Fairman, JEA 20, 1-4

Plate I

A STATUE FROM THE KARNAK CACHE BY H. W. FAIRMAN With Plates i and ii. AMONG the nunierous statues which were found by Legrain at Karnalc that which bears the excavation number 197, and the number 37075 in the Joumal d'Ent~ek,lmust be considered one of the finest and most interesting. I t is in perfect condition (except for the fact that the tip of the nose is missing) and is that of a certain Ahmes, son of Smendes7who was a priest of " Nekht-Hor-heb, the divine". I t would therefore appear that Nekht-Hor-heb was already dead when this statue was made, and we may reasonably date it to the beginning of the Ptolemaic period, or to the reign of Alexander the Great. The material of the statue is schist, and its height is 95 cm. Ahmes is represented as a young man, standing upright with the left foot slightly advanced, and with his back against an obelisk-shaped support. He is clad only in the short indyt-skirt, and his head is closely shaven. In appearance this is a typical statue of the early Ptolemaic period: the strength and character that distinguish so many Saitic statues have gone, and we are left with a sonlewhat formal portrait of a man, with a slight smirk on his lips, clumsy legs and rather heavy, overdeveloped shoulders, and a body of which the details are summarily treated. This statue has not been published hitherto, though a mention of it was made and some extracts quoted by Legrain in Bulletin de 1'1nstitut f m n ~ a i sd'Amlt&ologieo~ientale,XII, 92. I t is published here because it is very probable that in Ahn~eswe possess the earliest known priest of Buchis. At least7 it is certain that his official duties brought him into close touch with Hermonthis (especially in the use of the title ?znk, which is borne by other priests of Buchis), the bull of Medamiid, and Amenopet ; and for these and other reasons it is not unreasonable to presume that he was connected with Buchis worship. This paper should therefore be considered as complementary to the chapter on the Hieroglyphic Inscriptions in the E.E.S. Memoir on the Bucheurn and Baqaria which is now in the press, and the reader is referred to that work for a full discussion of many points which cannot be dealt with in detail in the course of a brief paper. Inscriptions on the waist (PI. ii, 2) To the right: fives tlze dirine fathey and p~ophetof Osiris, the enzbdme~a and divine p u ~ i $ e ~ , Ahmes, justi$ed. To the left: h u e s the divine fathey and p~ophetof Amzin i n 'Ipt-swt, hnk? embalmer and divine pu~i$er, Ahmes, 3usti$ed. a Here, and in the translations of all Buchis inscriptions, "embalmer" is used as the translation of hri-S& ; cf. Journal, XVII, 227. b For this tiiJe see the inscription on the right side of the support, note a.

Inscriptions on the obelisk-shaped support. A. The back of the support: top (Pl. i, l). At the top, in the centre, is the winged disk, from vliich hang nine "Anklis", in three rows of three. Below this Ahnies is shown worshipping Amim and Osiris, who face right and left respectively. l

I am much obliged t o Mr. Guy Brunton for obtaining the photographs for me. B

Before Amiin: Amen-R$, King of the Gods, primeval one of the Two Lands, with upraised arm. And: The servant who praises his lord, the divine father Ahmes, justi$ed. Before Osiris: Osiris, Onnophris. And: The follower of Osiris in pr-gtA (?), the divine father Alzmes, justified.

B. T h e main inscription on t h e back (Pl. i, l ) . l . The divine fatlzer and prophet of Amiin in 'Ipt-swt, Ahmes, justified, says :0 Amen-BEr, Icing of the Gods, primeval one of the Two Lands, self-created, I a m thy servant, who follozus thy K a , a revered one who sees his lord. Grant me thy lqe infolloztiing thy majesty. M a y I not grow tire& of seeing thy face, zwll embalmed and adorned excellently in the hlecropolis beside 'I& JJ1mt.b Mayest thou set m y childrenc in thy city as those who have been appointed by the g0ds.d 2. The embalrner and divine puri$er of AnzzTn, Ahmes, justijied, says : 0 N u n the Old, who came into existence in the beginning, primeval one of the Two Lands, with upraised arm, m y heart i s loyal to tl~ee.May I be in tlzy following, may I praise thy beauty in thy noble shrine, mayest thou establislz m y image within tlzy sacred place, may m y name be uttered by thy servants, nzy children being in thy tenzple, and followinge thy majesty ecery day zcithout cease inf thy 'Ipt-swt. 3. The prophet of Amaunet, who is in 'Ipt-swt, Ahmes, jusf$ed, says: 0 Mut, who came into txistence aforetime, I am thy chil& (?) in thy court. I haw not done evil (??) with m y left hand against the Temple of Afzd throughfear (lit. trembling) of Khonsu (7). A great ofering in his goodly jestival oj the New Yearh (?) consisting of incense of Punt, that ( m y )rettiardjrom thee, 0 mistress of tlze gods and goddesses, may be a long life with good fortune. 1Mayest thou cause m y dwellingi to endure in the portal of thy temple, mayest thou establish those who come after me therein. 4. Tlte baron of the Memphite Nome, the govemor of the Hare hrome, Ahmes, justified, says : I went to the Residence, I sailed up-stream to Hermopolis, a royul rescript being with me.j I bent m y arms to the proplzets and their priests. I did good to their citizens. The reward tlzereof was that Tenen and Thoth caused me to arrive at Thebes as a n ho?~ouredone. May I complete nzy lifek upon e a ~ t hin the following of Amfin, as a divine purijier i n his great place. 5. The p~ophetof Sokar-Osiris, Alzmes, justi$ed, says: I a m thy sermnt, 0 King of the Gods, in (thy ?) temple1 (?). T h y censer i s (extended) tottiards me. I amm a n embalmer in Pr-rnb-irw,n who revivi$es Osiris in the Ht-nb. Mayest thou jmt me among the excellent spirits who are in thy train, and the srhw who are beside thee. May m y Ba not perish, may m y body not die, . . . again, may I come and go on earth every day, may I enter in to the god and not be repelled. 6. The prophet of Amenopet of ~ b - s w tAlzmes, ,~ justified, says :Praise to thy face, 0 phallus oj the goas, Amenopet, bull with ~ p r a i ~ earm, d living image of RI? in Hernzont1zis,p who grants provisionsq to him who i s in his favour. Mayest thou give them to me, 0 m y great lord, for I a m loyal to thy majesty. Grant tlzat I may see thy noble B a wlzen it sails (to) Bo-stau. May I live on tlze offerings which are made to tlzee. 7. The prophet of K1zonsu Amenopet, Ahmes, justijied, says : I inscribe the gateways of Khonsu in Thebes, the noble sbm in Bnnt.t I exalt his fear, I make great his majesty, I write upon the wall of his temple. 1May he make a reward for me by prolonging m y life as a revered one, "one who has gone to his I justified, born of the dancer of Amen-Rt?r, Kamephis, Ti-nub, justified. mop give everything

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* The mention of the bull of Medamtid is of interest since Buchis, as a sacred bull like Apis and Mnevis, already in existence. I n the Bucheum Memoir it will be seen that there is strong reason for considering Bwhis was the embodiment of the four bull-forms of Mentu. The fact that, a t a time when Buchis was d i p p e d , the bull of Medamild was sometimes looked upon as a separate entity (at Medamtid itself, for zmsanw, as the excavations of the French Institute have shown) i n no way disproves this statement, for the phenomenon can be observed in the case of the local bulls of Tfid and Hermonthis. Neither, it may be out, does the mention of the burial place of the bull of Medamtid speak against this theory. No

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trace of a cemetery for the bull has been found a t Medamad, and doubtless it never will. If the bull of Medamad was merely one of the four forms of Mentu united in one, i.e. in Buchis, there is no contradiction in equating the imntt of the bull of Medamad with the Bucheum, the burial-place of Buchis, of whose nature the bull of Medamud formed a part. 1) m?/-dsr-rh: for this title cf. Cairo 42211 (Legrain, Statues et .statuettes de rois et particuliers, 111, 28 ff.). Compare also m a &r m rh: Cairo 41017 (Moret, Sarcophages de Fepoque bubastite Vepoque suite, 184), and Cairo 41062 (Gauthier, Cercueils anthropotdes des pretres de Montou, 391).

The statue is not absolutely free-standing, and a comparatively thin piece of stone connects it with its support. The available spaces in this stone are utilized for further inscriptions. Right side (PI. ii, 1). Ahmes' eldest son, Smendes, is shown standing up, clad in a long robe which reaches from his breast to below his knees. The text reads: H i s eldest, beloved son, prophet of Osiris, Smendes, born of the lady of the house and ihyt of A n G n , T-sherit-Min, justified. We thus possess the names of Ahnies' father and son, both of whom were called Smendes, his mother, Ti-nub, and his wife, T-sherit-Min. At present no further details seem to be known about these people, or about Ahmes himself, but it is not at all impossible that the final publication of the statues from the Karnak Cache may produce the desired information. Left side (PI. i, 2). Ahmes is shown kneeling and facing left, with hands raised in adoration. Above his head, and in front of him is a short inscription: T h e si-sta in " T h e Mistress of Cities",b the prophet of Osiris, Ahrnes, justified. a A priestly

title; cf. Wb. d. aeg. Spr., 111,414.

to

One of the names of Thebes ;cf. op. cit., 111, 108.

Below the figure of Ahmes is an inscription of sixteen lines: T h e prophet of Amen-REr in his temple, Ahmes, justified, s a y s : 0 ye "dw-ntra and priests of the great B a , ye embalmers of " T h e E y e of REr"b who enter " T h e Heaven u p o n Earth"" o n their feet while performing their duties therein, stretch forth your arm{s) to m e with a n "offeringiu1zich-the-l~ing-gives",stretch forth your arms to m e ~ a y i n g ", ~M a y he praise thee in peace, namely Amen-REr, the noble shm, chief of all the gods. M a y t h y Ba live in heaven before Rer; m a y t h y K a be divine before the gods; m a y t h y body endure in the Underworld before Osiris; m a y t h y m u m m y be glorious among the Shining Ones; m a y t h y noble B a go to blendes and the Thinite N o m e o n the d a y of the festival of Solcar. " 0 doer of good to irhom good i s done, icho does not take vengeance (?), zuho spends the night in taking thoughte (?), m a y f h y real heart be pleasant to m e f (?), (for) m y heart is loyal to his majesty, m y disposition is pure and far from evil, ( I ) hate wrongg (??) . . . my lord, m y god, m y father, m y protector, who does not grow tired of protecting his servant, m a y m y n a m e be happily pronounced by those zc1w are u p o n earth as (that o f ) a revered one i n the favour of his god. a rdw-rtr: a priestly title ; cf. Wb. d. aeg. Spr., I, 240. to irt RC:one of the names of Thebes ;cf. Gauthier, Dict. gkog., I, 99. " y t ltr ssti-: a name of Karnak; cf. Wb. d. ag. Spr., I, 491. e I am d Emend m dd? not a t all certain that I have grasped the real meaning of these phrases, which seem to contain an invocation to Amiin. The last clause (s& md-n.f ?) is reminiscent of the Cairo Hymn to Amiin: "who spends the night watching over mankind, who spends the night seeking good things for his cattle", i.e. for men (Cairo Hymn to Amiin, 7, 1 = Mariette, Les Papyrus igyptiens du Muse'e de Boulaq, 11, PI. 12). Compare also a somewhat similar passage in Thoth's letter on behalf of Rer to Neith in Chester Beatty I, recto 2.11.l The translation which is given here necessitates the mbstitution of ib.k for ink. &h.R. 0. Faulkner, however, suggests the following translation: "I am well-disposed (?), I am one true of heart, who is loyal to his majesty." g These words are somewhat obscure and may well need emendation. Possibly with is a n error for or ^.%, and we should emend m d ( - i )m. The meaning of n&J, or n@, is unknown ; it is apparently a verb of thinking or praising. I owe this reference to Mr. Faulkner.

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