Egypt Exploration Society

Two Lexical Notes to the Reisner Papyri: wrt and trsst

Author(s): William Kelly Simpson
Source: The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, Vol. 59 (Aug., 1973), pp. 220-222
Published by: Egypt Exploration Society
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3856118 .
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220

BRIEF COMMUNICATIONS

the one grindingcorn and the otherstirringa fire; the second figureholds her lefthand rather
similarly,and Borchardt(p. 158 n. 2) ascribesa like purpose to the posture-'um sich gegen die
KATE BOSSE-GRIFFITHS
Glut zu schiitzen'.

Two lexical notes to the Reisner Papyri: whrtand trsst

'thosewhoarein
I. IN PapyrusReisner,
readsnttmwhrt,
I D 29,a headingfora listofworkmen
This institution
(or from)thedockyard-workshop'.I
playsa majorrolein P. ReisnerII butis not
inP. ReisnerI andIII. In thecommentary
onP. ReisnerI thetermis erroneously
attested
otherwise
read krt,since the sign in questionseemed to be Sign List N 29, the sandyhill-slope;the termkrt
was consequentlydiscussed.2It is now evidentto me thatthe initialsign is the similarcake sign of

ofwnm,'to eat'. In brief,krtis to be

SignList X 7, whichis bestknownfromitsuse in writings
as whrt.
andindexofP. ReisnerI andthetermproperly
eliminated
fromthediscussion
recognized
in
best
of
to
the
The signofthecake,SignListX 7, is nototherwise
myknowledge,
represented,
earlyhieratic:it does not occur in the palaeographictables of Moller's HieratischePaldographie,I,
The HekanakhtePapers,and theAbu Sir papyri.The instanceofP. ReisnerI, D 29, maybe theonly

of whrtin hieroglyphic
one has onlyto consultthe
examplenotedto date.For similarwritings

admirablelistmade by Fischer,3thereadingof whichpromptedme to dispose of the spuriouskrt.

As is well known,hieratichas a generalpreferenceforfullerwritings,as exemplifiedby the normal

ofwhrtin P. ReisnerII.
writings

II. In PapyrusReisnerI a termin the accountsis renderedas trsst,'bread unit or compensation

thatthe
is indicatedby the remark:'One gainsthe distinctimpression
unit'.4Its importance
ultimatepurpose of the documentas a whole is the computationof the numberof man-daysex-

thecostofthelaborintermsofterseset
units.'sThe
pendedon a workprojectin orderto determine

onlyotherinstanceof the termthatI could findis the locus of HekanakhtePapers V, Ro. 30-3, in
are added toobtaina totalof 6,000
and 3,700 trsst-loaves
which 1,000 WFsrt-loaves,
500 bhsw-loaves,
or units,perhapsimplying,as Jamessuggests,an unexpressedequivalenceof 5 Shrttrsst-loaves
A curiousset of trsstdocumentshas now
to 3 trsst-loaves.6
and i bhsw-loaf
loaves to 4 trsst-loaves
on
wooden
in
the
cometo myattention
objects,circulardisks,pegs,cones,and a diamond
inscriptions

Mosthavebeenplastered
with
shapedobject,fromthedebrisofRoomF 5 at thefortofUronarti.7
threesmallerholes,forthinwoodennails
a singlehole,and/or
a lightcoatingand havepiercings,
to attachthem.One bearsthe date ofYear 33 ofAmmenemesIII, withoutmonthor day,and hence

datedintheTwelfth
theobjectsaresecurely
Theywerefoundwithsixhard-stone
weights
Dynasty.
of
units
with
inscribed
gold.
W. K. Simpson,PapyrusReisnerI, pl. 7, 7A.

2 Ibid.
33, I35, pl. 7A.
3 Henry G. Fischer,Dendera in the ThirdMillennium
B.C.,211-I2.

4 PapyrusReisnerI, 35 and passim.

5 Ibid. 35.
6 T. G. H. James,The HekanakhtePapers,6o-I.
7 D. Dunham, Uronarti,Shalfak,Mirgissa(Second CataractForts,IIu.34-5, pls. 27-8. I have attemptedin the
ofthe textsoftheseobjects.For thosein the Museum of Fine ArtsI have
accompanyingfigurea transcription
had access to theoriginalsas well as N. F. Wheeler'scopies made at thetimeoftheirdiscovery.For the objects
in KhartoumI have had to relyon the photographsand Wheeler'scopies. The writingis generallyclear except
when damage has occurred,yet the textsare not easy. The lettersin the accompanyingfigurereferto the
objects as follows:(A) 24-5-8; MFA 24.732; S(econd) C(ataract) F(orts) 11,34, 37, pl. 27, I/2; (B) 24-5-I8;
MFA 24.747; SCF ii, 35, 37, pl. 28, 3; (c) 24-5-10; Khartoum; SCF II, 35, 37, pl. 27, I/3; (D) 24-5-Ii;
Khartoum;SCF II, 35, 37, pl. 27, i/I; (E) 24-5-I6; MFA 24.754; SCF n1,35, 37, pl. 27, 2/I; (F) 24-5-14;
[continuedon p. 222]

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222

BRIEF COMMUNICATIONS

The functionof theseobjectsis not clearto me, althoughboth shape and the textsshould prove
sufficient
fora closeridentification
oftheiruse. Since all have holes forwoodenpegs or nails(in part
it
be
must
assumed
that
preserved),
theywere attachedto somethingelse. The use of the termsh3
furtheridentifiesthemas a sortof 'record'or 'memorandum'.The ink-signson the frontand back
of one of them(dd and nfr)suggestthatthe materialto which theyreferwas laterexaminedand
foundin sound condition.Fromthetexts(see figure)itis clearthattheyreferto bakedunitsofbread,
perhapsin the shape of the objectsthemselves,and thattheseunitsor loaves weremade fromfixed
quantitiesof barleyand wheatassignedto or providedby theworkforce(msr).In 'B' sixtyunitsare
baked from2/3heqatof northernbarley,in 'C' seventyunitsfromi heqat of wheat. The writings

withthefire-drill
further
suggestthatit is usedforthetermpswwiththesenseofbakingand not

as a determinative
fortrsst(see 'C').
I have consideredseveral interpretations
for these objects but feel unconvincedby any of the
or
of
alternatives, combinations them: thattheyare in the natureof receiptsforbaked goods taken
fromthebakery,thattheywerepresentedto thebakeryas authorization
fortheexpenditureofgrain
and the bakingof bread, thattheymerelycommemorateda transactionor act of baking,or that
theyserved as models forthe shape of the loaves to be delivered.These factorscould have been
simplytransmitted
orallyor by hieraticmessages.The certainfactorsare theiruse as a memorandum
(sh3)and theirattachmentas a docketto partof a containersuch as a storagebin, althoughtheydo
not seemto be ideal forcoversor plugs. It is curiousthatone ofthemshould be so formallydated in
termsof a regnalyearand yetlack an indicationof monthand day. The horizontalsignwitha loop
above it in 'E' and 'G' lookslikethe coverof a bin or a levellingstickto smooththeheaps of grain.'
The termsndm(?) in 'B', 'E', and 'G' maysignifytheobjectitselfor thewood fromwhichit is made.
Similarly,the firstword in 'G' may be a termforthe object itself.In 'F' and 'I', I am not certain
whetherto read the verbal phraseshiwn-tw
followedby mmor to postulatean unattested*twmmor
*wtmmas a termforoven or fora bakingoperation.
I draw attentionto thesepuzzlingobjects and theirtextsin the hope thatparallelsmay come to
lightto provide a betterexplanation.Since the daily allowance of trsstunits is known fromthe
Reisnerpapyrito be about eightper day,2and since the amountof grainused in bakingthemis
providednow in thesetexts,it is possiblethatthese documentscan be used to determinethe daily
caloricallowancefora labourerin the TwelfthDynasty.The docketscan be takento representa
ten-dayallowancefora singleworker,2/3heqat of northernbarleyin 'B' and i heqatof wheat in
'C'. These Uronarti'dockets', if such theyare, may add significantly
to the solutionof the trsst
if
in
submitted
the
Khartoum
can
be
collated
and
to furtherstudy.
the
problem
examples
group
WILLIAM KELLY SIMPSON

A considerationof Papyrus Kahun 13

OF the domesticdocumentsof theMiddle Kingdomdiscoveredat Kahun, PapyrusKahun 13 is the
mostcomplex.(Petrie,Kahun, pl. 13: convenienttranscription
by Sethe,in his Lesestiicke,
9I.) The
MFA 24. 748; SCFII, 35, 37, pl. 28, 4 upper; (G) 24-5-17; Khartoum; SCFII, 35, 37, pI. 28, I; (H) 24-5-15;
Khartoum; SCF 11, 35, 37, pl. 28, 2; (i) 24-5-13; Khartoum; SCF II, 35, 37, pl. 27, 2/3. Although these copies

cannotbe called definitive,

especiallyin respectto the objects in Khartoum,the readingsadopted should be
givenpreferenceover those in SCF II, 34-5.
1 See, forexample,theobjects
representedin thefriezeofobjectsin thetombof Hesy-Re': Vandier,Manuel
2 PapyrusReisnerI, 44-5.
d'archdologie,
I, part 2, 716, fig.743.

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