THE JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY FOR THE STUDY OF EGYPTIAN ANTIQUITIES 1089 of st é ete, et The. a "me say ‘ . i, Meese set VOLUME XV-2 1985 ‘THE SOCIETY FOR THE STUDY OF EGYPTIAN ANTIQUITIES Toronto, CanadaJournal of the Society for the Study of Egyptian Antiquities XV-2 (1985), 68-71 AN ENIGMATIC INSCRIPTION AT AKSHA ALICIA DANERI RODRIGO Early modern references to the Ramesside temple at Aksha and partial descriptions of its inscriptions and reliefs date back to the begin- ning of last century.! In 1906, J. H. Breasted included Aksha in his Survey, on behalf of the University of Ct ‘cago Oriental Exploration Fund, of pharaonic monuments in Nubia between the First and Second Cataracts. A Preliminary Report was Published that same year in the AJSLL.? The photographs taken by Breasted? show the condi~ tion of the temple and, in the most complete form known to us, the reliefs and inscri the forecourt, The Report states briefly the condition in which Breasted found the temple and mentions, for the first time, the existence of an enigmatic inscription: “. . . Beneath a relief on the north half of this wall [the rear wall of the first hall] is ‘one of those enigmatic charade-like inscriptions such as Devéria observed at Leiden many years ago." ‘The enigmatic inscription mentioned by Breasted was part of the superscription of the Asiatic topographic list on the lower part of the north half of the rear wall of the forecourt. No studies of this inscription are known. It was not 1. Contenson, H., Aksha 1966, Introduction by Jean Ver- outer, pp. 711 2. Breasted, JH. Fst Preliminary Report ofthe Egyptian Expedition, AJSLL XXIM, 1 (1906), pp. I-64 "University of Chicago Oriental institute Photographs Nox, 2362-64, 4 Op. cit, pp. 17 5. Rosenvatter, A, La excavaciin de Aksha. Tres compa: has arqueoligicas en la Nubia, Ciencia Investigacion 20, No. 11 (1964, Vercouter, J, "Preliminary Report of the Excavations at Akaha by the Franco-Argentine Archaeolog: feal Expedition, 1961," Kush X (1962) 6" Sayee, AH. “Gleanings from the Land of Egypt,” Rec. copied by the Franco-Argentine Mission that excavated Aksha in 1961-63 because, by that time, those blocks were already lost and only the last part of the inscription remained.‘ Neither was it registered by Kitchen in his Ramesside Inscriptions, further than Sayce’scopy,* because Kitchen did not make use of Breasted's photo- graph? where the complete text is legible. From a first examination of the inscription it can be noticed that: 1) The beginning and end are written in normal writing and there are also words in between in normal writing, a frequent procedure in eni matic inscriptions, as stated by Drioton.* 2) Punt is mentioned and possibly also products brought from there. 3) There are signs with known cryptic value as XE for r and =A for n and some odd forms as. and # AA closer look to the inscription reveals the procedures employed to hinder a normal reading: —the use of signs with established cryptic value, Iteration in the normal order of signs? —determinatives with the value of a full word!® and omission of signs expected in a normal reading, material variation (ie.. in the form of the signs). Trav. XVIII, 3-4 (1895), pp. 163-4, KAI I, 4 (1979, pp. 210-11. Kitchen gives the fliowing transeription: Woes Soho] pee wee 2. Oriental Insitute: Photograph No, 2362 4 Sta erypographie du Papyrus Salt #25." ASAE 4] (1982), p. 12. 9. Drioton, E, “La cryptographie par perturbation,” ASAE 44 (1944, pp. 1723. 10. Drioton, E., “Essa sur la cryptographic privé dela fin de la XVIlle dynastie” RAE 1 (1933), p. 9AN ENIGMATIC INSCRIPTION AT AKSHA The interpretation proposed is as follows: BESS t ey eB ER BTIS# Suganters sby* mst.frb Pwnt® inié nf Pow)ntyw! ime> } chew! 3tp(w)* (m) inmw! mn(wy™ entywe IMS sty irtyw? End Sw4 cg bi3wS Punt wd3 rw nbw Spss(w) Snn(t) RE A(e) she. Rete as a, Sayce!! read only 78 In Breasted’s photograph “ can be clearly seen, the sign * being much taller than usual. It is a shortened form of 1% similar to that of for "F , it pointed by Drioton.!A parallel text at ‘Amara (see p. 70) has J (sic). . The cryptic value of we asrwas signalled by Champollion in his Grammaire égyptienne.!? It is frequently employed in enigmatic texts, though the origin of this value is unknown, . In the Aksha and Amara texts the deter- miniative of Punt is — instead of 4.2 asa short form of tothat of sby (nat a). The intention in both cases isto introduce alterations to the normal spelling of words. €. ==, mas established cryptic value, through acrophony of <4 Neith.!® £.05 37 Pfwyntyw, Almost identical to the sess in the topographical list of Ramses II's temple in Abydos." The parallel text of Amara has °2.", {8.> material variation ofthe determinative 1. Op ete. 163, 12 ASAE 44, p31 13. Champolion, 1 F., Grammaire égyptienne, 183 14 Drioton, E, ASAE 44, p. 31 15. Drioton, E., “Recuell de cryptographic monumental.” ASAE 4 (1940, p. 419 16 KRU, 192 ‘ , i eryptic texts has a phonetic value of for f (from ise ), © ( =¥) or 0( /).07 Taking this sign with a phonetic value i, it is possible to read with the following sign m (note h), im (Punayw ‘mm Inthe parallel ext of Amara there are traces of a sign that Kitchen rendersasadubious= but that is probably fh. 4? used in eryptic writing with the pho- netic value m through acrophony of °24 mwt.* ‘At Amara the sign employed is 7 (see notem on its possible value as m). i. Space for a single illegible sign. J for +235, HCW, ships. k. # for b8 3tp, load; 3:p(w) as OP, 3rd. m. pl. 1, 0% for V44 inm; in Hatshepsut’s Punt inscription"* (@=1h2% , ) as material vari- ation of 4 1m. According to Drioton® * has eryptic value of s, or stands for the words mn and ms. In this instance it might be a material variation of =, mnand be related to the next sign | soas to read mn(w). trees. F101 mngw) Sntyw ~*24 for =» or ‘s+. Wart 1,206. The parallel text of Amara has 5:0 18 and differs in this section from Aksha. OF 88 sty. 1 a, Wort. 1, 135, Bisa product of Punt. The second sign is somewhat irregular and the exact shape is difficult to deter- mine. However, the Amara text has ¢'F According to the Belegstellen 1, 24, the word iff is found only in Luxor. In Luxor's forecourt Ramses II offers: 17. Drioton, E., RUE, p. 42, No. 86. 18. Drioton, E Lécriture énigmatique du Livre du Jour et de la Nut, 1943, p. 108,17. 19. Urk IV, 328,10 20. Drioton, E, ASAE 40.10 ete tee 18, ihmt, end for Amon who has created Punt, {55s some kind of perfumed substance, because in the inscription quoted above it is associated with shmt (balsam?) and ¢nd (see note q).2! The following line of the Luxor inscription reads: LY S1/7TSe 1 All the sweet, perfumed plants for ‘Amon, who has created the God's land. = sty, Wort. W, 349, 11, qualifying i. A irgye, Wort 1116, 89, a kind of fruit employed in pharmacy or a pigment. It is mentioned in the Admonitions together with other products? and in a number of medical texts. According to Harris ityw isa pigment of purplish blue colour. It is never mentioned as a product from Punt, In Amara, itis also written in normal writing “3°. 4. EF nd Sw, Wort, 1,208, thas = °--or 20! endw as unguent or perfume Belegstellen 1, 36 quotes only the Luxor inscription (note o) and Urk. 1, 60, Also Faulkner has end, an lunguent as distinet from niyw. According to Harris® the word is identical to Cntyw. © , Sw. 1. 6d for = ¢d or (mjd, Wort. 1, 237, 1, Ido not have a better interpretation for this word. s. 32 asa variation of = . t, 29'S san) Rohr) Shr. Amara has the full reading 2) ‘The resulting translation is: “His expedition reached Punt. The dwellers 21, Saleh, A.A., “Some problems relating to the Pwenet reliefs at Deir e- Bahari,” JA $8 (1972), pp 140-158. 22. Gardiner, A. Hy, The Admoniions of an Egyptian Sage, 1908, p34, 3, 23, Levicographical Studies in Ancient Egyptian Minerals, 1961, p. 228. 24. A Concise Dictionary of Middle Egyptian, 1962, p. 4. 28. Op. ct, p. 20. 26. PM Vil, 1951, p. 161; Fairman, H. W., “Preliminary Report on the Excavations at Amara West, Anglo-Eeyptian Sudan, 1938-39, JEA 25 (1939), pp. 139-144 KRU, pp. ALLICIA DANERI RODRIGO of Punt brought him... ships loaded (with) skins, incense trees, perfumed i8%, iryw, dry Cnd. The marvels of Punt are secure, all the noble houses prosper, all that Ra encircles is under his governance.” ‘There is a duplicate text to the Aksha enig- matic inscription at Amara. The Amara inscription is in the hypostyle hall, on the south wall, east side and continues on the east and north walls over the Asiatic topographic list. The ‘Amara enigmatic inscription is longer and men- tions towards its end other place-names as Shasu, Naharin (?) and Libya. The Aksha and Amara inscriptions were possibly copied from a single original document. Coincidence in the sequence of names in the Asiatic and Nubian topographical lists suggests a single source.” It is likely that the Aksha enig- matic inscription continued also on the north wall and in the same way as the Amara text; a few traces indicate s0, but nothing is eft of those inscriptions. ‘The Amara inscription, though partially broken and with few different readings, follows the Aksha text closely: dite There are several enigmatic official inscriptions dating from Seti I's and Ramses II's reigns: the protocols of Seti I and Ramses II in Abydos™ and Luxor,” a fragmentary inscription of Seti I in Gurna»® and the protocol of Ramses Hin Abu Simbel! The Aksha enigmatic inscription adds 212-222. No study of Amara’s inscriptions has been pub- lished yet. 27. Fuscaldo, P., "Las lstastopogrficas de Aksha.To be published in RIHAO 7; Edel, F., “Die Orsnamenlstn in ‘den Tempeln von Aksha, Amara und Soleb im Sudan”, BN 11980), pp. 63-79. 2%. _Drioton, ., "Les protocols ornamentaux d’Abydos", RAE M(1936), pp. 1-33. 28. Drioton, E, ASAE 40, pp. 319-328. 30, Drioton, E, ASAE 40, pp. 31415, 31, Drioton, E, ASAE 0, p. 315AN ENIGMATIC INSCRIPTION AT AKSHA to the small number of this peculiar kind of inscriptions. Apart from its interest as an exam ple ofa gender only rarely found in monuments, the interest of the Aksha enigmatic inscriptions that it specifically mentions an expedition to Punt. References to Punt are uncommon in the wealth of Ramses II's inscriptions; they are found in one of Amun’s hymns of the Leiden Papyrus,¥?in a dedicatory inscription at Abydos and in Luxor's forecourt.» These references are brief and conventional. 32, Gardiner, A. H."Hymns to Amon froma Leiden Papy- ts." ZAS 42 (195), pp. 14-16 33. KRIM,11,p.514,p 619; Daresy,G.,“Litaniesd’Amon ‘du Temple de Louxor", Rec. Trav. 32 (i910), p, 62-6 34. Ancient Egypt. A Cultural Topography, 196 p 1 The reason for the lack of references to Punt expeditions may be, as Kees has suggested, that from Hatshepsut’s reign on they were so fre- quent that they did not deserve attention in a time when military exploits were particularly important. Itis also possible tosuggest that, with the domain achieved by Tuthmosis III in Nubia to the Fourth Cataract, commerce with southern regions may have been carried out mostly by land route, through intermediaries, travels by the traditional Red Sea route being less frequent and not often mentioned.