Egypt Exploration Society

Review
Author(s): T. G. H. James
Review by: T. G. H. James
Source: The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, Vol. 45 (Dec., 1959), pp. 115-116
Published by: Egypt Exploration Society
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3855484
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 REVIEWS II5
With this problem, as with many others, one can only collect examples and point to distinctions of form;
distinctionsof meaningare harderto elucidateand one wonderswhetherthe evidence will ever be available
to effect satisfactoryexplanations.
Other discussionsof especial interestand value in the generaltreatmentof the verb arethe examinationof
differencesbetween perfective and imperfectiveparticiples(§§634 ff.), the treatmentof the Relative Forms
(ChapterXX), and the study of the infinitiveused substantivallyas a complement(ChapterXXIII).
This volume ends with very full indexes and a series of tables with paradigmsof nouns and verbs. The
verbal paradigmswhich include tables of forms for all verbal classes and those of other selected verbs of
specialinterest-, i di, §wi,and rdi-provide a useful prospectusof the verb in Old Egyptianandshould
of
prove great value to students.
Two points should be mentionedin connexionwith the system of transliterationused by Edel. In the first
place, by using th in
the evidence of the fullest writingsto be found, especiallyin the PyramidTexts, he produces
transliterationswhich seem perhaps unnecessarilyoverloadedwith unwritten i's and w's. The common
practiceof indicatingby means of bracketsletters unwrittenbut understoodis here not followed. Secondly,
no indicationis given by means of stops or hyphens of additionsto verbal and nominalstems; 'my nose' is
fndi, 'they have heard' is sdmnsn.Surprisinglythe transliterationsgiven in the paradigmtables are pointed
in the more usual manner.
The volume has been splendidlyproducedwith large type and the use of a hieroglyphicfount. It is laid
out clearlyand is refreshinglyfree fromexcessivetheorization.Explanationsarekept short and are admirably
lucid. The author has made the task of consultationas easy as possible by providing an excellent table of
contents and full indexes.
A few misprints and omissions have been noted: p. 12I, 1. 4 at end, add nb afterjiwwt; p. 289, read
for 'I; in a large number of places the tiw-birdhas been used in place of the very similari-bird, e.g. § 315,
1. I; § 326, 1. 4; § 445, 1. 4; p. 211 seven times; p. 221, 1. 2; § 505, 1. 9 twice; § 579, 1. 4-
T. G. H. JAMES

A Corpusof inscribedEgyptianFuneraryCones.By the late N. DE GARISDAVIES,edited by M. F. LAMING

MACADAM. Oxford, printed for the Griffith Institute at the University Press, 1957. Pp. x, pls. 45 (un-
numbered),indexes (io unnumberedpages).
This long-awaitedvolume is a notable addition to the meagreliteratureconcernedwith those objects in
terracottaknown as FuneraryCones. It consists principallyof drawingsof 6i I impressionsfound mostly on
cones. The drawingsare largelyfacsimilesmade by the late Norman de Garis Davies duringthe many years
he spent in the Theban Necropolis.His aimwasto establishin as manycasesas possiblea finaltext, assembled
often from numerousimperfectexamples.He himself collecteda largenumberof cones which he eventually
presentedto the British Museum and the AshmoleanMuseum (a fact not mentionedin this publication).He
also had excellent opportunitiesboth in the field and in travellingfor examining specimens as they were
found in the Theban Necropolis and examples in old collections in Museums. The fruits of his assiduous
searchingsare here presentedand they form a most impressivebody of evidence, far surpassingany earlier
collection both in number and fidelity. The facsimiles are reproducedin the sizes of the originals and are
splendid examples of Davies' skill as a careful draughtsman.
The drawings have been assembled for publicationby Dr. Macadam,and to Davies' collection he has
added a numberof his own finding togetherwith hand-copiesof examplesfound in earlierpublicationsbut
of which Davies had made no facsimiles. Macadamhas also written a Preface to the plates in which he
explainsthe arrangementof the cones on the plates. The volume is completedby indexes of namesand titles.
These latterare not, it seems,partof the volume as originallyplanned,becauseMacadamstatesin his preface
that indexes would form part of a future volume which would also include lists of correspondenceswith
previous publicationsand a list of correspondenceswith tomb numbers.He also looks forwardto a further
volume in which the cones and their texts will be studied linguistically,historically,architecturallyand in
otherways.
B 7870

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II6 REVIEWS
With so much to expect in futurepublicationsit is difficultto criticizethe presentvolume for its omissions.
It must be said, however, that as it stands, the book is not easy to use and is a disappointment.It is sur-
prising that the editor could have considered publishing the plates without indexes and one can only be
thankfulthat indexes have in fact been supplied. They have not, unfortunately,been compiled strictly in
accordancewith the principlesof arrangementadoptedby Macadamand describedin his Preface.The texts
are groupedaccordingto whetherlines are verticalor horizontaland then by the numberof lines on an im-
'
pression;within each group the texts are arrangedalphabetically.Thus Macadamreads U or as imy-r
and texts containingtitles embodyingthis word are arrangedaccordingly.The compilerof the indexes has
however, read it as mr. Similarly,words which Macadamin his Preface reads ipwty, ihwty, and ikdw are
indexed wpwty, rhwty,and (i)kdw. In cone 455 one difficulttitle has been read ibity n 'Imn'bee-keeperof
Amin' (Preface,p. viii); this title is made of 'uncertainreading'in the index.
A volume which claims to be a Corpusshould have as one of its aims completenessin the publicationof
the relevantmaterial.There seems to be no indicationin this volume that a real attempt has been made to

CLL D_ , ,

FIG. I

exhaustthe possible sourceswhere cones might be found. As no informationis given of where specimensof
each cone exist (an omissionwhich should be rectifiedin one of the futurepublicationspromised)the reader
is unable to judge which collections have been examined. The British Museum collection, which is large,
could itself have providedmuch supplementarymaterial.In many casesit possessesexampleswhich provide
better impressionsfrom which doubtful signs in Davies' copies could have been confirmedor corrected.
Thus B.M. 9728 gives a superiortext for Macadam60; B.M. 35472is an almostperfectexampleof Macadam
377; B.M. 35688 has a more completetext than that of Macadam358. B.M. 65189 and 65190 have texts not
given in Macadam.A drawing(not facsimile)of the text on 65 89 is given in fig. I. 65190 bearsa rectangular
e
impressionof which very little can be made out except the name of the owner q q"t. Both these cones
were presented to the British Museum by Sir Robert Mond and came originallyfrom his excavationsin
the Theban Necropolis.They do not appearto have been publishedin anyof the reportsof those excavations.
Referenceto the reportby Mond and Emeryin LiverpoolAnnals,Vol. 14, revealedanothercone-impression
not included in the present Corpus-that of a si ihw whose name is lost (p. 23, fig. 15).
It is to be hoped that Dr. Macadamwill soon publish the next part of his study with the remaining
indexes and correspondences.An index of Egyptianwords apartfrom that of titles would be of much use for
the identificationof cones with damagedtexts. Anotheruseful list would be one giving, whereverpossible,
the find-spots in the Theban Necropolis togetherwith a map showing the position of tombs. In most cases
the find-spot is unknown, but there must be many examplesfor which some evidence of discoveryis avail-
able. Until these additionalindexes and correspondencesare publishedthe usefulnessof the presentvolume
will be much limited. T. G. H. JAMES

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