Egberts ZAS 125 Wenamun

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i\. Egberrs: \Xienamul1

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Bard Times: The Chronology of "The Report of Wenamun" Revised'

"Obemilliegen fertiggepragte, aber sellen genall :i(fltriffende Begriffi Cttl! der Lmlcr, Z!I1Jleilen durch Klang ulid lUodegeltung vnjii/mrisch, bereit einzuspringetl, sobalci den Schreibenden die Energie des Gegenslandlichen ver/aJt" Elich A uerbarh, Phil%gie der Weltliteratu/

\Vriting history is like reading literature: all it takes are texts, common sense, and a touch of imagination, A well-balanced mix of these ingredients lies at the heart of Karl Jansen-Winkeln's reappraisal of the evidence relating to the end of the New Kingdom 3• His main conclusion con­ cerns the sequence of the Theban high priests of Amun. Whereas the textbooks have it that [·ferinor was succeeded by Piankh, J ansen-Winkeln pleads for the reverse order. This new inter­ pretation has been welcomed by some4 and rejected by others'. My present contribution to the (kbate surrounding the date of Herihor's pontificate focuses on one of the most important sources mentioning this dignitary, namely "The Report of Wenamun" (cited hereafter as "\'(/ena­ mun") , In the course of my argument, I will substantially revise some of the premises and con­ clllSio!1s contained in my previous study of the chronology of "Wenamun,,6. It should be noted, though, that this reassessment does not affect my translations of the relevant passages, which 7 have already found their way into a recent anthology of ancient Egyptian literature • Before plunging into detail, I must briefly address the issue of the use of literary texts as his­ torical samce material. I fed compelled to do so, because it has been malntained that the date

l 1 thank the following colleagues for giving me access to their papers presented at the symposium on ancient Egyptian literature to the memory of Georges Posener, held at Leipzig, 1996: john Baines (On Wenamun as a Literary Text); Christopher Eyre (Irony in the Story of Wenamun: The Politics or Religion in the 21st Dynasty); Gerald Moers (Fiktionalitat und Intertextualitat als Parameter agyptologischer Literaturwissenschaft: Perspektiven und Grenzen der Anwendung zeitgenossischer Literaturtheorie). These papers will be published in the proceedL.'1gs ,,!"the syrnposiurl1, Moreover, I am much indebted to Rob Demaree, Karl Jansen-W'inkdn, and Gerald Moers for rhe~t comments 011 a draft of this article; and to Brian Muhs for improving my English prose. . Originally published in 1952 and reprinted in: Gesammelte Aufsatze zur romanischen Philologie (Bern, 1967), }lll-IO (the quotation is found on p. 309), . ~ K, J ansen- Winkeln, Das Ende des Neuen Reiches, zAs 119 (1992),22-37. , ',R, Gundlach, Das Konigtum des Herihor: Zum Gmbruch in der itgyptischen Konigsideologie am Beginn ~!~r J. Zwischenzeit, in: M. Minas and J Zeidler (eds.), Aspekte spatagyptischer Kultur: Festschrift fUr Erich '':!nter Zllm 65, Geburtstag (Aegyptiaca Treverensia 7; Mainz am Rhein, 1994), 133-8; J H, Taylor, Nodjmet, Parankh and Herihor: The Early Twenty-first Dynast\< Reconsidered, in: C. Eyre (ed.), Seventh International Con­ ~ress of Egyptologists, Cambridge, 3-9 September 1995: Abstracts of Papers (Oxford, 1995), 184-5; A. Eg b erts, ~:au~, Herihor, Dhutmose and Butehamun: .t\ Fresh Look at 0, Cairo CG 25744 and 25745, GM 160 (1997),

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S ,ee the rderences comained in jansen-'\i:inkdn 's repiy ro his critics: Die tbeballlschen Grunder der :~ Dyna~tie, GM 157 (1997), 49-74. See for yet another defence of the traditional view O. Goelet, A New O,bbery Papyrus: Rochester ivlAG 51.346.1, JEA 82 (1996), t07 -27, esp. 124-7, .' i\. Egberts, The Chronology of The Report ofW'enamun,jEA 77 (1991),57-6 7 . In the footnotes to this ,nick (:ne may find the basic bibliographic references relating to "\\;enamun", '-, G. Moers, Die Reiseerzahlung des \Xienamun, in: O. Kaiser (ed.), Texte aus del' L'nw,'e!t des Alten Testa­ .i~nts, !fIlS (Gutersloh, 1995),912-21. /

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J·,g1J:1I\'j1\;'(· ('(ll':1 l1H)l!1("lll 1I1al ,hl.. p;1p}i"l1l!os suessinl4 the J .naminc ethnicity of thcir crews, while thc messenger of I\mun empha,·.;' sised their subser\'ienc~ to an Egyptian ruler. The latter argument failed to impress Zekerb,lal: in.:': his e\·~s rhe rwenty ships associated with Smencles were nothing compareu to the Efty ships .~:,~,lJli.LICd \,,'illl \\;"\ rLCll']) ,\"Ilo 1l111St

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sl:'gc "I" ,h"sl' ,1:Irk ~gc" while heing of I,c\-antine, /\nawlian or Acgean stock (1, 54-2,2)".. This, e01l1bill~d with Dlany uth~r indicatiolls in the report, sugge~ts t11lS 1I0 IOllger tllc."'" glorious trade partller il used LU he. In this wa~· the authur of "\\'cnamun" has ruthlessly exposea~sagl' fGllLJrin~ SIl,cnd~s anu his consort Temamun, in which W·,,"a111un exhorts !'"kcr[,aaJ as (ollo"s (2, }1-5): "I ,,\\.~ your ~cribc bn,ughl to n,~ that 1m",· send hin] to Smendcs nnd Tenw111un, the 'pl,mners' ;\Il1L111 h'l~ (lpp()inted in the north of his hUll1 (lIJ ,\111.",.,." I,di 111111111 p: mill." II fJJy=/If)"'~', The crux of this ,'cI1lence is the word .ml.", \V;'ith customary brilliance, .lean YOH>ile has explaincd tr a:; a precursor of the title .1'1111', which denoted the highest ecunomic ufllce afl~r lh~ ad111inistrati\T reforms introuueed hy i\masis and corresponded to thc Greck t:itl~ rliliikeif/-. Despi!c the curio ous spelljng 01· the snibc ol'''\\'~mlmul1'', which has been intluenccd bl· th~ ~xpr~ssilJt, .1"1111, "to ki~~ tllc Ctu,th", the \\ort! snty nlUSI. be;l dcri\'3.ti\'c of the n.:rb SJl!, "til fnl,lfld, i l l pL!,,". If~ lilt'!",!! 1lll':IIling wuuld then be something lik~ "planner". In all probability, the ~nnle word oeCllrs in the Litle ,\"I1(y fir, which is only known fron: rhe titubr:,' of prince Kh~{(:nl\":"l':(', th': l(''''nll''~ ,-:nn nf r It11l';;C~ 11 ,,,. "PlanTler f,f I lotus (i,c'. Philt-:1rlh)" i" ~ till;nv epithel fIll" ~l 111rtn who cninn'd such a I'l"i\·ilegcd staws as l .1.1lUlh~1 iIJu"LLUi~HI tl di... \~Ith~)ri::.. ':.':l!' ,.'.-I l :,·!, 1h!~ f(wallady - perhaps the last eJucen of the Ne\\' Kingdom a, pointed out ahuI·~ - w:ts clothed, In the preccding paragraphs all occurrences of the hisll>rical pcrsonIl:tgcs SIl1~Illks :!nd Ilt:ri­ hur in "\\lcnamun" have been revie\\'ed, exc~pt th~ foUowing passage nnllling the high priest o( Amun (2, 25-(;): "Thus AIllUII·R~, l,ing of Cods, spok~ to Ikrihor, t1l1·10rd: 'Scnd me!' 1\nd he m~dc 111(' Cl)OlC with this great g()d"-'~, j '~\'identIYI this r~fers tu (111 OfJc!e legicitnating Heriilor's de­ cisioll t" build a new bark for ,\nlun·'. \,.~ kilO\\' this decision to be a historical fact, since rhe con· structioll of a bark for Amun is also I1lcntion~d in two inscriptions localed ill tbe court of th~ "hOIlSU temple-'. There it is stated that I'lerih')l" "bas hcwn llis (i.e. AI1llln) bark out of pine uf the

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