Volume 141, Issue 2

Excavations by the University of Hawaii at the Greco-Roman City of Thmuis in 2011 unearthed a group of fragmentary acrobat terracotta figurines in a votive pit located up on the central portion of the tell in grid square R-13 in the heart of the ancient city. Examination of the terracottas and the material from within the pit showed that these figurines dated to the Late Hellenistic Period or the Early Roman Period. They were subsequently ritually deposited in a pit within an abandoned structure around the second half of the 1st Century A.D. The acrobats are modelled in classical Greek style and form part of the genre of figurines and scenes representing Africans that were popular in Egypt during the Greco-Roman Period. These terracotta figurines are the first example of this terracotta mould series to be found in Egypt depicting this pose.

The so-called cat’s coffin of prince Thutmose (Egyptian Museum Cairo, CG 5003), which was allegedly found during an excavation at Mit Rahina in 1892, is a curious monument. Whilst prince Thutmose is commonly regarded as a son of Amenhotep III, this coffin so far delivers the only known example for him as “eldest king’s son” and high priest of Ptah at Memphis. But, for several reasons, its authenticity seems to be very dubious.

Republication of the ‘Elephantine stela’ of Amasis, formerly Cairo 13/6/24/1, now in the Nubian ­Museum, Aswan. The inscription, in the Königsnovelle tradition, reports two episodes of the war between Apries and Amasis. The first part, dated to year 1 of Amasis, ­describes the counter-attack of Apries, with the help of Greek mercenaries, against the usurper Amasis (Oct./Nov. 570). Contrary to earlier assumptions, Apries’ fleet did not start from an ‘island’ ( jw ) but rather traveled down the Canopic arm ( ᶜnw ) of the Nile. The attackers were defeated by Amasis’ troops at Jmʿw . The second part concerns repulsing an invasion by Babylonian (‘Asiatic’) troops trying, in year 4 (March 567), to reinstall Apries as king, who was killed in the course of the battle.

Summary: The article presents four new additions to the inventory of Coptic medical texts. The papyrus fragments P.TT157-470 and P.Heid. G 698(c), both datable to the 4th/5th century CE, belong to the earliest known Coptic medical texts. One of the eye salves of P.TT157-470 and the type of eye salve called (kollyrion) monohemeron are otherwise attested in classical medical compendia, and the simple drugs of its materia medica are exclusively referred to by Greek loanwords, notably derived from genitive input forms. P.Louvre AF 12530, a 9 th /10 th -century papyrus strip, offers evidence for the subsequent replacement of Greek taxonomic vocabulary by Arabic terms, as well as for pharmaceutical concepts typical of Arabic medicine. Its scribe is identical to that of Bodleian MS Copt. (P) a.1; therefore, the Louvre medical and the Oxford alchemical recipes originally formed one medico-alchemical assemblage. Hitherto unpublished fragments of the miniature-sized parchment codex P.Carlsberg 500, whose central section was edited by Erichsen 1963, shed new light on the botanical systematics of this unique Coptic herbal.

Summary: The paper discusses the written forms of II.red in Coffin Texts adduced by Wolfgang Schenkel in support of his hypothesis of two morphologically distinct forms of the sḏm.n⸗f . Also examined are the case of ult.n non-II.red , which had only a secondary role in Schenkel’s original proposal, and the case of the high-frequency verb wnn , which is special. The conclusion is that none of these written forms supports the hypothesis of two distinct forms of the sḏm.n⸗f , just as none contradicts it. In the course of the argument, various issues of broader interest are touched upon: the representation of verbal morphology in writing, the individual verbs (notably ngigi/ngg “cackle,” originally a N-stem based on an onomatopoietic segment), the morphology of wnn , and aspects of the dynamics of textual variation in Coffin Texts (notably the extraordinarily complex case afforded by CT I 73c–74f; Spell 24).

Summary: This article deals with the last decade of the reign of Psusennes I in the light of the short chronology set out in earlier articles by the same author. It is argued that the burials of Psusennes I, HPA Menkheperre, HPA Nesubanebded, Khakheperre Pinuzem, the Devotee of Hathor Henttawy and Queen Nodjmet all took place within a very short period of time, called in P. Brooklyn 16.205 “the Bad Times”. Elements of the funeral equipment of these individuals are discussed and several severe problems with the traditional views on these burials are highlighted. The author further discusses the Report of Wenamun and presents an alternative identification for its Nesubanebded.