From: Subject: THE CORRECT PLACEMENT OF HAREMHAB IN EGYPTIAN HISTORY Date: Sun, 4 May 2008 18:10:15 +0300 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/html; charset="windows-1255" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Location: http://localhost:8780/pubs/journals/kronos/vol0403/003corre.htm X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2900.3198 THE CORRECT PLACEMENT OF HAREMHAB IN EGYPTIAN = HISTORY

THE CORRECT PLACEMENT OF HAREMHAB IN EGYPTIAN HISTORY

IMMANUEL VELIKOVSKY

Editor's Note: The following material on Haremhab is taken from=20 Velikovsky's forthcoming book The Assyrian Conquest, Vol II of the = Ages in=20 Chaos series. The appearance of The Assyrian Conquest will mark the = completion=20 of that series.

HAREMHAB -- HARMAIS

Josephus preserved a story he found in Manetho, the origin of which = is in the=20 adventures of Haremhab. The heroes of the story are Sethosis and = Harmais, two=20 brothers. Sethosis was the king of Egypt. His name is like that of King = Sethos,=20 who, according to Herodotus, went to war against Sennacherib and was = saved when=20 a catastrophe destroyed the Assyrian army in a single = night.⁽¹⁾

This Sethosis of Manetho, "who possessed an army of cavalry and a = strong=20 fleet, made his brother Harmais viceroy of Egypt and conferred upon him = all=20 royal prerogatives, except that he enjoined upon him not to wear the = diadem, nor=20 to wrong the queen....

He then departed on a campaign against Cyprus and Phoenicia, and = later=20 against the Assyrians and Medes .... Meanwhile, some time after his = [Sethosis']=20 departure, Harmais, whom he had left in Egypt ... violated the queen and = ... put=20 on a diadem and rose in revolt against his brother .... Sethosis = instantly=20 returned to Pelusium and recovered his kingdom, and the country was = called after=20 him Aegyptus. For Manetho states that Sethosis was called Aegyptus and = his=20 brother Harmais, Danaus. Such is Manethos's account."⁽²⁾

Manetho, in his Sethosis, amalgamated Sethos of Herodotus, who went = to war=20 against the Assyrians under Sennacherib, and Seti the Great, who fought = against=20 the Babylonians and the Medes. Harmais (Haremhab) as a brother of the = king=20 probably reflects the true situation.⁽³⁾ Like Sethos, he was = educated=20 to be a priest. The eponym Danaus may give a clue to Haremhab's place of = refuge.⁽⁴⁾

Subsequently, the Assyrians re-established their dominion over = Egypt.

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1. II Kings 19:35; Isaiah 37:36.
2. Josephus, Against = Apion, 1,=20 97-102.
3. A manuscript copy of Josephus has, as a marginal note, a=20 variation: Sethos, Ramses, and Harmais as three brothers (see a note by=20 Thackeray in his translation of Contra Apionem, Loeb Classical = Library=20 edition, pp. 202-203). Sethos was either an uncle of Seti the Great or = more=20 probably his grandfather, as it is known that the father of Ramses I was = Seti I=20 (Sethos).
4. According to Diodorus of Sicily, Danaus, when expelled = by his=20 brother, fled to Argos. But cf. Luckenbill, Ancient Records of = Assyria=20 II. Sec. 709.

HAREMHAB

We shall occupy ourselves in a series of sections with Haremhab, not = because=20 of any unusual importance of his historical role, but because of the = importance=20 of establishing his place in history. As long as Haremhab's place is=20 misunderstood, all imaginable and also unimaginable conclusions are = drawn; and=20 even at this late date in Egyptology the dominant view makes him vizier = and=20 commander of the army under Tutankhamen. It also makes him a denizen of = the=20 fourteenth century, though I have already demonstrated, on exhaustive = historical=20 grounds, that Tutankhamen and the entire House of Akhnaton belong to the = ninth=20 century and that the Eighteenth Dynasty became extinct shortly = after.

Haremhab, however, despite so many books and treatises and also = novels and=20 plays dealing with the House of Akhnaton, stood in no relation to this = house:=20 his historical place is in the opening decades of the Nineteenth = Dynasty, and=20 chronologically his reign in Egypt dates from -702 to -687. Of those = sixteen=20 years,⁽¹⁾ for up to eight years he administered the land, and = for an=20 almost equal time he wore the diadem of a king of Lower and Upper Egypt. = As=20 administrator and commander of the army he was not assuaging = Tutankhamen's rage=20 -- the boy-king died before reaching his eighteenth year and was not a = raging=20 despot. And why should a king still in his early teens place a royal = crown on=20 the head of a general? Tutankhamen did not abdicate; he was manipulated = by his=20 crafty maternal grandfather and, as I tried to elucidate in Oedipus = and=20 Akhnaton, fought his elder brother Smenkhkare, the rightful = successor to=20 Akhnaton. But I need not borrow anything from my other books: the = presentation=20 of the case stands and ends here.

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1. For a recent discussion of the regnal length of Haremhab, see = Donald B.=20 Redford, "New Light on the Asiatic Campaigning of Horemheb," = Bulletin of the=20 American Schools of Oriental Research, no. 211 (Oct., 1973), pp. = 3649 and=20 particularly pp. 36-38. A regnal attestation of 16 years for Haremhab,=20 discovered by Redford is now strengthened by the finds of G.T. Martin, = et=20 al., while excavating at the Memphite tomb of Haremhab. "A large = quantity=20 of pottery was found in the principal burial chamber and approach = corridors and=20 rooms, including large storage vessels and amphorae. Some of the latter = bear=20 hieratic dockets, one recording the highest year-date (13) of Horemheb = hitherto=20 certainly known" [the present whereabouts of the stone bowl bearing the=20 inscription that attests to regnal year 16 is unknown (see Redford, = loc.=20 cit.) - LMG] . - See The Egypt Exploration Society = Report for=20 the Year 1977/78, p. 5, no. 2. [The year 13 discovered by Martin, = et al.,=20 comes very close to a presumed figure of 12 years 3 months for the reign = of=20 Haremhab supposedly found in Manetho (see J.R. Harris, "How Long was the = Reign=20 of Horemheb?" in The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 54 (1968), = p. 97)=20 - LMG]

HAREMHAB AND TIRHAKA

In this reconstruction Haremhab and Tirhaka are contemporaries; in = the=20 conventional version of history they are separated by more than six = centuries,=20 Haremhab being dated to the late fourteenth and Tirhaka to the early = seventh. A=20 certain scene, carved on one of the walls of a small Ethiopian temple at = Karnak,=20 shows them together. The scene proves not only the contemporaneity of = Haremhab=20 and Tirhaka, but also permits us to establish a short period in their = relations=20 from which it dates. De Rouge, in his 1873 study of the monuments of = Tirhaka,=20 describes the relief:

"Tirhaka is standing and takes part in a panegyric. An important = personage,=20 named Hor-em-heb, a priest and hereditary governor, addresses to the = people the=20 following discourse in the name of the two forms of Amon: 'Hear Amon-ra, = Lord of=20 the Thrones of the World and Amon-ra, the husband of his mother, = residing in=20 Thebes! This is what they say to their son, the king of Upper and Lower = Egypt=20 [Neferatmukhure] son of the sun, Tirhaka, given life, forever: "You are = our son=20 whom we love, in whom we have repose, to whom we have given Upper and = Lower=20 Egypt; we do not like the kings of Asia - - - -"⁽¹⁾

The monument must be dated to the time early in Haremhab's career = when he was=20 acting as priest and governor under his brother Sethos. Egypt was then = allied=20 with Ethiopia, actually under Ethiopian domination, and was bracing = itself to=20 meet the armies of Assyria; for Sennacherib had shut up Hezekiah in = Jerusalem=20 "like a bird in a cage" and was advancing to the border of Egypt. The=20 Egyptian-Ethiopian army which had gone to block him had suffered a = crushing=20 defeat at Eltekeh in Palestine. The declaration "We do not like the = kings of=20 Asia" was appropriate for the moment. The ways of Tirhaka and Haremhab = would=20 soon part: Tirhaka would flee to Ethiopia and become the bitterest enemy = of=20 Haremhab, who would go over to the side of Sennacherib and campaign = against the=20 Ethiopian king and his own brother Sethos.

_______________

1. M. le Vicomte de Rougé, "Etude sur quelques monuments du = règne de Taharka"=20 in Mélanges d'Archeologie, Vol. I (1873). The text was = published by=20 Prisse d'Avennes, Monuments égypriens (Paris, 1847), Pl. = XXXII, Wall D=20 of the small building of Tirhaka at Karnak. The article of de = Rougé is also=20 reprinted in Bibliotheque Egyptologique 28 (1918), p. 268.

HAREMHAB APPOINTED TO ADMINISTER EGYPT: BY WHOM?

It is regularly admitted that it is not known how and when Haremhab = became=20 king of Egypt. Some think that he was the last king of the Eighteenth = Dynasty;=20 some place him at the beginning of the Nineteenth Dynasty.⁽¹⁾ = He was=20 not the son of a king, nor was he the father of Ramses I, who followed=20 him.⁽²⁾ "Nothing is known of his antecedents."⁽³⁾ = He was=20 appointed by a king to rule the country, and at some point after a = campaign of=20 conquest or re-conquest against Ethiopia, he was designated by the king = to be=20 crowned. Nowhere is found the name of the king who made this = extraordinary=20 appointment. Who could this monarch have been? It is often surmised that = he was=20 Akhnaton. But Akhnaton was succeeded on the throne by Smenkhkare and=20 Tutankhamen. Often this role is ascribed to Tutankhamen - but the = youthful king=20 was followed by an old general, Ay, the maternal grandfather of the two = young=20 princes. Was it Ay who appointed Haremhab to administer the land for = him, and=20 then, in his own lifetime, crowned him? But "of Haremhab's relation to = Ay we=20 know absolutely nothing".⁽⁴⁾ And if there is no historical = link=20 between Haremhab and Ay, the last known king of the Eighteenth Dynasty, = does any=20 compelling reason exist, or even any ground whatsoever, to place = Haremhab=20 immediately after Tutankhamen or after Ay, where we usually find him in = books on=20 history? A likely ground is not only non-existent, but everything = confounds such=20 placement of the "appointed pharaoh".

Had Haremhab been a prominent official in the days of el-Amarna, he, = like=20 other generals and courtiers, would have had a sepulchral chamber built = for him=20 in the necropolis of Akhet-Aton (el-Amarna).⁽⁵⁾

But no tomb, nor any other monument of his, was found there. However, = while=20 yet a general, he built for himself a tomb near Memphis, a place rather=20 neglected during the Eighteenth Dynasty; later he prepared another tomb = for=20 himself at Thebes.⁽⁶⁾

The finely sculptured Memphite tomb of the "Great Commander of the = Army"=20 Haremhab was discovered early in the nineteenth century. At that time it = was=20 dismantled and blocks with inscriptions and bas-reliefs were scattered = among=20 many private and public collections. Through subsequent decades scholars = made=20 great efforts to trace the parts and collate the pictures and texts. = Some blocks=20 described in older publications have since been lost - a block seen many = years=20 ago in a private collection in Alexandria is such a case. The museums of = Leiden,=20 Vienna, Bologna and Berlin preserve disunited portions of the tomb. More = sculptured blocks have been retrieved in the newly-resumed excavations = by the=20 Egypt Exploration Society, beginning in 1975 .⁽⁷⁾ Haremhab's = own=20 statement of his title at the time his sepulchre near Memphis was being = prepared=20 is:

"King's follower on his expeditions in the south and north country. = Greatest of the great, mightiest of the mighty; great lord of the = people.=20 King's messenger at the head of his army, to the south and north = country.

Chosen of the King, presider over the Two Lands (Egypt), in order = to carry=20 on the administration of the Two Lands, general of generals of the = Lord of the=20 Two Lands."⁽⁸⁾

"Such titles no officer under the king had ever borne. Under what = ruler he=20 thus served is not certain, but whoever he was such power in the hands = of a=20 subject must necessarily have endangered his throne. "⁽⁹⁾

On another fragment from his tomb he is called "The = commander-in-chief of the=20 army, Haremhab," and on still another, "Deputy of the King, presiding = over the=20 Two Lands".⁽¹⁰⁾ But in the pictures next to these = inscriptions he=20 wears the diadem with the uraeus, a cobra, the emblem of royal power in=20 Egypt.

The scholars were thus compelled to the conclusion that there was an=20 "incongruity in the tomb. Throughout its reliefs the figure of the = general,=20 Haremhab, wears the uraeus".⁽¹¹⁾ It is rather unusual in = Egyptian=20 representational art that a uraeus should crown the head of a person who = does=20 not occupy the throne. An explanation was offered that the uraeus must = have been=20 added to the diadem at some later time, after Haremhab was=20 crowned.⁽¹²⁾

The bas reliefs in the tomb in various scenes show Haremhab in a pose = of=20 submission before a king, but the figure of the king is regularly erased = on the=20 surviving fragments; the figure of the king was deliberately destroyed = already=20 in ancient times. On one bas-relief Haremhab is shown with his right arm = lifted=20 in adoration of the king whose figure, probably much larger than that of = Haremhab, is not preserved; in his left hand Haremhab holds a fan, and=20 throughout the texts he carries the honorific title "the fan-bearer to = the right=20 of the king".

On another block (Berlin fragment), Haremhab is shown in front of = another=20 group of Egyptian dignitaries; he and the rest of them display obeisance = by=20 bending their bodies before the king whose likeness is not preserved. = Haremhab,=20 though in front of those who pay homage, is not depicted larger than the = others=20 in the group; he also has no diadem on this bas-relief.

Dignitaries of foreign lands, Syrians being prominent among them, are = also=20 shown paying homage and affirming their role as vassals to the king, = whose=20 likeness is destroyed.

The text, reconstructed by Gardiner, makes it appear that the foreign = chiefs=20 availed themselves to Haremhab's good standing with the king to assure = him of=20 their loyalty:

Words spoken to His Majesty - - when - - came the great ones of all = foreign=20 lands to beg life from him, by the hereditary prince, sole friend and = royal=20 scribe Haremhab, justified. He said, making answer (to the king- - = foreigners)=20 who knew not Egypt, they are beneath thy feet for ever and ever; Amun = has=20 handed them over to thee .... Thy battle cry is in their=20 hearts.⁽¹³⁾

Despite the lacunae it is clear that "the king is addressed with = flattering=20 words and is assured that his might extends over all lands" = ⁽¹⁴⁾

In front of a huddled group of foreigners, none shackled, a personage = proclaimed by the group to be an interpreter, speaks to them; Haremhab, = also=20 present and shown larger than the interpreter, attentively listens to = him. A=20 raised surface above the head of that man had been prepared for the = words spoken=20 by him, but was never filled. The foreigners, by their arms lifted in = adoration,=20 document the royal presence; the figure of the king, however, as in the = rest of=20 the bas-reliefs, is not preserved. Like Haremhab, "the great ones of all = lands=20 who came to beg life" listen to what the interpreter has to say. "The = words of=20 all lands are of importance," observes Gardiner, who also makes = a point=20 of the fact that Haremhab is seen "in converse with the interpreter," = but he=20 draws no further conclusion from these texts.

On many bas-reliefs of the Eighteenth Dynasty -- such as those of = Hatshepsut,=20 Thutmose III, Amenhotep III and Akhnaton -- foreigners are shown in the = presence=20 of the pharaoh either as prisoners or vassals, an interpreter is never = depicted;=20 nor do the bas-reliefs of the Nineteenth Dynasty depicting foreigners = show=20 interpreters. Was the king whose likeness we miss not versed in = Egyptian?

Another fragment from the Memphite tomb of General Haremhab (#1889 = from=20 Bologna) has a scene chiseled in low relief showing a horse rider = between groups=20 of what appear to be soldiers and laborers, possibly in an armed camp. A = horse=20 rider is practically unknown from Egyptian art -- the Egyptians used = horses to=20 draw chariots or wagons, but not to ride horseback. The rider in the = scene sits=20 on the horse with no saddle under him. "A person is shown mounted on a = horse=20 without a saddle -- a very rare representation ("rarissime") in Egyptian = art,=20 and the person does not have the appearance of an Egyptian, though he = holds in=20 his hand a dignitary's emblem ...."⁽¹⁵⁾

But this was the Assyrian way of riding horses -- never with a = saddle, for=20 the most part placing a rug or cloth on the horse's back to sit = upon.

The way the horses are depicted on Assyrian bas-reliefs differs = greatly from=20 the ways they are presented in Egyptian, Mycenaean, or Scythian reliefs, = and=20 each of these differs also from all others. The design of the horse with = its=20 rider on the stone plate in the Bologna collection from the Memphite = tomb of=20 Haremhab is not Egyptian, but clearly Assyrian. The prancing horse under = a rider=20 with one of its front legs raised from the ground, the arrangement of = its mane,=20 and the way the artist generally treats the horse, are eminently = Assyrian. The=20 Egyptian steed, never for horseback riding and regularly drawing a = chariot=20 whether in war or in the hunt, traditionally has two forelegs raised, = thus=20 charging in a gallop, and differs in every detail from the horse under = the rider=20 on the Bologna fragment from Haremhab's bas-relief.

The Assyrians are credited with the development of cavalry; in the = words of a=20 Hebrew prophet, "Assyrians ... horsemen riding upon = horses".⁽¹⁶⁾

It is strange that throughout the texts the name of the king is not = given.=20 This does not follow established practice, or, as one may say, an = otherwise=20 unalterable rule: in Egyptian texts the native Pharaoh is always named = by his=20 royal nomen and cognomen, not just as "His Majesty". This, together with = the=20 presence of a translator to interpret the words of the king to his = vassals, the=20 Egyptian commander-of-the-army among them, as well as the employment of = cavalry,=20 yields a strong impression that the king whose likeness is absent and = whose name=20 is not given was a foreign monarch and, more concretely, an Assyrian = king.

In the same tomb the enigmatic king is called "The Great of Strength = [who]=20 will send his mighty arm in front of [his army - - and will] destroy = them and=20 plunder their towns and cast fire into - - and - - - foreign countries = will set=20 others in their places."⁽¹⁷⁾

In Egyptian texts of conquest, the expression "plunder their towns" = is not=20 infrequently met with; but "cast fire into [their lands] " is not usual. = In the=20 records of Sennacherib and his son Esarhaddon, as also in those of = earlier and=20 later Assyrian kings, the graphic descriptions of their "scorched earth" = tactics=20 make clear that casting fire was a feature never absent from their = warfare. "I=20 besieged, I captured, I destroyed, I devastated, I burned with fire," = wrote=20 Sennacherib in the record of his second campaign, and similary of his = fifth,=20 sixth and seventh campaigns.⁽¹⁸⁾ He called himself "the flame = that=20 consumes the insubmissive".⁽¹⁹⁾ This epithet of the great = king --=20 "the flame" -- is also used by Haremhab; not in describing himself, but = in=20 addressing the king who appointed him: "Thy name is = flame".⁽²⁰⁾ It=20 was a fitting cognomen of Sennacherib, and Haremhab used it too in = offering an=20 epithet in lieu of a name to designate the Assyrian king.

The removal of entire populations from their lands was a practice = peculiar to=20 the Assyrians and their warfare (later also adopted by the Chaldeans); = the=20 Egyptians never transferred conquered peoples from one country to = another. Yet=20 the last line of the above quoted text from the tomb of Haremhab ("- - - = foreign=20 countries will set others in their places") refers to such measures. = Breasted's=20 reading of the passage was: "- - - Asiatics; others have been placed in = their=20 abodes."⁽²¹⁾ Sargon, father of Sennacherib, removed the last = of the=20 Ten Tribes from Samaria and her cities and settled others in their place = (II=20 Kings 17:24), and according to his prism inscriptions Sennacherib = removed large=20 numbers of people of Judah, over two hundred thousand, from their land = to=20 exile.⁽²²⁾

On a stone from Haremhab's tomb, discovered serving as a doorpost in = a=20 building in Cairo, Haremhab is described as "a henchman at the feet of = his lord=20 on the battle field on this day of slaughtering the = Asiatics."⁽²³⁾ On=20 another fragment (at Alexandria) he is said to have been "sent as the = King's=20 envoy to the sun-disc's rising, returning in triumph, his attack having=20 succeeded";⁽²⁴⁾ many times in his tomb he is titled "Great = Commander=20 of the Army" and one who was "chosen by the King to carry on the = administration=20 of the Two Lands [Egypt] ".

All leads to the conclusion that Haremhab served under an Assyrian = king as an=20 appointed military administrator of Egypt.

_______________

1. "It is difficult at the present day to know what position to = assign him=20 [Haremhab] in the Pharaonic lists: while some regard him as the last of = the=20 XVIIIth Dynasty, others prefer to place him at the head of the XIXth." = Maspero,=20 The Struggle of the Nations (1896), p. 369; cf. A.K. Philips,=20 "Horemheb, Founder of the XIXth Dynasty?" in Orientalia 46=20 (1977).
2. E. Meyer, Geschichte des Altertums Vol. II, Pt. = 1, p.=20 427; R. Hari, Horemheb et la Reine Moutnodjemet (Geneva, 1964), = p.=20 412.
3. G. Martin, "Excavations at the Memphite Tomb of Horemheb, = 1975:=20 Preliminary Report," in The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 62 = (1976),=20 p. 9.
4. A.H. Gardiner, "The Memphite Tomb of the General Haremhab." = The=20 Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, vol. 39 (1953), p. 11, note = 3.
5. "An=20 individual of the importance of Harmhabi, living alongside this king, = would at=20 least have had a tomb begun for him at Tell el-Amarna." Maspero, The = Struggle of the Nations. pp. 342-343, note.
6. G. Maspero, = The Tomb=20 of Harmhabi and Tourankhamanou (London, 1912).
7. See G.T. = Martin,=20 "Excavations at the Memphite Tomb of Horemheb, 1975: Preliminary = Report," in=20 The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 62 (1976), pp. 5-13; idem,=20 "Excavations at the Memphite Tomb of Horemheb, 1976: Preliminary Report" = in=20 The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 63 (1977), pp. 13-20.
8. = Breasted, Records, Vol. III, Sec. 20.
9. Breasted, = History of=20 Egypt, pp. 399-400.
10. The Leiden and London fragments.
11.=20 Breasted, Records, Vol. III, Sec. 12.
12. Breasted in=20 Zeitschrift fur Aegyptische Sprache 38 (1900), pp. 47-50; = Martin,=20 "Excavations at the Memphite Tomb of Horemheb, 1976" in The Journal = of=20 Egyptian Archaeology 63 (1977), p. 15: "The uraeus has been = carefully added=20 ...."
13. Gardiner, "The Memphite Tomb of the General Haremhab," = The=20 Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 39 (1953), p 5.
14. = Ibid., p.=20 6.
15. Hari, Horemheb et la Reine Moutnodjemet, p. = 74.
16.=20 Ezekiel 23:12. Cf. Sargon II's reference to his mounted troops as my = cavalry=20 which never, even in friendly territory, leaves my side" (Pritchard, = Ancient=20 Near Eastern Texts, p. 286). For representations of horses of = Sennacherib,=20 see Sidney Smith, Assyrian Sculptures in the British Museum from = Shalmaneser=20 III to Sennacherib (London, 1938), Plates 37, 39, 43, 46, 57, = 65-67; Cp.=20 KRONOS III:3 (Spring-1978), p. 18.
17. Gardiner, "The Memphite Tomb = of the=20 General Haremhab", JEA 39, p. 7.
18. Luckenbill, Records = of=20 Assyria II. 237-250.
19. Ibid., II. 233, 256, = 300.
20. The=20 hieroglyphic sign for "fire" or "flame" is a noun. Gardiner = (JEA 39, p.=20 5) translates not literally "Thy name flares"; Breasted = (Records III,=20 Sec. 8) renders the phrase: "Thy name is a fire."
21. Breasted,=20 Records III, Sec. 11.
22. A total of 200,125 according to = the Taylor=20 Prism.
23. K. Pflüger, Haremhab und die Amarnazeit = (1936), p. 16;=20 also Hari, Horemheb et la Reine Moutnodjemet, p. 89 and plate=20 XIV.
24. The so-called Zizinia fragment: Breasted, Records = III, Sec.=20 13; Hari, Horemheb et la Reine Moutnodjemet, p. 66 and plate = XI.=20

HAREMHAB CROWNED

After a period of time during which Haremhab officiated as the head = of the=20 army and administrator of the land, he was crowned. The coronation = inscription=20 is preserved on the back of a double statue -- of himself sitting with = his=20 queen.⁽¹⁾ This statue, now in the Turin Museum, is of fine=20 workmanship; the head of the king is, however, broken off. The queen's = name=20 survived: Mutnodjme; and her position next to Haremhab at his coronation = and the=20 titles she bore indicate that she played an important part in the = ceremony. When=20 we study the text of the inscription it will become evident that = Haremhab was in=20 fact crowned at the wedding ceremony at which he married Mutnodjme; he = was thus=20 obliged to her for his elevation to the throne.

It would be unusual, but not unthinkable, that a commoner or a = military man,=20 having climbed in his career, should be elevated to pharaoh when the = throne=20 became vacant; or that a usurper should put the crown on his head after=20 murdering the rightful pharaoh. But the case of Haremhab mounting the = throne=20 followed neither of these models. He was crowned by a king who neither = abdicated=20 at the occasion nor remained as a co-ruler. Further, as just said, he = was=20 crowned at a wedding ceremony.

The inscription on the statue gives the story of Haremhab's growth in = the=20 king's favor and an account of the coronation ceremonial.

Now he acted as vice-regent of the Two Lands [Upper and Lower = Egypt] over a=20 period of many years.

With councillors Haremhab was "doing obeisance at the gates of the = King's=20 House". It also happened that

He being summoned before the Sovereign when the Palace fell into = rage, and=20 he opened his mouth and answered the King and appeased him with the = utterance=20 of his mouth.

Haremhab had to assuage the King in his rage. Was the raging king the = teenager Tutankhamen?⁽²⁾

In order to shorten the process of unraveling before the reader the = meaning=20 of the coronation text, let us substitute the proper person for the = anonymous=20 king. Sennacherib was the sovereign. He had Haremhab, a scribe, priest = and=20 military man -- not an unusual combination of offices in ancient Egypt = -- as the=20 commanding officer in charge of an expedition against Ethiopia (Nubia) = and as=20 his regent over Egypt. In this capacity Haremhab succeeded in weathering = the=20 rages of the wrathful overlord; by this, he claims, he also won the = appreciation=20 of his own people ("the people were happy").

Then the king, according to the inscription on the double statue,

"knew the day of his good pleasure to give him his kingship. Lo, = this god=20 distinguished his son in the sight of the entire people .... The heart = of the=20 King being content with his dealings, and rejoicing at the choice of=20 him."

In this and other passages "king" and "this god" are designations of = the=20 sovereign who crowned Haremhab.

The scene of the coronation starts when "his father Horus placed him=20 (Haremhab) behind himself". The translator of the text, Gardiner, = comments in=20 wondering: "but the place of a protective deity was behind the protected = person"=20 and he refers to various known instances when the falcon Horus or = goddesses with=20 protecting wings place themselves behind the royal figure they protect. = Assuming=20 a textual error and thinking of Horus as a deity, Gardiner corrects the = sentence=20 and makes of it: "His father Horus placed himself behind him = (Haremhab)." The=20 text however makes it clear that it was the much-feared monarch who = stood in=20 front of Haremhab and led him through the ceremony. "The form of a god = was his=20 aspect in sight of him who beheld his dread image," is in the text, and = once=20 more Gardiner stumbles on the adjective "dread," not usually applied to = divine=20 statues.⁽³⁾

"Lo, this noble god Horus of Hnes, his heart desired to establish = his son=20 upon his eternal throne and he commanded - - -"[lines broken] = .

It was usual in Egypt to call the king "god"; in the case of = Sennacherib he=20 was called "god" and also "noble god Horus" apparently in appreciation = of the=20 syllable hr in the name Sennacherib; more specifically the = Assyrian=20 king is referred to as "this noble god Horus of Hnes". Haremhab calls = himself=20 "god Horus of Hnes' son".

"Then did Horus proceed amid rejoicing to Thebes, the city of the = lord of=20 Eternity, his son in his embrace, to Ipet-lsut (Karnak), in order to = induct=20 him into the presence of Amun for the handing over to him of his = office of=20 king."

The king inducted him "to his office and his throne". From now on = Haremhab is=20 "Hereditary Prince, Chieftain [King] over the Two Lands" and his future = issue is=20 supposed to inherit the title and the throne. He proceeded to the = palace, to=20 "his [the king's] noble daughter the Great of Magic, her arms in = welcoming=20 attitude, and she embraced his beauty and established herself in front = of=20 him".⁽⁴⁾

Mutnodjme is here identified as daughter of Sennacherib. She brought = the=20 crown to Haremhab: the coronation and the marriage ceremonies took place = one=20 following the other, on the same day. Haremhab became the son-in-law of=20 Sennacherib and for this reason he was called "son" of "this god" -- the = Assyrian king.

A royal crown was placed "upon his head" and the populace acclaimed = Haremhab=20 as their savior. From now on, as the text makes it known, his titulary = would be=20 "Horus of Gold, Satisfied with Truth, fostering the Two Lands, King of = Upper and=20 Lower Egypt Djeserkheprure-setpenre, son of Re, Haremhab-miamun, given=20 life".

Haremhab's wife is called "Great Wife of the King, Lady of the Two = Lands,=20 Mutnodjme, beloved of Isis". Queen Mutnodjme is also spoken of as a = "great=20 hereditary princess" and as "regent of Egypt" -- and even "of all the=20 countries".⁽⁵⁾ Thus the queen occupied the throne not just = because=20 she was the king's spouse, but in her own right. Her exalted position is = also=20 reflected in her scarabs or signets. They were made of gold. Surviving = scarabs=20 of queens of the preceding ages are made of various materials, mostly = minerals,=20 but not of gold; not even from Hatshepsut who occupied the throne as = "king", or=20 from Tiy, the exalted queen of Amenhotep III, do we possess scarabs of = gold.=20 "Scarabs of gold are extremely rare of the scores of thousands found in = the soil=20 of Egypt, not more than four examples are known."⁽⁶⁾

The cause for this unusual status of queen Mutnodjme as a regent of = Egypt and=20 also the reason for her having her scarabs molded in gold is no longer = obscure=20 -- she was given as a wife to the administrator of Egypt by his = suzerain, the=20 king of Assyria, and at the same time her husband was promoted from the = position=20 of "King's Deputy" in Egypt to the status of a pharaoh, yet still = subordinate to=20 his suzerain and even dependent on his own queen.

_______________

1. A. Gardiner, "The Coronation of King Haremhab" = in=20 The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 39 (1953), pp. 13-31.
2. = So=20 Gardiner in "The Coronation of King Haremhab," p. 21: '['Haremhab] also = dwells=20 upon the confidence that had been reposed in him by the king, doubtless=20 Tut'ankhamun, on whose behalf he had ruled over a long period of years - = a time=20 ... when the temper of the Palace was not always as cool as it might = have been,=20 and needed the wisdom and moderation of a man as astute as himself to = steer the=20 ship of state aright."
3. Gardiner, 'The Coronation of King = Haremhab," p.=20 16.
4. "Established herself in front of him" is Breasted's = translation=20 (Ancient Records of Egypt, Vol III, par 28). Gardiner amends it = to=20 "established herself upon his forehead" - which seems to make little = sense=20 unless she is metaphorically thought of as the uraeus, sign of royal = power, with=20 which Haremhab was now endowed
5. Hari, Horemheb et la reine=20 Moutnedjemet, p. 190.
6. Ibid., p. 199.=20

HARSIESE, THE HIGH PRIEST OF AMON

Haremhab in his coronation inscription referred to himself as a ward = of=20 Harsiese: "Har-si-ese, his guardian was the protector of his limbs.=20 "⁽¹⁾

Haremhab regarded his having been reared by Harsiese as a great=20 distinction.

Harsiese is well preserved as the name of the man who became high = priest of=20 Thebes and exercised power there when king Osorkon II in a formal decree = granted=20 a high degree of independence to Thebes; later, when a high priest by = the name=20 of Osorkon was expelled in the reign of Sheshonk III at the end of the = eighth=20 century, Harsiese asserted his right to the office on the ground of his = origin=20 from the great prophets of Amon.

There came the great priest of the house of Amon ... IIarsiese ...=20 triumphant, before the governor of the South, saying: "I am the ... = priest of=20 Karnak, I am the son of the great prophets of Amon, through my=20 mother."⁽²⁾

"In the sixth year of Sheshonk III we find [a] High Priest named = Harsiese at=20 Thebes."⁽³⁾

The high priest of Amon, Harsiese, was a young man in the closing = years of=20 the Libyan Dynasty. Haremhab, who before embarking on his political = career was a=20 scribe and a priest, was among Harsiese's pupils. Even after coronation = he had=20 himself portrayed by sculptors as a scribe.⁽⁴⁾ And Harsiese=20 officiated at Haremhab's coronation.⁽⁵⁾

The high priest Harsiese, who began his service in Thebes at the = close of the=20 Libyan Dynasty, is regularly assigned to his proper time, the latter = part of the=20 eighth and the early part of the seventh centuries. But his ward, = Haremhab,=20 together with the entire so-called Nineteenth Dynasty that followed him, = is=20 carried back to the fourteenth century.

_______________

1. Breasted, Records, Vol. III, sec. 24.=20 Gardiner, in his publication of the coronation Inscription of Haremhab = (The=20 Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 39 (1953), p. 14) renders the = passage thus:=20 "Horus, son of Isis, his guardianship was the talisman of his flesh." He = assumes=20 that Harsiese was a deity. so also R. Hari, Horemheb et la Reine = Moutnedjemet=20 (Geneva, 1964), p. 378.
2. Breasted, Records, Vol. IV, sec.=20 753.
3. Breasted, Records, Vol. IV, sec. 758; cf. sec. = 698.
4.=20 See for instance the statue in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New = York, No.=20 23-10-l, also in Hari, Horemheb et la Reine Moutnedjemet, plt. = 4 and=20 5.
5. At a later date, a Harsiese, by appointment of Esarhaddon, son = of=20 Sennacherib, became vice-king of one of the twenty provinces of Egypt. = An=20 inscription of Assurbanipal, son of Esarhaddon, mentions Harsiese by the = name of=20 Harsiaeshu, vice-king of Sabnuti, a nome in Egypt (Luckenbill, = Records of=20 Assyria, II, sec. 771). Later, Harsiese and the other vice-kings = were=20 arrested, brought to Nineveh, and, except for one, put to death by = Assurbanipal=20 (Luckenbill, Ibid., Secs. 772-774; also see KRONOS III:3 = (Spring-1978)=20 p.22). Whether we are dealing with the same man is perhaps open to = question - he=20 might then have been in his eighties.=20

HAREMHAB'S GREAT EDICT

Having assumed royal powers, Haremhab composed and published a = decree, his=20 Great Edict. The fragmentary text is inscribed on the largest stele ever = found=20 in Egypt. G. Maspero discovered it in Karnak in 1882.

"Hear ye these commands which my majesty has made for the first time=20 governing the whole land, when my majesty remembered these cases of = oppression=20 ...." And he gave his edict to deliver"the Egyptians from the = oppressions which=20 were among them".⁽¹⁾

The king who bestowed the crown on Haremhab was exalted by him, and = called a=20 "god" and Haremhab called himself his "son"; at the same time the rule = of the=20 land preceding that of Haremhab was branded by him as a wicked rule. = Here again=20 is an incongruity, unless the king who gave him the crown was not the = king who=20 ruled Egypt as a native ruler. The rule of Haremhab was that of a king = named to=20 administer Egypt by the decree of the foreign king.

Haremhab's Great Edict is a manifesto of his policy for keeping the = state in=20 order. The language of the Edict differs from the usual mode of = expression of=20 Egyptian edicts. It is a dry, juridical document, clear, and, apart from = the=20 introduction, free from the usual verbosity and figurative exaltations = of=20 Egyptian inscriptions. In such language were the legal documents of the=20 Assyrians written.

Throughout the Edict of Haremhab, emphasis is placed on the principle = of=20 justice. The Edict "might be entitled 'The Justice of the King' ".=20 ⁽²⁾

Sennacherib wrote of himself as one "who likes justice, who = established=20 order".⁽³⁾ Haremhab used the same sort of language.

The Edict of Haremhab contains provisions for martial law. Punishment = for=20 offenders was severe: anyone interfering with boat traffic on the Nile, = "his=20 nose shall be cut off, and he shall be sent to Tharu".⁽⁴⁾ = This=20 penalty was not known in Egypt before Haremhab;⁽⁵⁾ but in the = time of=20 Sennacherib it was a customary punishment inflicted by the Assyrians on=20 vanquished peoples. Sennacherib wrote in the annals of his eighth = campaign,=20 against Elam: "With sharp swords I cut off their = noses."⁽⁶⁾

For this reason Tharu, the place of the exile of the mutilated = offenders, was=20 called Rhinocorura or Rhinocolura by Greek authors, or "cut-off=20 noses".⁽⁷⁾ Rhinocolura is el-Arish, on the Palestinian border = of=20 Egypt.⁽⁸⁾

Another punishment prescribed in Haremhab's Edict is for a soldier = accused of=20 stealing hides: "one shall apply the law to him by beating him with 100 = blows=20 and 5 open wounds."⁽⁹⁾

Egyptian justice was traditionally marked by its humane treatment of=20 criminals. From the first legal texts that become available under the = Old=20 Kingdom, through the Middle Kingdom and much of the New Kingdom -- in = fact till=20 the time of Haremhab and the Great Edict, the punishment for most crimes = involved the confiscation of a person's property and removal from = office, in=20 some cases forced labor. Only high treason, directed against the person = of the=20 king, was punishable by death. The beating and maiming of criminals is = so=20 uncharacteristic of the Egyptian idea of justice that some scholars have = looked=20 for a foreign influence to explain the introduction of these practices = in the=20 time of Haremhab.⁽¹⁰⁾ Punishments reminiscent of those = mentioned in=20 Haremhab's decree - beatings, cutting-off of ears, nose, lips, and = pulling out=20 of the hair - are prescribed in Assyrian law codes of the second = millennium.=20 There are no Assyrian law codes extant from the time of Sennacherib -- = but=20 clearly, there was a tradition of harsh punishments in Assyria. Its = introduction=20 into Egypt, however, was only possible at the time that Egypt was under = direct=20 Assyrian domination, and this occurred for the first time in the days of = Haremhab.

The Edict confirms what we have already deduced from the study of the = Memphite tomb of Haremhab and of his coronation text: the pharaoh was an = appointee of his Assyrian overlord. He refers to himself in terms not = dissimilar=20 from those with which Sennacherib, on the Taylor Prism, refers to his = august=20 person, stressing love of justice and support of the needy, but = vengeance upon=20 the offenders and the insubmissive. Sennacherib introduces himself in = the=20 opening passage as "The wise ruler (literally 'shepherd'), favorite of = the great=20 gods, guardian of the right, lover of justice, who comes to the aid of = the=20 needy, who turns (his thoughts) to pious deeds, perfect hero, mighty = man; first=20 among the princes, the flame that consumes the insubmissive = ...."⁽¹¹⁾=20 We have already noted that Haremhab, in a text from his tomb at Memphis, = compared his overlord to a "flame".⁽¹²⁾

_______________

1. Breasted, Ancient Records of Egypt = III, Secs.=20 67, so. Cf. the translations by Maspero in Davis, The Tombs of = Harmhabi and=20 Toutankhamanou (London, 1912), pp. 45-57, and by Pfluger in The = Journal=20 of Near Eastern Studies 5 ( 1946), pp. 260-268.
2. Petrie, = History=20 of Egypt, II. 251.
3. Sennacherib's Taylor Prism inscription, = the first=20 campaign. Luckenbill, Records of Assyria II. 233; cp. = 256.
4.=20 Breasted, Records, Vol. III, Sec. 51. W. Helck ("Das Dekret des = Königs=20 Haremheb" in Zeitschrift für Aegyptische Sprache 80 = (1955), p. 118)=20 translates "Abschneiden der Nase und Verbannung nach Sile."
5. D. = Lorton,=20 "The Treatment of Criminals in Ancient Egypt" in Journal of the = Economic and=20 Social History of the Orient 20 (1977), p. 24.
6. While = punishments=20 inflicted upon criminals and those meted out to prisoners of war = are
not=20 strictly comparable, it must be remembered that Egypt was, under = Haremhab, in=20 the position of a subjugated country. Sennacherib's quoted statement = refers to=20 his eighth campaign, against Elam; see Luckenbill, The Annals of=20 Sennacherib, II (1920).
7. Strabo, Geography XVI.ii.31; = Diodorus of Sicily, Bibliotheca I. 60; see the discussion on = the=20 identification of Tharu with Avaris in Volume I of Ages in = Chaos, pp.=20 86-89.
8. For a discussion of the location of Tharu and Avaris, see = A.=20 Gardiner in The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 3 (1916), p. = 101.
9.=20 Lorton, "The Treatment of Criminals in Ancient Egypt," p. 56.
10.=20 Ibid, pp. 50ff. Only one case of punishment by beating is known = earlier, from the time of Thutmose III - see pp. 23-24.
11. = Luckenbill,=20 Records of Assyria II. 233.
12. see above, section "Haremhab = Appointed to Administer Egypt: By Whom?=20

YEAR 59 UNDER HAREMHAB

A legal document in hieroglyphics composed under Ramses II refers to = a=20 contract concluded under Haremhab, and mentions, without any further=20 amplification, the "fifty-ninth year".⁽¹⁾ Haremhab did not = rule Egypt=20 anywhere near that long. No era is known in Egyptian history to which = the figure=20 could apply. Much was written on the subject, but without a satisfying=20 solution.

It was proposed that Haremhab counted as his own the years of the = heretical=20 pharaohs of the Eighteenth Dynasty: Akhnaton, Smenkhkare, Tutankhamen = and=20 Ay.⁽²⁾ But it is now admitted that such a solution would = require the=20 sole reign of Haremhab to have lasted not less than twenty-seven years, = while=20 his dated monuments cease after year sixteen.⁽³⁾

In the light of the understanding here presented of the true time and = role of=20 Haremhab, the thought must come that the "fifty-ninth year" refers to an = Assyrian era. On February 26, -747 the era of Nabonassar = began;⁽⁴⁾=20 this era was still in use in the second Christian century when Claudius = Ptolemy,=20 the Alexandrian scholar, wrote his great works.

The year 59 in the era of Nabonassar is the year 689 or 688 before = the=20 present era. About this time Tirhaka came from Ethiopia and occupied = Egypt. This=20 leads us to the conclusion that the document in question was written at = the very=20 end of Haremhab's reign, just before he was expelled by the Ethiopian = king and=20 fled by sea. A few months later Sennacherib embarked on his second = campaign=20 against Palestine and Egypt.

_______________

1. The co-called inscription of Mes. see V. Loret = and A.=20 Moret, "La grande inscription de Mes" In Zeitschrift für; = Aegyptische=20 Sprache 39 (1901), pp. 1-39; A. Gardiner, "The Inscription of Mes, = a=20 Contribution to Egyptian Juridical Procedure," Untersuchungen = IV, pt. 3=20 (Leipzig, 1905); G. Maspero in The Tombs of Harmhabi et = Toutankhamanou=20 (London, 1912), p. 33; Revillout, Revue Egyptologique 9 (1952), = pp.=20 177-187.
2. This thesis was first formulated by Loret; sec above, = note=20 1.
3. See D.B. Redford, op. cit., pp. 37-38; The Egypt = Exploration=20 Society, Report for the Year 1977/78, p. 5, no 2; Cp. J.R. = Harris, "How=20 Long was the Reign of Horemheb?" in The Journal of Egyptian = Archaeology=20 54 (1968), pp. 95ff.
4. See Worlds in Collision, p. 210.=20

THE YEAR -687

The fifty-ninth year of the era of Nabonassar was the last of = Haremhab's=20 reign. In that year Tirhaka, son of Shabaka, came down from Ethiopia = and,=20 together with Sethos, drove Haremhab out of Egypt. Sennacherib's second = campaign=20 against Judah and Egypt was apparently in response to the collapse of = the=20 Assyrian-supported regime of Haremhab and its replacement by Ethiopian = rule. The=20 Ethiopians pursued an aggressive foreign policy, forging a defensive = alliance=20 with Judah, and drawing the Phoenician trading cities, Sennacherib's = former=20 vassals, into their own political orbit and out of the rapacious hand of = Assyria.

When Sennacherib came to Palestine for the second time, Hezekiah = refused to=20 submit or to pay tribute. The Ethiopian king Tirhaka stood together with = his=20 Egyptian confederate Sethos at the border of Egypt, prepared to meet the = threat.=20 Sennacherib sent his messengers to Hezekiah from Lachish and once more = from=20 Libnah to demand submission; he also wrote him an ultimatum and = blasphemed the=20 Hebrew God.

But in a single night the Assyrian host, about 185,000 warriors, = perished,=20 destroyed by some natural cause.⁽¹⁾

_______________

1. II Kings 19:35; Isaiah 37:36; Josephus, Jewish = Antiquities=20 X.i.4-5.

TIRHAKA A CAPTIVE OF THE ASSYRIANS

On a stele Esarhaddon, the son of Sennacherib, depicted Tirhaka as a = captive=20 negro with a ring through his nose;⁽¹⁾ "but Taharqa (Tirhaka) = was=20 never a prisoner in Assyrian hands."⁽²⁾

Then why did Esarhaddon depict Tirhaka as a prisoner? The Assyrian = kings were=20 not accustomed, like the kings of Egypt, to invent victories, and cruel = as they=20 were, they usually matched their cruelty with a truthful description of = their=20 campaigns. It is claimed that Esarhaddon had no reason to present his = retreating=20 adversary as a captive -- he never caught up with the king of = Ethiopia.

But Hebrew sources preserved an episode neglected by the historians = that=20 justifies Esarhaddon's depicting his adversary as a humiliated prisoner. = Seder Olam and other sources tell the following story:

"After the destruction of the Assyrian army [of Sennacherib, by a = natural=20 cause], when the Jews searched the abandoned camps, they found Pharaoh = the king=20 of Egypt and the Ethiopian king Tirhakah. These kings had hastened to = the aid of=20 Hezekiah, and the Assyrians had taken them captive and clapped them in = irons, in=20 which they were languishing when the Jews came upon them. Liberated by = Hezekiah,=20 the two rulers returned to their respective realms = ....⁽³⁾

Pharaoh, king of Egypt, mentioned here without a name, was Sethos. He = opposed=20 Sennacherib also fifteen years earlier at the battle of Eltekeh. In that = battle,=20 during the first campaign of Sennacherib against Judah and the = Palestinian=20 coast, next to "the Egyptian charioteers and princes" (under Sethos), = the=20 Assyrian fought also "the charioteers of the king of = Ethiopia"⁽⁴⁾ but=20 not their king. The king of Ethiopia in -701 was Shabaka.

_______________

1 . The Sendjirli Stele, transl. by Luckenbill,=20 Records of Assyria II. 580; See Eine Bronzefigur des Taharka, = Heinrich=20 Sch-afer, in Zeitschrift fur Aegyptische Sprache 33 ( 1895), = Pl. VII.=20 no.4.
2. J. Garstang, Meroë, the City of the Ethiopians = (excav.=20 1909-1910), (Oxford, 1911), p. 4.
3. L. Ginzberg, Legends of = the=20 Jews, Vol. IV, p. 271; Seder Olam 23; other sources in = Ginzberg,=20 Vol. VI, p. 365, note 68.
4. The Oriental Institute Prism of = Sennacherib, in=20 Luckenbill, The Annals of Sennacherib, Vol II ( 1920); = Luckenbill,=20 Records of Assyria II. 240.=20

THE SETHOS TEMPLE AT HERMOPOLIS

In the early decades of the present century, archaeologists, digging = in the=20 ruins of ancient Hermopolis, in the vicinity of el-Amarna on the = opposite bank=20 of the Nile, discovered in the north-western portion of the mound the = remains of=20 a temple. From the reliefs found inside it was judged that it had been = built by=20 Sethos, and the temple received the name "Sethos-Temple".

In 1930 continuing excavations revealed, in the back of the = structure, an=20 architrave with the name of Ramses II; later a dedicatory inscription of = Merneptah was found cut into the outer facade: in it Merneptah claimed = to have=20 completed the structure and to have dedicated it to the deity, = presumably=20 Thoth.⁽¹⁾ In the conventional scheme Sethos' reign comes at = the end=20 of the Nineteenth Dynasty, following that of Merneptah. Clearly, if = Merneptah=20 completed the temple and dedicated it then Sethos could not have = participated in=20 its construction. Scholars nevertheless concluded that Sethos must in = some sense=20 have completed the building that had already been finished and dedicated = by=20 Merneptah. This awkward explanation came to be accepted because the = conventional=20 chronology made it necessary.⁽²⁾

In the revised scheme Sethos is shown to belong to the = beginning of=20 Dynasty XIX. He it was who began the temple -- in accordance with the=20 excavators' original conclusion. Work continued sporadically over a = number of=20 decades until the structure was completed by Merneptah more than a = century after=20 its beginning, who also dedicated it to Thoth.

_______________

1. G. Roeder, "Die Weihinschrift des K-onigs = Mer-en-Ptah"=20 in Annales du Service des Antiquites de l'Egypte"52 (1952-54), pp.=20 319-320.
2. R.O. Faulkner for instance claims that "Sethos completed = the=20 decoration of the temple of Thoth at Hermopolis which had been begun by = Ramses=20 II and of which the fabric had been completed by Merneptah" (The = Cambridge=20 Ancient History Third Edition, p. 237).=20

THE TOMB OF PETAMENOPHIS

Of the hundreds of rock-cut tombs crowding the Theban necropolis, or = the=20 Valley of the Kings, the one bearing the name of Petamenophis, a high = official=20 of the Ethiopian period, early attracted the attention of Egyptologists = by its=20 large size and ambitious lay-out. It was first described in detail by = Lepsius in=20 his pioneering work Denkmäler aus Aegypten und=20 Aethiopien.⁽¹⁾ To have occupied a spacious tomb in so=20 prestigious a location Petamenophis must have been a person of = distinction. In=20 his inscriptions he describes himself as "Sealbearer and Sole Beloved = Friend,=20 Lector and Scribe of the Records in the Sight of the King,=20 Petamenophis".⁽²⁾ The king is not named, but his identity is = revealed=20 by an inscription, also reproduced by Lepsius, on a wall in the northern = part of=20 the great outer courtyard. Though much damaged in the course of time it = contains=20 two names, still clearly legible: Petamenophis, and next to it a = cartouche of=20 King Haremhab.⁽³⁾

The tomb was later visited and described by Wilkinson, by Duemichen, = and=20 others, before Maspero, seeing its deteriorating condition and realizing = the=20 necessity of protecting it from despoliation, had it sealed at the end = of the=20 last century. It remained closed until 1936 when W.F. von Bissing = obtained=20 permission to re-open it with the purpose of performing a definitive = survey and=20 publication. Braving the "billions of bats" that infested the place and = the=20 thick air (the ventilation "left much to be desired") he persevered, and = already=20 two years later, in 1938, printed a detailed description of the = finds.

Rudolf Anthes and Hermann Grapow were entrusted with making a cast of = the=20 inscription with Haremhab's cartouche, and found that "the name [of = Haremhab]=20 stands out quite clearly" ("steht der Name völlig deutlich = da").

Next arose the question of the tomb's date and the time of = Petamenophis'=20 career. The archaeologists were unable to agree, except that, on = stylistic=20 grounds, it could not be earlier than Ethiopian times. "Unfortunately," = von=20 Bissing wrote, "in the entire vast tomb, no single indication was found = that=20 would directly yield a date".⁽⁴⁾ But was not the cartouche of = Haremhab just the sought for indication? By rejecting the chronological = value of=20 Haremhab's name carved next to that of the tomb's owner, the = archaeologists were=20 left without any other date. Anthes nevertheless arrived at what appears = to be=20 the correct estimate of the date of the tomb: he concluded that it = belongs to=20 the time of Tirhaka.⁽⁵⁾

_______________

1. R. Lepsius, Denkmälerr aus Aegypten und Aethiopien = (Berlin, 1849)=20 Text, pp. 244-245.
2. F. W. von Bissing, "Das Grab des Petamenophis = in=20 Theben" in Zeitschrift für Aegyptische Sprache und = Altertumslcunde 74=20 (1938), p. 2.
3. Lepsius, Denkmäler, Text, 245 = middle.
4. Von=20 Bissing, "Das Grab des Petamenophis," ZÄS (1938), p. = 24.
5. R.=20 Anthes in Zeitschrift für Aegyptische Sprache 73 (1937), = pp. 30ff.=20

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