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SELF-REPRESENTATION IN OLD KINGDOM

QUARRYING INSCRIPTIONS AT
WADI HAMMAMAT*
By DEBORAH SWEENEY
Lists of names, filiations and titles in the commemorative expedition inscriptions at Wadi Hammamat
from the reign of Pepi I are juxtaposed with contemporary personal inscriptions from the same site
to show that some of the officials mentioned in the commemorative inscriptions at this quarry also
appear in additional texts there, which highlight their connections with colleagues or their broader
family affiliations. The emphasis given to family configurations at this particular site and time probably
reflects a group of expedition leaders who had brought their sons with them and wished to enhance
their career prospects by commemorating their participation in this prestigious expedition.




.


Introduction

Inscriptions from mining and quarrying sites beyond Egypts borders have tended
to be mined for historical,1 religious2 or economic3 content, but they can also allow us
to see how Egyptians constructed their identity in a vacuum, as it were. On the one
hand, expedition participants were far away from home, often living in isolation for
* This research was supported by the ISRAEL SCIENCE FOUNDATION (grant no. 903/09). I am grateful
to Annie Gasse and the Institut Franais dArchologie Orientale au Caire for access to unpublished photographs
from her expeditions to Wadi Hammamat and their kind permission to publish a photograph of inscription AE
3100 and to refer briefly to other photographs from her research at Wadi Hammamat, which in this article are
identified by the letters AE. I would also like to thank Francisco Saca Marcial for allowing me access to parts
of his unpublished doctoral thesis on the prosopography of the Coptite nome in the Old Kingdom, my research
assistants Nir Orlev and Yaniv Agmon for their help in preparing this article, and two anonymous referees for the
JEA for their helpful comments.
1

E.g. I. Shaw, Hatnub: Quarrying Travertine in Ancient Egypt (EES Excavation Memoir 88; London,
2010), xvii.
2

E.g. I. Shirun-Grumach, Offenbarung, Orakel und Knigsnovelle (AT 24; Wiesbaden, 1993), 148; E.
Eichler, Zur kultischen Bedeutung von Expeditionsinschriften, in B. M. Bryan and D. Lorton (eds), Essays in
Egyptology in Honor of Hans Goedicke (San Antonio, 1994), 6980.
3

E.g. E. Eichler, Untersuchungen zum Expeditionswesen des gyptischen Alten Reiches (GOF IV/26;
Wiesbaden, 1993), 275326; T. Hikade, Das Expeditionswesen im gyptischen Neuen Reich: Ein Beitrag zu
Rohstoffversorgung und Auenhandel (SAGA 21; Heidelberg, 2001); T. Hikade, Expeditions to the Wadi
Hammamat during the New Kingdom, JEA 92 (2006), 15368.
The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 100 (2014), 275291
ISSN 0307-5133

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several months.4 On the other, they left inscriptions and drawings at their worksites
commemorating the Egyptian presence, ranging from large official texts and reliefs
memorialize the achievements of the expedition and Egyptian control over local
resources to informal texts leaving a personal trace.
Such inscriptions allow us to see how Egyptians constructed their identity for display
abroad.5 Egyptians priorities in shaping their lives for display in autobiographical texts
have received considerable attention,6 as has the topic of constructing Egyptian identity
abroad.7 Texts from mines and quarries outside Egypt can add additional nuances to
the rich topic of Egyptian self-presentation.8
Inscriptions at mining and quarrying sites varied a great deal, often according to
the status of their main protagonists.9 The most formal texts were the inscriptions
commemorating the expedition, characterized by with the formula wpw.t nsw.t jr.t n,
royal commission executed by, and variants thereof.10 They often included the royal
name, narrative material about the success of the expedition, the titles and epithets of
the expedition leader and other significant members of the expedition.
Personal inscriptions of the expedition participants varied in formality, length
and elaborateness. They commemorated their protagonists presence and status, and
sometimes requested prayers or offerings from future visitors to the site. Inscriptions
featuring more prestigious individuals tended to be longer, better executed and more
complex; more modest inscriptions might contain only a name, or a name and title.
Some expedition inscriptions and personal inscriptions were accompanied by
images, such as the king offering to the gods, the main protagonists, their relatives, etc.
However, images without texts are also appear; they sometimes represent an important
expedition participant, but are more common as informal types of graffito, probably
engraved mostly by illiterate quarrymen and miners and other expedition participants
who nonetheless wanted to leave a mark of their presence.
4


However, in certain cases, as at Serabit el-Khadem, the Egyptians also recruited local workmen. See
D. Valbelle and C. Bonnet, Le sanctuaire dHathor, maitresse de la turquoise: Srabit elKhadim au Moyen Empire
(Paris, 1996), 345; A. I. Sadek, The Amethyst Mining Inscriptions of Wadi elHudi (Warminster, 1980), I, 100.
5

E.g. E. Blumenthal, Die Textgattung Expeditionsbericht in gypten, in J. Assmann, E. Feucht, and
R. Grieshammer (eds), Fragen an die altgyptische Literatur: Studien zum Gedenken an Eberhard Otto (Wiesbaden,
1977), 8992, 95103.
6

E.g. J. R. Baines, Prehistories of Literature: Performance, Fiction, Myth, in G. Moers (ed.), Definitely:
Egyptian Literature: Proceedings of the Symposion Ancient Egyptian Literature: History and Forms, Los Angeles,
March 2526, 1995 (LingAeg SM 2; Gttingen, 1999), 205; A. M. Gnirs, Biographies, in D. B. Redford
(ed.), The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt (Oxford, 2001), I, 1849; J. Richards, Text and Context in
Late Old Kingdom Egypt: The Archaeology and Historiography of Weni the Elder, JARCE 39 (2002), 76;
E. Frood, Biographical Texts from Ramesside Egypt (WAW 26; Leiden, 2007), 28; B. Backes, Sei frhlich und
sprich darber: Die Inschriften des Heqaib, Sohn des Penidbi, als individuelles Selbstzeugnis, ZS 135 (2008),
97103.
7

E.g. A. Loprieno, Travel and Fiction in Egyptian Literature, in D. B. O'Connor and S. Quirke
(eds), Mysterious Lands: Encounters with Ancient Egypt (London, 2003), 3151; G. Moers, Fingierte Welten in
der gyptischen Literatur des 2. Jahrtausends v. Chr.: Grenzuberschreitung, Reisemotiv und Fiktionalitt (Pd 19;
Leiden, 2001); J. M. Galn, Four Journeys in Ancient Egyptian Literature (LingAeg SM 5; Gttingen, 2005).
8

E.g. A. D. Espinel, A Newly Identified Stela from Wadi elHudi (Cairo JE 86119), JEA 91 (2005),
5570.
9

The content and presentation of inscriptions were also influenced by contemporary textual trends in
Egypt, local topographic conditions (such as the visibility and accessibility of a chosen site and the rock surfaces
available), the presence or absence of a religious site, and the hardness of the rock: it was much more difficult to
carve long texts on very hard rock. For the latter, see U. Luft (ed.), Bir Minayh: Report on the Surveys 19982004
(Budapest, 2010), 15.
10

Blumenthal, in Assmann et al. (eds), Fragen an die altgyptische Literatur, 1078.

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In the Old Kingdom, only a very small proportion of expedition participants


ever appeared in inscriptions.11 Simply having ones name in writing was probably a
source of prestige in itself. The commemorative expedition inscriptions were probably
initiated and closely controlled by the expedition leader, maybe in consultation with
other important members of the expedition. We do not know whether there were any
constraints on personal inscriptions, although it may have been considered proper to
avoid encroaching on other peoples texts.12
Inscriptions at Wadi Hammamat

The quarry of Wadi Hammamat was in use from the Early Dynastic Period onwards as
a major source for greywacke, siltstone and conglomerate13 for statues and architectural
elements in temples and royal burial complexes, occasionally also given to favoured
officials as gifts.14 It was also used as a transit route to Punt, to the galena mines at
Gebel el-Zeit, and, during the New Kingdom, possibly also to Sinai,15 and gold was
sometimes mined there.16 Inscriptions and graffiti from the Early Dynastic to the
Roman Period have been discovered in the quarry and its environs, ranging from simple
geometric figures and representations of people and animals to elaborate inscriptions
and complex arrangements of representations of divinities and prayers.17
At Wadi Hammamat, during most of the Old Kingdom, people tended to represent
themselves in terms of very basic social categoriestheir names, their current title (as
a sign of their social standing), sometimes their family relationships (father and son),
and occasionally epithets.18
However, even brief representations of the self can also be significant, especially
when a number of personal self-representations are combined and contrasted in context
to locate individuals in their social network.
Commemorative expedition inscriptions from the reign of Pepi I

At Wadi Hammamat, the commemorative expedition inscriptions open with the


royal name and title and the formula wpw.t nsw.t jr.t n, royal commission executed by,
followed by the name and titles of the expedition leader. The names and titles of other
11
Numbers of expedition participants are seldom attested in the Old Kingdom, but ranged from 80 to
20,000. See Eichler, Expeditionswesen, 1556.
12

Cf. J. C. Darnell, review of A. Peden, The Graffiti of Pharaonic Egypt (Leiden, 2001), JAOS 122 (2002),
8856.
13

B. G. Aston, J. A. Harrell, and I. Shaw, Stone, in P. T. Nicholson and I. Shaw (eds), Ancient Egyptian
Materials and Technology (Cambridge, 2000), 12.
14
Eichler, Expeditionswesen, 150, 3201.
15
Hikade, JEA 92, 154.
16
Hikade, JEA 92, 154.
17

Most of the inscriptions, graffiti and rock art from the site are published in J. Couyat and P. Montet, Les
inscriptions hiroglyphiques et hiratiques du Oudi Hammmt (MIFAO 34; Cairo, 1912) (henceforth CM), and
G. Goyon, Nouvelles inscriptions rupestres du Wadi Hammamat (Paris, 1957) (henceforth G), in M. Morrow and
M. Morrow (eds), Desert RATS: Rock Art Topographical Survey in Egypts Eastern Desert, 20002001 (London,
2002), 20124. For a general survey, see K. Koschel, Altgyptische Steinexpeditionen: Felsinschriften im Wadi
Hammamat als Quellen pharaonischer Steinbruch-Grounternehmen, Antike Welt 33/1 (2002), 5164. New
material discovered by Annie Gasse in the late 1980s is being prepared for publication (A. Gasse, pers. comm.).
18
At the very end of the Old Kingdom, inscriptions at Wadi Hammamat begin to provide more details
about the execution of the project. See N. C. Strudwick, Texts from the Pyramid Age (WAW 16; Atlanta, 2005),
1434.

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participating officials are normally listed below: often the layout of the inscription
allows the same title to be shared by a number of individuals.
The best-attested Old Kingdom expedition to Wadi Hammamat took place on the
occasion of Pepi Is Sed festival; it was probably sent to obtain prestigious hard stone
for building and statuary for the auspicious occasion,19 and as gifts to favoured officials.
The expedition generated several important inscriptions.20 The king himself was
depicted standing in the presence of Min (CM 63) and enthroned at the Sed festival
(CM 62). Two commemorative inscriptions, G 21 and CM 103 are dated explicitly to
the first Sed festival, and CM 107 to the year after the eighteenth occasion, the year of
the festival. In CM 61 the date is missing, but Eichler argues that it was also inscribed
during the Sed festival expedition,21 because several individuals mentioned in CM 107
are also commemorated in this text. The same arguments could apply to the undated
inscription AE 3100 (see fig. 1), which also features several officials mentioned in the
inscriptions from the Sed festival expedition. Given the degree of overlap between the
personnel, I think it likely that all the inscriptions belong to the same expedition, but
I will also discuss the possibility that CM 61 and AE 3100 commemorate a different
expedition, or even two different expeditions.

Fig. 1. The commemorative expedition inscription of the gods seal bearer Ihu (AE 3100)
( IFAO, Alain Lecler).
19

Eichler, Expeditionswesen, 150.



Urk. I, 937. Now translated in A. Roccati, La Littrature historique sous lAncien Empire gyptien (Paris,
1982), 25961; Eichler, Expeditionswesen, 1235; Strudwick, Texts from the Pyramid Age, 1402; G21 is also
translated in Koschel, Antike Welt 33/1, 567. Another inscription, Koschel, Antike Welt 33/1, 55; Morrow and
Morrow, Desert RATS, 214, gives part of the kings titulary and refers to the first occasion of the heb-sed.
21
Eichler, Expeditionswesen, 70. K. Zibelius-Chen, review of E. Eichler, Untersuchungen zum
Expeditionswesen des gyptischen Alten Reiches (Wiesbaden, 1993), BiOr 56 (1999), 621 suggests that there were
20

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Table 1 Individuals mentioned in more than one commemorative expedition inscription


from the reign of Pepi I at Wadi Hammamat
Appearing in four inscriptions
Gods seal bearer Ikhi

CM 61, CM 103, CM 107, AE 3100

Appearing in three inscriptions


Overseer of all works of the king, sole friend and kings
architect in the double house, Meryptahankhmeryre

G 21, CM 61, CM 107

Sole friend, and assistant overseer of the craftsmen of the


great house Khuenptah

G 21, CM 103, CM 107

Gods seal bearer Ihu

CM 61, CM 107, AE 3100

Royal acquaintance and overseer of builders Tjetji

CM 103, CM 107, AE 3100

Appearing in two inscriptions


Assistant overseer of the craftsmen of the great house,
nobleman of the king, Neferherenptah

G21, CM 103

Inspector of scribes, juridical inspector and scribe Zezi

G21, CM 107

Senior lector priest Meryptahankhmeryre

G21, CM 107

Assistant overseer of the craftsmen of the great house


Khuenheru

CM 103, CM 107

Assistant overseer of the craftsmen of the great house


Sankhptah22

G21, CM 103

Captain of a ships crew Ikhi

CM 103, AE 3100

Asiatic Tjensu

CM 107, AE 3100

One individual appears in four inscriptions, four in three, and seven in two, but
thirty-eight out of fifty (76%) individuals mentioned in the expedition inscriptions
appear in one inscription only. Maybe commemoration in an inscription could have
been an incentive for officials to participate in an expedition, or a reward for good
work. Given the prestige of writing in ancient Egypt, and the importance of the Sed
festival, this might have been considered highly desirable. Having more than one
commemorative expedition inscription allowed the expedition leaders to reward a
larger group of individuals.
The overseer of all works of the king, sole friend and kings architect in the double
house, Meryptahankhmeryre23 heads the list of participants in three commemorative
additional expeditions that did not leave (dated) inscriptions. Eichler, Expeditionswesen, 151, notes that the figures
he himself suggests are minimum figures, implying that other expeditions could have taken place, although in
practice he tends to group inscriptions together as much as possible (e.g. Expeditionswesen, 46). L. Pfirsch,
propos des constructeurs de Tti, Ppi Ier et Mrenr, in C. Berger, G. Clerc, and N. Grimal (eds), Hommages
Jean Leclant, I (Bd 106/1; Cairo, 1994), 297 also suggests that Meryptahankhmeryre led more than one
expedition to Wadi Hammamat.
22

However, these may be two separate individuals. The Sankhptah in GM 21 does not have a title.
23

For Meryptahankhmeryre, who was elsewhere known as Nekhebu, see N. Strudwick, The Administration
of Egypt in the Old Kingdom: The Highest Titles and their Holders (London, 1985), 2413; Pfirsch, in Berger et al.

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inscriptions (G 21, CM 61 and CM 107) and would seem to be the most important
individual in this group of officials. A fourth inscription, CM 103, opens with the
name of the gods seal bearer Ikhi (who also appears in two of Meryptahankhmeryres
inscriptions).24 Over a hundred years ago, Heinrich Schfer noted that Ikhi was
named last in Meryptahankhmeryres inscription CM 61,25 and suggested that Ikhi
commissioned his own inscription in order to give himself more prestige.26
In his own expedition inscription, CM 103, Ikhi commemorated several individuals
who did not appear in Meryptahankhmeryres inscriptionshis own son, also named
Ikhi, the assistant overseer of the craftsmen of the great house Meryreneferu and the
dog-hunters Senu and Iuu. On the other hand, the assistant overseers of the craftsmen
of the great house Khuenheru, Khuenptah, Neferherenptah, and Sankhptah appear in
other commemorative expedition inscriptions, as does the overseer of builders Tjetji
(see table 1 above). In Ikhis inscription, the four assistant overseers of craftsmen
named above, and a fifth named Nefer, have added the royal name Meryre to their
own names, and the cartouches are lined up neatly in a row with their monarchs own
cartouche.
Ikhis colleague, the gods seal bearer Ihu, was also named at the end of
Meryptahankhmeryres expedition inscriptions. Ihu also commissioned a separate
expedition inscription of his own, AE 3100, where he included his son Redi, the assistant
overseers of craftsmen Ptahshepses and Ptahdjaf, and the royal nobleman Tjetji, who
are absent from any of the other expedition inscriptions. He also mentioned Tjetji, the
royal acquaintance and overseer of builders, who appears in CM 107, and Tjetjis son,
Mehi. The gods seal bearer Ikhi, the overseer of a ships crew Ikhi,27 and the Asiatic
Tjensu, who also appear in other expedition inscriptions, are also mentioned.
Eichler assigns another inscription with the royal commission formula, G45,
royal commission executed by the kings liegeman Khuenptah, to the Sed festival
expedition,28 on the grounds that Khuenptah is also mentioned in three of the
commemorative inscriptions from that expedition (G21, CM 103, CM 107).
Maybe Khuenptah wanted to advertise his title as kings liegeman, since in G21 he
is listed as sole friend and in CM 103 and CM 107 as assistant overseer of craftsmen.
However, it might imply some tensions in the leadership of the Sed festival expedition
if Khuenptah commissioned a commemorative expedition inscription all to himself
without mentioning anyone else,29 given that Meryptahankhmeryre, Ihu and Ikhi
(eds), Hommages Leclant I, 297; E. Brovarski, The Senedjemib Complex I (Giza Mastabas 7; Boston, 2001), 314.
24

For the tomb of Ikhi, and for the title of gods sealer in general, see K. O. Kuraszkiewicz, The Title xtmtj
nTrgod's sealerin the Old Kingdom, in M. Brta (ed.), The Old Kingdom Art and Archaeology: Proceedings of
the Conference held in Prague, May 31June 4, 2004 (Prague, 2006), 193202.
25

On the other hand, in CM 107 the two gods sealbearers are named directly after Meryptahankhmeryre
and his son.
26

H. Schfer, Der Baumeister der Pyramide Phiops I. und die Hammamtexpedition in dem b-sd-Jahre
des Knigs, ZS 40 (19023), 757. Schfer suggested that there might have been a certain rivalry between the
overseer of works and the seal bearers, or between the government departments from which they came, since
Meryptahankhmeryres inscription names mostly scribes and administrators, whereas Ikhis includes overseers
of craftsmen and transport officials. However, Schfer was unaware of Meryptahankhmeryres inscription G21,
which names overseers of craftsmen and a transport official.
27

Ikhi the transport official was the son of the eponymous seal bearer (CM 103), but this is not mentioned
in AE 3100.
28
Eichler, Expeditionswesen, 66.
29
There was certainly room to add other names: inscription G77 was added at a later date below G45
(Goyon, Nouvelles inscriptions rupestres, 96 and pl. xxx).

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included their colleagues. Eichler tends to allot early Sixth Dynasty inscriptions at
Wadi Hammamat to the Sed festival expedition on grounds of economy,30 but maybe
Khuenptahs inscription refers to a separate expedition.
Personal inscriptions from the reign of Pepi I

Other inscriptions can also be assigned to the reign of Pepi I, either because they
include individuals mentioned in the dated inscriptions above, or because they
mention individuals attested from monuments in Egypt that can be dated to the
reign of Pepi I. Some of these officials had been omitted from the commemorative
expedition inscriptions but nonetheless wanted to leave a trace of their presence at
their worksite, whereas others had been included in expedition inscriptions but wanted
also to highlight other aspects of their identity, such as their connections with certain
colleagues, or their family connections. Others might have wanted to advertise their
presence to a greater degree than the expedition inscription allowed.
More than at any other mining or quarrying site from the Old Kingdom, men
commemorated sons who accompanied them at Wadi Hammamat.31 In the expedition
inscriptions, several participants included sons who did so.
Table 2 Officials and their sons in commemorative expedition inscriptions from the reign of
Pepi I at Wadi Hammamat
Official

Son

Inscription

Overseer of all works of the king,


sole friend and kings architect in the
double house, Meryptahankhmeryre

Senior lector priest


Meryptahankhmeryre

G 21, CM 107

Overseer of all works of the king,


sole friend and kings architect in the
double house, Meryptahankhmeryre

Nobleman of the king,


overseer of gold Neferrenpet

G 21

Gods seal bearer Ikhi

Captain Ikhi

CM 103 (also named


in AE 3100, but not
as Ikhis son)

30


E.g. Eichler, Expeditionswesen, 70.

There are three inscriptions mentioning both fathers and sons from Bir Menih (nos 11, 13 and 16, Eichler,
Expeditionswesen, 868), one from Hagar el Gharb (no. 5, Eichler, Expeditionswesen, 92), one from Hindallab (no.
202, Eichler, Expeditionswesen, 96), and three from Sehel (nos 205, 207, Eichler, Expeditionswesen, 97); A. Gasse
and V. Rondot, Les inscriptions de Shel (MIFAO 126; Le Caire, 2007), 45. Other inscriptions mentioning sons
appear in Gasse and Rondot, Shel, 48, 50, 51, 53, 54, but these are lists of priests of Satet, or people whose titles
are illegible. By contrast, fathers and sons appear in seventeen inscriptions at Wadi Hammamat, in G 19 (Eichler,
Expeditionswesen, 55; the word his son is visible in Goyon, Nouvelles inscriptions rupestres, pl. vi, but not included
in the drawing in Goyon, Nouvelles inscriptions rupestres, 53), G 20, G 21, G 24, G 27, G 28, G 30, G 31, G 36,
CM 34, CM 76, CM 85, CM 101, CM 103, CM 107, AE 3100, and AE 3204. Most of these inscriptions are to be
dated to the Sixth Dynasty, and specifically (CM 103, CM 107, G 21) or probably (G 19, G 20, G 24, G 27, G 30,
CM 34, CM 76, CM 85, CM 101, AE 3100) to the year of the Sed festival of Pepi I. (See the discussion of these
texts in Eichler, Expeditionswesen.) The inscriptions from other sites listed above all date to the reign of Pepi II.
No sons accompanying their fathers on expeditions are mentioned in Old Kingdom inscriptions from Sinai or
Hatnub.
31

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Table 2 (cont.) Officials and their sons in commemorative expedition inscriptions


from the reign of Pepi I at Wadi Hammamat
Official

Son

Inscription

Assistant overseer of craftsmen,


sole friend, nobleman of the king,
overseer of builders Neferherenptah

Sankhptah

G 2132

Nobleman of the king, overseer of


foreign mercenaries Nedjemib

Nobleman of the king, overseer of


foreign mercenaries Khuenheru

G 21?33

Assistant overseer of craftsmen,


nobleman of the king, royal
acquaintance and overseer of
builders Ankhiemtjenet

Fifi
(name added between lines)

G 21

Gods seal bearer Ihu

Captain Redi

AE 3100

The royal acquaintance, overseer of


builders Tjeti

Mehi

AE 3100

However, not everyone commemorated in an expedition inscription was able to include


his family members. Six individuals mentioned in the commemorative expedition
inscriptions appear again in personal inscriptions including their sons, brothers or
fathers. These inscriptions were probably initiated to highlight family connections these
individuals valued, which had mostly been omitted from the expedition inscriptions.34
In contrast to the commemorative inscription, the personal inscriptions mention not
only sons but also fathers and brothers, giving a slightly different appreciation of the
individuals location within his family unit.
Table 3 Expedition participants mentioned in commemorative expedition inscriptions from the
reign of Pepi I at Wadi Hammamat, who also appear in personal inscriptions
with family members
Participant

Expedition
inscription

Relative

Name and title

Personal
inscription

Gods seal bearer Ikhi

CM 61
CM 103,
CM 107,
AE 3100

Son

Captain of a ships crew


Ikhi

G 30

Gods seal bearer Ihu/


Hu35

CM 107,
AE 3100

Father

Sole friend and lector


priest Reqi

G 28

Son

Captain of a ships crew


Reqi36

CM 76

32


Following Eichler, Expeditionswesen, 56.
Strudwick, Texts from the Pyramid Age, 142 and Eichler, Expeditionswesen, 56 translate the label his son
in G 21 as if it referred to Khuenherus name in the next column of text. I think Khuenherus name is too far to
the right for this to be appropriate and that the label describes the expedition leaders son, Neferrenpet.
34
However, the gods seal bearer Ikhi and his son, the captain Ikhi, appear together in CM 103 and AE
3100.
35
Eichler, Expeditionswesen, 60.
36
Eichler, Expeditionswesen, 72 suggests that Hus son, Reqi, was named after his grandfather, a common
practice in the Old Kingdom.
33

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Table 3 (cont.) Expedition participants mentioned in commemorative expedition inscriptions


from the reign of Pepi I at Wadi Hammamat, who also appear in personal inscriptions
with family members
Participant

Expedition
inscription

Relative

Name and title

Personal
inscription

Nobleman of the king,


overseer of foreign
mercenaries37 Tuau

G 21

Son

Sole friend, overseer of


mercenaries Merymenu
Ankh-Meryre

G 19

Father

Royal nobleman Sabi

G 27

Father

Overseer of craftsmen
Idu

CM 34

Brother

Assistant overseer of
craftsmen of the great
house Sheshi

Brother

Overseer of craftsmen of
the great house Idu

Son

Assistant overseer of
craftsmen of the great
house39 Qar (also appears
in CM 107)

Son

Assistant overseer of
craftsmen of the palace
Impey

Father

Overseer of craftsmen of
the great house Wedjau

Brother?

Assistant overseer of
craftsmen of the palace
Sankhptah

Brother?

Assistant overseer of
craftsmen Kawptah

Brother?

Assistant overseer of
craftsmen Khuentptah

Assistant overseer of
craftsmen of the great
house Khuenheru38

Assistant overseer of
craftsmen Ptahshepses

Assistant overseer of the


craftsmen of the great
house Khuenptah40

CM 103,
CM 107

AE 3100

CM 103,
CM 107

CM 85

CM 101

Three of these family groups were in charge of palace craftsmen and may have
had engravers at their command to execute inscriptions for them. Everyone who
commissioned additional inscriptions to include family members named more than
one family member (father and son, father and brother, father and brothers), although
in one case three generations are spread over two inscriptions (G 19 and G 27).41
37


In CM 19 he adds the ranking title sole friend.
Eichler, Expeditionswesen, 68 suggests he is the same individual as the overseer of foreign mercenaries
Khuenheru in G 21. In CM 34 Khuenheru adds the title royal nobleman.
39

In CM 85 he adds the title royal nobleman.
40

Another Khuenptah who came to Wadi Hammamat was the overseer of scribes Khuenptah, who appears
in G 24 with his father, also overseer of scribes, Werkhaukhnum. Eichler, Expeditionswesen, 58 dates this text to
the late Fifth or early Sixth Dynasty.
41
They may have participated in the same expedition, or the family members may have come to Wadi
Hammamat on two separate occasions.
38

284

DEBORAH SWEENEY

JEA 100

Participants not only commissioned additional inscriptions to highlight their family


connections, but also to thematise their connections with colleagues.42 The family of
supervisors and assistant overseers of craftsmen from CM 101 included an additional
assistant overseer of craftsmen who does not seem to have been a family member, since
no filiation for him is listed. His name is not fully preserved, but Eichler,43 following
Edel, suggests that the remaining signs could belong to the name of the assistant
overseer of craftsmen Neferi from CM 107. Another group of officials appears in
inscription G 27.
Table 4 Expedition participants mentioned in commemorative expedition inscriptions from the
reign of Pepi I at Wadi Hammamat who also appear in personal inscriptions with colleagues
Official

Overseer of foreign
mercenaries Tuau

Commemorative
expedition
inscription
G 21

Personal
inscription

With other officials

G 2744

Sole friend Nyibunesut

Nobleman of the king,


overseer of foreign
mercenaries Redjini45

Sole friend, lector priest


and overseer of priests
Meryraankh (son of
Nyibunesut)
Sole friend Nyibunesut (son
of Nyibunesut)
Sole friend, great one of the
tens of Upper Egypt Tjetu
Overseer Nihahi
Overseer Pepiankh
Royal nobleman, overseer of
foreign mercenaries Khuu
Royal nobleman Sabi (father
of Tuau)

Assistant overseer of the


craftsmen of the great house
Khuenptah

CM 103,
CM 107

Assistant overseer of
craftsmen [Nefer]i

CM 107

CM 101

Khuenptahs father, Wedjau;


brothers/sons Sankhptah,
Kawptah and Khuentptah (as
in Table 3)

Other individuals can be dated to the reign of Pepi I from sources in Egypt. For
instance, the inspector of the officials of Henku, Ihyenes, in CM 151 is dated to the
reign of Pepi I by his false door CG 1483.46 CM 151 belongs to a cluster of graffiti: CM
42


Cf. Eichler, Expeditionswesen, 158.
Eichler, Expeditionswesen, 73.
44
This inscription is arranged into three sub-groups (Goyon, Nouvelles inscriptions, 61): the Nyibunesut
family at the top, Sabi and his son Tuau at the bottom, and the others in the middle.
45
Eichler, Expeditionswesen, 59 equates him with the royal nobleman and overseer of foreign mercenaries
Djini from G 21.
46
Eichler, Expeditionswesen, 75.
43

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OLD KINGDOM QUARRYING INSCRIPTIONS

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151, CM 157, CM 159, CM 163, CM 1657 and CM 202. Eichler suggests47 that these
graffiti are also connected with the Sed festival expedition.
Many of the people who left this particular group of graffiti were perhaps not highranking enough to be included in the commemorative expedition inscriptions, such as
the director of the crew of recruits and overseer of ten, Rudjsetau, in CM 159, and the
inspector of the officials, director of the crew of recruits of the boat, prospector and
overseer of ten, Kai, in CM 163 and CM 1657.48
Other expedition participants were named after Pepi I and would have been
contemporaries of the king, or slightly younger, such as the sole friend and overseer
of foreign mercenaries, Merymenuankhmeryre, from G 19;49 the inspector of the
boat, Merymenumeryre, in AE 3110; and a royal nobleman, overseer of foreign
mercenaries, judge, district administrator, overseer of hunters (?) and overseer of the
desert, Merymenumeryre, in AE 3120 and AE 3121 A-B.50 Similarly, the sole friend
and overseer of prospectors, Khuenptah Pepi, in G 32 may be related to the reign of
Pepi I or II by the element Pepi in his name.51
Other individuals, broadly datable to the Sixth Dynasty by their titles or names (e.g.
G 20), also left graffiti at Wadi Hammamat.52
It is also possible that the undated texts CM 61 and AE 3100 discussed above were
not engraved during the Sed festival expedition but refer to additional expeditions
during the reign of Pepi I: either two separate expeditions, led by Meryptahankhmeryre
(CM 61) and the gods sealbearer Ihu (AE 3100), respectively, or a single expedition led
by Meryptahankhmeryre. If so, six officials mentioned in the Sed festival expedition
inscriptions (table 1) also participated in the expedition(s) commemorated in AE 3100
and CM 61.
On the other hand, the officials sons (table 2) almost all took part in the prestigious
Sed festival expedition, apart from Ihus own son Redi and Tjetjis son Mehi in AE
3100. If Meryptahankhmeryre came to Wadi Hammamat a second time, he did not
bring his sons with him on that occasion.
A supporting argument that AE 3100 refers to a different expedition than the Sed
festival expedition can be derived from Ihus family arrangements. Ihus father and
son, both named Reqi, are mentioned in G 28 and CM 76, respectively. If AE 3100 is
contemporary with the Sed festival expedition, it is strange that Ihu did not mention
his father and this son in AE 3100, a commemorative expedition inscription that he
himself commissioned. This omission would support the scenario that AE 3100 refers
to a separate expedition, when Ihu brought a different son with him and Ihus father
did not accompany him.
In tables 3 and 4, most of the personal inscriptions are anchored to the Sed festival
expedition by the dated texts G 21, CM 103 and CM 107. The only exception is CM
85, where the assistant overseer of craftsmen, Ptahshepses, from AE 3100 appears with
his sons Qar and Impey; however, if the inscription was commissioned by Qar, who
47

Eichler, Expeditionswesen, 76, 79.


Kai used different titles in his four graffiti, but inspector of the officials and prospector seem to have
been his favourite, since they occur in three out of the four (CM 163, 166 and 167).
49

Following Eichler, Expeditionswesen, 55.
50

Also published in Morrow and Morrow, Desert RATS, 218.
51
Eichler, Expeditionswesen, 62.
52
Eichler, Expeditionswesen, 56, 58.
48

286

DEBORAH SWEENEY

JEA 100

also appears in CM 107, this text too may have been carved during the Sed festival
expedition.
Therefore, if more than one expedition to Wadi Hammamat took place in the reign
of Pepi I, it was mostly at the Sed festival expedition that participants arranged for
personal inscriptions to commemorate relatives and colleagues who were not mentioned
in the expedition inscriptions.
Comparative material

During the reign of Pepi I, therefore, some individuals commemorated in the expedition
inscriptions at Wadi Hammamat also appeared in inscriptions of their own, choosing
to give themselves more prominence, and to include relatives, friends and colleagues
omitted from the official commemorative texts. Other persons, who were not included
in the commemorative expedition texts, also chose to arrange for inscriptions of their
own to be inscribed.
However, this interplay between expedition inscriptions and personal inscriptions
does not exist at other periods at that site. Not all Old Kingdom expeditions to Wadi
Hammamat left inscriptions including the royal cartouches and mentioning a royal
commission. An expedition during the Fourth Dynasty is probably indicated by a
group of inscriptions from site S and related texts,53 but no commemorative expedition
inscription from this expedition has been found.
Other expedition inscriptions at Wadi Hammamat commemorate only one official
rather than naming numerous participants, such as the inscription of Khuenptah (G
45) discussed above, or the late Sixth Dynasty inscription of the sealbearer of the king
of Lower Egypt and gods sealbearer, Tjetji (CM 35).54 Tjeti chose the first prominent
rock at the entrance to Wadi Hammamat, below the titulary of Pepi I (CM 32),55 where
he appears with eight different titles and also bears the epithet56 he who spreads the
fear of Horus in foreign lands, like some of his contemporaries57 from his home town,
Aswan.58
Finally, at the start of the First Intermediate Period, the nature of inscriptions
left by the expedition leader changes. They begin to be phrased in terms much closer
to tomb biographies, focusing on the expedition directors personal achievements in
leading his expedition, rather than listing the names and titles of the chief participants.
An inscription, which has been dated to the Eighth Dynasty,59 describes the expedition
53

Eichler, Expeditionswesen, 138.


P. M. Chevereau, Contribution la prosopographie des cadres militaires de lAncien Empire et de la
Premire Priode Intermdiare, RdE 38 (1987), 20; Strudwick, Texts from the Pyramid Age, 1445.
55

This rock face was already relatively crowded (CM, pl. x), and Tjeti did not have enough room to include
the cartouches of Pepi II, the reigning king. However, it may be significant that he chose the most prominent rock
to commemorate his own name, rather than finding a larger space with room for the royal cartouches.
56
Before the end of the Sixth Dynasty, epithets were rare at Wadi Hammamat. They almost all refer to
leading members of the expedition and all relate that particular person to the king, by whose commission they
were present at the site, such as the gods sealbearer Tjetji, who spreads the fear of Horus in foreign lands (CM
35), or the scribe of the king's documents Werbauptah, who describes himself as one who does everything his
lord wishes in the foreign lands (G 37). See also G 23, G 36 and the assistant overseer of prospectors (following
Eichler, Expeditionswesen, 76) Neferhotep, who boasts of being beloved of his lord, who brings royal [ornaments?]
from the foreign lands (CM 156).
57

Harkhuf (Urk. I 124.3); Pepinakht (Urk. I 132.3; 135.6).
58

For the tomb of Tjeti at Aswan, see Urk I 141:711
59

J. von Beckerath, Handbuch der gyptischen Knigsnamen (MS 49; Mainz, 1999), 701.
54

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OLD KINGDOM QUARRYING INSCRIPTIONS

287

leader, the eldest kings son, Djaty, in terms relating him to his peers and subordinates,
who is concerned for his subordinates on the day of fighting and who foretells the
coming of the day of attack through his council.60
At other mining or quarrying sites outside the Nile Valley in the Old Kingdom, the
closest parallel to the pattern found at Wadi Hammamat during the reign of Pepi I,
where different leading officials generated commemorative inscriptions on behalf of
the expedition as a whole, and individuals mentioned in these inscriptions generated
inscriptions of their own including sons and colleagues they wanted to commemorate,
is probably Wadi Maghara in the Sinai.61
At this site, three long commemorative expedition inscriptions list over a dozen
participants:62 Sinai 13 from the reign of Djedkare (at least 15 officials),63 Sinai 16 from
the year after the eighteenth count of Pepi I (17 individuals),64 and Sinai 17 from the
second occasion of the count of Pepi II (14 individuals).65
Sinai 19 also contains a cartouche and royal commission formula of its own; Edel
therefore argues66 that Sinai 19, although adjacent to the left part of Sinai 13,67
represents a separate expedition in the reign of Djedkare. The inspector of officials
Senenu Idu is named in Sinai 19, along with the figure of 1400 men.68 Edel argues that
Senenu Idu was the same individual as the man depicted in the relief Sinai 22,69 with
a woman and child, who are probably his family.70
Sinai 20, a small inscription of the expedition participant and inspector of officials
Sabi Kem, is situated to the left of a badly preserved expedition inscription from
the reign of Djedkare, Sinai 15,71 as is Sinai 21, the inscription of the expedition
60
CM 206; Strudwick, Texts from the Pyramid Age, 143, no. 65. Eighth Dynasty inscriptions at Wadi
Hammamat also supply more detail about the execution of the project. In CM 206, Djati mentions the numbers
of expedition participants, and notes that his majesty gave (supplies of) 50 oxen and 200 goats for every day.
Three inscriptions describing the extraction of blocks for the overseer of Upper Egypt, overseer of priests and
stolist of Min Tjauti-iqer give the dimensions of the various blocks excavated and in one case the information
that the expedition leader was paid with two oxen, 50 goats and five pots of animal fat (Urk. I 2589; Strudwick,
Texts from the Pyramid Age, 1434).
61
A. H. Gardiner, T. E. Peet, and J. ern, The Inscriptions of Sinai II (2nd edn; MEES 45; London,
19525); inscriptions henceforth referred to as Sinai + number.
62
At Wadi Maghara, seven or eight Old Kingdom inscriptions include the formula mentioning the royal
commission, but three of them (Sinai 12, 14 and 15; Gardiner, Peet and ern, Inscriptions of Sinai II, 602) are
broken after the first line so it is not clear how many officials they mentioned; Sinai 2, from the reign of Djoser,
mentions only three (Gardiner, Peet and ern, Inscription of Sinai II, 54).
63
Gardiner, Peet and ern, Inscriptions of Sinai II, 61. Fifteen names are preserved, but several more
have been erased in the lower left-hand corner of the inscription.
64

Gardiner, Peet and ern, Inscriptions of Sinai II, 623.
65

Gardiner, Peet and ern, Inscriptions of Sinai II, 64. A ships captain and overseer of foreign mercenaries
Nikaiankh appears in both Sixth Dynasty inscriptions, and could be the same individual returning twice to Sinai.
66
E. Edel, Beitrge zu den gyptischen Sinaiinschriften (NAWG. I. Philologisch-Historische Klasse, 6;
Gttingen, 1983), 1623.
67

J. R. Baines and R. B. Parkinson, An Old Kingdom Record of an Oracle? Sinai Inscription 13, in J. van
Dijk (ed.), Essays on Ancient Egypt in Honour of Herman te Velde (Egyptological Memoirs 1; Groningen, 1997),
11.
68
Edel, Sinaiinschriften, 159.
69
Edel, Sinaiinschriften, 164.
70
Edel, Sinaiinschriften, 1645; P. Tallet, La zone minire pharaonique du Sud-Sina I: Catalogue
complmentaire des inscriptions du Sina (MIFAO 130; Cairo, 2013), 28; D. Sweeney, The Maghara (Sinai) Family
Revisited, Tel Aviv 40 (2013), 4654. L. D. Morenz, Von offener und verborgener Sichtbarkeit: Altgyptische
Einschreibungen in den Raum des Wadi Maghara (Sinai), in T. Frese, W. E. Keil and K. Krger (eds), Verborgen,
unsichtbar, unlesbar: Zur Problematik restringierter Schriftprsenz (Berlin, 2014), 4851 suggests a different
interpretation of this relief.
71

Gardiner, Peet and ern, Inscriptions of Sinai II, 65.

288

DEBORAH SWEENEY

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participant, overseer of officials, overseer of the two great houses and overseer of the
fowl yard,72 Idu. Edel identifies him with the Idu from Sinai 19 and 22, and suggests
that he had been promoted from inspector of officials to overseer of officials before
coming a second time to Sinai with the expedition commemorated in Sinai 15.73
At the copper mines of Ayn Soukhna on the Gulf of Suez, which was also used as
an exit point to reach the copper and turquoise mines of Sinai, a hieratic inscription
from the year of, or the year after, the seventh count in the reign of Djedkare,74 includes
the formula referring to the expedition.75 Another text from the reign of Djedkare
opens with the royal titulary and a description of how the king ordered the fleet to
set forth to Sinai.76 The date of the latter text has not been preserved. Two different
groups of individuals are mentioned in these two texts, but they may refer to separate
expeditions. Other Old Kingdom inscriptions and graffiti have been found at the
site,77 but the poor preservation of the longer texts makes it impossible to tell whether
participants not mentioned in the commemorative expedition texts, or dissatisfied with
their representation there, were leaving texts of their own.78
At Hatnub, the situation is different, since the local practice of leaving graffiti written
in ink, rather than engraved inscriptions, made it easier for officials to leave their mark
and to describe themselves at greater length. On the other hand, decorum probably
played a part here nonetheless: the number of graffiti is relatively small, and clustered
in two specific areas.79
Eight inscriptions at Hatnub from the Old Kingdom (Inscriptions IVIII)
feature royal names. Two of them, Inscriptions III and VI, mention the term royal
commission, but are fragmentary and incomplete. Inscription III breaks off after the
name of the expedition leader, Khnumenankhses, and inscription VI in the middle of
the expedition leaders titles. The names of other officials might have been included,
but are not preserved.80
Some Old Kingdom graffiti from Hatnub81 begin with a regnal year date, or a
royal name and date, mention the most prominent officers and continue to express
the expedition leaders achievements in the first person.82 For example, in Graffito
1 from the reign of Teti, the two expedition leaders, the army leader Akht[] and a
naval official narrate an account of the expedition. By contrast, Graffito 2, also from
the reign of Teti and written nearby, includes a long list of other individuals who
presumably also came to the quarry in the reign of Teti, but little narrative description
of the expedition. Like Graffito 1, it summarizes their activity: We did this work for
72

Edel, Sinaiinschriften, 169.


Edel, Sinaiinschriften, 166.
74

Document 250 (Tallet, Sud-Sina, 2269).
75
This formula may be restored in Document 245 in Gallery 5 (Tallet, Sud-Sina, 21517). Document
248 (Tallet, Sud-Sina, 2202) has the layout of a commemorative inscription, but the formula referring to the
expedition is not preserved.
76

Document 249 (Tallet, Sud-Sina, 2226).
77
Tallet, Sud-Sina, 1949, 21722.
78
On the other hand, 14 Middle Kingdom inscriptions cluster around the commemorative inscriptions
of Mentuhotep IV and Amenemhat I (Tallet, Sud-Sina, 20511), naming officials who were not included in the
expedition inscriptions.
79

I owe this useful observation to one of the referees of this article.
80

For drawings and translations, see Shaw, Hatnub, 1389.
81

For translations, see Shaw, Hatnub, 1435.
82

Cf. Blumenthal, in Assmann et al. (eds), Fragen an die altgyptische Literatur, 110.
73

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OLD KINGDOM QUARRYING INSCRIPTIONS

289

the King of Upper and Lower Egypt Teti, living forever. There is no overlap between
the two lists, so maybe they represent separate expeditions. A third graffito, 1a, written
between the two, names two scribes who appear in neither text. In the last two texts,
the officials are mentioned only by name and title.
Graffito 3 from the 14th year of Pepi II begins with a brief first-person statement
by the expedition leader, the gods sealer Nemtyiu,83 and is followed by the names
of six officials, one of whom, the ships captain Ser, wrote his own brief first-person
inscription nearby (Graffito 8). Graffito 4 has been suggested by Goedicke to be a draft
of a letter84 by the inspector of the boat Derkhesef (also mentioned in graffito 3) asking
for help. Hatnub Graffiti 5, 6 and 7 are also first-person descriptions of expeditions;
Graffito 7 opens with the cartouche of Pepi II and a date and Graffito 6 with Pepi IIs
cartouche; the erased text at the beginning might have contained a date.
Mining and quarrying sites tend to develop their own textual traditions: for instance,
the texts at Hatnub tend to be more autobiographical. But local textual traditions also
appear in features of inscriptions that at first sight seem to be far more routine, such as
the way in which names, epithets and family connections are juxtaposed.
In some ways, the traditions at Sinai and Wadi Hammamat are closer to each
other than they are to the tradition at Hatnub, with a clearer demarcation between
commemorative expedition inscriptions and personal inscriptions during the Fifth
and Sixth Dynasty. At these sites and at this point, individuals not mentioned in the
expedition inscriptions might commission inscriptions of their own.
Similarly, individuals already mentioned in the expedition inscriptions might
commission additional inscriptions. At Wadi Hammamat, they might associate
themselves with colleagues omitted from the expedition inscription, or stress the
presence of their fathers or brothers to give their family connections greater priority
than the expedition inscriptions did; at Wadi Maghara it was less common to mention
family members, although Sennenu Idu commissioned a unique relief, probably
representing his wife and child. However, at the very end of the Old Kingdom,
inscriptions at Wadi Hammamat had begun to change in the direction of the more
detailed narratives characterizing Middle Kingdom quarrying inscriptions.
Conclusions

Some mining or quarrying inscriptions were clearly inscribed with an eye to posterity,
addressing all those who will come to this mining district or anyone who will pass
by this inscription.85 By extension, the many inscriptions that do not address their
reader directly can nonetheless be implied to be on display to future visitors to the
site, particularly the literate leaders of the expedition, in order to inform them of their
predecessors presence at the site and their achievements there. This is particularly
true of inscriptions left by the expedition leaders to commemorate the expedition.86
83


R. Anthes, Die Felsinschriften von Hatnub (Leipzig, 1928), pl. 10a.

H. Goedicke, <<80>> as a Sportive Writing, CdE 40 (1965), 33.
85

Cf. for instance Sinai 90, 118, 136, 167, 169. Cf. Eichler in Bryan and Lorton (eds), Essays in Egyptology
in Honor of Hans Goedicke, 6980.
86
Cf. R. Enmarch, Of Spice and Mine: The Tale of the Shipwrecked Sailor and Middle Kingdom
Expedition Inscriptions, in F. Hagen, J. Johnston, W. Monkhouse, K. Piquette, J. Tait, and M. Worthington
(eds), Narratives of Egypt and the Ancient Near East: Literary and Linguistic Approaches (Leuven, 2011), 97121.
84

290

DEBORAH SWEENEY

JEA 100

But inscriptions from a large, well-connected expedition might also be aimed at ones
contemporaries. Participants would return home and talk, amongst other things, about
the inscriptions and their politics of inclusion and exclusionwho had been mentioned
in the official commemorative inscriptions? Who had not been commemorated
and why? How had they reacted to their omission? Why did Ikhi and Ihu choose to
commemorate different people than Meryptahankhmeryre did?
At this distance, it is very difficult to suggest why given individuals were included
in the commemorative expedition inscriptions. For the less important participants,
this might have been a reward for excellent work or special assistance during the
expeditionthe dog-hunters Senu and Iuu in Ikhis inscription come to mind here.
Or perhaps the individuals mentioned worked closely with Meryptahankhmeryre, Ihu
and Ikhi elsewhere, and they wanted to commemorate their personal colleagues?87 Or
maybe strategic alliances between colleagues had been cemented during the expedition,
and the expedition inscriptions gave them concrete expression?
The implications of commemorating ones sons, however, are somewhat clearer.
This action allowed the officials to stress that their sons were present and active,
and presumably acquitted themselves well, thus proving that they were worthy of
promotion. Although fathers had occasionally mentioned their sons in inscriptions on
earlier expeditions,88 it is on this expedition that the phenomenon really takes wing,
and I suggest it is because the leader of the expedition had two sons whose interests
he wished to promote.89 However, his personal situation was typical of the men who
surrounded him, since several of them also had sons whose careers they wished to
further. I suggest this is why Ikhi initiated his own expedition inscription, CM 103, in
order to include his own son, captain Ikhi. Similar arguments would apply to Ihu, his
son Redi and Mehu son of Tjeti in AE 3100.
Simultaneously, other participants who were not included in the commemorative
expedition inscription, or who maybe felt that their representation there failed to
do justice to their titles, or their family or professional connections, left personal
inscriptions of their own. This configuration of commemorative expedition inscriptions
and personal inscriptions is not found at any other Old Kingdom quarrying or mining
site.90

87

For instance, Pfirsch, in Berger, Clerc, and Grimal (eds), Hommages Leclant I, 297 notes that
Meryremeryankhptah would have worked with Tjetji, director of builders of the pyramid.
88

See n. 31 above.
89
Family considerations were very important for Meryptahankhmeryre. His biographical inscription,
Cairo JE 44608 (Roccati, Littrature Historique, 1816; Strudwick, Texts from the Pyramid Age, 2669) states that
he acted faithfully as his brothers assistant for over twenty years as the latter rose in his career to be sole friend
and royal master builder in the two houses.
90

Even at Wadi Hammamat, the situation is unique, since at other points in the Old Kingdom, expeditions
left much briefer commemorative expedition inscriptions, mentioning only a couple of expedition leaders, or did
not leave a commemorative expedition inscription at all.

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OLD KINGDOM QUARRYING INSCRIPTIONS

Appendix: Translation of AE 3100


(1)
A royal commission carried out by the gods sealbearer Ihu
(1a) His son the captain Redi
(2)
The gods sealbearer Ikhi
(2a) The captain Ikhi
(3)
The assistant overseer of craftsmen Ptahshepses
(4)
(and) Ptahdjaf
(5)
The royal noble Tjetji
(6)
The Asiatic Tjensu
(7)
Mehi son of91 the royal acquaintance and overseer of builders Tjetj

91

The first two words are added at the top of the line.

291

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