Growth of the Htp-D'i-Nsw Formula in the Middle Kingdom

Author(s): C. J. C. Bennett
Source: The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology , Dec., 1941, Vol. 27 (Dec., 1941), pp. 77-82
Published by: Sage Publications, Ltd.

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/3854561

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 (77)

GROWTH OF THE HTP-D'I-SW FORMULA IN THE

MIDDLE KINGDOM

By C. J. C. BENNETT

WHILE working on the funerary stelae of the Middle Kingdom it occu

an analysis of the htp-di-nsw formula might help to date these monu
collected as many dated examples of the formula as possible, I21
grouped them in periods. Having divided each formula into its co
e.g. Osiris, Nb Ddw, etc., I worked out the frequency of occurrenc
various periods throughout the Middle Kingdom. The results were
percentage tables which appear below.
The first fact emerging was that the htp-di-nswformula changed cont
out the Middle Kingdom.
The second fact was that it was possible to distinguish between formul
and Twelfth Dynasties; and further, between those of the early and late
Of the formulae used, 14 are dated to the Eleventh Dynasty; 35
Sesostris I; 21I to that of Ammenemes II; IO to Sesostris III; 26 to
7 to Ammenemes IV; and 5 to the Thirteenth Dynasty. Only one
to the sole reign of Ammenemes I; and two to that of Sesostris II.
have therefore been omitted from the tables of analysis.
In these tables, where two numbers occur in the same square, the le
number of formulae bearing the section of the formula in question, t
percentage.
The period marked 'Later' represents the reign of Ammenemes I
teenth Dynasty. The Thirteenth Dynasty is the latest limit for M
ktp-di-nsw formulae because in the next dynasty the formula appears
Kingdom form, i.e. di-htp-nsw, see JEA xxv, 34.
A bracket round a number indicates that the number is insufficient basis for a
percentage.
References and a list of formulae, classified according to period, will be found at
the end of the article.

I. CHANGE IN THE GRAMMATICAL STRUCTURE OF THE FORMULA

The grammatical structure of the formula changes in one respect during the Middle
Kingdom. In the Eleventh Dynasty prt-hrw 'an invocation' is used; while in the
Twelfth Dynasty disf prt-hrw 'that he may give an invocation' is preferred. Thus the
formula must have been re-interpreted in the Twelfth Dynasty.

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 78 C. J. C. BENNETT
In the table of analysis below the later for

Period prt-hrw dif prt-hrw Total

XIth Dynasty. . . i4 I00 0o 14
Sesostris I . . . I 42 15 58 26
Ammenemes II . . 4 20 6 80 20
Sesostris III . . . 14 6 86 7
Ammenemes III . . 5 19 95 20
Later . . .o o 8 ioo 8

2. CHANGE IN THE W
Throughout the Middle
words in the formula. Th
Dynasty, the name of O
minative is usually dropp
Dynasty and early Twelf
before the reign of Sesos
With Without
Period determinative determinative Total

XIth Dynasty . . . 90 I IO I0
Sesostris I . . . 13 48 14 52 27
Ammenemes II . . 7 44 9 56 I6
Sesostris III . . . 13 7 88 8
Ammenemes III . . o o i8 Ioo i8
Later . . . . i I 8 89 9

3. THE TITLE Hnty Imn

As in the name of Osiris, the de
Middle Kingdom and drops out
noted in the first column of the
and third columns.

The title as With Without

Period a whole determinative determinative Total

XIth Dynasty. . 9 90 5 55 4 45 Io
Sesostris I . . . 4 59 II 79 3 2I 27
Ammenemes II . . 5 28 3 (6o) 2 (40) I8
Sesostris III . . 5 63 (o) 5 (oo) 8
Ammenemes III . . 7 33 o o 7 I00 I8
Later . . . . 6 0 (O) I (I00) 6

4. THE TITLE Nb Ddw

This title occurs in all the Eleve
decline throughout the Twelfth
of Sesostris III. 1 }¢ and '}o ar
Dynasty and in the reign of

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GROWTH OF HTP-DI-NSW FORMULA IN THE MIDDLE KINGDOM 79
frequently under Ammenemes III, when four formulae out of six have it. Its earliest
appearance is in the reign of Sesostris I.
Period Nb Ddw Total

XIth Dynasty . . . I00 IO

Sesostris I . . . 22 81 27
Ammenemes II . . 13 81 16
Sesostris III . . . 2 25 8
Ammenemes III . . 6 33 18
Later . .o o 6

5. 'THE GREA
The words ] 'the Gr
Dynasty.
Period 'Great God' Total

XIth Dynasty . . . I O 10
Sesostris I . . . 22 8 27
Ammenemes II . . o1 63 i6
Sesostris III . . . I 13 8
Ammenemes III . . 12 66 18
Later . . . . 2 33 6

6. DESIGNATION OF THE DECEASED

In the Eleventh Dynasty and usually in the reign of Sesostris I the deceased is
designated . , Q , etc. 'honoured one'. By the time of Ammenemes II U -is
placed in front making U -. 'the spirit of the honoured one'. Finally, in the
reign of Sesostris III, the older designation drops out leaving U - 'the spirit of'. Thus
the fact that 'honoured one', originally an earthly title, changed to 'the spirit of' indi-
cates a radical change in religious belief at this time. The dead man was no longer
conceived as an 'honoured' man, but as a spirit.
Period im;hw i k; n imrhw k; n Total

XIth Dynasty. . . 12 ioo 0 0 o o 12

Sesostris I . . . I6 53 o1 33 4 13 30
Ammenemes II . . 2 II I2 66 4 22 18
Sesostris III . . o o 2 29 5 71 7
Ammenemes III . . o o 7 28 I8 72 25
Later . . o o o o Io 100 1O

7. THE OFFERING-LIST
The usual offerings mention
beer, oxen, fowl, alabaster,
often added.
Period Incense and oil Total

XIth Dynasty. . . o o 13
Sesostris I . . . 7 25 28
Ammenemes II . . 3 I6 I9
Sesostris III . . . 6 86 7
Ammenemes III . . 9 64 14
Later .. . 225 8

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 80 C. J. C. BENNETT
8. THE PHRASE 'ON WHICH THE GOD LIVES'

The phrase I9cl 'on which the god lives', which occurs in the formula after the
list of offerings, appears first under Sesostris I. Later it is often combined with didit
pt kmrt t iZnnt Hjrpy 'which the sky gives, the earth fashions, and the Nile brings'.

'On which the

Period god lives' Total

XIth Dynasty . . 0 o 13
Sesostris I . . . 2 40 30
Ammenemes II . . 6 29 21
Sesostris III . . . 2 25 8
Ammenemes III . 9 43 21
Later . . . . 2 9 7

9. DIVINE NAMES
Of the gods invoked in the ht
in the Eleventh Dynasty. But i
popular, often becoming Ptah-
and later. Anubis loses favour
appears most often in the reig
and Khniim and Heket, the t
names occur early in, but not
by the time of Sesostris III.

IO. THE PHRASE 'IN AL

The phrase _jJJ 'in all hi

and pure places', which appe
Eleventh Dynasty. It occurs i
the Twelfth Dynasty it falls o
reign of Sesostris I.

I I. THE COMBINED TITLES OF OSIRIS

The combined titles of Osiris are of interest chiefly because they change in each
period. Thus in the Eleventh Dynasty they are usually 'c ', [, ~ ] B, and
7j. <. In the reign of Sesostris I the title 9j is added. Under Sesostris III all
the titles are usually dropped, except Hnty Imntyw. From the end of the reign of
Ammenemes III Osiris, sometimes called Ptah-Soker-Osiris, often bears the title
=Z7 © .
Thus the formula in the Middle Kingdom is seen to be a gr
merely a collection of ancient meaningless phrases, an idea he
In the accompanying table, for the sake of brevity, the titles a
letters: d, nb Ddw; k, hnty 'mntyw; n, ntr r,; a, nb Tbdw; t, nb

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 GROWTH OF HTP-D'I-NSW FORMULA IN THE MIDDLE KINGDOM 81

Period dka dkna dna k kna t Total

XIth Dynasty 9 90 - I 10 IO

Sesostris I II 42 8 3I I 4 I 4 26
Ammenemes II * 7 2 13 6 40 2 13 I 7 I5
Sesostris III - I II
5 63 8
Ammenemes III I 6 5 29 4 24 I 6 I7
Later .

-- I I I3
-- 4 50 8

SUMMARY

In order to differentiate cl
Twelfth Dynasty, and between
of the analysis tables are here
The period marked 'Early XIIt
emes II; the period 'Later X
Dynasty.
CHARACTERISTIC ELEVENTH-DYNASTY FORMS

XIth Dynasty Early XIIth Dynasty Later XI

I. prt-hrw 14 Io0 46 33 35 6
2. Osiris with determ linative . . I0 90 4 47 35 6
3. tInty Imntyw 9 9o 45 47 32 38
4. Nb Ddw . IO I0o0 43 8i 32 25
6. Tmbhw 12 I00 48 38 42 0
Os
Io. 'In all his places' i . . o 80 43 2 35 0

II. dka Io 90 43 2 33 0

CHARACTERISTIC EARLY TWELFTH-DYNASTY FORMS

XIth Dynasty Early XIIth Dynasty Later XIIth Dynasty

3. Hnty Imntyw determinative
with 9 55 9 74 23 o

5. 'Great God' 1O IO 43 78 32 47
6. Ki n im;hw 1. 2 0 4846 42 21

II. dkna o o 4I 32 33 3
xI. dna .10 I 4I 34 33 i8

CHARACTERISTIC LATER TWELFTH-DYNASTY FORMS

XIth Dynasty Early XIIth Dynasty 1 Later XIIth Dynasty

i. dif prt'hrw 14 o 46 67 35 94
:rminative . 10I 41 56
2. Osiris without dete 35 94
out deter- 9 45 19 26
3. Hnty Imntyw with 23 IO0
minative
6. K n 12 0 48 17 42 79
7. Incense and oil 13 0 47 21 29 59
8. 'On which thelives'
god 13 0 5I 35 36 36
. k . 10 0 41 7 33 15
o
i. kna 10 0 4I 5 33 15
I. t . I0 0 41 o 33 15

References

Cairo Museum: I. 20518. 2. 20516. 3. 205I5. 4. 20542. 5. 20539. 6. 20I3

7.20239. 8.20025. 9.20656. I0.20733. 11.20536. 12.20140. 13.20773. 14.202
15. 20691. I6. 20310. I7. 20683. British Museum: i8. 6I4. 19. 1203. 20.
M

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82 C. J. C. BENNETT

21. 828. 22. 567. 23. 583. 24. 829. 25. 569. 26. 570. 27. 257. 28. 573. 29. 55
30. 202. 31. 249. 32- 831 33- I290. 34- 557- 35- 827. 36. IOI. 37- II64. Louv
Museum: 38. C. 39. C3. 40. C 2. 41. C66. 42. C4. 43. C I67. 44 C I70.
45. C 5. 46. C 8. 47. C 7. 48. C 12. 49. C 14. 50. C 7. Berlin Museum: 51. 1192.
52. 1199. 53. 1198. LeydenMuseum: 54. V2. 55. V3. 56. V4. 57 V 6. 58. V7.
59. Munich Museum, No. 27. 60. Garstang, El Arabah, pls. iv, v. 61. 62. 63. Spiegel-
berg & Portner, Aegyptische Grabsteine und Denksteine, I, 18. 64. 65. Petrie, Qurneh,
pi. 2. 66. Alnwick Castle Museum, 264. 67. New York, Guide to the Collections (1934),
Io. 68. JEA xIV, 237. 69. Newberry, BeniHasan, I, pl. 12. 70. Op. cit., pi. 19. 71.
Op. cit., pi. 15. 72. 73- Op. cit., pi. 7. 74. . cit., pi. 20. 75. Op. cit., pi. 15. 76.
Op. cit., pi. 37. 77. Op. cit). Pi. 24. 78. 79. Op. cit., pi. 33. 80. 81. Op. cit., P1. 24.
82. Bull. MMA, 1920-1, 5I. 83. 84. 85. Op. cit., 46. 86. 87. Deir el-Bahari,
XI Dyn., III, p. 2. 88. Op. cit., p. 3. 89. Cairo Mus. Catalogue (I931), No. 623.
go. Blackman, Meir, I, pi. 9. 91. 92. Op. cit., II, pi. 12. 93. 94. Op. cit., III, pl. 19.
95. Op. cit., p1. 9. 96. Op. cit., pi. 27. 97. 98. Griffith & Newberry, El Bersheh, i,
pl. 7. 99. Ioo. IoI. Petrie, Season in Egypt, pl. 4. Io2. Op. cit., p1. Io. 1I3. 104. 105.
Op. cit., pl. 7. io6. Petrie, History of Egypt, I, I97. 107. io8. 109. Gardiner & Peet,
Inscr. of Sinai, pi. 32. IIo. Op. cit., pi. 41. II. Op. cit., p. II. 112. Op. cit., p. 36.
II3. Op. cit., pi. 45. 114. Op. cit., pl. 48. 115. Davies, Tomb of Antefoker, pi. 30.
II6. Griffith, Siut and D& Rifeh, pi. i. 17. Brit. Mus. 1348. II8. Vienna, 65. II9.
Geneva, d 50. i20. De Morgan, Fouilles a Dahchour, 94. 121. JEA xIv, 237.

Classification of Formulae according to Period

Eleventh Dynasty: Nos. 18, 19, 37, 49, 64 665 82-9.
Ammenemes I: No. 90.
Sesostris I: Nos. 1-5,20, 38-41, 43, 44, 51, 52, 54, 56, 57, 59, 67, 69-75, 90, 91,
97, 9 98, 99, I2, I15, 6.
Ammenemes II: Nos. 6, 7, 8, 2I-6, 42, 55, 76-8I, 93-6.
Sesostris II: Nos. 27, 28.
Sesostris III: Nos. 9, o1, 29-32, 6o, 68, 119, 121.
Ammenemes III: Nos. 11-17, 33-6, 45, 53, 58, I001O, 103-12.
Ammenemes IV: Nos. 47, 50 6I, 62, 63, 113, II4.
Thirteenth Dynasty: Nos. 46, 48, II7, 118, 120.

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