Alexandria and Memphis Some Historical Observations

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Alexandria and Memphis Some Historical Observations

Author(s): E. A. E. Reymond and J. W. B. Barns
Source: Orientalia, NOVA SERIES, Vol. 46, No. 1 (1977), pp. 1-33
Published by: GBPress- Gregorian Biblical Press
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/43074740
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1
Alexandria and Memphis

Some Historical Observations
Part I by E. A. E. Reymond - Manchester - Oxford

Part II by the late J. W. B. Barns
[The two papers hereinafter published were read on the 30th of July
1974 before the XlVth International Congress of Papyrologists held in
Oxford.
Part I gives evidence of historical data disclosed in a number of

Egyptian texts of Ptolemaic date, written in Demotic and in Ptolemaic
hieroglyphs which I am preparing for publication; it also includes, in a
very abbreviated way, some extracts from one of my forthcoming works
on the history of Egypt under the Ptolemies.
Part II presents, in the light of this new information, observations
on some problematical matters in the history of the Ptolemies. This paper
is largely a confrontation of accounts in Greek and Latin writers with
the evidence in Egyptian documents, and was written, on my invitation,
by the much lamented Professor John Barns to whom I have disclosed
the evidence in my Demotic sources, and whom I have supplied with the
relevant material, because this new information affords a support to his
theories which he had presented in his Inaugural Lecture - Egyptians
and Greeks - delivered before the University of Oxford on the 25th of
November 1966 (see the letter appended to its publication).
The two papers are here presented in the versions as arranged and
agreed upon by us at our last meeting concerning this research subject,
held on the 3rd of January 1974, and as they were subsequently read
before the Congress. Minor editorial alterations were effected only where
required by publication.
I wish to record here my gratitude to the editor of the Orientalia ,
Professor Adhémar Massart, for his kindness in accepting these two papers
for publication, and enabling me to pay a tribute to my deceased colleague.
EA.E. R.]
PART I by EA.E. R.
In a study devoted to funerary stelae which were accidentally un-

earthed in the early part of the nineteenth century on the sites of the
Orientalia - 1
2 E. A. E. Reymond
ancient necropoleis at Memphis an

identify and isolate from the res
These memorials are of Ptolemaic
the entrance of burial chambers, o
ceased owners.
Texts covering these monuments include in each instance, in addition

to the usual funerary spells and invocations, lists of titles borne by, and
accounts of activities of the individuals in question. Points of contact
have been noticed in their parentage, and generally speaking, there is so
close an inter-relationship among the individuals named in these texts
that it can with certainty be said that this set of fifteen funerary stelae
belonged to several successive generations of a priestly family from Mem
phis. The accounts on the stelae are, indeed, so rich in information tha
it is possible to outline the history of the family in question, and to estab-
lish the order of succession to the offices which they held during the perio
from Alexander the Great to Octavian (334 - 30 b.c.). The historical im
portance of the evidence disclosed in these inscriptions does not seem to
have been fully appreciated yet by modern historians though the con-
tents of these records were known to nineteenth-century scholars 1. I think
I ought to remedy this neglect.
Members of the priestly family from Memphis are said to have been
_D n rp' 'hereditary princes' of Memphis 2, P (ļ (ļ sri V Kmy,

'great nobles of Egypt' 3, who, from generation to generation, assume
the function of the High Priest of Memphis. They are designated by the
ancient title of the High Priest of Ptah ' w* hrp(w) hmwt , 'Chie
of Artificers' 4 rendered as wr hmiy, 'Chief of Craftsmen' in Demotic paral
lels5. This title is in our records found always in front of the persona
1 For the first editions of the documents in question the reader is referred
to: a) Thomas Young, Hieroglyphics , pl. 77-78; 79; 48; 70-71; 74; 72-74; b)
Brugsch, Thesaurus , 907-909; 906-907; 915-916; 902-906; 912-915; 918-927;
928-933; 934-940; 940-944.
2 Cf. Gardiner, AEO (= Ancient Egyptian Onomastica), A, 92; I, 108-110;
his rendering 'Crown Prince' agrees with the instances in our documents. The
position of this title indicates that it is in all probability a substantive designa-
tion in contrast to the majority of instances in Egyptian biographical inscrip-
tions of various dates where the meaning is clearly honorific.
8 Cf. Vienna stela no. 162, 8; Wb IV, 188, and in particular 188, 3. 11;
Brugsch, Thes , 912-915.
4 Cf. Gardiner, AEO, A, 119; Maystre, J NES 8, 84 ff.; the full original
wording of the title as it is found in texts of Pharaonic date, wr hrp(w) hmwt
rsy inb.f, cf. Murray, Index, pl. XIX, and Stock, Ptah, p. 13 ff., "does not re-
appear in the instances of Ptolemaic date.
6 See for instance the Vienna stela no. 162, 1. 12; the Demotic docket
reads: p? wyty n wr hmiy, 'the stela of the Chief of Artificers'; it is surprising
that this title is not found recorded in Erichsen's Demotisches Glossar.
Alexandria and Memphis 3
name of its holder6. Ptah's name is on no occ

the title itself rarely forms a connected group o
designations relating to Ptah's cult. It, in fact,
a long enumeration of various titles, religious a
the position of this title in texts of Ptolemaic d
it is a substantive designation expressing the re
The general context, and in particular the absen
to suggest that the title of the Memphite ponti
time, have acquired associations which are no
typed and stylized versions of biographical te
compare our instances of the title of the High
of ancient Egyptian titles occurring in biograph
taries of rank who lived under the Saïte Kings
A survey of other titles and epithets by which
family from Memphis are qualified in their epi
significance for an attempt to determine their p
We are told that they acted as:
(a) priests of the royal cults of the Ptolemies at Memphis: ^ ļļ hm-ntr,

'prophet' + the name of the deceased and deified Ptolemy 9;
(b) prophets of the Window-of-Appearance whose task was to crown the
Ptolemies at Memphis: ^ ļļ ^ [Til hm-ntr pi sšt n K 10 ;

(c) priests of Ptah and other deities adored in Ptah's sacred domain;
Jn I Pr-Pth) 11 ;
(< i ) prophets of Hathor, and deities who reside in the Domain of the Lady-
of-the-Sykomore 12 ;
( e ) priests who were in charge of various episodes of arraying the images
of gods in the old part of the City of Memphis (' Inb-hd ) 13 ;
6 See for instance B.M. stela no. 886, 5; Vienna stela no. 155, 9.
7 For the meaning of the position of a particular title in a series of titles
see my article in ASAÉ 50, 321 ff., specially p. 334.
8 See my article on the hrp hwwt Nt in ASAĒ 55, 79 ff.; also p. 94-98 and
its association with the designation wr hwi, (lit.) 'great of striking' (or thresh-
ing?) which refers to a ceremony performed in the forecourt of temples of the
Archaic Period, cf. Ed fou, VI, 326; for a somewhat unusual interpretation of
the meaning of this title see Goyon, BIFAO 70, 75 ff.
9 Cf. for instance Vienna stela no. 153, 2; B.M. stela no. 391, 2.
10 Cf. Vienna stela no. 153, 8 and 155, 4-6, and Wreszinski, A eg. Inschr.,
102.
11 Cf. Vienna stela no. 153, 2-3.
12 Cf. B.M. stela no. 379, 6.
18 Cf. Vienna stela no. 162, 6-7: sm'r ntrw m ' Inb-hd m irw * wy.f , 'he who
arrays the gods' (images) in the White Enclosure by the activities of his (own)
hands'.
4 E. A. E. Reymond
(/) priests who had free access to t

and necropoleis14;
(g) priests who had the privilege o
of all the orders of the Egyptian p
Upper and Lower Egypt16;
(h) they were priest-scholars 16 ;
(t) they were scribes of sacred books
(j) they were priests who were respo
the temples of Memphis where s
were stored 18.
All members of this family assumed, in addition to their priestly

duties, numerous functions of the sh, 'scribe'. They are said to have been
the sh, 'scribes' who were entrusted with the administration of the estate
of the temples of Memphis19, with that of the Sarapieion of Memphis,
as well as with that of the Sarapieion and the Osirieion in Alexandria 20.
They are also described as the sh, 'scribes' who were responsible for the
treasury, the royal seal, the seal of gods and temples, the chancery, for
issuing royal dispatches, decrees, ordinances, and for keeping official
records 21 .
The intimate associations of the title sh, 'scribe' suggest for its basic
significance derivative meanings, and adaptations incurred with the progress
of the time22. This common Egyptian designation seems to conceal in
this context functions which can be defined as those fulfilled by a state
official who may well be regarded as the Secretary of the State of the Pto-
lemies. This view receives further support if we stress that the High
14 Cf. Vienna stela no. 162, 5: wsht nmt <w> bw-dsr, 'he who is broad of
march <in> the Holy Place'; rh sšt t nw Hwt-nbw, 'he who knows the secrets
of the Golden Mansion'; Vienna stela no! 153, 8: rh sšU n 7 imnty, 'he who
knows the secrets of the Chamber of the Inaccessible One'; Vienna stela no.
155, 7-8: hf bw-dsr nw n-sUt, 'he who beholds the Holy Place of the Necropolis'.
15 Cf. Vienna stela no. 162, 7: kw r ťr-nsw m hbw.j hr-hn w bw hmw-
ntr nbw m gs-prw nw Šme M hw, 'he who enters the King's House in front of
all (the orders of) priests and prophets from temples of Upper and Lower Egypt'.
16 Cf. Ashmolean stela (unpublished), 12: hm-ntr Pr-awtf , hm-ntr ťr-
mdty : 'prophet of the Morning House, prophet of the Library'.
17 Cf. ibid. 1. 12: sh mdy-ntr, scribe of gods book(s) .
18 Cf. Vienna stela no. 162, 5: hsb iht nbt nw pr-matf mh gmi hr b w-K ,
'he who reckons all the belongings of the Library, he who restores what is
decayed in Sacred Books'; see also Gardiner, JE A 24, 166-7; 170-175; 177-178.
19 Cf. Vienna stela no. 153, 5-6: s h nsw hsb m nbt nwt-ntr, rovai scriDe
who reckons all kinds of property of the temple'; cf. also Gardiner,
A 130.
20 Cf. B.M. stela no. 886, 3: sh Wsr-Hp Wsr m K-ķdt, (lit.) scribe oi
Sar apis (and) Osiris in Rakote'.
21 Cf. Ashmolean stela (unpublished) , 10: sã Fr-š tw, scribe ot tne Kecora-
Office'; 1. 11: sh wt, 'scribe of ordinance (s)'.
22 See my article m ASAE 55, 104 lì.
Priests of Memphis were also the hry sšt? offic

of the City of Memphis23, in Alexandria, and
The designation hry sšt?, for which the inte
of Confidential Affairs' is here suggested25, is
is well attested in hieroglyphic inscriptions fr
term sšt? conveys various meanings 27 from am
mysteries' is the best known, but the most un
expressly stated in our documents that the sšt? of localities, such as
the Four Main Districts of the City of Memphis, Alexandria, and the Anu-
bieion, are meant. The sense herein implied may be 'affairs which were
not publicly accessible', or 'should not publicly be known', such as, say,
'state affairs', or 'confidential matters of the royal court'. We incline
to the opinion that here again under the guise of an ancient Egyptian
title like the hry sšt ?, we have the designation of a royal official of rank
who was entrusted with confidential matters. There are good reasons for
believing that this designation is to be regarded as special to members
of the priestly family in question, because, in spite of the variety of mean-
ings and frequency in the usage, the title hry sšt?, as is styled here, is
unparalleled outside the records of the High Priests of Memphis in Pto-
lemaic times. There would, therefore, appear to be connections between
the two offices simultaneously held by the hereditary Princes of Memphis.
If a parallel with the evidence in inscriptions of Pharaonic date be con-
sistent, we should add that the title hry sšt? 'Superintendent of Confiden-
tial Affairs', can designate a state official of the highest rank, who can
be compared with the vizier under the Egyptian native Kings 28, who like
the former stood close to the reigning sovereign. Given the framework
provided by ancient Egyptian titles and designations, in particular if the
significance of the function of the 'Superintendent of Confidential Affairs'
is stressed, we can recognize in the High Priest of Memphis the first man
after the King in the Ptolemaic Kingdom, a statesman whose position
can be described as that of the Prime Minister of the Ptolemies. The im-
pression made by the dry statistics of the titles they bore is that the
hereditary Princes of Memphis, the High Priests of Memphis, occupied
23 Cf. B.M. stela no. 379, 12; B.M. stela no. 886, 4; the evidence in the
hieroglyphic inscriptions may be compared with the officials described in De-
motic legal documents from Memphis as the shnw, ' cf. my article in TEA 45,
65-68, n. 9-10. '
24 Cf. B.M. stela no. 379, 12: BM. stela no. 886. 4.
25 Cf. Gardiner, AEO I. A 103: TEA 4. 34.
26 Cf. Blackman, TEA 5, 148 ff.
27 Cf. Wb IV, 297-299.
28 Cf. Gardiner, AEO, A 103: hry sšt ? n Pr-nsw, 'in command of the secrets
of the Royal House', was the designation of the vizier in Pharaonic times.
It is possible that the title in question implies, in texts of Ptolemaic date, the
same concept.
6 E. A. E. Reymond
a privileged position in the King

priestly and administrative officia
same time, dignitaries at the roy
over state affairs. It is fair to say in view of the evidence collected in
our documentary sources that the hereditary Princes of Memphis were,
indeed, the representatives of the highest class of native Egyptian nobi-
lity 29 . Let us now follow the evidence in their posthumous narratives
arranged in chronological order. They throw some new light on the actual
position of the Egyptian priesthood under the Ptolemies, and also on the
inter-relationship between the Ptolemies in Alexandria, and the Egyptian
pontiffs at Memphis.
The above listed titles and offices were hereditarily held in the family,
and were conveyed from father to son in the direct line of succession as
we find it recorded in the posthumous recital of ' ' | ^ Ns-kdty I,

(Eskote I), the third High Priest of Memphis in Ptolemaic times [BM.
stela no. 379].
Eskote's epitaph is, at present, the family's earliest historical record
that has come down to us. We are told that Eskote I began his career in
283 b.c. - the year of Soter I's death - in succession to his father * n-m-hr ,
Anemho 7, the second High Priest of Memphis under the Ptolemies, and
to his grandfather M?H-R*-nfr, Marresnüphe, most likely the first High
Priest of Memphis in Greek times, who was contemporary with Alexander
the Great. It is noteworthy that the death of the High Priest of Memphis
coincides in this instance with that of the reigning sovereign, and that
the accession to the offices by the respective heirs occurred in the same year.
Eskote I enumerates all the offices in which he was placed (rdi) 80 by
the grace of the King; these are the same his father Anemho I had held31.
Eskote I died most likely before the year 37 of Philadelphos 82. His funeral
is depicted as a state occasion. The ceremony was conducted by Eskote I's
eldest son, Anemho II, who is found designated on that particular occasion
by the title borne by the Crown Prince of Egypt: , hry nst3Z. The
funeral procession was attended by the main orders of the Egyptian priest-
29 For an analogy compare with the position of the High Priest of Ptah
in the New Kingdom, cf. Maystre, J NES 8, 85-88; Griffith, SHPM, p. 2.
30 Cf. B.M. stela no. 379, 10-12: rdi.n.f Uwt, lit. he gave the office of . . . ;
for a parallelism in styling see a narrative from Saïte times, cf. Ranke, ZÄS
44, 42-52.
31 Cf. B.M. stela no. 379, 1. 14.
32 According to the evidence in B.M. stela no. 375 Eskote I seems to have
died about 250 B.c. Therefore the events related in the narrative in B.M. 379
may fall into the period between 250-246 B.c.
33 Cf. B.M. stela no. 379, 16; Wb III, 323.
hood, and by the City's inhabitants, and was

the City of Osiris where Eskote I was believed
his ancestors34.
The description of the interment of the High Priest of Memphis in

the reign of Philadelphos is of historical importance, for this text undoubt-
edly relates ceremonies which were re-enacted whenever a High Priest
of Memphis passed away, and these same ceremonies may well have been
the continuation of Pharaonic customs. We are told that upon Eskote F s
death, at about the time when his body was carried away to the place of
embalmment35, Philadelphos conferred functions held by Eskote upon
the latter's heir and successor: his eldest son Anemho II.
^ vjSv
x
while succeeding to his father's functions, is portr

at the annual religious festivities at Memphis. In v
duties it can safely be said that he was made vice
Memphis36. In the text of his own funerary st
he is described as the administrator of the templ
was very long according to the chronological evidence in this text. He
remained in the same position under Philadelphos' successor, Euergetes I
whom he crowned at Memphis, as well as the successor of the latter -
Ptolemy IV Philopator 37 . Anemho II became the supreme master of all
the Egyptian priesthood in temples of Upper and Lower Egypt 38 . It was,
therefore, under his pontificate that the synod of Egyptian priests was
held in year 9 of Euergetes I at Memphis, and that the temple of Horus
the Behdetite was founded at Edfu in the following year 10. Both of these
events appear significant of the policy pursued by the High Priest of Mem-
phis. It is known that some events came to pass in the very early part
of Euergetes' reign which are only vaguely described in the work of Greek
historians. Following this period of troubles, the temple at Edfu was found-
ed as the memorial of Egypt's national King Horus and the country's
archives of religious traditions and beliefs. In this connection the title of
34 Cf. ibid. 15-16; this symbolic picture may be taken as an allusion to

the family's past; it may serve to indicate that the family was settled at Mem-
phis from Pharaonic times.
36 Cf. ibid. 13: . . .]rdi wi r ist. i n-im.i stwh h'w.i m kit ' Inp . '. . .J place
me in my own (funerary) place; my body was wrapped by means of the work
of Anubis'.
36 Cf. ibid. 14: the king . . . sw?d.f Uwtw.i n phr.i hr Uwt.f phr.f 'Inb-h
. . . 'he conferred my functions upon my heir, and also his function of his ma
ing around the White Enclosure'.
37 Cf. Vienna stela no. 153, 2 and 8, the priestly titles referring to the
royal cult of the Ptolemies, and those referring to the coronation ceremony.
Li. ibid. 9: imi-r ? hmw-ntr ntrw ntrtw nbw nw Smf Mhw, 'overseer
of prophets of all gods and goddesses in Upper and Iyower Egyptian provinces'.
8 E. A. E. Reymond
priest of the King Nectanebo the

of the Royal Ancestors borne by A
Anemho II would seem to have be
ters of the inter-relationship bet
Greek dynasty. He is said to have
year 5 of Philopator when he die
outliving his eldest son Teos. His fu
bers of his family received posthu
rapieion of Memphis.
Anemho's II's eldest son Dd-hr , Teos , has come down in history
as a priest-scholar41. He is described in his funerary memorial [Vienna
stela no. 162], once erected in the chapels of the Sarapieion of Memphis,
as the primus inter pares , who functioned as the instructor of Egyptian
priests42, and who assumed a leading position at the performance of the
festivity of the Receiving the Kingship from his father, the complete version
of which is preserved among the wall inscriptions of the temple at Edfu 43 .
This information is of importance; for we may surmise that while the High
Priest of Memphis acted as the viceroy of the Ptolemies at Memphis, and
had to attend to his administrative functions in Alexandria, his immediate
heir and successor may have been engaged in the properly priestly func-
tions in the temples of Memphis, and at its annual religious festivities.
Teos is also said to have been in charge of the libraries at Memphis,
and of the restoration of old Egyptian books44. Of special significance is
his qualification as 'being great of his function of the sri V - great noble -
of Egypt' 45. His life was short; he preceded his father, and died at the age
of 43 in year 24 of Euergetes I. Although Teos never ascended to the office
of the High Priest of Memphis, in the text of his epitaph the group of titles
rp * sm wr hrp{w) hmwt , 'hereditary prince, sw-priest, Chief of Artificers'
is found placed in front of his name. From the position of the title and
the context in which it occurs we may assume that the group of the titles
in question designates the rank to which all members of this family be-
39 Cf. Vienna stela no. 153, 5: hm-ntr Nht-Hr-hb pi bik; see also de Meule-
naere, CdÉ 35, p. 94.
40 Cf. ibid. 2.
41 Cf. Vienna stela no. 162, 4: wb ? ikr rn irw.j, tne senior priest, tne
excellent one, he who knows (all) his activities'.
42 Cf. ibid. 4: sšmw fkw nb r t imnty wb nb r tp-hsb, he who conducts
every one who enters in the Chamber of the Inaccessible One, (and) every
priest according to the norm'.
43 A complete study of the ritual of this festivity is still lacking; for a
preliminary account see Alliot, Le Culte d'Horus à Edfou, pp. 561-674.
44 Cf. Vienna stela no. 162, 5: hsb iht nbt nw Pr-md?t mh gmi hr B w-K .
45 Cf. ibid. 8.
longed, the highest one in the hierarchy and

Ptolemaic Memphis46.
Anemho I' s immediate successor in 217
' [O] Hr-m-fht , Harmakhis, the fifth H

order of succession [B.M. stela no. 391, and V
fore entered office at one of the glorious
the victory at Raphia47.
Harmakhis was contemporary with Philop
he crowned, and seems to have been in office when the Roman ambassador
M. Aemilius Lepidus arrived in Alexandria, and the first period of negoti-
ations with Rome began 48 . The name Harmakhis suggests that there may
be some connections between him and the Upper Egyptian rebel-king
Harmakhis. We may venture a guess that the name designates the same
person. Legal documents from Thebes dating from 206-199 b.c. 49 bear
the name of this king whose first regnal year coincides with that of Epi-
phanes. With the political situation in Egypt in mind it is most significant
to find Harmakhis portrayed in his two funerary monuments by his reli-
gious titles only 60. The exact date of Harmakhis ' death is unknown, but
he seems to have passed away before Epiphanes, since the list of his priest-
ly functions in the royal cult of the Ptolemies ends with the title of the
priest of the gods Epiphaneis.
Harmakhis was succeeded by his eldest son 31?, Ř Ns-kdty, Es-

kote II, the sixth High Priest of Memphis. His own funerary monument
is unknown, and little has been left of his memory; his time in the office
of High Priest seems to have been short. The only surviving document
to mention his name is his father's epitaph where he is portrayed as a
priestly official only, and is said to have conducted his father's funeral
with all the royal honours 51 . It may be expected that he acted as the hry
nst, 'Crown Prince' on that occasion 52. It is also reasonable to suppose
that E skote II crowned Ptolemy VI Philometor, and that he may have
been in office during the period of the political unrest in 197-186 b.c. The
date and circumstances of Eskote II's death - perhaps a premature one -
46 Cf. below, p. 17, and p. 19.

47 Cf. Bevan, A History of Egypt under the Ptolemaic Dynasty , 228-230;
Bell, JEA 8, 147.
48 Cf. Bevan, op. cit., 256-257.
49 Cf. Spiegelberg, PDB ; P. Berlin 3142 (= pl. 36); 3144 (= pl. 36); 3145
(= pl. 37).
50 Cf. B.M. stela no. 391, 2-3.
51 Cf. B.M. stela 391, 5-7.
52 Cf. above, p. 7.
10 E. A. E. Reymond
are unknown53. It is, however, cer

immediate heir and successor.
There is, at this point, a gap in the documents relating to the famil
history. Textual evidence of later date54 helps us in supplying the
sing information. We are told that Eskote II was succeeded in the o
by his brother Psherenptah.
<r ^ f Pt-sri-n-Pth , Psherenptah I, the seventh Hig

Priest of Memphis under the Ptolemies, was a contemporary of Epipha
and Philometor. There are hints that he stood close to the royal court
was in high esteem of the Greek city. Two of his statues (naophore stat
were in antiquity exhibited in the Sarapieion of Alexandria 55 . The da
of his death is not recorded in any of the family's documents, but fr
text of later date 56 we learn that he was succeeded by his son Petuba
^ A U ¿i Pi-di-Bstt, Petubastis I , the eighth High Priest of Me

phis in the order of succession, seems in all probability to have bee
office during the period of the dynastic struggles in the House of the P
lemies: the litigation between Philometor and Euergetes II which le
the end, to the reconciliation of the two pretenders, and then the qua
between Euergetes II and Cleopatra II. Neither of Petubastis I's memori
could be recovered to enable us to establish the exact dates of his p
ficate. We do not know whether he died before Euergetes II or was sti
in office at the time of the King's death. The date when he was succee
by his son also remains obscure, for no full date is found recorded in
family's documents subsequent to year 5 of Philopator (= 217/216 b
It is likely, however, while Petubastis I was in office that substantial ch
ges may have occurred in the House of the Hereditary Princes of Mem
which seem to have had a direct bearing on the position and prestig
the High Priest of Memphis. In his time no barriers seem to have exis
between them and the Greek sovereigns in Alexandria. We read in
text of the stela no. 82 in the Vienna Collections that in year 50 of Eu
getes II (= 120/119 b.c.) Petubastis II - the future tenth High Prie
of Memphis - was born to Psherenptah II, son of Petubastis I, an
Berenice, the younger sister of the King Ptolemy whom men call A
53 Cf. below, p. 24, the 'Succession of the High Priests of Memphis'.

54 Cf. Vienna stela no. 82, cf. also below, p. 17. This stela was known
to Champollion, and its contents were partly discussed by Krall in Geschichte,
II, 47-53. I am indebted to Dr. Komorzinski for his kind permission to publish
the text of this important monument.
55 Cf. Brescia, ASAE 8, 65-67.
66 See the succession of the High Priests of Memphis in the already cited
stela Vienna no. 82.
Alexandria and Memphis 1 1
ander57. We cannot overlook the importance of

a marriage was contracted between a native Egypt
cess of Greek royal blood in the twenties of the s
With the ninth High Priest of Memphis, □ Pi-šri-n-

Pth, Psherenptah II, we have in the centuries-old and traditional office
of the pontiff of Memphis a native Egyptian prince who was, at the same
time, a member of the royal family: son-in-law, later brother-in-law of the
reigning sovereign. His own funerary stelae are unknown, and may have
been destroyed in antiquity. This prevents us from giving details of his
career which seems to fall into the time of the co-regency, and also from
explaining by way of textual evidence what may have been the part he
took in the dynastic struggles which were renewed with increased fury
upon Euergetes II's death, and which led, at the end, to the murder of
Cleopatra III. The family's records reveal little of its history beyond the
date of Psherenptah II's death in 103 b.c. (i.e. two years before Cleopatra
III was murdered).
It is, therefore, at that troublesome moment, in the midst of political
turmoil that Psherenptah II's son, □ ^ Pt-di-Bstt, Petubastis II,

the tenth High Priest of Memphis under the Ptolemies, ascended to the
hereditarily held offices in succession to his father in 103 b.c. 59. As heredi-
tary Prince of Memphis, he was the grandson of Euergetes, and nephew
of the reigning King - Ptolemy XI Alexander I. Within two years of
his accession Cleopatra III was murdered, and Berenice was associated in
power with Alexander I, most probably in 99 b.c. What was, therefore,
the political role of the young Petubastis II at that moment of history?
His posthumous narrative 60 is one of the most important records that
have survived from the family's archives. Generally speaking, this is a
valuable historical document, and the only one of its kind to throw light
on the position held by a native prince at the Alexandrian court at the
end of the second century b.c.
We are told that upon his father's death in 103 b.c. Petubastis II
went to Alexandria to join the royal court, and to receive his honours
from the King. The King - Ptolemy XI Alexander I - invested Petu-
67 Cf. ibid. 1. 9.
68 Cf. Bell, JEA 8, 147 ff. He rightly pointed to the power represented
by the Egyptian priesthood in the Kingdom. The answer to what may hav
been the reasons for their ascendancy may be sought in the brief statement
of the historiographer of the Memphite family.
59 Cf. Vienna stela no. 82, 1. 11.
60 The extant stela in the Vienna collection seems to be a replica of the
original memorial of his which was destroyed in the Alexandrian necropolis
in 30 b.c.; cf. below, p. 23.
12 E. A. E. Reymond
bastis II with the regalia of the High

ancient Egyptian ritual 61 . So, the ce
texts of Pharaonic date, seem to h
the Ptolemies - even at as late a date
tury b.c. 62.
The text continues, telling us that
- which must have been held in Al
King is said to have placed his own
and handed over to him his royal orna
ments that two major ceremonies followed Petubastis' arrival in Alex-
andria. It is, however, unlikely that the High Priest of Memphis could
have been invested twice in the same office at the same time. The second
ceremony seems clearly to have had another significance. It has, from the
description given, every appearance of being a coronation of the hereditary
Prince of Memphis which was effected by the King himself.
Petubastis II was in office during the time of the reigns of his two
uncles, Alexander I, and Soter II; he was still there in the tragic year 80
b.c. He carried on with all his priestly and administrative functions, is-
suing decrees and ordinances on behalf of the King, also under his royal
cousin Auletes till year 75 b.c. when he died 64 . His funeral is said to hav
been a state occasion. His mortuary raiment was made out of gifts brought
by Egyptian nobles; the funeral procession was conducted by his son and
successor Psherenptah III. In his train there marched the dukes of Egypt,
members of the Egyptian priesthood, and various bodies representing the
nation 66. Petubastis II was buried with royal honours among the 'God's
Blessed Ones', his royal cousins - the Ptolemies, in the royal crypt in
Alexandria.
Petubastis IF s immediate successor in 75 b.c. was his son □
Pf-sri-n-Pth, Psherenptah Illy the eleventh High Priest of Memphis under

62 It is of some interest to recall here from amongst the texts of Pharaonic
date referring to the High Priest of Ptah an inscription of the Vth Dynasty,
cf. Mariette, Mastabas , p. 390; Sethe, Urk I, 84-85, and the interesting com-
mentary by Ch. Maystre in J NES 8, 87-88. This is a brief biographical account
of a certain Sabu-Teti who was appointed high priest by order of the King.
The text includes a list of his titles; he was also the ivy nfr hit, 'keeper of the
diadem', cf. Wb I, 134; he acted as such when Ptah was arrayed. We do not
think that there is an identity between the title borne by the priest of the Old
Kingdom and the ceremony described in Petubastis' narrative. The context
in the text of Ptolemaic date is different from what the evidence of Pharaonic
date implies.
64 These words summarize all the titles of the sh, 'scribe' which Petu-
bastis bore according to the evidence in his funerary stela.
65 Cf. Vienna stela no. 82, 1. 22-23.
the Ptolemies, who was born in year 90 b.c. 6

epithaph as the royal prince-priest, and as the s
the salvation of the Birth-Place of the King Horu
sovereign 67 . At this point it is plainly stated in th
was Egypt's ity, 'king', by birth68.
Psherenptah Ill's first official engagement
in 75 B.c. was his investiture at Alexandria. Su
year, Psherenptah crowned Ptolemy Auletes i
the ancient Egyptian Coronation Ritual69. We
epitaph that he acted as the King's deputy in all
of Egypt. He also represented the King at the pe
religious festivities at Memphis. Reference to Es
the continuation of the traditions in general lin
in that Psherenptah III is found designated by titles borne by the heir
apparent to Egypt's throne. He is the King's snw, 'double' who wore the
White Crown of Upper Egypt, and the Royal Chapelet with the effigy
of Horus 70.
Psherenptah Ill's recital alludes to a number of historical events

which came to pass in the sixties and fifties of the first century b.c. These
are of some relevance for the policy pursued by the High Priests of Mem-
phis, and seem also to supplement information in Greek and Latin writers.
We are also told of a journey Auletes undertook with a view to inspecting
his Egyptian Kingdom. His journey led through the whole country, and
back to Memphis where he attended the performance of religious festivities
in 'Ankh-tõwi, and was on that occasion escorted by his nobles, his wives,
and his royal children 71 . At this point the narrative discloses an important
piece of information: Auletes' children were not from a single marriage,
but were recognized by the Egyptians as the msw nsw, 'royal children',
hence the King's legitimate offspring72.
Nothing is said in the narrative concerning the end of Auletes' reign
and Cleopatra's accession to the throne of Egypt. The text ends abruptly
in stating that Psherenptah III died in year eleven of Cleopatra VII, and
was buried in the crypt in Alexandria beside his wife Taimuthis, in year
12 of the queen.
66 Cf. B.M. stela no. 886, 1. 7.

67 Cf. ibid., 1. 5.
68 For the use of ity cf. Wb I, 143; in the texts of Ptolemaic date it cor-
responds to the Greek BaaiXcuç, cf. Edfou, I, 28,3; 32,4.
69 Cf. B.M. stela no. 886, 1. 8.
70 Cf. ibid. 1. 10.
7* Cf. ibid., 1. 11.
72 Cf. below, p. 27-30.
14 E. A. E. Reymond
Psherenptah III was succeeded b

Bstt, Petubastis III , the twelfth High
in Memphis in year six of Cleopatra
In the thirteenth year of Cleopatra's
with the regalia of the High Priest of M
fore, Petubastis III ascended to the inheritance of his father, and his
forefathers 74 . As a mere child, he could hardly be influential enough to
avert the tragic course of events.
Petubastis III, also called Imhotep, is the last of the dynasty of the
royal princes of Memphis. He died at the age of sixteen on the sixth of
Mesorê in year 22 (= 30 b.c.) of Cleopatra VII, preceding her by only a
few days. Unlike his father, Petubastis III was buried in the necropolis
of Memphis 75 .
The Memphite dynasty was extinguished at the same moment as
the House of the Ptolemies.
*
* *
The history of Egypt unde

works of Greek and Latin wr
in the posthumous narratives
admit that they offer much
sources. The recital of E sko
attempt to outline the polic
one generation to another,
new elements to enable us t
tween Alexandria and Memp
the ruling power in the Kin
Egyptian pontiff in Memph
the ultimate offspring of a
from the Third Pharaonic Dy
Princes of Memphis at the ve
united throughout the whol
the moment when the last o
but to a much later date. Evidence can be cited from Greek texts con-
firming that this office continued under the Roman rule77.
73 Cf. B.M. stela no. 147, 1. 12-13.

74 Cf. B.M. stela 188, 1. 3.
76 Cf. ibid., 1. 5.
76 Cf. above, p. 6-7.
77 See now the excellent study of Greek documents referring to the career
of Ulpius Seranianus by P. J. Parsons, "Ulpius Seranianus", CdÉ 49 (1974)
135 ff.
Alexandiia and Memphis 15
The brief statements in Eskote I's narrative make it clear that an-
cient Egyptian traditions continued untouched by the Greek sovereign 78
Ptolemy II Philadelphos is described in a favourable light, standing on
good terms with the sri m yInb-hd, 'Regent of Memphis' 79 . There is, there-
fore, a strong argument that the Ptolemies had high regard for ancient
Egyptian customs and traditions 80 . His account makes it inherently
possible to conclude that he and his son Anemho II were the viceroys of
the Ptolemies in Memphis, and that they also bore the title of Egypt's
Crown Prince ( hry nst). Functions defined by the numerous titles of the
sh, 'scribe', and the hry sštt, 'Superintendent of Confidential Affairs' granted
them control over state affairs. If we recall that the title sri V, 'great
noble' of Egypt wras the designation of Soter I while he was regent of
Egypt 81, it is reasonble to suppose that the High Priest of Memphis was
gradually becoming a very powerful dignitary in the Kingdom. This view
seems to have all the more significance when we come to the Fifth High
Priest of Memphis who entered upon office in 217 b.c.: Harmakhis.
We may venture to suggest the following hypothesis: subsequently
to Philopator's death when the infant King was on the throne Harmakhis,
the 'Regent of Memphis', may have become the regent of Egypt. In re-
action to the restless situation in Alexandria influenced by Sisibios, Upper
Egypt may have regarded Harmakhis as the substantive ruler of Egypt
and under the pressure of the circumstances the Upper Egyptian provinces
may have proclaimed him as their lawful King. Possibly they saw in
the Hereditary Prince of Memphis the embodiment of the ideal national King
Horus. The name Harmakhis, Hr-m-?ht, means 'Horus is in the horizon';
the symbolic significance of the name may have agreed with, and have
stimulated the feelings of the native Egyptians of those times, in particular
if the 'sacred residence' of the King Horus in the Upper Egyptian town
Edfu - which was under construction - is recalled, and the intimate
associations of the temple of Horus the Behdetite with the feelings of the
Upper Egyptian dwellers are stressed 82.
It is fair to say that the House of the Prince of Memphis held con-
siderable power in the Kingdom by the end of the third century b.c. Fur-
78 Evidence in Egyptian texts of Ptolemaic date does not seem to provide

support for Tarn's views presented in TEA 14, 246 ff.
79 Cf. B.M. stela 379, 1. 11.
80 See for instance the evidence in the stela of Mendes, cf. Urk II, 28 ff.,
and Louvre C 123, cf. ibid., 75 ff.
81 Cf. Urk II, 16; 19; 21.
82 In the inscriptions of the temple at Edfu the ideal King of Egypt
is continuously represented as driving enemies out of the country. Surely,
these are not the Greeks. If we consider the time when the wall decoration
began to be carried out there do not seem to be outstanding difficulties in defin-
ing those adversaries.
16 E. A. E. Reymond
ther hints to support our hypothesis

Harmakhis himself, and from the con
successive heirs. His stelae 83 comm
he was the beneficiary in the chapels
show some unusual features when the
of this series. Harmakhis is described
parent silence about his activities oth
perhaps, be a reflection of the politi
The same features have been noticed
eldest son Eskote //, the sixth High
the seventh High Priest of Memphis,
the eighth High Priest of Memphis, s
as religious dignitaries only. This, in
we remember that their successive pe
unrest and agitation in the country:
(b) the seventies and the sixties of
of the rebellion in Alexandria, the fi
Egypt by Antiochus; (c) finally the
The decadence of the House of the
rels among its members prevented
sovereign able to resist pressure from
in Alexandria itself could hardly in
respect of, and trust in the reigning d
If, on the other hand, we take i
sources, namely Demotic legal cont
temples, progress in building temple
speak of a politically unsettled situat
dence from our documentary sources
one thing: a strong central persona
sovereign, who was in a position to m
with the struggle in Lower Egypt and
and finally, to save the crown from its shattered position. If we recall
how influential the Hereditary Princes of Memphis could have been in
view of all the functions they held, the possible answer to the question
as to who this personality could have been does not seem to be out of
our reach.
I think I should recall at this point the context of Harmakhis' fu-

nerary stelae; only those from the chapels of the Sarapieion of Memphis
83 Cf. above, p. 9.
84 This statement does not apply to various local scenes of plundering,
and rising in the provinces which could occur at any time in any part of Egypt
without being a politically influenced insurgence.
are known. We can see that in one of these the dates are erased in the
hieroglyphic text, and that the Demotic docket at the foot of the stela
washed away. This may, of course, be a mere coincidence, but it may
also be the work of a faction. This suggestion receives further support
from the fact that his main funerary stelae, i.e. that in the mortuary cham-
ber, and that in the funerary chapels, and also those which belonged to
the four successors of Harmakhis who were in office during the greater
part of the second century b.c., are also missing. This lack in the archaeo-
logical evidence may be of some historical significance. These stelae were
in antiquity displayed in conspicuous places. Their texts related the deeds
their deceased owners completed in their lifetime. There may have been
reasons for removing from the eyes of contemporaries, and from the memory
of posterity, anything which could recall the part played by the High
Priests of Memphis, in fact the Regents of Memphis, in the political situ-
ation of the second century b.c. The Egyptian tendency to clothe new
functions under the cover of centuries-old and customary designations
is well known 85 . The lists of the old Egyptian titles and recognized desig-
nations in the epitaphs of our priests from Memphis may indicate more
than a mere duty of being attached to the royal departments.
With the general political situation in mind it is possible to suggest
that from the beginning of the second century b.c. changes occurred in
the House of the Hereditary Princes of Memphis. There are good reasons
for believing that, beginning with the eighth High Priest of Memphis,
the House gained in importance in the Kingdom, and that a new era in
the family's history began. We would consider the period of Petubastis I's
pontificate as the turning point in the family's history. He, a contemporary
of Euergetes II, may have been regarded as an outstanding statesman of
the Ptolemies. He may have been remembered as a real king. A possible
answer to this hypothesis may lie in textual evidence external to the
family's documents: the Cycle of Narratives that centre around the King
Petubastis 86. Our hypothesis may find further support in what thehistorio-
grapher of this family recorded in the family's Chronicle: Petubastis I's
son Psherenptah II was married to a princess of royal blood - Berenice 87.
She is described in the Demotic text as the snt hmt , 'younger sister' of the
King Ptolemy Alexander. This offers a solid ground for concluding that
she was, in all probability, one of Euergetes II's children 88. This informa-
85 Cf. my article in A SA E 55, 104 fi.

86 Cf. Spiegelberg, Der Sagenkreis des Königs Petubastis (Leipzig 1910),
and Bresciani, Der Kampf um den Panzer des Inaros, (Papyrus Krall; Wien 1964).
87 Cf. the already cited Vienna stela no. 82, 1. 9: also below, p. 21.
88 Cf. Strack, Dyn. der Ptolemäer , 199 and 201; a complete list of all the
children of Euergetes II could not be established; none of the classical writers
reports on Berenice.
Orientalia - 2
18 E. A. E. Reymond
tion is new, and unparalleled in te

and reflection of this marriage into t
b.c. is, no doubt, of vital importance
of having a political background, and
that it was prompted by the situat
seems also to reflect the position wh
cupied prior to the twenties of the s
a possible connection with the events
have been contracted after Euerget
may have sided with Euergetes II, an
helped Euergetes II take the throne
regained Alexandria in 129 b.c. Nin
was born. We may imagine that Euer
tude, offered the hand of his daught
his supporter and minister. The King
of his claims lay with the natives, ma
would appear to have been, in view o
mentary sources, a powerful eleme
been directed against the various fac
this marriage he gained sympathy
and support from their side. He m
longed to one of the oldest families o
of the future Regent of Memphis, an
of the latter. A blood relationship to
have been regarded as one of the m
and the continuity of the House of
events which had taken place in th
we may conclude that the Princes o
their native city that they became t
So, upon the death of Petubastis 1 89
find a native Egyptian prince, the
holding the traditional post of the
ptah II's pontificate too seems to ha
the development of these events. He o
turbulent moments of Ptolemaic histo
disruptions, murders, and dynastic
deplorable scenes, however, do not
89 The exact date of Petubastis I's death is not recorded in any of the
extant memorials. There is nothing to help us in suggesting whether he was
in office at about the time of Euergetes II's death; the date of the beginning
of Psherenptah II's pontificate is also unknown.
on the normal course of life in the country 90.

degree of probability, be supposed that the presti
of natives princes was very high, and that we ha
diplomat and politician. He appears in the eyes o
Priest of Memphis, as the tradition depicts him
again under the cover of an old Egyptian title it
statesman and a noted authority in the count
noticeable at about the time when Soter II, Psherenptah II's brother-
in-law, fled to Cypros in 110/109 b.c., and the political game with Rome
began to be a real danger for Egypt. The situation at that moment doubt-
less required a strong central personality to avert the catastrophe which
will have occurred within a period of less than a century. Classical sources
do not name anyone; Egyptian documents, however, allow us to guess
who he may have been.
The posthumous recital of Psherenptah II's son, Petubastis II, fur-
nishes further evidence to support our hypothesis. The historiographer
of the Memphite House of princes records that following his installation
as High Priest of Memphis another ceremony took place which we do not
believe to have had a merely religious significance 91 . We are told that
the royal diadem was placed on Petubastis' head, and the insignia of royal
dignity were handed over to him by the reigning king 92 . If, in addition
to this all the administrative functions which he had assumed are recalled,
Petubastis II emerges from his posthumous recital as the n's = xpároç
'authority', or 'sovereign' in the Kingdom, uniting in his hands all the
main threads of government, issuing decrees and ordinances on behalf
of the king. We would suggest that by means of this act Petubastis, by
birth half a Ptolemy, half a native prince, was promoted to a rank equal
to that of the King of Egypt. As member of the Greek royal family in the
line of his mother Berenice, he could lay claim to Egypt's throne by virtue
of the matrimonial statutes.
We are told that this ceremony was carried out according to the cus-
toms of the ancestors 93. Who are these ancestors? They may be the King's
ancestors, i.e. that Ptolemy Alexander acted in the same way as all his
90 One of the items of evidence to demonstrate that the Egyptians and

Greek settlers in the provinces cared little or not at all about the situation in
Alexandria and about what was going on at the royal court can be drawn from the
contemporary legal documents; see the set of Demotic contracts from the Em-
balmer's Archives at Hawara, published by myself in the Catalogue of the De-
motic Papyri in the Ashmolean Museum I (Oxford 1973).
91 Cf. above, p. 11-12.
92 Cf. Vienna stela no. 82, 1. 11; the King handed over his Kkw' for the
meaning 'insignia', 'royal insignia' cf. Les. 75, 9, and also Sin. B 270.
93 Cf. ibid. 1. 11: r-ht pi smd nty.f itw, 'according to the custom of his
(fore) fathers'.
20 E. A. E. Reymond
predecessors did, the implication b

of Memphis, once installed as the H
King of Egypt. On the other hand, however, these 'ancestors' may
be those of Petubastis II. If this be the case, we may venture two inter-
pretations: a) these 'ancestors' may be his immediate forefathers who
were in office during the third and second centuries b.c.; b) his far distant
'ancestors' are meant, who lived and ruled in Memphis during Pharaonic
times. If this interpretation be accepted, we may venture to suggest that
some of the ancient privileges which members of the House of the He-
reditary Princes of Memphis could postulate may have been renewed in
the course of the second century b.c.; the reason may have been either
the family's merits in the diplomacy of the Ptolemaic Kingdom, or that
the marriage contracted between members of the two Houses may have
stimulated the grant to renew ancient privileges of the House of the Re-
gents of Memphis.
Eskote I and his son Anemho II emerge from their recitals as the
viceroys of the Ptolemies at Memphis. A question may be raised as to
why this family was chosen to represent the Ptolemies in the ancient capital
of the Kings of Egypt. We must bear in mind that there are still numerous
facts, prior to the beginning of Greek times, which cannot be explained
with full satisfaction because of the lack of textual evidence. However,
we must emphasize at this point that the offices of Regent of Memphis
and of High Priest were hereditarily held within the family, and that this
may have been grounded on historical motives. The evidence in Petu-
bastis II's recital points to the growing importance and authority of the
High Priest of Memphis. More than 150 years after the installation of
Eskote I Petubastis II is found in a much more important position. He
is de facto crowned by the reigning King whom his father - Psheren-
ptah II - crowned King of Egypt. In view of these circumstances it is
possible to conclude that members of the House of the Hereditary Princes
of Memphis, once they became blood relations to the reigning dynasty,
found themselves in a position which allowed them to renew privileges
of the Princes of Memphis of Pharaonic times from whom they descended.
The marriage in question seems to have served a double purpose. It should
also be remembered at this point that the Princes of Memphis shared the
burial grounds with their royal cousins 94. Further evidence to support
our hypothesis can be seen in the use of the epithet *nh r dt, 'living for
ever', once the privileged designation of the deceased Kings of Egypt.
From the second century b.c. onward, however, this epithet accompanies
any name of any member of the Memphite family. We do not take it as
94 Cf. above, p. 12.
a mere coincidence. The use of this epithet in th

our opinion, based on and conveys the concept
In view of all the information derived from our
is fair to say that the viceroys at Memphis in ear
regents of Egypt to regain ultimately the statut
cestors of Pharaonic times. The scene of the investiture in Alexandria
in 103 b.c. seems to account for the coronation of the alter rex of Egyp
P etubasti s II seems to have been politically influential at home and
abroad. It should suffice to refer to some of the events which took pla
under his pontificate. In 89 b.c. Petubastis' royal uncle Alexander I f
to Syria. In 87/86 b.c. the political game with Rome was reopened w
the Roman ambassador Iy. Licinius Lucullus arrived in Alexandria 95 .
The political situation reached its climax in 80 B.c. when Rome tried to
interfere in the succession to the throne of Egypt. At that moment, we
think, his authority is marked: Alexander II was sent to Alexandria. A
bloody scene followed within a short time in which the prestige of the
House of the Ptolemies was shattered, and the succession to the throne
in the direct line was extinguished. The man beside the King, Petubastis II,
however, remained unshaken in his position. He emerges from the political
chaos created by the activities of the various factions in Alexandria as
the real master of Egypt. Needless to say, the general political situation
required a skilled diplomat to preserve the continuity of the monarchy
and the integrity of the Kingdom. Here again, Greek and Latin writers
are silent about who the leading personality was, and their silence is rele-
vant: this could only be a man who was not inscribed in golden letters
with Rome and its rulers. Egyptian sources, however, seem to offer a
possible answer to this question, namely the same native politician and
diplomat who may have helped his royal cousin Ptolemy ascend to the
throne of Egypt, and caused him to be proclaimed King of Egypt 96. The
question may be asked why Petubastis did not withhold his power, and
did not remain the sole occupier of the throne. A possible answer may
be sought on the side of Auletes' mother 97 , and perhaps also on the side
of his wife Tryphaena. Another way of approaching this question is from
the point of view of the order of succession among Euergetes II's children.
Ptolemy Auletes was son of Soter II; Petubastis II, however, that of his
younger sister Berenice. If this interpretation be accepted, it will show
that even at that critical moment of history the Egyptians seem to have
observed the rightful order of succession to the throne.
95 Cf. Olshausen, Rom und Ägypten, 12 ff.

96 Cf. Bloedow, Beiträge zur Geschichte des Ptolemäus XII, 20 ff.; discus-
sion of the evidence in classical writers.
97 Cf. below, p. 25.
22 E. A. B Reymond
Reference to the recital of Petub

shows further evidence to support o
aristocratic family from Memphis w
nasty. Many of the brief statement
Psherenptah's activities are describe
of recording seems, in all probabi
the reality from the eyes of cont
vant for the policy pursued by th
ptah III is said to have been the K
have been designed to convey the id
It should also be recalled that Pshere
reign' by birth. There can hardly
royal status and that its head was th
of him as 'striding to the salvation
may be taken as an allegory for the
to avert the danger that faced Egyp
to have been the vital factor in E
ptah III himself may, perhaps, be re
tance against Rome, as the events
30 b.c., seem to confirm100.
His son Petubastis III was a mere child when he succeeded him in
office. In the development of the events during the eleven years of the
Ptolemaic Kingdom that were left, we can see what the prestige of th
House of the Princes of Memphis, and in particular the diplomacy an
policy pursued by its two last members, Petubastis II and Psherenptah III
may have represented in the political domain of those times. It is reason-
able to suppose that it was owing to their policy that the final catastroph
was, at least temporarily, averted. Both of them appear to have been the
safeguard of Egypt's independence.
Petubastis III passed away at about the same time as the last of th
Ptolemies. The date of the simultaneous deaths gives a ground for specula
tion. We may, perhaps, assume a natural death, and imagine Petuba
stis III as a sickly sixteen years old youth closing the dynasty. However
the date - the sixth of Mesorê of year 22 of Cleopatra VII - suggests
another interpretation: a violent death. The second view receives further
support if we consider the probable part Petubastis' family had played
in the policies of the second and the first century b.c., in particular in the
98 Cf. above, p. 12-13, the B.M. stela no 886.

99 Porphyry s accounts oí Auletes reign do not seem to agree witn tne
evidence in Egyptian sources; see below, p. 29.
100 For the meaning implied m snw , such as equal ci. bin. ±5 4/; Kb
57,1; 'counterpart', cf. JEA 4, pl. 9, 6.
struggle with Rome. The interest of the pro-Rom

therefore, could only be to debase and to profane
itary Princes of Memphis. Further evidence is dis
records of this family. We are told that Psheren
in year 12 of Cleopatra VII in Alexandria, was re
lished, then re-buried in the necropolis of Memph
that is to say eleven years after his death 101 . De
ticular case out of the question. The inference
events is that the royal crypt in Alexandria was
damaged. Considering the sequence of the politic
ties of the first century b.c., it is reasonable to
Petubastis' family, living or dead, were the target
of the Roman invader, Octavian.
It should also be recalled that the death of Petubastis III follows
that of the eldest son of Anthony by Fulvia; it is known that Anthony
was recognized by the Egyptians as the lawful King-consort of Cleopatra V
according to an unpublished Demotic papyrus in the Ashmolean colle
tion 102. Then followed the death of Ptolemy Caesar, the heir apparen
of Cleopatra VII. With Anthony mortally wounded, and Cleopatra seeking
to escape from her Roman captors, there was one thing left to do: remov
Petubastis III from the scene since he could lay claims to the throne
Egypt in succession to his grandfather, and as the son and heir of Egypt
alter rex . The date of his death - the sixth of Mesorê year 22 - precedes
by three days that generally accepted for the capture of Alexandria b
the Romans 103.
Once Petubastis III had been removed, there remained no legitimate

claimant to the throne, no person capable of symbolizing the unity and
integrity of the Kingdom. Nothing now stood in the way of Octavian's
proclaiming himself the master of Egypt. The end of the Memphite dynasty
supplies the tragic epilogue to the dramatic end of the Ptolemaic Empire.
ORDER OF SUCCESSION OF THE HIGH PRIESTS OF MEMPHIS

IN PTOLEMAIC TIMES
HPM KINGS OF EGYPT B.C.

1. Marresnüfe ( Mft-R-nfr )
Alexander the Great 332-323
Philip Arrhideus 323-316
101 Cf. B.M. stela no. 188, 1. 3-4.

102 P. Ash. D. 39 (unpublished).
103 The 6 of Mesorê corresponds to the 29th of July; Alexandria is believed
to have been captured by the 1st of August (= 3rd of August) 30 B.c.; cf.
Skeat, The Reigns of the Ptolemies, 42-43, (n. 24).
24 J. W. B. Barns
2. Anemho I (cn-m-hr)
Alexander Aegus 316-305
Ptolemy I Soter I 305-283
3. Eskote I ( Ns-kdty )
Ptolemy II Philadelphos 283-246
4. Anemho II (fn-m-hr)
Ptolemy II Philadelphos
Ptolemy III Euergetes I 246-221
[4. a Teos (Dd-hr) Ptolemy III Euergetes I]
5. Harmakhis (Hr-m-tht)
Ptolemy IV Philopator 221-205
Ptolemy V Epiphanes 205-181
6. Eskote II ( Ns-kdty )
Ptolemy V Epiphanes
7. Psherenptah I (Pf-Šri-n-Pth)
Ptolemy V Epiphanes
Ptolemy VI Eupator 181
Ptolemy VII Philometor 181-170
8. Petubastis I (Pf-di-Bstt)
Ptolemy VII Philometor and
Cleopatra II 170-145
Ptolemy VIII Philopator Neos 145
Ptolemy IX Euergetes II 145-116
9. Psherenptah II ( Pf-šri-n-Pth )
Ptolemy IX Euergetes II
Cleopatra III and Soter II 116-107
Cleopatra III and Alexander I 107-101
10. Petubastis II (Pf-di-Bstt)
Cleopatra III and Alexander I
Ptolemy XI Alexander I and
Berenice 101-88
Ptolemy X Soter II 88-80
Berenice and Alexander II 80
Ptolemy XIII Auletes 80-51
11. Psherenptah III ( P;-sri-n-Pth )
Ptolemy XIII Auletes 80-51
Cleopatra VII Philopator 51-30
12. Petubastis III ( Pt-di-Bstt )
Cleopatra VII Philopator
PART II by the late John Barns
The evidence presented by Dr. Reymond in the last paper suggests

possible answers to some questions which I had considered for some time
before her discoveries were made. One of these was: what does illegitimacy
mean when applied, in Greek and Latin literary sources, to some of the
later members of the Ptolemaic royal House 1 ?
1 We may compare the remark of Mahaffy, Empire of the Ptolemies , 427 :

'I cannot but think that the constant assertion of the illegitimacy of Egyptian
princes and princesses was the invention of Hellenistic historians in the interest
of the Romans'.
In 1898 Miss Rachel Evelyn White published an

to have received less attention than it deserved.
that the best known of all these cases of alleg
Auletes [3] - was considered to be disqualified for
and Roman eyes, but that native Egypt had less rigid standards in the
matter. Her conclusion, however, was that Auletes and his brother, the
King of Cypros, were the children of a marriage of Ptolemy Soter II with
Selene, subsequently repudiated. A serious objection to this is Cicero's
reference to Auletes 4 as neque genere ñeque animo regio , which if Auletes'
mother was a full-blooded member of the family of the Ptolemies will have
been simply certain. But what does genus mean here? Hitherto, it seems
to have been assumed that his mother's origin, however undistinguished,
must have been at least Greek; the possibility of Egyptian matrimonial
or quasimatrimonial connections in the reigning family on this or any
other occasion seems never to have been considered. This assumption,
we believe, can no longer be maintained in view of the certain evidence
in the Vienna stela [n° 82 5] of Petubastis [II], who was born in year 50
of the reign of Euergetes II to the [ninth] High Priest of Memphis and a
princess [Berenice] of the royal House who can hardly be other than a
daughter of Euergetes II himself6; once this family link had been estab-
lished there would seem to be no reason why a prince of the reigning house,
or indeed the King himself, should not contract a matrimonial alliance
with the Egyptian family already related to him by blood.
We would suggest that the process of miscegenation began, not with
Euergetes II's children, but with himself. One of his sons, stated by Ap-
pian 7 and Justus 8 to have been illegitimate, was Ptolemy Apion whom
he made King of Cyrene. Apion is a distinctly Egyptian name 9, despite
its Greek form; it is not easy to see why he should have been so named
unless he had some special connections with native Egypt; this we suspect
to have been nothing less than one of blood.
2 R. E. White, 'Women in Ptolemaic Egvpť, J HS 18 (1898) 238 ff.

[3 See the remarks of Mahafïy, JE A 2 (1915) 1, n. 1; also Bloedow, Bei-
träge zur Geschichte des Ptolemaios XII , 10; his conclusions are now to be modi-
fied in the light of the evidence in Egyptian sources. - Statements in square
brackets were supplied by the editor. E.R.]
4 De Lege Agr. II, 42.
[5 Cf. above, p. 11 and p. 19-201.
6 See Dr Reymond's remarks in the last paper, p. 17, and n. 88, [the
reference to the marriage of Psherenptah II and Berenice. For the probable
reason that the name of Euergetes is not mentioned in the text of the stela
see p. 21].
7 Appian: B. Matter 721.
8 Justus, 39, 5,2.
9 So much so that in the Roman period, when Egyptian descent spelt
social disadvantage, it tends to be latinized into Appianus. It will probably
have lent colour to the scornful allegations in Josephus, Contra Apionem , II 29.
26 J. W. B. Barns
We suggest the following hy

metor and his brother was not p
Philometor, who has naturally enough been represented in Greek and
I^atin writers in a favourable light, stood for the traditional ideals of Hel-
lenistic monarchy as a descendant of a house of soldier-kings who main-
tained the military prestige of the part of Alexander's empire which had
fallen to their lot, against their similarly placed neighbours, and its cul-
tural prestige by the patronage of scholars and men of genius from all
over the Greek world. Their edicts were now doomed, thanks to the ascen-
dancy of Rome, in whose power it now lay to cut off the supply of soldiers
and scholars for any country it chose.
Euergetes II, for whom no classical writer has a good word to say,
was enough of a realist to see that Egypt must now be thrown back upon
its internal resources [10], and his policy was revolutionary; nothing less
than the renunciation of his country - as a Hellenistic Kingdom, and
its constitution instead as an oriental Kingdom. This could be effected
only by breaking down existing barriers, never really secure, between those
of his subjects who were by birth or pretension Greek, and the vast major-
ity, the native Egyptians. The Tebtunis ordinances of Euergetes [II n]
show his policy towards native Egypt, and particularly its priesthood, to
have been eminently liberal 12 . This will hardly have endeared him to the
conservative Greek aristocracy of Alexandria. His answer to their resis-
tance was characteristically ruthless: a measure which according to Po-
ly bius left them decimated and impotent13.
Euergetes was the last man to allow any word or conventional example
to stand in the way of policy. We believe that his most decisive move
toward the racial integration which was the only hope of autonomous
survival for Egypt lay with his own family, upon which he imposed
the revival of the Pharaonic practice of royal polygamy, a polygamy which
was to include the highest representatives of his native subjects. And
of all the aristocracy of native Egypt there was no family so proud and
powerful as that of the High Priests of Memphis; one of whom [Harma-
khis14], as Dr. Reymond has shown, has in the time of Euergetes' father
probably gone so far as to claim the title of King.
Memphis had from the beginning been the Egyptian rival to Greek
Alexandria. The name of Euergetes' son by Cleopatra II, Memphites,
[10 See remarks expressed by H. I. Bell in JEA 8, 147-148.]

[n The Tebtunis ordinances were issued m 118 b.c., two years later, alter
the birth of Petubastis II in 120 B.c.; cf. above, p. 10.]
12 As their first editors were at pains to point out; see 1 ebtunis ťapyn
I, 20; cf. Mahaffy, op. cit., 385 ff.
13 Ap. vStrabo, 17, 1. Y¿.
[14 Cf. above, p. 16-17.]
was perhaps significant of the way in which his

developing; it may have been intended as a nomi
feelings, comparable to the designation of the fi
the quarrel with Cleopatra II may have decided
of a more substantial rapprochement with native
himself and continued by his successors: in poly
the Greek records have left no trace, behind a
monogamy. It may be asked why a family as illustrious as that of the
High Priests of Memphis will have been content with this secondary role.
The reply to this, we think, lies in the shrewd observation in Diodoros 15
that the Egyptians had little or no conception of illegitimacy. Pharaonic
history seems to confirm this as far as the royalty is concerned; it may
be remembered that the great Thutmosis III was son of a concubine 16.
The group of official titles and intended recognitions will have mat-
tered less to them than the certainty that sooner or later the ancient shoot
of the royal priesthood of Memphis would find itself again upon the throne
of Egypt; as we believe happened within two generations. We suggest
that the mystery of the identity of the mother of Ptolemy Auletes was
[
to the failure, not least of legitimate

of the Greek line [18]. What notions lie behind this [
of Greek Alexandria seems pitifully clear; it is the morbid [
the half-breed, which makes the subject of racial origin [
There were few families in Alexandria, and

Egypt without some native blood [20]. Polybios
drian Greeks as (juydcSsi;21 has been taken by
mixed Greek origin' 22. If this be so, one can
where different races are spoken of it would b
surely misses the point of the passage in wh
any other Greek firmly believes that only Greeks can appreciate [
15 Diodoros, I, 80,3; see Evelyn White article,

A. Burton, Diodoros Siculus I (Leiden 1972) 233 ff.
16 Cf. Drioton Vandier, L'Egypte , (Les peuples de l'Orient, II). 338-340.
17 Cf. E. Bloedow, Beiträge zur Geschichte des Ptolemaios XII. (Diss.
Würzburg 1963) 22 ff.; E. Olshausen, Rom und Ägypten von 116 bis 51 v. Chr.,
16 ff.
[l8 ... 'the mother of Ptolemy Auletes was... Beginning with these
words the two statements which follow were marked by the late Professor
Barns for emendation; out of respect for his scholarship it is reproduced as has
been found in his note-book. E.R.I
[19 The Ms shows only the words: 'Probably by this term . . .'; the rest
of the statement was removed by the late scholar himself, but the alternative
version was not supplied. It is left as found in the Mss. E.R.l
f20 Cf. H. I. Bell, JEA 8, 148, with whose conclusions we aeree. 1
21 Polyb. ap. StraFo, 17, 1.
22 Cf. P. M. Fraser, The Ptolemaic Alexandria, p. 75 ff.
28 J. W. B. Barns
political institutions, but that

least retained some conceptions o
ways of life is one thing; the ma
lenistic world was another. It w
Egypt who claimed the name of
ancestry to the Greek world, and
one face to Egypt and another to
same outside world their own ad
and connections. Neither they
expected to speak openlythe l of
popularity and entourage in whic
family were held in Alexandria 2
The subject of miscegenation, a
more bitter after the Roman occ
tions furnished a pretext for soci
toward the governed was habitually decisive; it was in her interest to
promote the idea of the separation of Greek and Egyptian, however ar-
tificial it may have been by the time her subjugation of Egypt enabled
her openly to enforce it.
Ivong before this, however, we see the same policy which we believe
Euergetes II to have recognized, and done his best to continue, in Rome's
dealings with the country which it planned to control and eventually an-
nex; a policy which laid special emphasis on the distinctiveness of Alexan-
dria from Egypt24, and exploited the Hellenistic practice of its Greek
inhabitants to their own eventual ruin.
It is in this light that we regard the events which followed the deat
of Soter II. The fostering of the son of Alexander I upon Egypt 26 as th
husband of Soter's only legitimate daughter Berenice26 served a doub
purpose for Rome; it gladdened and flattered Alexandria for the time bein
with a royal couple of wholly Greek blood 27 - and (it seems clear) no ho
of issue.
23 Cf. Fraser, op. cit., p. 118 ff.

24 We may note that such expressions as Alexandria ad Aegyptum , rex
Alexandrinus seem to originate not in Ptolemaic, but in Roman circles. The
earliest occurrence of the term 9AXe$áv8psioc 7rpòç Aïyu7rrov known to me is
in an inscription from Delos - Roman Asia. [For the Egyptians Alexandria
was always Rakote,] cf. the statement in the Satrape Stela, cf. Urk II, 14, 1. 16.
[Ivists of Eponymous priesthoods in Demotic contracts always end with
the expression n? nty iw.w sh n-im.w n R'kdty, '. . .who are registered in Ra-
kote'; cf. TEA 45, 63-4, n. (4).].
25 So Appian, B. C. I, 102; see Olshausen, Rom und Ägypten, 23 (cf. p. 29).
26 Pausanias, I, 9, 3; see Olshausen, op. cit., 30.
27 There seems no reason to doubt that Alexander II was 'legitimate',
though some doubt exists as to the identity of his mother. The nickname given
to Alexander I by the Alexandrians, who evidently disliked him extremely,
was 7rapeíaaxToç 'smuggled in', 'supposititious'. No doubt the implicatioii was
When, however, young Alexander almost imm

middle-aged queen it must have been evident eve
Alexandrian aristocracy that his precipitate actio
benefit them; and after they had lynched him in
stronghold of their pride 28 , this impression will ha
by the publication of the will in which he beq
Rome 29. This glimpse of the ugly realities of
nevertheless have been hardly enough to inspire
Rome's purpose by placing upon the throne Soter
they evidently detested from the first. It will m
silent and steady influence of priestly Memphis, w
Egypt whose temples show Auletes as a great p
adored as a god, 30] in marked contrast to the
him we have from classical literary sources.
The mention in the funerary stela of Psher
wives suggests that we need to modify our view
again, is a plain indication of royal polygamy, wit
the statement of Strabo 32 that his daughter Ber
mate' [= royal child33].
The reputation of Cleopatra the Great has
the tradition which we have no reason to doubt,
for the deaths of her two brothers, and of her sis
doubt as ruthless as the rest of her line; but if t
different mothers, her treatment of them was n
of polygamous royal families in the East where t
monarch has so often been the signal for the who
brothers of his successor34.
false; but it is, to say the least, provocative. Allegations of [. . .] will usually
impugn the paternity of these victims; to question his maternity perhaps in-
dicates the prevailing current of Alexandrian scandals. Another nickname of
his was xoxxtqç: 'the son of xoxx7)'?
28 Appian, B.C., I 102, and other sources cited by Olshausen, op. cit.
p. 24; cf. Bouché et Leclercq, II, 114.
29 So far from avoiding the suspicion that the will was a forgery in the
Roman interest, as some maintained, it must have occasioned considerable
embarrassment in Roman circles, since the short interval between Alexander's
accession and his death plainly indicates that it was formed beforehand as a
[
[30 Lf. the representations of the King

sinat, Edfou 14, pl. 654 ff: the scenes on th
[31 Cf. B.M. stela 886, and above, p. 12-131.
32 Strabo, XVII, 796; see Olshausen, op. cit., p. 59, n. 69.
[33 Cf. above, p. 13, and Mahaffy's statement in TEA 2. p. 1. n. 1.1
34 The history of the Turkish imperial house suggests numerous parallels.
It would be interesting, though perhaps impolite, to cite some more recent
examples . . . (the note is left as found in the Mss. E.R.)
30 J. W. B. Barns
The words of Cleopatra's handm

for her royal mistress as the de
more point if there ran in her v
ing older and prouder descent th
There is in Demotic a long seri
of it as yet unpublished, whose
figures of Egypt's past. Severa
one considerable set of narratives concerns a king of the late dynastic
period named Petubastis there [is] another (as yet unpublished): the
Third Dynasty vizier Imhotep, later deified as the god of medicine, whose
cult was so prominent in the Memphite area under the late Pharaohs and
the Ptolemies. The extant copies of these romances are mostly of Roman
date, but they will almost certainly have been composed earlier [38]. Some
indication of the circumstances and nature of their composition may be
suggested if we compare the names of some of the High Priests of Memphis
in the Ptolemaic era mentioned in our funerary stelae [39] ; three are named
Petubastis, [the wife of] one is [Taimuthis 40] ; the last Petubastis [III] is
also called Imhotep [41] . When the body of this last Petubastis [III] who
died at the age of sixteen three days before the accepted date of the Roman
occupation of Alexandria [42], was taken [for the burial in the old family
grave in the necropolis of Memphis, and the mummy of his father Psheren-
ptah III was taken] eleven years after his death [43] from the burial place
of his royal cousins in Alexandria and reinterred in Memphis, the last re-
mainder of the dynasty's liaison with the native Egypt was buried with
him. The enormity of the murder of the young Ptolemy Ceasar, Egypt's
last king and rightful heir to [the throne], and that of Anthony's eldest
son, could not have been concealed from the world; but the memory of
this third victim as he almost certainly will have been - was successfully
effaced as far as classical sources are concerned.
The present group of inscriptions [44] however, seem to illustrate the
35 Cf. Plutarch, Anton. 85.

[36 The ancestors of the Memphite royal family seem to have had links
with the royalty of Pharaonic times.]
37 Cf. above, p. 17, and JEA 58 (1972) 247 ft.; for a fragment of a romance
referring apparently to the Petubastis circle, dating from at least the 2nd
century b.c.
[38 Small fragments of romances m Demotic can be dated from the times
of Philadelphos (unpublished); a fragment of the Petubastis Story in the col-
lection of Michaelidis, see Bresciani, Testi Demotici nella Coll. Michaelidis,
pl. II and III, is datable from the time of Euergetes I.]
r39 Cf. above, p. 11 ft. J
[40 Cf. B.M. stela no. 147.]
r« Cf. B.M. stela no. 188.J
[42 Cf. above, p. 23.]
f43 Cf. above, p. 14.]
[44 See the last article: its mam sources.]
fact that Egyptian sources may serve not only to

picture, but to redress its balance; the difficulty
and its scripts were enough to safeguard embarr
sentiments from the eyes and ears of the tyran
of Actium. It seems not to be generally realized
tants of Roman Egypt were about the possession
ing documents or literature in a language whi
masters. But even in Greek we find writings wh
or persons could overcome caution. One examp
drian pamphlet literature known as the Acts of
There is another writing in Greek, howTever,
less inflammatory by reason of the obscurity wh
of much speculation and differences of interpret
Potter s Oracle 46, fragments of which are extant
date47, showing wide textual variations where
Such suggestions as I have to make about it will
takes the form of a prophecy, properly to have b
of a King Amenophis and foretelling the future
and bad. Most are in vague terms, but others
events which one might hope to identify.
We may observe, first, that it shows many ev
lated from an Egyptian (doubtless Demotic) origi
resembles some much earlier Egyptian quasi-prop
ably the Middle Kingdom Prophecy of Neferti ,
which is in the reign of the Fourth Dynasty K
political writing plainly designed to glorify th
founder, Amenemmes I, is foretold as the saviou
the parallelism with this is to be consistant, our O
[45 Cf. H. A. Musurillo, The Acts of the Pagan Mar

rum; Oxford 1954).]
46 See especially C. H. Roberts in Oxyrhynchu
L. Koenen in Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigrap
XII International Congress of Papyrology (Ann Arb
vious literature is cited and discussed.
47 P. Graf (= P.1); P. Ramer (= P.2); P. Oxy. 2332 (= P.3).
48 Apart from the well-known prophetic text about King Bocchoris and
the prophetic I,amb (cf. Krall, 'Vom König Bocchoris', Festgaben für Büdinger
(Innsbruck 1898); the same in MSPER VI, 19 ff. [This papyrus now bears
the designation P. Vindob. 10.000 A. B.C., and will be published by myself
at some future date. E.R.])- There are other smaller fragments in Demotic
(some unpublished) some of which might belong to lost parts of this work.
[These fragments are mainly among the Rainer Demotic papyri in the Col-
lection in Vienna, and will be published by myself at some future date. E.R.].
The suggestions of earlier scholars that it draws upon oriental sources other
than Egyptian seem unconvincing.
49 Cf. Volten, Zwei altaegyptische politische Schriften (Copenhagen 1945)
104 ff.; Posener, RÉ 8, 171-4.
32 J. W. B. Barns
eventive prophecy written for th

is in it a mention of such a figur
climax of the work; a King who s
years. Such has been the [repu
sources have left Euergetes II50], and so [
the Ptolemies were a dynasty of pure-b

first to last, that it seems not to have oc
Ptolemy the Benefactor whose reign was o
four years 61 , might be the King in quest
that he intended a policy so favourable
towards the conservative Greeks of Alexandria, as to establish him as a
hero in the eyes of the former [52], and earn him the lasting hatred of the
latter. But this is not all.
The Potter's Oracle which glorifies Memphis at the expense of Ale
dria may well have originated there, in the circle of the High Pri
Memphis, who was a family connection of Euergetes, and probab
grandson or great-grandson; the Oracle could have been written a
time between the death of Euergetes II and Auletes, but we think
most likely date for its composition will have been in the reign of Aul
and the High Priest of Memphis Petubastis II or his son Psherenptah [III
On our assumptions, a number of references in the Oracle seem t
identifiable. The hateful King from Syria we suppose to be Antio
Epiphanes 54 .
The references to Alexandria are varied: 'the city which is to be f
ded¿55, 'the city by the sea'; 'the city of Zenophoros'; the latter word
would render not Greeks, but the Alexandrian mercenaries of whom
lybios speaks with such distaste. The reference to the 'gods which it
make casting their name as its own peculiar creation', we would ta
refer not only to new cults, such as that of Sarapis, but (more literal
[50 Corrections were effected by the author.]

51 One could scarcely expect the prophet to lorecast a reign oi ntty-tnree
years and so many months; he would naturally make it the nearest round
number; in this case fifty-five. [See the evidence in the inscriptions of the temple
of Edfu, E. VII, 9, 3-4; the text reads: 'year 54 second month of šmw-season
day 11: the god (Euergetes II) opened his wings, and flew to the sky; his eldest
son appeared on the throne'.]
r52 This note was left blank.]
[53 Cf. above, p. 4, the family s connections with the Libraries at Mem-
phis.]
54 Known to his numerous [. . .] as Epímones. The restoration (xatjvóXyjç
in P.2, 1. 17 (see Oxy. Pap. 22, 97) seems certain; the suggested reading after
this in P.2, 1. 17, (see Koenen, ZPE 2, 201) seems to me unconvincing.
55 Emendation of xTetaojxevvjv in both places m ť.a, 1. 2. 51 to xtiQojiévy)v
seems a logical necessity.
to their images in Greek style which conserv

blasphemous.
The of this work will end the Roman period - there even
seems to be witness of it in the literature of Coptic Christianity - seems
significant of the native attitude towards the Ptolemies, and the memory
they left behind them. Books on the history of Pharaonic Egypt generall
end with Alexander the Great. In Egypt herself it will have been the end
of her thirty-first and last dynasty rather than centuries later whic
closed the tale of Egypt's glory.
Orientalia - 3

Alexandria and Memphis Some Historical Observations

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Alexandria and Memphis Some Historical Observations

Alexandria and Memphis

Part I by E. A. E. Reymond - Manchester - Oxford

Part I gives evidence of historical data disclosed in a number of

In a study devoted to funerary stelae which were accidentally un-

ancient necropoleis at Memphis an

Texts covering these monuments include in each instance, in addition

_D n rp' 'hereditary princes' of Memphis 2, P (ļ (ļ sri V Kmy,

name of its holder6. Ptah's name is on no occ

(a) priests of the royal cults of the Ptolemies at Memphis: ^ ļļ hm-ntr,

Ptolemies at Memphis: ^ ļļ ^ [Til hm-ntr pi sšt n K 10 ;

(/) priests who had free access to t

All members of this family assumed, in addition to their priestly

Priests of Memphis were also the hry sšt? offic

a privileged position in the King

we find it recorded in the posthumous recital of ' ' | ^ Ns-kdty I,

hood, and by the City's inhabitants, and was

The description of the interment of the High Priest of Memphis in

while succeeding to his father's functions, is portr

34 Cf. ibid. 15-16; this symbolic picture may be taken as an allusion to

priest of the King Nectanebo the

longed, the highest one in the hierarchy and

' [O] Hr-m-fht , Harmakhis, the fifth H

Harmakhis was succeeded by his eldest son 31?, Ř Ns-kdty, Es-

46 Cf. below, p. 17, and p. 19.

are unknown53. It is, however, cer

<r ^ f Pt-sri-n-Pth , Psherenptah I, the seventh Hig

^ A U ¿i Pi-di-Bstt, Petubastis I , the eighth High Priest of Me

53 Cf. below, p. 24, the 'Succession of the High Priests of Memphis'.

ander57. We cannot overlook the importance of

With the ninth High Priest of Memphis, □ Pi-šri-n-

turmoil that Psherenptah II's son, □ ^ Pt-di-Bstt, Petubastis II,

bastis II with the regalia of the High

Petubastis IF s immediate successor in 75 b.c. was his son □

Pf-sri-n-Pth, Psherenptah Illy the eleventh High Priest of Memphis under

61 Cf. Vienna stela no. 82, 1. 10.

the Ptolemies, who was born in year 90 b.c. 6

Psherenptah Ill's recital alludes to a number of historical events

66 Cf. B.M. stela no. 886, 1. 7.

Psherenptah III was succeeded b

The history of Egypt unde

73 Cf. B.M. stela no. 147, 1. 12-13.

78 Evidence in Egyptian texts of Ptolemaic date does not seem to provide

ther hints to support our hypothesis

I think I should recall at this point the context of Harmakhis' fu-

85 Cf. my article in A SA E 55, 104 fi.

tion is new, and unparalleled in te

on the normal course of life in the country 90.

90 One of the items of evidence to demonstrate that the Egyptians and

predecessors did, the implication b

94 Cf. above, p. 12.

a mere coincidence. The use of this epithet in th

95 Cf. Olshausen, Rom und Ägypten, 12 ff.

Reference to the recital of Petub

98 Cf. above, p. 12-13, the B.M. stela no 886.

struggle with Rome. The interest of the pro-Rom

Once Petubastis III had been removed, there remained no legitimate

ORDER OF SUCCESSION OF THE HIGH PRIESTS OF MEMPHIS

HPM KINGS OF EGYPT B.C.

101 Cf. B.M. stela no. 188, 1. 3-4.

PART II by the late John Barns

The evidence presented by Dr. Reymond in the last paper suggests

1 We may compare the remark of Mahaffy, Empire of the Ptolemies , 427 :