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The Visitors Graffiti

of Dynasties XVIII and XIX
in Abusir and Northern Saqqara

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The Visitors Graffiti I

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The Visitors Graffiti

of Dynasties XVIII and XIX
in Abusir and Northern Saqqara
Hana Navrtilov

Czech Institute of Egyptology

Set Out
2007

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The research and especially the visits to the Griffith Institute Archives and preparation
of the manuscript were enabled by the support of the Czech Science Foundation,
research grant No. 404/05/2128, The Visitors Graffiti in Abusir.
The printing costs were covered by the Czech Institute of Egyptology
(Research plan Exploration of the civilisation of ancient Egypt,
MSM 0021620826 Ministry of Education of the Czech Republic).

The Czech Institute of Egyptology

Foreword Ladislav Bare
Text Hana Navrtilov
Facsimiles, Gunn Mss, ern Mss and Gardiner Mss The Griffith Institute Archives
Photographs Renata Landgrfov, Kamil Vodra, Milan Zemina, Jaromr Krej
Line drawings Jana Kurotikov, Ing. Jolana Maltkov, Ing. Marta trachov
The use of line drawings of the Userkaf graffiti was kindly allowed by the Schweizerisches Institut fr
gyptische Bauforschung und Altertumskunde, Cairo; the photograph of the Graffito M.1.5.S.18.1
(Plate 1) by the royal herald Amunedjeh, after H. Stock, Das Sonnenheiligtum von Abusir (Aegypten)
is reproduced with the kind permission of the Deutsches Archologisches Institut, Cairo.

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CONTENTS

Foreword (L. Bare)

Preface

Abbreviations

11

Acknowledgements

13

Introduction

15

Graffiti on the Memphite necropoleis

25

Graffiti in Abusir

29

Graffiti in Northern Saqqara

65

Interpretations

131

Conclusions

143

Annex A

145

Annex B

153

Annex C

155

Bibliography

159

Index

166

Plates

169

Tables

folded in the endpaper pocket

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FOREWORD

Without any doubt, the ancient Egyptians belonged to the most prolific nations of the early stages
of history concerning the amount of the written evidence they had produced. Certainly, the sources
preserved until today are mostly administrative and, in view of the attitude expressed by the ancient
Egyptians to the matters of this and the other world, also religious. Among the wide range of the types
and genres of writings that have been left to us by ancient inhabitants of the Nile valley, some are quite
familiar to us in spite of thousands of years that had elapsed since the times of that great civilisation.
Not always are our attitudes to such writings identical, concerning the ancient and new items of its
type. Graffiti, that is to say drawings of writings (usually rude, humorous or politic according to the
dictionary but certainly often also commemorative, votive or magical) on a wall, etc. in a public place,
are one of the best examples of such an ambiguous attitude. While those of the ancient origin are
usually documented in detail as an important source for the study of ancient history, prosopography,
etc., their modern counterparts (although in some cases almost identical in their nature) are usually
much less welcomed, even if they might sometimes appear on one and the same monument.
In spite of the fact that the graffiti are not always spontaneous, they represent one of the shortest
and most important ways to study the thinking and feeling of their authors, ancient and modern.
In the case of ancient Egyptians, this is sometimes biased by their rather specific predilection for the
formalized and repetitive expressions. Even so, inscriptions left by ancient scribes, officials and priests
on the monuments of their predecessors (or other places considered interesting or holy) are a unique
source for the study of the attitude of the ancient Egyptians towards their own past. As such, they have
aroused the interest of Hana Navrtilov, a young Czech Egyptologist and Historian, in her long-term
study of the historical thought of ancient Egyptians and the aftermath of their great civilisation in later
times. In a way, her work was connected also with the archaeological work done by the Czech (formerly
Czechoslovak) Institute of Egyptology of the Charles University in Prague at the ancient Egyptian
necropolis at Abusir since 1960. Some of the monuments at Abusir, especially the well preserved
pyramid complex of Dynasty V King Sahura and the nearby tomb of his younger contemporary, the
vizier Ptahshepses, are famous for the graffiti that have been left there by ancient visitors.
In spite of the fact that graffiti left on the monuments by the ancient visitors were often either
completely overlooked or poorly documented, the number of their examples known so far is
certainly too large to be subsumed into a single volume. In the present volume, therefore, only the
visitors graffiti of Dynasties XVIII and XIX that come from the pyramid fields at Saqqara and Abusir
are thoroughly studied. Let us hope that further volumes, dealing this time with graffiti coming from
other places in Egypt and other epochs of Egyptian history, would follow in due time.
The historical thought of each nation or culture, in other words their attitude towards their own
past, is a part of the general self-reflection of the mankind. As such, it is quite relevant even to the
present day situation as one of the basic structures of the collective identity. Because of that, the
contribution of Hana Navrtilov to the elucidation of the much debated question of the ancient
Egyptian historical thought should not be overlooked by not only Egyptologists, but general
Historians and scholars dealing with the development of the human thought and culture as well. All
of them, and people generally interested in ancient Egyptian culture, too, will certainly benefit from
this detailed insight into the feelings and thoughts of the people who, more than three thousand
years ago, have left their imprints on the pyramids, temples, tombs and other monuments built by
their glorious predecessors and around roads, quarries and wells used by them.
Prague, January 2008
Ladislav Bare
Director, Czech Inst. of Egyptology, Charles University, Prague

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PREFACE

The Visitors Graffiti of Dynasties XVIII and XIX in Abusir and Northern Saqqara are the first part of an
intended series devoted to the visitors graffiti at the Memphite necropoleis.
The graffiti have been documented and studied in the past, but not always published in full. The
visitors graffiti are mostly New Kingdom texts left on older, Old or Middle Kingdom monuments.
The graffiti texts form a special genre, in between formal and informal texts. Their analysis has
lacked a systematic approach and the texts might have been underestimated.1 Recently, however, the
theme of visitors graffiti has been given a deserved attention.2 New discoveries are bringing new
graffiti to light. However, long known graffiti are often not known in sufficient detail. The idea of the
series of Visitors graffiti is to find and make accessible any older documentation pertaining to such
epigraphic material. Volume I aims at the graffiti in Abusir and Northern Saqqara. It is based on
unpublished archival documentation and on published sources as well. It is an attempt to systematise our knowledge of this type of text.
The concept of making graffiti accessible and well-documented is based also on the idea of
creating a graffiti database.3 These books are but one (though important) way of establishing an
access to historical documents and archaeological and epigraphical material. The digitized version
of a graffiti catalogue or database should also be also made accessible, hopefully, in the not too
distant future. The database (or digital repository) may also serve as a source-base for hardcopy
publications, which will pair each graffiti group (e.g. from one site or a monument) with interpretative essays and an extended commentary. This plan, of course, depends on the availability and extent
of the material to be found. The corpus of visitors graffiti in its present form contains information
about 150 graffiti from the Memphite area. Of these the Abusir and Northern Saqqara ones comprise
574 inscriptions, described in this volume. To provide an overview of other Memphite graffiti, a table
providing basic data (site, dating, author, publication/documentation, if known) has been added
(Table 1).
The graffiti in this volume are divided into two groups according to site Abusir and Northern
Saqqara. The inscriptions are described as follows:
original text of the graffito, drawn;
hieroglyphic transcription;
transliteration;
translation;
brief analysis (i.e. text type, etc.);
relevant further data dating, position, monument, author, king or personage referred to in the
text and the like.
It is necessary to start with a group of selected monuments, and subsequently to include them in
a wider context. The first phase would be thus be orientated at Abusir and a selected group of
Saqqara monuments including in the first place the pyramid complex of Djoser. The choice of
place is given by the requirements of the current state of research at these sites. Regarding Abusir, its

See also Thissen, H. J., Graffiti, L II, 880882.

Peden, A. J., The Graffiti of Pharaonic Egypt, Leiden 2001; Kahl, J., Ein Zeugnis altgyptischer Schulausflge, GM 211,
2006, 2529.
3
Navrtilov, H., Project of Visitors Graffiti Database, In: Goyon, J.-C., Cardin, C., eds., Proceedings of the 9th
International Congress of Egyptologists, Leuven 2006, 6572.
4
Or 69, if we count also the graffiti known in fragments from G. Mllers Hieratische Palographie II, Leipzig 1909.
1

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New Kingdom history is still full of gaps. Graffiti can, for example, add to our knowledge of the cult
of Sakhmet of Sahure and the position of the 5th dynasty kings in the tradition. The selected material from Saqqara can also provide useful parallels in this respect. The project requires also time limits
the 18th and 19th dynasties.
The descriptive catalogue of Abusir and Northern Saqqara graffiti is followed with a chapter on
interpretation. Mostly, the visitors graffiti bring us information about the personal representation of
the Egyptian literate lite (or sub-lite). Their authors were mostly people who titled themselves as
scribes, only exceptionally they used higher titles. They probably presented themselves purposefully
in the visitors graffiti as knowledgeable and competent literate persons, administrators and pious
people, fulfilling the Egyptian ideal of life. They also give us a clue to their historical awareness
since they often say which building they visited and even to what king it belonged.
Information we gather from the visitors graffiti seems to be compatible with what we know about
the education and cultural formation of the Egyptian lite social strata. In fact, the graffiti may bring
a contribution to the study of the mentality of the literate Egyptians.
Prague, September 2007

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ABBREVIATIONS

AT
ADAIK
ACE
AH
ASAE
BIE
BIFAO
CdE
DE
DFIFAO
GM
HWb
IBAES
JAOS
JARCE
JEA
JNES
JSSEA
KRI
L
LEG
MS
MMA
MDAIK
OEAE
OIP
OLA
PM III
PM III2

PM VII
PN
PSBA
RCT
Rec. de Trav.
RITA
SAK
Urk IV
Wb
ZS
ZDMG

gypten und Altes Testament, Wiesbaden

Abhandlungen des Deutschen Archologischen Instituts, Kairo, Glckstadt, Mainz etc.
Australian Centre for Egyptology
Aegyptiaca Helvetica, Basel
Les Annales du Service des Antiquits gyptiennes, Le Caire
Bulletin de lInstitut dgypte, Le Caire
Bulletin de lInstitut Franais dArchologie Orientale, Le Caire
Chronique dgypte, Bruxelles
Discussions in Egyptology, Oxford
Documents de Fouilles de lInstitut Franais dArchologie Orientale, Le Caire
Gttinger Miszellen, Gttingen
Hannig, R., Die Sprache der Pharaonen. Groes Handwrterbuch gyptisch Deutsch.
(2800 950 v. Chr.), Mainz 1995
Internet-Beitrge zur gyptologie und Sudanarchologie
Journal of the American Oriental Society, New Haven
Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt, Boston
Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, London
Journal of the Near Eastern Studies, Chicago
Journal of the Society for the Study of Egyptian Antiquities, Toronto
Kitchen, K. A., Ramesside Inscriptions IVIII, Oxford 19691990
Lexikon der gyptologie, Wiesbaden 19721992
Lesko, L. H., A Dictionary of Late Egyptian IIV, Berkeley 1982
Mnchner gyptologische Studien, Berlin
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archologischen Instituts, Kairo
Redford, D. B., ed., Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt IIII, Oxford 2001
Oriental Institute Publications, Chicago
Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta, Leuven
Moss, R. Porter, B., Topographical Bibliography of Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphic Texts,
Reliefs and Paintings III, Oxford 1931
Moss, R. Porter, B., Topographical Bibliography of Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphic Texts,
Reliefs and Paintings III, second edition, revised and augmented by Jaromr Mlek,
Oxford 19781981
Moss, R. Porter, B., Topographical Bibliography of Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphic Texts,
Reliefs and Paintings VII, Oxford 1952
Ranke, H., Die gyptischen Personennamen IIII, Glckstadt 19351977
Proceedings of the Society of the Biblical Archaeology, London
Gardiner, A. H., The Royal Canon of Turin, Oxford 1959
Recueil de Travaux relatifs a` la Philologie et a` lArchologie gyptiennes et assyriennes
Kitchen, K. A., Ramesside Inscriptions Translated and Annotated IIV, 19962003
Studien zur altgyptischen Kultur, Hamburg
Sethe, K., Urkunden der 18. Dynastie, Leipzig 19061914
Erman, A. Grapow, H. N., Wrterbuch der gyptischen Sprache, Bd. 15, Leipzig
19261955
Zeitschrift fr gyptische Sprache und Altertumskunde, Leipzig, Berlin
Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgelndischen Gesellschaft, Leipzig, Wiesbaden

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This volume started as a dissertation. Its making and transformation into a manuscript which
would be fit for publication was helped by numerous individuals and institutions. First of all, my
parents merit a special recognition for their support. Particular thanks are due to my research supervisors, Prof. Ladislav Bare and Prof. Miroslav Verner, who aided my work, and to the reviewers of the
dissertation, Prof. John Baines and Prof. Antonio Loprieno, whose comments and suggestions
brought many valuable contributions and corrections to the text. Special thanks are due for her help
and assistance to Dr. Vivienne Gae Callender.
I note with gratefulness and affection the support and encouragement shown by the members of
the staff of the Griffith Institute archives, especially Dr. Jaromr Mlek, Alison Hobby, Elisabeth Miles
and Jenni Navratil. Without the generous decision of Dr. J. Mlek to support my publication by
granting permission to publish the facsimiles of papers of J. ern, A. H. Gardiner and B. G. Gunn
there would be no book on the graffiti now.
I am also indebted to Prof. J. P. Allen for allowing the use of his precious material on the newly
discovered graffiti in the pyramid complex of Senusret III at Dahshur. The Schweizerisches Institut
fr gyptische Bauforschung und Altertumskunde, Cairo and Deutsches Archologisches Institut,
Cairo, kindly allowed the use of illustrations from their publications.
For varied help and advice I would like to express my sincere thanks to the following friends and
colleagues: Dr. Dorothea Arnold (New York); Dr. Miroslav Brta (Prague); Prof. Zdenk Bene
(Prague); Dr. Martin Bommas (Basel); Dr. Petr Charvt (Prague and Pilsen); Dr. Vassil Dobrev
(Cairo); Dr. Johanna Holaubek (Vienna); Dr. Ji Jank (Prague); Dr. Renata Landgrfov (Prague)
with special thanks for the revision of transliterations; Dr. Michella Luiselli (Basel); Dr. Jana
Mynov (Prague); Dr. Frantiek Ondr (Prague); Dr. Adela Oppenheim (New York); Dr. Jiina
Rov (Prague); Mgr. Petra Vlkov (Prague and Brno); Dr. Ludwig Morenz, Dr. Peter der
Manuelian (Boston); Dr. Wolf B. Oerter (Prague); last, but not least, the indispensable technical support was kindly provided by Mrs. Alexandra Hejdukov, Mr. Zdenk tastn, and Ing. Zdenk Vlek.
I feel a great debt of gratitude to the reviewers of the final manuscript, Prof. Hans-Werner FischerElfert and Prof. Betislav Vachala. An indispensable and much valued help was provided by Mr. Eric
Reid, who revised the English of my manuscript. Finally, it is a pleasure to thank the staff of the
publishing house Set Out, especially Mrs. Jana Kurotikov and Dr. Roman Mek for their helpfulness
and patience, and to Dr. Lucie Storchov for the technical revision.
Prague, October 2007

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INTRODUCTION

The inscriptions called graffiti today are mostly self-presentations of various kinds more often
connected with vandalism, than with art or socially respected self-expression. Graffiti are generally
viewed as a principally illegal social activity; however, the graffiti writers do have an organisation and
a subculture of their own, therefore their creations are not aimless and without a code of evaluation
and audience; on the contrary, they have an evaluation system, defined objectives, and their own
audience.5
A contemporary definition by Norbert Siegl of the Institute for graffiti research (Institut fr
Graffiti-Forschung, http://www.graffitieuropa.org/) says:
Graffiti (Einzahl Graffito) ist ein Oberbegriff fr viele thematisch und gestalterisch unterschiedliche
Erscheinungsformen. Die Gemeinsamkeit besteht darin, dass es sich um visuell wahrnehmbare Elemente handelt,
welche ungefragt und meist anonym, von Einzelpersonen oder Gruppen auf fremden oder in ffentlicher
Verwaltung befindlichen Oberflchen angebracht werden. Besonders in der Variante des graffiti-writings der
Sprayer bezieht der Begriff auch offiziell ausgefhrte Auftragsarbeiten und knstlerische Produktionen mit ein.
The history of graffiti and related phenomena is rich, and reaches far back, even to rock paintings
and prehistoric decorated caves. The graffiti of more ancient lineage were perhaps equally well
unsolicited as are their modern heirs, but perhaps also more tolerated at least in Classical
Antiquity.6 The ancient Egyptian graffiti is a common term used for short inscriptions, scratched or
written with ink or other media, on the rocks and walls; in this they are different from modern
graffiti examples. Egyptian graffiti are also different in the rationale behind their making and the
prestige of literacy too was incomparable to more recent periods. Egyptian graffiti are also usually
signed, i.e. they are not anonymous.
In Egypt, there are hieroglyphic, hieratic and demotic graffiti; in addition there are Coptic
graffiti. Visitors of less ancient origin left Greek, Latin, and Arabic graffiti, often next to those from
Pharaonic times. To these traces of human presence we must add modern tourist graffiti, starting
with the 16th century onwards, and reaching the peak of their use (in obvious connection with
number of visitors) in the 19th century. These are in a number of modern European languages,
mainly English, German, Italian and French. The focus of the present work, however, is that of
ancient Egyptian graffiti, although the modern travellers graffiti have their own intrinsic importance.7
The graffiti are a specific phenomenon, given their role of informal writings, and also their
importance when we try to study the Egyptian mental world. The essential definition of graffiti is for
the time being their informality which means that they are not composed inscriptions of official
character.8 It is, however, necessary to clear a little the term informal within the typologies of
Compare Lachmann, R., Graffiti as Career and Ideology, The American Journal of Sociology, Vol. 94, No. 2, 1988,
229250, although Lachmann presents a sample only. The material on modern graffiti is published in various studies and a couple of monographs, including dissertations. See http://www.graffitiforschung.tk for an overview. The
Prague and Czech graffiti have been recently mapped by Overstreet, M., In graffiti we trust. Velk kniha o graffiti Czech
19882005, Prague 2006, the volume has an informative English summary.
6
A case study is e.g. H. Taeuber, Graffiti, In: Thr, H., Das Hanghaus 2 in Ephesos. Die Wohneinheit 4. Baubefund,
Ausstattung, Funde, Wien 2005, 132143. An annotation at http://www.dieuniversitaet-online.at/beitraege/news/antike-graffiti-geritzt-nicht-gespruht/10.html.
7
Compare Goyon, G., Les inscriptions et graffiti des voyageurs sur la grande pyramide, Le Caire 1944, or de Keersmaecker,
R., Travellers Graffiti from Egypt and the Sudan, IIII, see http://www.egypt-sudan-graffiti.be/Travellers.htm.
8
Desroches-Noblecourt, Ch., La Que^te des graffiti, In: Textes et langages de lgypte pharaonique, Hommage
a` Champollion II, Le Caire 1972, 164; as inscription rupestre rock inscription, she defines the pre-planned, composed
texts subsequently noted on a rock surface, which is therefore different from a graffito, see further also Franke, D.,
Graffiti, OEAE II, 3841.
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written evidence. They are informal in so far, as they do not represent or a number of them do not
represent any inscription with more or less clearly defined form and function stela, autobiography, offering formula, tomb inscription or temple text. Their use is most varied too. On the other
hand they are not informal in so far, as they cannot be straightaway supposed to show an alternative
cultural view, as they were often made by members of the scribal elite/sub-elite or at least by literate
strata of the society, educated with the aim of representing sociocultural tradition. They are formal
as long as they were created by the elite/sub-elite for a certain purpose and within a given cultural
framework. However, the sociocultural terms like formal and informal or even collective and individual have still an unsatisfactory sound in an ancient Egyptian setting.9 Still, what speaks in favour of
considering them a separate and special sort of Egyptian written evidence, a sort, which stands apart
from other testimonies, is the following: we can find graffiti in a certain sense literally everywhere.
A. J. Peden remarked But why should we study graffiti in the first instance? Because it is in practice the
study of human beings using a form of written communication that is invariably free of social restraints Besides
the very pervasiveness of graffiti inscriptions throughout the Nile Valley surely entitles them to as much scrutiny
as any other record of mans activities in this part of the world. 10
Although we might doubt a complete absence of any kind of social restraint, it can be claimed that
the graffiti presence is a mark to follow, when we would like to put over the physical map of Egypt
a map of human presence in the landscape. Quarries, mines, desert roads and their stops, temples
and necropoleis, every one of these places carries a trace of human presence left in the form of graffiti. There are military (given the supposed social stratum of their authors, not some strategic information) graffiti in the Nubian fortresses neighbourhood, graffiti left by members of mining and
quarrying expeditions, we can follow the outline of desert tracks with the help of the graffiti.11
The content is most varied some are lenghty inscriptions noting an expedition, and thus they
may be close to an official inscription.12 Others are just a short scratching noting a name and a date.
One might perhaps add that a graffito is not a genre, but a manner of writing a text, which might
include a wide range of inscriptions. Their probable spontaneity would be a very important characteristic, if they indeed were not always planned and composed beforehand. But we cannot determine whether they were or were not.
There is a conspicuous group of graffiti the visitors graffiti, known also under the German term,
Besucherinschriften 13. The inscriptions are left on considerably older buildings and have varied
contents. Visitors graffiti are dated mainly to the New Kingdom. Their geographical distribution
covers, although not exclusively14, important necropoleis, such as the Theban and the Memphite
ones. They are interwoven with the history of important archaeological sites.15

See Assmann, bifurcating culture of ancient Egypt in his Stein und Zeit, Mnchen 1997 further compare Baines, J.,
Restricted Knowledge, Hierarchy, and Decorum: Modern Perceptions and Ancient Institutions, JARCE, Vol. XXVII,
1990, 125; Loprieno, A., Defining Egyptian Literature: Ancient Texts and Modern Theories, In: Loprieno, A., ed.,
Ancient Egyptian Literature, History and Forms, Leiden 1996, 3958; esp. on pp. 4647, In Egypt, punctual innovation
rarely became generalized inauguration, and the rules of decorum allowed for individual leeway only within the frame of a formal
adherence to sociopolitical context ; questions of literacy and reception of various cultural traditions and by various social
strata and various social units compare Parkinson, R. B., Individual and Society in Middle Kingdom Literature, In:
Loprieno, ed., Ancient Egyptian Literature, 137155, esp. 137; Baines, J. Eyre, Ch., Four notes on literacy, GM 61, 1983.
These Egyptological analyses point at the problem of following different social strata and different variants any culture has, such as regional, social or individual, etc.; I have made this rather far-fetched overview of opinions and works
with the aim of indicating that Egyptology registers fully the fact that Egyptian society cannot be treated as a seamless
homogenous compact unit with cast attitudes and totally unified perceptions of their given Weltanschauung.
10 Peden, Graffiti, xxi. The wide presence of graffiti could have also indicated the level of literacy Peden, Graffiti,
Conclusions, 293.
11 Cf. Darnell and Darnell, Oriental Institute Annual Reports from 1994 to 1996, now Darnell, J. C., The Theban Desert
Road Survey in the Egyptian Western Desert I., Chicago 2002.
12 Cf. Quarries and mines, like Wadi Hammamat, L VI, 11001113; Peden, Graffiti, passim.
13 Cf. Helck, W., Besucherinschriften, ZDMG, 102/27, 1952, 41f., and Wildung, D., Besucherinschriften, L I,
766767.
14 Compare material from Beni Hasan, which presents parallels to known Memphite examples. Cf. Griffith,
Inscriptions, In: Petrie, Medum, London 1892, 4041; Peden, Graffiti, 102; following Champollion, Notices descriptives
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The Besucherinschriften are often viewed as something belonging to the sphere of personal impression, or personal piety. Other examples of known graffiti of similar character16, recently published,
yielded interesting results new information about their authors, and their cultural and historical
milieu. The visitors graffiti are rousing constant interest in Egyptology were they results of
antiquarian or religious interest, or just leftovers of scribal presence at the necropolis, whose
primary reasons were completely different and mostly practical?17 Their connection with official
duties, and activities can be only presumed,18 in some cases it is more or less likely, e.g. in case
a scribe visited a necropolis on behalf of an official duty, and left in addition a visitors graffito on
a building close to the place of his work.
The visitors graffiti are inviting similar questions as their colleagues elsewhere what do they
contain, were they spontaneous or preplanned, are they a specific genre or just a mix of texts left in
a certain manner in certain conditions?
Their current interpretation is ambiguous.19 They can be seen as a source for confirming the
religious sense of Egyptians, of their pious visits and pilgrimages, or they can be judged as testifying
to the historical consciousness of New Kingdom Egyptians face to face with ancient monuments.
The Memphite necropolis graffiti seem to be a special case. They were left on monuments, which
were very old in the eyes of the graffiti writers. The gap between the builders of the monuments and
the visitors was not that of decades or a couple of generations (as was sometimes the case in the
Theban necropolis), but of a thousand years. The builders were usually royal (in Thebes we find
visitors quite often in private, non-royal, tombs). Both aspects, the antiquity and the royalty, might
also have mattered to the Egyptians themselves.
These graffiti can be therefore considered as one of the sources for the study of Egyptian uses of
the past, and the historical tradition of kings20. However, to verify this hypothesis, we should work
with a feasible corpus of visitors graffiti, and evaluate their occurrence, contents and context.
Why should we actually pay more attention to visitors graffiti? There is one practical and one
methodological reason. The tomb visitors graffiti a special category Theban or Memphite or otherwise, are often published in books dealing with the respective tombs. Some of more recent publications in this respect comply with standards of epigraphic publications.21 Earlier publications, however, do not always do so. If it is possible and a documentation available, the inscriptions should be
published anew. The graffiti are a rather fragile source and so is often their documentation.
The methodological reason lies in that the study of the Egyptian uses of the past is undoubtedly
an important part of Egyptian culture, which needs all possible sources.
What has been and is being done in the field of graffiti study? The graffiti22 have been known to
Egyptologists since the beginnings of Egyptology, although at first under no specific name. It seems

II, 430, and Lloyd, In: Lloyd, A. B., ed., Studies in Pharaonic Religion and Society in Honour of J. Gwyn Griffiths, London
1992, 32 note 13.
15 See Mlek, J., A Meeting of the Old and New. Saqqara during the New Kingdom, In: Lloyd, A. B., (ed.), Studies in
Pharaonic Religion and Society in honour of J. G. Griffiths, London 1992, 5776.
16 In this case a temples visitors graffiti, by Jacquet-Gordon, H., The Graffiti on the Khonsu Temple roof at Karnak.
A manifestation of personal piety, OIP 123, Temple of Khonsu, Vol. 3, Chicago 2003, and further see section Interpretations.
17 Compare Franke, Graffiti; Mlek, A Meeting of the Old and New, 5776; Fischer-Elfert, H., Representations of the
Past in New Kingdom Literature, In: Tait, J., Never had the like occurred, 131133.
18 It makes a difference in respect of e.g. graffiti in the temple of Khonsu, where the priests were on duty, compare
Jacquet-Gordon, The Graffiti on the Khonsu Temple roof at Karnak.
19 Compare Wildung, Besucherinschriften, 766767; Helck, Besucherinschriften, ZDMG, 1952, 41f.; Fischer-Elfert,
Representations of the Past in New Kingdom Literature.
20 Compare Fischer-Elfert, Representations of the Past in New Kingdom Literature, 131133, and Wildung, D., Die
Rolle gyptischer Knige im Bewutsein ihrer Nachwelt, MS 17, Mnchen 1969.
21 Hornung, E., Zwei Ramessidische Knigsgrber: Ramses IV und Ramses VI. Theben XI., Mainz 1990, 132133. See further
also de Garis Davies, N. Gardiner, A. H., Tomb of Antefoker, TT 60, or Dziobek, E. et al., Das Grab des User-amun, Mainz
1994, with contribution by E. Hornung on p. 100f. For Theban necropolis see also Kampp, F., Die Thebanische Nekropole
III, Mainz 1996.
22 See Peden, Graffiti, Introduction and also Franke, Graffiti, 3841.

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that Champollion during his voyage noted a number of graffiti, and noted that they cover most probably the activities of visitors, Egyptians, Greeks and even Coptic visitors.23 Champollion did not use
the term graffiti, though, but described them aptly:
Je dois cependant ajouter que plusieurs de ces tombes royals portent sur leurs parois le tmoignage crit
quelles taient, il y a bien de sicles, abandones et seulement visites, comme de nos jours, par beaucoup de curieux
dsoeuvrs, lesquels, comme ceux de nos jours encore, croyaient sillustrer jamais en griffonant leurs noms sur
les peintures et les bas-reliefs, quil ont ainsi dfigurs. Les sots de tous les sicles y eurent de nombreux reprsentants Egyptiens qui se sont inscrits, les plus anciens en hiratique, les plus modernes en dmotique; des
Grecs de trs ancienne date ; de vieux Romains de la Rpublique; une foule dinconnus du Bas Empire ;
des noms de Coptes enfin, des noms de voyageurs europens .24
He was also the first to make a still valid division graffiti by Egyptians, in hieratic and demotic,
Coptic graffiti, and later Greek, Latin and modern European languages graffiti.
The graffiti as such were noted by visitors and researchers, and eventually were named by Auguste
Mariette in 1850s. Mariette lived in a period, when visitors graffiti but made by modern tourists
were immensely in vogue and he made some himself, on a special occasion.25
The history of beginnings and development of graffiti research and mapping (of all graffiti, not
only visitors) has been undertaken by Christiane Desroches-Noblecourt26, who dedicated her study
mainly to the Upper Egyptian and Nubian border sites understandably, since the state of research
in Lower Egypt had lagged behind in those years. Large groups of graffiti and rock inscriptions
(these terms were not at first clearly defined27) studied till World War II were to be found in
Middle and Upper Egypt and in Nubia and on Sinai. Later, graffiti in the oases were added and the
research in wadis of the Eastern desert, especially when connected with mines and quarries,
continued, as well as the survey of desert roads both in Eastern and Western desert. Special attention
was turned to Nubia in the 1900s and again in the 1960s, as the Aswan dams were built and rescue
archaeological operations were undertaken.
Lower Egypt was represented chiefly by visitors graffiti in pyramid complexes of ancient rulers in
the Memphite area, whose evidence was rich but their exploration, as can be seen further, left some
unanswered questions. There are graffiti registered in a number of publications regarding singular
sites or monuments, more recently, the registered graffiti have been often the quarry marks and
masons inscriptions, which help in establishing the building history of a monument, and often add
to our knowledge about its owner.28
The main attempt in research on the affluent Theban zone of graffiti is the Spiegelberg, Sadek
and ern work, which resulted in the monumental opus of Graffiti de la Montagne thbaine.29 The
study of the Theban region graffiti shows the range of uses, possible for the other graffiti material
too. There are numerous New Kingdom graffiti to be found, in accordance with the history of the
site. Their character varies from short notes left by the workers from Deir el Medina, to the inscriptions left by curious or pious visitors in tombs and temples. The Deir el Medina workers can be often
portrayed with the help of these graffiti in a very lively way.30
The current overview of the graffiti exploration has been made by A. J. Peden31, which is a useful
survey of graffiti in general.

Desroches Noblecourt, La Que^te des graffiti, 152.

Desroches Noblecourt, op. cit., 151152, quoting Lettres crites dEgypte et de Nubie en 182829.
25 Desroches Noblecourt, op. cit., 154 footnote 2.
26 Desroches Noblecourt, op. cit., 151183.
27 See Desroches Noblecourt, op. cit., 163164.
28 Cf. the use of masons marks in studying some monuments on the Abusir royal necropolis in Verner, M., Abusir
II Baugraffiti der Ptahschepses Mastaba, Prague 1992.
29 See also ern, J., Graffiti hiroglyphiques et hiratiques de la ncropole thbaine. Nos 1060 a
` 1405, DFIFAO, Le Caire 1956
and of course ern, J. Sadek, A. A., and others, Graffiti de la montagne thbaine, Le Caire 19691974.
30 See ern, J., Community of Workmen in Deir el-Medina, Cairo 1993, passim, or Valbelle, D., Les ouvriers de la Tombe,
Le Caire 1985, passim.
31 Peden, Graffiti.
23

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Visitors graffiti in particular were often interpreted and commented on. The ambiguous
interpretative views on the visitors graffiti were mentioned already in the introduction, and they
show the necessity of integrating our knowledge on the graffiti and indeed foster the interest in
them. An overview of works dealing with Besucherinschriften follows and it presents steps in documentation, methodology and systemisation of knowledge on the visitors graffiti. It cannot include all
works mentioning this type of texts. As can be observed on the following pages, the authors often
treated one or the other of two major groups Theban and/or Memphite. Usually, they did not
apply a time division, i.e. both the 18th dynasty and the Ramesside graffiti are included in one
corpus. Methodologically speaking, a more structured and analytical approach has been adopted by
those authors who focused on Besucherinschriften and did not cover the whole range of graffiti types,
or who used the graffiti as a source within a specialised study.
The graffiti of the Theban necropolis were treated by Wilhelm Spiegelberg, who included in his
opus gyptische und andere Graffiti (Inschriften und Zeichnungen) aus der thebanischen Nekropolis (III,
1921)32 the Besucherinschriften as well. His concept of Besucherinschriften is as follows: Andere Inschriften
sind Besucherinschriften und melden Inspektionen der Nekropolis durch hhere Beamte wie den Vezier 33 This
is a verifiable description of a number Theban graffiti, and it might be considered as fitting for some
of the visitors graffiti on other necropoleis as well.
An already classical text on Besucherinschriften, this time chiefly the Memphite ones, is represented
by Wolfgang Helcks Die Bedeutung der gyptischen Besucherinschriften (published 1952).34
Helck provided an overview of the graffiti presence. His list of published graffiti included: the Step
pyramid of Djoser, the pyramid of Snofru at Medum, The Sun temple of Niuserre, the funerary
temple of Pepi II, the mastaba of Ptahshepses at Abusir, the complex of Senusret III at Dahshur, the
tomb of Khnumhotep at Beni Hassan, the pyramid complex of Khendjer in South Saqqara, and the
Theban tombs and the Osireion at Abydos. He apparently omitted the funerary temple of Sahure,
published by Borchardt.
Helck noticed also the precarious state of publication of the graffiti Wir finden diese
Wandaufschriften in fast allen bedeutenderen Anlagen, wenn auch leider nur ein geringer Teil von ihnen verffentlicht ist. 35 Helck himself published the graffiti in the temple of Userkaf accurately.
Helck noted that the graffiti have repeated phrasing and that we should consider the presence of
graffiti as an expression of interest and relationship of Egyptians toward the monuments, and not as
an accidental fact. A necropolis was, remarked Helck, a place where tomb inscriptions invoked
prayers, offerings and offering-prayers. One would therefore expect, unless some change in perception occurred, expressions of piety to dominate the necropolis written material. For Helck, they are
not present there, or at least not in the first place. Helck opined even, that the graffiti, if they note
a prayer at all, make it only second in place, after paying attention to other things, such as
characterizing the building as very nice etc.36 The corpus in this book (see also Tables 1 and 2) can
corroborate some of the phrase sequences, but Helcks reasoning is not impeccable. His other
notion supported with royal texts of the 18th dynasty, namely, that the Egyptians of that period
showed other examples of interest in their past, is inspiring.37 Helck tried to prove the existence of
historicism in the New Kingdom38; he supposed the presence of history taught in schools and
supported by school excursions to the monuments of old.39 He hoped to find proofs for that in
graffiti as well,40 but evidence of the graffiti is very fragmentary and much less certain than Helck
would have liked it to be.

32 gyptische und andere Graffiti (Inschriften und Zeichnungen) aus der Thebanischen Nekropolis, W., Spiegelberg, ed., mit
einem Atlas von 123 Tafeln in Folio, Heidelberg 1921.
33 Spiegelberg, gyptische und andere Graffiti, I, V.
34 Helck, W., Die Bedeutung der gyptischen Besucherinschriften, ZDMG 102, 1952, 3946.
35 Helck, op. cit., 39.
36 Helck, op. cit., 1952, 44.
37 He noted, Helck, op. cit., 1952, 45, certain expressions, and the fact that Thutmose IV released the Sphinx from
its sandy cover. See also Vernus, P., Lessai sur la coscience de lHistoire dans lEgypte pharaonique, Paris 1995, part II.

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Jean Yoyotte, in his oeuvre on pilgrimages of the Egyptians (published in 1960) opined, in spite
of his naming the chapter on Besucherinschriften Visites dintellectuels aux sites archologiques,
mostly that the visitors were guided by piety.41
A very open-minded introduction to the theme of Besucherinschriften is more than 30 years old it
is the voice Besucherinschriften in Lexikon der gyptologie by Dietrich Wildung (1972).42 Wildung
detected differences in text types and separated a sort of classical Besucherinschrift in a necropolis
(on the grounds of phraseology as well) from other similar graffiti, even from graffiti in temples. He
noted the Leitmotiv to be followed in the interpretation of these graffiti funerary cult, personal piety,
tradition and historical awareness. His theses can be questioned, but most of his notes and information gathered also in his volume on the role of Egyptian kings43, should be taken into consideration.
A look on Table 2 can show that the graffiti indeed present a variety of phrases; and the noticeable
appearance of kings, both past and contemporary in respect of the graffiti authors.
Wildungs work on Die Rolle der gyptischen Knige (1969) can be also regarded as a methodological
guide in the study of the visitors graffiti, since his view on the graffiti inserts them into wider context
of study of traditions and eventually historical awareness. He considers kings to be key persons in the
historical consciousness44, which can be taken as a plausible explanation.45 Therefore he concentrates on graffiti in royal tombs. We may presume that the graffiti can be included in the less official
venue of historical consciousness.46 Wildung also pointed out that people tended to go to see the
monument, because it belonged to a particular king, not because of the monument itself.47 The
occurrence of the identification (see also Table 1) can corroborate this thesis, at least for the
Memphite necropolis.
Presence of Kings Examples from the pyramid complex of Djoser
identification code

king-owner

title/epithet

other kings

title/epithet

gods

dynasty

M.2.3.P.18.4

nswt bitj, anx Dt

18

M.2.3.P.18.5

nswt bitj, anx Dt

18

M.2.3.P.18.6

nswt bitj, X

18

M.2.3.P.18.7

nswt bitj, anx Dt

18

M.2.3.P.18.8

nswt bitj, anx Dt

18

M.2.3.P.18.9

nswt bitj, mAa xrw

nswt bitj, anx Dt

18

38 Later again reinterpreted by the Egyptians themselves, as he considered to be proved by the state to which is reduced prince Khaemwaset after his chase after old scrolls it is, after all, only a chase after magic in the Demotic Setne
Khaemwase texts, Helck, Die Bedeutung, 1952, 4546.
39 Helck, op. cit., 1952, 46.
40 He later tried to prove the same theory on the graffiti in the Sun Temple of Userkaf. cf. Helck,
Besucherinschriften, 115ff.
41 Cf. after Wildung, Die Rolle, 71, and 71, Anm. 3. The work of Yoyotte is unfortunately currently not accessible to
me.
42 Wildung, D., Besucherinschiften, L I, 766767.
43 Wildung, Die Rolle, on graffiti e.g. 6574. His overview of kings ends with Shepseskaf, so kings of later dynasties and
their graffiti are not included.
44 Die Knige als Reprsentanten der Vergangenheit werden somit zum Kriterium einer Bewertung des Geschichtsbewutseins des
alten gypters. Die Gegenberstellung der Rolle eines Knigs in der Vorstellungswelt spterer Epochen mit dem Bild, das wir uns aus
zeitgenssischen Quellen von ihm machen mssen, wird es gestatten festzustellen, ob fr den gypter historische Taten berhaupt relevant waren, wenn er sich seiner Ahnen erinnerte, und welche Leistungen einen alten Knig des Andenkens ber Jahrhunderte hinweg wrdigten...! Wildung, Die Rolle, 12.
45 Cf. above.
46 See further.
47 Wildung, Die Rolle, 6970.

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In addition, Wildung compared various graffiti and various information a visitors graffito can
tell48 like if the graffito is votive, contains a prayer, is just an en-passant notice, names correctly
a tomb owner etc., but he made no statistics of how much graffiti do tell this or that fact, or whether
and how often the functions merge within one graffito. In addition, he concentrated chiefly on the
material in the complex of Djoser, therefore other groups, such as the graffiti in the temple of
Sahure, or the Sun temple of Userkaf were not taken into consideration.
Wildung considers the Djoser graffiti as evidence for the religious dimension of visits to this
3rd dynasty pyramid complex. The 19th dynasty, the majority of which are in the South chapel, as far
as the publication is concerned,49 have text variants, some of which clearly point out the dimension
mentioned by Wildung.50
An interesting ancient Egyptian text on Besucherinschriften was published by Klaus P. Kuhlmann in
1973.51 Although Kuhlmann did not discuss Besucherinschriften in detail, he noted a particular
inscription in a Saite tomb, invoking the visitors to leave inscriptions on the blank parts of the tomb
walls lines 1415 say sS-tn Hr Sw rdi-s ra n sn.w-f ws Hr Sw gm.tw im. (Write on the blank (walls)
so that it can be repeated to others what was found there written )52
The Theban Besucherinschriften in the Deir el-Bahari temple of Thutmose III were mapped by
Marek Marciniak, who edited his work in 19731974.53 Marciniak also included a palaeography of the
graffiti.54 His work complies with publication standards of having together the photo documentation,
drawings and explanation on the texts, including an analysis of their phraseology. This last point
must be especially appreciated, because Marciniak tried to find the models for graffiti texts,
systematically recurrent phrases etc. However, the Deir el-Bahari graffiti corpus is a corpus of pious
graffiti. Despite this, Marciniak considered the graffiti of Deir el-Bahri group as relatives of the
Memphite necropoleis group. Some phrases might actually empower this hypothesis (see further).
There was another article dealing with the Theban graffiti Deir el-Bahri group and an attempt
to build a corpus of these graffiti.55 The author A. I. Sadek (1984) tried to map the authors in a short
comment,56 and noted the religious character dominating these inscriptions,57 as well as some
typical formulae.
Allan K. Philips (1986) has noted a number of useful observations on the graffiti, and worked on
the graffiti from the chapel of Horemheb. His analysis of the graffiti in Deir el-Bahri, which use the
standardised formulae of the Besucherinschriften, and indeed the notion that Besucherinschriften have
a standardised set of formulae, which is set broader than by Marciniak, is very valuable.58 The present
writer is aware that A. K. Philips prepared a dissertation on this topic, unfortunately so far this has
not been accessed. In addition, the same author published an article in 1998, where he discusses the
supposed tourist purpose of the graffiti in the pyramid complex of Djoser.59
Compare Wildung, Besucherinschiften, L I, 766.
See Firth, C. M., Quibell, J. E., Excavations at Saqqara. The Step pyramid I, Le Caire 1935, 79.
50 Wildung, Die Rolle, 69f.
51 Kuhlmann, K. P., Eine Beschreibung der Grabdekoration mit der Aufforderung zu kopieren und zum
Hinterlassen von Besucherinschriften aus saitischer Zeit, MDAIK 29, 2, 1973, 207213. The article is recommended as
an important reasoning behind the graffiti also by Darnell, J. C., The Graffiti of Pharaonic Egypt Scope and Roles of
Informal Writings (c. 3100332 B.C.) by Alexander J. Peden, JAOS 122, 4, 885886.
52 The text that was intended here was probably not the graffito itself, but the surrounding original inscriptions of
the tomb. Compare Kuhlmann, MDAIK 29, 2, 1973, 210213.
53 Marciniak, Les inscriptions hiratiques.
54 Marciniak, op. cit., 171266.
55 Sadek, A. I., An Attempt to Translate the Corpus of the Deir el-Bahari Hieratic Inscriptions, GM 71, 1984, 6791,
and Sadek, A. I., An Attempt to Translate the Corpus of the Deir el-Bahri Hieratic Inscriptions [Part Two], GM 72,
1984, 6586.
56 Sadek, op. cit., GM 71, 6769.
57 Sadek, op. cit., GM 71, 6869.
58 Compare Philips, A. K., Observations on the Alleged New Kingdom Sanatorium at Deir el Bahri, GM 89, 1986, 7880;
particularly pp. 78 and 7980. It must be especially noted that Philips distinguished the sets of formulae, which can
be dissected, and the rendering of their individual components substantiated by parallel examples. (op. cit., 78).
59 Philips, A. K., Monuments of the past as a tourist attraction in the New Kingdom, Papyrus 17, 2, 1997/8 English
abstract, published on http://www.daes.dk/pap/papyrus17-2.htm#11 says: Based on the physical positions of graffiti in
48

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Since then other opinions and syntheses on graffiti appeared. Maged Negm concentrated on the
Ramesside graffiti (1998).60 Negm supported the tourist cause of the Besucherinschriften, however he
opted for religious tourism, de facto pilgrimages. He also included Ramesside graffiti of Middle
Egyptian location those in Beni Hasan. His perspective included an overview of the 18th dynasty
graffiti as well. As regards the 18th dynasty, the sites he commented on include: Thebes, Saqqara
(Djoser only), Medum, Beni Hasan. He did not mention Abusir and Dahshur. Regarding the
Ramesside graffiti, he included again Djoser61, Nashuys graffito in the pyramid complex of Khendjer,
and one graffito from the mastaba of Ptahshepses at Abusir (cf. M.1.5.M.19.1.1).
Despite his limited corpus, Negm attempted a commentary, albeit brief, on the graffiti authors and
formulae. He noted the classical formula of comparison of the temple to heaven, where Re is rising,
and noted also the ir nfr formula in prayers as well as Marciniak did for his Deir el-Bahari corpus.62
As regards the authors, however, his statement that Tourist graffiti are a New Kingdom phenomenon practised by middle and upper classes63 is rather dubious, since the upper classes are so far in a minority
hitherto attested: vizier Paser in Thebes, royal herald Amunedjeh in Abu Ghurob (see p. 31f.).
Negm concluded that these graffiti could be attributed to religious tourism; therefore, as said, he
shifted the antiquarian emphasis to pilgrimage as well, albeit in different terms. His notion that visitors were expected in tombs and were warned to prevent abuse and damage by threat formulae64
seems logical, but would deserve further attention. Visitors were certainly expected later in some
Saite tombs (cf. above, Kuhlmann).
Visitorss graffiti are also included in voice Graffiti by Detlef Franke65 (2001). Franke claims their
informality as essential indeed any graffito could be primarily defined as not intended for the eternity it was just a certain momentary idea or inspiration. That basic intention changed in the course of time and,
perhaps, ancient Egyptian elite culture was the first to leave graffiti for eternity, to perpetuate individual achievements and names, and to communicate with future generations. Franke himself precised his definition of
graffiti in general on the same page as he quoted a Middle Kingdom graffito at Kumma and other
graffiti from Hatnub, which claimed for being read and left undamaged66. Franke does not pay any
special attention to visitors graffiti, which is understandable in limits of his voice in an encyclopaedia. However, it is important that the visitors graffiti are mentioned at all.
We might add that the visitors graffiti, since they contain information on their authors persons,
prayers and invocations, might have contained a strive for eternity from the very beginning of
existence of this peculiar inscription type; however, even in this case, many graffiti do not explicitly
ask for being read and remembered67 (not to speak of the disputable character of M.1.5.S.18.3).
More space has been devoted to the interpretation of visitors graffiti by Alexander Peden (in
2001), who names interpretative variants for visitors graffiti, especially at Saqqara. He opines that
some of the graffiti authors in Saqqara may have been based there on various state building projects.68

the so-called Houses of the North and South in the pyramid complex of Djoser the author queries the previously accepted belief that
the monument was continuously used as a setting for the cult of the king by subsequent generations. In fact, the continuous cultic use would stand for the pious reasoning behind the graffiti and against the antiquarian one. In addition, the continuous use cannot be presumed for all locations with visitors graffiti. Therefore the idea of Philips to doubt or at
least to revise continuity of cultic uses is both interesting for the graffiti debate and sound.
60 Negm, M., Tourist Graffiti from the Ramesside Period, DE 40, 1998, 115123.
61 He mentioned graffito of the scribe Hednakhte (cf. M.2.3P.19.3), with the discussed translation of sDAj Hr after
Philips, A. K., Observations on the Alleged New Kingdom at Deir el Bahri, GM 89, 1986, 7980; Negm, op. cit., 119.
62 He added that this formula is often used in the Theban Deir el-Bahri graffiti see above Sadek, An Attempt, GM
71, 1984, 6791 and Sadek, An Attempt, GM 72, 1984, 6586.
63 Negm, op. cit., 120.
64 Negm, op. cit., 123.
65 Franke, Graffiti, 3841.
66 In fact, see Franke, Graffiti, 40, names a graffito in Hatnub, which threatens anyone who might damage it, with
death.
67 That they were read and commented upon is a different fact, and mostly these commentaries might have been
made in the same period as the texts they referred to. (Compare written discussion on Djosers chapel, see below).

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In addition To judge by the graffiti texts they left behind it seems that visitors came to Saqqara for several reasons: to inspect out of a sense of curiosity and piety, the great monuments of a distant past; to offer up prayers to
the gods of Western Memphis on behalf of themselves and their families; to honour the memories of famed rulers of
the Old Kingdom; and to ask the latter to intercede with the gods for the benefit of the petitioner.69 This
description, aimed at the 18th dynasty graffiti covers a wide range of purposes, which can be mixed
in one text or expressed with separate text types, as we can see further.
For Ramesside scribes he notes that they made the effort to visit the Saqqara cemeteries for more or less
the same reasons as their XVIIIth dynasty predecessors; to inspect the monuments of earlier ages; to offer up prayers
...and to honour the memory of long-dead monarchs, now ranked as deities, as to ask for their favour.70
Peden thus preferred to speak about Saqqara on the whole as a place where graffiti were generated because of mixed religious and antiquarian reasons, which is then a compromise in respect of
the stricter opinion of Wildung (or indeed Yoyotte), who preferred to see behind them a separate
religious concept of piety towards a local saint or god (i.e. deified ruler)71 as a reason for some examples of the graffiti.
These statements can be in part supported by the sources; however, the uniformity of reasons for
18th and 19th dynasty, as regards visiting the monuments and leaving the graffiti, cannot be taken for
granted (cf. below).
Hans Fischer-Elfert dedicated to Besucherinschriften a passage in his article on representations of the
past in the New Kingdom literature.72 He noted some typical phraseology. The graffiti are viewed in
context of:
1. other documents dealing with monuments, especially P. Chester Beatty IV, which mentions the
ruinous state of other monuments;
2. other texts. The intertextuality indicated by Fischer-Elfert is an important point.73
However, Fischer-Elfert also opines that the sacred character of the spot where we find the
graffiti influenced strongly their contents. He takes into account chiefly the graffiti in the complex
of Djoser. However, other known graffiti (such as M.1.5.S.18.3) do not agree with this opinion. There
might have been considerable divergences in perception.
Another recent reassesment of the graffiti, which hinted their link to the scribal education and
social background is a lecture given by Teresa Moore History Under the Microscope: What Egyptian
Graffiti Tells Us About the Past. 74 She noted the particular graffiti recording important regal events.
Newly discovered graffiti in the neigbourhood of Assiut are being published by Jochem Kahl and
already their text analysis has provided a rewarding result confirming that the literate authors were
applying their literary knowledge in the graffiti.75
To sum up, the visitors graffiti state of research and of interpretation, as indicated above, should
not be considered as a closed and entirely solved Egyptological problem. The divergences in
interpretation are noteworthy and in some cases are based on divergent sets of evidence, even
though the sets of material for evidence are taken from the same set of graffiti. A single group of texts
is capable of providing quotations for supporting a whole range of opinions. In the same moment,
as each group of the graffiti is specific some groups, the most often quoted one is Djosers one
have specific composition, which favours one interpretation over another, whereas other group
might favour a different interpretation. Therefore we cannot revise, verify or falsify the previous the-

Peden, Graffiti, 61.

Peden, op. cit., 61.
70 Peden, op. cit., 96.
71 Cf. Wildung, Die Rolle, passim and Wildung, Besucherinschriften, L I, 766767. See also further section
Interpretations.
72 Fischer-Elfert, Representations of the Past, 131133.
73 Fischer-Elfert, op. cit., 132133.
74 See http://home.comcast.net/~hebsed/moore.htm.
75 Kahl, J., Zeugnis, GM 211, 2529; Kahl, J., El-Khadragy, M., Verhoeven, U., The Asyut Project: fourth season of
fieldwork (2006), Studien zur Altgyptischen Kultur 36, 2007 (forthcoming).
68
69

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ories using the same repeatedly re-interpreted selective corpus of material as the previous authors,
since the corpus tailored and used for different and various theories was always as different and various as the theories themselves. There emerges a necessity of making a larger corpus gathering systemised information on the graffiti.
First of all, it is apparent that the visitors graffiti present themselves as a group of inscriptions,
which is not unified in the sense of having one set of rules, more or less observed and immutable over
a longer span of time; therefore there is not a unified code of interpretation. This is probably why
graffiti incite varied and contradictory interpretations.
The graffiti are a homogeneous group in so far as they appear under a defined set of circumstances:
1. the graffiti, which can be called visitors graffiti (Egyptological, not Egyptian, terminology), are
usually considerably post-dating the building, in which we can find them;
2. they are inscriptions seeming much less formal than e.g. stelae, and even than a number of rock
inscriptions;
3. they often, though not always, comment upon the visited site or monument.
Neither ancient nor modern graffiti have been left purposelessly on the walls, especially if we take
into consideration the fact, that for ancient Egypt writing was not such a widespread and automatic
activity as we are prone to consider it now. While leaving an inscription behind, one must have felt
a reason to do so.76 Any written material appeared under given circumstances, and no scribbling
was nor is purely accidental.
The analysis should at first take a larger group of graffiti, a corpus, and try to map, along with
a complex description of the graffiti in question, statistically describable features dating, occurrence
or absence of certain expressions, etc.77 However, many graffiti have not yet been accessible in a published form; this is the reason why the analysis in this volume is combined with the description of the
corpus of the graffiti at Abusir and Northern Saqqara. Definitely, there are handy and exhaustive
works on graffiti, both general (recently by A. J. Peden78) and also site-related corpora (classical
Graffiti de la montagne thbaine), and the visitors graffiti are quoted in many contexts, but a complex
attitude in respect of the visitors graffiti hasnt yet been taken. Nonetheless, these graffiti present
a special and abundant sort79 of written evidence, and deserve to be treated separately from other
graffiti and have to be studied in period and site relations, and eventually compared to other sorts of
written material.

76 Compare Baines, J., Excursus: Decorum and emblematic representations, Fecundity figures, 277286. I use the term
decorum to describe the rules which I believe bar certain types of representations from associating freely and occurring freely in
different contexts. These rules therefore govern distribution and compatibility, which are essentially large- and small-scale aspects of
the same phenomenon, distribution relating to the totality of contexts as a system, and compatibility to subsystems within the major
system. See also Baines, Literacy, 193, passim and now also Baines, J., Visual and Written Culture in Ancient Egypt,
Oxford 2007.
77 The present writer has already attempted a statistics of graffiti phraseology. Navrtilov, H., The phraseology of
the visitors graffiti. A preliminary report of the graffiti database, Brta, M., Coppens, F., Krej, J., eds., Abusir and
Saqqara 2005, Prague (forthcoming).
78 Peden, Graffiti.
79 As can be noted in the tables in this chapter, there are 97 graffiti in the Memphite necropoleis plus 45 graffiti
newly discovered at Dahshur plus at least 9 more graffiti in the complex of Sahure the number is based on the fact
that Mller in his Palographie II had graffiti numbered up to 12, and three of them are known from A. H. Gardiners
manuscript 26 A and B.

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THE MEMPHITE CORPUS OF VISITORS

GRAFFITI

The Memphite corpus is currently covering Abusir, Saqqara, Dahshur and Medum. It includes
published and publicly accessible archived graffiti chiefly of the 18th and 19th dynasty, with possible
examples up to the 20th dynasty. These three dynasties appear to be the most prolific; Demotic
graffiti are left aside for the time being and warrant a separate study devoted entirely to them.
Visitors graffiti are not a series of stereotyped texts, they can have variations or different text
types1. Which text types we encounter, and which text types are proper to which period? is an open
question at this time. We can however inquire if there is a trace of a general cultural pattern behind
the graffiti and if their occurrence resulted as a sociocultural phenomenon proper to a given
period. This may well incite the comment that graffiti can be considered as one of the key groups of
sources for the study of Egyptian uses of the past, and the historical tradition of kings. Indeed, but
how did the historical tradition or a use of the past actually work? Are we right in replacing can
in the sentence with are to be? Since the corpus is still in a preliminary form, answers cannot be
provided to all of these questions and they cannot provide for all of them with the same degree of
reliability.
The chosen time and place relate to the hitherto known peaks of importance and building
activity of the New Kingdom at Memphis and the development of Memphite necropoleis. Graffiti
should also be seen in the context of monuments and archaeological situation of the site.

Time

The majority of all known visitors graffiti at the Memphite necropolis with all its extensions except
Giza come from the New Kingdom. Two dynasties prevail, the 18th and the 19th or 19th/20th dynasty.
The 18th dynasty produced the greater part of datable graffiti. Especially Dahshur shows a boom of
18th dynasty graffiti (compare Table 1).
The corpus does not show any significant activity after the 20th dynasty and later, except for a slight
revival under the 26th dynasty (compare Table 1). This is in accordance with hitherto known
activities on the Memphite necropolis in the New Kingdom.

Place

The Memphite necropolis, whose graffiti are included, is a broad term the ancient Egyptian
necropolis of the New Kingdom Memphis represented with all likelihood a continuum from
Abusir/Abu Ghurob through Saqqara, with extensions to Dahshur, and Giza. Although no royal
burial of the New Kingdom is presently known to have taken place there, those of the members of
the royal family did, and added a new chapter to the long and rich history of this burial ground.
There are Thutmoside tombs in the Userkaf pyramid complex neighbourhood, and it is logical to
expect more tombs to emerge. The 18th dynasty tombs are slowly emerging, with the main group
being dated to the late 18th dynasty and even Amarna and post-Amarna.2 There are also new discoveries, such as the recently revealed tomb of Ptahemwia.3 The New Kingdom tombs are to be expected
in far greater number than hitherto excavated because of archaeological reasons there are also

1
2
3

Compare Wildung, D., Besucherinschriften, L I.

Compare the overview by Mlek, J., Saqqara, Nekropolen, NR, L V, 410412.
Current (autumn 2007) information on http://www.let.leidenuniv.nl/saqqara/homepage.htm.

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a number of relief blocks of New Kingdom tombs in world museums, which still do not have their
apposite tomb found, as was the case with Horemhebs tomb for example. As pointed out by Martin4,
the 18th dynasty activities maybe first used the rock cut tombs hypogea, and only after using
substantially the whole escarpment, the temple-tombs entered into use more widely. The temple
tombs seem to be better known due to the discoveries by G. T. Martin and Sayyed Tawfik.5 A. Zivies
discoveries in the area of Bubasteion brought new names to the map of the Memphite necropolis and
proved the use of the Memphite necropolis deep into the pre-Amarna 18th dynasty. The line of the
New Kingdom tombs may have been protracted from Bubasteion to Abusir, as the discovery of the
tomb of Nakhtmin would suggest.6
The 18th dynasty necropolis activities are briefly mentioned also by the Japanese expedition working in North Saqqara, as being dated to the reign of Amenhotep II and/or Thutmose IV7.
According to a structural overview by M. J. Raven8, the vast expanses of Memphite New Kingdom
necropolis cover an area from Giza to Dahshur. Saqqara itself is a place sprayed with New Kingdom
tombs, ranging mostly from the mid 18th dynasty (earliest so far known) to the Ramesside period,
mainly Ramesses II. Later tombs are known down to 20th dynasty (surrounding Teti pyramid cemeteries). So far, the pattern of tombs distribution has little to do with chronological order, the groups
of tombs seem to be organised according to a social key. The social stratification is remarkable in the
tomb structure, of course, too. Malek9 and Raven tried to find a social grouping of the New Kingdom
tombs as well, because some tombs of lesser officials were adjacent to the tombs of their superiors,
such as in the case of Iurudef to Tia and Tia. Similarly there seems to be a group of officials around
Horemheb, linked with him even in the position of their tombs.
Thus, which tombs groupings can we find and where: there are groups of New Kingdom tombs
near Bubasteion, in the escarpment (rock tombs), in the area between Djoser and the Monastery of
Apa Jeremiah, also near the causeway of Unas (possible re-uses of older structures) and further
around the Teti Pyramid cemeteries. The hub of the temple-tombs including those of Horemheb10,
Maya, Tia and Tia and their dignitaries is located between Djoser and Apa Jeremiah. The temple
tomb of Horemheb, built at the time of his military career at the court of the last monarchs of the
18th dynasty, was at the centre of a whole group of tombs. New Kingdom evidence goes, as far as to
Dahshur, as regards tombs, and as far as Meidum, as regards graffiti. To the north, to North Saqqara
and to its extension Abusir, also to Zawiyet el-Aryan and to Giza, as regards both tombs and graffiti.
The disposition of tombs and graffiti does not always coincide. Caution, must however, be applied, as
the bigger tombs are not the only New Kingdom occupants of the necropolis. The area of Saqqara is
sprayed with lesser burials, re-using often older in Middle Kingdom and Old Kingdom structures in,
contrast to the bigger tombs, which avoided previously built structures. These poorer burials are
often just a pit, provided with simple burial equipment, such as a few pieces of pottery, simple
personal adornments and utensils.
These simple burials are well documented for example in Teti Pyramid Cemeteries, published by
B. Gunn and C. Firth.11 These burials are dated from the period of Ahmose to Horemheb, or even
later. The burials were either re-using older structures, such as storerooms of Old Kingdom mastabas, or they were built with a deep New Kingdom shaft cutting the dbris, accumulated between and

Martin, G. T., Corpus of Reliefs of the New Kingdom from the Memphite Necropolis and Lower Egypt I, London 1987, also
Martin, G. T., Hidden tombs of Memphis, 39.
5
Tawfik, S., Recently Excavated Ramesside Tombs at Saqqara 1 Architecture, MDAIK 47, 1991, 403409.
6
Pinch Brock, L., Nile Current, KMT, Fall 1993.
7
Waseda University Excavations in North Saqqara, In: Brta, M. Krej, J., Abusir and Saqqara in the Year 2000,
Prague 2001, 161172, 162. There were stamped bricks, and small stelae of Thutmose IV, with offering scenes, and
scene described as familiar motif of the king smiting a foreign enemy (op. cit., 164), which would be similar to what
Petrie found in Memphis city see Petrie, Memphis I, pl. VIII, upper row.
8
Raven, M., Twenty-five years of work, 133ff., further Zivie, A. P., ed., Memphis et ses ncropoles au Nouvel Empire, Paris 1988.
9
Mlek, J., The Tomb-chapel of Hekamaetre at Northern Saqqara, SAK 12, 1985, 43 ff.
10 See Martin, G. T., The Memphite Tomb of Horemheb, commander-in-chief of Tutankhamun, London 1991.
11 Firth, C. M. Gunn, B., Excavation at Saqqara. Teti Pyramid Cemeteries I., Le Caire 1926, 66ff., Burials of the New
Empire.

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at the top of older structures. Other use of the necropolis is an extension of the burial itself the
offering cult. It seems that a veneration of the deceased, theoretically meant to endure forever, was
extended at least a generation after the passing.12 In addition, there was another reason that led
Egyptians to the fields of the Memphite necropolis it was a handy source of stone to be recycled
and re-used. Even monumental New Kingdom tombs seem to use stone from neighbouring older
tombs.13
The hitherto known graffiti at Saqqara tend to concentrate in two places the pyramid complex
of Djoser at Saqqara central field and in the southern Saqqara complexes of Pepi II and Khendjer.
Abusir has graffiti clusters in the pyramid complex of Sahure and also on the site of Abu Ghurob
in the complexes of Userkaf and Niuserre. There is a significant cluster of graffiti at Medum, in the
pyramid complex of Snofru,14 and at Dashur in the pyramid complex of Senusret III.
The graffiti in the Sun temple of Niuserre15 are a hitherto unidentified factor. The graffiti in the
temple of Pepi II and in the complex of Khendjer are also not yet sufficiently explored.
The presence of the graffiti in the complexes of Djoser and Snofru may be connected with the
exceptional position of these sovereigns. This exceptional position is perceptible in some of the
graffiti: it is also known from extra-graffiti sources.16
Djoser was called The Opener of Stone (graffito M.2.13.P.19.1). Snofru is called especially
Horus (graffito M.4.4.P.18.1). The theory of the kings of old turned into deities seems to work best
on these two kings.17 Although kings have an altogether pivotal position in the ancient Egyptian
world in general, this theory may actually have worked easier with especially important kings.
However, other places are not so easily connected to the deities tradition. There are other kings
whose character in Egyptian tradition is not so clear and well-documented or who have less extragraffiti sources confirming their importance. Sahure might have been connected to the goddess
Sakhmet, but not all of the graffiti connected with Sahure are connected with Sakhmet (see graffiti
M.1.5.P.18.1 and M.1.5.P.18.2). The position of Senusret III seems more complex as well.18 The
boundary importance of a king of the past/deity must have been very vacillating or non-existent in
the Egyptian mind. Generally speaking, except for Horemheb and Ptahshepses the hitherto mapped
Memphite Besucherinschriften are in the royal complexes. However, Horemheb was subsequently
a royal person too, and the graffiti in the mastaba of Ptahshepses do not relate to Ptahshepses
directly.

Raven, Twenty-five years of work, 139.

Mlek, A meeting of the old a new, passim. Further, cf. Bare, L., The destruction of the monuments at the necropolis of Abusir, In: Brta, M. Krej, J., Abusir and Saqqara in the Year 2000, Praha 2000, 116, with a short bibliographical overview, focused on Abusir chiefly.
14 E., Die Gute Reputation des Knigs Snofru, In: Israelit-Groll, S., Studies in Egyptology Presented to Miriam Lichtheim,
Vol. I, Jerusalem 1990, 257263, and Wildung, Die Rolle, 104f.
15 A short note on them was published by L. Borchardt, cf. von Bissing, Das Re-Heiligtum des Knigs Ne-Woser-Re, 74.
16 Compare Wildung, Die Rolle, passim, and further below.
17 Compare Peden, Graffiti, 61.
18 See e.g. Habachi, L., Features of Deification of Ramesses II, ADAIK 5, Glckstadt 1969, 47, and PM VII, 145ff., 152f. for
the New Kingdom cultic reverence for Senusret III in Nubia.
12
13

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Abusir and Northern Saqqara

All hitherto known Memphite necropoleis graffiti are mapped in Table 1. It is a summary of sites,
monuments, dated graffiti and their phraseology. This volume, as said, concentrates on two sites:
1. Abusir, more precisely Abusir and Abu Ghurob, using evidence published by W. Helck (courtesy
Schweizerisches Institut fr gyptische Bauforschung und Altertumskunde), L. Borchardt and
documented by G. Mller, J. ern and others.
2. Northern Saqqara specifically one monument, using evidence by G. B. Gunn and J. ern,
partly published already by C. M. Firth and J. E. Quibell. The documentation made by G. B. Gunn
and Jaroslav ern was made accessible by the courtesy of the Griffith Institute, the University of
Oxford and constitutes the bulk of the material in this volume.

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GRAFFITI IN ABU GHUROB AND ABUSIR

Abu Ghurob contains no known New Kingdom monuments.1 The New Kingdom horizon at Abu
Ghurob is present in the Sun Temples of Userkaf and Niuserre in the form of visitors graffiti and
fragmentary other inscriptions (a cartouche of Horemheb in the temple of Userkaf2, and a restoration
inscription of Prince Khaemwaset in the temple of Niuserre3).
The Userkaf temple graffiti were documented and published by W. Helck4. The present location
of their documentation is not publicly known. The personal papers of W. Helck are also not known
to contain any material relevant to the visitors graffiti in the temple of Userkaf.5
There were visitors graffiti of uncertain age and origin in the Sun temple of Niuserre at Abu
Ghurob as well, but the state and location of their documentation (if existing) is not known. They
were only mentioned briefly by Ludwig Borchardt in his publication on the temple. The graffiti
should have been near the New Kingdom restoration inscription.6
The neighbouring site of Abusir has a New Kingdom horizon. Finds of New Kingdom date have
recently been increasing both in number and spread over the necropolis. The well-known New
Kingdom presence, which has been recognized since Borchardts excavations at the beginning of the
20th century, is the sanctuary of Sakhmet of Sahure in the southern part of the funerary temple of
Sahure. The finds are discussed briefly below as they are in the direct context of a large group of
visitors graffiti.
Further New Kingdom discoveries include pottery in the mastaba of Ptahshepses7 (another
building with a presence of visitors graffiti), a secondary cemetery in the complex of Queen
Khentkaus8 and pieces of pottery datable to the Amarna period. In addition, Spring 2002 brought
more extensive finds on the eastern part of the site where shafts were uncovered with remnants of
burials datable to the New Kingdom.9
The visitors graffiti at Abusir were found in the pyramid complex of Sahure, specifically in
Sahures funerary temple. The visitors graffiti from the temple of Sahure were documented by
Georg Mller. His full documentation is currently not available. The single signs were published in
the Hieratische Palographie II 10 and three inscriptions were found in the personal papers of Sir Alan
H. Gardiner11 and published by Mounir Megally.

See PM III/12, 325f.

PM III/12, 325.
3
PM III/12, 315; Gomaa`, F., Chaemwese. Sohn Ramses II. und Hohenpriester von Memphis, A 27, Wiesbaden 1973, Abb. 1a.
4
Helck, Besucherinschriften, 115121. Also brief notes Ricke, ASAE liv, 1957, 311, and Stock, H. Das
Sonnenheiligtum von Abusir (Aegypten), In: Neue Deutsche Ausgrabungen im Mittelmeergebiet und im Vorderen Orient,
Berlin 1959, 9, Abb 7.
5
Hardtwig Altenmller, personal communication, 9th of January 2007.
6
Bissing, F. W. von, Das Re-Heiligtum des Knigs Ne-Woser-Re (Rathures), Band I Der Bau von L. Borchardt, Berlin
1905, 7274. They were overlooked by Peden, Graffiti.
7
Charvt, P., Czechoslovak Excavations at Abusir. Mastaba of Ptahshepses The Pottery, Praha 1981, pls. 3441; Mynov, J. Abusir in the New Kingdom. Current Research by the Czech Institute of Egyptology, In: Dann, R. J., Current
Research in Egyptology 2004. Proceedings of the Fifth Annual Symposium, University of Durham 2004, Oxford 2006, 114.
8
Mynov, Abusir in the New Kingdom, 114115.
9
Bare, L., Brta, M., Smolrikov, K., and Strouhal, E., Abusir Spring 2002 (Preliminary Report), ZS 130, 2003,
147160, esp. p. 159; Mynov, Abusir in the New Kingdom, 112117.
10 Mller, G., Hieratische Palographie II, Leipzig 1909.
11 A. H. Gardiner manuscripts 26, AB, The Griffith Institute Archives.
1

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Further graffiti were found in the pyramid complexes of Neferirkare and Niuserre. The graffiti in
the complexes of Neferirkare and Niuserre were very brief and were mentioned by Ludwig Borchardt
in his publications on the pyramid complex.12 New Kingdom graffiti were also found in the mastaba
of Ptahshepses. They were partly published by G. Daressy13 and S. Spiegelberg14 and their remnants
were observed by J. ern and later M. Verner15. In this volume, we have included the graffiti from
the temples of Userkaf and Sahure, and from the mastaba of Ptahshepses.

?
?

The presence of visitors graffiti in Abusir and Abu Ghurob

Borchardt, L., Das Grabdenkmal des Knigs Nefer-ir-ke-re, Leipzig 1909, 58; Borchardt, Das Grabdenkmal des Knigs Neuser-re, Leipzig 1907, 160161, Abb. 136.
13 Daressy, G., Inscriptions hiratique dun Mastaba dAbousir, BIE 5, 1894.
14 Spiegelberg, S., Varia LXXIX, Die hieratischen graffiti der Mastaba des Ptahschepses zu Abusir, Rec. de Trav., 26,
152154
15 Verner, M., The Mastaba of Ptahshepses. Reliefs (Abusir I), Charles University, Prague 1977, 23 and 46.
16 See Helck, Besucherinschriften. 115121. See also Helck, Die Bedeutung, 3946.
17 Helck, Besucherinschriften, 115 and Ricke, H., Dritte Bauperiode, Das Sonnenheiligtum des Knigs Userkaf, Band I.,
Kairo 1965, 1928, esp. p. 20 and Tafel 12b.
18 Stock, H., Das Sonnenheiligtum von Abusir (Aegypten), In: Neue Deutsche Ausgrabungen im Mittelmeergebiet und im
Vorderen Orient, Berlin 1959, 9, Abb 7.
12

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The Sun Temple of Userkaf

There are 18th dynasty graffiti in the Sun-temple of Userkaf. Their publication was first made by
W. Helck16 and the inscriptions quoted are from his publication. The graffiti were in the upper part
of the temple, presumably on the inner walls of a part identified by excavators as the third building
phase. The blocks with visitors graffiti were found scattered on the site of the pedestal for the
temple obelisk. They might have belonged to the rooms within the structure of the pedestal.17
The inscriptions were made with ink. They were identified according to single fragments with the
abbreviation US. Helck provided photographs of those blocks, and one is also reproduced by
Hanns Stock in his expedition report18, but the quality of the published photographs does not always
allow their further use as documentation. Drawings provided as an accompaniment to Helcks text
are much clearer; however they already carry an interpretation. Texts are transcribed into hieroglyphs and translated. The graffiti of the Sun Temple of Userkaf belong to those with well done
documentation. However, a plan or a sketch next to the relevant chapter would help in establishing
which graffito belongs where. It is not easy to decide whether the blocks formed a compact wall or
had already been scattered around the place at the time when the graffiti were written.
The graffiti are as varied as their authors. They came first in the period of Thutmose III, and they
were put there by officials and scribes who might have been active in Memphis at least temporarily.19
Moreover, one graffito is interpreted as being the testimony of a visit by a schoolmaster and his
scribal class.20

GRAFFITI

M1.5.S.18.1
Place
The Sun Temple of Userkaf, blocks probably in the area of the obelisk base, Fragment US 68.
Dating
Thutmose III, as indicated with the preserved date line and a name of dignitary known to live
under this sovereign.
Text

19 Peden, Graffiti, 58, footnote 2; Helck, W., Zur Verwaltung des Mittleren und Neuen Reichs, Leiden 1958; Badawi, A.,
Zweite Landeshauptstadt im Neuen Reich, Le Caire 1948.
20 Cf. Ricke, Das Sonnenheiligtum des Knigs Userkaf II, fragment US 74, see below.

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Transcription

To the reading by W. Helck21 I would only add the reading of a

-sign at the end of line 3, but
since this may theoretically belong to another graffito22, it might not influence the reading and interpretation of this one. It also can be doubted, whether certain determinatives were read completely
accurately, e.g. the woman giving birth in the determinative of Fnx.w in Helcks original transcription
(a sign B1 would be certainly often used). On the other hand, the determinative of st resembles an
O49 sign much more than O1. However, W. Helck had the advantage of observing freshly uncovered
inscriptions, therefore his readings should be more accurate than any subsequent attempt.
Transliteration
0. ??? a dating
1. ..swt] bitj mn-[xpr]-ra sA ra DHwtj-ms.w nfr-xpr.w anx D.t r nHH ist Hm-f Hr DAhi
2. tA.w fn]x.w xbxb xA.w Hr st-sn Xr wD it-f imn-ra nswt nTr.w
3. iw.t pw ir.n wHm nswt iAmw-nDH r mAA mr23 pn pA atx.w Hna nA n Hrj.w n a.t sS ?
4. ///// m-pt imn-Htp sS mntw-Htp sS DHwtj-m-HA.t HwmS
5. remnants of signs sS
Translation
0.1. [dating] under the Majesty of the King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Menkheperre, Son of Re
Thutmose Neferkheperu, living for ever and ever. As His Majesty was in Syria
2. [he] trampled the lands of the Fenkhu and Hurrians in their place as was the command of
his father, Amun-Re, King of gods (Amonrasonther).
3. [there came] the royal herald Amunedjeh to see this pyramid. The Brewer and those of beer
[production] scribe ?
4. ..m-pet, Amenhotep, Scribe Mentuhotep, Scribe Djehutiemhat, Humesh,
5. traces of names and a title [scribe?]
Commentary
There is no hint in this graffito, that the authors went to the place in order to perform a religious
act, there are no explicit pious prayers and no one asks Userkaf or a deity for an intervention in the
Netherworld.24

Helck, Besucherinschriften, 115.

Helck, Besucherinschriften, 118, suggests that there was another graffito over this one and discerns more signs.
23 Or, according to J. Quack, mHr; see Quack, J. F., Zum Lautwert von Gardiner Sign-List U 23, Lingua Aegyptia 11,
2003, 113116.
24 A question is, whether Wildung in his Egyptian Saints. Deification in Pharaonic Egypt, New York 1977, is not on the
right path when doubting the automatic divinity of each king. Maybe only some gained the status of a person mighty
in this and the other world, a person, to whom one could pray and ask for help. cf. Wildung, Egyptian Saints, first
chapter.
21
22

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There is only a visible attention or devotion to the person of the king, Thutmose III. The phrase
describing royal activity is similar to phrases of this period in official royal inscriptions on
Thutmoside stelae.25 The officials might have been acquainted with such inscriptions.
This graffito suggests a statement of a group of officials who came to see the monument, even as
modern tourists do. The other New Kingdom finds in Abusir, however, might indicate other reasons
as well (attendance to burials), but we have no evidence at our disposal to suggest that there were
important activities precisely in the period of this graffito. This graffito26 in the Sun temple of
Userkaf has the mistaken denomination of the monument as a pyramid m[H]r pn. It has caused
a discussion whether the royal herald Amunedjeh did not make a mistake, considering this monument to be Userkafs pyramid, which is in Saqqara.27
Personages
Its chief nominal author is the royal herald Amunedjeh (Ranke, PN 1, 6.27). We know Amunedjeh
from other period documents as Leiter des Zentralbros der Scheunen Helck, Verwaltung, 496
(3), his monuments include the Theban tomb 84, Urk IV., 937.
His titles include wHm.w nswt royal herald28, wHm.w nswt tp.j, imj-ra Snw.tj (overseer of granaries
of the Two Lands), overseer of all the royal works etc.
According to Helck, Verwaltung, 384 ff. Zentralverwaltung der Scheunen, he took his position
under Hatshepsut Thutmose III joint rule (in 15th year of Thutmose III); he accompanied,
according to an inscription on his statue in the 33rd year his king to the Euphrates, and he also
mentions the work on the obelisks in the year 33, 36 and 40 of Thutmose IIIs reign. After year 40 he
is the wHm.w nswt tp.j the first herald. The interesting connection is his holding both the title of
a herald and of the overseer of granaries29. Helck considers him the first holder of the regularly
established title of the overseer of granaries30.
What was a royal herald he was a herald of the royal guard, which regulated (Helck, Verwaltung,
65ff.) the movements between the court and the outside, the herald of the guard existed already
in Midle Kingdom, in the New Kingdom he is the HM Herald. The 18th dynasty biography of Intef
describes (stele Louvre C26) his activities as controlling the day to day activities of the palace, introducing people at ceremonies, perhaps organising audiences, bringing information to the King; further,
he organized the guard; and Amunedjeh himself introduces his work thus (Urk. IV , 940/1): I went
with every embassy, ... I accompanied the good god in every northern country... The office was later
made into a first and a second herald. Amunedjeh was the overseer of the guard and was promoted
after a successful erection of an obelisk, into a first herald in year 40 of Thutmose III. (The succession
of heralds of 18th dynasty, Helck, Verwaltung, 69, note 8). Amunedjeh oversaw the granaries and many
of his successors and followers were given other high offices, such as that of the treasurer or even
a viceroy of Kush (herald NHj under Thutmose III).
On Amunedjeh also Cline, E. H. OConnor, D., Thutmose III. A New Biography, Ann Arbor 2006,
8993.
Interestingly, Amunedjeh himself declared in his tomb that he would like to see visitors in his tomb
to come and read his inscriptions and say offering formulae Urk IV., 939941.31
Mentuhotep Ranke, PN 1, 154.21.
Djehutiemhat Ranke, PN 1, 408.1.
Humesh this name is not present in Ranke, PN 1.
Documentation
Present location not known.

Compare Klug, Knigliche Stelen in der Zeit von Ahmose bis Amenophis III., Bruxelles 2002, passim, esp. stelae of
Thutmose III.
26 See also Helck, Besucherinschriften, 115, translated anew and Peden, Graffiti, 59.
27 Helck, Besucherinschriften, 118 and Peden, Graffiti, 59.
28 HWb, 211 Herald, Sprecher, etc.
29 Helck, Verwaltung, 154f.
30 Helck, Verwaltung, 154f.
31 See also Mller, Ch., Anruf an Lebende, L I, 293299.
25

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References
Graffito:
Helck, W., Besucherinschriften, In: Ricke, Das Sonnenheiligtum des Knigs Userkaf II, Wiesbaden
1965, 115116 and 118.
Stock, H., Das Sonnenheiligtum von Abusir (Aegypten), In: Neue Deutsche Ausgrabungen im
Mittelmeergebiet und im Vorderen Orient, Berlin 1959, 9, Abb. 7.
Context:
Helck, W., Die Bedeutung der gyptischen Besucherinschriften, ZDMG 102, 1952, 3946.
Helck, W., Zur Verwaltung des Mittleren und Neuen Reichs, Leiden 1958, 384, 496 (3), 6569.
Ricke, H., Dritte Bauperiode, Das Sonnenheiligtum des Knigs Userkaf I, Kairo 1965, 1928.
Peden, A. J., Graffiti of Pharaonic Egypt, Leiden 2001, 5859.

M.1.5.S.18.2
Place
The Sun Temple of Userkaf, blocks probably in the area of the obelisk base, Fragment US 67.
Dating
Probably 18th dynasty, but the number of comparable signs is low.
Text

Transcription

The scratched sign

, sS , possibly belonging to another graffito?
Transliteration
1. iw.t pw ir n sS ttj [r mAA] Hw.tj nTr.j n.t
2. ///// qd.w gm-f s[t mi p.t]
Translation
1. There came the scribe Teti to [see] the Two Temples of
2. the Creator and found th[em like heaven].32
32 Helck, Besucherinschriften, 119, discussed the reading qdw, it seems to have a divine determinative, however.
And pointed out, too, that the temple was correctly understood, even in its having two parts.

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Commentary
US 67 identifies the building. It is interesting, that this observer noted the two upper and lower
parts of the temple. iw.t pw ir.n sS, there came the scribe is an often used formula (see Table 3).
The scribe added no pious remark, but only commented on the building. The comparison of a building to heaven is repeated in a couple of graffiti on other monuments as well e.g. in the pyramid
complex of Djoser (see Table 3).
Personages
Teti Ranke, PN 1, 384.4
Documentation
Present location not known.
References
Graffito:
Helck, Besucherinschriften, 119.
Context:
Helck, Die Bedeutung, 3946.
Ricke, Dritte Bauperiode, 1928.
Peden, Graffiti, 5859.

M.1.5.S.18.3
Place
The Sun Temple of Userkaf, blocks probably in the area of the obelisk base, Fragment US 69.
Dating
18th dynasty? There is no date line, and the sign shapes have both 18th and 19th dynasty parallels.33
Text

Transcription

Transliteration
mk Hm [!]
Translation
See that bastard! 34

33 Compare Mller, Hieratische Palographie II, 8, 96 and 98. The determinative is probably D53, not D52, as Helck,
Besucherinschriften, 119, opined. If there were a D52, it might have been closer to a 19th dynasty shape. Compare Wb
III, 80, 7.
34 Helck, Besucherinschriften, 119, Helck originally translated acc. to a Late Period use, pederast. It is also translated
weakling, or in German context Schwuller; see also Strk, L., Schimpfwrter, L V, 634638. The word, also in the

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Commentary
This ancient graffito reminds us strongly of modern graffiti. We can see a criticism on walls of the
Djoser complex, as well, but there it is a more elaborate comment regarding the writing of other
graffiti authors (graffito M.2.3.P.18.15). Userkafs temple yielded this example a little surprisingly
on the temple walls, which are covered with inscriptions with a usually solemn content.
We might consider it as evidence for ancient Egyptians viewing that place as no more an active
temple, but a monument of the past, where certain things, such as commemorating personal
opinions on the walls, were possible. On the other hand, it may be a case of an ancient literate rogue,
to whom it mattered little as to where he left his opinion immortalized. Such graffito would actually
fully correspond to Pedens notion, namely, that graffiti were a written expression without social
restraint.35 It was in any case a communication left on a monument, and it might have been a proof
of its being visited with other than pilgrimage-oriented goals.36
Documentation
Present location not known.
References
Graffito:
Helck, Besucherinschriften, 117 and 119.
Mller-Wollermann, R., Strafen und Vergehen, Leiden 2001, 155157.
Context:
Helck, Die Bedeutung, 3946.
Ricke, Dritte Bauperiode, 1928.
Peden, Graffiti, 5859.

M.5.5.S.18.4
Place
The Sun Temple of Userkaf, blocks probably in the area of the obelisk base, Fragment US 69.
Dating
18th dynasty?
Text

Transcription

Transliteration
s[S] HAt[iaj]
Translation
The Scribe Hatiay.

form Hm.tj, is known from the context of the Tale of Horus and Seth as well, and from other contexts connectible with
homosexuality, nevertheless, this connection is not considered as completely clear and sure, cf. Griffiths, J. G., The
Conflict of Horus and Seth, Liverpool 1960, 44, with translation poltroon and other occurences of this word often in
the context of spells or offering ritual texts.
35 Peden, Graffiti, 293.
36 I am indebted do Dr. Gae V. Callender for a fruitful and inspiring discussion regarding this graffito.

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Commentary
It is not entirely clear whether this text forms a part with other texts on US 69, or whether each
line is a fragment of a different text. Since a simple signature (title and name) is an often used form
for visitors graffiti, known from other sites as well (e.g. the complex of Djoser), the signature of
Hatiay might have even been an independent graffito.
Personages
Hatiay Ranke, PN 1, 233.2. Compare also Zivie, A., Hatiay, scribe du Temple dAton a` Memphis,
In: Knoppers, G. Hirsch, A., Egypt, Israel and the Ancient Mediterranean World. Studies in Honor of
Donald B. Redford, Leiden 2004, 223231.
Documentation
Present location not known.
References
Graffito:
Helck, Besucherinschriften, 119 and 120.
Context:
Helck, Die Bedeutung, 3946.
Ricke, Dritte Bauperiode, 1928.
Peden, Graffiti, 5859.

M.1.5.S.18.5
The Sun Temple of Userkaf, blocks probably in the area of the obelisk base, Fragment US 69.
Dating
18th dynasty?
Text

Transcription

or (cf. Helck, Sonnenheiligtum, 120)

Transliteration
iw.j ir.n sS (or Hm nTr)37/////
Translation
The scribe/priest . Coming
Commentary
Context
There are neighbouring graffiti texts on US 69, the closest one is M.1.5.P.18.4, but any supposed
relation between the texts must be considered hypothetical. The text is a fragment, with the often
repeated graffiti formula there came An identification usually followed.

37 The title Hm nTr may indicate a higher hierarchy in the New Kingdom, where the most often used priestly title was
wab. See Helck, W., Priester, L IV, 1982, 10831097 and Browarski, E., Tempelpersonal I, L VI, 1986, 387401.

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Personages
No name preserved.
Documentation
Present location not known.
References
Graffito:
Helck, Besucherinschriften, 119 and 120.
Context:
Helck, Die Bedeutung, 3946.
Ricke, Dritte Bauperiode, 1928.
Peden, Graffiti, 5859.

M.1.5.S.18.6
Place
The Sun Temple of Userkaf, blocks probably in the area of the obelisk base, Fragment US 69.
Dating
18th dynasty?
Text

Transcription

Transliteration
iw.t p[w] ir.n ///// ?
Translation
There came
Commentary
This text represents a standard Besucherinschriften incipit (see Table 3). The text probably belonged
to a longer graffito with the standard formula iw.t pw ir.n x r mAA, (model sDm pw ir.n-f)38; all except
the incipit was lost.
Personages
No name preserved.
Documentation
Present location not known.
References
Graffito:
Helck, Besucherinschriften, 119 and 120.
Context:
Helck, Die Bedeutung, 3946.
Ricke, Dritte Bauperiode, 1928.
Peden, Graffiti, 5859.

38

38

Graefe, E., Mittelgyptisch, Wiesbaden 2001, 147f.

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M.1.5.S.18.7
Place
The Sun Temple of Userkaf, blocks probably in the area of the obelisk base, Fragment US 74.
Dating
The signs may be attributed to the 18th dynasty39; however, the dateline is not sufficiently preserved.
Text

Transcription

Transliteration
1. //////// iqr40 Hr Dd n .. /////// (in addition Helck reads there swAj, past)
2. ../// iw.t r sDAj Hr Hr smi.t nw n.t mn-nfr
3. /// pn gm.n-f sj mi p.t m Xnw/// . [m] Xnw //// [i]Aw.t (?)
4. /// iw (?) mH.j[t] /// iqr ///
5. //// mr.t /// Hr Hr Axt /////////
6. ////.w n a.t sbA.w ///////
7. ///// nfr (?)41
39
40

Compare Mller, Palographie II, in particular signs b, or i on p. 11, 25, sbA on p. 28, etc.
Helck has a different reading, but equally fragmentary. The reading of iqr, however, would require here a follo-

wing writing:
, compare HWb, 107.
The reading of Helck Nfr-nb-f, is not clear. It does not correspond to the usual shapes of these signs in Mller,
Palographie II.

41

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Translation
1. . excellent saying
2. . Came to amuse [themselves ?] in the desert of Memphis
3. . Found its inside beautiful like heaven . in ... old age (?)
4. . northern wind?
5. Loveliness .. akhet period.
6. of the school ..
7. fragments
Commentary
As other graffiti in the complex of Userkaf, this text is preserved on two fragments grouped under
the heading US 74. Other graffiti found in the region of Userkafs temple are equally fragmentary
and reveal often just the beginning of a phrase, or a name. A longer inscription on US 74 is very lacunous, but it was this graffito that led Helck to express the opinion, that Egyptians of the 18th dynasty
were keen on their past and that the lite schooling of the period could have included a sort of
history teaching as this graffito contains impressive phrases such as:
Reconstructed line 3/ swAjj pn, which Helck translated as ? Vergangene Denkmal42;
or reconstructed line 6/ nA n sbA.w n a.t sbA [Die Lehrer] von der Schule.43
This would make an impression of a considerable interest in and therefore also use of the past, but
the fragmentary state of the inscription prevents a conclusive interpretation.
Line 2 of the graffito is comparable to text of graffito M.2.3.P.19.3 (the scribe Hednakht in the
complex of Djoser).
Personages
Nefernebef (?) Ranke, PN 1, 197.6
Documentation
Present location not known.
References
Graffito:
Helck, Besucherinschriften, 117 and 120.
Helck, Die Bedeutung, 3946.
Peden, Graffiti, 58.
Context:
Ricke, Dritte Bauperiode, 1928.

Helck, Die Besucherinschriften, 120. The word in question swAj, has connections in swA.t, past, swAj.t, past
(thing). See Wb IV, 62,12.
43 Helck, op. cit., 120.

42

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M.1.5.S.18.8
Place
The Sun Temple of Userkaf, blocks probably in the area of the obelisk base, Fragment US 66.
Dating
Possibly 18th dynasty, it was found within the cluster of fragments with graffiti mostly dated to this
period, unequivocal dateline or other such marker is not present.
Text

Transliteration & Translation

Only fragments of signs and words, a transcription attempted by Helck, Besucherinschriften, 121,
of which these signs can be verified without substantial doubt:

Commentary
Text is too fragmentary to allow further analysis.
Documentation
Present location not known.
References
Graffito:
Helck, Besucherinschriften, 116 and 121.
Context:
Helck, Die Bedeutung, 3946.
Ricke, Dritte Bauperiode, 1928.
Peden, Graffiti, 5859.

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M.1.5.S.18.9
Place
The Sun Temple of Userkaf, blocks probably in the area of the obelisk base, Fragment US 65.
Dating
New Kingdom; because of its presence in a cluster of 18th dynasty graffiti, an 18th dynasty dating
probable. The signs do not fully correspond to the palaeography of this period.44
Text

Transcription

Transliteration
HA.t sp
Translation
Regnal year?
Commentary
Fragment of a text, further analysis not possible.
Documentation
Present location not known.
References
Graffito:
Helck, Besucherinschriften, 116 and 121.
Context:
Helck, Die Bedeutung, 3946.
Ricke, Dritte Bauperiode, 1928.
Peden, Graffiti, 5859.

M.1.5.S.18.10
Place
The Sun Temple of Userkaf, blocks probably in the area of the obelisk base, Fragment US 64.
Dating
New Kingdom, because of its presence in a cluster of 18th dynasty graffiti an 18th dynasty dating
probable.
Text

Transliteration
xpr pA
44

42

Compare Mller, Palographie II, 24.

Transcription

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Strnka 43

Translation
Text is too fragmentary to allow for a translation.
Commentary
Fragment of a text, further analysis not possible.
Documentation
Present location not known.
References
Graffito:
Helck, Besucherinschriften, 116 and 121.
Context:
Helck, Die Bedeutung, 3946.
Ricke, Dritte Bauperiode, 1928.
Peden, Graffiti, 5859.

M.1.5.S.18.11
Place
The Sun Temple of Userkaf, blocks probably in the area of the obelisk base, Fragment US 71.
Dating
18th dynasty?
Text

Transcription

Transliteration
nfr Aa [?] r-f ?45//// ?
Translation
The fragmentary state does not allow for a consistent translation, perhaps beauty greater than?
Commentary
The text is too fragmentary for further analysis, but it may be a part of a laudatory sentence, like
in M.1.5.P.18.2.
Documentation
Present location not known.

45

Compare Helck, Besucherinschriften, 121, the reading r-f is but one possible variant.

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References
Graffito:
Helck, Besucherinschriften, 117 and 121.
Context:
Helck, Die Bedeutung, 3946.
Ricke, Dritte Bauperiode, 1928.
Peden, Graffiti, 5859.

M.1.5.S.18.12
Place
The Sun Temple of Userkaf, blocks probably in the area of the obelisk base, Fragment US 75.
Dating
18th dynasty?
Text

Transliteration
///// ? /// A
Translation
Not possible, unidentifiable words46.
Commentary
The text is too fragmentary for further analysis.
Documentation
Present location not known.
References
Graffito:
Helck, Besucherinschriften, 116 and 121.
Context:
Helck, Die Bedeutung, 3946.
Ricke, Dritte Bauperiode, 1928.
Peden, Graffiti, 5859.

46

44

See also Helck, Besucherinschriften, 121.

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THE PYRAMID COMPLEX OF SAHURE

A relatively large group of hieratic graffiti from the New Kingdom was found by Ludwig
Borchardts expedition in the pyramid complex of Sahure in Abusir. The graffiti are described in the
publication as next to the sanctuary of Sakhmet of Sahure47, which was in the southern part of the
funerary temple of Sahure. However, no exact plan of their disposition in the temple was provided.
Ludwig Borchardt wrote: Die zahlreich vorhandenen, auf die Wnde geschriebenen Besucherinschriften,
die spter noch in einem besonderen Bande zu behandeln sind, kann man noch kaum wie die unntzen
Verewigungen moderner Touristen betrachten, sie werden nach ihrem Inhalt, der gewhnlich auf ein Lob der
Gttin und ihres Tempels hinausluft, vielmehr von Frommen herrhren, die hierher gepilgert sind, und zur
Sechmet zu beten. Die Reicheren unter ihnen begngten sich nicht mit flchtig mit Tinte hingeworfenen
Wandinschriften, sie verewigten ihren Besuch durch besondere kleine oder grere Denksteine, die in die
Tempelwnde eingelassen wurden. 48
He further described the position of the stelae of Sakhmet, made of various materials. Es war brigens nicht der ganze Totentempel zum Sechmet-Heiligtum umgewandelt worden, nur sein sdlicher Teil, in dem
sich wohl jenes besonders heilige Bild der Gttin befunden hat. Namentlich der Gang mit dem Jagdbild (f, 69)
war an seinen Wnden wie gespickt mit Sechmet-Stelen aller Gren, von kleinen blauen Fayencestelen ... bis zu
recht umfangreichen steinernen Platten .... 49
There were several Thutmoside Besucherinschriften, but their state of research is not clear.50 They
can be noted in the Hieratische Palographie by G. Mller51, where there are single signs taken from
them, which allows us to confirm that these graffiti were written with ink and not scratched. The
numbering of the graffiti by G. Mller also suggests that there were at least twelve ink inscriptions.
The signs in the Hieratische Palographie II include:
p. 14

p. 6

Gr. Abus. 3

Graff. Abus. N

p. 17

p. 16

Graff. Abus. 5

Graff. Abus. 2

p. 24

p. 23

Graff. 4

Graff. Abus. 1,1

p. 14

Graff. Abus. N

p. 18

Graff. Abus. 6,2

p. 24

Graff. Abus. 2

The cult of this goddess is treated in detail by Hoenes, S.-E., Untersuchungen zu Wesen und Kult der Gttin Sachmet,
Bonn 1976, for the Memphite zone 113115 and Sadek, A. I., Popular Religion in Egypt during the New Kingdom,
Hildesheim 1987, 2934.
48 Borchardt, Das Grabdenkmal des Knigs S`a3-hu-rec, 120.
49 Borchardt, op. cit., 102103.
50 Cf. Peden, Graffiti, 59; Borchardt, op. cit., 120f., PM III, 75.
51 Mller, Hieratische Palographie II, 12. Unpublished graffiti from the temple of Sahure mentioned as additional
sources for the palaeography, and single signs can be found throughout the palaeography.
47

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p. 25

Graff. Ab. 6,3

p. 30

Graff. Abus. 4

p. 34

Graff. Abus. 4f

p. 41

Graff. Abus. 6,7

p. 45

Graff. Abus. 6,7

p. 64

Graff. Abus. N

p. 26

Graff. Abus. 6,3

p. 31

Graff. Abus. 6,5

p. 36

Graff. Abus. 1,2

p. 42

Graff. Abus. 6,2

p. 51

Graff. Abus. N

p. 67

Graff. Abus. N

p. 27

Graff. Abus. 5,1

p. 34

Graff. Abus. 6,4

p. 40

Graff. Abus. 3,3

p. 43

Graff. Abus. 1,1

p. 53

Graff. Abus. 6,4

p. 70

Graff. Abus. 12,3

It is not to be excluded if we take as evidence the signs from Palographie that there were graffiti
containing the dating (rnpt sp), the name of King Thutmose III (Menkheperre), the name of King
Sahure, the titles nswt bitj and Hm(.f), and the verbs gm and mAA. Also the name of goddess Sakhmet
is likely to have been found in these inscriptions. The signs also allow us to say that there is a likely
possibility that the graffiti near (or in) the sanctuary of Sakhmet of Sahure contained expressions
known from other Thutmoside graffiti, including phrases like iw.t pw ir n X r mAA, the name of the
owner of the pyramid (however, in which connection, if any, to the goddess Sakhmet, cannot be
decided). A short annex at the end of this chapter attempts a reconstruction of what graffiti might
have been providing the signs Mller eventually used.
Apart from the signs known from the Hieratische Palographie II, only a small part of what might
have been a large documentation of above mentioned graffiti has been preserved. Documentation

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on three of these 18th dynasty graffiti is kept in the Griffith Institute Archives. All three are published
by Mounir Megally52 and two speak about scribal visits to the temple of Sahure. M. Megally published
hieratic originals, hieroglyphic transcriptions and translations of these graffiti. Megally also tried
to map Mllers graffiti activities in the temple of Sahure, which was rather difficult. He also
introduced an analysis of graffiti text types and noted specific formulae of the graffiti and pointed
out a comparison with other period texts.53 Megally noted too that there was a third graffito sketched
over the second but of this third hardly anything is left.54 The publication of the three graffiti in this
volume is in debt to Megallys, though original materials in the Gardiner papers were also consulted.
None of the three graffiti mentions the cult of the Sakhmet of Sahure. Nonetheless, the worship
of Sakhmet of Sahure was an important cultic activity in the place that covers the discussed period of
18th and 19th dynasty. Its presence in the zone could have been a reason for frequent visits, and thus
could have fostered the appearance of the Besucherinschriften too, depriving them of a certain level of
independent antiquarian interest, which might otherwise have been supposed to be their main
raison dtre.
Besides ink-written graffiti there was also an engraved inscription, dated to the 19th dynasty. Its
author is the royal scribe Djehutiherhesef of the Ramesseum, and the short text or its preserved
parts; contains no direct information on the monument or the Sakhmet cult. Scribe Djehutiherhesef,
differently from the texts of other stelae, which are in the neighbourhood and are dedicated to
Sakhmet, is speaking to and about Thoth, like the scribes in Ramesside scribal miscellanies.55
The inscription of Djehutiherhesef was photographed and text published by Borchardt and its
hieroglyphic transcription is available in Kitchens Ramesside Inscriptions.56
The Ramesside officials were otherwise assiduous in their attentions to the Sakhmet cult, as the
finds and smaller fragments indicate, which come from the area of the Sakhmet worship57 Material
cultural evidence, known since Borchardts excavation, is rich for both the 18th and 19th dynasty. The
preservation of the cult of Sakhmet of Sahure is maybe the reason why Sahures temple remained in
a relatively well-preserved state.58 Sakhmet (originally Hathor or Bastet59) portrayed in the original
temple decoration attracted pilgrims or visitors who then made the ancient royal temple a place
of worship of a deity, who was at that time rooted within the cultic service in Memphis, for Sakhmet
was the divine wife of Ptah, the tutelary god of Memphis. The goddess possessed thus in Abusir
a place of worship, active at least from the times of Thutmose III onwards, throughout the 18th dynasty. The south part of the funerary temple of Sahure was, as said, lined with stelae dedicated to
Sakhmet, and even rebuilding must have occurred, as Borchardt discovered e.g. parts of
architectural elements dated under Horemheb60. This does pass well into the development of
Memphis and its necropolis in that period. The cult of Sakhmet had further development during the
19th dynasty, as the Ramesside texts and stelae confirm.

Megally, Two Visitors Graffiti from Abusir, CdE 56, Fasc. 112, 1981, 218240. They were mentioned as early as in
1973 by Baines, J., The destruction of the pyramid temple of Sahure, GM 4, 1973, 913, in particular on p. 12, coming
from the Griffith Institute Archives, Gardiner MSS, AHG/29.60 AB, where then Megally took them from.
53 His work deserves full attention as his ideas of comparing graffiti to other graffiti and to other period texts (school
exercises, which would correspond very well to the apprentice scribes who signed some of the graffiti in Djosers
complex, and with presupposed school excursion in the Sun Temple of Userkaf, cf. above) are very fruitful (cf. p. 40).
In addition, he tried to indicate possible varying views on kings of old, as expressed in various visitors graffiti.
Compare Megally, M., Two Visitors Graffiti from Abusir, CdE 56, 1981, 218, 225, 234, 240.
54 Megally, op. cit., 234.
55 Papyrus Anastasi III, 4.94.11, Anastasi V, 8.49.3; Caminos, Late Egyptian Miscellanies, London 1954, 86 and
232233.
56 Borchardt, Das Grabdenkmal des Knigs S`a3-hu-rec, 124, and Abb. 170, plus KRI III, 378.
57 Borchardt, op. cit., 120, 124 etc.
58 Cf. discussion by Baines, The destruction of the pyramid temple of Sahure, GM 4, 1973, 9ff.
59 Borchardt supposed it might have been a picture of Bastet. Borchardt, 120. See also, Hoenes, Sachmet, 114115.
About Sahure veneration, ibid., and also Sadek, Popular Religion in Egypt, 2934.
60 Borchardt, op. cit., I, 101.
52

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New Kingdom materials found on the spot include votive inscriptions, stelae, including the so-called Ohrenstelen, where Sachmet is being asked for various benefits including a nice old age, good burial61, mercy etc., similar wishes can be found at other places in the visitors graffiti too (see pp. 60, 114
or 119, and 78 and 128). There is also an inscription of Tutankhamun, and a stela of Ay.62 Further
finds are the well-known bowl of Hui and rich finds of pottery and faience, scarabaeus from the era
of Amenhotep III63, remains of a Hathoric frieze and new stairs to the roof of the temple, starting
from the south court. Other mudbrick additions made in the temple might too have been possibly
connected with the Sakhmet cult.
The 19th dynasty monuments include also a restoration inscription of Sethi I and a fragment of
a text by prince Khaemwaset from the era of Ramesses II.64 Another reason for visits to the area could
have been equally well quarrying, or better the re-using of stone, as is known from the complex of
Niuserre.65 The stoneworkers were probably active inside the nearby located mastaba of Ptahshepses
as well.66 This could be in no contradiction to the pious reverence for some of the ancient royal
monuments. In addition, the archaeological setting of the re-use of the temple of Sahure may be
soon seen in new light of the discoveries of SCA in the area.67 Evidence for the cult of Sakhmet continues until the Greek period and the temple later included also a chapel built in the Coptic period.

Borchardt, Das Grabdenkmal des Knigs S`a3-hu-rec, I, 122123.

Borchardt, op. cit., I, 121122.
63 Borchardt, op. cit., I, 130135.
64 See Borchardt, op. cit., I, 104. Further uses of the temple included copying its reliefs, as it is clear from the plaster
models taken from reliefs, and a net over one scene. These things can be of a later date, Borchardt suggested Late
Period.
65 Borchardt, Das Grabdenkmal des Knigs Ne-user-re, 160161. A 19th or 20th dynasty stone working group or a small
workshop seems to be active in the temple of this king.
66 Charvt, P., Czechoslovak Excavations at Abusir. The mastaba of Ptahshepses. The pottery, Praha 1981.
67 The work of the SCA team is still in progress. I am very grateful to Mr Tarek el-Awadi for information on his work.
61

62

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The documented graffiti from the funerary temple of Sahure

M.1.5.P.18.1
Place
The funerary temple of Sahure, possibly blocks in the southern part of the temple most probably
connected with the cult of Sakhmet. Context of New Kingdom stelae. No scale the original tracing.
Dating
This graffito has the advantage of a sufficiently preserved dateline, indicating Thutmose III, 18th
dynasty.
Text

Transcription

Transliteration
1. [HA.t sp ? Abd sw ? xr Hm n nswt bitj]
mn-xpr-ra anx wDA snb, sA ra DHwtj-ms.w anx wDA snb, nfr-xpr.w anx wDA snb, anX D.t r nHH
2. [iw.t pw ir n sS X. sA sS [?]Y] r mAA tA Hw.t nTr n.t nswt bitj sAHw-ra mAa xrw gm.n-f st mi p.t ...
3. [aHa n Dd.n-f hwj p.t n an]ti.w wAD DfDf-s m sntr Hr tp n.t Hw.t nTr n.t sAHw-ra mAa xr[w]
4. [///////////////////////////////////] .w wD kA [?] wdn.tj sj n sAHw-ra mAa xrw [////////]
5.
..

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Translation
1. [year , month.., day under the Majesty of] King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Menkheperre,
L.P.H., Son of Re, Thutmose, L.P.H., Neferkheperu, L.P.H., living forever and ever
2. [there came the scribeson of scribe] to see the temple of the King of Upper and
Lower Egypt, Sahure, justified. He found it like heaven..
3. [and thus he said: Let the heaven] drip fresh myrrh and pour incense onto the roof of the
temple of Sahure, justified
4. suppose/see 68 (?) offering it to Sahure, justified 69
5. .
Commentary
The graffito may have been fitting into the cultic re-use of the funerary temple of Sahure for the
cult of Sakhmet of Sahure. Sakhmet is, however, not mentioned in the preserved text. Sahure, in
addition, is not reduced to an epithet as it is the case later with the 19th dynasty graffiti like
M.1.5.M.19.1.1; Sahure is represented as a king with titles of nswt bitj, and a cartouche. The author
probably completed his admiration of the temple by a prayer for the proprietor of the temple, King
Sahure, but unfortunately we do not know whether he also wanted some reward such as a good
burial, from the king. If not, then it is very tempting to agree with Megally, that the real reason for
the visit was r mAA tA Hw.t nTr n.t nswt bitj sAHw-ra mAa xrw, to see the temple of the king Sahure, the
justified70. An offering formula which most probably might have been closing this graffito is known
from examples of similar inscriptions in the complex of King Djoser, which include besides offering
formulae for the owner also prayers for the authors own benefit.
The scribe, whose name is not preserved, used the popular formula of calling for the dripping
myrrh and the raining incense for the temple of Sahure, which he most probably found impressive.
This formula is found in a number of the 18th dynasty graffiti.
Personages
The name of the graffito author is not preserved.
Documentation
Tracings by G. Mller, Gardiner Mss, AHG 29.60/B with a note probably graffito Mller 6 on
the backside.
References
Baines, The destruction of pyramid temple of Sahure, GM 4, 1973, 913
Megally, M., Graffiti from Abusir, CdE 56, 1981, Fasc. 112, 218240
Peden, Graffiti, 59
PM III, part 1, 2nd ed., 333334
Borchardt, L., Das Grabdenkmal des Knigs S`a3-hu-rec I, Leipzig 1903, 120121, finds on 131135.

Either kAi, think, or kA see.

Megally, Two Visitors Graffiti, Fasc. 112, transliterated consulting also Megallys transcription on p. 229.
70 Megally, op. cit., 227. As Megally himself pointed out, that there are later graffiti that say just iw.t pw ir.n N .r wdn n
NN, the sightseeing element is then absent. Megally, op. cit., 227.
68

69

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M.1.5.P.18.2
Place
The funerary temple of Sahure, possibly blocks in the southern part of the temple most probably
connected with the cult of Sakhmet. Context of New Kingdom stelae. According to the tracing, the
inscription was spread over four pieces of stone. No scale (see also Plate 4).
Dating
The 18th dynasty dating can be considered plausible also because of strong similarities to the
hieratic script of M.1.5.P.18.1, which is dated under Thutmose III. Megally suggested even
Amenhotep II or Thutmose IV.71
Text

71

Megally, Two Visitors Graffiti, 224 and 230, Peden, Graffiti, 59.

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Transcription

Transliteration72
1. HA.t sp 2, Abd 3 Ax.t, [sw] 7, xr Hm [n] nswt bitj [/////////////////////////////] anx wDA snb
2. iw.t pw ir.n sS imn-m-[HAt sA sS an]ti-mnti73
3. r mAA tA Hw.t nTr n.t Hm n nswt bitj sAHw-ra mAa xrw
4. gm.n-f sj nfr Hr ib-f r aA.t wr sj m Hr-f
5. mi tA p.t sSp iaH aHa.n Dd.n-f nfr.wj
6. [tA hw.t nTr n.t kA] Hm n nswt bitj sAHw-ra mAa xrw
7. [///////] nA n ka.w Apd.w t.w ..... ///////////////////////////
Translation
1. Year 2, month 3 of Akhet, day 7, under the Majesty of King of Upper and Lower Egypt, L. P H.
2. there came the Scribe Amenemhat, [son of Scribe Anat]-menti
3. to see the temple of the Majesty of the King of Lower and Upper Egypt, Sahure, justified
4. he found it beautiful in his heart, in his eyes [lit. face] [it] was great
5. as heaven lit in white by the Moon. Thus he said: This is beautiful
6. [the temple of ka of the Majesty ] of King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Sahure, justified
7. [////////] of bulls, fowl and bread loaves
Commentary
The graffito of the Scribe Amenemhat is of similar composition to another Sahures graffito
M.1.5.P.18.1.74 The name Amenemhat does appear in the context of the complex of Sahure twice: in
this graffito and on a stela Berlin. Mus. 19807 (Borchardt, Das Grabdenkmal des Knigs S`a3-hu-rec,

Transliteration reflects also the reading by M. Megally.

See Peden, Graffiti, 60, note 12, and further Schneider, T., Asiatische Personennamen in gyptischen Quellen des Neuen
Reiches, Wiesbaden 1992, 7273.
74 See Megally, Two Visitors Graffiti, hieroglyphic text on p. 229, his translation on p. 227ff., and Peden, Graffiti, 60.
72
73

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Abb. 167, 123). On the stela one Amenemhat adores Sakhmet of Sahure. However, the style of the
stela is that of late 18th dynasty, and the name of Sahure is misspelled (Borchardt, op. cit., 122, visible
on the stela, l.c.). These two Amenemhats therefore cannot be identified as one person.
Graffito mentions the temple of the king; the king himself, except for being defined nswt bitj, Hm
and mAa xrw, bears no special nominations or epitheta. The preserved text concentrates on Sahure,
not on Sakhmet. The author of the graffito asks for an offering for Sahure, but there is no
identifiable wish for some benefits for the author, which, however, might have been at the damaged
end of the graffito. This graffito mentions specifically the offering, asking the usual composition of
beef, fowl and bread for the deceased. The graffito is similar to graffiti in the complex of Djoser.
It is noticeable that both Sahure temple graffiti (both M.1.5.P.18.1 and M.1.5.P.18.2) use the titles,
and even the definition majesty(or Incarnation), the same Hm, as can be seen for a contemporary
sovereign in the first line, for a king who had died long ago.75
Personages
Amenemhat: Ranke, PN I, 28.8, sehr hufig for the New Kingdom. Other information on the
scribe Amenemhat presently not known. The prosopography of dignitaries of the New Kingdom made
by W. Helck includes several Amenemhats, but no one fits this period and scribal title exactly.76
Anat-menti = Anat-manata West-Semitic name. It has been suggested that the scribes were part
of the community of foreigners living in Memphis.
Documentation
Tracings by G. Mller, Gardiner Mss, AHG/29.60/A
References
Baines, The destruction, 913.
Megally, Graffiti from Abusir, 227229.
Peden, Graffiti, 60
PM III, part 1, 2nd ed., 333334
Borchardt, Das Grabdenkmal, 120121.

75 See even Megally, The Visitors Graffiti, 225. No conclusion is drawn from it, only that the scribes were aware of
correct writing of Sahures name. Which they were not in some of the later materials of the cult of Sakhmet of Sahure,
cf. Borchardt, Das Grabdenkmal des Knigs S`a3-hu-rec, 121f.
76 Imn-m-HAt, a scribe, in Helck, Verwaltung, 523 grandson of Seni, time of Amenhotep I to Thutmose II. His grandfather tomb in Western Thebes No. 317, text from the tomb in Urk. IV, 135; another one is a priest, p. 435B (family of the vizier Tetinefer), another priest, p. 525 from a Theban family.

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M.1.5.P.18.3
Place
The funerary temple of Sahure, possibly blocks in the southern part of the temple, probably
connected with the cult of Sakhmet. No scale on the original tracing.
Dating
The 18th dynasty dating might have been defended also because of strong similarities to the hieratic
script of M.1.5.P.18.1, which is dated under Thutmose III, unfortunately, the number of preserved
signs is very small.
Text

Transcription

Transliteration
Fragments of inscriptions
1. ////////////////////////////////// sj mi //////
2. ///// ? [sign A17] //////////////////// mAa ? /////////////? [fragments of signs]///////////////////////
Translation
1. ///////////////////// it as ////////////////////////////
2. //////////////// see ? ///////////////////////////////////
Commentary
Remnants of the graffito of possible Besucherinschriften character, showing probably traces of
phrase [gm.n-f] sj mi[t] and mAa [xrw]. The text is too fragmentary to allow further discussion.
Personages
Not identifiable.
Documentation
Tracings by G. Mller, Gardiner Mss, AHG 29.60/A
References
Megally, Graffiti from Abusir, 226230.
PM III, part 1, 2nd ed., 333334
Borchardt, Das Grabdenkmal, 120121.

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THE IDENTIFICATION OF GRAFFITI AND SIGNS IN THE PALOGRAPHIE

Some signs in the Mllers palaeography (cf. above) have been looked for in the graffito
M.1.5.P.18.1, - AHG 29.60/B. The archival identification on the back of AHG 29.60 B, Graffito 6, is
nonetheless doubtful, because the sign is marked as Abusir 6,7 and there are only five visible lines
in this graffito; in adition the Abusir 6,7 sign is a Hs-vase, which is not present in the inscription at
all, moreover the sAH sign, also attributed to a graffito Abusir 6 in the Palographie, is not evoking
strong similarities to signs in the graffito.
However, the attempt on identification has raised a question is any of the graffiti published by
M. Megally present in the Palographie ? Which other signs are there, from how many graffiti may they
come and which pieces of information about these apparently lost graffiti can we work out?
As said, Mller numbered his graffiti 1 to 12 (and one named Graffito N), giving thus their
number. Out of 12 (or even 13) graffiti we have 3 that are known. Comparing the signs in the three
known graffiti and in the Palographie does not seem to bring unequivocal results usually the sign
and its presumed position in the graffito (the number of the line) does not fit, and very often the
shape differs as well, albeit in minute details. It may have been the case that none of the three graffiti, which are preserved to us, was a significant supplier of signs to the palaeography. This might
mean that there are 9 (or 10) more graffiti we can try to reconstruct with the help of the Palographie.
Graffito 1 included signs

, and

as

. This might be a part of a Thutmoside royal name such

.

Graffito 2 apparently contained a royal title, as it contained the sign

. It also contained the sign

, which is, however, used very frequently.

Graffito 3 included signs and
and the name of goddess Sakhmet.

, which might also indicate the formula

Graffito 5 included the sign

, which might have served in various contexts, as well as the
falcon of Horus.
If we exclude that graffito M.1.5.P.18.1 is Graffito 6 in the Palographie, it must be another
graffito capable of containing signs
,
, , and
, plus , and
The first four signs fit into an almost standard visitors graffiti text:

etc
The sign Hs and mr might have been part of a praise formula used by the scribe.
Graffito 12 contained signs

, suggesting a presence of the name of a living sovereign.

The graffito named as Abusir N had signs like

or the group
various contexts and do not define clearly some particular text.

, which can be used in

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THE PYRAMID COMPLEX OF NEFERIRKARE

The excavations by L. Borchardt noticed no visitors graffiti, nor are any known from other
observations. The only New Kingdom written material found in the complex was Ein Bruchstck
eines sehr roh eingehauenen Ramessidennamens auf weiem Kalkstein, das zwischen Zeiegeltempel und Ne-userre-mauer gefunden wurde, hat fr die Geschichte unseres Tempels wohl keine Bedeutung, es sei denn, da man
danach die absichtliche Zerstrung des Kalksteinbaus in die Zeit der Ramessiden setzen wolle. 77
Borchardt also suggested that this fragment might have been connected with the quarrying in the
complex, as was the case with the pyramid complex of Niuserre. The pyramid of Neferirkare is until
today the best-preserved pyramid in Abusir, but its temple might have either been buried in dbris
or otherwise uninteresting, so that it did not catch the attention of graffiti writers who were active in
the nearby monuments. There is, however, also the possibility that some graffiti were overlooked or
were destroyed before Egyptologists had an opportunity to observe them.

THE PYRAMID COMPLEX OF NIUSERRE

A situation similar to that of the complex of Neferirkare is also in the complex of Niuserre.
Evidence of New Kingdom re-use of stone is rather convincing fragments of tools, and drawings.
There is in particular a drawing of a New Kingdom (probably Ramesside) member of the royal family.
An inscription, made in red ink, was also found, but in contained only a name and a military title of
the head of archers, Merinebef.78

77
78

56

Borchardt, Das Grabdenkmal des Knigs Nefer-ir-ke-re, 58.

Borchardt, Das Grabdenkmal des Knigs Ne-user-re, 160161, Abb. 136.

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THE MASTABA OF PTAHSHEPSES

The mastaba of Ptahshepses79 hosted a few New Kingdom graffiti. The first to deal with them was
Georges Daressy, who noted diverses inscriptions malheureusement en mauvais tat.80 G. Daressy
indicated that only one graffito was well-preserved. This graffito was found on the west wall of the
second room discovered by de Morgan, which is the current room 3, and the graffito is on its west
wall, on the part north of the doorway leading further to the room with three niches. Daressy
published a hieroglyphic transcription of the graffito, author being the scribe Ptahemwia (Daressy
mistook the reading of his name and of the name of the goddess Sakhmet of Sahure).81
Spiegelberg (1904) noted that In der erwhnten Mastaba befindet sich eine Reihe hieratischer Graffiti,
deren wichtigstes von Daressy vor lngerer Zeit verffentlicht worden ist.82 This indicates that some graffiti
in the mastaba of Ptahshepses have not been properly registered and published. Spiegelberg noted
in addition to the graffito of Ptahemwia, a cartouche of Ramesses II,83 and fragments of other
Besucherinschriften, such as sS Hsyw m Hw.t nTr84; he made hieroglyphic transcriptions of these graffiti.

The mastaba of Ptahshepses with indicated graffiti position

Compare PM III/I2, 340342.

Daressy, M. G., Inscription hiratique dun Mastaba dAbousir, BIE 5, Annexe 5, 1894, 107113, in particular
p. 108.
81 Daressy, op. cit., 1894; 107113.
82 Spiegelberg, W., Varia LXXIX, Die hieratischen Graffiti der Mastaba des Ptahschepses zu Abusir, Rec. de Trav.
XXVI, 1904, 152154, 152.
83 Spiegelberg, op. cit., 154.
84 Spiegelberg, op. cit., this graffito could correspond to the scratched graffito in room 3, see further, ern notebook 118.15, schematic ink drawing of the graffito.
79

80

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Jaroslav ern visited the mastaba of Ptahshepses in end of the 1930s and beginning of the 1940s
and recorded the graffito of scribe Ptahemwia and of the scribe Hesi (or scribe praised in the
temple). The more recent works in the mastaba of Ptahshepses noted other fragments of hieratic
inscriptions, which can be found registered by Zbynk ba.85 This is confirmed also with later
observations by Miroslav Verner86 and Jaromr Krej. Some of them may be the remains of other
visitors graffiti, but it is not always possible to detect the age and origin of these fragmentary
inscriptions. Furthermore, in Room 4 graffiti of later date have been discovered on its walls.87 The
graffiti in room 4 are not further specified J. Krej88 observed that these were mainly if not
exclusively figural graffiti (ships etc.); their parallels are known both from the complex of Djoser and
from Medum in complex of Snofru.

M.1.5.M.19.1.1
The graffito was photographed and transcribed by Jaroslav ern. Moreover, he compared the
signs visible at the time of his visit with those registered previously by Spiegelberg.89 The graffito
has been in a significantly precarious state. Even ern was able to contribute no significant new
readings90, and many earlier readings of Spiegelberg were uncertain. This fact confirms again the
vulnerability of the graffiti and the need for their documentation.
Place
The mastaba of Ptahshepses, room 3, southern part of the northern section of the the west wall.
Dating
The recorded regnal year is relatively high, and might have pointed to the Ramesside rulers. The
length of rules as in indicated by J. Beckerath91 could point to Ramesses II. Ramesses IIs period
activities on the necropolis are so far known as significant.
Text
Photo by J. ern, Notebook 17.118, p. 20 verso and ern Mss 2.95 (black and white photograph)
and 2. 96 (black and white photograph, inverted colours), see also Plate 2 and 3.

Notebooks of Z. ba, Ptahshepses, Archives of the Czech Institute of Egyptology, Prague.

Under the lower edge of this register, several visitors graffiti have been found. One of them has been published
by Spiegelberg in RT 26, pp. 152154. Other graffiti discovered on this wall as well as in other parts of the Mastaba
will be published in a separate study. Verner, M., The Mastaba of Ptahshepses, Reliefs (Abusir I), Charles University,
Prague 1977, 23, note 1.
87 Verner, Abusir I, 46.
88 1. 6. 2007, personal communication.
89 ern Mss, 2.956, Mss 6.3 and ern, notebook 118, 21, 20 (transcription), collated with original 1st of March
1942.
90 Baines, J., The destruction of the pyramid temple of Sahure, GM 4, 1973, 12.
91 Beckerath, J. von, Chronologie des pharaonischen gypten, Mainz 1997, 104, 117118.
85
86

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There are three stages of decay in this graffito, which are expressed in the transcription as wellvisible signs (black signs in transcription), signs, whose outlines or traces are still visible, but much
less clear (gray signs) and parts where only discolouring is visible (gray signs marked as destroyed).
Eventually there are places where no signs or traces were discernible (marked as destroyed).
Transcription

Transliteration
1. hA.t sp 50, Abd 1 pr.t, sw 16, ij in sS ptH-[m-wiA] Hna it jwpA r mAA Sw.t m[H]r.w m nx.t iwt.tw-sn Hna Dd
Hs.j r wdn.t ////// [n sxm.t] n sAHw-ra m ra pn Hna sS nA[//////////] [det. A1]
2. ir nfr ir nfr sxm.t n sAHw-ra ir nfr ir nfr n sS [ptH-m]-wiA sS jwpA imm in.tw./// . ///-n iw.n aHa.w-n m-bAH-T
(i.e. Sakhmet) an nri ///////
3. mtw-n Dd wAH sw ra tw.n m bAH tAj-n Hnw.t mtw-n //////// sSw an r wxA r ? sp sn mi-T r pH-n rnp.t 110 iw-n
Hr dbH mi-T
4. iwi.ir-n Dd tAj-n spr.w iw-n txw-n m-[bAH ? 92] mi Hs.jw nt.j rf iw.n-n nA sS.w n ptH pAj.n it i.Dd-n st
n-f iw-n Hr spr r [Hs.t] Hsj-f /// ptH ///// [////Lost]
Translation
1. Regnal year 50, month 1 of Peret, day 16 93, coming of scribe Ptahemwia and (his) father Yupa
to see all of the powerful pyramids 94, they came and said praises and offerings .. for
Sakhmet of Sahure on this day, with scribe Na.95
2. Do good, do good, Sakhmet of Sahure, do good, do good for the scribe Ptahemwia and scribe
Yupa, let there be brought. ///// ./// we/for us, as [?] we are in front of you again 96,
Terrible One, ///////
3. May we say Let her endure like Re! We are in front of our Lady, we will ////.
script/inscription again wishing reward once more, let us reach 110 years as we please you to
give [?]
4. as we are speaking our petitions, as we are [as if] drunk [ in front ?], singing praises, those who
are scribes of Ptah, our father, we are saying this to him, we came to sing praises Ptah (rest
is lost).97

The sign might also be D 54, both options are presenting certain difficulties in the translation.
This date was a feast day of Shu, cf. Daressy, Inscription hiratique, 10.
94 Spiegelberg, Varia LXXIX, translated Schatten (?) der Pyramide. Sw.t here means all, Gesamtheit, see also
HWb, 808.
95 Perhaps Nashuy, as filled in by Kitchen; one Nashuy left a graffito in the complex of Khendjer, see KRI III, 436.
96 So the visits seem to be regular?
97 Translated also by Peden, Graffiti, 96.
92
93

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Commentary
This graffito confirms the visits, which in this case seem to be a sort of worship routine (we are in
front of you again); it seems these were no exceptional tours to the zone but that they happened in
the context of the cult of Sakhmet of Sahure. In addition, the visit occured on a feast day. However,
the motive of seeing the monuments is present as well. The graffito contains no hint or note on the
owner of the tomb. Dass sie sich in dem Grabe des Ptah-schepses befindet, ist wohl nur ein Zufall, fr den es
viele Erklrungen gibt.98
The graffito combines the phraseology set iw.t (pw ir.n) X r mAA and the prayer formula, including
ir nfr. It is furthermore interesting to compare phraseology, which these scribes used in the
Ptahshepses graffito, which speaks chiefly about and to Sakhmet of Sahure. The goddess, the
consort to Ptah, to whom the scribes speak to as well, is asked in the same phrases for doing good,
as is King Djoser (compare graffito M.2.13.P.NK.1, scribe Nashuy, Table 1). Her cult is attested
further in the 19th dynasty by numerous finds, fragments of stelae and inscriptions, invocating her, or
Ptah, in the neighbouring sanctuary within the precinct of Sahure.99 The later post-New Kingdom
tradition of that cult has been discussed.100 For the period of the New Kingdom the Sakhmet of
Sahure seems to be a fixed point in the map of Saqqara necropolis. However, the first lines of the
graffito, namely the passage saying that the scribes went to see all of the powerful pyramids, indicates
possible more reasons behind this visit: i.e. not only his reverence to Sakhmet, but also their interest
in the monuments.
Personages
Yupa Name not listed in Ranke, PN. A person named Yupa, from a family with foreign roots, was
a steward to Ramesse II and also a steward of the Ramesseum in Thebes (see L III, 275), but his
inscriptions do not name a relative Ptahemwia (KRI III, 195198).
Ptahemwia Ranke, PN I, 139.18. A contemporary (era of Ramesse II) Ptahemwia attested on a stela
(BM 167), provenance unknown, possibly Memphis (the high priest of Ptah among personages on
stela). Published by T. G. H. James, The British Museum Hieroglyphic Texts, Part 9, p. 2930 and KRI III,
206, 2. Identification of the two Ptahemwias is, however, hypothetical.
Documentation
The documented graffito of Ptahemwia refers to the pyramid of Sahure and to the cult of
Sakhmet. To sum up its documentation history, the graffito has been published by Daressy101, then
by Spiegelberg (hieroglyphic transcription), photographed by ern102 and also transcribed again by
ern.103 The graffito has suffered much in the meantime and ern was able to confirm a sighting
of a few signs only as his photograph proves also.
ern Mss, 2.95-6 and ern, notebook 118, 21, 15, 20 verso (transcription).
Larger and more clear photos ern Mss, 2.95, 2.96, a positive and an inverted (negative) photo
of the graffito, the negative shows some lines more clearly, best available photograph probably is
ern Mss 6.3.
References
Daressy, M. G., Inscription hiratique dun Mastaba dAbousir, BIE 5, 1894, 107113
Spiegelberg, W., Varia LXXIX, Rec. de Trav. 26, 1904, 152154.
KRI III, 437.
PM III2, 342/8, 9.
Peden, Graffiti, 9596.

Spiegelberg, Varia LXXIX, 154.

Cf. Borchardt, Das Grabdenkmal des Knigs S`a3-hu-re, 126 ff. Including votive stelae and a lot of objects made of faience etc.
100 Baines, The destruction, 914, regarding also the extensive archaism inspiration taken from the reliefs of the funerary temple of Sahure.
101 Daressy, Inscription hiratique, 107113.
102 Photographs are in his Mss in Griffith Institute archives, ern Mss, 2.95-6 and 6.3.
103 Hieroglyphic transposition in KRI III, 437.
98
99

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M.1.5.M.19.1.2
Place
The mastaba of Ptahshepses, Entrance passage?104
Ausser der grossen Inschrift ist noch der Name Ramses II in schwarzer Farbe in dem Grabe zu sehen 105
Transcription
(after Spiegelberg, Varia LXXIX, 154)

Transliteration
nswt bitj wsr-mAa.t-ra stp-n-ra
sA ra ..
Translation
King of Lower and Upper Egypt, Wesermaatre Setepenre
Son of Re .
Commentary
The cartouche had been for Daressy a key to the dating of the longer graffito (our M.1.5.M.19.1.1).
References
Daressy, Inscription hiratique, 110
Spiegelberg, Varia LXXIX, 152154

M.1.5.M.19.1.3 AND M.1.5.M.19.1.4

These two graffiti are not included in the statistical overview yet. Their texts are mentioned in the
publication by W. Spiegelberg and the graffito of Hesi also in material of Jaroslav ern on p. 15
of notebook 17.118 and on photographs ern Mss 2.95 and 6.3 there is this scratched graffito
which we see photographed over the ink-written longer graffito of Ptahemwia. The wall is that with
reliefs of men bringing furniture. Under those men is a scratched graffito sS (?) Hs.j (?) m Hwt nTr followed by the M.1.5.M.19.1.1.
The scratched graffiti are visible till today (see Colour plates).
Place
The mastaba of Ptahshepses; The graffito of the scribe Hesi (or praised) is above M.1.5.M.19.1.1,
the other graffito position has not yet been identified.
Transcription
3.

104
105

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Daressy, Inscription hiratique, 110.

Spiegelberg, Varia LXXIX, 154.

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Transliteration
3. sS Hs.jw m Hw.t nTr
4. Sms
Translation
3. the scribe praised (or Hesi, the A2 might be an A1) in the temple
4. follow . (or, hypothetically, a follower)
Commentary
The inscriptions are fragmentary, and can only confirm a presence of literate people on the spot.
If these were with or without a connection to the author(s) of longer inscriptions, cannot be
presently established.
References
Spiegelberg, Varia LXXIX, 152154.
Documentation
ern Mss, 17118, p. 15, 2.95, 2.96 and 6.3.

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ABUSIR GRAFFITI SUMMARY

Abusir has yielded more New Kingdom material than just graffiti and the sources for the cult of
Sakhmet. There were restoration inscriptions of Khaemwaset in monuments of Niuserre at Abu
Ghurob and Sahure in Abusir106, and the portrait of New Kingdom Abusir may have included various
other activities such as burials as well. However, our knowledge is still incomplete.107
The reasons for a visit of New Kingdom Memphite administrative staff, ranging from a royal
steward to (seemingly) humble scribes might have been varied. Stone-cutters activities as well as both
simple and more elaborate burials in Abusir might have brought administrative personnel.
A powerful reason surely was the sanctuary of Sakhmet. The graffiti, however, do not necessarily have
one motive. Professional motives apart (some visits, as we have seen, are dated to feast days), other
reasons were mentioned by the graffiti authors Sakhmet is clearly present, but the monuments an
sich, the powerful pyramids and temples, which are described in poetic terms, must have had an
attraction on their own.
The character of the Abusir graffiti includes both antiquarian and pious phraseology and reveals
practical knowledge of the site, which seems to be variable no one identified Userkaf in his monument, and yet, it was clear to some that it was a temple. Sahure was well-known in the 18th dynasty and
seemingly overshadowed by Sakhmet in the Dynasty 19. Ptahshepses has a richly decorated tomb,
where his name can be found (and if the walls were exposed to the extent of allowing the graffito of
Room 3 to be made, it is probable that some parts with name and titles of Ptahshepses were exposed
too), yet he is not named in the known inscriptions.

106
107

64

See overview in Goma` a, Chaemwase, 105106.

See Mynov, Abusir in the New Kingdom, 112117.