CHAPTER V.ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE MANUSCRIPTS BROUGHT FROM EGYPT BY MR. GREY.
I am impatient to turn, from every thing of a polemical or personal nature, to a field that has hitherto been exclusively in my own possession, in consequence of an event, which is the most important, considered as a single occurrence, that has taken place since the commencement of my Egyptian researches. It was very soon after my return from France, that George Francis Grey, Esq. of University College, Oxford, having been at Naples upon his return from Egypt, was so good as to bring me a few lines from my old friend Sir William Gell, himself a very successful traveller, and who has always pursued with ardour the last vestiges of the interesting remains of antiquity, both by his personal exertions, and by assisting and directing the enterprises of others.
Mr. Grey had the kindness, on the 22d of November last, to leave with me a box, containing several fine specimens of writing and drawing on papyrus; they were chiefly in hieroglyphics, and of a mythological nature: but the twowhich he had before described to me, as particularly deserving attention, and which were brought, through his judicious precautions, in excellent preservation, both contained some Greek characters, written apparently in a pretty legible hand. He had purchased them of an Arab at Thebes, in January 1820; and that which was most intelligible had appeared, at first sight, to contain some words relating to the service of the Christian church. Mr. Grey was so good as to give me leave to make any use of these manuscripts that I pleased; and he readily consented to their insertion among the lithographic copies of the “Hieroglyphics, collected by the Egyptian Society,” which I had undertaken to superintend from time to time, in great measure for the private use of an association of my own friends, not sufficiently numerous to insure any permanent stability to its continuance.
Mr. Champollion had done me the favour, while I was at Paris, to copy for me some parts of the very important papyrus, which I have before mentioned as having given him the name of Cleopatra; and of which the discovery was certainly a great event in Egyptian literature, since it was the first time that any intelligible characters, of the enchorial form, had been discovered among the many manuscripts and inscriptions that had been examined, and since it furnished Mr. Champollion at the same time with a name, which materially advanced,if I understood him rightly, the steps that have led him to his very important extension of the hieroglyphical alphabet. He had mentioned to me, in conversation, the names of Apollonius, “Antiochus,” and Antigonus, as occurring among the witnesses; and I easily recognised the groups which he had deciphered: although, instead ofAntiochus, I readAntimachus; and I did not recollect at the time that he had omitted theM.
In the evening of the day that Mr. Grey had brought me his manuscripts, I proceeded impatiently to examine that which was in Greek only: and I could scarcely believe that I was awake, and in my sober senses, when I observed, among the names of the witnesses,ANTIMACHUS ANTIGENIS: and, a few lines further back,PORTIS APOLLONII; although the last word could not have been very easily deciphered, without the assistance of the conjecture, which immediately occurred to me, that this manuscript might perhaps be a translation of the enchorial manuscript of Casati: I found that its beginning was, “A copy of an Egyptian writing ...;” and I proceeded to ascertain, that there were the same number of names, intervening between the Greek, and the Egyptian signatures, that I had identified, and that the same number followed the last of them; and the whole number of witnesses appeared to be sixteen in each. The last paragraph in the Greek began with the words, “Copy of the Registry;” for suchmust be the signification of the word ΠΤΩΜΑΤΟΣ, employed in this papyrus, though it does not appear to occur any where else in a similar signification. I could not, therefore, but conclude, that a most extraordinary chance had brought into my possession a document which was not very likely, in the first place, ever to have existed, still less to have been preserved uninjured, for my information, through a period of near two thousand years: but that this very extraordinary translation should have been brought safely to Europe, to England, and to me, at the very moment when it was most of all desirable to me to possess it, as the illustration of an original which I was then studying, but without any other reasonable hope of being able fully to comprehend it; this combination would, in other times, have been considered as affording ample evidence of my having become an Egyptian sorcerer.
Mr. Champollion had not thought it worth while to give me a transcript of the original Greek endorsement: he seemed to consider it as not fully agreeing with the Egyptian text, or, at any rate, as not materially assisting in its interpretation: perhaps, also, he thought it best for me to try my strength upon the original, without any little assistance that might have been derived from it with respect to two or three of the names: or, as I am more disposed to believe, he was fearful of offending some of his countrymen, by making toopublic what he had no right to communicate without their leave: for after an accidental delay of a month, the answer that I received from Paris was only such as to enable me to state, that my opinion of the identity of the two endorsements is fully confirmed. I have lost, however, no time in sending to the Conservators of the King’s cabinet a copy of my registry; with a request to be favoured with theirs in return, in order that I might have the same advantage from the comparison, which I voluntarily afforded the Parisian critics, without any reserve or delay; and in order that the duplicates may stand side by side in the lithographical copy, which has only waited for their answer, to have a vacant space filled up, and to be sent to them entire. In the mean time, I have only to wish, that the philologists of Paris may do as ample justice to these papyri, as one of the most distinguished of their number, Mr. Letronne, has lately done to the inscriptions of the Oasis, of which I had made a very hasty translation from a single copy only, not having had the means of comparing it properly with the second.
My application for the copy of the Registry has been received with the liberality which was to be expected from the directors of a great institution, and I have to return my best thanks to Mr. Raoul Rochette, for a correct copy of the whole of this highly important manuscript, which I am happy to find that it is his intention to publish in a short time.I am most anxious to avoid anticipating him, in the gratification of the public curiosity, with regard to this interesting relic: but as I find that some account of the Registry has already been made public by Mr. St. Martin, I conceive myself at liberty to make use, at least, of this part of the manuscript: and I do not imagine that Mr. Raoul Rochette means to employ himself on the enchorial conveyance.
The contents of Mr. Grey’s Greek manuscript are of a nature scarcely less remarkable than its preservation and discovery: it relates to the sale, not of a house or a field, but of a portion of the Collections and Offerings made from time to time on account, or for the benefit, of a certain number ofMummies, of persons described at length, in very bad Greek, with their children and all their households. The price is not very clearly expressed; but as the portion sold is only a moiety of a third part of the whole, and as the testimony of sixteen witnesses was thought necessary on the occasion, it is probable that the revenue, thus obtained by the priests, was by no means inconsiderable.
The result, derived at once from this comparison, is the identification of more than thirty proper names as they were written in the running hand of the country. It might appear, upon a superficial consideration, that a mere catalogue of proper names would be of little comparative valuein assisting us to recover the lost elements of a language. But, in fact, they possess a considerable advantage, in the early stages of such an investigation, from the greater facility and certainty with which they are identified, and from their independence of any grammatical inflexions, at least in the present case; by means of which they lead us immediately to a full understanding of the orthographical system of the language, where any such system can be traced.
The general inference, to be derived from an examination of the names now discovered, is somewhat more in favour of an extensive employment of an alphabetical mode of writing, than any that could have been deduced from the pillar of Rosetta, which exhibits, indeed, only foreign names, and affords us therefore little or no information respecting the mode of writing the original Egyptian names of the inhabitants. Several of the words, which occur in these documents, and more especially in those which are hereafter to be mentioned, might be read pretty correctly, by means of the alphabet originally made out by Mr. Akerblad from the foreign names of the enchorial inscription; but there are many more which appear to be rather syllabically than alphabetically constituted: and the names of the different deities seem to be very commonly employed in writing them; for instance, those of Horus, Ammon, and Isis; and perhaps in the same way that they areoften composed, in the mythological manuscripts, found with the mummies: in which, for want of the occurrence of a ring or border, or of the corresponding enchorial marks, I had concluded that the groups could not be intended to represent the ordinary names of the individuals. But these marks are, in fact, by no means constantly employed in the enchorial papyri; and they seem only to have been inserted when either great precision, or some distinguished mark of respect was required.
Important, however, as are the additions that are likely to be made to our knowledge by means of this “Antigraph”, it is by no means the only valuable acquisition for which we are indebted to the enterprise and the diligence of Mr. Grey: a second papyrus, of considerably greater magnitude, contains three Egyptian conveyances in the enchorial character, with separate registries on the margin, in very legible Greek. These are not only of use for the illustration of other similar documents, but they afford us also many additional examples of enchorial proper names, besides a general idea of the subjects of the respective manuscripts, all of which relate to the sale of lands in the neighbourhood of Thebes. It will be most convenient to consider them as parts of a series, of which those are the first to be examined, that are the most capable of affording an independent testimony; beginning with the Greek papyrus inthe possession of Mr. Anastasy, the Swedish consul at Alexandria, and proceeding to the Antigraph and its original, and thence to the three enchorial manuscripts, which are also the property of Mr. Grey. It is scarcely conceivable, by a person who has not made the experiment; how much the difficulty of reading a depraved character is almost universally diminished by the comparison of two or three copies of the same or of similar passages; the words, which would be wholly unintelligible in either taken singly, being often very easily legible when both are at once under the eye; and, still more commonly, a word which is confused or contracted in one, being written clearly or at length in another.
It is in this manner, that several of the deficiencies of the manuscript of Anastasy, as edited by the learned and ingenious Professor Böckh of Berlin, have been in some measure supplied, in the late republication at Paris, by the care of Mr. Jomard, from a comparison with the Greek manuscripts purchased of Mr. Casati, in order to be added to the unrivalled treasures of literature contained in the King’s library and cabinet. Several more of the obscurities of this manuscript, if not the whole, I flatter myself are now removed, by the further comparison, which I have attempted to make, by means of Mr. Grey’s indulgence in allowing me the use of his manuscripts; and by means of the duplicate which I have receivedfrom Paris in exchange for the registry of his Antigraph.
The manuscript of Anastasy, besides its curiosity as a subject of antiquarian and historical research, becomes of great importance, in this inquiry, as affording a more complete specimen, than the Antigraph, of the usual form of a contract in Egypt under the Ptolemies; and as assisting in the investigation of the sense of the preamble of the enchorial manuscript, which is omitted in the Antigraph. I shall therefore insert here a translation of this document, and shall reprint the original in an appendix, with such corrections as I have thought it appeared to require; in order to restore it to the form intended by the writer. The registries, in their original language, I shall print side by side, and in the order of time which I attribute to them.
See AppendixI.
(1) In the reign of Cleopatra and Ptolemy her son surnamed Alexander, the Gods Philometores Soteres, in the year XII, otherwise IX; in the priesthood of the existing priests (2) in Alexandria, [the priest] of Alexander and of the Gods Soteres, and of the Gods Adelphi, and of the Gods Evergetae, and of the Gods Philopatores, and of the Gods Epiphanes, and of the God (3) Philometor, and of the God Eupator, and of the Gods Evergetae: the Prize bearer of Berenice Evergetis, the Basket bearer of Arsinoe Philadelphus and the priestess of Arsinoe (4) Eupator at present in Alexandria: and, in the Thebaic Ptolemais, in the priesthood of the existing priests and priestesses of Ptolemy Soter, [and of ...] (5) in Ptolemais; on the 29th of the month Tybi [v; February]: Apollonius being President of the Exchange of the Memnonians, and of the lower government of the Pathyritic nome.
(6) There was sold by Pamonthes, aged about 45, of middle size, dark complexion, and handsome figure, bald, round faced, and straight nosed; and by Snachomneus, aged about 20, of middle size, sallow complexion, (7) likewise round facedand straight nosed; and by Semmuthis Persineï, aged about 22, of middle size, sallow complexion, round faced, flat nosed, and of quiet demeanour; and by Tathlyt (8) Persineï, aged about 30, of middle size, sallow complexion, round face, and straight nose, with their principal Pamonthes, a party in the sale; the four (9) being of the children of Petepsais of the leather cutters of the Memnonia; out of the piece of level ground which belongs to them in the southern part of the Memnonia, (10) eight thousand cubits of open field, one fourth [of the whole?] bounded on the south by the Royal Street; on the north and east by the land of Pamonthes and Boconsiemis, who is his brother, (11) and the common land [or wall] of the city; on the west by the house of Tages the son of Chalome: a canal running through, the middle, leading from the river: these are the neighbours on all sides. It was bought by Nechutes the less, (12) the son of Asos, aged about 40, of middle size, sallow complexion, cheerful countenance, long face, and straight nose, with a scar upon the middle of his forehead; for 601 pieces of brass: the sellers standing as (13) brokers, and as securities for the validity of the sale. It was accepted by Nechutes the purchaser.
ApolloniusPr. Exch?
[Registry.]
In the year XII, otherwise IX; the 20th of Pharmuthi [VIII; May], [transacted] at the table in Hermopolis, at which Dionysius presides, over the 20th department; in the account of the partners receiving the duties on sales, of which Heraclides is the subscribing clerk, the acceptorin the sale is Nechutes the less, the son of Asos; an open field of eight thousand cubits, one fourth portion; in the southern part of the Memnonia: which he bought of Pamonthes and Snachomneus, the sons of Petepsais, with their sisters: 601 pieces? The end....
Dionysius subscribes.
The beginning of this preamble may be illustrated by that of the inscription ofRosetta, which runs nearly thus:
In the reign of the young king ... Ptolemy Epiphanes the munificent ... the son of Ptolemy and Arsinoe, the gods Philopatores ... in the year IX; the priest of Alexander and of the gods Soteres, and of the gods Adelphi, and of the gods Evergetae, and of the gods Philopatores, and of the god Epiphanes the munificent being Aëtus, the son of Aëtus: the prize bearer of Berenice Evergetis being Pyrrha the daughter of Philinus: the basket bearer of Arsinoe Philadelphus being Areia daughter of Diogenes; and the priestess of Arsinoe Philopator,Irene the daughter of Ptolemy: on the 4th day of Xanthicus, or the 18th of Mechir: it was decreed....
In comparing the preamble of the deed of sale with this monument, we have first to observe the successive addition of the names of Philometor, Eupator, and the Evergetae, to the titles of the priests of Alexander and his successors. Eupator, it seems, according to other authorities, cited by Böckh, was Ptolemy Evergetes II, the successor of Philometor, called also Cacergetes and Physcon; and the Evergetae, named after him, can only have been the reigning sovereigns, before called Philometores Soteres: and Cleopatra, at least, had some right to the name Evergetis, as having derived it from her husband, so that she may easily be supposed to have shared it occasionally with her son. The remaining part of the preamble varies but little, except that Arsinoe, instead of Philopator, is called Eupator: but this diversity is not more material than the substitution of Adelphi for Philadelphi, which frequently occurs. The double date is well known to have been adopted by Cleopatra and Alexander, and its origin is sufficiently explained by Eusebius and Porphyry. Professor Böckh makes the year, 104 B. C.; but from a comparison of different authorities it seems rather more probable that it was 106 B. C., at least so I have been obliged to arrange it in a table, formed from a comparison of the chronologiesof Porphyry, Champollion Figeac, and St. Martin, which I have inserted in an Appendix.
(1)Copy of an Egyptian Writing respecting the Dead Bodies in Thyn. having been(2)ratif....
(3) In the XXXVIth year; Athyr [III] 20, after the usual preamble, this writing witnesses: that the ¿Dresser? (4) among the servants of the great goddess [Isis?] Onnophris the son of Horus and of Senpoeris, [aged about] forty, lively, tall, of a sallow complexion, hollow eyed, (5) and bald, has ceded voluntarily for the price of ... to Horus the son of Horus and of Senpoeris, (6) one moiety of the third part of the Collection for the dead (7) lying in Thynabunun, on the Libyan side of the Theban suburb, (8) in the Memnonia: likewise one moiety of the third part of the Services or Liturgies (9) and so forth: their names being | Muthes the son of Spotus, with (10) his children (10) and all his household; Chapocrates the son of Nechthmonthes, with his children and all; Arsiesis the son of Nechthmonthes; likewise Petemestus the son of (11) Nechthmonthes; likewise Arsiesis the son of Zminis; likewise (12) Osoroeris the son of [Horus]; likewise Spotus theson of Chapochonsis; likewise (13) Zoglyphus: from which there belongs to Asos the son of Horus and of Senpoeris (14) “thy” younger brother, one of [or, the younger brother of] the same ¿Dressers? a moiety of the (15) aforesaid third part of the services and fruits and (16) so forth. He has sold it to him in the year XXXVI; 20 Athyr, in the reign of the everlasting (17) king, for the completion of the third part. Also a moiety of the fruits (18) ¿and so forth? of the ¿other? dead bodies in Thy. that is to say, Pateutemis with his children and (19) all; and a moiety of the fruits belonging to me from the property of (20) Petechonsis the milk bearer, and from a place on the Asiatic side, called (21) Phrecages, with the dead bodies in it; of which a moiety belongs to the (22) same Asos: all these things I have sold to him. They are thine, (23) and I have received their price from thee, and I make no demand upon thee (24) for them from this day: and if any person disturb thee (25) in the possession of them, I will withstand the attempt, and if I do not [otherwise] repel it (26) I will use compulsory means. Written by Horus the son of Phabis, the writer of the (27) [priests] of Amonrasonther, and the other gods of the temple. (28) Witnesses: Erieus the son of Phanres. Peteartres the son of Pateutemis. (29) Petearpocrates the son of [Horus]. Snachomneus the son of Peteuris. Snachomes (30) the son of Psenchonsis. Totoes the son of Phibis. Portis the son ofApollonius. Zminis (31) the son of Petemestus. Peteutemis the son of Arsiesis. Amonorytius (32) the son of Pacemis. Horus the son of Chimnaraus. Armenis the son of Zthenaetis (33). Maësis the son of Mirsis.Antimachusthe son ofAntigenes. Petophois the son of Phibis. (34) Panas the son of Petosiris. Witnesses 16.
Copy of the Registry. In the year XXXVI; the ninth of Choeak [IV]. Transacted at the table in Diospolis, at which Lysimachus is the President of the 20th department; in the account of Asclepiades and Zminis, farmers of the tax, in which the subscribing clerk is Ptolemaeus: the purchaser Horus the son of Horus the ¿Dresser? a part of the sum, collected by them, on account of the dead bodies lying in Thynabunun, in the Memnonian tombs of the Libyan suburb of Thebes, for the services which are performed. Bought of Onnophris the son of Horus, Pieces of brass 400 . Z . . The end.
Lysimach. subscribes.
(1) This writing, dated in the year XXXVI; Athyr 20, in the reign of our Sovereigns Ptolemy and Cleopatra his sister, the children of Ptolemy and Cleopatra, the divine, (2) the Gods Illustrious: and the Priest of Alexander, and of the Saviour Gods, of the Brother Gods, of the [Beneficent Gods], of the Father loving Gods, of the Illustrious Gods, of the Paternal God, and (3) of the Mother loving Gods being [as by law appointed]: and the Prize bearer of Berenice the Beneficent, and the Basket bearer of Arsinoe the Brother loving, and the Priestess of (4) Arsinoe the Father loving, being as appointed in the metropolis [of Alexandria]; and in [Ptolemaïs] the Royal City ¿of the Thebaid? the Guardian Priest ¿for the year? of Ptolemy Soter, and the Priest of King Ptolemy the Father loving, (5) and the Priest of Ptolemy the Brother loving, and the Priest of Ptolemy the Beneficent, and the Priest of Ptolemy the Mother loving; and the Priestess of Queen Cleopatra, and the Priestess (6) of the Princess Cleopatra, and the Priestess of Cleopatra the [Queen] Mother, deceased, the Illustrious; and the Basket bearer of Arsinoe the Brother loving, [being asappointed]: declares: The ¿Dresser? in the temple (7) of the Goddess, Onnophris the son of Horus, and of Senpoeris ¿daughter of Spotus? [“aged about forty, lively”], tall, [“of a sallow complexion, hollow eyed, and bald”]: in the temple of the goddess (8) to [Horus] ¿his brother? the son of Horus and of Senpoeris, has sold, for a price in money, half of one third of the Collections for the dead, “Priests of Osiris?” lying (9) in Thynabunun ... in the Libyan suburb of Thebes, in the Memnonia ... likewise half of one third of the Liturgies: their names being, Muthes the son of Spotus, with his children and his household; Chapocrates (10) the son of Nechthmonthes, with his children and his household; Arsiesis the son of Nechthmonthes, with his children and his household; Petemestus the son of Nechthmonthes, Arsiesis the son of Zminis, with his children and his household; Osoroeris (11) the son of Horus, with his children and his household; Spotus the son of Chapochonsis ¿surnamed? Zoglyphus [the Sculptor,] with his children and his household: while there belonged also to Asos the son of Horus and of Senpoeris ¿daughter of Spotus? (12) in the same manner one half of a third of the collections for the dead, and of the fruits and so forth ...: he sold it on the 20th of Athyr, in the reign of the king everliving, to [complete] the third part: likewise the half ¿of one third? of the collections relating to (13) Peteutemis, with hishousehold and ...: likewise the half ¿of one third? of the collections and fruits for Petechonsis the bearer of milk, and of the ... place on the Asian side called Phrecages (14), and ... and the dead bodies in it: there having belonged to Asos the son of Horus one half of the same: he has sold to him in the month of ... the half of one third of the collections (15) for the Priests ¿of Osiris? lying in Thynabunun, with their children and their households: likewise the half of one third of the collections for Peteutemis, and also for (16) Petechonsis the bearer of milk, in the place Phrecages on the Asian side: I have received for them their price in silver: ... and gold: ... and I make no further demand on thee for them from the present day, ... (17) ... before the authorities ... [and if any one shall disturb thee in the possession of them, I will resist him, and if I do not succeed, I will indemnify thee?] ... (18) Executed and confirmed: Written by Horus the son of Phabis, clerk to the chief priests of Amonrasonther and of the ¿contemplar? Gods, of the Beneficent Gods, of the Father loving Gods, of the Paternal God, and of the (19) Mother loving Gods. Amen. (20) Names of the witnesses present....
[Column at the edge of the paper.] (1) Names of the authorities. (2) Erieus the son of Phanres ¿Erieus? (3) Peteartres the son of Peteutemis. (4) Petearpocrates the son of Horus. (5) Snachomneusthe son of Peteuris. (6) Snachomes the son of Psenchonsis. (7) Totoes the son of Phibis. (8) Portis the son ofApollonius. (9) Zminis the son of Petemestus. (10) Peteutemis the son of Arsiesis. (11) Amonorytius the son of Pacemis. (12) Horus the son of Chimnaraus. (13) Armenia [rather Arbais,] the son of Zthenaetis. (14) Maesis the son of Mirsis. (15)Antimachusthe son ofAntigenes. (16) Petophois the son of Phibis. (17) Panas the son of Petosiris. (18) Were present [as witnesses.]
The additions to the Sovereigns, named in the preamble of the stone of Rosetta, are here the Paternal God and the Mother loving Gods, or Eupator and the Philometores, and we want only the Evergetae of the papyrus of Anastasy. We can, therefore, only refer the date to one of the two preceding reigns, of Philometor or Evergetes Eupator, which it is very difficult to distinguish from each other with precision. We have, however, no evidence that Philometor’s dates extended beyond 35, and we must naturally consider this 36 as belonging to Eupator, corresponding to 135 B. C. which was 11 years after the death of Philometor. If we judged from this manuscript alone, we should infer that Eupator was canonized, by some accident, during his temporary reign, before his brother, and that the order of the names remained undisturbed through the different changes of their governments. Theepithet “Illustrious” in this preamble is not easily recognised; but it is distinguished by the termination from “Beneficent,” for which I had in the first instance mistaken it: an epithet so placed is almost always referred to the person last mentioned. The enchorial name of the divinity here called Amonrasonther considerably resembles that of the “Cerexochus” of the Article Egypt. The epithet, which I have conjecturally translated “Dresser”, was at first supposed to mean Brazier, and was read Chalchytes: but the Parisian Registry has distinctly Cholchytes: which may possibly be a derivative ofDCHOLHorJOLH, to dress, to put on, and may have been applied to some of the Hierostolists, or Tire men, of the temple.
In the year XXVIII; the 28 Mesore [XII]. Transacted at the table in Hermopolis, at which Dio.[nysius] is President of the 20th department, in the Account of Asclepiades [contractor for the tax] on sales; of which Ptolemaeus is the subscribing clerk: the purchaser being Teephbis the son of Amenothes ¿for 300 pieces of brass? ¿of 7000? cubits, at the southern end of the whole open field, which is at the south of Diospolis the Great; of which theboundaries are given in the annexed agreement: which he bought of Alecis and Lubais and Tbaeais the sons of Erieus, and of Senerieus the daughter of Petenephotes, and Erieus the son of Amenothes, and Senosorphibis the daughter of Amenothes, and of Spois also ¿the son? of Erieus the son of Amenothes. In the XXVIIIth year, Pachon [IX] 20. ¿Pieces? ... End of the record.
Dionysius has subscribed.
Year XXVIII; Month.... In the reign of Ptolemy and Cleopatra his sister, the children of Ptolemy and Cleopatra, the Illustrious Gods: and the Priest of Alexander, of the Saviour Gods, of the ¿Maternal? [Brother] Gods, of the Beneficent Gods, of the Father loving Gods, of the Illustrious Gods, of the Mother loving Gods: and the Prize bearer of Berenice the Beneficent, and the Basket bearer of Arsinoe the Brother loving, and the Priest of Arsinoe the Father loving, being as appointed in the metropolis [of Alexandria; and in Ptolemais], the Royal City ¿of the Thebaid? the Guardian Priest ¿for the year? of Ptolemy Soter, and the Priest of Ptolemy the Mother loving, and the Priest of Ptolemy the Brother loving, and the Priest of Ptolemy the Beneficent, and the Priest of Ptolemy the Father loving, and the Priest of Ptolemy the Illustrious and Munificent, and thePriest of Queen Cleopatra, and the Priest of Cleopatra the Mother, the late Goddess Illustrious; and the Basket bearer of Arsinoe the Brother loving, being [all as by law appointed]: The brothers, Alecis the son of Erieus, Lubais the son of Erieus, and Tbaeais the son of Erieus, their mother being Senerieus the daughter of Petenephotes son of Lubais; Erieus the son of Amenothes, and Senosorphibis daughter of Amenothes, whose mother was Senamunis, and Spois the son of Erieus, the son of Amenothes, his mother being ¿Senchonsis? coming into the temple of ¿Thebes? agreed with Teephbis son of Amenothes, to sell for a sum of money ... α ... α ... α ... α ... of the city ... in the year and month and day [above mentioned] of the King everliving ... α ... ¿Alecis Phaïne? ... α ... (16) α ... Asos the son of Horus and of Senpoeris ... the Royal Street (HIR= ῥύμη) ... ¿vineyard? ... α ... α ... (19) ... (20) ... place ... (21) given up ... month ... time ... (22) ... (23) ... (24) ... Executed and confirmed. Written by Erieus the son of Phanres, clerk to the chief Priests of Amonrasonther and the contemplar Gods ... Amen.
It is sufficiently obvious that this deed must belong to the same period as the sale of the collections for the mummies, and that it must consequently have been at least eight years earlier. The “God Eupator” is here omitted, perhaps accidentally, orperhaps because he had not been canonized at the time. The date 28 is equally applicable to the reigns of Philometor and of Eupator: and several names occur in this deed which are also found in the preceding: for example, Erieus the son of Phanres, who is the first witness in that deed, is the clerk that drew up the present. Asos the son of Horus and Senpoeris, who is one of the “Dressers” of the temple, appears here as the possessor, probably of a neighbouring piece of land, and in the next deed as a purchaser. The question remains whether we should assign to this deed a date 19 years earlier than the former, or only 8, that is, whether 154 B. C. or 143; and there appears to be no evidence at present existing that is sufficient to decide it: except that the omission of the name of Eupator was less likely to happen in his own reign than in his predecessor’s. The priesthoods of Ptolemais are somewhat negligently arranged at the end of this preamble, but they present no essential discordances. The Registry affords us a remarkable instance of a double contraction for the word ΠΟΛΙΣ or city, it is first represented by a semicircle with a central point, 𝄐, and then by a figure of 2, in the names of Hermopolis, and Diospolis, or Thebes. The contraction for Hermopolis, in the papyrus of Anastasy, would not easily have been explained without the aid of these manuscripts. The Dionysius of the reign of Ptolemy Alexander, being near fifty yearslater, may perhaps have been a son of this Dionysius, and may have succeeded him in his office.
In the year XXIX; Phamenoth [VII] 9. Transacted at the table in Hermopolis, at which Dionysius is president of the 20th department; in the account of Asclepiades and Crates [contractors for the duties] on sales, of which Ptolemaeus is the subscribing clerk: Asus, the son of Horus, purchaser of an open field of ¿2000? [square cubits], lying in the southern part of Diospolis the Great; of which the boundaries are given in the present agreement: which he bought of Alecis the son of Erieus, and Lubais and Tbaeais the sons of Erieus, and Senerieus the daughter of Petenephotes, and Erieus the son of Amenothes, and Senosorphibis the daughter of Amenothes, and Spois [or Spoetus] also the son of Erieus the son of Amenothes ... ¿Pieces ... 1004? The end....
Diony[sius] has subscribed.
Year XXIX. In the reign of Ptolemy and Cleopatra, the children of Ptolemy and Cleopatra the Gods Illustrious and Munificent: living for ever.The brothers, Alecis the son of Erieus, Lubais the son of Erieus, and Tbaeais the son of Erieus, their mother being Senerieus the daughter of Petenephotes, son of Lubais; Erieus the son of Amenothes, and Senosorphibis daughter of Amenothes, her mother being Senamunis, and ¿Spois? the son of Erieus, the son of Amenothes, his mother being ¿Senchonsis? coming into the temple of ¿Thebes? agreed with Asus the son of Horus to sell for a sum of money ... α ... α ... α ... α ... of the city ... in the year and month and day [above mentioned] of the king everliving ... α ... ¿Phaine? ... α ... the Royal Street; ¿the sister of Alecis, Phaine? ... α ... α ... place ... has released ... months ... time.... Executed and confirmed. Written by Erieus the son of Phanres, clerk to the chief priests of Amonrasonther and the contemplar Gods.... Amen.
The preamble is here abridged, which was perhaps the safer, as the deed stands by the side of the preceding on the same papyrus. The phrase “α” is the same in both deeds, and probably means “a piece of open field bounded by,” or something of a similar nature: for forms of this kind appear to be repeated without limit in the old Egyptian language.
In the year XXXV; Pharmuthi [VIII] 20. Transacted at the table in Diospolis the Great, at which Lysim[achus] [is president]; in the account of Sarapion and his partners [contractors for the duties] on sales, in which the subscribing clerks are Hermophilus and Sarapion: the purchaser being Pechytes the son of Arsiesis; of the fourth part of an open field of ¿3000 square cubits? in the southern part of Diospolis the Great; on the western side of the canal of Her[cules], leading to the river; of which the boundaries are given in the present agreement; which he bought of Ammonius the son of Pyrrhius, and Psenamunis the son of Pyrrhius. ¿Pieces 3000? The end. Of which ...
Lysimach. has subscribed.
¿XXXV? Month.... In the reign of Ptolemy and Cleopatra his sister, the children of Ptolemy and Cleopatra the Gods Illustrious; and the Priest of Alexander and of the Saviour Gods, of the Brother Gods, of the Beneficent Gods, of the Father loving Gods, of the Illustrious Gods, of the ¿hostile? Paternal God, and of the Mother loving Gods: and the Prize bearer of Berenice the Beneficent, and the [Gold and Silver] Basket bearer of Arsinoe the Brother loving, and the Priest of Arsinoe the Father loving, being [as appointed in the metropolis]: the bargain was made by the men of the family of Alecis: Ammonius the son of Pyrrhius, and Psenamunis the son of Pyrrhius, coming into the temple ... agreed with Pechytes the son of Arsiesis and ¿Oenone? to sell for a sum of money ... ... (14) Royal Street ... month ... time ... . Executed and confirmed. Written by ... clerk to the chief priests of Amonrasonther and the contemplar Gods, the Gods ¿Beneficent? the Father loving Gods and the Gods Illustrious, the ¿hostile? Paternal God, and the Mother loving Gods. Amen.
The name of Eupator appears here to contain, in two different places, the characters which in theRosetta inscription denote hostile or turbulent; and this circumstance would incline us to prefer the date of the last year of the reign of Philometor: but it is possible that the same epithets may have been intended to mean warlike, in a favourable sense.
There remains a fourth enchorial manuscript, of some importance, at present in the British Museum, but still belonging to Mr. Salt, without whose permission it would be improper to make public its whole contents, even if they were perfectly intelligible. But, in fact, the preamble of this manuscript has been lost, and the registry is nearly illegible, except that the date is clearly XLVII, and the signature of the President at the table of Hermopolis appears to be Dionysius. The names of Horus and Erieus and Arsiesis are also distinguishable in the body of the deed, and the word “two thousand” is written at length, at the end of the registry. Now the year 47 can only belong to the reign of Philadelphus, or to that of Eupator, and the style of the registry too much resembles that of all the other deeds, including Anastasy’s, to allow us to assign it to the former reign: it must, therefore, belong, not to 277, but to 124 B. C. This date will not indeed give us any certain evidence respecting that of Mr. Grey’s deeds; though it might rather incline us to take the later than the earlier, of two periods, equally probable in other respects. Onthe whole, we can only leave the alternative open for future decision between the dates, as thus contrasted:
The registry of Mr. Grey’s first deed is therefore at least 37, and, on the whole, most probably 48 years more ancient, than any other writing with a pen and ink that exists; and it still remains in the most perfect preservation. Mr. Jomard has compared the manuscript of Anastasy, for its importance, to the pillar of Rosetta: but it can in no respect whatever be put in competition with the Antigraph of Mr. Grey.
SPECIMEN OF MR. GREY’S ENCHORIAL PAPYRUS
SPECIMEN OF MR. GREY’S ENCHORIAL PAPYRUS