the author notes, the sign of the child over the plural strokes could have the number of reading. DAmw as part of epithets In the inscription Wadi el-Hudi 23 from the time of Sebekhetep IV a title or epithet wr n DAmw, not recorded by Ward, is attested. Simpson renders it as chief of recruits. 68 The epithet phrase Dd ink nDs iqr ir m xpS.f HAt DAmw.f mi qdf, attested on the stela Berlin 24032, is rendered by Doret in the following way: “... (who) says: 'I was an excellent citizen who was active with his strong arm, foremost of his entire generation'.” 69 The very same epithet HAt DAmw.f, attested on several monuments, is translated by Fischer as one who was the foremost of all his recruits. 70 On the stela from Dendera (Philadelphia 29-66-693; Late First Intermediate Period) there is a construction iw rn HAt DAmw. Fischer renders it also as I acted as foremost of the recruits. The inscription on the stela Cairo J.d'E. 55605 (Naga ed Deir; First Intermediate Period) contains the syntagm ink HAt DAmw ‘I was the foremost of the recruits”, according to Fischer. The text of the stela from Dendera speaks about commanding in military actions of the person in whose 66

Ward, Index MK, 422; R. Engelbach, The Quarries of the Western Nubian Desert, ASAE 33, 1933, 71/6;

M-P. Chevereau, Contribution à la prosopographie des cadres militaires du Moyen empire, RdÉ 42, 1991, 125. 67

J. C. Darnell, Theban Desert Road Survey in the Egyptian Western Desert. Vol I: Gebel Thauti Rock

Inscriptions 1-45 and Wadi el- Áôl Rock Inscriptions 1-45, Chicago-Illinois 2002, 123-124. 68

Simpson, W. K.; W. Ward, Index of the Egyptian Administrative and Religious Titles of the Middle

Kingdom (Review), JNES 45 1986, 73. 69

É. Doret, The Narrative Verbal System of Old, and Middle Egyptian, Genève 1986, 130.

70

Fischer, Kush IX, 1961, 49.

honour the monument was erected (although he himself was not a holder of military titles). In the case of the Naga ed Deir stela the dedicator had the title mr mSa. 71 However, there is no reason to believe that the use of ‘DAmw’ indicates people of young age or recruits in the above-mentioned examples.

*** According to the records, the DAmw were organized groups of people. Terms, such as troops, military units, recruits, youths, generation do not seem to render the actual meaning of the word. A DAmw is a group of people that may be recruited from aHAwtyw, from the inhabitants of a nome, from nfrw, Xrdw, and nDsw. We may ask whether the formation of these groups was limited to certain professions or social positions, or by age. What seems to be clear is that a DAmw may be either a military or a civil group.

71

Fischer, Kush IX, 1961, 49.