GM 237 (2013)

ThetributefromTekhebeten
(abriefnoteonthegraffitiofMentuhetepIIatJebelUweinat) *
AndrsDiegoEspinel

The newly discovered inscription of Mentuhetep II at Jebel Uweinat, in the area of the EgyptianSudaneseLibyan border, is puzzling. 1 It shows how far Egyptian interests could widen out beyond our preconceived ideas on geographic activities of the Pharaonic state abroad. 2 Furthermore, it offers some important but difficult to assessinformationonEgyptianpoliciesinAfricaduringtheEleventh Dynasty, as it includes the depictions of two different groups of foreigners offering their products to the king, who is depicted under a pavilion facing them (fig. 1). As it has been already stated by its editors, the upper group is formed by two human figures. The first one is prostrated while the other is kneeling while offering an object similar to a bag or a big pellet. They are captioned as
Thisarticlewaspossiblebyaresearchgrant(HAR20101A432)fromtheSpanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO). I am very grateful to Andrs Zboray(www.fjexpeditons.com)forprovidingmewithsomepicturesoftheinscription taken in 2008 and 2009. I am very appreciated to him, Jos M. Galn (CSIC, Madrid) and Jos Lull (Universtitat Autnoma de Barcelona) for their remarks and suggestions. Anymistakeremainsmyownresponsibility. 1 SeeJ.CLAYTON,A.DETRAFFORDandM.BORDA,AHieroglyphicInscriptionfoundat Jebel Uweinat mentioning Yam and Tekhebet, Sahara 19 (2008): 12934; J. DEGREEF, The Jebel Uweinat relief of Montuhotep II: a jubilee scene?, Sahara 20 (2009): 121 24. Some pictures of the inscription are retrievable at http://www.fjexpeditions.com/ (accessed at 17/01/2012), and A. ZBORAY, Rock Art of the Libyan Desert, Second ExpandedEdition,Newbury:FliegelJezerniczky(DVDROM),2009. 2 On the activities of Mentuhetep II in the south see J. C. DARNELL, The Eleventh Dynasty Royal Inscription from Deir elBallas, RdE 59 (2008): 81110; L. POSTEL, Une nouvelle mention des campagnes nubiennes de Montouhotep II Karnak, in L. GABOLDE (ed.), Hommages a Jean Claude Goyon, Cairo: IFAO, 2008: 32940. On a state of the art on the Egyptian interactions with the Sahara see, e.g., TH. SCHNEIDER, The West beyond the West: the mysterious Wernes of the Egyptian Underworld and the Chad palaeolakes, JAEI 2:4 (2010): 114; id., Egypt and the Chad: some additional remarks,JAEI3:4(2011):1215.
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Fig.1.GeneralviewoftheinscriptionfromapicturecourtesyofAndrsZboray(from ZBORAY,RockArtoftheLibyanDesert).

, imA Hr ms snT[r], Yam bringing anacar[diaceae resin]. The lower group is formed by an only kneeling person holding an oryx (Oryx dammah) by one of the rear legs. 4 Its accompanying epigraph (fig. 2) has been partially read by theireditorsas ,txbtn Hr ms [...],Tekhebeten 5 bringing []. Unfortunately the final part of the text is far from beingclearsincethesignsarefadedonthesandstonesurface. 6
3

On snTr as anacardiaceae resin, see N. BAUM, snTr: une revision, RdE 45 (1994): 1739. For an alternative reading of the material as nTry, natron, see http://www.fjexpeditions.com/frameset/uweinat_inscription.htm (accessed at 3/12/2012). 4 Ontheoryxandsimilarspeciessee,e.g.,N.MANLIUS,DidtheArabianOryxlive inEgyptduringpharaonictimes?,Mammalreview30(2000):6570. 5 The toponym has been read differently. CLAYTON et al., Sahara 19 (2008): 131, read txbt; A. ZBORAY and M. BORDA, Some recent results of the survey of Jebel Uweinat, Sahara 21 (2010): 181189 at 189, have suggested an Egyptianderived txbtn. Finally, R. elSAYED, Afrikanischtstmmiger Lehnwortschatz im lteren gyptisch, Leuven Paris Dudley, MA: Peeters, 2011: 29596, has cautiously read it as a non Egyptianwordtxbtn. 6 ZBORAY and BORDA, Sahara 21 (2010): 189 have suggested that the first sign followingthetoponymcouldbeGardinersX1( ).

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Fig.2.InvertedimageofthegraffiticonnectedtoTekhebetenfromapicturecourtesy ofAndrsZborary(fromZBORAY,RockArtoftheLibyanDesert).

Having in mind a plausible correspondence between text and image, the oryx depiction could offer some insights to the restoration of the inscription. Regarding the tribute from Yam, snTr is frequently depicted in the late Old Kingdom funerary chambers of officials as ovals or circles suggesting big pellets (pAD), 7 similar to the objects presented by the people from Yam in the Jebel Uweinat inscription. 8 Consequently,asimilarconnectionbetweenepigraphandimagemay existinthe case ofthetribute from Tekhebeten.Having notseen the
R. HANNIG, gyptisches Wrterbuch I. Altes Reich und Erste Zwischenzeit, Mainz am Rhein: Philipp von Zabern, 2003: 440 {10462}; id., gyptisches Wrterbuch I. Mittleres Reich und Zweite Zwischenzeit, Mainz am Rhein: Philipp von Zabern, 2006: 856{10462}. 8 See, e. g., G. JEQUIER, Fouilles Saqqara. Tombeaux de particuliers contemporainsdePepiII,Cairo:IFAO,1929:1819,fig.17(tombofIdi);39,fig.43;51, fig. 55 (tomb of Seni) ; 73, fig. 83 (tomb of Mehi). Similar pellets are depicted in the very reign of Mentuhetep II in the unpublished Neferus burial chamber at Deir el Bahari, or in the burial chamber of Khety in the same necropolis, see http://images.metmuseum.org/CRDImages/eg/original/vs2699z24.jpg (MMA 48.105.35;accessedat28/11/2012).
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relief directly, a tentative reading of the final signs of the related inscription could be , oryx, 9 or , desert animal(s). 10 Both possibilities, particularly the mAphonogram, fit well with the remaining traces of the inscription, according to some pictures courtesyofAndrsZborayandtheresultingimageaftermanipulation (fig.2). The use of this ungulate as an offering or tribute is not surprising, having in mind the place where the inscription is recorded, 11 andthepossiblelocationofTekhebetenin,oraroundthe southwestern Nubian desert. 12 As the anacardiaceae resin offered by Yam, the oryx could be given either because of its economic values, and/or its religious connotations. On one hand, according to iconographic evidence, this animal was considered during the Old and Middle Kingdom an economically valued species, 13 even though its consumption is not attested archaeologically during these periods inEgypt. 14 Ontheotherhand,suchanofferingcouldhaveasymbolic meaning, as the oryx was considered by later Egyptian ideology as a

R.HANNIG,gyptischesWrterbuchI:494{12005}. Ibid.: 494 {11996}; Wb. II 11, 3; L. PANTALACCI and J. LESURGEBREMARIAM, Wild animals downtown: Evidence from Balat, Dakhla Oasis (end of the 3rd millennium BC), in H. RIEMER, F. FRSTER, M. HERB and N. PLLATH (eds.), Desert animals in the eastern Sahara: Status, economic significance, and cultural reflection in antiquity, Cologne: HeinrichBarthInstitute,2009:24559at247. 11 Regionalrockartprovidesnumerousexamplesoforyxrepresentations,bothin the Gilf Kebir and at Jebel Uweinat. I owe this information to Andrs Zboray. On the otherhand,intheareaaroundtheinscriptionwerefoundseveralscenesimitatingthe onesconnectedtoTekhebetenandYam,seeZBORAYandBORDA,Sahara21(2010):188, figs.3536,and3839. 12 On the presence of oryx and other ungulates in the western desert during the lateOldKingdomseeibid.:24751. 13 SeeM.HERBandM.FRSTER,Fromdeserttotown:theeconomicroleofdesert gameinthePyramidAgesofancientEgyptasinferredfromhistoricalsources(c.2600 1800 BC). An outline of the workshops inspiration and objectives, in H. RIEMER et al. (eds.),Desertanimals:1744,at26,tab.1. 14 See V. LINSELEE and W. VAN NEER, Exploitation of desert and other wild game in ancient Egypt: the archaeozoolical evidence from the Nile Valley, in H. RIEMER et al. (eds.),Desertanimals:4777at6667,tab.5.
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chaotic being to be slaughtered. 15 Therefore the delivery of this animal by foreigners to the king could be understood by the Egyptians as a symbolic gesture of submission. However, this idea cannotbeclearlysustainedfortheearlierperiods.Jquierconsidered ahuntingsceneinthemortuarycomplexofPepyIIastheceremonial killing of an oryx by the king. 16 Nevertheless, this interpretation, based on extremely scarce grounds, has been rightly questioned by wiek, who considers the remaining reliefs of this scene as part of a muchmoreconventionaldeserthuntdepiction. 17
AndrsDiegoEspinel CentrodeCienciasHumanasySocialesCSIC C/Albasanz2628 28037Madrid Spain andres.diego@cchs.csic.es

See e.g., PH. DERCHAIN, Rites gyptiens I. Le sacrifice de loryx, Brussels: Fondation gyptologique reine lisabeth, 1962; PH. GERMOND, LOryx, un malaime du bestiairegyptien,BSEG13(1989):5155. 16 G. JQUIER, Le monument funraire de Pepi II. Fouilles Saqqarah. Vol. II: le temple,Cairo:IFAO,1938:pls.4143. 17 A.WIEK,ReliefdecorationintheroyalfunerarycomplexesoftheOldKingdom. Studies in the development, scene content and iconography, unpublished PhD Thesis, Warsaw, 2003: 21617, available at http://www.gizapyramids.org/pdf%20library/cwiek_royal_relief_dec.pdf (accessed at 23/11/2012).

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