26 A, MeDoneld: Metaphor for Troubled Times 248 134 2007) ANGELA McDONALD A Metaphor for Troubled Times* ‘The Evolution of the Seth Deity Determinative in the First Intermediate Period Overview In the Egyptian determinative system, greed may be encapsulated by the crocodile (| skn), farnilial affection by the cow with her calf C&\MISA7 3ms-ib), and aggression by the ba- boon (AS knd). Driven by the need to summa- tise complex abstract concepts with a single sign, the Egyptian script took advantage of the animal world as a metaphorical source. The composite form of the Seth animal was a par- ticularly common vehicle for metaphor as is demonstrated by Herman te Velde's list of 24 words which may take Sethian determinatives (1977, 22-23), But this list is not complete. Te Velde was not concerned with including the epithets of Seth or the deities connected with him, or indeed of the animals whose names may be determined with a Seth sign. I present an extended version of his original list as an appen- dix to this article with notes on the forms the sign takes. In previous articles (MeDonald 2000; 20022), I have discussed the broad range of uses, Seth demonstrates as a sign as well as the seman- tic distinctions associated with the different forms of the sign (543 4/3 tH; @)'. Here, I focus on the meaning of the deity form and the evolu- tion of its use in one metaphorical domain. In exploring the sign’s evolution, I concentrate on + Tam indebted to Elizabeth Frood and Diana Ma- fee for commenting on an eacy version of this article and especially to Matthias Miller for pointing out a ‘number of invaluable ceferences. " Generally not much attention has beea given to possible distinctions berween forms of the sign. An exception is Jansten's exploration of forms of the de- terminative ia the Ramesside Period (1997, 13945) the unusual writing of the name of the goddess Hereret with a Seth deity determinative in the tomb of Iti-ibi at Asyut (Tomb 3, |. 33: see be- low)’. The reasons behind the use of the Seth deity determinative with this word highlight particular nuances the sign acquired during the First Intermediate Period and explain why it ceased to be used in the same way after the ‘Middle Kingdom. ‘The Goddess Hereret at Asyut and beyond ‘The identification of the deity determinative of the name of Hereret in It-ibi’s tomb at Asyut has been somewhat controversial’. In Griffith's original publication (1889, pl. 11) of the inscrip- tion, the sign looks Sethian, although Griffith himself did not comment on its identification. In the decades that followed, the scholars who discussed the inscription differed in their opin- ions; Montet (1930, 94) transctibed the deter- minative of hyrt as a jackal-headed deity, and Brunner (1937, 23) followed him, describing the sign as ‘schakal- oder wolfskopfig’. Edger- ton and Wilson (1936, 24, n, 25a) made a pass- ing reference to the word in their commentary ‘on a phonetically similar word at Medinet Habu (irr to s0a®’) and reproduced the Asyut orthog- raphy with a Seth deity determinative. The form of the sign is clearly once again Sethian in Edel’s "The use of the Seth deity determinative in the ‘name of a goddess can be paralleled later in New King- dom wrtngs of the name of the goddess Baalat, De aaY Gee Leitz 2002-3, 11, 778) but remaing ‘unusual * For the site's epigraphic history, sce the summary in Spanel 1989, 303-4