Volume 139, Issue 2 -

This study, more suggestive than conclusive, presents, illustrates and briefly discusses cases of “unorthodox” syntax in some dialects of Coptic, including Shenoutean Sahidic: (Ia) The Stative form as adjunct and/or adnexal expansion, where we rather expect the circumstantial Present with Stative rheme. This recalls the “synthetic” Stative of Old and Middle Egyptian. (Ib) The Stative in what seems deverbal adjective roles. (II) The element тє , well-established as a non-referential copular constituent in certain Nominal Sentence patterns; also te in situational-anaphoric or thetic roles. Some of these constructions were first observed by W. E. Crum in his early editions, especially of Theban and Fayyumic sources.

The epithet “ ḥrj-ib temple X”, when inscribed in scenes or texts within “temple X” designates deities with divine images which received cult in that temple. Those images might be permanently resident in that temple, or just visiting for a festival. Thus, the deity’s association with that temple was indicated, without providing any definitive indication concerning the permanency or duration of that association. Deities could also visit temple X without residing in it, or receive cult remotely with no three-dimensional physical presence in temple X. These deities were sometimes localized externally with the epithet “ ḥrj-ib temple Y” in scenes and texts in temple X.

A small corpus of Gebel el-Girgawi inscriptions dated to the Middle Kingdom shows that the beginnings of the Daybook tradition may be placed as early as the First Intermediate Period. Grammatical constructions pertaining to the Daybook style are evidenced in expeditionary and military inscriptions as well as in other types of record keeping, and the presence of such constructions in these seemingly short and insignificant private rock inscriptions may in fact reflect the monumentalization of the diaries of private individuals. Examination of these Gebel el-Girgawi inscriptions also add to the study of benediction/malediction formulae in personal inscriptions outside of the mortuary realm. The use of malediction formula in these inscriptions provides important evidence for the evolution of the malediction/benediction formulae in a non-mortuary context: from its first applications in military and expeditionary graffiti, to its incorporation in royal boundary stelae of the Middle and New Kingdoms.

First publication of a naophorous statuette from the Museum August Kestner, Hannover. This object belongs to the Heliopolitan priest Psamtek, apparently the son of the well-known vizier Psamtek-Seneb, and thus likely dates to the Thirtieth Dynasty. The statue owner’s titles provide further evidence for lesser known cults of Heliopolis, and the autobiographical inscription is unique for its concentration of unconventional enigmatic orthographies.

Numerous representations of pylons, formed from towers and front masts, remain from the New Kingdom. The images square with several texts describing pylons and tally with archaeological finds which prove that masts were erected in front of the towers. In the Ptolemaic and Roman periods, the form of the pylon was used several times in architecture. Constructions of this kind, though from their outer aspect they are reminiscent of New Kingdom monuments, yet present architectural novelty: their towers are hollow. As for the masts however, to judge from the evidence provided by archaeological finds, they seem to have ceased to be erected, though they are still mentioned in texts. This article investigates each pylon and takes into consideration other kinds of documentation in two and three dimensions (models, coins, pictures) in order to analyse the situation of the masts and to understand how the monument was understood by architects and artists. The conclusions are that they were idealizing the pylons with their masts and the fixation system, for, in fact, masts generally stopped being placed in front of the pylon-towers. Various factors lie behind this change. An explanation based on the dimensions of the monuments is here put forward but a possible problem of wood supply can be another factor.

This paper proposes an updated analysis of the four mathematical problems on the two main fragments of P. Berlin 6619. Photographs, transcription, translation and commentary of the problem texts are included. The analysis focuses in particular on problem 1, on the recto of the large fragment, previously interpreted as the calculation of the sides of two squares. The sentence jr.t HAy.t m wa r nHH (...) indicates that the problem concerns the calculation of two sides of a rectangle. This interpretation is supported also by architectural and cross-cultural parallels.

This paper focuses mainly on two Predynastic C-ware pots (3900-3650 BC). Following a more in-depth examination, a new explanation is offered for London Petrie Museum UC15331, different to that exposed previously in some recent works. Regarding Oxford Ashmolean Museum 1946.297, a new reading of the decoration is proposed, taking into account evidence for similar decorated pots of the Naqada I period.

The title aA n xrw , borne by Libyans, is mainly known from hieroglyphic inscriptions. In this article, additional evidence from papyri of the ThirdIntermediate Period is presented, which has been unnoticed or misunderstood until now. The meaning of this title is problematic. The previously suggested translation as “Great one of the enemies” does not explain its adoption by those enemies in question, namely the Libyans, for their own nobles. Therefore a different meaning is suggested.