Stefanovic CdE

Danijela stefanovic

The stela of wr-n†r at Saffron Walden Museum The monument with the inventory number 1892.49 of the Saffron Walden Museum,∞∞(1) acquired by the Museum at some time between 1835 and 1880, is a round-topped stela measuring 66 ≈ 39 ≈ 6,5 cm (Fig. 1). The stela was catalogued in 1892 by the Museum’s first professional curator, George Nathan Maynard. The provenance of the stela is not recorded. However, it probably originates from Abydos. The rounded upper part of this stela contains two representations of Wepwawet reclining on a pedestal, facing each other.∞∞(2) Beneath them is the offering formula for Osiris in two rows of text. The five registers underneath (A, B, C, D, E) show the sealbearer of the god wr-n†r with his relatives, colleagues and perhaps members of his household. On the left side of the upper register (A), wr-n†r is seated on a chair with lion’s legs in front of a richly laden offering table. Under the table are two tall jars on stands. He wears a plain collar, a simple kilt and a short bag wig∞∞(3) which leaves the ear exposed. wr-n†r extends one hand over the leg towards the offerings, while the other holds a napkin at chest height. On the right, facing wr-n†r, are two standing figures of his sons and three kneeling figures of his daughters.∞∞(4) The sons have close-cropped hair, they wear collars, a transverse band across the torso (just the Ìtmty-n†r (1) I thank the staff of the museum in Saffron Walden (Essex, UK) for permission to publish the stela and for providing both the photograph and the technical data (courtesy of and © Saffron Walden Museum) (2) See R. Hölzl, Die Giebelfelddekoration von Stelen des Mittleren Reiches, BzÄ 10, Wien 1990, 88. (3)  Men’s bag wigs, with exposed ears, occurs most frequently during the late Middle Kingdom. Cf. R. E. Freed, Representation and Style of Dated Private Stelae of Dynasty XII, Master’s thesis, New York University, 1976, 59; R.J. Leprohon, A Late Middle Kingdom Stela in a Private Collection, in: Studies in Honor of William Kelly Simpson, Vol. II, Boston 1996, 528. (4)  Compare the women’s hair style with London BM 238 (ANOC 54.1), Marseilles 223 and Leiden V 100. Chronique d’Égypte LXXXV (2010), fasc. 169-170 – doi: 10.1484/J.CDE.1.102019

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Égypte pharaonique

Fig. 1 — Saffron Walden, Saffron Walden Museum 1892.49 (Courtesy of and © Saffron Walden Museum).

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The stela of wr-n™r at Saffron Walden Museum

s¨nÌ-ínpw), and short kilts with belt and knot marked. One of sons (Ìtmtyn†r ínpw-m-Ìt) pours a libation with his right hand.∞∞(5) Two vertical and one horizontal line of incised inscription serve as captions for the depicted persons.

1)  1)  wp-wwt sÌm twy nb b∂w 1)  Wepwawet, the power of the Two Lands,∞∞(6) the Lord of Abydos. 2)  2) Ìtp dí nswt wsír nb ∂dw n†r ¨ nb b∂w ∂j.f prt-Ìrw t ÌnÈt kw pdw 2) An offering which the king gives and / to∞∞(7) Osiris, the Lord of Busiris, the Great Good, the Lord of Abydos,∞∞(8) that he will give a funerary offering of bread and beer, meat and poultry,∞∞(9)

(5) For examples of libations attested on stelae of Late Middle Kingdom – Second Intermediate Period, cf. A. Hasan, ‘Drei Stelen aus Elkab’, Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts. Abteilug Kairo 29, 1973, Tf. I/b; Leiden II 18; Toulouse, Inv. 49.274; Chicago OIM 6740, and Karlsruhe 6. (6)  Cf. C. Leitz (ed.), Lexikon der ägyptischen Götter und Götterbezeichungen, Band VI, OLA 115, Leuven 2002, 547; see also A.H. Gardiner, Ancient Egyptian Onomastica, Oxford 1947, Vol. I 40*. (7) See H. Satzinger, Beobachtungen zur Opferformel: Theorie and Praxis, Lingua Aegyptia 5, 1997, 177-188; D. Franke, The Middle Kingdom Offering Formulas – A Challenge, Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 89, 2003, 45ff; Id., The Good Shepherd Antef (Stela BM EA 1628), Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 93, 2007, 170-171. (8) The offering formula alone would suggest a date in the Late Middle Kingdom, according to the criteria established by Bennett and Smither, and later refined by Satzinger and Franke (C. J. C. Bennett, Growth of the Htp-di-nsw formula in the Middle Kingdom, Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 27, 1941, 77-82; P. C. Smither, The Writing of HTPD’I-NSW in the Middle and New Kingdoms, Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 25, 1939, 34). Cf. Satzinger, Lingua Aegyptia 5, 1997, 184-188 and Franke, Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 93, 2007, 170. (9)  W. Barta, Aufbau und Bedeutung der altägyptischen Opferformel, ÄF 24, Glückstadt 1968, 46 (Bitte 2) ff. For the appearance of dí.f after the Ìtp dí nsw formula as an dating criteria see C. Obsomer, ‘Di.f prt Hrw et la filiation ms(t).n/ ir(t).n comme critères de datation dans les textes du Moyen Empire’, in: Ch. Cannuyer and J.-M. Kruchten (eds), Individu, société et spiritualité dans l’Égypte pharaonique et copte: Mélanges égyptologiques offerts au Professeur Aristide Théodorides, Bruxelles 1993, 163-201; Satzinger, Lingua Aegyptia 5, 1997. Cf. Franke, Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 93, 2007, 170-171.

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Égypte pharaonique

3)  3)  sn†r mrÌt n k n Ìtmty-n†r wr-n†r ír.n wt kfn ms.n tt 3)  incense, and unguent to the Ka of the Sealbearer of the god∞∞(10) wr-n†r∞∞(11) begotten by the Embalmer∞∞(12) kfn,∞∞(13) born of the tt.∞∞(14) 4)

5)

6)

7)

4) s.f Ìtmty-n†r s¨nÌ-ínpw∞∞(15) 5) s.f Ìtmty-n†r ínpw-m-Ìt∞∞(16) 6) st.f sttÌí∞∞(17) 7) st.f títí∞∞(18) st.f ínpw-Ìr-Ìb∞∞(19) 4) His son, the Sealbearer of the god s¨nÌ-ínpw. 5) His son, the Sealbearer of the god ínpw-m-Ìt. 6) His daughter, st-tÌí. 7) His daughter, ínpw-Ìr-Ìb. (10) The leaders of expeditions often bear the title Ìtmty-n†r ‘sealbearer of the god’ (W. Ward, Index of Egyptian administrative and religious titles of the Middle Kingdom, Beirut 1982, no 1480; P.-M. Chevereau, Contribution à la prosopographie des cadres militaires du Moyen Empire: Titres nautiques, Revue d’Égyptologie 43, 1992, 11-16, nos. 333336; D. Franke, Probleme der Arbeit mit altägyptischen Titeln des Mittleren Reiches, Göttinger Miszellen 83, 107 n. 3 as ‘Signaltitel’; S. Quirke, Titles and bureaux of Egypt 1850-1700 BC., GHP: Egyptology 1, London. 2004, 78; O. Berlev, ObÏestvennxe otnojeniq v Egipte ypohi Srednego carstva, Moskva 1978, 189; K.-J. Seyfried, Beiträge zu den Expeditionen des Mittleren Reiches in die Ost-Wüste. HÄB 15, Hildesheim 1981, 34ff.; H. G. Fischer, Egyptian Titles of the Middle Kingdom: A Supplement to Wm. Ward’s Index, New York 1985,2 77 (1408); C. Merrer, Les chanceliers du dieu (Ìtmw-n†r) et la Mer Rouge, Égypte. Afrique & Orient 41, 2006, 35-42), a designation also used in quite different contexts for temple officials (S. Sauneron, Le „Chancelier du dieu“ dans son double rôle d’embaumeur et de prêtre d’Abydos, Bulletin de l’Institut Français d’Archéologie Orientale 51, 1952, 137-177). (11) Not recorded by Ranke, PN. (12) For the title wt see Ward, Index MK, 754. (13)  Ranke, PN I, 344/22. (14)  Ranke, PN I, 383/20. (15) Not recorded by Ranke, PN. (16)  Ranke, PN I, 37/9. (17)  Ranke, PN I, 294/18. (18)  Ranke, PN I, 378/25. (19) Not recorded by Ranke, PN.

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The stela of wr-n™r at Saffron Walden Museum

The next register (B) shows four kneeling figures in squares separated by the captions. In each row the woman at the left-hand side is facing the three other ladies. They wear long wigs, collars, and tight-fitting long dresses with one chest strap. At the utmost right of the register, there is an additional column of inscription (not bounded by vertical lines) identifying the sealbearer of the god ttí. 8)

9)

10)

11)

12)

8) nbt pr ps∂t∞∞(20) írt.n smsw∞∞(21) snb.f-n.í∞∞(22) ms(t).n kÌkí∞∞(23) 9) nbt pr kÌkí mst.n Ìt∞∞(24) m¨t-Ìrw 10) nbt pr títí mst.n tt∞∞(25) 11) nbt pr Ìmmt∞∞(26) mst.n títí 12) Ìtmty-n†r ttí∞∞(27) ms.n íb∞∞(28) (20)  Ranke, PN I, 137/11. (21) The followers were employed by the royal court or by local dignitaries as servants or persons responsible for their master’s security. Various categories of smsw perhaps indicated positions attached to one of the high-ranking officials or to offices, whether civilian or military (Ward, Index MK, no 1517; Berlev, ObÏestvennxe otnojeniq, 178ff; S. Quirke, The Administration of Egypt in the Late Middle Kingdom, New Malden 1991, 82; D. Stefanovic, smsw — Soldiers of the Middle Kingdom, Wiener Zeitschrift für die Kunde des Morgenlandes 98, 2008, 233-248. In order to define the actual assignment of a smsw, suffixes or prefixes were added to the title so as to illustrate more or less precisely what kind of activities the follower performed (Ward, Index MK, nos 1517-1529). Without this more precise determination, which could also be iconographic (Berlev, ObÏestvennxe otnojeniq, 207-208; Id. Trudovoe naselenie Egipta v ypohu Srednego carstva, Moskva 1972, 327), the title smsw can be interpreted in different ways. (22)  Ranke, PN I, 314/9. (23) Cf. Ranke, PN I, 348/9. (24)  Ranke, PN I, 232/13. (25)  Ranke, PN I, 383/22. (26)  Ranke, PN I, 269/24. (27)  Ranke, PN I, 384/4. (28)  Ranke, PN I, 19/5.

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Égypte pharaonique

8) The mistress of the house ps∂t begotten by the follower snb.f-n.í, born of kÌkí. 9) The mistress of the house kÌkí born of Ìt, true of voice. 10) The mistress of the house títí born of tt. 11) The mistress of the house Ìmmt born of títí. 12) the Sealbearer of the god ttí born of íb. The appearance and arrangement of figures incised in register C are identical with those in B. 13)

14)

15)

16)

13) nbt pr tt mst.n títí m¨t-Ìrw 14) nbt pr íw-nn-sn∞∞(29) mst.n tt 15) nbt pr Ìt mst.n írr∞∞(30) m¨t-Ìrw 16) nbt pr ¨-kw∞∞(31) mst.n títí m¨t-Ìrw 13) The mistress of the house tt born of títí, true of voice. 14) The mistress of the house íw-nn-sn born of tt. 15) The mistress of the house Ìt born of írr, true of voice. 16) The mistress of the house ¨-kw born of títí, true of voice. Register D displays four figures of men in separate squares. In each square they kneel, separated by the captions. They wear collars, simple kilts and short bag wigs which leaves the ear exposed. The man at the lefthand side is facing the three other persons.

(29) Not recorded by Ranke, PN. (30)  Ranke, PN I, 39/14. (31) Not recorded by Ranke, PN. Cf. Ranke, PN I, 58/13.

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The stela of wr-n™r at Saffron Walden Museum

17) 18) 19) 20)

17) wt kfn ms.n tt 18) wt ínpw∞∞(32) nb-íw∞∞(33) ms.n s-íw∞∞(34) 19) mr ms¨∞∞(35) sbk-Ìr-Ìb∞∞(36) ms.n títí 20) wr m∂w sm¨∞∞(37) snb.tí.fí∞∞(38) ms.n nÌy∞∞(39) 17) The embalmer kfn born of tt. 18) The embalmer of Anubis nb-íw born of s-íw. 19) The overseer of ms¨ sbk-Ìr-Ìb born of títí. 20) The greatest of the tens of Upper Egypt snb.tí.fí born of nÌy. The lower register (E) records seventeen people with their names and titles.

(32) For the title ‘embalmer of Anubis’ see D. Jones, An Index of Ancient Egyptian Titles, Epithets and Phrases of the Old Kingdom, BAR S866 (I-II), London 2000, no 1493 and Fischer, Supplement, no 754a. (33)  Ranke, PN II, 296/15. (34) Not recorded by Ranke, PN. (35) For the title mr ms¨ see Ward, Index MK, 205; M-P. Chevereau, Contribution à la prosopographie des cadres militaires du Moyen empire, Revue d’Égyptologie 42, 1991, 46-56; W. Grajetzki, Die Höchsten Beamten der ägyptischen Zentralverwaltung zur Zeit des Mittleren Reiches, Berlin 2000, 116-126; Quirke, Titles and bureaux, 98-99. (36)  Ranke, PN I, 305/5. (37) For the title wr m∂w sm¨ see Ward, Index MK, no 721; Quirke, Titles and Bureaux, 87; Id., The Regular Titles of the Late Middle Kingdom, Revue d’Égyptologie 37, 1986, 113, 120; Grajetzki, Zentralverwaltung, 39ff. (38)  Ranke, PN I, 314/23. (39)  Ranke, PN I, 207/15.

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Égypte pharaonique

28) 27) 26) 25) 24) 23) 22) 21)

37) 36) 35) 34) 33) 32) 31) 30) 29)

21) ss n ípt nswt (?)∞∞(40) Ìr.í∞∞(41) 22) wt ínpw mr.wí∞∞(42) 23) nbt pr prt∞∞(43) mst.n by∞∞(44) 24) nbt pr ítí∞∞(45) mst.n ít∞∞(46) 25) nbt pr kfn mst.n bbít∞∞(47) 26) ¨nÌw∞∞(48) mst.n mwt.f∞∞(49) 27) snb.f-n.(í)∞∞(50) mst.n kÌkí 28) ktfw∞∞(51) ms.n kÌkí 29) ¨m∞∞(52) ms.n Ìmmt 30) sn¨¨-íb∞∞(53) ms.n Ìmmt 31) ¨∞∞(54)

(40) For the title ss (n) ípt nswt see Ward, Index MK, 1349, and Quirke, Titles and Bureaux, 27. (41)  Ranke, PN I, 251/8. (42) Not recorded by Ranke, PN. (43)  Ranke, PN I, 134/19. (44)  Ranke, PN I, 93/9. (45)  Ranke, PN I, 49/13. (46)  Ranke, PN I, 49/7. (47) Not recorded by Ranke, PN. (48)  Ranke, PN I, 68/6. (49) Not recorded by Ranke, PN. (50)  Ranke, PN I, 314/9. (51) Not recorded by Ranke, PN. (52)  Ranke, PN I, 59/2. (53)  Ranke, PN I, 312/14. (54)  Ranke, PN I, 57/2.

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The stela of wr-n™r at Saffron Walden Museum

mst.n Ìmmt 32) smsw snfrw∞∞(55) ms.n Ìt 33) Ìpí∞∞(56) ¨m ms.n mwt 34) íry sdw∞∞(57) pwíwn∞∞(58) 35) nbt pr nÌí mst.n ps∂t 36) Ìmt.f tt m¨tÌrw 37) rÌty∞∞(59) rn.f-snb∞∞(60) m¨t-Ìrw 21) The secretary of the private rooms of the king (?) Ìr.í. 22) The embalmer of Anubis mr.wí 23) The mistress of the house prt born of by. 24) The mistress of the house ít born of íwt. 25) The mistress of the house kfn born of bbít. 26) ¨nÌw born of mwt.f. 27) snb.f-n.(í) born of kÌkí 28) kftw born of kÌkí. 29) ¨m born of Ìmmt 30) sn¨¨-íb born of Ìmmt 31) ¨ born of Ìmmt 32) The follower snfrw born of Ìt. 33) The Asiatic Ìpí born of mwt. 34) The keeper of clothing pwíwn. 35) The mistress of the house nÌy born of ps∂t. 36) His wife tt true of voice. 37) The washerman rn.f-snb true of voice. The design and iconographic details, as well as the terminology of the offering formula place the monument within the period of the late Middle Kingdom. There is also a female with a male proper name (ínpw-Ìr-Ìb), a custom met sometimes in the late Thirteenth Dynasty, and later. The stela combines the members of at least two extended families: the family of wr-n†r, the main person and probable donor of the stela, and that of lady kÌkí. The other persons, as well as the members of the two families, seem not to have been related by family ties but can perhaps be associated by their working place (palace officials), expeditions led by Ìtmty-n†r, or the commission reflected in the existence of the stela. As the monument represents whole families, it is almost sure that it was part of an Abydene cenotaph (an “ANOC”). For this reason the divine names which are several times represented in the onomastic material (i.e the name of the god Anubis that recurs in several names), may be an indication of the home of wr-n†r’s family.

(55)  Ranke, PN I, 315/18. (56) Cf. Ranke, PN I, 233/12. (57) For the title íry sdw see Ward, Index MK, 543 and D. Franke, Das Heiligtum des Heqaib auf Elephantine, SAGA 9, Heidelberg 1994, 77, n. 262. (58) Cf. Ranke, PN I, 130/26. (59) For the title rÌty see Ward, Index MK, 858. (60)  Ranke, PN I, 223/17.

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Égypte pharaonique

A diagram of the genealogies for the different families: wt kfn = tt Ìtmty-n†r wr-n†r títí ?

Ìtmty n†r ínpw-m-Ìt

Ìmmt

nbt pr tt

¨m

=?

tt

ínpw-Ìr-Ìb

Ìtmty-n†r s¨nÌ-ínpw

st-tÌí

nbt pr ¨-kw

mr ms¨ sbk-Ìr-Ìb

sn¨¨-íb

¨

írr ? Ìt smsw snb.f-n.í = kÌkí nbt pr ps∂t

smsw snfrw snb.f.n.í

ktfw

nbt pr nÌí wr m∂w sm¨ snb.tí.fí As for the further prosopographic links, there is the possibility that the íry sdw pwíwn could have been identical with men of the same name and title mentioned on the XIII Dynasty stela BM EA 334.∞∞(61) University of BelgradeDanijela Stefanovic

(61)  HT III, pl. 6. As one of the ‘Elephantine-Stil’ stelae, Franke, Heqaib, 76-77ff.

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