Volume 141, Issue 1

A vertical sundial, painted on a limestone ostracon, was found in an area of Ramesside workmen’s huts during investigations undertaken by the University of Basel Kings’ Valley Project between tombs KV 29 and KV 61. It turns out to be one of the oldest devices of this kind and one of only a few with a secure provenance. As with all devices of time measuring of this type, the accuracy is relative and depends on the period of the year. The precision of the sundial was, however, perfectly suit­ed to regulate the shifts of the workmen and their re­creation breaks.

By using a new methodological approach which aims at identifying mythic and ritual structures in ancient Egyptian literary texts, this article aims at disclosing the cultural strategies applied in the relations between man and the sacred. In the story of Sinuhe, the sacred – generally marked by untouchability and unspeakabilty – is met with a spontaneous reaction leading to the precipitant flight of the protagonist. Different from previous scholarly research, this article does not propose a single reason for Sinuhe’s reaction but argues for a cultural pattern of behaviour instead.

The first part of this article was published in the second fascicule of ZÄS 140 (2013). The present part contains the documentation that backs up the conclusions reached in Part 1.

Summary: The present paper studies a unique monument discovered in 1979 by the Romanian researcher Nicolae Vlassa. Unfortunately due to his sudden pass-away, the stela/obelisk remained hidden from the scientific community until now. Although it is a stray discovery and not from an archaeological context, the author, with the help of geo-petrographical analysis, tries to “remove the dust” of this monument, putting it in the proper place, namely in the corpus of the aegyptiaca finds coming from the Roman province of Dacia Porolissensis.

Publication of seven Demotic votive inscriptions written on various materials, from the Tuna al-Gebel necropolis, now kept in the Tuna al-Gebel magazine, the Mallawi Museum, and al-Ashmunein magazine.

A reviewed and enlarged compilation of Old Kingdom hieratic inscriptions written on offering (funerary) vessels – except the well known corpus of the Qubbet el-Hawa samples (approximately 2000 objects) – increases the number of this kind of inscriptions outside the Aswan region up to 95 objects: (a) Tell Edfu: 41; (b) Gebelen: 11; (c) Siut: 3; (d) Meir: 4; (e) Saqqara: 3; (f) Abusir: 1; (g) Giza: 1 and (h) Provenance unknown: 6. To these 70 items collected so far one may add now the 25 items believed to originate from the area of (i) Naqada/Qus in the 5 th Upper Egyptian nome. The publication of these objects forms the core of the contribution. They are housed in the Ägyptisches Museum Berlin and had been bought by Ludwig Borchardt at the end of the 19 th century in Luxor. Some of the inscriptions make use of a formula and expressions not to be faced with commonly. Several individuals mentioned in the “Berlin offering texts” can be identified to some certainty with family members quoted in H. G. Fischers “Inscriptions of the Coptite Nome”.

This is the first part of a study discussing the written forms of II.red (e.g. Ꜣmm ) in Coffin Texts adduced in support of a recent hypothesis of two morphologically distinct forms of the sḏm.n⸗f . As a result of a review of each individual written form, it is concluded that none supports the hypothesis (just as none contradicts it). The first part of the argument centers around how verbal stems are represented in writing, in II.red-ult.n , II.red-ult.Ꜣ , and II.red-ult . m . Early New Kingdom spellings of the same verbs are also reevaluated. (The second part of the study is to appear in the next issue of this journal.)

A survey of the sling’s composition, ammo and capabilities has not been completed despite this weapon has been known to have been used in ancient warfare contexts in the ancient Near East. By utilizing the three extant examples from the pharaonic period in Egypt, the reader will gain a better understanding of the weapon’s construction and usage. In addition, a brief analysis of the variety of sling-shot artefacts will be performed, including the torpedo-shaped shot from the fortress of Buhen. After an examination of the physical remains, the capabilities of the range of this weapon will be assessed.