Download HATSHEPSUT OBELISK READING GROUP ASSIGNMENT

HATSHEPSUT OBELISK READING GROUP ASSIGNMENT
HATSEPSUT 06
Urk. IV, 361,12 - Urk. IV, 362,8
with vocabulary and notes
A lot of lines, but most of them are short. Nevertheless, don't let this reading slide until the last day or
even the last weekend. Work a little bit each day. That'll keep the Egyptological synapses open. The
text gets a bit involved here. I've tried to help you as much as I could - if you disagree with my views,
that's just fine. Just let us know why. There's a very good chance you could be right.
This is the Lepsius drawing of the south side of the base of Hatshepsut's obelisk.
VOCABULARY
2 - Awt ib = be joyful
6 - Ax = be a spirit, be useful
1 - Axt = useful
6 - Axty = the Horizon Dweller
4 - iwnw = “Iunu”, the name of two cities in Egypt.
4 - ib = heart
1,3 - imn = Amun
4 - imy = who is, who is in. A nisba formed from the preposition 'm'.
3 - in = by (as in “this whas done BY so-and-so”)
3 - in = says (marks a quotation)
1,3 - iri = do, make, create
4 - irsw = “He who created himself”. With the A40 determinative, this is a god, Amun.
1,3 - iti = father
1 - itn = Aten, the disk of the Sun
4 - iSd = tree of some sort - if you don't know what kind of tree, it's a “Yeshed” tree.
4 - iTi = take possession of
1 - aA = great, large
2 - anx = live, alive, living
2 - anxw = the living
3 - wAH = endure
2 - wAs = power
3 - wAS = honor, praise
1 - wAD = green, pale, fresh, young, fortunate, happy
6 - wab = pure, purify
4 - waty = sole, single, only
4 - wTs = raise, lift up, display, wear
1,3 - wr = great, large, many
1 - wrt = magnificence, greatness
3 - wHm = repeat, or in this case, multiply
1,2 - wsr = powerful, strong
6 - wtT = beget
6 - wDA = hale, uninjured, prosperous, flourishing
4 - bA = ineffable spirit, or something like that, “souls” is not a good translation because it has modern
religious overtones which are inappropriate to the culture of the New Kingdom.
6 - bAH = penis
1 - bAk = work, task
1,2,3 - bity = King of Lower Egypt
1 - pAwt tpt = primeval time
6 - pat = humanity (upper class of same)
3 - pn = this, it's a masculine demonstrative pronoun
6 - pri = emerge, go forth
2 - psDt = Ennead of gods
1 - m = from, on, in, with
1,2 - mAat = Maat, (untranslatable, stands for “truth, justice, and the Egyptian Way”)
1 - mi = similar to, like, alike - do not think that “like” implies affection here
6 - mwt = mother
2,3 - mry = beloved
1, 3 - mnw = monument
4 - mnx = useful, functional
1,3 - nb = lord, owner, all, every
1 - nbw = gold
1 - nbty = Two Ladies
4 - nfr = beautiful, good, excellent
6 - nri = protect, fear
6 - nsyt = kingship
1,2,3 - nsw = king
2 - nswt = king
6 - nst = throne
1,3 - nTr = god, divine, divinity
6 - nDty = protector
1 - r = at, toward, near, by
4 - r Dr = to the limit.
1,2 - ra = Ra
3 - rn = name
1 - rnpt = year
2 - rnn = bring up, nurse
6 - rnnt = female nurse
6 - rxyt = people (lower class of same)
6 - rsw = southern
3 - rdi = cause, do, make
4 - Hab-sd = jubilee festival
1 - HAt = foremost, best
3 - Hm = “Majesty, king”. 'Hm.k' = “Your Majesty”. 'Hm.i' = well, you figure it out.
6 - Hnmmt = mankind, the sun-people of Iunu
6 - Xnty anx = living semblance, living image
1,2 - Hr = Horus
3 - Hr = upon
4 - HH = millions
6 - HKa = magic
6 - xai = rise (of the Sun), appear in glory
1 - xaw = appearance in glory (perhaps meaning being crowned king)
5 - xpr = become, come into being, grow up, change, exist
5 - xprw = form, shape, mode (watch out, this is a false plural)
3- xft = because, at the time when
2 - xnt = in front of, foremost
4 - xr = in the presence of, before, in the reign of
2 - Xnm = protect, join
2 - sA = son
6 - sAw = guardian, warden
3 - sanx = cause to live
1,3 - saHa = raise up, cause to stand
6 - swHt = egg
1 - sbA = door, but in this case it means pylon, the gateway to a temple
1 - sp = time
4 - smA = unite, join
3 - smn = cause to be established
6 - smsw = elder, eldest (a false plural)
1,3 - Spss = noble, august, well-esteemed
4 - stp = choose
1 - Sfi = respect
1 - Sfyt = majesty, respect
1 - sHD n = make illumination for
2 - sxai = cause to appear (cf. w/ xaw above)
4 - sxpr = cause to be created, this is an active verb
4 - qmA = “create, produce, hammer out, formulate”
1,2 - kA = Ka, another untranslatable. Not “soul” as we understand it.
6 - kA = bull
2 - kAr = shrine
6 - kmt = Egypt
4 - gnt = annals, records
1,3 - tA = land (as in country)
2 - tit = image (also probably related is 'twt' as in “Tutankhamun”)
3 - tp-rd = instructions
4 - tp(y) = first
6 - tp(y) tA = he who is upon the earth
1,3 - tHn = obelisk
1 - Damw = fine gold, electrum
4 - dwA = adoration, praise
1 - Dr = limit, since
6 - Ds.f = himself
2 - Dsrw = holy place
3 - Dt = forever
3 - Dd = say
NOTES:
You are reading the longest sentence you might ever encounter unless you were to read James Joyce's
Ulysses. The sentence began on Urk. IV 361,11. Here's a synopsis of each line in today's reading:
Urk. IV 361
11 - Hatshepsut is the understood direct object
12 - past participle agreeing with Hatshepsut
13 - another past participle
14 - noun clause in apposition with Hatshepsut and the preceding participles
15 - additional information about Hatshpesut's birth
16 - past participle agreeing with Hatshepsut
17 - noun clause in apposition with Hatshepsut
Urk. IV 362
1 - purpose clause describing Hatshepsut, you can think of this as the equivalent of a noun clause, it is a
nominal after all
2 - noun clause describing Hatshepsut
3 - another noun clause describing Hatshepsut
4 - past participle
5 - present participle with future meaning
6 - noun clause describing Hatshepsut
7 - noun clause describing Hatshepsut
8 - noun clause describing Hatshepsut
Urk. IV 361,12
'xprt xprw' - When we ended reading 05, we had not reached the end of the sentence, at least far as the
Egyptian author, Hatshepsut herself, had intended so the participles refer to her, which is why the
participle 'xprt' gets the feminine ending.. 'xpr' is a hard verb to get your head around. Its basic
meaning is contained something like this: some concept, be it a physical concept (person, place, or
thing) or an abstract concept, whatever, a concept is thought of a “form” and if it is an abstract concept,
the form gives an almost physical presence. We then see this “form” changing or evolving through
time. The change or evolution can be circular or linear in nature, but it does change. 'xprw' looks like
a plural, it ain't, which makes it a “false plural”.
I said that the Egyptian sentence hadn't ended yet, but it's OK for you to think of it as having already
ended in English, so you can go ahead and translate this past participle as a full fledged verb with an
appropriate pronominal subject. And that just shows to go ya1 that one person's period marking the end
of a sentence is another person's comma, and maybe for someone else, no break at all. This kind of
stuff is very subjective.
'xpri' = 'xpr Ds.f', the one who came into being all by himself. You can think of this as “the prime
mover”, the source of all activity, including creation itself, in the universe. In other words, this is
Amun. But wait, there's more. The fact that the Sun had come up every day of their lives did not
convince the ancient Egyptians that it would do so tomorrow. So when sunrise occurred, it was
miraculous. Oh, wow! We get another day! Saints be praised (whoops, sorry, wrong religion!).
1 For the benefit of those whose native language is not English, “shows to go you” is a “Spoonerism” so-called after its
inventor, William Spooner, who apparently did it often. It involves exchanging the first sounds of neighboring words,
producing unintended words which completely change the meaning of the sentence. Examples are: - a teacher speaking
angrily to a schoolboy “You have hissed your mystery lesson and tasted a whole worm” ('you have missed your history
lesson and wasted a whole term') and “it is kisstomary to cuss the bride” - no it isn't, it is “customary to kiss the bride”.
Well, that just goes to show ya that language can be fun, or funny.
Urk. IV 361,13
'xait xaw' I usually like to include the weak consonant in verbs like this. The construction is one of
those like “she saw a sight” or “he's building a building”. Another past participle (the fact that this is
certainly a past participle has led me to think that the preceding one was also past, but it might not be).
'xaw' may be evocative of the word for “crown”. The one in our text isn't spelled that way, but the two
words may have been pronounced identically or very much like each other.
'Axty' “The Horizon-Dweller”, i.e. the rising Sun. Another reference to the sunrise and continued
metaphorically, I think, on the next line.
Urk. IV 361,14
'swHt' = “egg”, I think this refers to her childhood. 'prit', and this is another past participle, not an
infinitive, refers to 'swHt' and, metaphorically, to Hatshepsut.
Urk. IV 361,15
A difficult line. It's an A=B construction. The A part is 'rnnt'. The B part is 'wry HKAw nbty', a
proper name! The name itself is a 'nfr Hr' construction, augmented by the dual, “How great are ...”,
well, I'll let you figure out the rest, but I will add that there's also a direct genitive involved. Breasted
thought that 'wry' referred to 'nbty', both being dual in form; I don't, in fact, that kind of grammar won't
work. Lots of grammar in only four little words!
Urk. IV 361,16
'sxat n imn' - Often translated as “she was crowned by Amun.” I can't see that as being correct. Amun
did not crown her. Nor is 'sxat n ...' a past passive construction. I think 'sxat' is yet another passive
feminine participle and 'n' is the preposition “to/for”. I really want to be wrong on this.
'iwnw rsw(t)' - There were two cities named Iunu in ancient Egypt, this, as the text tells us, is the
southern one.
Urk. IV 361.17
'stp.n.f' - Another one of these spotlight verbs, just where we'd expect to see one. It throws the
spotlight on the why he chose her (you'll have to supply that pronoun because English demands it even
if Egyptian thought it was too obvious to bother with). Why Amun chose her is far important than that
he chose her.
'r sAw Egypt' - if I tell you that this literally means: “in regard to guarding Egypt” then you'll be able
to produce a good English translation, right? My thesis is that what's important in vocabulary is not to
learn a whole bunch of English alternative translations for a given Egyptian word and then choose one,
which means you've never actually thought about what the word really means and that all you're doing
is guessing at a “reasonable” translation already suggested by others. Instead, learn the basic meaning
in Egyptian. It's simpler that way, much, much, much simpler, far more accurate, your understanding
of the nuance will suggest a good English translation.
Urk. IV 362,1
That thing in the middle of the line, not too clear in Lepsius' drawing is H4, a vulture's head.
'pat' - The first word out Faulkner's pen to translate this was “patricians”, a horrible choice. “Patrician”
does not mean “noble”, it does not even mean “upper class”. It is a technical term in Roman society.
While most patricians were “noble” (not necessarily in the aesthetic sense) and “upper class”, some
weren't. The patrician family that Caius Iulius Caesar was born into had been in the dumps for a few
generations. The higher offices of the res publica romana were filled more with plebians than
patricians. But there is still value in Faulkner's slip-up, because it provides a nuance to differentiate
'pat' from 'r(m)T', which is the more usual Egyptian word for “people, humanity”.
'rxyt' - The next word in the text, the lower class of the Eygptian people. Referring to the paragraph
above, it would be competely wrong to refer to these people as “plebians”, many of whom were
counted among the nobility of Roman class, culture, power, and influence.
I think there is probably a political statement buried in here (well, the whole thing is a political
statement, really, but there are layers upon layers here, and this is one of the layers that could be
understood better). Hatshepsut goes out of her way to identify herself as the guardian of “all” classes
of Egytpian society, by name, high and low. Normally, only token recognition would be given to the
peasant class, if even that much, here they are being spelled out as recipients of her largesse.
Urk. IV 362, 3
'kA mwt.f' is an epithet of Amun in his ithyphallic state. This guy is “Oedipus on steroids”, Kamutef,
not only loves his mother, he engendered himself upon her. Quite a trick! But then, he's a god. Go
ahead and translate the name, you'll see what I mean.
Urk. IV 362, 4
Where to start?
'wtt' continues the string of feminine active particles. No problem there - but it's the rest of the
sentence that needs attention. Well, there is one little thing more about this participle. In Old Egyptian
the verb apparently was 'wtT' which evolved into 'wtt' by Middle Egyptian times. So 'wtt' is not a
doubling form, it's basic form is ABC where B and C are the same consonant. In other words, if this
verb were to exhibit a doubled consonant it would be 'wttt' (pattern ABCC).
'aXt', a feminine, describes 'prt' which must also be feminine, so it can't be an infinitive, all of which,
regardless of their endings, were treated as masculine in Middle Egyptian. Of course, 'prt bAHw' is a
direct genitive. So now we have the phrase 'prt bAHw aXt'. I think - nota bene - I think - this is a
metaphor for Hatshepsut's children in the following generations. 'prt' is feminine not because it agrees
with Hatshepsut's gender but because it's a generic concept.
'tpy(w)-tA' I think is a plural nisba. The sense being that her offspring are going to be useful and
efficient for the god, even though they are on the Earth. So this nisba is actually in apposition to 'prt
bAHw aXt', even though the gender is not strictly observed.
Urk. IV 362,5
'wDAw' is present participle with, I think, future meaning, agreeing with the
'Hnmmt' is the last word in this line.
Urk. IV 362,6
'Xnty.f' - the suffix pronoun precedes the determinative here for aesthetic purposes (see Lepsius'
drawing).
Urk. IV 362,8
'Damw' - the skin of the gods is gold, the king is a god.