Breapted, James Henry The monuments of Sudanese Nubia

iPamph iHEqy.
B

KObA

l)c (Oriental Crplovation

of Cljicago,

f iiuD

of tlK anibcrsit^

Cavpttan Section

REPORTS TO THE GENERAL DIRECTOR

II

The Monuments

of Sudanese Nubia

THE

RL"'>m OF THE WORK OF A'PTIAN EXPEDITION

St.'.

SON OF

1906-'07

JAMES HENRY BREASTED

Preprinted from

The American Journal of Semitic Lancua AND Literatures, October, 1908

CHICAGO
1908

THE AMERICAN JOURNAI

OF

SE.MITIC

LANGUAGES AND LITERATURES

(CONTINUING HEBRAICA)

VouME XXV

OCTOBER, 1008

Nimber

inrirntal ?3.vpIoration ,irunti of

of ifinrago

tl)r

Mnibrrsiitij

SECOND ^EI:LT^^TNARY REPORT OF THE EGYPTIAN

EXPEDITION
Bv James Henry Breasted
Tho Tnivprsity
I.

of Chicago

INTROUITTION"
its tirst

The work
monuments
at

of the pjf^yptian Ex])e(litioii during

soasoii

(in05-fi) had included a complete paleographic survey of the

of

Lower Nubia from the

foot of the second cataract

tirst

Haifa to the Ptolemaic temples just above the

cataract, not

inclusive of the latter.

In order to compli-te such a .survey of all the

it

monuments of Nubia,
aract

was now necessary toe.xtend the work of the

(I'.tOCi -7)

expedition for the next season

through the second cat-

and above
is,

it

to the

southernmost monuments in the Nile valley,

to the foot of the second

that

from the vicinity of Khartum

cataract.

In this stretch of the Nile northward from Khartfim.

the river describes a huge double curve of nearly a thousand miles,

forming a vast S. which includes five of the six cataract regions, and comprises nearly all of the c-ataract country see Map, Fig. 1). In the absorption of the I'j)|M'r Nile, a process which l)egan in the
(

twenty-fifth century

B.

r..

the Pharaoh "s jH>wer never extended

1

The Americas Joirxal of Semitic La\c.uages

Jieconil Caf*rjct

Fin. I. Hi>|> of

the

AlU

if

till-

tlin Calnrnrt Ki'Kion of tlio Niln. fnim KliKrlQm t the Srciuiil ('marncl (aflvr Kuypi Kxiilorntimi Fiiml). Tho Smlnii Rallnmil cnt ncnuw On- l~<Tt tntm

llrtir|S.-<-<inilCnlnrnrI| lo

Tho

torrltory r..iToil h> ihi>

roifloii

tho Miiith to Iho

Aim IIiiiihxI. nnil llinii follnw. tho f<>i>l Iwilk <>t tho Nile to Khariam. lii<l rnmimiuii of tho o<|><<litioii oxioiiiU nloiiit iho rttor fmni Nntfa on north of Kuninioh nnil Soninoh on tho north.

Second Prelimixaky Report of Egyptian Expedition

above the fourth cataract, and his
lanil of
final

frontier
at

was always the

Karoy. the country around Na|)ata

the foot of the fourth

Our original [)lan involved no more than the completion monuments within this Pharaonic viceroyalty of Nubia; that is, we did not expect to proceed up the river beyond the Pharaonic frontier at the foot of the fourth cataract. The later independent Nubian kingdom has. however, left important hybrid Egyptian monuments much farther south at the classical Merop, and at other points still farther up the river, and we finally decided to include these also in at least a rapid visit. The addition of these later Nubian sites made up a heavy winter's work, but in
cataract.'

of the

view of the fact that no epigra|)hic work had been done in the
country since the Prussian
attem])t
ever,
it.

e.\))edition in

1844, we determined to
sites,

The time

at

our disposal for these upper

how-

would necessarily be very limited, as we should be obliged to return in time to pass the cataracts before the fall of the high
water, which

would have already begun

to

recede before our

arrival in the south.

In making our preparations f<ir tlie entire trip the Sudan government assisted us in every ])<jssil)le direction. I may say that the trij) would have been quite impossible, if we had not enjoyed such help. Sir Reginald Wingate, sirdar and governor-general of the Sudan, showed the most cordial interest in our project, and duriug his autumn visit in Cairo I was privileged to discuss our plans with him in a delightful interview, in which I leanu-d to

know

for the first time his great solicitude for the preservation of

the ancient

monuments

in the

Sudan, as well as his surprisingly

antl of the early history of

wide and detailed knowledge of them

the once afflicted land, which he
is

now

so successfully lifting

from anarchy and desolation to prosperity and happiness. Among other things Sir Reginald wrote to all the British governors of the Sudan j)rovinces in which we were to work, requesting them to assist us as far as j)ossible, and this thoughtful measure proved
Tlii^ i- Hiftinctly -Litprl on thp scarab* of Ampnbntop III. TIip siliiatioD of Karoy. as tho region about Napata is Hrtormin*-*! by t.lio data in the tomb of Hni (soe my Ancient Rccordm. 11. S862 and 1020). There cannot be the sliebtcst doubt that the statuettes of Amenhotep II found by Lopsins at Nasa north of KhartQm (see Map. Fiif. 1) were later carried thither.
'

Tui:

Amkkuax Juikxal
It is a privilege to

of Semitic Languages

invaluable.

express to him here a sense of our

great indebtedness for the unstinted interest and assistance

we

enjoyed

at his

hands.

To Captain
many

Parker, head of the Intelligence

Department of the Sudan

gation for attention to
bef(jre

in Cairo, the exix-dition

owes great obli-

[ireliniinary arrnngenients neces-sarv

we could

leave Cairo.

After ten days' work in Cairo, spent in repacking and distribut-

ing supplies, they were dispatched to four points along the up|K'r

where we could pick them up at the pro[)er inten"als as On October '20 we left Cairo for Aswan, where we picked up the equipment of last year. The exjiedition this season enjoyed the experienced services of Mr. N. De G. Davios; with him. the photograjjher, two native assistants, besides the cook and camp
river,

needed.

Aswan by government jwst steamer where we arrived three days later. At the Haifa terminus of Kitchener's famous military railway to Khartum, we had the good fortune to find an American tratiic-manager
servants, the present writer left
for Haifa on October 24

who had lived in Chicago under the shadow of our university halls. He made it pissible for us to take with us in the regular passenger
train at

baggage

rates our thirty boxes of sup|>lies

]K)rtion of

for tlie southernmost

houi-s after our arrival,

our

trip.

and e<|uipment Leaving Haifa two

on the evening of the twenty-seventh, the

morning
desert,

of the twenty-eighth found us approaching the Nile again,

having during the night, crossed two hundred and thirty miles of

and cut

off the

great V)end of the Nile, the

up|>'r

loop of

we should follow the river on our return. A glance at the map will show that the railway fnjm Abu Hanu-d on. may hug the river all the way to the terminus on the Blue Nile o|)|H)site Khartrtm. >n the evening of )ctober 2^ our immerous im|NMlimenta were liastily
( (

the S (measuring some six hundred miles) around which

thrown from the train

at the little waysitle station of Kal>ushia.

As the
left to

train pulled out

and moved away across

tlie de.sert,

we were

the silence of the night, and lreams of the ancient capital

of Nubia, the mysterious Mero> of the Gret'ks, the p\ramids of

which
indeed,

wt'

had

des<'ried
still

from the train as we

"Mi

pa.>vs>d.

and which,

we could
fell.

discern rising dindy

the northern horizon

as the night

Second Pbelimixarv Report of Egyi'Tian Expedition

II.

MEROE
having
first

We

camped beside the

%'illage for

little station,

sent to

tlie

neighboring

camels, whose groaning and complnining

awoke us the next morning before dawn. With our stutf loaded upon fourteen camels we had made the two hours' march to the main group of pyramids l)y ten o'clock, and before night we were snugly stowed away in the small chapels of the pyramids where we lived for two weeks. It is imjiossible within the limits here
necessary, nor does
it

fall

within the purposes of this

rejiort, to

describe in detail the imposing

monuments

still

surviving at ancient

Meroe.
a mile

The

ruins of the

citj' still lie

unexcavated, extending for

along the river and for nearly a mile iidand at the modern

village of Begerawiyeh.

probably temples, of which

vives.

liaud's

Here are the remains of three structures, little more than the ground plan surSoutheast of the town is a low mound marked on Cailmap" as ''restes d'un monument." Cailliaud thouglit it

it was clearly a peripteral structure, and reminding one of the similar ])eripteral building at Musawwarat. I found remains of columns on the north and south sides. The building was oriented with front to tiie east, approached by a ramp leading to the door, and the whole was surrounded by an inclosure wall of burnt brick, now scarcely showing above the present surface. I mention this building especially as it is not described by Lepsius. It would repay excavation, as of course would the entire site of the ancient citj'. The great necropolis of the city lay in the desert to the eastward about an hour from the river, but a smaller cemetery lies southeast of the town but fifteen minutes' walk distant, and about ten minutes' walk eastward of the peripteral temple above mentioned. This smaller group of pyramids we called the "west group,"' while the two parts into which the greater cemetery falls were designated as the '"middle" and "east groups" respectively. These were the royal cemeteries. That of the people, lay in the desert on the north of the middle and east groups, and has ap[)arently received no attention since the hurried visit of Lepsius as he was leaving Meroe in

the remains of a pyramid, but

jirobably a temple,

18-1:4.
1

The tombs

of the peo[)le are

marked

8imi>l>

l>v

hi.mukIs.

Voi/age d MeTOi, planche II, KiO,

''

Thk Amkrican Jhihwi

or Skmitic

T,

^,

Seconk Prkliminary KEroHT uF Kgyi'tiax Expedition

,/^:3P^

V
^^^h.

>,'

p,.'->
-*v.

V
^
-^
j^..

Tut;

Amekicas Jolkxal of Semitic Laxgcages

which Wf had no autliorizntioii ti) i-xc-nvati', so that T cau report nothing of their internal construction. Tliose of the royalty were ])jTnmid.s of masonry, huilt with a much shar|K'r slope than in
Egyi>t, and far smaller in size (Fig. 3).

In the majority of cases

in the rock lieneath

the burial seems to have been in a

chamber
tile

the pyramid, a|)]iroached by a shaft or an inclined passage from

the east.

Before the pyramid

nii

east' side

is

ii

small ree-

^'

M
burif<l

Mi.lill.-tiroui., .Ni.rtli Kiid..t .Main Lin.-.. rr;r

cnniiitf

under rubbinh nod

btuckv.

tangular chnjxd usually of a single chamb^T, backed by the pyramid, fronted

l)y

pylon and containing mortuary reliefs and

In
at

inscriptions (Fig.

'^).

least st-ven of the

pyraunds of the
masonry,
dead, however,

middle group there was near the

a|K'X envelo|M>d in the

aci-e.'ts.

another chamber witimut means of

it

To

tin"

was accessible through

<Thn
Niililiin i>|rrniiil<l>

a false

window or
fnrf wnitliriial

d<M>r in the i-ast

nf

fnmt
mi

nm

itrloiilrtl l<i

i>r toiitli

rii<l. btil tlirn' i>

crumcr 4>r

rwuliirltjr In llin maltrr.

Secoxli Pkkliminakv Hi:roRT of Er.vrTiAX KxriiDixiox

''

KJ
of
tin-

Thi;

AMEnicAN Jouksal of Semitic Languages

[Kiiiit

pyrnuiid, at n

i-xactly
fnlst-

oj)|)Osite

the chamlxT thus

hiddi'ii in the

masonry.

This

door, called by Cailliaud

"une

esj)6ee

de fausse lucarne"' or dormer-window, is of course the Egyptian false door, so often found as the mortuary entrance in
clitf

mastaha masonry, or the

only one survives

tombs.
still

In Cailliaud's day there

preserved,' but at present
it

were seven of these false windows

(see Fig. 3).
It

Behind

the hollow of the

chamber

is still

pretty evident.

has Ix^eu necessary to go into

these details, in a matter which does not concern our epigraphic

work, because
physician,
|)ossibly

it

has Ix-en lately stated that Ferlini, the Italian

at

who excavated

these pyramids in ls34, could not

in a

have found his splendid treasure of Ethiopic jewelry

at the fop of the

chamber
presiMit

pyramid.

It is

further stated that "in

the upper jiortion of no other pyramid in the

has any chamber been found."'

that Ferlini found the treasure

now

in

Sudan up to the There can be no doubt Munich and Berlin, in a

chamber

pyramid as he narrates the discovery. The chief pur|)ose of our visit, however, was not an investigation of these problems, but to make an epigraphic reconl of
at the to[) of the

monuments at Meroe as complete as jK)Ssible. In this work there was more than enough to Ih' done. The west group which lies on the plain near the town as we havi> said, is probably
inscrii)ed
tlie

oldest of the three groups.

sutiicieiit

Cailliaud found twenty |>yramid8

1m'

there in

preservation to

the low uiounils marking the remains of seventy-live

measured and planiuHl. while more smnller

inscriptions, however, as

ones surrounded the group.

The only

everywhere

el.si-

among

the Nubian pyramids, are in the chajH'ls,

and as nearly

nil

the chajtels of the west group have disaj>|H'nn>d.

there.
first

we found but little to Ih> recorded the east group are situated on the
highland
easlwanl.
in

The middle group and

<les'rt

ridges of the eastern

l>y

two im|n>sing clusters, separated

flie

a valley

which
coin-

runs up the east side of

middle group and winds away north-

These

hills are of the

bhuk slune
(

of

tin- r'gioii,

nioidv calle<l "iron-stone." which, indeed, liMiks pn-cisely like the

slag from a large blast ftirnace.
)wiiig to its blackness
S4t
it

al>s>rbs

the radiant heut of the sun. and U'conu'S

Coyaffc A

hoi, thai at noindny

1.

Urn*,

PI, S!.

'

Uwigr. Tkr Kott'Han .Oujam,

96.

Second Preliminaky Kei'ort of

in early
It

Imjvi'tian

Exi'i;uitu)S

11

November we found work ninoug

it

all

hut impossible.

made

trouble with instruiiKMits, pruducinjj such heat that the

I sui)posi>

owing was impossible to level a camera for several hours near midday. Cailliaud was able to measure twenty-two pyramids in the middle group, and to determine the situation of sixteen more. In an examination of this site the day after our arrival, I could place only thirty-three
to the expansion of the liquid in the glass tube.
It

bubble in the level on one's camera disappeared,

with certainty, but there were masses of rubbish and debris on the
eastern slope where a
is

number

of others

might have stood.

This

the most im|)ortant group at Meroe, and had not the knowledge

of hierogly|)hics on the part of the builders here so declined as to

now on the spot very obscure or might have been possible to reconstruct a rough historical outline of the growth of the cemetery and the succession of the kings. Incidentally it should be added that the cursive and other Meroitic inscriptions removed from here by Lepsius, will now, in the course of a few years, become readable as a result of the recent discovery of papyrus fragments of the Nubian New Testament, the tirst s{)ecimens of such literature
of the inscriptions
it

make most

completely unintelligible,

yet discovered.

When

these aids are available

we

shall be able to

gain

much

of the history of the vanished

empire of which these

While we could observe here and there structural evidences of a long history, like the erection of a pyramid partially covering the still
discernible base of an older pyramid, or reused blocks with the

pyramids are the most considerable surviving remains.

sculpture up-side-down, too

many

of the chapels

had been removed

or had totally perished, or what remained was in too bad a state

of preservation to furnish a basis for any historical reconstruction of the group.

Even where the inscriptions are well preserved, a more often than not quite too corrujit to be intelligible. Long study and application will secure something from some of them, but such study of our copies has not yet
rare circumstance, they are

been

jx)ssible.

It

should be noted, however, that one circumstance

points to the greater age of the jiyrnniids at the south end of this

group.
scattered

The latter all contaiii plentiful hieroglyphic inscriptions among the figures of the reliefs, whereas in the main line

1.!

Tin;

Amkkrax
tlii.s

.Iolrsal of Semitic Langcages

tlie lust f(jur

(western row) of
{xjssihly the
fiftli

group,
its

pyramids (Fig. 4) and

i

(but

ohajK-i is deeply buried

exhibit the

usual panels

f(r

the lines of hieroglyphics, which have, however,

never been inserted.

This can only indicate a later period when knowledge of hieroglyphic hud about disajn^eared. The |mnels were prepared, but no one could lie found to till them. It was unfortunately imjx)ssible to carry out the methods of
record developed during our
great as to
tirst

season's work.

The

heat was

s*^)

make development

of negatives on a large scale quite

[Kirtable

im|x)ssible; nor

was our excellent

dark room, which we

to |R'runt of

8*t

up

iteside

one of the

chajn-ls. Inrge

enough

such work

on the scale demanded by such

ing, anil,
jM)ssible, of the
lH)at.

a great

quantity of work.

We
we

wen- obliged to sus|H'nd our otherwise unvarying rule of developif

use of a print on the

Sjxit.

until

could reach our

More than

ordinarily im|Mirtant things,

and especially
before

ditiicult

we

left,

and doubtful ex|)o9ures, were developed ami done again if not satisfactory, but it was
and
to collate

imiK)Ssible to furnish prints

them with the original

aduptetl the plan of

wails as

we did on our
all

tirst

campaign.

We

opyiiig

inscriptions by hnnd, while deix-nding chietly on the

photogra|>li for the reliefs,

und

for paleographic accuracy.

The

long narrow chapels, not wide enough to give the cameru sufficient
distance from the wall to
in this

and delay th' bad state of jMcservution also maiU- the work of hand copying likewise slow and luborioiis in the extreme, A reconl of u numU'r of the fullen and dismantled cha|K>ls was furthermore made inqnissible,
ftxu.s. caus'd

much

ditliculty

work.

The

corrupt character of the texts, and

by the

fact that as the inscribed blix-ks lay scattennl

about u|>on

the ground, the rubbish from Budge's excavations had Int-n thrown

over them, making

it

out of the question

'ha|K'ls, in

for us to atti'uqit to
piit'e

rebuild or ri>construct such

reliefs

order to
Ix-ar.

together the

and inscriptions which they

still

)(any of them
inacH*in the ciur8t<

deeply liuried niuler I'xcuvator's rubbish were ho|>eles8ly

sible.

Furthermore, the shifting of scatlennl blinks

of these exiavations.

and of the roail-making"

till

carrietl

on

at

the

same

time, hud resulti>d in intermixture of the s-ulptur<'ii blocks

cha|M'ls.

from dilTerent

we

f<iiiii<|

it

next to inqxwsible to

oift

Second Preliminary Kei-okt of Koyptiax Expedition

tliiMii

13

out

aijaiii.

Such
at

{liapi-ls

will

pi-oliahly

never

lie

recorded

in full.

The
group
)

large pyramid

the northern end nf

tlie

main row

middle

has discharged a huge and dangerous mass of core masonry,

rubbish and heavj' blocks eastward over the entire chapel, so that

we found
its

it

iunwssible to clear

it

(Fig. 4).
it

strong presump-

tion of the character of the sculptures

contains was furnished by

neighbor the second pyramid from the north end. the chapel

of

which we cleared out, and recorded

in full.

The

places for the

I believe this

hieroglyphics in the sculptures were

chapel has not before been cleared.
in this

all left

empty.
at the

We

cleared out six chapels

group.

The chapel
age.
I

of the

pyramid

extreme norththis

west contained a few pieces of blue glazed ware exactly like that
of

the

Saitic

should say, therefore, that

tlie

group

began not

later

than

Persian age. and contiininl into the

Christian era. In the eastern group across the intervening valley, Cailliaud

mea.sured nine pyramids and counted thirtj'-eight more.

thirty are
ible

Some

now

traceable, but sixteen

on the

hill

west of

more low mounds are discernthe south end. Jn the cha])el of pyramid
It

No. 5 our excavation disclosed a very fragile offering-tablet of the

deceased king, inscrilied with his name.
this,

was possible

to

copy

but the crumbling condition of the stone

made

it

impossible

to rescue the tablet itself.

n

In chapel No.

ti.

however, we discovered

well-preserved royal otFering-tal)let. also bearing the royal names

)

and titles (see Fig. <) and this monument we were able to forward in good condition to the museum at Khartum. The unexpected condition of the pyramids at Meroe involved much more labor than we had anticijmted, and we were obliged to proceed much more rapidly than I desired, or than our usual plan of work permits. As the first attempt, however, to secure and jireserve a complete record of all the documents surviving there, our negatives and copies may serve as permanent archives of the place. So many of the chap-Is contain du])licate scenes, that probably only a small proporti'm of the inscribed walls that have jierished We were disappointed at finding practically no are really lost.
inscriptions in the Meroilic script.

The most important were

14

The American Juikxal of Semitic Langiages

and
in

reiiiovinl ))y Lt'|)Siiis.

view

>f

the subsecjueiit fate of

stj

uiiuh

on

this site,

it

is

a matter nf ccjnjjrntnhitioii that

he

tliil

su.

The
on had

quarries, from whicli the stone was taken for these pyrnuiids. are
in the eastern riilge farther out in tlie desert.
Visitintj these

the last day of our stay.

founil that the vast quarry-halls

tlie

been [)ushed entirel\ throuj^li

top of the

liiil

to the other side

Kir.
c'licl

8.

In'>rri|>tin
lit

lui

Snn(l<tnn>- OITi-riiic-Tnblpt of Ervitmi'DP*.

lit

Found

in

aehaiwl of

Kroiiii

.MiTiM'.

how

KhiirtAiii.

at least live
Ix'en shot
inelint> of

hundred
ridfje.

feet.

Knornious masses of stone

ehi|>s

have

over the
the

8lo|>t-

and

lie

like a

mountain on the eastern

In one |>ortion
.s4>verHl

Th^ place must have lM>en workinl for een-

turies to prinUu-e such vast excavations.

hiinilred feet lon^. the r<Hif of the hall has fallen in. |ir<Kliicin^

an enormous crater in the top of the

hill.

Such

a tpiarry

from

ancient K;;yptian times woidd unilonlittHlly contain a numlM<r of

inscriptions
l>nt left

l>y
I

oHicials

ami architects

in charj;e

*if

the work;

iiiiforiiiiiMteiv

found none here.

Second Pkelimixakv Report of Eoyptiax Expedition

iii.

15

naga and mlsawwarat

at tlie rnins of
tlie

Having spent two weeks

evening we were encamped

ber 11, found us again on the line of

at

Meroe. Sniiday, NovemKliartum railway, and by

Wad Ben

Naga, forty-eight miles

south of the pyramids of Meroe.

In Lepsius" day. this trip would

have consumed from two to three days. The next day we were somewhat delayed by dearth of camels, and leaving Wad Ben Naga some three hours late, began the twenty-four-mile march southeastward into the desert to the temples of Naga. Darkness overtook us long before our destination was reached, and although our
late start

had made

it

impossible to stop for anything to

eat, I

shall never forget the

evening march across the

starlit desert.

To

one familiar only with the desert of the north in Egyptian latitudes, this southern desert is a great surprise with its green wadis,
groves.

water worn from the rains, and supjmrting considerable trees and In a broadening of such a valley called Wadi Auateb, a
river,

long day's march from the

the work of the same

stand the temples of

rulers

Naga

(Fig. 7),

Nubian

who

are buried at Meroe.

here.

They evidently had an important residence

numerous buildings
of stone,

On

the north-

west of a group of at least six temples there are the remains of

and

brick, three of

which

at least

were considerable colonnaded structures.

)

The

oldest temple here

(Fig. 8 evidently dates from Ptolemaic times, while the not un pleasing kiosk (Fig. 10) before the tem])le of the great queen (Fig.
It) is

evidently of

Roman

age.

erected an excellent rest-house here, and

ing good water, so that work in this

The Sudan Government have dug a deep well, furnishremote site is now practicable

We exhaustively photographed and copied the numereasy. ous reliefs and inscriptions here, but as compared with Meroe, the enigma of it all was even more puzzling, an impression which was
and
only heightened after a hot half day's march northward to the Here is a vast complex of stone ruins of Mu.sawwarftt (Fig. 11).

masonry, once the palace of the Nubian line. It is some three hundred paces square, and in the midst of a raised base is a sumptuous peripteral building (Fig. 12), more likely to have been
a state hall than a temple.

Just northeast of

it

there

is,

however,
another.

an evident temple, and

at

the north end of the site

still

Iti

The American' Joirxal of Semitic

LAS<;i'.';r

SiXdM) rKKI.IMlNAKV RePORT OF EcJYPTIAX EXPEDITION

17

l^^i

The Amebran Joirsal of Semitic LAXuLAdEs

tlu'

Enst of
ti'inpli'S,

jmlace n half-iuik- out in

tin-

dosert are two

tlu'

more
Ik?

thf larger of whifli coiitaiiis alaiost

tlie

only reliefs to

found

at

place.

These

latter

temples are close to the vast

iiLScriptions here at

walls of

ail

extensive reservoir, which sup|)lied the royal residence

with water.

There are practitnliy no

all.

hi...

l>.

Triii|il-<.fil... giiiM-n

..f

ih..

K.TliDi Ji-i'lr>.

.11

>..i.-.i

Thrnu;;liout the course of his work nt MenM'. Na<jn, and Mnt<iwwarftt,

the

K'.jyptologist

feels

himself siuliienly projtHttl into n

totally

unknown chapter

of history

and

art.

Tin- sculptures reveal

a different world,

ami are not

eslinialile

hy any analojfies known

l*n<loul)tedly
coiuinf;

to the olwerver, whih', to inoreatk' his U'wilderuieiit, the ins^Tip-

tioHB refuHO (o yield

up

their siTrets.

tlt

deciphi-riiieiit of the .Meroitic inscriptions will relieve

us of uiiu'h

of this emharrassiiient.

It

was with something of

n-lief, then'forp,

that our short visit nt MiisawwnrAt concludetl our rapid excurii>n

into these

monuments

of the far south.

While

.Mr.

Dnvies and

Second Prkliminary Report of Egyi'tiax Expedition

myself made a brief
pered by the
visit

19

in

Khartum, unfortunately much hamat the

festivities of
at

Bairam, the nineteenth of November

found us eneamiwd

Abu Hamed

head of the hmp; fourth

map.
Fi>j. 1).

cataract region, at a point wliere the Nile turns sharply south-

westward

for

some twn

liiuulred miles (see

Fio. 10. Temple of Koni.in Abp at Nhkh.

IV.

FOIRTH CATARACT BEdlON

two hundred miles, about one hundred and forty are so broken up by outcropping of the granite through the Nubian sandstone, that it forms one long succession of often dangerous rapids, the lower of which arc known as the "fourth cataract,"' though tlie entire group from Abu Hamed onward is

Of

this stretch of

also frequently included in the term.

This region
in

is

the second

serious

obstruction

to

navigation
is

the

ascent

of the Nile.

Though

the second cataract

even worse

it is

not quite so long,

2i)

The Amkrican Joiknal of Semitic Lasgi'aoes

Secoxi* Prkli.minakv

KiiroKT OF Egvptian Expedition

21

and is so comparatively near their ancient frontier, tliat the Pharaohs successfully passed it. The fourth cataract, however, is so remote and so long that the Pharaohs never surmounted it. Tliey were never able to push their frontier above it. At its foot they built a frontier administrative city. Napata, and at the greatest expansion of the Empire, Karoy, the region about Napata, was

Fli..

li.^Cclitral P. ript.T.il

Bililrlirig

.it

.Milsiwwarfll frmii

NtiIiw

.-l

itficially

called

the southern

limit

of

the

Pharaoh's country.

Here, then, we were about to enter territory whose monuments we

could read, and we
felt more at home. I had some hopes that we might happen ujKDn the southern boundary land-marks of the Empire; for Minhotep, an officer of Amenhotep II, has left an

inscription in the quarries at Turra. near Cairo, stating that in the

land of Karoy (the southern boundary ). and in the laud of Naharin on the Euphrates (the northern boundary), lie had erected the
taVjlets of

the

king.''
II, 8800.

S! the author's) Ancient RcmriU.

22

Tm; Amerkan Jolrnal of Semitic Laxgiages

Arrivoil nt

Aim

Hnua-il,

tin- fenst

of

Bnirnm was not

yet over,

and we had much

of the cataracts.

difficulty in seeurin<j a f(o<jd boat for the

descent

The only

boat at AJ)u Hanied suitable for the

dangerous voyage had been brought down from KhartQui. and the owner refused to sell it. The manitir was doing all in his |>ower

and the onideh promised us one from a village but it was several days before it arrived, and then it seemed too small and hardly staunch enough to descend the rapids. A fortnight later when we had safely accomplished the descent of the cataract, we learned that a native who had emto secure another,

farther

up the

river,

barked
afloat

in

this boat with his four wives

It

was unable

to

keep

it

in

the cataract.

sank and

all

four of the

women were

drowned.

The owner of the other boat was finally prevailed u|>on by the omdeh and the mamtir to i)arf with it for fifteen |iounds. It was about twenty feet long, eight feet wide, and two and a half
it,

feet deep,

in

and built so heavily that when we put off with ten |>eople besides a good deal of baggage, on the afternoon of Novem-

ber 22, it carried all with ease. A small caravan which followed us on the right bank, carried further supplies, from which we drew

whenever necessary. The voyage of one hundred and forty miles through the successive rapids of the cataract was one of surpassing interest, with a sufficient spice of tianger ami risk almost every
day, to banish
It is
all

tedium.
in

impossible

the space

at

command

here, to

do more than

indicate the character and chief difficulties of a search for reconls

in this region.
an<l cliffs of the

We

began with an attempt

to search the islands

shore with thoroughness for such inscriptions as are regularly found in frontier flistricts of this kind fartln'r down
the river.

This sinm proved

to Ix-

an enterprist> of great

difficulty.

Ab soon

as the

numerous

islands, sonn>times of great size, lH>gan

ai)reast,

to lie in the

stream several

we could descend but one

For
if

of

several channels, and having descended, often through difficult

rapids,
it

was
in

iniiMissilih-

to reach the other islands.

we
and

HtXH

lied

llin-ading the

numerous nn-ks

in

swift water

reaching the mainland to go back to a |Miint op|Nisite the islands (lassed, it was im|K>ssible to bring back the boat, with which to cross over to tlii'in. Often the current was so swift that it was

Second Preliminary Kepokt of Kgvptian Kxpeuition

imjx>ssible to iiinkr a landing

23

on an island wo might be

])assing.

because of numerous rocks, ugly and jagged, projecting far out into
the stream along the shore.
careful observation of
in the
all

Our search

finally resolved itself into

river,

smooth rocks facing the

with a glass,

hope that one of the earlier tnnjierors might have marked his farthest advance there, as the Twelfth Dynasty Pharaohs did in the

Fig.

I.S. Liinclscapo in

the Fourth Cataract Rptfion.

second cataract region. But this search was necessarilj% for the above reasons, confined to the particular channel down which we were
passing.
It is

impossible here to devote any space to description

little

of this wild
Suffice
it

and interesting region so

known

to anhaeologists.'

to say that the only ruins

which we came upon were the

strongholds of the petty Nubian kinglets, the "meleks"'

travelers of a century

whom

ago found

still

ruling

tlieir

tiny kingdoms, the

fragments of the once great Nubian empire. Situated on commanding cliffs and juttiiig rocks, their dark sun-dried brick walls

and battlements formed

Cailliaud
is

picturesque center in not

it.

few scenes

the only one

who passed through

2i
of wild

The Ameruax Jihrxal of Semitic

and
stilitai

Lasgi.ages

v jxraiidt-ur in this

rMiii>t<-

wilderness.

inelnii-

elioly iiifiiiurial of later liistory in this rejfioii

we found on

tlie

island

of I'm Diit^ma, nl>out half an hour

lies

\>y

river Itelow El Kal>.

Here

the wreck of Colonel Stewart's steamer, sent out hy (ionlon,

while beleaijuered in Khartum, with dispatches for the outside

world (Fig. 14).

Obliged by the wreck of his boat

to land iu

.r ('..I..|>r|

Sl.'<

these dang'rous waters, a disaster doulttless due to the tn>noherv

of his reis. Stewart was fallen u|Hin by the crafty Aralis of
Monn.slr.
still

tiu'

living in the region,

and he and

all

his jnrfy were

massacred.

On

NovenilKT
at

:{(>.

having

In-en

nine days in the rapids, we

emergeil

the foot of the fourth cataract intosnuMitli water. At this

|M>iiit we met for the first lime the conlial assistance of Colonol Jackson, V. U., governor of the Dongola Province, who did nil in his jtower to further our work. lie placet! at our dis|ios{il one of

his pictures<|Ue

Nubian

|iolice,

wlxi acconi|>/inied us throughout

I'.ir

our work

in the

Dongola Province.

his

warm

hitspitnlity

and

Second Preliminakv Kei'ort of Khyptiax Expeihtiox

eviT-reiuly assistaiict>
at

25

wo nwc

liini a

great debt of

<jratituilf.

Here

Kareiiua wo were able to take possession of

tlie

two uiiggers. or

native cargo-boats, eacli of wliich was titted witli a deek-liouse for

our oecupancT.
are

b_v

the government Department of Steamers and

^Ir. V.

Boats under the direction of

H. Page, to

whom

our

tliaiiks

due

for

much

assistance.

The

larger of the two boats was

l-VUS", ^2*^*

Flo.

13.

descended the

rapid;-

Birnaack iu tlip Foiirlti Catarnct R'Rion. Boat in which the Expcilition from Aba Uamed to Ocbel Barkal (140 miles).

about

fifty feet

long antl twelve feet wide, and bore forward of the

cabin a convenient dark-room, one of the most necessary things in

our equipment.

their sailing abilities are very well understood

Such nuggers are equipped with two masts, and by the native reises;
<le])th

but being built with insufficient

of keel, in order to decrease

the draught, they are unable to sail down-stream with the wind

abeam, and soon

caused us

drift in ujxjn the lee shore, a difficulty

which

many
on

long delay.

After several days s|K?nt in settling

attention to the antiqui-

our

outfit

lx)ard,

we could devote our

ties of

the vicinity.

2<>

The American Joirnal of Semitic Laxcuages

v.

nai'ata

kiebel bakkal)
the very foot of the cataract,

Across the river on the

Fig. IN).

east, at

are the pyramids of Niiri, perhajm the oKlest juTaniids in

(

Nubia

Here eight are

still

standing in soui" degree of pres-

ervation,

while at least thirty-six more are scattered alxjut as

mere

heaj>s.

They

are oriented rougldy at southwest to northeast.

Vu.. Irt.-Ruiining

tin-

\iiiriihwn Rnpi.!.. IIh<

I.-i-t

nf Ih- K.mrlh Colnrnct.

and some
pieces.

at least

are of solid stone

masonry

to the center,

though
fall

of snch jMior (juality that they must of necessity rapidly

to

The

cha|H'ls are heaps of ruins, [ire.>*-rving

iliscriplioiis.

none of the
the prophet

sculptures or

Heri' prolmlily
i>f

lie

the kings of Nuhin.

for a brief time lords also

Isjiiah declainie(l in

Kgypt, against

whom
The

the streets of .leruwdem.

is still

exact situation

of their city of Napnta

its

matter of some uncertainty, but

state temples, with tra<'esof the neiglilx>ring |>daces. lie at the

fiHit

of the ini|)<ising

hour's walk from

mount of I^rkal ((ielH'l Harkal K a Kanima, and twenlv-live minutes from the

half-

river

Second

Pni:i,iMiNAiiv

Ki^i'okt of

Egvptian Kxi'kdition

"21

>

Tin: Ami:ui('as .liprKSAi.

oi-

Si.Mirh

LAN(;rA<ii:;

Second Preliminary Report of Egyptian Expedition

2'.)

on the right bank. Horo in tin- eighth century B. C. grew up the first independent Nubian kingdom, wiiich in the last quarter of the eighth century B. c. absorbed Egypt, and hekl it, with the exception of the Delta, taken by the Assyrians, until (501 B.C. A hundred
years later, perhaps impelled by the campaign of Psammetichos II
against Niibia. these Nubian [irinces were already occupying their

southern capital of Meroe. after which time they no longer resided

so frequently at Napata.

But the

earlier historj' of the place

dates far back of the rise of the Nubian kingdom.

years earlier, in the middle of the fifteenth century

II here hanging a brought from Tikhsi in Asia, u]xin the walls of Napata. as an example to the Nubians. It is a remarkable thing, therefore, that no remains of the imperial age, back of the independent Nubians,

Ameuhotep

Seven hundred B. C, we find rebellious vassal, whom he had

can be found

at Napata."

The buildings now known

;

there

all

date

from the Twenty-fifth or Nubian Dynasty but from the Eighteenth l^ynasty. when the Pharaohs took possession of the place, on through the intervening dynasties, to the Twenty-fourth, no monu-

ments have as yet been discovered there. Looking out through the palms of the village of Barkal, northward across the fields and the desert the splendid yellow mass of Mount Barkal rises on the nortliern horizon behind the rich green
of the palms (Fig. 19).

On

the southern flank of the mount,

facing the observer as he appoaches from the river, are ranged the
scant V ruins of six temj>les, extending in general in an east and

west line, and mostly facing east of south (Fig. 20).

of the

On

the west
suf-

mount

are two gnMips of pyramids.

The temples have

fered so sadly that e(>igraphic work exists cjnly in the large tem])le
at

the extreme east, and in another near the west end of the row.

The

large eastern temple

is

the oldest

now known

at

Napata,

end showing the name of a Piaukhi, probably the great Pianklii who conquered Egypt in An altar of Taharka the .second half of the eighth century B. C. But the (('(88-6t")3 B. C.) also stands in a side chapel at the rear.
the granite base of a chapl at the rear
" Lcpsins states that he found tho namp of Ramsps II here, but this was doubtless the IhroDP-namp a^sumpd by a later Nubian. We also found the name of Ws r- m " t R (thronename t.f Ramses II) here, but it was clearly later Nubian work. These late Nubians frequently assumed the great names >f t^yptian Pliaratilis.
'

1"

Tm; Amkkk

AN

.loi lisvi.

m- Se:miti(

LANtUACiEs

Second T'ri^liminarv Hkpokt hf lv;n'Ti\N

K\im:i)Iti(iv

:M

f"

'

'S'2

The American Joirsal of Semitic

iiikI till'

Langi'aue.s

hnll

UiTgv court in front i-tTtaiiily Ulnn;; to n

much

Inti-r

nffo, luid (loiil)tlfss ilnte

t'ln.
it

from

th*-

onrly

ifiitiirii's

of the Christian

The

Inter Niiljinn iiin^js

who

huilt the lnr;;e court ndonu-ti

witlt

siulpturfs whicli they t<M>k from older temples.

Es|>efiallv

notable are the two noble lions the ram at Berlin,

nil

now

in the British

Museum, and

of which were carried from Amenhote| Ill's

temple

at

Soleb.'
n.xis

numl)er of such rams

still

mnrk the avenue

all

down
It

the

of the forecourt, thou;h they are

but one

now

covered with rultbish.

was

in

this

temple that the annals of the Xuhinii king,

recoriled on granite stelae, were disccnered by an Kgyptian otticinl

ISC'J. They were shortly after removed and brought to Egypt by order of Mnriette. In the series of stelae thus rescuetl, those
ill

of the kings of the Twenty-fifth

Dynnsty who disputitl with Assyria the |K)ssession of Pnlestiiie and lower Egypt an- entindy lacking, leaving a noticeable gnp. I therefore very much desin-d
to find .some of the old

rememlHT where these

ago.
J. \V. to

At this

who might had been taken out over forty years juncture we received a very welcome visit from Mr.
of the neighlniring villages,
stelae

men

whom we are

Crowfoot, acting curator of the Antii|uitii>8 of the Sudan. indebted for much information. anil whoextendinl to
all

us every assistance in his jxiwer at

that of Mr. WoiKllaiid. inspe<tor at

times.
(

Meraui

With his aid and Men>we an ng>tl

)

native was found

of

who

told us with accuracy

and

detail the story

how

the stehu' were excavated and removHl. and |M>inted out

the place without hesitation.

He

t<Hik

us to the forecourt of the

large eastern temple, and |K)inting to the rear of the couit, indi-

cated the wall of the western half of the s'con<l pylon, or rear wall
of the forei'ourt, as the [ilace

where the

stelae
set

luiti

stoiMl.

We
clear-

therefore

engaged

a Ixxly of natives

and

them

at

work

ing the other half of the pylon.

We

kept from forty to sixty

men on

the place for a week, and reniov(*d the rubbish from an

tt*****

area extending ahuoMt out to the adjoining row of columns

Secoxp Pkemmixarv Kei'ort of Kgyi'tiax KxrKDiTioN

:i:i

:u

The American Joirsal of Semitic Lasglage*;

Dt'sceiiding to the level of the jinvenieiit,

Fij;. 2'1).
it

we fouml

tliat

had been removed.

No

trace of

nny

stelae

was

diseeriiihle.

The

excavation disi-losed reliefs on the pylon of enormous iliniensions.

showing the
before

kinj; slayinfj his

enemies

in

the conventional style

Amon. On

the westernmost column on this side of the court

a perfictlv piijiiivid

MiToitic inscriptiiin was

fciuiul.

Tln' denr-

lv<

I.,

r.'.

Exrnrnlioin

in Kin-l

Cdurt of Cin-nt Ani.m Tompln

Nn|>nlii .(ii'hrl Itarkali.

nnce also exjHised a

conrf.
Ixirne
It

hmi,' relief

on the inside of the east wall of the

in

depicts the sacred banpie containin^j the inn<;e of Anion

ih.-

on

shoniilers of the priests.

li'fore

it.

the place

occupied by the Pharaoh

in K;,'yplian reliefs of the kinil.

the

liijjh

priest olTers in<ense. while hiliiinl

him follows the

kinjj.

This

is

n striking; corrolMiration of the classic stories of the

pre-eminence

of the prii'sthood in the

insi-riplion ix-curs the

Nubian kinplom. In the accoH|wnyin>j name of a <|ueen who is mentiont'il on n

in rp|ier Kj^ypt."
1

statue in the Berlin

rvfnrvnrK In
Ilia

Museum which was found

1

IWrltii. No. tu;. Tlio nmiK'

Hnrlln

Inluo to

U pmlwhlx lo hn rmrt nb-rkrar). my frlfiiKl Seh^nrir mw H/, U, KI.

> iiMioblMirMrllw

Second Preliminvrv Report of Egyptian S^xpedition

Evidently the connection between this Nubian
of
kinfjjdoni

35
tliat

and

Egypt

in later times

was not entirely broken.

The
offer

three small temples lyinor immediately west of the large

eastern temple have

need not be summarized here.

now almost disappeared, and what little they The other important temple

>^
*--^ -vfc^>^

ife

30

The A.mkrican

Joi kxal of Semitic Langcaoes

tem[)les betwocii will have been the sanetxiary of Klionsu. tbe other

member

of the Thebaii triad.

at

While

work
tlie

u|)oii this

nel Jackson,

governor,

temple we reoeiveil a visit from Colowho has evinced tbe greatest interest
for his

work of conservation there among them. Cut by the wind-driven sand, they are slowly eaten away at the base, and would long since have fallen, but for the staunch ma.sonry with which be has supported them, as well as, also, the wails of the transvei-se hall of Taharka's temple. Approaching for work here one morning we found a knot of natives excavating at a siH)t where none of our men had ever been placetl, and 1 immediately investigated what they were doing. There wn.s a funeral taking j<lace in a neighlxjring cemetery, and these men were taking out flat stones to lay u|t<in the bo<ly in the grave bt-fore it was covered uj). On iiHjuiry it was found that they had been accustjmed to do this from time immemorial. It was thus evident why so much
in the Barkal temples.

But
left

would not

bt'

column

standing

of these temples hail disappeared since the time of Cailliaud.

On
men

being informed of these

facts.

Colonel Jackson had the chief

anil

of the neighl)oring villages

ins|H.'ctor,

sunmioned
otfense."

informed them of the severe

tiie

|>enalties

Mr. WcHMlland, the which tln-y would

incur on any re|H'tition of

The pyramids on
condition
tiiat

the

wi>st of

the mountain contain six wellbn<l

preserved s|K'cimens (Fig. 24) but the cha|)els are in such

they furnislied only scanty materials like tlu>se

at

obtained from the cha|K-ls

Menn".

There are

sevi'u pyramitls

on the crown of the

sl(i|>e

and ten more,

totally dismantle<l.
tlie

on the

lower ground farther south.

other ]>ynimid8 in Nubia.

Structurally they are of

greatest

interest, for the Humniits of three are better pre<rvel

than any

Here

at

the provincial capital of rp|Hr

nsi<l'd. wi-

Nubia, where the Twenty-fifth Dyna.sty largely

t'X|H'ct

might

them

to contain the iMxlies of the earliest

is still

Nubian kings.
thre<>

Hut this problem

unsettled.
s|i'nt

On

the twentieth of DecemlxT, having

weeks on
lb* moan-

the ruins of liarkal. our two ImmiIs cast olT for the voyage of over
HThnnnnrliiirnloif iho
ronnlii

Aiili<iuiiir> Onllniiiir iaoint for Ihn tinitrrlUiii of

by thn

.Siiilitii

(fiiTi>rtinirnt. t>ri*viilr fur

jrpiir'

im|iriMiiimvnl *

Ihi* fi^tiialty fur viicli

<litnictln of

aiirli^iit niiiiiiiinxiil<.

Second Preliminahv Repokt of Ivuttian Expedition

three Imiulrcd ami thirty
iiiih's

:57

arnuiul the western se^iiu'iil ut'tlie

upper half of the

S- throUii;li tlie thirfl

entaract to

tlie is

head of the

long series of rapids, of wliieh the

last

and worst

called the sec-

ond cataract (see

at

uiaj). Fiij. 1

).

We

anticipated leaving the boats

at

Kosha.

oni"

linndred and fifteen miles above Haifa,

the foot of

The Pyramiiis

al

Na].i

li..)

Barlfal) fro

itHKfii witn tplephoto attacliinent).

the second cataract.

Five miles fruui Barkal we made our

first

stop at Merowe, the present capital of the Dongola Province, and

Here we enjoyed the cordial hospiwhom the Dongola Province is enjoying the most flourishing prosperity. He showed us the remains on an ancient site east and southeast of the present town.
the residence of the governor.
tality of

Colonel Jackson, under

The

excavations

made

in erecting a

blockhouse during Kitchener's

campaign against the Dervishes had accidentally uncovered the remains of a temjile with a colonnaded hall, though the ground-

3N
]ilaii

Thk Ameru ax Joikxal of Semitic Laxglacjes

ciiuld nut
Im-

inmk'

(Jut,

as tin- destTted bIcK-khouse still stands

huildinj; lies in the vicinity

on thf niins.
near
it

Another colonnadi'd

and

hawk wioiiglit in black ijranite. All around these are nuuierous mounds covered with the jxjtsherds usual on such a site. They are all late so far as I could observe. ()n the
a colossal

desert side
dijjgers of

is

the cemetery of the ancient town, from which the sebakh have taken scarabs and statuettes, probably

The question arises whether this is the Empire town of Napata founded by the Eighteentli Dynasty in the si.xteenth
ushebti-figures.
b. c. The natives call the place Abu DOm. The name "Meraui" pro]erly attaches to the site immediately t>p|K)site Abu DOm. but was transferred to the jm'sent capital of Dongola at Abu DCtm now called Merowe by Kitchener. The name "Meraui has been shown by Le|>sius to 1k> Nubian. The original Meraui on the right bank, that is, on the same siile of the river as (ieltel Barkal and its temples, still contains a ruinous mamurlyeh, the

century

""

walls of which are tilled with sculptured fragments blocks, taken from ancient
U8<'d

and inscribed
and
re-

Egyptian tombs
times.

antl temples,

in cimiimratively

modern

Some

of these are older

Indeed, one of tliem U'ars an i.solated mention of "Per-Amenemhet" or "'House of Auienemhet." This can hardly be any other than one of the Twelfth Dynasty Auienemhets.
It

than the Nubian kings.

would be rash

tn

conclude that one

<>f

these kings at
less that

s>

early a date |H'netrated so far into the Sudan,

much

he

could have founded a town in this vicinity, but the interesting

fragment
temple
in

is

likely to

the vicinity.

belong to the ruin of some Empire tomb or In the middle of the inclosun' is a tine

block of granite i)earing the

name
llie

Seneferre-l'iankhi. and another

The place from which thew fragments caun-, Ix-ing on the same side of the river as tlu' Ctebel Harkal ruins and only five miles away, may either
in

fragment

the wall contains

name Taharka.

itwlf have i>een the ancient town of Na|>ata, or

tin-

fragments nuy
sit*-.

i-onceivably have tni-n carried from the (telx-l

Harkal

In

favor of this

last sup|Ksition is

the fact that the blink of St-neforre-

Piankhi
It

calls

him "iKdoved

of

Mut

residing in
thi>

Nnbia (T'-Pdt)."
rebuilt

may

therefore

have c<)me from

Mul temple

by

Taharka

at Cb>i>el l-tarkal.

Second Pbelimixarv Keport of E(;yptiax Kxtedition

vi.

3!^>

from napata to akgo

tliat

we took our last stroll through at Merowe, and enjoyed his kindlv hospitality for the last time, a pleasure which we shall not soon forget. On the twenty-second of December we passed the
It

was with great regret

Governor Jackson's sujierh garden

and also those of Tangassi. which more than burial tumuli, with a few unhewn stones scattered over them to retain the desert gravel of which they are composed. Some seventeen miles from Merowe on the right Ijank is a similar group of mounds, which we reached on the next day. In a winding wadi west of the cemetery, I was led by a native to what he called "buyut" ("houses"), which proved to be a series The walls of tomb chambers cut in the rock wall of the wadi. were plastered with stucco, into which were cut Coptic inscriptions, all of which had almost entirely disappeared except one in the These are among the southernceiling which I photographed. most Coptic inscriptions known. Reaching Bakhit on the same
so-called pyramids of Kurru.

are

little

day,

we found
still

there our

first

Christian church.

It is

one of a numof

Iwr

surviving in ruinous condition in the Dougola Province.

A.

They

arose in the sixth century

fell into

D.

on the christianization

Nubia, and

ruin in the fourteenth century,

tianity in this region

was supplanted by Islam.

when ChrisThe church of

by

Bakhit

is

surrounded by heavy fortress walls of sun-dried brick

with
stone.

reinforced

The

curtain

wall

is

strengthened
lines.

eighteen pi-ojectiug towers for enfilading the attacking

miles below Bakhit
th(>

A fmv
under-

Sudanese Aral)ic ceases

to be the native

tongue and the villagers sjx'ak Nuliian. though the

stand Arabic also.

men

all

On

the twenty-fourth of

the Nile l)egins to turn northward, and after which

to sail against the incessant

December we reached Debba. where we were obliged

and powerful north wind. On the and photographs at the Christian

way we made
fortres-ses of

brief obser\-ation3

Ed-Dafar and Genetti.

We

were held

at

Debba

all

Christmas day by a head wind, but managed to reach Old Dongola by the next evening. On the twenty-seventh I found a native north
of

Old Dongola on the

east shore, at a village

known

as Megalxla,

who

told of an inscribed stone far out in the desert.

Here, some

Ht

Tm; American Joibsal

frinii tlu- rivi-r.

(jf

Semitic Lasgiages
and
s<-at-

four miles
tfrt-d

n l)roiul wiidi fillnl with tn-t's

ii

vegetntioM passes like

tilt'

river of {jreiMi tlirouyli tlie di'solatt*

eximiiso of

jjravelly desert

and must

1)*

fetl

by subterraneau

and it is known from Megabda, we came uiK>n a low oval mound of red bunied brick some four hundred to five hundred feet long and half as wide. On its western margin lies a splendid
water.
Its course is roufjhly parallel with the Nile

as Letti.

Approaehinj^

it

granite block, a section of an olx-lisk, In-aring on one corner the

fragments of a four-lined Egypto-Nubian hieroglyphic inscription,

now

too fragmentary, unfortunately, to give us any informHtioii as

But it was eviilently a Nubian site of Meroitic age. Having passe<l the night at Kheleiwa, where there is n fallen granite column of a church long since engulfed by the river, we sto|)|)ed on the morning of the twenty-eighth at Shekh Arab Hagg, where we rode out again into the wadi of Letti. visited farther south the day before. Here, along all the eastern margin of this wadi, is one vast cemetery for miles and miles. Some of it is unto the place.

questionably ancient, but parts of

tribes along here.

it

are

still

in use

by the desert

of a holy

man.

Here and there rises a "kublm" or douu-d tomb Near such a kubba behind Arab Hagg li>8 the
I

section of a granite obelisk of the existence of which

was kindly

inforunil by Mr. Crowfoot.

inscription
liy

It

lu-ars

on each side a column of

is

Piankhi, whose Horus-name

once given as

K"-t"wyf, or "Bull of His Two Lantls:" and again as Mighty Bull Shining in Thebes." His nbty-name is yk'-Kmt, KuK-rof
Egypt."
tion

I'nfortunately his throne-name

is

not given.

Thi>

sh'-

had lieen roughly roundwl by hewing otF the corners, till it much resembled a column from one of the churches of the n>gion.
it

and as such

had undoubtedly

later s'rved.

It

will Ik evident,

some am-ient Nubian town ami temple existeil stmiowhere in this Wadi Letti. The onnleh fmm Shekh Arab Hngg, who was with us. staletl that he knew of other remains farther north, >n reaching the and we followed him northward for two miles. s|M>t the stone he had promis<'d to show us was found to In< lumtherefore, that
(

pletely covered by drifting sanil

and after searching

for stwne lime

we were unable
U-en

to hit u|M>n

it.

The

section of oU>lisk has since

it

tranH|>iirted to

Kharlftm. when<

n>>w

is

in the

museum.

Second Pkeliminary Repoet of Egyi'tian Expedition

vii.

41

argo and tombos

From
chuich
temple
at
at

this point until the island of

Komi

west shore) and the ground plan of a late

(east side)

Bugdumbusli

Argo was reached, only a Nubian offered us any new material.

late

We

found

New

Dongola, which we reached

on

New

Year's

market furnished us the last opportunity before the awful wilderness of Batu el-IJagar, for buying
Day,
verj- interesting
its

and

Here we were- delayed by a violent northern storm, until the afternoon of January + that we reached Stopping at the village or district of the island of Argo Arko). Tebe on the we.st side of the island we marched inland to a point
petroleum.
it

and

was not

nearer the eastern shore where there are e.xtensive traces of an ancient town.

The two well-known

colossi of granite, each

late

some
side

twenty

feet high, are

standing statues of

Nubian kings
fallen over
is

witiiout

inscription (Fig. 25).

of the temple entrance

They stood facing each other on each

and have now each

backward.

The mound containing the ruins of the temple and west, being some 250 feet long; and the
end. that
is.

elongated east
lie at

statues

one

of course, the front

end of the ancient building.

On

the northern side of the temple

mound
is

at

about the north wall of

the forecourt, west of the colossi

the sitting statue of

King Sebek-

hotep
south.

H'-nfr-R'-Sbk-hti))

of the Thirteenth Dynasty, facing

The age
must

of this statue has

it,

commonly been

confiised with

that of the two late colossi near

a confusion to which the present

of the

writer
statue,

also plead guilty.

to

The presence

Sebekhotep

commonly supposed

be very large, on this remote island

has been generallj- regarded as evidence that Sebekhotep of the

otherwise insignificant Thirteenth Dynasty, had extended the

(wwer of Egypt southward from the second cataract to this point. An insjX'ction of the Sebekhotep statue, however, must lead to a different and important, even though negative, conclusion. The statue in the sitting posture measures about four and a half feet in height Fig. 2<V). It weighs far less than tin- British Museum lions, which some late Nubian king transported from Soleb below the third <-ataract three hundred miles up the river to Gelxd Barkal Without further evidence of any compiests in NuViia (Napata). by Sebekhotep, therefore, we are i)erfeetly safe in concluding, that.
(

The Amkkican

.Uh usal of Semitic

Langiaues

'.tr\r^'.

1
i ^

Second rKKLiMiSAKV Retort of lv;vrTi\N

FIxt'ehition"

43

44
like the

Thk Ameruan Joiknal of Semitic Lasgiages

Soleb
lions, this statue of Si-W-kliotej)
lenii)le of

wns carried south-

ward from some

northern Nubin by a late Nubian king.

We

are thus relieved of the confusing and anomalous suj>|H>sition

weak Thirteenth Dynasty, after tlie fall of the MidtUe Kingdom, advanced the southern frontier of Egypt over two hundred miles southward. The gradual absorption of Nubia by the Pharaohs thus becomes an intelligible and traceable progress southward at times when such advances of the frontier are quite in harmony with the internal vigor of Egypt. As we left the Dongola Province at this jHjint, we wi re imthat the

pressed with
is

//((

liisloricnl sii/iiijirniirr

of Us fronnmir

ruliii:

It

a rather general impression

among

Egyptologist-s that the sole

motive for the southern advance of the Pharaohs and their steady al>sorption of Nubia was the desire to control the southern trade
routes

coming out of the Sudan

in the eastern desert,

anil

to hold

the

Nubian gold

mines

but that the land

itsi-lf

offered nothing

which wtjuld attract conquest. Having now traveled the entire length of the Dongola Province, viewed its broad fields and splenilid

munities,
at

palm groves, sheltering and feeding so many pn>s|x>rous comtin- economic vahu' of the region to the Pharaohs U-came once apparent and much more strikingly s<j than from any n'|><>rt

of

some other

traveler.''
it

Here

at

the northern gateway of this

was signiticant to find the memorials of the king with the above Sebekhotep out of the way) it now beto whom comes evident that the concpu'St of llu- entire n-gion was due. The
jiroviuce, also,
I

Miildle Kingilom (20(H) ITSS

b. C.)

had definitely advancel the

southern frontier of Egypt to a

at

iK>int

some

forty miles alx>ve Haifa,

During the |HTiKl of weakness anil confusion culminating in the invasion and dominii>n of the Hyksos, after the fall of the Twelfth Dynasty, it was not to U ex|nctt><l that anv further soulhward advance would U' made. Now that the anomalous SeU-kliolep at .\rgo is out of the way. we know that

Kummeh and Semneh.

With the expulsion of the Hyksos, however, none was made. ex|mnsion northward and southward followed, and hence we tind the reconis of Thutmom' 1 (last quarter of the sixteenth century
B. V.
)

exteiuling from
lil>

tin- first

cataract ev'rsiuthwanl at intTvals

hiM

I'Mchaarrr In
lon>iiliHl

|iuhliealln

SiuUfn

cxpmawl

ImUiir opinion, from

liiipn-<-

from Lo|>Uia' nnlfo.

Second Preliminary Report of Egyptian Expedition

through the ilangi'ious waters
wilderness of the Batn
el

4"3

niul difficult
until,

marches

in

the desolate

IJajjar.

having surmounted the

first

rapids of the third cataract, he was the the

Pharaoh

to stand at

northern gateway of the Dongola Province.

Before him

flowed over two hundred miles of unbroken river, winding

among

the richest fields and the most opulent ])alm groves in the Sudan
(Fig. 21).

With the

difficulties of the

long advance

now behind

him, and the decisive battle over, he halted here for a well-earned
rest,

and opposite the Island of Tombos

stelae

Fig. '27) he erected five

calling

triumphant

"Overthrower of limits of his vast empire, from the upf)er Euphrates on the north, to this remote province on the upi)er Nile (Fig. 28). At the same time he took measures to protect and hold the new conquest, and built a for-

commemorating the conquest, Kush," and proudly reciting the

him

Thus when we have excluded the alleged advance of this region, Thiitmose I and his monuments here gain an entirely new significance. He was the first of the Pharaohs to view this great garden on the u]>per Nile, and to him its absorption by Egypt was due.
tress here.

Sebekhotep through

There are no traces of the

fortress

stela-inscription on the eastern shore,

mentioned in the largest where the stelae all are; but

on the upper (southern) end of the island of Tombos opposite the

stelae, is a

tain the nucleus of

Nubian stronghold of Thutmose I's

.sun-dried brick,
fortress here.

The

which may conrocks on the

rapids

island

and the neighboring mainland belong

to a granite ridge,

which cropping out here causes the

Abu Fatma and Hannek

immediately below, these being the chief rapids of the third cataract. Both on the island and the eastern mainland the granite has l)een
extensively quarried, and in the eastern quarry there lies a prostrate royal colossus left nearly finished.
It is evidently

from here
taken.

that the granite shafts for the large colossi on

Argo were

They show
of

same color. It should be noted also that the granite the Sebekhotep statue there is of much darker color than that
the

of the large colossi, or that of these

Tombos

quarries, the only

granite near Argo.

The

granite rocks in the middle of the island

rise fifty to seventy-five feet

above the river and bear numerous

rude

graffiti

of

workmen,

chiefly clepicting animals

and

boats.

!'

'I'hi:

Amkricas Journal of Semitic LAXdiAOEs

ur

i..i!

Second Preliminary Report of EcapxiAX ExrEDinos

Further south,
island,
botwet'ii the fortress nail

47

thegrnuite qunrries of the

we found on a low rock a new inscription. It is dated in the year twenty of a king whose name is certainly either Thutmose III or Thutmose IV. The space for the three plural strokes which would make the name that of Thutmose IV, has been broken out. but there is room for them, and the question arises whether

Flo. 2H. PhotograpliiiiK Tombris Stela nf Tbiitmosol.

falleu rcKk at left.

The stela isinscribcdontho

large

the preceding sign, the beetle (bj'r), has been slightly inisiilaced

by accident, or intentionally so placed to make room for tiie following plural strokes. The available documents from the reign of Tlintniose IV and his age at death (twenty-four) as shown by his

mummy,
The

are against his having reigned so long as twenty years.

inscri|)tion

belongs to a new viceroy of the south, "king's-son,

governor of the southern countries. Ani." His name occurs in two places, and both times has been carefully erased. The first
time, the remains of the signs projecting above and below

and

preceding the era.sed surface would indicate with tolerable certainty

48

The Amijkk

an .huHNM. of Semitic Languages

It i-oiitaitis I'iglit

that the iinute

is Aiii.

lines,

being a praver to
reailines.s, in

the gods of Nubia for '"valor, vi^^ilanee

the favor of the king" and the usual material blessings.

Aiii adds,

however, a
the king.

list

of the products of the

are:

They

"[)erfuuies

Sudan which he delivers to lynuit), ivory, ebony, carob

the panther. Khesyt)

wood
Kush."'

(a

word

lost), skins of

wood, incense of the Mazoi, being the luxuries (s|>sw

of wretched

The Mazoi were

the Nubian tribe occupying the country

within the upper loop of the Nile-S. and

river

now included

lR>tween the

and railroad from Haifa to Abu Hanied. It is evident that the bulk of "Kush" was the Dongola Province. Tliis is the southernmost inscription of an Egyptian viceroy, and the tirst yet found in the Dongola Province. On the way to Tombos Davies went tint to the strangi- massive mufl brick uiastabas at Defufa and made some general obs'rvations and phot<>gra])hs. These enigmatical monuments would re|>av a more extended investigation than it was [Missible for us to make in the limited time at our dis|)sal. At the same time I went (h)wn the west shore to a jtoint well toward Tnmbns and collected some
(ImIii

on

till'

ri'niains nf a cliun-h in .\kkail imrlli nf Hatir.

VIII.
(

TIIIKK

CATARACT
1

)n

(he completion of the nionumenls nf Thutniosi'

at

Tomlwis.

we

iiegan the pa.ssage of the third cataract. an<l accomplished safely

the descent of the

of January.

there
baii

is

Abu Fatma and Hannek rajiids on the eleventh These are usually called tin- Ihinl cataract, although one more, though easy, rapid just Im-Imw Haniiek at ShaanofhiT short, but
.\

and

still

much

worse, rapid

at

KagbAr, thirty

miles farther imrlh.

native
iHiat in

tem|Mst from the north, which wrecktnl a

the channel on our

beam

at

the

f<Hit

of

Hannek.

Iield

us nioiired at the north end of Siniit

<-ataract all

Island, alHive the Shnluin

day the twelfth of January.

JHtal to Im-

We

sent out our felucca,

the oidy small

had. to the rcM'ue of the two iNtiple cling-

ing to the wreck, but So |Hiwrrful was the wind thni the felui'ca wn8
three times blown past the wrei-k and carriinl olT to jm-wnnl. Iiefon*

shf maile

till-

wn-ck ami took the owner

anil

his Hon nshi>n\

Shortly afterward, a fold of our badly hous4-d mainmiil having Imimi

Second Preliminary Eetort of Egyptian Expedition

caught by the gnle,
the lower half of
it

40

was quickly whipped from its lashings and snapped into ribbons before the slovenly Nubian sailors could secure it again. The next day the wind had abated but the rejiair of our mainsail delayed us half a day, and the night of January 13 found us no farther on than the head of This we ran on the fourteenth and in the the Shaban rapid.
it

Fir,. 2fl.-Oiir

Lartcr Gyas^a Dvi'CdKlinc tbp KaghAr CnlarHCt.

evening of the fifteenth we moored but a few miles above the

KagbAr
of

rapid.

By noon

of the sixteenth

we had secured

gang

men from

the neighboring village and had begun the passage

of the difficult

KagbAr channel.

It

lies at

the west end of the

nigged granite ridge which stretches across the river here like The drop in [x-rhaps three or four hundred feet an artificial dam. is considerable and the channel makes two sharp turns, forming a
complete inverted
Z-

However, when darkness overtook

us. the

smaller of our two gyassas was safely through, though only after
a narrow escape at one point, and the larger Ixjat was lying in the
|r)wer

angle of the Z (Fig.

2'.) |.

This was an uncomfortable

situ-

50

The American Joiknal of Semitic Languages

jxjiiit

ation, at a

where the boat was ex|)OSed

to our discomfort a

to the full fury of the

swift water ilLSc-eiuliug the long reach of the Zsible,

Sleep was
otf

inijjos-

aud

to

add

heavy wind

shore sprang

up.

Above the

roar of the cataract surging beside us I heard,

about midnight, the sharp snapping of canvas fluttering in the wind, aud on going out could discern through the darkness the
mizzen-sail loose from its lashings, and drawing heavily. The reis had moored the boat only at the Ijow, and the stern was now driven by the mizzen-sail out into the rapid. The single forward line chafing on the rocks fortunately held long enough for the fright-

ened crew

to carry a line ashore

from the stern, but they could not

in the night, however, or

draw the stern

in again.

What we escai>ed
last

a similar mishap, overtook us the next morning.

We succee<led

in

avoiding the rwks in the

reach of the Z, and were driving

still

across the river at the foot of the cataract in the heavy wind

blowing, when we ran u[)on a hidden rock under drove a large hole through the starboard bow.
rapidly, and

full

way. which
Ixiat tilled

The

the

water

Imil

reached the

after-deck,

which

is

always low

in

such craft, in a few minutes, but fortunately just as

she sank the heavy wind had beached her.

The

story of the

removal of our stores as the water rushed into the hold, our etforts to prevent the craft turning over into deep water anil driving with
the current a total wreck, and the various attempts to rejvair the
hull

cannot

l>e

added here

to

burden
in

this brief

recital of

our

winter's work.

We

succeeded

stopping the hole sufficiently

in

to bale out the water,

and right her. and

the tinal work of

patching the hole inside and out, we enjoyed the assistance of the ShellAli natives of Mr. Scott's government surveying |>arty,

which by extraordinary good

along the eastern desert
op|>ortuiiity to express to
at

fortune
tlie

lia]>|MMie<l
I

to

passing
of
for this this

moment.

am

glad

him our sense of obligation

lt>,

elTective aid.

Our wreck
stores were
all

took place on .Innnary

of

and the

ri|>aii-s

were
heavy

compli'ted by the t-veiiing

reloadetl
it

the

seventeenth.

Altliough our
tin-

by niHin of the eightt-t-nth,

north wind

made

im|M>ssible to start,

and the

wintl continuing,

the evening of the nineteenth found us only three miles north of

Second Preliminary Report of Egyptian Expedition

the fatal Kaghftr rapid.
first

51

that

It was not until noon we had made the few miles necessary

of the twentyto reach

Dulgo

and the temple

IX.

of Sesebi.

discovery of ge.m-aton, ikhnaton's KELiGiors capital in IPPER NUBIA

The temple

of Sesebi heretofore attributi'd to Seti

it

I,

has long

been known, although

region of Nubia.

lies in

the heart of the most inaccessible the third cataract a

river,

It is situated at the foot of

few miles below the Kagbar rapid on the west side of the
opposite Dulgo, the residence of the
is

mamur

of the district.

It

thus separated from the south by the third cataract, and from

the north by the long and terrible rapids of the second cataract.
It

has therefore not often been visited by Europeans.

first

Burckhardt,

European of modern times to penetrate into these regions between the second and third cataract, passed the place in 1813 ;'' but as he went up the eastern bank he never saw the temple of Sesebi, or at least makes no reference to it.
almost the

In January, 1821, the able Frenchman Cailliaud, in company

it on his southward journey, and spent a day there." As he continued southward, he passed several days later, the two Englishmen, Waddington and Hanbury, coming

with Letorzec, reached

northward on their return journey.

The

latter two, therefore,

;'^

arrived at Sesebi eleven days after Caillinud's visit

so that the

Frenchman was the modern discoverer of

of this temple.

the temple.

Waddington

was evidently under the belief that he had discovered the existence His brusque treatment of Cailliaud would indicate also some jealousy of the latter's possible achievements in this

" Poncct (16981. who gives no account of the monuments in the country, probably never saw Sesebi. and du Ronle. who perished in Senaar, of conrsc jiublished no account of his journey (1704). Norden )lT;i8t did not even reach the second cataract, and Bruce. returninK from Abyssinia in 1772, did not follow the river here. In 179.3 Browne's visit to Dftr-FOr did not carry him into this rpKion: and Leith (1813) stoppeil at Ibrim. half way from Aswan to the second cat-aract.
1*

autret ninit ; fail

Voyage d Mero^, au Fteuve Btanc, au-dcM de FAzoql d Syouah ct datm cinq dam leiannfet fflD, IXK), Ii2tel lxl2,par M. FrM^ric Cailliaud, de Nantes,
. . .

Paris, 182B (2 vols, of plates.

vols, of text). Text.

Tome

I.

p.

:t87.

'5 Journal of a 1'Mt to .Some Pnrtt nf BIhiopin. By GeorKe Waddington. Esq.. and the Rev. Barnard Hanbury. London. 1K'J2. i>p. 279. '280. Cailliautl states that he reachetl Sesebi on January 6. and met the Enelislimeu on the eleventh. Waddincrton affirms that he met CaiUiaud on the fourteenth and arrived at Sesebi on the nineteenth.

52

The Americas JorBNAL of Semitic Languages

The
Eiiglislinian Hoskiiis,

region."

on account of a

reliellion

among

the tribe of the "Miihnss," avoided the river at this

cut otr
tlie

|oint.

He

Ix'nd in the stream, on

which our temple

passed tlirough the desert from Fakir el-Bent to and 4. lH3i}. He therefore never saw Sesehi. Eleven years later, on July 4. 1S44, the great Prussian, Lepsius visited Sesehi on his way north;" but two generations elapsed Ix-fore it was again the object of research. In l'.H)o Budge" visited the place, and the
present writer on behalf of the Oriental Exploration

and Soleb on June 3

is

situated,

Fund

of

The

University of Chicago sfxMit

I'.MIT.

|>art

of two days there in January.

Tile

first

account of the temple ever publishetl was that of

{i>]).

Waddington
tlescription

n't.,

pp.

'27i* if.,

:i'H)).

who accompanies

his

hv a small plan. For his day, his observations are well

facts.

ma<h',

and accord perfectly with the

])lace

He

also

made an

attempt to identify the

("ailliaud,

with the ancient "Aboccis" of Pliny,

fuller oliservations

who was

good draughtsman, made

and
tive

j)ublishe<l a j>lan of the town, a plan of the temple, a j>er|HM.--

and an elevation of one of the columns {op. ciL, PI. VII VIII ). It is evident from his sketch (PI. VIII that the site of the temple was encumbered with much more rubbish in his day than at present. Neither Waddington nor C'ailliaiid enjoyed a knowledge of hieroglyphics, as the researches
view,

Planches. Vol. II.

)

of

'ham|K>llion

were published
that

the

ne.xt

year.
b'en

Nevertheless.
coveretl

Waddington
by time.
I

says,

the columns

"have

with

hieroglyphics and figures which are

much
(

deface<l
I

copied three or four which

in the

lo

and worn away not rememlx'r to

have tibserved
gius

temples of Egypt"
alter Tem|H'l.
iin<l

/. ri7., p.

280

I.

L*p-

was the

first

visitor with a knowletlge of hieroglyphics.

eiii

He
uj .

says:

"Hier stand
i .

von welchem jed<H'h nur

ramuln wil<lrni<^<.Wiid<ilnt<>n
.,..i ,.r......i.
.i

iOr hl>
Isnlinati
(op. ri
,

mwtina willi ('allliiiod

f..

L<>t<>r*r In tl<i
i.i,

"WKmrroljr fT-'
p.
.;.

........ i. ../.,.

r.

...-.-i.,

'.

Tumx
p.
I'

II.

pp.

......,

'

U.

M0>, thn Kiitfll^limnir*

aliiivn wnitis artnni rruriita.

Brir/r auj Argtl'*'". AtlhitipitK.

\itii.

Hxd
<<

<lrr

HiilhlHtrl ffn SInat.

T< RichanI Lr|niu>

! Tl*..

Uarlln.
<

p.

2M.
tit llitliirt

Thr Kutl'l""* Huitan,

I.

UoHUmmIt

h; Iv

W*IU< BwU*.

Uw-

l.m. IW:. Vol.

pp.

Til. tritl.

tmff.

Second Preliminary Report of E(;yptiax Expedition

iiocb

u3
dicse

vier

Sftiileii

uiit

Palmt'iikapitAleii

aufret-hl stehen

trageu die Schilder Srflios

I. die sftdlichsten,

die uns von diesem

KOnige begegiiet
(I,

siiid''

Bvl<-fc.

\^.

'25t)).

In his Dcnkmiilcr

118-19), he furnislies the only good plans, of city and temple,

.'35)

with a fine aquarelle of the ruins (Fig.

of the columns.

Since

my

return to Europe

and an elevation of one I have had the

I find

opportunity of examining the unpublished manuscrijit of Lepsius'

venerable "Tagebuch'' of his Nubian voyage, and
of the acute observations

there one

we have learned

to expect

from him.

His only remarks on the sculptures, after a description of the columns bearing them, are the following: "Die Mitteltableaus der Saulen sind auch sehr zerstort und alle tiberschnitten als dies geschah wurden die Hiiulen auch mit Kalk tiberzogen." Budge visited and examined this temple with the purpose of excavating it. His conclusions as to its origin and value he states thus: "This temple was built by Seti I, king of Egypt about
;

li{7(J

B.

An
to

examination of the ruins of Seti's tem])le

it

convinced both the inspector and myself that

of

would be

a waste

money

dig there."
hill of

Looking southwestward from the

day, the temple of Sesebi and
plain
its

Sese at the present

ancient city are lost in the wide

(left.

which stretches far away westward from the Nile

During the writer's entire stay at Sesebi (from noon of one day until noon of the next), the air was so obscured by flyiug dust and sand that at no
Fig. 30), to the distant hills of the Sahara.

time was the horizon clearly visible. This is evident from the photograph (Fig. 30|. The violence of the wind was such that work ujxin the temple was almost impossilile. Our camera ladder was hurled to the ground and l)roken, and a circle of poles and braces around the camera failed to prevent the agitatif)n of the
instrument by the fierce blasts of the tempest.

Evidently Lepsius
in his

met with

a similar experience, for he

remarks

(MS,

p.

21), "Alxlrflcke der Inschriften konnten des

"Tagebuch" Wiudes
it

wegen, nicht gemacht werden."

taken under almost prohibitive
fury of the wind.

All our photographs here were

difficulties,

and indeed

was well
full

nigh impossible even to use a notebook when ex|>osed to the

One would dodge

out from the lee side of a

54

The Amkrkan

.I<>i

ksai,

of Semitic Lasgcages

Second Prei.iminakv Report of Kgyptian Expedition

55

otl

The American- Jolrnal df Semitic Laxgiages

iluring n uiomi'iitaiy
lull,
iiiaki>

coluuiii

a hurrietl

ijl>st'rvntioii.
l>tatinfj

and hastily beat a retreat

lint

to escape n delujje of

sand

like

cinders in one's face, and record the observation in the wel-

tt3o-

-*JK^

"

^^'

Q.

0]

"D?

Fill.

K-

I'l

I.

tivi.

come
uicin

nhil(er
ill

(jf

the culunin.
for

Nor nro Huch

wind.** as tht8> inicoinnt n

Nubia; they blow unnimte<l violence, and tlie

In
Ihi- uh*-

davH or even weekH

time with

ijiiiet

intervalH usually continue but n

few dayn.

of the accoin|ianyiii^ |i|iotographs, then-fon-.

Second Preliminary Repcjrt of Egyptian Expedition

the reader
is

57
are

requested to bear these facts in mind.

They

not what they would have been under different eircunistances.

The temple
tion, alx)ut five

of Sesebi stands not far from the line of cultiva-

minutes" walk from the Nile (Fig. 34).

It

was

built of sandstone

and

its

ground plan was about

forty meters in
in a tolerably

length by twenty meters in width.

accurate east-and-west line.

The

axis is

The

rear portion of

the building
slioit

has disappeared entirely and even in Cailliaud's day only a

section of the lower courses of the north wall was ol)servable.

At the present day the exterior walls

ait-

nowhere

visil)le,

though
rajjidly

excavation would doubtless disclose their position.

falling river forbade our undertaking

The

any clearance of the walls

plan of the interior at
the arrangement of the

here,

much
is

to

our regret.

The ground

the rear

entirely problematical, but

and was already perceived by This portion of the building consisted of two columned halls, one behind the other, each having eight columns in two transverse rows. Tliose
interior of the front half is clear

Erbkam. Lepsius'

architect (see jilan. Fig. 32).

of the rear hall have

now disappeared

Fig. 33), though Cailliaud

found four bases, of which we could

first

still

observe three.

In the

hall,

three columns of the eight

still

stand (Figs. 33-35).

its

They
still

are of the second row, which thus lacks only

southernhall,

most column.

In Lepsius" day a fourth column in this

It

was
it it

standing (Fig. 35).

of

was the northernmost

temple
is

in the first row."

The arrangement

this

therefore unusual

and

should be compared with the other temple of the age to which

belongs, just found by Borchardt at Tell el-Amarna.
exj>ect a court before the first

One would
find

hypistyle, but

we could

no

traces of

it.

Of the

relation of the building to the

town indosure we
is

shall

sjKi'ak later.

The

architecture of the temple

not of the best.

The palm columns

clerestory.

are all of the same height and there is no Their proportions are heavy, being much too thick

for their height; the height of the ca|>ital

approaches a third of

the entire height of the column, and they cannot be compared

"Small fraarments of it capita] ?till lieon thpaixit. Biidito still sawfatircdruirn. peak<^ of " inacrib**d portions of a doorway " {op. fit., p. 441),
and

o8

The American

Jolks.al of Semitic Languages

*2

.5

,^.-<

//

2]

Second Preliminary Report of KdYrxiAN Expedition

59

The Americas Jolbsal of Semitic Lasgiages

tlie Suit-

with
not

palm column

still

surviving at Soleb.

Sjiaci- will

])t'rmit

a detailed tliscussion of

the architeoture of these

columns here.

What
])resent

excavation

may

yet disclose cannot be foreseen, but at

lie

the unique anil remarkable history of the place can

drawn only from the sculptures and iiiscri[)tions on the three surviving columns. These we shall refer to as the northern, .southern, and middle columns. The reliefs on the northern and middle columns are on the south side; those of the southern column on the north side. The reliefs on the southern and middle columns thus face each other, and the aisle between them is the middle aisle, as the ground plan shows (Fig i{2). They
which the king is always at the east, and the god before him at the west facing east. This shows that the back of the temple was at the west and the
consist of otfering scenes in

facing

west,

front at the east, for such

is

the direction with reference to front

and back,

in

which the royal and divine figures in such temple

It
is

reliefs regularly face.

as

if

the god were issuing from the

holy |)lace in the rear of the temple, to nuvt the king entering

from the
first

front.
is

The
I.

king, as Le|>sius long ago ni>ted for

tlie

time,

Seti

He

stands with uplifted hands, bi-fore a

small flower-crowned standard, surmounted by an oblnt ion-vessel,

as

may

liest

be seen on the middli- column (Figs. US and 45).

(

An
it

examination of this middle column

important to folliiw
thus:

Figs. HS.
all

8'.l,

4'). 4l>)

will

show the reader

is

clearly the arrangement of

closi'ly.

these reliefs, which

TheGixl
*
<

The
.\ltar or .Stitndanl

Kinjr

<

)ii

the contiguous sides of the southern and middle columns, that

is,

on either side
is

<if

the "entral

aisli>,

the divinity tn

whom

Seti

olfera

naturally the great state-god. Anion.

Having this arrangement clearly in mind, we may now take up each column in succession. iN-giniiiiig with the stiutherii Here Anion is accompanied by his nnme Fig. u), column. while the name of the king (Fig. l'J is just almve the hitler's
I

extended amis.

Seconk

Pi!i:li.\iin.\rv

Kkimht of

I-j.^itivv

Kmmcdition

lil

)2

The American Joubsal of Semitic Laxgcages

Above
the king
is b

sun-disk adorned with the 8usj>ended serc-lear

[>ent,

over which
(

is

the band of heaven, extending

37,

across

the relief

Figs.

3t!,

and

4'2

).

Both the
king,

god and of have suffered much.

figures, of

The

king's

extended arms,
are
pre-

the heail of the gixl. and his

upiier
fig^ire
still

served.

Behind the king was

course also containing
Tliese were sura

a pair of cartouches of large

size, of

his

name.

mounted each by
the tojw

pair of

large feathers, of which only

now
is

survive (Figs.

37 and 42).
cartouch
ple

This style of
temanil

common on

columns

on scarabs

from the Nineteenth Dynasty onward. The formulae of offering and the i>romises of the gml. usual in such reliefs, are lost in the
middle of the lower half of the scene, on each
the offering standard.
siih-

of

(See Fig. 37.)

Behind

Amon
I

^i
1 1

ixrept the
Mild

was the figure of Mut, but it has completely disapix-ared s[)iral wire belonging to her crown (Fig. <i
faintly visible iH-hind Anion's tall

\
r"

.
,

'>^

feathers.

Her
(i).
.3<l)

m.

^
.

name is The

also visible by the top of the feathers (Fig.

relief

on the

niiddl.-

clunin (Figs.

3S,

is

J=d:

Iwtter preservetl.

It is precisi'ly like

that on the south-

ern coluuin.

Of the king's

tigure on the right only one

ell>ow of the uplifted arm.

and the

|Miinted front of the

Over his head is hung with the sacred ser|H'nt. and the sign of life. His name alwive his exteniled arm, is lu-re Ix'tter prtwrved (Fig. 45 ), The name of the g<Kl Fig, h) has
royal
kilt,

are presi-rved (Fig.

4.")).

the Hun-disk

"j

"
<"

*">"

entirely fallen otT except at the end.

I'nder the king's arm

is

is is
it

the designation of the cullus act, which he

|MTf<>rming,

It

interrupted by the
(Fig. c).

|M.int

of thf royal

kilt,

which runs out into

JSeconu Preliminakv KEriiRT OF Egyi'tias Expedition

t;;3

Fill.

?. -if.nbi T<>m|.lp.

Right

Si.l>-

nl Palimp-cDl R.-liff
Fii:. 41.)

i.n

Soathorii Column.

Expunged

Hgon-

nf

Ikhnston

in miildlo.

(Compare

04

The American Jolrnal of Semitic Lam;iages

Fill. Ti.

8nobi
Fl. K.)

Tiii|>lr.

I.<'rt

Kml

<>r

tMtir on Snullicrn Cliimn.

,\l

lop

lillr.

i>(

Ulmiil.in'<

qutwD.

(Sw

Secono Preliminary Report of Ecjyptiax Expedition

05

Flo. 38.-Scs<-bi Temple.

Riulit

Half

..f

Rolinf on Mid.lle

Column.

(Compare

Fi(f.

tT,.)

66

The Amerrax Julrxal of Semitic Laxgiages

The heaven-band above
the king's

head,

sto|)S

just

there

(Fig. 45). showing that there was no pair of large cartouches

behind him, corresponding

(Fig. 37).

to those

on

tlie

southern column

single

column of

text

under the god's

arm contains one of the conventional promises. Behind Anion, who faces the right with extended scepter, was
the figure of Ptah
(jr

Osiris (Fig. 4o), but only his

Fui.

./

two hands grasping the sce[)ter have survived. The beginning of his speech (Fig. </) is all that has been preserved. The heaven-band stopjied just behind hiui,
including no more than his figure.
of the relief scene.

"

_
Fig. r

The northern column ,11., Seti

(Fij;. o
\

has preserved little 40) ) on the right was offering

I

wine to Khiium on the left. Over the king are his two cartouches and the ser[)enf-liung sun-disk, as on both the other columns.
Thesun-disk bears the familiar (h-signation (Fig. r). The king was accompanied by his Avi-tigure, a smaller male figure, standing
beside him surmounfcil by
tiie titles

(Fig./|.
[\\.

Under the god's arm

is

the designation of the cultus-act (Fig.

is

This statement that the wine

hasty error on the part of the

offered to

Amon-Re

is

doubtless a

scril)e, for

the inscription (Fig. A)

over the god .shows that he was

Khnum.

Flo. /. A'd-titlpKorScti
<in

Km.

Fui. A. Titti>9 of UinI

Khnum on

Nnrthnrn Culumn.

Northeni Culumn.

Ill

this rapid survey of Seti I's reliefs the reader will prnlwlily
Ikhmi

have

disturlied

l>y all

intnisive figures.
tliree coininiis.
I,

Then>
It
it

is

a noticeably

intrusive

symbol on
Fig. 31, on
tlif

generally breaks into

the royal ovals of Seti

an<l is so large that

may

Ih'

seen at a

distance
lilt

two further columns).

reliefs
first

refer lo the d''ply

Ii>ginniiig to

disk at
a

top in the centt-r of Scti's

<>f

reliefs.

make

rwcjrd

Seti's

attackeil

the

southern

Second Preliminary Report of EciVPTiAX Expedition

07

L.-ft

Kn.l.if K.-li.f

..

M,

68

The Amerkan

Joi rsai, of Semitic Lax(;iages

i-iu. lu.

s-...i.rr

I'l'-

.;i.i

II

.If

( !; i"( ..! \..r!i,.

Second Preliminary Report of Egyptian Expedition

coliiDin. I

O'.t

seemed

was immediati'l}- orreatly puzzled by this disk. It have been out after Seti's inscriptions, as it so sharply interrupts them. But. when I considered its position on the other cohinniis. and |>erceived that it was in all three cases in the middle
to

'/4=//////.Vv/^^
Flo.

41 ExpuriKwl
Fie.
.3fi).

Fiifuroof Iklinnton behind

Amon

<

Soiitlicm

Column (Right

oiwl

compare

of the side facing the middle aisle. I conjectured that it was one of the deeply cut sun-disks appearing at the top in the middle of

Ikhnaton's adoration scenes, and that such scenes had once stood where we now find those of Seti I. I added the mental reservation that
I

would never

lie

able to prove the conjecture, and would

7n
iievt-r

The Amekkas Joirnal

think of puhlishing
I wt*nt
it.

of Semitic Lasgiages

This was during

figure of

tht-

tirst

tive

minutes of work.
column.

on with an examination of the s<juthern

Having passed from the

Anion

at

the right, to

that of the otiier su|t[)osed divinity standing Iteliind liim. I

was

entleavoring to diseern the head,

was suddenly confrontetl by the familiar outlines of Ikhnaton's figure, dimly discernible through the barbarous chisel marks of intentioual expunction. I glanced at All the |)eculiar and unmistakable lines were there. the other columns, now knowing where to look and what to look
I
for.

when

He was

there on

all

the others also.

These were

|>alimpsi>6t

columns, and this was a temple of the great revolutionary, the Indeed, they were then the first and only one known in Nubia.
only surviving monuments of his thus far discovered in Nubia. Furthermore, no other columns of the great heretic anywhere,

whether

in

Kgypt or Nubia, have

and the author of the
as Figs. 3(5

esca|)ed
all

destruction.

It

is

therefore imperative to demonstrate beyond

their builder

doubt that he was

tlu>se of

reliefs,

over which

Seti I have been sui>erimi>osed.

The southern column,

and

iJT

show, has

at

the top

of the relief, two heaven-bands: one directly above the deeply cut

Bun-disk*' in the middle, extends on the right

limits of Seti's relief; the second (lower

far Ix'youd the

down) cuts

directly acriws

the sun-disk and extends on the

left far

In'yond the other Imnd.

dearly visible alwve

cuts across a crown of

it

(Figs.

H*\

and 42).
at

This lower band also

clear in the photois

Lower Kgypt
It will

the right, which terminates

Ik-

under the up|H-r band. graph (Fig.

;{(>),

probably

that

the figure wearing this crown

that of

Ikhnaton, with his protruding chin, his obliipie neck, and his Fig. 41 ). nil barbarously chi.seled away crown tilte<l too far back

any rate evident that this ligure is not original to Seti's relief, in which the gcKhless Mut once occupied the place behind Amon. The curled sjnral wire (Fig. n) of her crown (like that
It is at

of Ikhnaton)

extenils obliipiely

upward from Ikhnaton's

U-aring a

no8*.

This

is

clear on the original and also in the photographic negative.

tall

Ikhnaton's hands are uplifted In-fore him, each

ointment jar (Fig. 41

lo Ihn
(li>k

which he

is

offering to his ginl.

.lM|.ly

His

gxl
;

'"Kniiii linrooii, 'iiti-llik"

toIrM rxcluiTrljr to Iho

cut tlUk of IkbDalon

p.

oinr

.Srtl' hi-ail.

Second Preliminary Report of Egyptian Expedition

is

71

of course the deepl}' cut sun-disk before him.

The heaven-band

above Ikhnnton extends quite beyond him, on the right (Fig. 30), making room behind him for another figure under it. This is of
coui-se his queen,

who never

fails to

elsewhere.

Her

legs can be discerned behind

accompany him in such scenes him below the large

off.

vacancy
Seti I

left

by the piece which has flaked

(See also Fig. Si,

right-hand column).
is

On

the

left

(Fig. 87) the heaven-band of

interrupted by the chiseling away of Ikhnaton's crown,

still

the oblique lines of which can

be followed (Fig. 42).

Over

Fio. 4*2. Southern Column, loft side, upper portion of relief, showing titles of Nofretete, crown of Ikhnaton and two heaven-bands, one across disk of Iklinaton.

Queen

the upper end of the crown, above Seti's heaven-band (that

outside of the limits of his
relief,

is,

Fig. 42),

is

the conclusion of
the right of the

the usual formulae following a king's name.

At

mutilated crown
the king's name.

is

a fragment of the royal oval once containing

We thus have here again the figure

of Iklinaton

facing his god, but mutilated from head to foot beyond recognition, if

other evidence were not obtainable for identifying

it.

Just as on the right, the heaven-band above Ikhnaton here on the

left,

extends out behind him far enough to cover another figure, and fortunately we have here inscriptional evidence to determine whom it represented. In six columns extending directly across Seti I's heaven-band are the name and titles of Nofretete, IkhnaThe)* have been cut into at the bottom by the large ton's queen.
feathers rising from the cartouches of Seti
I, lost

below.

They

are as follows (Fig. 42):

"Hereditary princess, great in favor,

72

The American Juibnal uf Semitic Lanhiac.es

ill

plenteous

love, <jueeii of

customary

....

South and North, .... the |inlace, embracing ?) ....(?) great king's wife, his
(

beloved, [Nofretete], living forever."

It
is

thus clear that the original relief on this column was

arnin^-i'd as follows (Fig. 4-8):

Second Preliminary Rkport of

K(;vi'tian-

Kxpedition-

73

74

The Americas Jolbnal of Semitic Lasgiages

<jf

or the iiHUK-

his god, are

now

cut into by Ikhnat<jn's sun-disk,

is

producing the impression that the sun-disk

defacing
generally
tlie reliefs

a htter insertion,

of Seti

I.

Likewise the tigure of Seti himself

out involvetl the /capjiearance
recall, at this jx)int, that

falls

almost directly over that of Ikhnaton. so that his

f//.sap[)earance,

when the stucco

It is

fell

of Ikhnaton's form.
in

important to
I

Egypt,

it is

precisely Seti

whoso

often records his restoration

of the iconoclastic

we should
Ikhnaton

expect,

when we

work of Ikhnaton.'' It is therefore just what find him here undoing the work of
reliefs of

in

Nubia.

On
directly

the

middle column the

Seti

Ikhnaton are not

less

unmistakable.

Fs heaven-band has again been carried through the sun-disk which now interrupts it (Fig. 45").
left)
is

The

position of Seti's figure on the right (as he ofTers wine to

Amon

on the

determined by his cartouches, and the

cultus
act

inscription describing the

(see c alxive),

which

is

regularly below the extended arms of the offering king.

One

of Sefi's elbows can be seen (Fig. 4o) above this inscription (c).

and the inscription

Seti's royal kilt, as

itself is inte^ru^)ted

by the jwinted front of

All the rest of Seti's
fallen off disclosing the

we have noted above.

Ikhnaton's form.

figure

was cut into the stucco, which has

lines

familiar

of

The

characteristic

profile

(Figs. 45, 4(1) with the protruding chin, unlike that of any other
king,
is

complete with the exception of the

lips.

Above

Seti's

one

discernible elbow, a[)[M^ar lioth of Ikhnaton's arms, uplifted in

pniver to the sun-disk before him (Fig. 45).

very

The contour

of his
is

form, esjH'cially the prominent alxlomen, abovi> the long skirt,

characteristic.

The

front

of

the skirt ])rojects into the

T1h> heaven-band above

inscription (c) under Seti's arm.

him

extends far enough to the right to include another figure, and at

the extreme right, above the space for this figure
is

a royal oval,

which once of course contained the name of Ikhnaton's que>n, as on the southern column, at the extreme left, where her titles terminate in a cartouch in exactly (he corresjKHiding |H)sition under
the end of the heaven-band.
ant
figure of

Behind Anion on tln> left tlie |H>ndIkhnaton was stuccoed over and the sculptors of

iiHmiii; .Inrirnl R<vor.lj. II.IIK8,

Second Preliminary Report of Egyptian Expedition

75

76

The Americas

.Toiknal of Semitic Las(;i"A(;es

SEroxD Pbeli.mixary Report of Eoyptiax Expedition

Seti
I

77

rut over

it tlu'

figure of Osiris or

Ptah

Fig. i')) as

we have

already noticed; but the stucco, having

now

fallen off, only the

hands of the god grasping his insignia are preserved, while the
general outline of Ikhiiaton's expunged figure
is

disclosed to view.
in

That of

his

queen liehind
it

liim

also

comes out clearly

an

oblique light, so that

yards, as in Fig.
i33
(

is

discernible even at a distance of thirty

that the original relief of Ikhnaton,

It becomes quite evident ). was also here arranged as we have found it on the southern column, first examined (see Fig. 48). The northern column (Fig. M)) leads to a like conclusion. Here, however, the weather and the more thorough expunction

middle column

have almost completely obliterated the

deeply cut sun-disk
is

reliefs of

Ikhnaton.

The

of course evident, but of Ikhnatou's figure

on

this side (right)

kilt,

one discerns only the abdomen, the posterior

and the long

across which extends the

The pendant
Around

figures of Ikliiiaton and his

arm of Seti I's /iY(-figure. queen on tlie lift, havf

is

quite disappeareil.
the bases of the southern and middle columns
a line

of captives like those at Soleb,

showing

clearly the style of the

Eighteenth Dynasty.
Asiatics,

Those on the north side of the nave are and those on the south negroes. These are clearly the

untouched, original sculptures of Ikhnaton.

It is

quite evident that

of which the original author

ton.

we have here a colounatlcd temple hall, was the great revolutionary Ikhnacharacteristic of his mont^theistic

His

reliefs
it

show every

|teriod.

and

cannot be doubted that the building was a sunstanding.

temple built by him, the only one from this remarkable man's
reign of which any portion
is still

His reign, after the

is

inauguration of his solar monotheism, continued oidy ten to twelve

years,

and

in

such remote and inaccessible regions of Xubia.

it

inconceivable that he could have in so short a time, erectefl any

numljer of temples to his exclusive god.

The reader

will recall in

also that in the in.scrijitions just one sanctuary of

is

Aton

Xubia

known

to us.

In the itinerary of king Nastesen. given on his

B.

Berlin

stela,
is

dating not long after 52o

visited

C. a

town called

Gui-Yln
in

by the king.

Schaefer had located this town

the vicinity of the Third Cataract, on the basis of the refer-

78

The American Journal of Semitic Languages

it

enees to

by Nastesen.^'

Not long
tliat in a

after this the present writer

Theban tomb the sun-temple of Ikhnnton at Thebes bears the name Gm-Ytn.'^ It imuietliately became evident that the Nubian Gm-Ytn must havi* bi-i-n a sun-city and sanctuary founded and named by Ikhnaton. a foundation like that of el-Amarna, its purpose in Nubia being of
called attention to the fact

course like that of el-Amarna in Egypt.

When

one

recalls, that

without any [jrefxissessions as to the character or origin of the

place, Schaefer had located it in the vicinity of the third cataract, and that we have now found a sun-temple of Ikhnaton at the foot of the third cataract, it becomes evident that our newly found

sun-temple of Sesebi
It is
is

is

the ancient

Gm-Ytn."
the place,

presumable that the wall

at present inclosing

the wall of Ikhnaton, au<l that the town which he laid out was
larger.

no

To him who

has observed

how extremely

liuiittHl

was

the settlement around so splendid a temple as that of Soleb, this

limited extent of Ikhnaton's town will not

seem strange.

These

Nubian

state sanctuaries

were but garrisoned strongholds, of lim-

ited area, in

one corner of which stood the temple.

different,

Kummeh and
Under
thf

Semneh
Empire

are typical examples in the Middle

it

Kingdom.

was not
(

and

Soleli is officially

always called:
Likewise.

"Stronghold
Tiy."

mnnw)

of

Khammnt (II'-m-m"t).'"

Setleinga, but a few miles from Soleb was called "Stronghold of

Naturally the sun-temple ereetwl by the success^or of the

builder of Sdleb and Sedfiinga would not ditfer from these latter
places in this res|M'ct.
Tin- temple therefore, facing the rising sun as

we should exinct,

stands in the northwest corner of a stronghold also oriented to

W/>ie nrlhiopiThc KlnigninMehri/t iU$ Herltncr .Uiurunij, run Hoinrich
ti. in)l.
>'

Scliiior<-r. Li|>-

Zrituchrift fUr urgyfilttrhr Si>rnrhr. 0, lUl

lliKiciHliir
I

fl.

"An
thmSxii
tllK linw'>

llii<

plncw Kni> in Intrr

tiiiipo

"Anion of (m- Yin,"

il

ti.;,;tii

1- .ii^rrtcd
vmII
-

rxlirff

should mi<nllon "Anion of

Gm-Ytn.

'

mu > mnni'
i.tl

nIiiiw tliitt lhi niimfl

"Gnt-Y'tn" wn

c<rtninly not pivserTwl in Ihn

.{

inimixlinlxljr followlntf Ihn oirrrtliniw nf

:

Ikhnnton.

Tlii<

i>

ll

nnnn- wn of ronrx- rhnnicnl li> iIk' Kotiriinipnt nml Ihi* ol<l name lit--! In-t urw u|> lh torm "Anion of lini-Y In moutli. or III.' iKs.i.l.'. Th.i.ro ftrr Iho r.-Toltitlonor Iklinnlon wif fork-ollrn. Ihl< nnmonrthi* NuliUn \u rliil ri'roiinitlon. Il ni-rrr <-rur< in Ihi- Nutiinn liiMriiition* ( Ihr N< TliP piirllixt known iK-rtirn-nrx of the nnniK l> in Tirhnkii< trniplr at lirlwhorpTirhitkn in rrproariile^l mn wiirihlpintf "Anton of Y I n " Uion'< '

fU
' .

thK nml Innc

it>

', ;>..-.)

oOl.tjr.
'

\).

Dm

'

i--l^

Second Pbelimixaky Keport of Egyptian- Expeditiox

1'.)

..::^g't.;i.:;i'f:;fe,,,,,,;fS'?'''a&,

'i*^

"^^F

Fio. il. Plan nt thr Tity nf (Jem-Aton (alU-t Lepsias, Dcnkmfller

80

The American Joirsal of Semitic Languages

The
building, like the teuij)les of

the cardinal j)oints.

Kummeh

and Seuineh, engaged in the wall of the fortress on two sides. This fortress contained the ancient town, which was therefore, like the settlements of Soleb and Sedeinga, of very limited extent. The annexed plan (Fig. 47) will indicate roughly its shajK- and dimensions, which may be compared also with the accompanying view (Fig. 48). The walls are about 7.50 meters thick, and the Most of the east wall is southern gate is about 2.25 m. in width.

down and

could find negate in

it

or the north wall.

The

bricks

was falling so rapidly at this time that our departure was imperative, and we could not explore We the neighboring country, as I should have been glad to do.
measure 10
river

X IG X 3t) cm.

The

scanned the surrountling

could not tliscover them.
inscription, like that of

hills carefully

with glasses in search of

a building

the (piarries from which the stone for the temple was taken, but

They might have yielded

Ikhnaton
at

and furnished us some further clue to the character of his Nubian city and temple. The origin of the place is therefore evident and in the main its eai'ly history clcai-. Ikhnaton (Amenhotep IV) in his unparalleled religious revolution about 1370 B. c, sought to bring his whole
Silsileh,

empire under the dominion of one god."' As the new religious and ptjlitical cajiital in Egyj)t he founded Akhet-Aton Tell el(

Auiarna).

But the same must be done

for the foreign possessions

of the empire, adjacent Asia and Nubia, for as the king sang to his

god

in,

Thi>

CDiiiilrit's

of Svii.i

and
in

Niiliia,

The laud of Ejivjit. Thou settest every inati

liis placi'.

Of

the Syrian city or temple which he must havi' fonniK-d

we kiuw

Nubia he erected at the foot of the third cataract our temple, now called Sesel)!, and built with it a walleil town. He named the place (iem-Aton (tlm-Ylonb after the sanctuary
notliing; but in

of his

god

Atoll, already existent at Thebes.**

|ila<'e

The

religious char-

acter of the

as

ii

.seat

of the
full

evident in the name.

At the
all
in

sun-god Aton, was tiuis made of Ikhnaton the Aton-tempU" at

Aton-sanctuiiries througiiout
IWd.

Amarna,
Oi>

as well as

the otlier

nil thi- rf.

my r-nmrks
II. IM'J.

Zrifchri/t far areyi>l. .SVnii*.-, XL.

Ancirnl KrenriU.

Second Prkliminakv

Ivr.rour uv

Ki.vptian 1ai'i:ihtion

81

f^'2

The Amukkan

.Juienal of Semitic

LAStiiAOEs
In-eii

Egy[)t were dfstroyed, and their fraj^nients have occaBioimllv

found built into temples of Ikbnaton's successors.

Nubia, however, the temple of Gem-Aton was

In distant

at a safe

remove

from the wrath of Ikhnaton's enemies.

burst,

It escaj)ed the first out-

continued to

and survived throufjh the reijjn of Harmhab. The j>eople call it Gem-Aton, and fifty years after the death of Ikhnaton, the oflBcials of Seti I found it, still bearing its heretical reliefs and inscriptions, representing the now detested Ikhnaton
worsiiij)ing

and his queen,

destroy
it

Atou

iu his temple.

But they did not

.Soleli.

as in Egy|)t.

Here, as at the neighboring

they

and covering up all trace of them with stucco, they wrought new sculptures on the columns anil walls, depicting Seti I worshiping Amon. The place then became a temple of Aton's rival Amon. Its new official name we do not know. The people still continued to call it Gem-Aton. Long afterward when the odium attaching to this name was foriiacked out the hated sculptures of the heretic,

gotten,

it

gained recognition as

tiie official

name

of the place.

In

the reign of Tiriiaka, nearly seven hundred years after Ikiinaton's

still mentioned, and its goil was then Gem-Aton." Nearly a thousand years after its foundation l)V Ikhnaton, Amon, the g<Hl whom he so hated, was still worshii>ed there under the same name. From that lime on we know nothing of the city or temple. When if fell into

revolution

we

find the

town
of

officially called

"Amon

disuse after the ciiristiuni/ation of the country, the temple In'came

a (piarry for the neighboring kinglet.
its

This continued until

all

walls had l)een

removeil and

jK-ared, leaving at last only four.

with the chi|>s of sandstone,

h'ft

columns one by one disaj*The site remained encumln'n'tl by breaking up the blin-ks fr
its
(

easier transportation from the s|K>t

see Fig.

HiJ

).

Some

time since

the forties of
carried

last

century one of the four columns

fell,

and was

away

in

fragmetifs as building slime.

Thus
that

the only sur-

viving tem|ileof Ikhnaton has U-en reduced to three columns, and

their balti-red

and weathered records are

monotheist
future
still

nil

we

|K>Hsess

to

give us a hint of the unicpie origin of the place.

the world's
first

What

secrets of

lie

hiilden there, remain for the

|Mi..irMi.-

spade of the

excavator,

who may

mi..

iIuh

inncci>s8il>le region.

Second Preltmixarv Report of Egyptian' Expedition

X.

S3

TEMPLE of SOLEB
Gem-Atoii temple on .Inmiary 22. and

Wf

tiiiislu'd

work

at tlie

proceeding a few miles the next day, were held by the furious wind for five days at Gurgot n few miles below Dulgo. When
set to tracking, the sailors

found

it

impossible to

move

the boats,
at

so strong was the gale.

for

I sent a request to the

mamftr

Dulgo

and he secured nine men for us, but even with these we soon ran into a projecting promontory of rock, around which we could not move, as there was no footing for the men on the other side. The gale quickened into a furious temEven in pest burying us in vast clouds of flying dust and sand. the cabin it fell on one's papers in appreciable thickness, like snow, within an hour. In two hours everything in our cabin was deluged as if by ashes from Vesuvius. There was a pungent odor of dust in the air, it grated between one's teeth, one's eai's were

more hands

at the ropes

full,
it

one's eye-brows and lashes were laden like the dust}- miller,

sifted into all boxes

till it

each leaf was separated from the next by a layer of

and clipboards, photographs and papers, grit, and

in the

settled

on the chemical trays

sadl}'

dark-room
it

in

such quanti-

ties that it

destroyed disquieting amounts of our precious supinjured the plates.

plies

and

At night

was bitter cold;

the temperature dropped to 40 (Fahr.) above every morning before daylight, and there was a peculiarly chilling quality in the

atmosphere.

Our

great desire was to reach the temple of Soleb

had we been able to secure camels, it would have been impossible to travel in such a gale. By the twenty-sixth of January the wind had been blowing for sixteen
thirty miles away, Ijut even

days with but one day's moderation, and for eleven days
raged night and day without
a

it

had

moment's

cessation.

On
4

the morna.

ing of the twenty-seventh, however, we cast

prospects of favorable weather, and having
to Soleb that day,

oif at

M. with

made

half the distance

(

eighth

we pushed on the next morning twentyand reached Soleb on the afternoon of that day. We were favored with good weather for a few days in the Vieginning of our work at Soleb, but during the remainder of the ten days we S[)ent there, a heavy wind made photographing on a scaffold excessivelv difficult, and work of anv kind a burden. It
)

'

84

The Americas Jolbnal of Semitic Languages

snid that epigrapbic

may be
sible

work

of any kind

is

next to

ini|>os-

during three days out of

tive at tliis

season of the year in

is

Nubia.
most
being

The temple

of Soleb, ereettnl by Auienhotep III,

in the

the

iui|Mjrtaiit

nionnment

Sudan, and one of

in
tiie

tlie

two great-

est architectural
tlie

works surviving

Nile valley, the other

temple of Luxor.

Of the

magiiiticent temples erei-ted

all

by the Pharaohs of the Eighteenth Dynasty

finest creations of the

have jjerished
i>f

save Luxor and S<ileb, an<l we have in Soleb. therefore, one

the

Emjure.

In his great building inscription

at

Thebes
I

it

is

thus descriiied by

Anumhotep

111

house of millions of years in the precnict of .\m<mHe. lord of Thelx's (named) "Khannnat" (name of the Soleb temple),
built for thee thy
aiitrust

in

electnun. a

rest in^f- place

for

my

father (Anion) at
it

all

his

feasts.

It is

finished with tine white sandstone;

its ll(K>r is

is

wrou^'ht with pild

of >johl. father rises

throii^'hout:

adorninl with silver:

li

all its (xirtals art-

Two

^freat obelisks anI

erected <ine on eai

sitle.

When my

between them

am

amon^' his fnllnwin^r

name Khainmat ly'-m-m't^ "Shining |or Crowned] with Truth"). It was dedicated t> two gods: 1) to Amenhotep III himself under tlu> name: '"His Liv-

The

place thus bore thf

"

ing Image on Earth. Nibmari> (Amenhotep III

),

Lortl of Nubia.

Lord of Heaven;'" and (2) to Anion. Approaching the tempU' (Fig. 4".t) we could find no trace of the two obelisks The building is accurately oriented erected l)y the king before it. It is precj'ded by a large forecimrt Unindeil in to face the oast. |)ossibly a pylon), now down and probably front by a light wall An avenm- of It bears no inscriptions. nut high when |Mrfect.
Great
(t<m1.
(

rams

in the axis of the

buihling led through this forecourt to the

])ylon.

With

oiu-

exception the rams have

now

all

disap|>eanHl.

These are the rains remov'd by the Nubians to GeU-l Harkal. of which one was taken thence to Berlin by Lejisius. Tin- pxlon was much wider than the temple iM-hind it. It olTers a remarkable architectural feature which deserves further investigation: it was
preceded by a large vestibule
north pylon tower
r
jinrirnl

hall,

the side walls of which abutteil

Tlie

directly on the nnchlle of the front face of each pylon tower.

is still sullicieiitly preservt"*!

to

show the

vertical

Hrrunl:

II. ,n.

Second PRiajMiVARV

lii:rnRT of

Koyi'tiav Kxpkiutiox

Ho

86
line

Tin;

Amkkkax

.Toirnal ok Semitic Lasuiages

its east front, where the north side-wall of the vestibule impinged on the face of the pylon, extending upward to the cornice of the pylon. At the rear of this imposing hail, immediately in front of the [)ylon door, are now the bases of two enormous columns, one on each side of the axis, each over seven feet in

on

hall

diameter

at

the base, wliile the bases themselves are over twelve

and a lialf feet in diameter. Le|>sius still saw eight of these ba.ses in two rows of four each, on each side of the axis and parallel with Viewed from the entrance, this hall must liave been one of it." the most imposing exami)les of columned architectuiH- ever conceived in the Nile valley.
It is

greatly to

l)e

regretted that this

unitjue hall has disappeared

walls.
It is

down

to the bases of the

it

deeply encumbered with rubbish, but

columns and would amply

rej>ay clearance.
is

Behind the pylon the arrangement of the temple

i)eristyle court of thirty

an extension of the usual plan: a large

and a single row elsewhere, followefl by a second similar court of thirty-two columns, and two successive hypostyle halls, with the columned
at the rear

cohunns, with a double row of columns

naos

itself

behind

all this.

The entire structure including

the large

forecourt was

some

six hundreil feet long,

men saw
where
in

the l)ase8

and Lepsius' draughtsEveryof one huiulred and forty columns.

projMtrtious

design and execution the building betrays the tine lines

exijuisite

and the

of

the

very

best

work of
Im-

th<'

Eighteenth Dynasty architects, who brought Egyptian architecture

to its highest level of attainment.
It
is

greatly to

regretted

that the superb building lies in a region so remote

and

inacc<-ssibU',
it

and that

it

has already siitTered such sad ruin that

is

diM)uied

to completi' destruction unless

works of sane restoration, or rather

In

of preservation, can soon

Im>

undertaken.

Egypt such
in
Im'

n build-

ing Would form a center from which to

j)r<H'e'd

the study of
as .sacreilly

Egyptian columned
visiti'd

architecturi",

and

a structure to

and studi<-d by students and

tr/ivi-lers

as the Parthenon nt

Athens.
I'assing from front to rear (Fig.
I'.'
I

we meet four

series of

im|>ortant documents:
MThsro mm' bo
nr whnilifr
lix

wifno

i|iii<atliin

wlivllior
|>liiii

I^piu
il.O.
I.

itrluitll;

tl> i>olitnnnl

Iwn

iialn.

hn< rfxiomi

lliftn in hin

Hi).

Secokd Pbelimixaky Report of Egyptian Expedition1.

(^

87

2.
3.

Faco of pylon reliefs of Ameuhotc]) IV i. Back of pylon (Heb-sed reliefs). North side of door between the (wo peristyle courts (Heb-

sed reliefs).
4.

Columns

in rear

chambers (foreign captive

lists).

No
of

study of these important documents has been made since

it

Lepsius visited

sixty-three years ago, tliough an account of

some

them only

as published
l'.>05.

by Lepsius

is

given by Budge,

who

visited the place in

it

He

says:

"Of

the reliefs with which

lished by Lepsius."

was decorated we can get a good idea from the drawings pubBudge seems, however, to have made an

independent examination of the front of the standing section of the pylon (called by him "second pylon"), from which Lepsius published nothing; for Budge saj's: "The face of the second pylon

was sculptured with large figures of the king [Amenhotep III], who was represented in the act of slaying his enemies" (Siidan,
I,

(ir2).

What

this face of the pylon really does contain is of

great importance and interest, for the reason that, having been

hare hij Amcuhoicj) III, his son, the religious revolutionary Ikhnaton (Amenhotep IV), whose city we found at Sesebi, filled They form the only extensive scries of it with his own reliefs.
Irff

temple

reliefs

surviving from the reign of Ikhnaton.

In the hollow
that
it

cornice over the pylon door, in such delicate and

is

flat relief

faintly visible only in oblique light for a little while before

is

huge cartouches containing the double name, There are in all six relief scenes of Ikhnaton still discernible on the portion of the pylon preserved (only the south half of the northern tower), of which the followmidday,
a pair of

Ixeferkheprure-Wanre-Ikhnaton.

ing

five are intelligible:

1.

right before
-2.

King Ikhnaton stands at the left, while Horus or Re at the him are jjlacing a crown upon his head. King Ikhnaton kneels in the middle, while Atum and Re
at the left

enthroned
3.

and right place

at

crown upon his head.

life

Ikhnaton standing

the right receives the sign of

from

his father
4.

Amenhotep III

as a

god

at

the

left.

Ikhnaton standing on the right burns incense and

|j<jur8

libation to his father as

god

at the left.

88
n.

The American Juibnal of Semitic Lasglages

Iklinatixi staniliiij^ at tlic right worships

Aumii standing on

the

K-ft.

tin- vulture-goddess Buto hovers over the These reliefs of Ikhnaton are of esiiecial interest l)eeause they date from the earliest years of his reign, from which heretofore we have iM)ssessed only the building inscri|)tion at Silsileh, and a few small fragments at Kariiak. Tliese new Soleb reliefs, therefore, exhibit a number of facts of interest in the course of Ikhnaton's revolution. Three stages in their history are
~y

In scent's H to
nt the right.

king

traceable
I.

These

reliefs

were executed by Ikhnatou's scul|)tors

bi-fore

his antipathy for

worshiping
II.

l)oth

Amon had begun; he is, therefore, Amon and his own father.

represented as

SoQie time before his sixth year," the feud with

Amon

and the other gods having broken out, the name and the figure of Amon, here in his own reliefs and also tiiroughout this temple, were expunged.** But here a remarkable fact arises: the figure of Ikhnatou's father as god of the temple of Soleb. was re9|iecte<l. even though the king Ikhnaton himself was represented as [ktforming the temple ritual to him as god." There is not sjwce here We could conceive that to s|M'culate at length on this new fact. Ikhnaton might res|iect his father's figure witiiont adopting or continuing his fatiier's cult; or if that cult was continutHl, it is
worth
wliile to raise the question, wiiether the Aton-faitli

did not

continue the solar Helio|>olitan theology, in which the king was an incarnation of the sun-god and his visible representative on
earth.

In continuing his cult

it

is

conceivable that Ikhnatou's

It

theory simply reganU-d him as identical with the sun-gml.

should be noted:

first,

that as a gcwl An>enhoti>|i III wears

a crescent;
.s>con<i,

on his

head a
(file

sini-ilinl:

surmounting

that the cultus-

naiiie of

Anienhotep III as
I

go<l in the

Soleb temple reads: "HiB

sun-god's

Living Image on Karth, Xibnwire. Lonl of Nufia

" I./ord of

(treat (JimI,

Lord of Heaven." The

l'a$tyri, IM.

Heaven"
II,
II
I

is

of conrs*-

nUrinilh. KnSun

|i|>.

91 r..
c.

and my .Idrirnl Ktrvnl;

(
\iii.iili..i.
|.

Rm
nlmafljr lini>
I)

Thf<KX|iiiiiiP'mim of
tM<ciMM)r fritm thr rmnii

Amim frmn
^
(<>
..

il..

Ii.t-

liorr
)!.

iiimI liniiN.

>' \Vr ran imw iiii<lrr-lnnil ilif of Amnilblllrf III ..- |.>r,,l ,.il

linnn Ihv ealla-nain

1, ,,../ >.'r.,.,.l.

X.,.

Hiwavi,

ins.

Secoxu Preliminakv
a suu-god. whiK'

Ki:i'()kt

of Imiyptiax Kxpeditiox on
P^artli''

Mt

"His

Liviiii: liiini,'r

means

tlic iiiin>,re

of the sun-god. and I cannot but believe, therefore, that Ikhnaton

was but continuing the

all

cult of the

sun-god in continuing that of

his father: just as he continued that of Re, of Horns,

and of Atuni.

sun-gods.

To him

these latter were identical and did not

disturb his monotheistic theology.

In the same way

we

unist

regard the cult of his father.

III.

The

final

stage of hist(U-v discernible on this wall and

elsewhere in the temple,

when

is that which followed the fall of Ikhnaton, and name were expunged in turn, while those of Amon and the name of Amenhotep III were everywhere restored, the latter often wrongly as Nibmare, where we should have AmenThis restoration was also known to us from the lions and hotep. rams of Soleb long since broxight to Euro[)e from Gebel Barkal.

his figure

Passing from the front face to the rear face of this northern pylon tower, a not less interesting series of reliefs, from which
Lepsius extracted a few isolated
scenes,'" is revealed to us.

The

innwrtauce of these scenes lies in their connection, not discernible in the four published by Lepsius, where indeed the most important
detail

on the walls was omitted, as we shall

see.

depict the ceremonies of the royal jubilee

known

as the

These scenes Heb-sed

(5b-sd) in two series, which we may designate as: first, the Throne Ceremonies; and second, the Ceremony of Striking the
City Gates.

In the

first,

the throne (tnt't)

is

the object of suc-

cessive ceremonies at the

hands of the king and queen, Amenhotep each ceremony III aT'd Tiy, and the important state officials being called by a sjiecial title like "Illumination ot the Throne." The ceremonies took place on different days and two at least were "on the morning of the Heb-sed." In one of them the throne

was

anointetl,
is

and we see before

it

a cabinet containing the oint-

ment which
the throne."

designated "hall of secret ointment brought before

These throne ceremonies form a series of reliefs in row along the lower ])ortion of the wall for perhaps two meters from the pavement. Above this row is the second, larger series, the Ceremony of Striking the City Gates, which occupied all the space to the top of the wall. The two extracts
a single bottom
'2

Denkm-Vcr.

III.

W b. r.Un. h

'.<>

Tut:

Americas .Toirsal of Semitic Langiages

given by Lepsius, show what has often Ijeen recogiiize<l as cere-

monies
l)ut

in

which the

kiiifjj

strikes a door with his

mace (Fig. 50),

the door has been supposed to be that of the temple of Soleb

at its dedication.

As

a matter of fact the entire large rectangle

containing the reliefs (not included in Lepsius' drawings), has

the usual form of a crenelated city wall; the doors in question,

struck by the king, are the gates of

the entrance
is

tlie city,

and

at

each such gate

protected by a projecting battlemented tower, the

wall of which curtains the inner

doorway (Fig. 51).

The king
I

thus passes from gate to gate of the city, striking the dooqiost
witli his

mace and saying: "I have smitten thy door-post.

I

have

struck thee,

have forced
is

thee."
n yi>uth

In this ceremony he

accompanied. nin<>ng others, by

who

is

called "the hereditary |)rince, tlu' sole companion. Ameii-

hotep."

who can be none other than

the crown prince Amenluitep.

he who became the fourth of the name antl afterwanl Ikhnaton.

In addition to the fact that the king here uses the prehistoric form
of mace, which
is

sufficient evidence that

we are here dealing with

h<'

an archaic ceremony, the formula which

gate, twice contains the archaic absolute

pronounces

at

each

masculine singular, kw, found only

It is

in

pnnioun of the second the hoary pyramid texta

evident, therefore, that

we

are here dealing with a royal in-

stallation

Egyptian kingdom.

ceremony which arose in the remotest antiquity of the To anyone with the slightest ac(|uaintance

with the earliest inscribed

monuments

of Kgypt,

it

is

not far to
It is

search what feast or ceremony we an- here dealing with.

the "Feast of (loing around the Wall" or the "Circuit of the

Wall." already mentioned in the annals of the First Dynasty." There is not S[>nce here for discussion of its signiticnnce, but it would seem to be evident that it grew out of some historical iK'currence. |><js8ibly the capture of the ca|)ital of Lower Kgypt by the king of r|>|H'r Kgypt at the absorption of th' Delta by I'pinT

Kgypt
part

in

prehistoric days.

His kn<M-king
its

at

the gates of the

northern capital demaiuling

of

surn-nder. might easily l>ecome a

the ceremonies by which the later kings of the unitinl

'elebrnted his

kingdom each

assumption of jxiwer over l'p|T

luul

Second Preliminary Report of KiivrTiAN KxrcinTiox

'.il

JillLv

Fio.
irl

-Vi

-trikinir thp TwpI

tli

Ciry (iate in
Fijr.
.'!,

tl.r-

Royal Jnbi'fc Kolipfs nt 5<iVb.

Not** city wall

gat*- At

lowor

otigt-.

Compnrp

'.2

TiiK Ami;rican

Joirxal of Semitic Languages

Leaving such conjectures,
it

Lower Egypt now

what
plete.

united.

would be

interesting to determine
city
is

how many

gates the city jxassessed and

meant.

Unfortunately, as n glance at Fig. 51 will

is

disclose, only

two sides are j)reserved and one of these

full

incom-

reconstruction with the

It is

number

of gates on each
is

side

is

therefore impt)ssiijle.

probable that the right side

complete, but the numbers on the original are illegible and uncertain.

Assuming that the numbering began at the lower lefthand corner of the city, there were twelve gates above and Ijelow, and probably three gates at each end, making thirty gates in all. Assuming that the numbering began at the upper left-hand corner, there were nine gates above and below, and tiiree at each end. or twenty-four in all. Thus far I can discover nothing in the reliefs
or inscriptions to determine what city
is

meant, but
will nut

it

was pre-

sumably Menipliis.
here.

fur reasons

which space

permit reciting

The only

piece of inscribeil wall

i>{

still

standing in the temple of

Soleb besides the two sides

the section of the pylon, with

which we have been dealing, is the north side of the deep doorway (Fig. -iV), Door IV), from the first into the second peristyle
court.

On

the north face of this section of wall

is

n series of

reliefs of

prime im|K)rtnnce
ha<l

in eight horizontal rows, rising

one

nlxive the other

from the Hoor

to tlu' ceiling of the lofty colon-

nade.
sible,

We
owing
I

some

difficulty in

making the

up|H'r rows acces-

to their
tallest

height and the fad that we had been unable

ladders into this
in

to

carry

our

inccessii>le
tall

wilderness.

However,

succeeded

Ixjrrowing four

|mlm trunks forming

oliligingly consented

the routing tind)er of a native's hou.se,

to dis|H'nse with
tiiese as

who

the nH)f of his ilwelling for a week, and with

uprights at the four corners we succeeded in building n

(

wnlTolding
in the

Fig. o'i). for the

tliHjr

of which

we had only the two

l>ailly
t>

gang-planks from the nuggers.

middle,

One of

those was
ability

fractun-d

making
in

the (jucslion of

its

sustain us n

piipiant

element

our long-continued efforts to sH'un' a com-

plete record of this wall.

the

north as

it

did.

During our entire work u|>on it, facing we were ex|M>sed to a violent north wind
our arrival, and
at

which arose

simiu

afl<-r

times llireat'ned to

Second Prkliminarv Report of Egvptiax Expedition

shake down the scaffohl.

"J3

The nianipuhition of squeeze paper was an impossibility. The operation of a large camera on two crazy planks at an uncomfortable elevation is not easy; when the
to carry away the instrument every moment, and the wall, always in the shadow and never receiving any sun. must be illuminated with a reflector held by some one standing on the scaffold, the work of securing even poor negatives

wind, however, threatens

is

slow and painful.

We

hope, however, that with

tiie

negatives

4"

;.4 -^.^^

Jnbilr<> as Presorvwl
it
i.i*

Flo. .il. Plan of the "Strikines" of the City Oatc? at the (Vlehration of the Royal on the Pylon at Soleh. The royal flsuro is above iDaortd only twice t*t be iiupplied at earh ff the eates.

'.4

Tm: A.mkricas
ill

Jul knal of Semitic Laxhiages

liiind
it

thirtv-twn

iiumhcri and mir

all

coir's
otTt-rs.

made from
and

the wall,

that \Vf

linvi'

scriircd about

that

Two
by

of the eight rows on this wall were copied

|iul)lish(il

Lei)sius,'"''

but the subject of the series

is

not disoeriiible in
a
is

the publication.

scene" now almost

At the right-hand end of the lower row. in invisible, the king may l>e discerned as he

Fki.

.-12.

I'll

to^rnpli

nu

t!i<>

Kxliofi.

or

tli- Kojiil .liil>il.'

IV

111

SiiU'li.

borne from the palace

l)earers;
lines.

in

a pahuupiin

on the shoulders of his

liefore
tirst

him

is

a retrograde

inscription in six vertical

i

The
"Year
This

of these (apparently the last

on long and close

is

inspection certainly iM-gins with the date, which

lows:
;{<>,

given as

folfirst

second* month
to

of the third sea.son

(Smwt.

day."
years'

is

of course the dale of the

Hel)-sed.

the thirty

jtibilei',
(

and

make matters
tirst

certain, the fourth line In-gins.

for his .son,
Prntm^'rr,
il
t.l

"He

Amoii

ap|Miints the

Heb-sed
^
<>r tliK

who

rests

l>rnkm/ller, lll.Vi.M1.
<ir iiijrtliiiliiKirAl

I^ninlii*.

III. M/..
-

>*Tlmc<in>niilliiiml

ilnl

iM'Kliiiifhc if

>

'

<>'

Ihn nr>t

iiiiiiitliof

Pr-t. thnl

iT)r>>i:

bul

ll> iirluiil ilalv

tnii

Second Preliminary HEroRT of Eovi'tian Expedition

ujMin his throne.'"

95

Aiuenhotep Ill's
feast.

tirst jubilee,''

This establishes for the first time the date of and we thus have in these eight
furtlier

rows invalualile new material for

study of this remarkable

The general

arraiigeuu'ut of cacli of the seven rows above

the

first is

as follows:

First, at the left

end

is

the door of the palace ('h'), which the

riglit in

king and queen approach from the

palace."

order to "rest in the

Second, farther

to

the

right

an elaborate procession with

Upwawet mounted on
grandees accompany
it.

a very tall pole

surmounting

a shrinelike

base borne on poles on the shoulders of priests.

The king and

Third, farther to the right, a shrine containing a

Khnum,

"presider over the chapel of

the king worships."

Wnm-ljrp

(or

shm), before which

Fourth, at the right end various ceremonies, especially the

presentation of grain to the king and by

him
in

to the

god Khnum.
cases.

Divergencies from this scheme occur

some

Tlie

beginning of each row, like the lowermost, is at the right, and when the ceremony depicted in the row is finished, the king It is possible that enters the palace at the left end of each row. In view of this each row depicts the ceremonies of a single day.

Heb-sed Heb-sed
pylon
),

series at the

series at the front of the

back of this peristyle court and the other same court (on the back of the
this court,

it

becomes evident that

temple, was bnilt to celebrate the king's

late in the king's reign,

reliefs

which we also hear of the celebration at we can now understand why the pylon
on the front were unfinished
at
tlic

and perhaps the whole Heb-sed jubilee, of Thebes. Being built so

first

the king's death, leaving

king's son

the face of the pylon to be filU^d with reliefs hy

Ikhnaton (Amenhotep IV).

Not a single column

of the second peristyle court

is still

stand-

ing (Fig. i')); the walls are also down, the blocks carried away,

and even the pavement has been removed. The rear of the temple (Fig. 49), containing a 8upt>rb palm column, is in somewhat better
''

The year was a\ndy known from the tomb of Khnmhet at Thebos
II. "TOfl.

900

my

AneienI

KcconU.

no

The Americas Joukxal of Semitic Laxgiages

but almost the only inscriptions there are the foreign
All these

cuiulitioii.

captives sculjjtured on the columns with their names.

we copied and the most important we photographed. They should furnish some useful ethnological types. At the rear of the temple on the north side is the temple well, solidly lined with masonry to
the top.
feet,

We cleared it to the water level, going down about twenty

it.

but found only a few blocks from the temple which at some

time had been thrown into

The remains

of the ancient

town are very scanty

n!id limited.

On

the west

is

the ancient cemetery, the tomt)s being cut out of

On the northeast of the teun>le is a heavy masonry quay extending into the. river, but it is uninscribed. Fragments of wall ( ) are near it on the north. Three miles north of the Soleb temple is a promontory of sandstone (Fig. 53) projecting into the river on the west shore. It is known as Gelx-l Dosheh and contains a number of monuments. If it had been better preserved the most imjwrtant of them would be a clitf-chajiel of Thutmose III. now containing only traces of the conventional
the desert gravel.
'?

cultus reliefs,
as

god

of Nubia.

officials

among them, of course, the worship of Sesostris III The face of the rocks bears numerous gratiiti of who have passed here in the days of the Empire. The
is

most imiMirfaut

a large stela of Amenemo|H.'t. viceroy of

Nubin

under Siti
Seti

I.

It

contains a bniUy cut, but unusual prayer for his

prosperity and success, in the course of which the Kiundaries of

Ts empire are given as Khenthennofer on the south and Ketenu on the north. The gods of this hill are the cataract gods

so

commonly fnund

in

L<jwer Nubia.
SOI.EU TO

XI.

AMAUA

H\ February
at

'.

or near Sole!),

we iiad tinished our record nf the uumumetits and leaving (iel>el Diisiieh, we reached Seileinga
about thirteen miles from Soleb.

thesameday.
built

It is

This temple

by Amenhotep III for the worshi|> of his (pieen Tiy as goilfast vaiiisiiing

dess of Nubia, as the

dedication on the sole surviv(

ing column hIiowh,

records which
it

is

in a sad stati- of ruin

Fig. oi).

The only

contains are fragmentary reliefs depicting the

On<' lu-w dnium, however, wasdiscovennl.

usual cultus ceremonies.

Second Preliminary

Kiii-oRT of

E(;YmAN Expedition

It?

98

TiiL

Americas

Jm
of

rnai. kf

Semitk- LaN(;ia(;e.s
"Fortress of Tiv." which

namely, the

nffieial iinuif
])_v

tlic

plai-c,

was uotk-ed
block.

Dnvies on a liadlv weathered, hnlf-owrtiirned

Tlie fallen suj'rstrueture so eneiinibers the place with

it

heavy blocks that

is

now

iuijMJSsible to discern the j^njund-plan

of the building without clearance, which

we did not undertake.

its

Passing the large Island of Sni on February Ut. we reached

day.

north end, twenty-si.\ miles from Solcb, in the evening of the same

Here on the
last

east side of the island,

is

overlooking the river

a considerable fortress of

crowning the heights some Nubian

is

melek of the
it

century or two.

But there

every evidence that

occupies the site of an ancient Pharaonic fortress of the enjjnre.

nia.ssive

Within are

fragments of Pliaraonic buildings, columns,

door-posts, architraves, and the like, overturned and scattered in

the greatest confusion, having evidently been reused by the later

Nubinns.

On

the north of the fortress, that

is,

outsi<le of

it.

the

gri)niid-|)lan of a

small ti-mple can be traced.

in

Whether these

fragments were carried

granitt- nearly four feet

from (his temple, or belong to another

within the fortress only excavation would determine.

st'ln

of

high

lies

among

other fragments in the

u.seil

fortress, but as the inscribeil fac-e

had been
It

as a millstone the
a rtford

inscription has practically tlisapj>eared. of

was probably

and the date the "year 2." The building was. however, older than this, and we were fortunately able to detiTmine the name of the builder. By iligging under one eilge we were able to turn over a large door-|>t)st weighing s'Veral ton.-*, and

Ramses

II.

the side thus ex|>osed was found to contain the fragnn-ntary build-

ing itiscription of Thutniose Ill's great viceroy of Nubia. Nehi.

In his king's (wenty-Hfth year Nehi erected the temple lu're of
.Kandstone. to replace

one of brick.

lie

<-alls

this

contirming the i>uilding inscri|)lion of Thulmos*- III

which states that he

having also
built the

built the
tirst

Semni-h temple of

S"t. Semneh, stone of S^t."

region
at

Nehi, fherefon-, was the

great builder in these up|M-r regionK,

temple of Semneh.

.Vnolher fragnn nt con-

tained the lilies of Selau, viceroy of Nul>ia uniler Kams<-s 11,

among which he

is

called 'governor of the gold country of .\mon."

last

thus corrolxiraling our conclusion of

Anrlrnl Krrordt.
I,

year that there was a

Sift

Second Pkklimixary Kktort of E(;vptiax Kxi'kditiox

UU

Umi

Thi:

Ameukax

.Tolksal uf Semitic Languages

Xuljiaii f^okl fuuiitry of

Amoii

at tlie

beginning of the Nineteenth

title.

Dynasty.*

small piece of sandstone bears the

all

"Overseer

of the prophets of

the gods, deputy of Kush." which looks very

much
The
cliff

as

if

the local priesthoods of Nuljin under the

Empire were

incorporated in one general sacerdotal organization under one head.

oldest

document on Sai

is to

be found on a huge piece of the

which had fallen out of the east face of the rocks north of the fortress, and now lies close to the river on the east shore of the

island.

Having turned over

It is so
it is

in its fall the inscription is

it

now up-

side down.
I

badly weathered that

was some time before

first

discovered that

upside down, not at

thinking that so

large a rock (thirty feet square and fifteen or twenty feet high)

could have turned over since the making of such an inscription.

However,

I at Inst

made

out,

"Year

'1

under

tlie

majesty of the

and Lower Egypt, Okheperkere (Thutmose I |." It was therefoi-e placed here l)y Thutmose I on the march for his Dongola cam[)aign. A second line is so weathei-ed that I gave it

King

of I'pper

over.

Two

miles north of the fortress are four columns of a

Christian church.

After being delayed a day by a violent northern gale, we crossed

with the two nuggers to the east shore and sj)ent the twelfth
of February in preparing to leave the boats

and transfer

to the
totally

caravan

fi)r

the journey through the Batn el-IJagar,

now

But as the wind drop|H><l <n AmArn. the limit of navigation Hy the kindness of Capat this season, on the same aftt'rnonn. tain Moranf, governor of tin- Haifa Province we had found cnniels
inipas.sablc to

such

i)oata as ours.

the thirteenth

we

floated on, reaching

waiting for us, and they had been fiillnwing us nlimg shore ever

we had, with much equipment from the two Imats in which we had lived for two moiitlis and a half, and we saw theui sail away southward to return to the government service at We k<-pl our felucca, in which Kaninia, where they Iw-longed. we had descended from .\bu Mamed through the fourth cataract,
since

we

left

Soleb.
all

By

the next day at noon

an<l

regret,

unloaded

our supplies

for use in exploring the huntln-d

still

and Iwenty-tive miles of river

lust

separating us from the U-ginning of our

lii<l

year's work.

XSaf

yrnr'a rrfort

,4

J.Sf..

XXIII.

|i.

39).

Second Preliminary Report of EiarTiAX ExrEinTios

Crossing in the felucca to the other (west) side we examined
ruins of a temple of
are

KU
tlie

Ramses

II, a considerable building.

The

walls

encumbered

to the tops of the

doorways, and the place would

As informed by Mr. Crowfoot, we found We found it covat the rear of the temple a stela of Ramses II. ered with sand, which we removed, and replaced again on the completion of our records. This monument was also excavated by Budge in IlXto. He describes it as follows:
greatly repay excavation.

We found that the stela of Ramses II had at some time or other been broken to piwes. which had been ro<if,'hly stuck to<,'-i'tli('r with mud and plaster, nud tliat the monumi-iit liad been re-erected and was held in
fKJsition

by

a thick
it,

mud

wall built ujj Ijehind

it.

The

inscription so far

as

gn\f no new facts, and as the stela was made of very soft stone, we decided to cover it again, and leave it there until men could go with a wooden frame and cement, and remove it carefully.
I

could see

This inscription has never ''been broken

together" again.

to pieces"

nor "stuck
of

As anyone
at

familiar with

the

monuments

Ram.ses II would see

a glance, this inscription is cut

on the

courses of a masonrj- wall, like the Ptah-stela of the same king at

Abu Simbel

or his treaty of peace at Karnak.

The

stela thus

consists of a panel of masonry, in this case in its original position as part of the outside of the rear wall.
It is I.<i4r5

meters wide,

and

is

preserved for a meter and a half from the ground.

The

mortar has fallen from the joints of the masonry producing

troublesome lacunae.

Of

the

first

ten lines only the right-hand

ends are preserved

otherwise the remaining eleven lines (twenty-

one

lines in all) are fairly well preserved.

ing of a temple in

They record the Memphis by Ramses II in celebration

of

buildof his

Heb-sed
jubilee.

jubilee.

Ptah of Mem])his being the patron god of the

As neither the buildings

of importance.

Ramses

II at

nor his building inscriptions there, are

preserved, the

ment

is

We

made exhaustively
be
lost,

collated

photographed it in hand copies. When the projwsed

will inevitably

Memphis, monusections and

removal takes place, much of the inscrilxnl surface

would seem that such a record as we took the time to make will then be the only source for a knowledge of the document Owing to a misunderstanding of the local geography, as found.

and

it

102

TmK
tci

A.MliKICAS

JoiRXAL UV SEMITIC LaMJIAGES

cKiumns
still

wi- failiil

visit anil iiisjM-fl tlie s'ix

staiuliug in the

suiail lati- Niihiaii

temple

dii

the east shore at AiiiAra.

XII.

SECOND CATARACT REGION, KLMMEH AND SEMNEH

On

the fifteenth of February, having transferred to the caravan,

all,

we rode along the east shore Kosha in the evening. The railway once connecting Haifa and Kosha has now Ix'en discontinued it would, however, have been of little use to us as we wislunl to
nuuibering thirty-three camels in
past the Amftra rapids and reached
scrutiiiizt-

the rocks of the Batn el-I^agar for inscriptions.

great
tlirticulty

At

Kosha

I'.ad

in fintling a com|)etent cataract reis

Iti'tween

to take our

heavy felucca down the dangerous rapids

there and Haifa.

After a |>leasant night in the government restit

house

at Kuslia.

was nearly

nocjii

(Fel)ruary

lt>)

before

we

coulil

gain information of a suitable

reis, wIkjui

we found

later

on the

same day in a village a few miles farther north. The niamur at Kosha was very helpful and took us down river to this village in He left us at his own boat while our caravan marched Ix'side us. Sarkamatto, where we took possession of the village shekh's ho>ise. which he kindly placed at our disposal. Here on the shore was n very unusual spectacle for this region of the country. The hipjH)|)otamus has now disappeared for nearly a century from districts so far north as this, but here we found sns|>eniU'l from a trtn- the heads of two which had been shot but a few months U'f.ire by a
native of the village (see Fig. 5o).
It

was to the writer an ex|H'rience of the greatest interest to

enter this wild region of the .second cataract, strategically so important in the history of the Nile valley, both ancient and UKKlern.

This barrier to any southern advance, where river and shore alike are bo lH'8't with vast and tniubled rocks that passage l)y either IB
aluiosl e(]ually ditiicult, has kept

the frontier of civilization at a

single point and barred

is
is

its

advance for four thousand years

in the world.

that
Tien'
its

longer than

at

any other ancient frontier

not space here to attempt

a description of this desolate but

wildly beautiful region, through which the raging river forces

troubled

passage.

\Vi'

very

much

regn'tted.

that

during our

caravan joiirnev and exploration of the region, the north wind was

SeCONIi PkI:L1MI\AKV IJtl'OKT

(IK

KnVI'TIAX Hxi'KDITION

1(1:5

1114

Tin;

AmEKU
tlio

AN Jol RNAL OF SEMITIC LaXGIAGES

laiulsra|H'

SO violent

tlint

wns too obscured by flying sand

Indeed, on the last be made. day of the journey, our largest camera was overthrown and too seriously damaged by the wind to be used again. Leaving Sarkamatto on the morning of February 17. wiIn -i-a having kept pace with iiiichi'il Okma the same niglit. th.
to permit etfeftive photograplis to
f.

Klo.
I,

.Vi.

-Viow

ili.wn lliu

TuuuQr Cutaracl
rocks at

lii

.i

Samlet.. riu.

lli-irliHi.HL.- .if

Tliutnu.sc

Tbutmo
all

III nnfl llatxlicpsut uii

Ml.

US

day.

Hy

the afternoon of the eighteenth we had reaclunl

(

the Tangfir rapid

Fig. 5(i), at

tlie

liend of

which are some

inter-

esting

graffiti.

)ne

on the west
1,

sith-

reads:

"Year two

uniK-r the
imis-m**!

majesty of Thutnii>se

who

is

given

life.

His majesty

up

stream to overthrow the wr>tched

scriU'

Ku.sh.

When
is

tlu>

military

Ahmose was counting

Thutmi)se
at
I's

the

siii|>s."

Here

a vivid rtMiiinis-

ceiH-e of
tile

gn-at invasion of Nubia,

Ilie

when

sitting

on

shore

the iiead of the Tangftr cataract.

tin-

scriU' in charge

of the tally counts the ships uf

Pharaoh's armaila. as they an'

<>f

painfidly ilrawn up ihrough the gati- of ro<-ks at the head

the

Second Preliminarv Report of E(;yptian Expedition

rapid.

105

In \\w intervals of his

tally, the scrihe

thns immortalized

himself on the huge boulder at his elbow.

find the inscription of the

We

were unable to

I, adding the day and mouth, which was long ago reported by a lay visitor,'" and I am inclined to think that in this report there is some con-

same year

of

Thutmose

fusion with the inscription of the scril)e

is

Ahmose

above.

Near

it

another dated on the tenth of the sixth month in the fifteenth

year of the joint reign of Hatshepsut and Thutmose III, the queen being placed tirst. A number by various officials, undated, are on the rocks of the east side.

Having spent the night of the nineteenth at Auibugol, we Kummeh and Semneh, our only long stopping-place on the caravan journey, at dusk on the twentieth. Here at either end of a huge granite dam (Fig. 57) extending clear across the river, are the frontier fortresses of tlu; Middle Kingdom, each containreached
ing a temple of the Eighteenth Dynasty
rocks abound in inscriptions.
;

while the neighboring

at

In the temple

Kummeh

until

shortly before our arrival the natives of the village had been liv-

but through the kind interposition of Mr. Crowfoot, they had been assisted to vacate the place so that we could begin work at once. We found this the most difficult site for work which we had yet met. The strong wind kept the unspeakably tilthy dust of the village and the temple interior eddying through the roofless chambers of the building and constantly deluging both our
ing;

notebooks and ourselves.

in these

As

sheep, goats, and cattle had lodged

chambers with

their masters for generations, the evident

filth made work in the Kummeh temple There was about a meter of rubbish in this temple, which had never been cleared out in modern times. We removed this and found in the court three graffiti of new viceroys of the Empire; two belonging to the same man. Both men's

character of this vile

almost intolerable.

names, as so commonly with the viceroys of Nubia, have been

expunged by enemies, but that of one is still discernible as Seni (Sny). In the court at the rear the excavation disclosed a sandstone stela bearing a prayer of Nehi, the great viceroy of Thut-

mose
t^

III.

By

the generosity of Sir

II. p.

Reginald Wingate,

this

Ancient Rprorrfn.

M,

n. 6.

106

The Amuricak Julknal of Skmitic Laxgi'ages

one of his earliest predecessors
in the adniinistrntion

uu'aiurinl nf

of Nul)in. wns [tresented to Haski'll Oriental

Museum.
{j;reatl_v

On

the third day after our arrival we were

relieved by

the njipearauee of the felueca, which had

Without we should have been unable to cross to the western fort and temple of Semneh, where we now began our records on the twenty-fourth. At the same time work was begun on the numerous graffiti on the rocks east and northeast of the Kummeh fort. Here the officials and garrison of the fort in the days of Abravening rapids with great
it

difficulty

come down and some damage.

the inter-

ham, as they loafed beside the road to the fortress gate in the shade of the granite cliffs, have cut their names, titles, prayers to
the local gods, and .sometimes rude

memoranda

of the business or of these

occasion which brought

tiieni tliither.

Over four score

are scattered along this road.

more imiwrtant

series of graffiti

here are the well-known Nile levels, records of the

height of the river during
the beginning
tiie

maximum

inundation, cut in the rocks along

the bases of the fortresses during the latter half of the Twelfth and
<jf

the Thirteenth Dynasties.

An

eNaminatinn of

the neighboring rocks showed {K)t-holes worn by the high water

on the s<juthwest of

Kummeh

fort far

higher than the mcnleru

at

maximum
level
in

level.

Later Davies noticed others

a still

higher

the valley east of the

Kummeh
around

fort.

We

carrietl the

level of these highest jwt-holes

to the front of the fortress

till

where we found
the

that the ancient

marks were oidy

east of)

cm. alwve

the level of the pot-holes.

In the Twelfth Dynasty, therefore,

I

maximum
is

inundation flowed behind

made an
fort

island of the lieadland of r(H-ks on which the

Kummeh and Kummeh

jx>int at

situated.

There ean be no doubt

that the ancient re<'ords

mark

tiie

actual ancient level of the river, and not

some

a fixed arbitrary unit higher than the actual level of the water;

even though the ancient

higher than that of today.

maximum is twenty-five to thirty tvet Some great barrier l)elow Kummeh and
Four thous^ind years
Somnfli may
iiilo

S<'mueii has since been removel by the river.

is

pnibably enough lapse of

I

tinu' to

account for such a change."

i\u>l

It i rf<nralvnlil>' llinl iIik iirnx-iit

Kmnilo

liarrior nl Kiimnioli
itnrioiil

liiin>

liorii niiuiitfli Inrtfrr

In llix Twoirtli Oxiiiialy tn

rauan the

liiitli

Iriri^l. tiiil

turh

r**Mnnrchnoil)- n irmilnKicAl |HH*inliRt rnii vnutun*.

Second Pkeliminaky Repokt

(ik

EiivrriAX Expedition

107

1:H/,
'

'1

VA

JJK___J^>-

108

Thi;

Ameiucax Joiknal of Semitic Laxgi'ages

tlu-

AiiKm-^ the graflSti on

west shore, I found one dated in the

I.

seventh year of

Amenhotep

This

is

the earliest date of the

It

Empire
and
the
is,

in

Nubia, and the southernmost record of this king.

" the king's-son of the southern region.

was placed there by

title

Thure,"

therefore, the earliest viceroyal record in Nubia,

though

carried by

Thure

in this inscription

dues not entirely con-

form with that which he bore as viceroy under Thutmose I." South of the Eighteenth Dynasty temple in the Semneh fortress is a brick temple, which was cleared out by Budge and Crowfoot. The sanctuary contains an altar of Taharka, and in its present form the building is probably of Ethiopian date; but I found in it a fragment of prol)ably a Nineteentli Dynasty inscription mentioning the "countries of Retenu," and the temple
older origin.
It is
is

doubtless of

worth remembering that Thutmose III affirms

In front of
a large hall with fallen stone columns,

that he replaced a brick temple by one of stone here.

the altar-chamber

is

and

the front of the building would repay clearance, though the rub-

bish

lies

deep here.
of our work on the graffiti was rendered so dif-

The conclusion
ficult

by the wind, which whirled the sand into one's eyes till sight ceased, that we found it next to impossible to finish and finally did not spend as much time as we could have wished in collating and
establishing finally the text of these difficult inscriptions.

We

and Semneh, the other principal documents of which are well enough known not to require enuLeaving i>n the third >f March we visited the fort meration here. of Uronarti, first re|H)rted by SteindorfT and his |>arty, and cam|HKl
spent nine days at
that night at Sarras.

Kummeh

The

felucca had great difficulty in {Missing

the Knginger rapid, where the ru<lder was smashed.

When we
Tiiis

reached

camp

at

(Tcmai on the night of the fourth of March, the

felucca failed to ap|H'ar,

and did not again overtake

dusk on the

us.

was

our

last

camp and an uneventful march brought

us to Haifa, our
fifth of

8tarting-|M)int of last year, just In-fore

Marcli.

The

next day there was fortuiwitely a steamer g>ing down, and

the eighth of

fortnight in closing
<:

March found us again at .\swan, where up the s)>ason's work, packing away
II, RtU.

w> 8|H'nt n

etpiipuient

Anctrnl Hn-onit,

Second Prelimixaky Ketort of E(;vptian Expeuitios

lOU

and apparatus, in cataloguing the materials collected, while Davies drew a jwrtion of the Heb-sed reliefs from Soleb. The epigraphic survey completed by the expedition in the two seasons (l'J05-6 and 1906-7) extends from the southernmost monuments on the Nile northward to the Ptolemaic temples above the first cataract. In returning from this pnter])rise I cannot but briefly express the deej) resjiect which during the progress of this work I learned to feel for our early predecessors in this field, particularly for Cailliaud and Lejisius. Under more difficult circumstances of travel, so far as reaching these remote regions was concerned, they brought back to the learned world the
first

adequate

record of the numerous

monuments

scattered through twelve hunfirst cataract.

dred miles of Nile valley above the

For the per-

sonal character and the ability for keen observation exhibited by

the then youthful Lepsius, I have gained a profound admiration.

It is very

much

to be

doubted

if

so many-sided an observer, with

interests so far-reaching, will ever visit that country again.

Only

one who has

felt

the unceasing pressure of the merely material

in

problems involved
results

keeping an effective expedition in working

a

order in such a country, can fully appreciate the mass oi varied

brought back by Lepsius, from the materials for

to a corpus of the royal

Nuba
nioiiu-

grammar
ments.

names on the Nubian

or. a

hundred other

classes of data collected.

too, collected

The amount

brought back by Cailliaud.

almost single handed,

was simply prodigious.

If,

as a result of our

work we are ever

able to publish a corpus of the written records of this far-off land,

we

shall be but building

upon their foundations.

one who
effec-

Finally,

it

was

a source of the deepest gratification to

knows what
tive

this long-suffering country of the

Nubian Nile has

pas-sed through, to observe the just,

humane, and practically

system of government which

it

now

enjoys.

Under the

stable

conditions and the economic developm<'nt thus ensured, a certain

nnmlx-r of the younger natives are being yearly equip|H'd

at (Gor-

don

Collegi' in

Khartflm with trained powers of hand and mind

the

for carrying into its remotest districts an increased ability to fur-

ther the universal work of regenerating the Sudan, which

Brltisli miprfniJii y is steadily

and unselfishly accomplishing there.

im
in

The Amebicax Juiknal of Semitic Laxgiages

<,'ri-at

AVith this

and

t'xnctiii<( resiMnisihility restitifj u|)oii

is still

him. ami

view of the fact that tho couutry

it

iinahle to carry its

own
any

KnancinI burden,
if

certaiidy woxild have

it

Ixh'ii

uu matter of wonder,

Sir Retrinald Wingate had found

imjK)Ssible to devote

time or any funds to the preservation of the ancient monuments

of the land.

But these heavy

resj)onsihilities

have not withheld

him from

a broad-minded interest in such remains.

A museum
a

collection has already been started in

Khartum, and

department
maintain a

of antiquities, under the able supervision of Mr. J. \V. Crowfoot,

has been estal>lished with sufficient funds

at least to

monuments, and here and there to undertake some works of preservation. When the rapiiUy improving yearly balance sheet in the Sudan no longer shows a deficit, the organization now
watch upon
all

effected will offer an e.xi'ellent basis for extending

its

present goiKl

work. and. we hope,

may

|>ermit

such enterprises as the complete

excavation anil preservation of the temple of Soleb, and a wide-

spread work of research throughout the land.

already

For what has

and lasting debt

been done. howevi>r,

all

archaeologists and friends of

a great

anti<|i)ity

owe

to Sir

Reginald Wingate

of gratitude.