Ryholt_2004_-_The_Assyrian_Invasion_of_Egypt_in_Egyptian_Literary_Tradition_(Fs_Larsen).pdf20131231-38847-3vhqk0-libre-libre.pdf...

8/10/2019 Ryholt_2004_-_The_Assyrian_Invasion_of_Egypt_in_Egyptian_Literary_Tradition_(Fs_Larsen).pdf20131231-38847-3vh

http:///reader/full/ryholt2004-theassyrianinvasionofegyptinegyptianliterarytraditionfslarsenpdf20131231-38847-3v 1/29

ASSYRIA AND BEYOND

STUDIES PRESENTED

TO

MOG ENS TROLLE LARSEN

Edited

by

J. G. DERCKSEN

NEDERLANDS MST ITUUT VOOR HET NABIJE OOSTEN

2004



THE ASSYRIAN INVASION O F EGYPT IN EGYPTIAN

LITERARY TRADITION

A survey of the n am tiv e source material1

Kim Ryholt

The Assyrian invasion and subsequent occupation of Egypt in the seventh century BC

was a traumatic experience which gave rise to a rich literary tradition in Egypt. In the

temple libraries this tradition lived on until the late second century AD when it seems to

have d i ed ou t a longs ide the anc ien t i nd igenous cu l t s . The source mater i a l i s

predominantly written in the Demotic script although there is also relevant material in

Aramaic and Greek. Most of the Demotic material remains unpublished, and only very

brief, preliminary notes have been available. For this reason the material is largely

unkn own to scholars, both within and outside the field of Egyptology.

The main purpose of the present paper is to bring this inaterial to the at tention of

Assyriologist colleagues, and i t is primarily intended a s a survey. The survey m akes no

claim to include all relevant material , but instead focusses on narratives writ ten in

Egyptian. A single Aramaic text is also included because i t seems to be the earl iest

test imony to the c ycle of Inaros stories which are of fundamen tal importance. Egyptian

texts that are not strict ly narrative, such as the prophecy known as

Bokchoris and the

Lamb are also not discussed on this occasion. A more detailed analysis of the material

will be presen ted e l~ e w h e re .~

The present survey i s divided into two parts . The f i rs t i s a discussion of those

historical rulers who exercised their authority during the Assyrian occupation of Egypt

and who, directly or indirectly, play a role in the later literary tradition. The second part

is a presentation of the narratives that concern or allude to the Assyrian invasion and its

aftermath.

I

would like thank my friends and colleagues

G.

Barjamovic and Aa. Westenholz (Copenhagen) and

J.F. Quack (Berlin) for their useful comments on the present paper. Note the following abbreviations: Demot.

ND.

=

Demorisches NumenDuch. Begrundet von E . Luddeckens, fortgefuhrt von

H.-J.

Thissen und bearbeitet

von W. Brunsch,

G .

Vittmann und K.-T h. Zauzich. Wiesbaden, 1980-2000.

PNA

=

The Prosopographp ofthe

Neo-Assyrian Empire. Helsinki.

To be published in the proceedings of the symposium When are We going Where? Th ej hc t io n of ti rne

and space in Demotic l i terary texts, Leiden, December

12-13,

2002, organized by Prof.

J.

F. Borghouts and

Dr. J. Dieleman.



K. RY HOLT

The Historical C haracters3

The inscriptions of Assurbanipal enumerate twenty Egyptian rulers who ruled during

the Assyrian occupation of EgypL4 According to Assurbanipal they had been appointed

by his father, but most were presum ably already in pow er before Esarhaddon's invasion,

and thei r authori ty was merely confi rmed by the Assyrian king after an oath of

a l l e g i a n ~ e . ~ssurbanipal further states that they were displaced when Taharka later

invaded the north, and that he reinstated them after having defeated the Kushite king who

fled south.

The kings l isted by Assurbanipal were al l local rulers of small terri tories at a t ime

when Assyrian and Kushite kings were engaged in a fierce struggle for control over

Egypt. It is therefore not surprising that very little is known about most of them, and

indeed the majority is not otherwise attested by contemporary sources. Despite their petty

status, l i terary tradit ions developed around at least five or six of these rulers, and they

were st i l l remembered many centuries after the Assyrian occupation. These are

NikLi

(N e c h o ) ,

PufubiSti

(Pe tubas t i s ) ,

P a q r u r u

(Pekrur) ,

Na ?kP

(Nehka),

B u k ~ m a n i ' p i

(Bokennife) and possibly also

Na 7rihuruansini

(Nakthhornashen). With the exception of

Nahtihuruansini,

it is in the cycle of Inaros stories that these rulers appear.6

The six rulers are al l l isted in

The Prosopography of the Neo-Assyrian Empire.

However, since the entries are exclusively based on the Assyrian source material , i t is

possible to add a number of significant historical and l i terary details based on the

Egyptian evidence.

Esarlzaddon sorz of Serzrzacherib,

the Chief

o f A s h w

Before turning to the Egyptian rulers, we may first look briefly at the nam e and title of

Esarhaddon in the literary tradition. The name of Esarhaddon survives in three Egyptian

narratives of which at least two form part of the cycle of Inaros stories, viz. the Inaros

Epic and the Struggle for Inaros' Armor. The manuscripts all seem to date to the second

century AD, and these three literary texts are in fact the only attestations of Esarhaddon's

n a m e

(ASSur-c@u-iddinn)

wri t ten in Egypt ian. The name occurs in the fol lowing

~ r t h o g r a p h i e s : ~

A more detailed discussion of the role and background of the main characters in the Inaros stories will be

presented in my forthcoming paper 'The main Characters of the Inaros Stories'.

The inscriptions are edited end analysed in Onasch 1994. The twenty Egyptian rulers are listed in Prisms

A

and

C

ib id. : 1 18-1 19).

Such is, for instance, the case with Bokennife who is discussed below.

The cycle of Inaros stories is briefly described below.

Only P. Krall is published to date and hence Demo/ . iVb. I 40 only includes this one reference. The

scepticism expressed there by E. von Schuler has later been retracted, cf. Hoffmann

1996: 165

n.

735.



THE ASSYRIAN INVASION OF EGYPT

1.

P.

Krall (the Struggle for Inaros' Armor)

2. P. Carlsberg 80 (the Inaros Epic)

3.

P.

Carlsberg 6 8+123 (the Inaros Epic)

4 .

5 . P. Berlin P 156 82 (unidentified story)

The first three manuscripts are from the Fayum province in whose dialect r becomes I in

wri t i ng and pronuncia t ion . Thi s expla ins t he wr i ti ng of 1 where r i s expec ted

(ortho graph ies 1-4). It should further be noted that the signs h and S have the sam e

phonetic value in Roman t imes and are more or less freely interchangeable. Hence the

orth ogr aph ies :slStni, :slSt:ni and :slhrrni ( nos . 1-3 ) are to all intents and purposes

ident ical and represent something l ike Aser(zetai~i .~he fourth orthography, :Ihtrni, is

merely a corrupt form where s is lost, and the fifth, :rss_htni, contains a metathesis of r and

s.

The name of Esarhaddon's father Sennacherib (Sin-ah(zi-eribn) is consistently used as

a patronymic. Since the Egyptians had had few dealings with this king, it is perhaps not

surprising that the Egyptian rendering is a popular etymology with no more than a vague

phonetic resemblance. Th e name is writ ten Ws h-ri~= ,fwher e reserved intact in the four

manuscript^.^ Not entirely inappropriate from an Egyptian point of view, i t means 'his

name is long'.

The title used for Esarhaddon is 'the chief of Ashur'

(p:

~ v r w r) which i s somet imes

abbreviated to simply 'the chief' (p: wr). The noun wr literally means 'great' and denotes

a 'senior' . It can be used to describe anything from the seniors in a vil lage or senior

officials to rulers of great empires. The Egyptian titles of kingship are normally reserved

for Egyptian rulers.

Th e name Nikli i s Egypt ian N - k : . ~ , 'Belonging to the ka s ( i .e . souls)' ." and the

topon yms Me inpi an d S ai are Mn-nfr and S i (old S:w).

The signs

:

nd ra re used to indicate vowels, but there is no fixed system for the transliteration of foreign

names and these signs may carry different phonetic values depending on the context. The transliteration of

the Greek names of eponymous priest during the Ptolemies is discussed in some detail by Clarysse in

Clarysse

&

van der V eken 1983: 13 1-165. Here

i t

eme rges that initial

:

an be used to transliterate

a- E-

and

L-, and interconsonantal

:

or -a-

E-, -q-,

-0- and - w , while was not yet used to indicate vowels. There is

unfortunately no comparable study of the transliteration of names in the Roman period, but yenerally seems

to be used to represent o and 0, cf. also Brunsch 1982: 7-10.

Because the name is damaged in P. Krall (only the initial w - is preserved), which is the only published

manuscript of the four, i t is not recorded in Dernot.

Nb.

I .

l o Streck 2001

= PNA

2111,963.

Ranke 1935: 213 no. 16; 1952: 372;

Demot . Nb.

I 624. The name should be understood

N-k: .w

rather

than

Nklv

(so Onasch 1994: 38). It may be noted that

i t

still retains the original orthography

N - k : . w

in the

lnaros Epic and other contempo rary literary texts despite their very late date, although i t is sometimes written

unetymologicalIy as

N:-k:.w

in non-literary texts, cf.

Denlot.

Nb.

1624 .



486

K. RYHOLT

While the rulers l isted by Assurbanipal must al l be assumed to have been

de

fucto

rulers, only two of them are actually known to have used the Egyptian titles of kingship

themselves. These are Necho I (Ni k l i ) and king Petubastis (PutubiSti) who is discussed

next . Necho is most ly known for his rebel l ion against Assurbanipal and subsequent

pardon and reinstatement. These events have been described many times and need not be

repeated here. Very l i t t le else i s known about Necho who is poorly at tested by

contemporary sources in Egypt.12 The most significant consequence of his reign was that

his son and successor Psammet ichus

I

reunited Egypt during a 51-year reign and once

more turned the country into a major political pow er.

Several unpublished stories written in Demotic Egyptian are set in the reign of Necho.

These include the Inaros Epic which is particularly interesting since a significant part of

it concerns a conflict between Necho and Esarhaddon. Also Pekrur plays a role in this

story, and i t was therefore clearly based to some extent on the memory of Necho and

Pekrur's historical rebellion against Esarhaddon. It is described below.

PutubiSti, the King of'Sn'nu13

The name PutubiSt i i s Egypt ian PI-t i -wbst . t , 'He whom (the goddess) Bastet has

given',I4 and S a'nu is Drni (old Drn.t).15

Several historical kings with the name Petubastis are known; one or two with the

prenomen Wsr-ntT.t-rc dating to the ninth century

BC,

one with the prenomen Shr-ib-rr

wh o has been da ted to the late sixth century, and one with the prenomen Shtp-ib-rc who ,

by a process of el iminat ion, has been ident i f ied wi th the king ment ioned by Esar-

haddon.

l 6

While the historical identification of the king is perhaps not entirely certain, there can

be no doubt that the king mentioned by Esarhaddon is the same king Petubastis who

ruled from Tanis in several of the Inaros stories.17These stories include Th e Struggle for

the Benefice of Amun and Th e Struggle for Inaros' Armor in both of which Petubastis

plays the role of an irresolute king w ho fails to control events.

l 2 What little is known about the reign of Ne cho is discussed in Yoyotte 1958: 363-365 .

l 3 Mattila 2002 =PNA 311, 1002.

l 4 Ranke 19 35: 123 no. 5;

Denzot. Nb.

1303.

l 5

So rather than

DCnt

(Onasch 1994, 52); the

-t

at the end of the word is the feminine ending, which had

long since become vocalized, and not part of the stem.

l 6 Kitchen 1 986: 42 7. The know n attestations of P etubastis Sehetepibre are gathered and discussed by

Habachi 1966: 69-74.

l 7 S o already Spiegelberg 1913:

8.




P a q r ~ ~ r u ,he King of PiSaptu18

Th e nam e Pa qr ur u i s Egypt ian P: -krr, 'The frog' ,19 and the toponym Pis'ap tu i s Pr -

spd (>

Pi-spd).

Pekrur i s one of the ru lers about wh om w e learn the most from Assyrian and Kushi te

sources and therefore a lso one of the more in terest ing . According to the inscrip t ions of

Assurbanipal , a group of twenty ru lers including Necho, Sarru-lu-dari and Pekrur had

or ig ina l ly been in s t a l l ed by h i s fa the r Esa rhaddon and l a t e r been re in s t a t ed by

Assurba nipal h imsel f af ter Taharka had temporari ly d isp laced them. Yet in sp i te of th is,

t h e t h r e e n a m e d r u l e r s l a t e r r e b e l l e d a g a i n s t h i m . T h i s a c c o u n t i s c l e a r l y a n

overs im p l i f i ca t i on o f t he com plex po l i t i ca l s i t ua t i on a t t he t im e . A l ready under

Esa rhadd on the re was t ens ion be tween so m e o f t he De l t a p r inces and the Assy r ian

occupat ion , and a query to the sun-god from his re ign asks i f the chief eunuch $a-~abfi -

Su, wh o had been sent to Egypt by the k ing, might be subject to an a ttack by Necho and

S a r m - l ~ - d i r i . ~ ~his indicates that the at tempted at tack did not suddenly come about after

Assurbanipal had defeated Taharka , but that Necho and Sarru-lu-dari had in fac t been

considered a very real threat for som e years.

Th e a t tack apparently d id not g o very far . T he three ru lers sent messengers to Tahar ka

proposing to shift al l iance after the Kushite king had been forced south, but the plot was

discovered by Assyrian agents . Both Necho and Sarru-lu-dari were captured and sent in

chains to Assurbanipal in Nineveh. There i s no ment ion of Pekrur ' s fa te which suggests

that he escaped capture .21 This deduct ion seem s to be confi rmed by the fac t tha t he la ter

app roached Taharka ' s successo r Tanu tam an i . Accord ing to t he Drea m S te l e Tanu tam an i

went north to f ight the princes in the D el ta , but they barr icaded them selves inside their

f o r t r e ~ s e s . ~ ~fter 'man y days ' the lung re turned to h is base a t Memphis in order to make

plans about how to deal wi th the defiant princes . Meanwhi le a delegat ion represent ing the

princes arr ived a t Memp his and offered thei r subjugat ion . This delegat ion was headed by

Pekrur wh o is the only prince m ent ioned by nam e in th is connect ion .

T o judge from the inscrip t ions of Esarhaddon and Tan utamani , Pekrur must have been

one of the major pol i t ica l powers in the Del ta in h is t ime, and th is may be seen as the

explanat ion for the fac t tha t he became one of the main heroes in the Inaros s tories . In

severa l respects he i s p laced on a par wi th Inaros; they ar e the two seniors of thei r c lan ,

they f ight together against Esarhaddon, they d ie in the course of the cy cle of s tories , and

they both have sons who s imi lar ly p lay the ro le of major heroes . In the Inaros s tories ,

Bagg 2002

= PNA

3A, 988.

l 9 Ranke 1935: 120 no. 1;

Dernor. ND.

1 277.

20 The text is edited by Starr I990

= SAA

4, no. 88, cf. also comments by Nissinen 1998: 148f n.

554.

21

Pace

SpaIinger 1974: 326; 1976: 140, 144 n. 15, who states that Pekrur was 'arrested by the Assyrians',

deported to Nineveh and that 'Both Necho and Pa luw u found themselves reinstated in their dom ain s'. These

comm ents about P ekrur are sheer guess-work; no such dctails are actually provided by the available sources.

22 Text and photographs are published by Grilnal 1981: 3-20. pls. I-IV. and translations include Onasch

1994: 129-145 and Eide

el

crl. 1994: 193-209.



K. RYHOLT

Pekrur is the leader of Pisopd, at the eastern extreme of the Delta, and he is consistently

referred to a s ' the chief of the East ' (p: wl- i:bi). Th is is not a form al title, but an epith et

borrowed from the main local deity Sopdu which refers to the geographical location of

the nome. H e is also the father of Petek hons wh o similarly resides in Pisopd and who is

the main character in the story of Petekhons and Sarpot. According to an unpublished

I na ro s s to ry , P et ek ho ns bu rie d P ek ru r in N ~ b i a . ~ ~hether this has any relation to the

historical contact between Pekrur and K ushite kings Taharka and T anutamani is difficult

to say, but probably unlikely.

NahkC, the K ing of H i t ~ i t z S i ~ ~

The name NabkC survives in late Demotic as Nh-k: which is believed to be a false

e ty m ol og y of an o rig in al Nlzk, 'T h e d es ir ed ~ n e ' . ~ ~he top ony m Hin i~zS i s Htv.t-1717-1zsw,

H e r a k l e ~ p o l i s . ~ ~

We have no his tor ica l information about Nehka besides that provided by the

inscriptions of Assurbanipal. He can be identified with the fathe r of K hahor the Weak2'

who is the leader of Herakleopolis and one of the close allies of Inaros' clan in The

Strug gle for Inaros' Arnior and the Inaros In both stories he is sum mo ned to

participate in battles, but his role is a relatively minor one. The significance of his epithet

'the weak' (p: gbi) is far from clear.

B~tkurznni'pi, he King of Hathiribi29

Th e name Bu kun nn ipi is Egyptian Bk-n-t$, 'Servant of the wind',30 and the toponym

Hut biribi is Hw.1-hty-ib (> H1v.t-tj- ~r-ib).

The inscriptions of Assurbanipal inform us that the ruler of Athribis was a certain

Bokennife about whom nothing further is stated. After Necho's attempted rebellion and

23 P.Car l sb eg 1 25 .

24 Frahm 2001a = PNA 2111,922.

25 Denzot. Nb.

1

193. Th e name is not attested in the Hierog lyphic and H ieratic scripts. Denrot, Nb. k n o ws

only the form P:-tzlik, but the Assyrian transliteration shows that the name did not contain an initial definite

article. Many names consisting of a noun exist in both a form with the definite article and one without, and

the present name is found in both forms as Nh-k: and P h h - k : in P. Krall. T he transliteration (P:)-N t-k: with

nh for t ~ hSOOnasch 1994: 52; Frahin 2001 a = PNA 2AI.922) must be a slip of the pen.

26

Not Pr-h,:j-S=-f't~h-Nn-ns\t~so Gomah 1974: 109f: Onasc h 1994: 52).

27 The name Khahor has usually been rendered 'Ankhhor' in the past, but we now know that Khahor is a

much more accurate form as also shown by the Greek transliteration

X a u p ~ ~ .

28 Kitchen 1986: $426, with reference to the former.

29

Mattila 1999 =

PNA

1/11. 350.

30 Ranke 1935: 91 no. 10. No Demotic attestation is known to Dernnt. Nh. , but the name occurs in the

unpublished Inaros Epic.



THE ASSYRIAN INVASION OF EGYPT 489

subsequent pardon and reinstatement , this domain was handed over to Necho's son

NabO-Pezibanni, but we d o not learn anyth ing about the circum stance s behind the

transfer. It has been suggested that Bokennife participated in the attempted rebellion and

h en ce wa s r em ov ed f r om ~ f f i c e . ~ 'he Assyrian inscriptions only mention the capture of

two rulers , i .e . Necho and Sarru-lu-dari , but this natural ly does not preclude the

possibility that Bokennife might have participated and simply escaped capture. Yet the

Inaros Epic m ight indicate another state of affairs.

The identi ty of Inaros has always been a c r u x , but it now emerges from the Inaros

Epic that he was in fact the son of Bokennife and grandson of Petese. Petese is attested

by contemporary sources as the father of Bokennife and the ruler of Athribis during the

invasion of the Kushite king P i ~ e . ~ ~ne of the major episodes in the Inaros Epic is the

struggle against Esarhaddon in which Necho, Pekrur and Inaros participate. This episode

must surely be based on the memory of the historical rebellion against the Assyrians by

Necho and Pekrur. It is therefore conceivable that Bokennife had just been succeeded by

his son Inaros when the rebellion took place, and that it was the participation of the latter

that led to the transfer of Athribis to NabO-Sezibanni. It should not go unmentioned that

Inaros is not at tested by any contemp orary sourc es. Th e earl iest attestat ion of Inaros

seems to be the Sheikh Fad1 inscription from the early fifth century BC discussed below.

However, the same is true for most of the rulers mentioned by Assurbanipal and

symptomat ic of the t ime. Also Inaros 11, who rebelled against the Persians, was only

attested by literary so urces until a fe w years ago.33

Some t ime after his death Bokennife was dei f ied at Athribis . The ci rcumstances

surrounding this event are unknown, just as i t remains uncertain exact ly when the

deification took place. O ur only sou rce is a monu men t erected by king Nectanebo 11, who

ruled

360-343

BC.34

Ncrhtih~lr~ransini,ing

o f

Pikipdi 'ri35

T h e n a m e

N a h t i h n r ~ t a n s i n i

is Egyptian

N h t - H r - t i : - 8 n . w .

'Horus-of-the-Trees i s

3 1

Kitchen 1986 states that 'Doubtles s Bnkennefi (...) was one of the conspirators and executed by

Assurbanipal ' (p. 393 n. 878) and, more cautiously. that 'Bakennefi (...) was probably slain (665 B.C.) by

Assurb anipal' (p. 395). So too Spalin ger 1974: 318: 'Boccho ris (11) took part in a revolt of Eg yptian princes

during Assurbanipal's first invasion of Egypt.

[ lo

which LI~OOIIIOILdds:] Thus explaining the disappearance

of the independent ruler of Athribis'. The reference to Bokennife as 'Bocchoris' by the latter is misleading

since this Greek form is derived from a different name (B;k-t~-rn=,fiwhich was borne by a king of the

Twenty-Fourth Dynasty.

32

For Bok ennife and his family, see esp. Habachi 1957: 68-77, and Yoyotte 1961: 364-69.81-92.

33 lnaros I1 is now attested by tw o ostraca from Manawir, see Chauvea u 2003a: 38-40.

Habach i 1977: 92- 10.5, 157- 161.

3 5

Frahrn 2001b = PNA 2111,922.



490 K. RYHOLT

strong',36 and the toponym Piiapdi'a has been identified with Pr-Spd-m-iLty which was

l oc at ed s o me wh e re b etwee n Me mph is an d L e t ~ p o l i s . ~ ~he ruler, Nakhthornashen 11, is

not attested by any contemporary source from Egypt.

Another earlier ruler with the same name is mentioned on the Triumphal Stele of the

Kushite king Piye which provides the only known Hieroglyphic writing of the name (line

117).

Nakhthornashen I is described as a chief of the Ma, i.e. the ruler of a Libyan

Miwi- t r ibe , wi th res idence in P r - G r r . Lit t le is known about th is c i ty , but i t was

apparently important enough to be the residence of a local ruler in the late seventh

century, and in the first century A D it is described by S trabo (17.1.26) as the metropolis

of the eighth Lowe r Egyptian nom e in the eastern extreme of the Delta.

The name Nakhthornashen is quite rare, and besides the texts of Assurbanipal and

Piye, i t is only attested in one further source. This is a Demotic narrative of which

fragments describe a battle with the Kushites. This event is compatible with the historical

situation under both Piye and Esarhaddon, and in view of the rarity of the name, the story

is not unlikely to concern one of the two aforementioned rulers. The story is described

below.

Tlze Stories

Nine stories and frag ments which relate o r may relate to the Assyrian invasion and its

aftermath are included in the following presentation. There are further stories that

mention Assyrians

(I.fwr..w),

but it is important to note that this designation is applied to

all people east of Egypt in the area that the Greeks originally called Syria. It is therefore

not always clear in incompletely preserved contexts whether the people so designated are

merely Syrians or specifically Assyrians. This includes a number of unpublished and

most ly smal le r f ragments, but a lso the story of Pe tekhons and S a r p ~ t ~ ~here 'Assyrians'

apparently serve as auxiliaries in the Egyptian army. These have been understood by the

editors as actual Assyrians, but it is perhaps not without significance that only Syria (Hr)

is mentioned in the story and not Assyria

(p :

t i n ISwr.).

Th e nine included stories and fragments are:

1 .

The Inaros Epic

2.

The Strugg le for Inaros' Armor

3 .

Th e Aram aic S heikh Fad1 Inscription

4. The Story of A hiqar

36

Ranke 1935: 21 1 no. 5. No Demotic attestation is known to

Demo/ . ND.,

but the name occurs in the

unpublished story of Nakhthorshen.

37 The location of Pr-S d-rn-i:.~~ is discussed by Sauneron 1950.

38 The stele is edited by Grirnal 1981a. A recent translation with commentary is Eide el

01

1994: 62-1 18.

Nakhthornashen I is briefly discussed by Gomai 1974: 105-107.

39 Edited by Volten 1962 and Hoffmann 1995a.


http:///reader/full/ryholt2004-theassyrianinvasionofegyptinegyptianliterarytraditionfslarsenpdf20131231-38847-3 10/29


5.

Fragment P. Berlin P 15682

6. Fragment P. Trier Univ. Bibl. S 109A

7. Djoser and Imhotep

8. Naneferkasokar and the Babylonians

9.

The Story of N akhthorshen

The first two or three items in the list belong to the cycle of Inaros stories which deserve

special attention.40 Inaros w as the son of Bo kenn ife w ho ruled Athribis during

Esarhaddon's occupation of Egypt$I and the cycle of stories recounting the exploits of

him and his clan constitutes the largest, connected group of narrative literature from

ancient Egypt. To judge by the extant number of stories and the num ber of manuscripts in

which they are preserved, Inaros was certainly the most popular hero in Egyptian

literature during the G reco-Rom an period. Significantly, the cycle of Inaros stories m akes

up one third of the narrative material from the Tebtunis temple 1ibra1-y.42 he cycle also

includes the most substantial stories from ancient Egypt known to date. It has nonetheless

been almost entirely neglected by Egyptological scholars outside the field of Demotic

studies, and even the most recent anthology of literature from ancient Egypt ignores its

ex i s tence a l t~ge the r .~"

Apart from a number of smaller fragments, three substantial Inaros stories have been

published to date: The Struggle for the Benefice of Amun, which is preserved in four

manuscript^,^ the Struggle for Inaros ' Armor, preserved in two m an us cr i pt ~ , 4~nd

Petekhons and Sarpot, likewise preserved in two manuscript^.^^ Two further substantial

stories are unpublished but presently being prepared for publication: the Inaros Epic,

preserved in five manuscripts, and the Bes Story, which is preserved in a single

manuscript. The Inaros Epic relates the exploits of Inaros himself and he also plays an

important role in the Bes Story. The other three stories take place after the death of

Inaros, and the main characters are his son Pemu and other members of his clan. For an

outline of the contents of the published texts, a series of useful summaries published

40

The lnaros stories were formerly known as the Petubastis cycle because the first two that were published

are set in the reign of king Petubastis who plays an active role in both. It has since become clear that the

common denominator for these stories is in fact Inaros. King Petubastis is not mentioned at all in several

stories and the Inaros Epic itself is set in the reign of Necho.

41

As already described above in relation to Bokennife.

42 Sixty manuscripts containing narrative texts have so far been inventoried. Out of these at least twenty are

Inaros stories. For the contents from the Tebtunis temple library, see my survey to be published in the

proceedings of the symposium Te bt yn is rrncl Sokriopoirr Ne so s Leberr itti riirnerzeitlichen Fajrim,

Sommerhausen, December 11-13.2003, organized by S. Lippert and IM chentuleit.

43

Simpson 2003.

44

The main manuscript, P. Spieg elberg, is edited by Spiege lberg 1 910 and additional fragments are

published by H offmann 1995b. Parts of two of the other manuscripts are edited by Tait 2000.

4s

The m ain manu script, P. Krall, is edited by Bresciani 1964 and Hoffm ann 1996. The other is edited by

Ryholt 1998.

46

Edited by V olten 1962 and Hoffmnnn 1995a.



492

K. RYHOLT

within the last years m ay be consulted.47 Th e remain ing stories in the ab ov e list do not

belong to any known cycles.

1.

The Inaros Epic

The Inaros Epic is preserved in at least five papyrus manuscripts from the Tebtunis

temple library, all of which can be dated palaeographically to the first or second century

ADeJ8

ne of the manuscripts has pagination which indicates that the Inaros Epic was by

far the longest known narrative from ancient Egypt.J9 The material is very fragmentary,

and more than

250

fragments belonging to the f ive manuscripts have so far been

identified. Numerous joins have already been made, but many more are likely to follow.

For this reason only a preliminary description of some of the relevant episodes can be

presented here.

Th e epic recounts the exploits of Inaros, and on e of the main episode s is the conflict

between king N echo of Egy pt and king Esarhadd on of Assyria. While Inaros is the main

Egyptian hero, also Pekrur plays an important role. The episode can therefore be seen to

have been influenced by the historical rebell ion of Necho and Pekrur against the

Assyrians, a l though this rebel l ion in fact took place under Esarhaddon's son and

successor Assurbanipal . Only fragments of the episode are preserved and I shall here

restrict myself to a description of three of these fragments. Their order has not yet been

established.

Esarhaddorl 's Letter- to Inaros

Following a paragraph that refers to mythological events, king Esarhaddon takes

counsel from a certain Sinuqi son of Nabuqen (Sinwki s:

Njbtvkn)

who is described as

47 Depauw 1997: 88-89, Thissen 1999, Hoffmann 2000: 199-205, Chauveau 2003b; cf. also the individual

text editions. Some of the unpublished material is described by Volten 1951: 72-73: 1967: 150, and Botti

1955: 4-5. Other brief descriptions and comments on the lnaros stories include Quaegebeur 1987: 3; Tait

1994: 21 1; 1996: 183-185; Thissen 1977: 873; 1990: 65-66; and Vittmann 1998: 66-68.

48

The five manuscripts are P. Carlsberg 68+123, P. Carlsberg 80, P. Carlsberg 164, P. Carlsberg 458, and

P. Carlsberg 591, with further, mostly smaller fragments in other collections. A few of the fragments in other

collections have been individually published, but without recognition of the fact that they form part of the

Inaros Epic. P. Carlsberg 80 is briefly described by Volten 1951: 72-73; 1967: 150, and Botti 1955: 4-5, and

the translation of a large fragment from P. Carlsberg 80 based on Volten and Botti's draft5 has been

published by Bresciani 1990a: 103-107; I990b: 945-947. Two recent, brief accounts of the Inaros Epic in

Danish are published by Ryholt 2000b: 43-44; 2003: 58-59.

49 According to the pagination of P. Carlsberg 164, the Inaros Epic occupied 46 columns in this specific

manuscript. The number of lines per column is exceptionally large and the size of the signs disproportionally

small, perhaps in an attempt to fit a very large text unto a single roll of papyrus. Converting the number of

signs per column into more familiar formats, the Epic would have occupied about I25 columns in the P.

Krall format or about 140 columns in the P. Mythus Leiden format.




'prophet of BCl and priest of Nabii ' . Sinuqi swears by Ahura Mazda which is clearly an

anachronism.

Sinuqi advises Esarhaddon to wri te a le t ter to Inaros and to dispatch i t wi th a

messenger. He then informs Esarhaddon about Inaros, and states that he is now 'before

the aforementioned fort ress ' by which the fort ress of Alvand ( j h ~ n t )s meant. 'He will

not turn to Nineveh, our district, but he will die by hunger [of bread (?)I and thirst of

water , ' Esarhaddon is assured. 'Moreover, [ the] gate of the fort ress of Alvand [i s

secure (?)I and they will not open to him unti l the misfortune

[... ...I

has perished.' B y

'the misfortune' the presence of Inaros is apparently meant. In other words, the gates of

the fortress of Alvand will not open up before Inaros has gone away. The mention of the

fortress of Alvand also seems to be an anachronism since i t apparently relates to the

Medes, who buil t the renowned capital at Ecbatana north of Mount Alvand, rather than

the Assyrians.

Esarhaddon's response is positive, and he praises Sinuqi with the words 'May BCI

look upon you, Sinuqi son of Nabuqe n ' He then ends the session and holds a feast. The

text continues: 'Everything which the prophet [had said] to him; [he did] it all. The chief

said: "Let a leather scroll be brought " It was brought b efore him immediately. H e let be

written upon i t some words of a com man der which burned more than the [flame], which

were stronger than the stone, which were without

[...

and which were] colder than the

iron. ' T he reference to 'word s of a comm ander' (a l iteral translat ion) suggests that the

letter contained a military challenge, and it was presumably an attempt to somehow gain

t h e u p p e r h a n d o n In a r~ s . ' ~his, at least, is what one might suspect from a foreign king

in contemporary Egypt ian l i terature. The reason for the harsh wording i s said to be

'because of the manner in which

[... ...I

gave wrath [...

...

the] lance of prince Inaros. ' Th e

lance of Inaros seems to represent his mili tary might and is mentioned repeatedly in

Inaros stories.

The letter is now given to a courier. The word used is

h g r ,

a loan-word from Persian

also at tested in Greek

ayyapoS,

'a m ounted courier' . Th e courier crosses a mountain on a

journey which apparently lasts 'three days and three nights' . He arrives at Inaros' cam p

and is questioned by sentries. Eventually the letter is handed over to someone who reads

it aloud to Inaros. Here the fragment breaks off.

The

Du el between Inaros and an Assyriarz Sorceress

in

the Shape of a

Gri f in

In another fragment, a sorceress approac hes the Assyrian king and states 'By :Ir , the

great fire of the east I will bring the Egyptian to you'. Th e king is exceedingly happy to

hear this. 'H e m ade the joy of the world ', the text states, and then praises the sorceress in

the same m anner that Sinuqi was praised: 'May

:ri..

look [up on you ]'. A few lines later

we are told that 'She changed her appearance into a griffin'.

The phrase 'words of a commander' ( m d . t

rvr-m-J's)

also occurs elsewhere in the Inaros Epic, when

Inaros challenges a Median opponent during a duel. They seem to be more or less parallel to the expression

'words of

a

soldier'

n8d.t rmt-knkn),

which is sometinles used to describe taunts in connection with duels.



494

K. RYHOLT

Th e identity of the deity wh ose nam e is written :IC and

:r .

(the final part of the name

is lost; restore perhaps

:r 3

is not without difficulties. Since the Fayumic dialect mostly

writes I for

r

and the name is actually written with an

r

once , lICf should most likely be

understood as :rci. In view of the epithet 'the great fire of the east'

( p :

st i

n p:

ijbt), it

may be suggested that the name is a metathesis of Atar, the god of fire and son of Ahura

Mazda. It might also speak in favour of this identification that 'the fortress of Persia' is

mentioned in relat ion to the sorceress, but unfortunately the immediate context is lost .

Elsewhere in the Inaros Epic, Ahura Mazda himself is described as 'the great serpent of

the east' (p: sit C?

n

p: i jbt) which is perhaps a corruption of the sa me epithet , st i 'fi re'

having beco me sit 'serpent' through a metathesis. If the proposed identification with Atar

is correct,

i t

would represent yet another example of the confusion between the Assyrians

and Persians and one that is analogous to the fact that Sinuqi swears by Ahura Mazda.

Whatever the exact identity, there may be a deliberate association between the fact that

the sorceress swears by a god associated with fire and then changes herself into a griffin

since the word 'griffin' (srrj) is hom onym ous with the word 'heat' ( s d later srrj).

The actual encounter between Inaros and the gri ff in takes place whi le Inaros i s

camped wi th his army at the shore of the Red Sea. Gazing out over the sea, Inaros

suddenly sees a crea ture in the sky ' its w ings being spread ou t, covering the sun ' .51 He

fears that this might be the griffin whose nature had once been described to him by the

Kushite ruler. This griffin was an en orm ous m onster of 120 divine cubits length, about 63

metres, which had on ce roamed Nubia for three years and laid waste the land.52 Soon the

griffin is upon Inaros and his army and causes terrible carnage in the camp. Witnessing

the slaughter, Inaros frets for a moment and then calls out to Pekrur. The rest of the

column is more or less lost . When the text resumes in the next column, Inaros i s

recounting how he killed the griffin with an iron-tipped spear, made some kind of armor

(41:) ou t of its skin, and thre w the carcas s into the sea. Th e battle betwe en Ina ros and the

griffin is set in a mythological perspective by referring to the two combatants as Horus

'the Great of iMight' and Apophis.

An Egyptian visit to Esarhndclon 's Sleeping-qunrters

Only a most tentative reconstruction of a third fragment can be presented at this time

since just the end of the lines are preserved. Th ese mention Pek rur, king Esarhaddon, the

residence of the king, stairs (tltl), a gate, the royal sleeping-quarters (knl1i.t) and finding

someone or something. In the context, i t seems a possible reconstruction that Pekrur

5 1

The manuscript reads hbs

p ; irn

'covering the ground' which seems to be a mistake for rbs

p: itrt

'covering the sun-disc'; cf. also the much earlier

The Proplwcj oJ'Ncferti

where the description of chaos

includes the very same words: i f n ~bs.iv,the sun-disc is covered' (Helck 1992: 23, 25).

52

A

more detailed description of a griffin occurs in the contemporary

Myth oj'the

Slrn2.s

Eye

( P .

Mythus

Leiden 15.l ff: Spiegelberg 1917:

38-41)

which 'schildert den srrj'[i.e. griffin] als das grijsste und rnkhtigste

Wesen auf Erden, das iiber alle irdischen Wesen Macht hat wie der Tod und das Schicksal' (Spiegelberg

1917: 250).



T H E ASSYRIAN INVASION OF EGYPT

makes his way to the royal palace, enters it, ascends the stairs, passes a gate and enters

the sleeping-quarters of Esarhaddon. Whatever it is that he finds is not clear; perhaps the

king himself, but an object referred to as 'the god's stone' ( t : Cit-ntr s also mentioned

twice.

The episode is l ikely to represent the topos of humiliat ing the enemy, in this case

Assyria. Like every one else. rulers are vulnerable when sleeping, and to be surprised in

the privacy of the royal s leeping-quarters of one 's palace i s , of course, a severe

humiliat ion. The same motif is at tested in the contemporary story of Khamwase and

S i o s i r i ~ , ~ ~here an Egyptian pharaoh is taken from his sleeping-quarters

(knf7.t)

in the

palace and brought to Nubia and beaten with

500

blows. The culpri t is here a Nubian

sorcerer wh o uses magic to achieve the evil deed.

2.

The Struggle for Inaros' Armor

In the Inaros story known as the Struggle for Inaros' Armor there is a brief reference

to an at tempted invasion of Egypt on behalf of Esarhaddon. The passage in question,

which is only preserved in one of the two extant man us~ ripts ,~% ead s:

'Pemu said: W oe and misery By Re-Harakhte, the Chief of the Gods, the Great God

[--- --

pharaoh] Petubastis on the

...

(?)

when the chief of Ashur Esarhaddon son of S[ennacherib ---

---I to take Egy pt from pharaoh Petubas tis,

I jumped in [---1

---I,

I made very much bloodbath and destruction.

I caused him to return to the east

[---'

Pemu, who here takes credit for his role in repulsing Esarhaddon, was the son of Inaros.

There i s nothing to indicate that his claim should be understood as anything but

legitimate, but it stands in contrast to the Inaro s Epic where he plays n o role in relation to

the conflict with Esa rhaddon o r otherwise. How ever, there is hardly a need to assume that

the different stories belonging to the Inaros cycle were entirely consistent, and the present

passage is at any rate most likely historical fiction since Pemu would be the grandson of

Bokennife who ruled Athribis during Esarhaddon's occupation of Egypt. Whether Pemu

is even a historical figure rem ains uncertain and perha ps doubtful.

j Edited Griffith 1900; translations include Lichtheim 1980: 138-151. and Ritner in Simpson 2003:

470-489.

54 P. Kra11 5.6-9:Hoffmann 1996: 163-166.



K.

RY HOLT

3. Th e Aram aic S heikh Fad1 Inscription

A

further text that should be described in relat ion to the two aforementioned Inaros

stories is a long and most curious Aramaic inscription. I shall describe this inscription in

slightly more detail than is strictly necessary for the purpose of the present contribution

in the hope of making it known to a wider au d ie n~ e. ~ '

The inscription, which has been dated palaeographically to the early fifth century

BC,

is written inside a Middle Kingdom tomb in a cave in the vicinity of Sheikh Fadl. It was

discovered by Flinders Petrie in the season of 1921122, and first published already in

1923 by G i r ~ n . ~ ~ithin the last ten years, the inscription has been republished twice; in

1995 by Lem aire on the basis of photographs that he made in 1984, and in 1999 by

Porten and Yardeni on the basis of photographs made at an unspecified date by Joseph

Leibovitch.j7 It has suffered considerable damage since i t was found, but significant

adva nces in the decipherment have n onetheless been possible.

The inscription is writ ten in red ink on three of the tomb's walls and divided into

seventeen panels. Although i t was already recognized by Giron that no less than three

royal nam es occurred within the inscription, sc. Necho of Egypt, Tah arka of Kush, and

Esarhaddon of Assyria, he text seem s to have received very limited attention. The most

recent discussion known to me is a contribution by D a l l e ~ . ~ ~he suggests that the

inscription ' records events during the l ifet ime of the tomb's occupant ' , and that i t is

'personal biography in Aramaic' belonging to not 'a native Egyptian' but a foreigner who

was 'a very high-ranking officer under Assurbanipal and, perhaps, also Esarhaddon'. I d o

not consider this interpretat ion very l ikely. The inscription was writ ten about

75

years

after the death of all three kings to which it refers, and this alone would seem to rule out

the possibility that it is a contemporary biography.

T o all intents and purposes. the text s it is preserved esembles fictional narrative

li terature, and Porten cautiously describes i t as a romance.j9 Panel 2, on e of the better

preserved panels, is set in Heliopolis. It tells the story of a certain Hora

(HRc)

who has

received a great desire for a certain woman:

'I

shall not be able to leave her. I shall lie

with her.

I

love her abundantly. ' He then offers to com pens ate the woman financially, by

paying her one karsh of silver, in return for her favours. She rejects him, which in turn

leads to an increased offer of 100

karsh

of silver that is also rejected. One

karsh

is about

83.3 grams60and hence 100

karsh

is the equivalent of nearly 8 112 kilograms or 18 112

pounds of silver. Porten and Yardeni correctly point out in their edition that these events

For further bibliography than cited here s ee Fitzmyer & Kaufman 1992: no. B.3.f.2.

j

Giron 1923.

57

Lernaire 1995; Porten & Yardeni 1999: 286-299, foldout

5-8.

58 Dalley 2001: 154-155.

j9 Porten 1997:

217.

60 Cf. Porten 1968: 66.




recall the Tabubu episode in the story of Kh an~ wa se nd Na ne fer ka ~ta h.~ '

Panels 3 and 4 are badly damaged and l i t t le can be made out. In Panel 5 the first

preserved mention is made of 'Taharka king of the Kushites' (THRQ MLK KSY; 5A.8,

9; 1 1.8; 12.9) and of 'Pharaoh Necho' (PRc H NKW: 5A . 1 1; 8.12; 12.7). Also a eu nuch

Psamshek (PSMSK), i .e. Psammetichus, plays a role. The two kings are mentioned at

least until Panel 12 after which little is preserv ed. It is also in this panel that the only

preserved mentioned of Esarhaddon is found ('SH DN; 12.12).

One further personal name occurs in the story, and i t has been identified in three

places in Porten and Yardeni's edition (5.11. 9.4,

7).

The reading SNHRW is suggested,

but the name is nowhere intact and especially the first sign is badly rubbed in all three

occurrences. Th e hand-copies of the photographs that are presently available cannot help

to settle the reading with certainty, but the issue might perhaps be resolved nonetheless.

W e learn from the Inaros Epic that theflou ri t of Inaros was the reign of king Necho and

that he interacts with both Necho, Taharka and Esarhaddon. It is precisely the same

constellation of rulers that the find in the Sheikh Fadl narrative. In this light

i t

may be

proposed that the name in quest ion should rather be read YNHRW, an Aramaic

transliteration of the personal name Inaros also attested elsewherea6* t may be noted that

while Lemaire only ventured to suggest a reading of the initial sign in

9.7,

he cautiously

read i t Y at this place (al though as YNHTW and not YNHRW). Moreover, the reading

YNHRW has the advantage over SNHRW that no clear etymology presents i t sel f in

relation to the latter.

T h e significa nce of the Sheik h Fad1 inscription is the fact that it i f the nam e

YN HR W has been correctly read provides by far the earl iest mention of Inaros and,

furthermore, that Inaros already in this context is mentioned specifically in relation to

Necho, Taharka and Esarhaddon. It is therefore regrettable that i ts contents remain

largely obscure.

4. The Story of Ahiqar

Another text that concern relations between Esarhaddon and Egypt is a D emotic story

about the fam ous sa ge Ahiqar, which forms part of a long l i terary tradit ion. Th e sayings

of Ahiqar and the narrative fra me in which they are presented have a documented

transmission covering more than a thousand years, during the course of which they were

modified and translated into a number of language^.^' It is still a matter of discussion,

however, w hether the original work was composed in Aramaic or Akkadian.

In the present context, i t is interest ing that the two oldest known versions are

Edited by Griffith 1900; translations include Lichtheim 1980: 125-138, and Ritner in Simpson 2003:

453-469.

62

Vittmann 2002 :

92

n . 53, ha s independently c om e to the same concl usion though without reference to the

Inaros stories. For attestations of the name in Aram aic, see both

ibid.

and Porten 2002: 314.

63

The main editions and translations are Nau 1909 , Conybeare

pr nl.

I9 13 and Harris

el al.

1913.



498 K.

RYHOLT

preserved on papyri found in Egypt. Th e oldest is an Aramaic papyrus from E lephantine

dating to the late fifth century

BC.@

Th e Demotic version, with which w e are concerned

here, dates around the f i rs t century AD. Only two smal l fragments of the lat ter are

preserved." Th eir provenan ce is unkn own , but the use of lambdacislns (the use of

I

instead of r , as in the name of Ahiqar which is writ ten :Liikl and 3Lligl) indicates a

Fayurnic origin.

Before turning to the Demotic fragments, a brief outline of the story as preserved in

the main versions may be presented. Ahiqar was the highest counsel lor of king

Sennacherib. He grows old without having begotten a son and Sennacherib grants him

that his nephew Nadin may be recognized as heir to his office and possessions. Ahiqar

shares his wisdom w ith Nadin and a wh ole chapter of proverbs follow. Despite his new

privileges and learning, the nephew turns out to be evil and wishes to supplant his uncle

immediately. He c onvinces Esarhaddon, who has succeeded Sen nacherib, that Ahiqar has

rebelled against him. Esarhaddon orders the execution of Ahiqar, but he is saved by a

man w ho ow es him his l ife. When the king of Egypt learns that Esarhaddo n has lost his

wise coun sel lor , he presents him wi th an apparently impossible chal lenge, to build a

castle in the sky. Ahiqar returns f rom hiding to rescue Esarhaddon from the humiliation

and is pardoned. H e proves able to counter every challenge from the Egyptian king and is

rewarded both by the Egyptian king and Esarhaddon who hands over his nephew for

punishment. Another chapter of proverbs follow, at the end of which the nephew falls

dead . This conclude s the text.

Th e two Dem otic fragments clearly belong to the narrative frame and do not preserve

any of the sayings. Unfortunately they hardly preserve a single intact sentence and i t is

therefore difficult to establish a definite relat ion with specific passages in the better

known versions of Ahiqar in other languages. Yet i t seems rather l ikely that the Cairo

fragment might belong to the episode where Ahiqar's nephew has tricked him into

assembling the Assyrian army and then deceitfully convinces Esarhaddon that Ahiqar

and the army have rebelled against him. The crucial l ine reads

'The army which was

rebelling s the one that has com e to Ni[neveh

(?)I (line

9),

which would then be part of

the report to E~arhaddon.~"he Berlin fragment has been compa red to the episode where

pharaoh challenges Ahiqar to build a castle in the sky.67 I wonder if it might not rather

@

P. Berlin

P

13446. The papyrus is edited by Cowley 1923: 204-248, and Porten

&

Yardeni 1993: 22-53.

foldou ts 1-9 , and further translated by Lindenberger 1985 and Kottsieper 1991. The proverbs are translated

without the narrative frame by Grelot

1972: 427-452 ; revised 2001 : 51 1-528, and are studied by

Lindenberger 1983.

65 P. Cairo Nat. Bibl. (inv. no unknown) P. Berlin P 23729: published by Zauzich 1976: 180-185. His

translation is reprinted in Kiichler 1979: 333-337, and Lindenberger 1983: 310-312, together with a third

fragment

(P.

Berlin

P

15658) which apparently contain sayings and which may or may not be part of the

Ahiqar manuscript. A photograph

of

the Cairo fragment is published by Sobhy 1930: 3-4, pl. VII.2.

66

Zauzic h 19 76: 183. The topon ym should presum ably be restored Nineveh (i.e. in the standard

orthography

N:[nirv :]) ,

as already sugg ested by Zauzich, since this city is also the Assyrian royal residence in

other Dcm otic literary texts.

67 Zauzich 1976: 184.



TH E ASSYRIAN INVASION OF EGYPT

belong to the episode where Ahiqar is saved from the execution ordered by king

Esarhaddon and hidden away, but very li tt le is p r e ~ e r v e d . ~ ~

Comparison is further hampered by the fact that the other version from Egypt, the

Aramaic text, only preserves part of the narrative; the whole episode about Esarhaddon

and the Egyptian pharaoh is lost. This is particularly regrettable since it is precisely this

episode which one would expect to have interested the Egyptian audience, and it would

therefore hav e been useful to see how it was described in the Aram aic version. As show n

by some of the other texts discussed in this paper, Esarhaddon and the Assyrian invasion

caused a lasting impression and were the focus of Egyptian literature until the coming of

Christianity. The Berlin fragment does in fact mention a 'chief' (p : wr) which could be

the Assyrian king. Esarhaddon is similarly referred to in the Inaros Epic, the Struggle for

Inaros' Armor and P. Berlin P 15682. However, in the Cairo fragment Ahiqar himself is

also referred to by this title (line 1 2) and it therefore cann ot be excluded that the

aforementioned chief might be Ahiqar.

Since only two small fragments of the Demotic story survive, i t is impossible to

determine its nature with any degree of certainty. Nonetheless I think it would be a fair

guess that it somehow brought Ahiqar and Esarhaddon, and presumably also the invasion

of Egypt, into the same context as the stories discussed above involving Esarhaddon.

That is, a context in which Esarhaddon is defeated and humiliated. If this is so, then the

Dem otic story will not have been a m ere translation, but rather an adaptation and perhaps

a very loose one. Whether it would have included sayings of Ahiqar is difficult to say,

and a bove all o ne won ders w hat role Ahiqar played in the story.69 It is , perhaps,

significant that in the Syriac version the Egyptian pharaoh and Ahiqar are on quite

amiable terms although the latter easily outwits pharaoh.

5 .

P. Berlin P 15682

This is a single papyrus fragment consisting of a full-height strip of a single column.

The text is being prepared for publication by Prof. K.-Th. Zauzich, with whom I read it

many years ago as a student in Wiirzburg. It is written in a typical Fayumic hand, but the

exact p rovenance cannot b e determined.70 A date in the first or second century A D seem s

68 One passage reads 'N o orie on earth fourirl out

what

htrtl huppcned to

him'

(l ine 4). and two lines before

it is stated that

...

you soughr.for us; you did not seek suffering'. The latter could well refer to the t ime w hen

Ahiq ar saved from king Sennacherib 's wrath the third party wh o later saves him. In this case a conceivable

restoration would be 'Good is wha t] jorr sou gh tfor rrs: jou did riot seek suffering'. Both 'ri and t f r are well-

attested antonyms of tllc and would provide this sense.

69 Zauz ich 1976: 185 n.

20.

mentions the possibility that

a

further fragment

(P.

Berlin P 15658) , which

might be written in the sam e hand as the tw o Ahiqar fragments, could belong to the sam e manuscript.

70 The hand closely resembles that of the main manuscript of Petekhons and Sarpot, as well as that of an

unpublished papyrus from Tebtunis

(P.

Carlsbesg 555). The latter is inscribed with a narrative which

mentions Persia. In view of the Iatter fragment, the possibili ty cannot be entirely excluded that the Berlin

fragment might have com e from Tebtunis l ike so many other fragments in Berlin.



500 K. RYHOLT

likely. The story mentions Esarhaddon and 'men of the east ' (r int .wna i :b t ) , as well as an

Egyptian entitled 'the king's son Necho son of Pabes'. Further details will have to await

the publication.

6.

P. Trier Univ. Bibl. S 109A

This papyrus, which consists of three fragments, was kindly shown to me by Prof.

Barbel K ramer a few years ago.7' Its provenance is unknown, but the text contains no

lambdacism, which can usually be taken as an indication of a non-Fayumic origin

although there are exceptions. The hand is perhaps late Ptolemaic in date. The text

mentions 'the chief of Ashur' (pZ w r K w r ) wh o is almost certainly identical to someone

who is simply referred to as ' the chief' several t imes. Also the army of the ruler and

Babylon

(Bb l )

is mentioned. Th e papyrus remains unpublished.

7.

Djoser and Irnhotep

Th e story of king Djoser and his chancellor Imhotep is preserved in a single papyrus

from the Tebtunis temple l ibrary, which can be dated palaeographically to the first or

perhaps second century

AD.72

Djoser and Imhotep are both historical figures from the Third Dyna sty, around 2650

BC.

The extant fragments of the story preserve parts of various events which do not seem

directly related. These include, for instance, the encounter with a spiri t . The two main

fragments describe an expedit ion to Assyria undertaken in order to find and retrieve ' the

forty-two divine l imbs' . Th e divine l imbs are the holiest of rel ics, the remains of Osiris

h i m ~ e l f . ~ q nythical t imes Osi ri s had been murdered by his brother Seth, who

dismembered the corpse and spread the body parts al l over Egypt in the at tempt to

prevent his resurrection. Th e exact num ber of body parts varies in different sources. The

number in the present story is a symbolic figure based on Egypt's canonical division in

the Late Period into forty-two nomes, each of which is here ascribed one rel ic. Thus i t

represents the totality of Egypt. Nor should the divine limbs be understood literally; in

the present context they symbolize the sacred images of the Egyptians. The looting of

temples and the removal of deit ies during periods of foreign invasion or occupation

caused a severe trauma to the Egyptians, and the retrieval of exiled divine images is a

71

During the

Demo~isclw ottw~ersclzule

n Trier, August 26-29,2001, organized by Prof.

S.

P, Vleeming.

72

P,

Carlsberg 85 with minor fragments in other collections. The story is briefly mentioned by Volten

1951: 73, Botti 1955: 4, Barns 1967: 33, Wildung 1969: 91-93; 1977: 130-131, Zauzich 1991: 6, and

Winnicki 1994: 153. A more recent brief account of the story in Danish is Ryholt 2000a: 33-35.

73 Wildung 1977: 131, and Winnicki 1994: 153, refer to the divine images as foreign deities, but this is a

misunderstanding.




well-attested topos in literature and propaganda during the Greco-Ro man period.74

The Du el between Imlzotep an d the Assyrian S orcer ess

The first of the two main fragments describes an encounter between the Egyptian and

the Assyrian armies. The Egyptian army is led by Imhotep, and the Assyrian army by a

woma n w ho, strangely eno ugh, carries the Egyptian name Seshemn efertum. There can be

li t t le doubt that the woman is actually an Assyrian since she is once referred to as ' the

Assy rian wo ma n' (t: 7iwl.t). The text begins in the middle of a discussion between the

Assyrian king and Seshemn efertum. The king is evidently worried and ask s her if she has

everything under control . She calms him, says something about magic, presu n~a bly bout

i ts efficiency, and then ends her answer with the words: 'Do not worry about i t . ' The

Assyrian king is not portrayed as a heroic figure, nor would we expect him to be in this

context.

The conversat ion clearly concerns a duel of magic between Seshemnefertum and

Imhotep which is about to take place. Its beginning is described as follows: 'She made

[an image of Geb.] She cast a spell upon i t , and she let i t l ive. She let i t go to the

battlefield, and [it] joined the Assyrians. Im hotep made an imag e [of Nut. He cast a spell

upon i t, ] and he let it l ive. He let it go to the batt lefield, and i t joined the E g y p t i a n ~ . ' ~ ~

Images that are given l ife through magic are a frequent ingredient in contemporary

Egyptian narratives; they are often said to be made fro m wax.76 Th e deit ies who are here

summo ned to the aid of the duell ists have a clear symbolism; they represent heaven (Nut)

and earth (G eb), and the duel accordingly takes on cosmic propo rtions.

Seshemn efertum creates further divine images, each of which Im hotep counters with a

corresponding image. Sh e then creates a monster, 'a great snake which w as one hundred

divine cubits'. The length corresponds to a little more than fifty metres, and the enormous

creature 'made bloodbath and slaughter among the army' , a s tock phrase in Demot ic

narratives. But o nce again Irnhotep manag es to coun ter her magic. Sh e finally generates a

magical fire which is quenched by Imhotep.

During each successive stage of the bat t le , the ini t ia t ive has been that of

Seskhemnefertum, and Imhotep has confined himself to countering her at tacks. He now

takes the word and makes a speech. He f i rs t addresses his opponent as 'my sister

Seshemn efertum' which, in the present context, signals that he regards her as som eone of

equal status to himself. He proceeds to state that

'I

have not yet let my hand come out

after her' and that ' there is nothing which she can d o if I don' t ... . Although the text is

full of lacunae, the general sense is clear enough; Imhotep is confident that he could

easily defeat her if he wished to do so. Unfortunately the frag men t breaks off at this point

and we do not learn how the encounter ends .

74

Winnickj 1994. Thi s topos will be discus sed in further detail in the paper announced in n.

2.

75 The names o f the deities occur again a few Iines later and are restored on this basis.

76 The application of wax in Egyptian magic is discussed by Raven 1983.



502 K. YHOLT

The magical duel finds a close parallel in the contemporary story of Khamwase and

S i ~ s i r i s . ~ ~here the opponent is a Kushite magician, and once again it is he w ho takes

the initiative while the superior Egyptian magician m erely counters his moves for a while

before finally dispatching him. The Kushite magician is consumed by fire and dies.

Whether the encounter in Djoser and Imhotep had a similar outcome is perhaps doubtful

in view of Imhotep's respectful reference to Seshemnefertum. In another contemporary

story, that of Petekho ns and Sarpot, the duel between the Egyptian hero and the queen of

the Ama zons end s with the tw o falling in love and joining forces. I t was therefore not

impossible that an Egyptian hero could fall in love with a foreigner, and also in this story

is the female opponent respectfully greeted by the Egyptian as his 'sister'.

The Subnzission o the Assyrian King and the Retrieval of the

Divine

Inzages

In the second main fragment the Assyrians have been defeated. The Assyrian king

submits before the Egyptian king with his army and presents tribute of gold and silver.

As it is customary, the Assyrian king is simply referred to as 'the chief and his identity

does not emerge from the extant text.

Then 'Pharaoh said: "I must hurry east because of the forty-two divine limbs."

Pharaoh went to Nineveh with his army and the chief (i.e. the Assyrian king). Thereafter

it came to pass that every single city at which he arrived, its prince ca me out before him

[with] his tribute. reached Nineveh and he settled there with his army. The

chiefs of the east heard of this and they cam e with their provisions and their gifts.'

The divine images are shortly after discovered at the fortress of riz-Bl ( 'Ah-Be l? ) .

Celebrations follow, but at night Djoser is told in a dream that he should not return the

divine im ages to Egypt im mediately. T he reasons for this are not entirely clear.

8.

Naneferkasokar and the Babylonians

Fragments of the story of Naneferkasokar and the Babylonians are preserved in two

m anuscripts, a p a p y r u ~ ~ ~ f r o mebtunis dating to the third or second century BC and an

o ~ t r a c o n ~ ~f unknown provenance from the first century AD. The ostracon is complete

but contains merely the excerpt of a few lines, and only on e fragment of the papyrus has

so far been published. It is therefore just possible to make a few preliminary remarks o n

this occasion.

Th e narrative was evidently quite substantial since fragments of the Te btunis papyrus

77

For references, see note 53 above.

78 P, Carlsberg 303 + P. Berlin P 13640. The B erlin fragment is published by Spiegelberg 1932 and there is

a translation of the fragment in Italian by B resciani 1969: 675-6 76; 1990b: 942-944. T he more substantial

Carlsberg fragments remain unpublished. They are briefly mentioned by Zauzich 1991: 6 and a few passages

are cited by Chauveau 199 1.

79

0. IFAO Dem. 890: published by Chauveau 1991.



THE ASSYRIAN INVASION OF

EGYPT

preserve column numbers

19

and

27.

The theme of the extant fragments, the conflict

between an Egyptian hero and the king of Babylon, may suggest that also this story was

somehow based on the memory of the Assyrian invasions. However, there is no direct

relation between this story and the Inaros cycle as onc e assumed.s0 Neither Inaros

himself nor any other member of the cast of the Inaros stories are mentioned in this

narrative.

The extant fragments describe a conflict with the king of Babylon (lit. 'the chief of

Babel', p:

IVY

Bbl). His identity does not emerge, but like Esarhaddon in the Inaros Epic,

he swears by the god Be1 several times. The country is referred to as 'the district of

Babylon '

(p:

ts

Bbl ) ,

i.e. Babylonia, and the subjects of the king are called 'the

Assyrians' n: iir.w .The latter designation is here evidently applied in the loose sense

'Syrians'. Th e Egyptian hero in the fragmen ts is a certain Naneferkasokar. H e refers to

himself as a mighty warrior. but no title or other designation is used in relation to his

name and it is therefore unclear what fo rmal status he has.

The published fragment preserves the vertical half of a single column, and the first

half of every line is lost. This naturally causes some difficulty for the interpretation of the

story. It is told that Naneferkasokar is staying with the king of Babylon, but where and

und er wh at co ndition s is not clear. At o ne point (11. 7-8) i t is described that

'Naneferkasokar shaved himself. He put on some fine clothes [---I. When the chief saw

him, he laughed. Naneferkasokar could not also laugh.' The context seems to indicate

that the king's laughter is merry, rather than insulting, and that Naneferkasokar is too

grave to laugh.

A conversation ensues. At one point Naneferkasokar says 'May the prince make an

oath for me that I will not be punished'. This request is presumably m ade because of the

bold statement which follows: 'I have not seen a man who was stronger than me'. The

reaction of the Babylonian king is immediate: 'The moment he said this, the head of the

prince went red'. Naneferkasokar proceeds to describe some terrible event that has or had

befallen Egypt (11. 15-26). Someone has died, apparently a ruler, and the Egyptians

became very 'hard-hearted' . No longer were offerings presented to the gods and the

Egyptians ceased to w ork altogether. Eventually the generals sought out ' the strongest

one among them', presumably in order to set him up as the new ruler since the next line

mentions a pharaoh who is crowneds1 and enriched with some one's possessions. Next, an

expedition is sent to Egypt's southern border, but a sudden celestial phenomenon brings

an im me diate end to it.82

The king of Babylon respon ds to the story by summ oning a series of men, fourteen in

total, from among the satraps. So me costly materials are mentioned, including something

The supposed relation goes back to Bresciani 1964: 9; 1969: 675; 1990: 942; cf. also Lichtheim 1980:

152, Kitchen 1986: 424 , and, more cautiously, Chauveau 1991: p. 147 n. 3. Spiegelberg 1932: 177-17 8, did

not conside r the pos sibility very like ly, and

i t

was rightly rejected by Thissen 1977: 873.

The noun

kbn,

which is not read by S piege lberg, is Coptic klorn 'crow n, wreath' (Csum 1939: 104b).

s2 It is stated that 'the sky made ...' before the line breaks of. Spiegelberg 1978: 178 n. 35, suggests that the

passage referred to rain or an eclipse.



504

K.

RYHOLT

mad e out of ' first-class purple-dyed Th e king then proceeds to his residence,

'his face being very w eak' , and also his leaders go away. Th e final l ine concludes the

column with the words: ' Is this the one who is stronger than the entire Babylonia? He

will be cursed

...'.

Th e confus ion between the eastern empire s is also evident in this narrative. It refers to

satraps, for which the Persian designation is used in the Egyptian transliteration hsrrpn,

and their personal names se em to be Persian. This suggests an Achaemenid setting. Yet

the story concerns the Babylonian king and Babylonia. Spiegelberg compared this

confusion to the Coptic Cambyses Romance, where the Persian king Cambyses and the

Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar are confused. I t has since been shown that the

h is tor ica l set ti ng of the Cambyses Romance i s based on the S e p t ~ a g i n t . ~ ~

Matters are not mad e less comp lex by the reference to the 15th regnal-year of pharaoh

Pi:

in one of the unpublished fragments. The date follows a spatium and clearly forms

the introduction to a new episode in the story. It has plausibly been argued that the royal

name is a Demotic rendering of that of the Kushite king Pi~e .~"h is king is best known

from his Triump hal Stele which com memorates h is expedition into northern Egypt in his

2

1 t r e g n a l - ~ e a r . ~ ~

9. Th e Story of Nakhthorshen

The story of Nakhthorshen i s preserved in a s ingle papyrus manuscript from

T e b t ~ n i s . ~ ' T h eolophon of the manuscript records the fact that it was written in the 8th

regnal-year of Claudius, i.e. 47/48 AD.

The setting of the story seems to be based upon the situation during the Twenty-Fifth

Dynasty when the Kushites ruled large pa rts of Egypt, but it is unclear if it also concern s

the Assyrians. The main character in the surviving fragments seems to be a man named

Nak hthors hen (N ht-Hr-51). Th is is the sa me na me a s Nak hthorn ashen (NIit-Hr-it:-Sn.w),

albeit in an orthography that omits the definite article in ord er to give the name a n archaic

air.88 Th e rarity of the perso nal na me and the setting of the story at a time of conflict with

the Kushites makes it likely that the character of Nakhthorshen is based upon one of two

similarly named historical rulers, Nakhthornashen I who ruled Phagroriopolis in the

easternmost part of the Delta during the invasion by king Piye and Nakhthornashen

I1

who ruled Pisapdia north of Memphis during the invasion of king Esarhaddon.

83 Th e etymology of the word

:rgvn

is discu ssed by Vittnlann 1996: 437.

84

Richter 1997-1998:

54-66.

X5

Zauzich 1991:

6.

86

For refercnces. see note

38

above.

87 P, Carlsberg 400 with further, smaller fragments in other collections. The Carlsberg parts are briefly

mentioned by Zauzich 1991:

6,

and there is a recent brief account of the story in Danish by Ryholt 2 0 0 0 ~ : 7.

X8

Such treatment of nam es is by no means uncommon in Demo tic narratives; another example is afforded

by the name P:-rrh-k: var, Nh-k:, the ruler of Herakleopolis discussed above.



T HE

ASSYRIAN INVASION OF

EGYPT

Unfortunately i t is difficult to ascertain which of the two is the more likely candidate. No

title, toponyms or other clues that might help with an identification occur in relation to

his name. The only information the extant fragments provide is the name of his father,

PI-hr.6. The name seems perfectly sound, but it is not otherwise attested and is perhaps

fictitious.

The largest fragment preserves part of an episode which commences thus: 'While all

these things took place, the army of the m en of the east were outside [...

...I

and the four

Kushite rulers had made camp before them. Amyrtaios son of Peftjaubaste went out from

the cam p before the sun had set in the evening. He w ent outside the stockade of the cam p

and he hurried up. He looked at the army of the four Kushite rulers which were spread

out before them.' Other fragm ents describe a battle and great slaughter.

The term 'men of the east' is used in some contexts to refer to the Assyrians, which

could speak in favour of Nakhthornashen 11. However, 'men of the east' can also refer to

men from the eastern Delta where Nakhthornashen I ruled. Perhaps a more important

clue is the fact that the story mentions a pharaoh whose court lies at Tanis. In the reign of

Piye there does not seem to have been a king at Tanis. This had changed by the time

Esarhaddon invaded Egypt at which point Petubastis ruled from this city, and it is

therefore possible that also this story was based upon the memory of the conflict between

the Assyrians and the Kushites.

Conclusion

Th e narrative m aterial survey ed in the present paper mostly belongs to the final stage

of a long literary tradition, which took its beginning in the wake of the Assyrian invasion

and occupation of Egypt . Whatever s tor ies or ig inal ly c ircula ted , the mater ia l was

continuously re-edited and expanded upon throughout the centuries. One of the striking

traits is, for instance, the conflation of the Assyrians and the Persians, whose invasions of

Egypt f rom the east were confused in la ter memory. Also la ter events seem to have

influenced the stories.

A more detailed discussion of the material will be presented elsewhere, but I may

offer a few remarks already here. It is hardly necessary to emphasize that the stories are

historical fiction and contain little of direct historical value. It would, however, be a

grave mistake to see these narratives as mere entertainment. Many of the n~anuscripts

formed part of the Tebtunis temple library, and the palaeography of the Ahiqar and

Berlin fragments may indicate that they too came from temple libraries in the Fayum.

Narrative material like that preserved in the Tebtunis temple library was widely exploited

by classical authors in their accounts of Egypt's history. This is well illustrated by the

remains of the Aigyptiaka composed by the Egyptian priest Manetho in the third century

BC, which is the only extant native history of Egypt. Also authors like Herodotus and

Diodorus bear full testimony of this. In a few fortuitous instances, Egyptian versions of

specific stories told by these authors have even been identified among the holdings of



K. RYHOLT

temple librarie~.~~

These circumstances lead me to believe that the narrative material was rather selected

and kept as some form of record of Egypt's p a ~ t . ~ T h i sight also explain the

predominance of the Inaros cycle and other similar stories in the Tebtunis temple library.

These are texts that mostly celebrate a glorious past where Assyrians longside

Kushites, Persians and other foreigners ere defeated and humiliated. Seen in this

light, the material offers a valuable insight to an Egyptian history that was based on a

vague memory but largely invented, and that evolved continuously during the many

centuries of foreign occupation from the Assyrians to the Romans.

Postscript:

For the Aramaic Sheikh Fad1 inscription, see now also G. Vittmann,

iisypten und die

Fremden

im

ersten vorchristlichen Jahrtuusen~i

Mainz am Rhein, 2003), pp. 104-105.

The so-called Dream Stela of Tanutamani (footnote 22) has recently been re-edited in F.

Breyer,

Tanutan iani. Die Traum stele und ilzr Urnfeld

(AAT 57; Wiesbaden 2003).

Bibliography

Bagg, A. M . 2002: 'Pa-qruru', PNA 311, 988.

Barns,

J .

W . B. 1956: 'Egypt and the Greek Romance'.

Akten des VIII. Internationalen

Kongresses f i r Papyrologie , pp. 29-36. Mitteilungen aus der Papyrussammlung der

Osterreichischen Nationalbibliothek, Neue Serie 5. Wien.

Botti, G . 1955: 'Quello che anche llEgittologia deve a Carlo Anti'.

Anthemon. Scritti di

Archeologia e di Antichita Classiche in onore di Carlo Anti,

pp. 1-6. Firenze.

Bresciani, E. 1964: De r Kampf uni den Panzer d es Inaros. Mitteilungen aus der Papyrus-

samrnlung der Osterreichischen Nationalbibliothek, Neue Serie 8. Wien.

969: Letteraturn e poesia dell'antico Egitto. Torino.

990a: 'La corazza di Inaro era fatto con la pelle del grifone del Mar Rosso',

Egitto e Vicino Orierite

13, 103- 107.

990b:

Letterutura e poesia clell'antico Egitto.

2nd edition. Torino.

9

The prophecy known as Bokchoris and the Larnb, cited by Manetho, is preserved in P. Vienna 10.000

(Thissen 2002). Th e 'Pheros Story' told by Herodo tus (2.1 11) has been identified in the unpublished P.

Carlsberg 324, where it forms part of the Petese Stories. Stories about the legendary Sesostris were long

known only through Herodotus (2.102-1 10) and other classical sources. Egyptian versions have now been

identified in P. Carlsberg 41

1

and 412 as well as an ostracon.

A

preliminary account of the two Sesostris

papyri is presented by Widmer 2002.

90 In this respect I disagree with Hoffrnann 1995: 22, who argues in relation to the Inaros stories that

'Solche Texte eignen sich nicht als politische Propaganda oder zur Beschworung fiiiherer nationaler Macht

und GroRe (... ... ...) Solche Texte kon nen eigentlich nur zur Unterhaltung bestirnmt gewesen sein.'

8/10/2019 Ryholt_2004_-_The_Assyrian_Invasion_of_Egypt_in_Egyptian_Literary_Tradition_(Fs_Larsen).pdf20131231-

Date post:	02-Jun-2018
Category:	Documents
Upload:	jordi-teixidor-abelenda
View:	220 times
Download:	0 times

Ryholt_2004_-_The_Assyrian_Invasion_of_Egypt_in_Egyptian_Literary_Tradition_(Fs_Larsen).pdf20131231-38847-3vhqk0-libre-libre.pdf...

Documents