Kim Ryholt

New light on the legendary king Nechepsos of Egypt

This paper identifies several indigenous Egyptian attestations of King Nechepsos, previously well known from Classical sources. The name may be understood as ‘Necho the Wise’, and refers to Necho II of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty. His association with astrology may be related to an eclipse near the beginning of that kings historical reign. This paper further identifies the sage Petosiris known from Greek texts as the well-attested sage Petesis. The divine instructors of Nechepsos and Petosiris are identified as Imhotep and Amenhotep son of Hapu.

A Pair of Oracle Petitions Addressed to Horus-of-the-Camp

Edition of a complementary pair of oracle petitions in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, dating to the late Twentieth or early Twenty-first Dynasty and addressed to the obscure god Horus-of-the-Camp. Although oracle petitions written upon papyrus are known from this period, these two are the only ones which have actually been preserved. An appendix on the god Horus-of-the-Camp is included.

Hotepibre, a supposed Asiatic king in Egypt with relations to Ebla

In recent years the obscure king Hotepibre of the Thirteenth Dynasty in Egypt, who ruled ca. 1790 B. C., has gained some attention in the literature. It has been suggested that the king was of Asiatic extraction, that he may have ruled from Avaris, and that he maintained relations with Ebla. This article argues that both the supposed Asiatic origin and the relation to Avaris are based on false assumptions, and that the supposed contact with Ebla rests on very meager evidence.

The nature of ancient Egyptian copper-containing carbon inks is revealed by synchrotron radiation based X-ray microscopy

For the first time it is shown that carbon black inks on ancient Egyptian papyri from different time periods and geographical regions contain copper. The inks have been investigated using synchrotron-based micro X-ray fluorescence (XRF) and micro X-ray absorption near-edge structure spectroscopy (XANES) at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF). The composition of the copper-containing carbon inks showed no significant differences that could be related to time periods or the geographical locations. This renders it probable that the same technology for ink production was used throughout Egypt for a period spanning at least 300 years. It is argued that the black pigment material (soot) for these inks was obtained as by-products of technical metallurgy. The copper (Cu) can be correlated with the following three main components: cuprite (Cu2O), azurite (Cu3[CO3]2[OH]2) and malachite (Cu2CO3[OH]2).

King Seneferka in the King-lists and His Position in the Early Dynastic Period

Seneferka remains one of the most obscure rulers of the Early Dynastic Period. Through an analysis of the hypercorrection of royal names in the king-list tradition, it becomes possible to identify him with the first and otherwise unattested king recorded under the name Neferkare. This, in turn, indicates that Seneferka ruled about one century later than hitherto assumed, in the late Second Dynasty rather than at the end of the First Dynasty.

Put my Funerary Papyrus in My Mummy, Please

Publication of a short Demotic text that was written on the first sheet of P. BM EA 10209, a hieratic funerary papyrus that had once belonged to the Theban priest Nesmin. The Demotic text contains a note by the owner giving instructions for the hieratic text to be buried with him.

The Late Old Kingdom in the Turin king-list and the identity of Nitocris

A new reconstruction of the Late Old Kingdom section in the Turin King-list, based on an examination of the fibres, is presented together with a discussion of the historical implications concerning the kings in question. Of particular importance is the fact that the supposed female ruler Nitocris can be shown to be non-existent. The tradition of the king-list is also touched upon, with special attention being paid to the question of lacunae in the original.

A Parallel to the Inaros Story of P. Krall (P. Carlsberg 456 + P. Ctybr 4513): Demotic Narratives from the Tebtunis Temple Library (I)

First publication of a fragmentary papyrus housed in the Carsten Niebuhr Institute of Copenhagen University, P. Carlsberg 456 (together with a small fragment of the same papyrus housed in the Beinecke Library, Yale, P. CtYBR 4513), which preserves parts of the opening sections of the Demotic narrative ‘The Battle for the Armour of Inaros’. This is otherwise known only from a substantial papyrus housed at Vienna, P. Krall = P. Dem. Vindob. 6521–6609, the beginning of which is severely damaged. The two versions are here edited with parallel transliterations, and parallel or combined translations. A partial reconstruction is offered of the early part of the story, which has so far remained obscure.

The Falcon and Female Cat in Egyptian Magic and the Petese Stories.

A recently published spell concerning the prevention of miscarriages, where a falcon and a female cat are invoked against Seth/Apophis, provides a clue to the understanding of an episode in The Petese Stories, where the same two animals are summoned through magic and directed against an enemy who soon surrenders to avoid destruction.