The American University in Cairo School of Humanities and Social Sciences My Skull Has Not Been Crushed1: The lexicography of some ancient Egyptian cranial terminology A Thesis Submitted to The Department of Sociology, Anthropology, Psychology, and Egyptology In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of Master of Arts In Sociology - Anthropology By Ariel Singer Under the supervision of Dr. Fayza Haikal May 2013 1 Book of the Dead, Chapter 154. Contents: List of Figures 2 Abbreviations 2 1) Introduction 4 a) Methodology b) Sources c) Terminology 2) The Skull: 20 a) ḏꜣḏꜣ: the cranium 21 i) Definitions ii) Use in non-medical texts iii) Use in medical texts iv) Diachronic change and related words b) ḏnnt: the calvarium 33 i) Definitions ii) Use in non-medical texts iii) Use in medical texts iv) Diachronic change and related words c) hn (n tp): the inner table of the skull 42 i) Definitions ii) Use in non-medical texts iii) Use in medical texts iv) Diachronic change and related words 3) Specific Structures of the Skull: 49 a) pꜣḳt: squama 50 i) Definitions ii) Use in non-medical texts iii) Use in medical texts iv) Diachronic change and related words b) mꜣꜥ: the temporal region 59 i) Definitions ii) Use in non-medical texts iii) Use in medical texts iv) Diachronic change and related words (1) gmꜣ 70 (2) smꜣ 73 (3) gmḥt 76 c) tpꜣw: the dura mater 80 i) Definitions ii) Use in non-medical texts iii) Use in medical texts iv) Diachronic change and related words 4) Conclusion 89 5) Bibliography 97 6) Appendices: a) Chart of usage b) Plates i) Edwin Smith Papyrus – hieratic, columns 1 to 8 and 11 i ii) Papyrus Ebers – hieratic, referenced columns x 1 List of Figures: Figure 1: Cranium – lateral view, divisions 10 Figure 2: Cranium – anterior view 11 Figure 3: Cranium – posterior view 12 Figure 4: Cranium – lateral view 13 Figure 5: Cranium – inferior view 13 Figure 6: Cranium – endocranial view 14 Figure 7: Cranium – superior view 14 Figure 8: Cranium and meninges – transverse section 15 Figure 9: The dura mater and arachnoid mater 16 Figure 10: Chart of anatomical terms related to the cranium 17 Abbreviations: CDD Johnson, J. 2001. The Demotic Dictionary of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago. Chicago: The Oriental Institute. CT Coffin Texts: De Buck, A. 1935-1961. The Egyptian Coffin Texts. Vols. 1-7. Chicago: University of Chicago Press; Faulkner, R. O. 2004. The Ancient Egyptian Coffin Texts Vols. I-III. Oxford: Aris & Phillips. Edfou Chassinat, É. 2009. Le temple d'Edfou, Vols. I-XIV, 2nd ed. Mémoires publiés par les membres de la Mission Archéologique Françaiseau Caire. Le Caire: Institut Français d'Archéologie Orientale. ES Edwin Smith Papyrus: Breasted, J.H. 1930. The Edwin Smith Surgical Papyrus. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Vol. 1-2. Eb Papyrus Ebers: von Deines, H., H. Grapow and W. Westendorf. 1958. Übersetzung der medizinischen Texte. Berlin: Akademie-Verlag, Grundriss der Medizin der alten Ägypter 4 and 5. Grundriß von Deines, H. and W. Westendorf. 1962. Wörterbuch der medizinischen Texte, Band I und II. Berlin: Akademie – Verlag, Grundriss der Medizin der alten Ägypter 7. KRI Kitchen, K. A. 1975. Ramesside Inscriptions: Historical and Biographical. Oxford: Blackwell. LEM Gardiner, A. H. 1937. Late Egyptian Miscellanies. Brussels: Bibliotheca Aegyptiaca 7. LES Gardiner, A. H. 1932. Late-Egyptian Stories. Brussels: Bibliotheca Aegyptiaca 1. LRL Cerny, J. 1939. Late Ramesside Letters. Brussels: Bibliotheca Aegyptiaca 9. Mutter und Kind P. Berlin 3027: Erman, A. 1901. Für Mutter und Kind. Aus dem Papyrus 3027 des berliner Museums. Berlin: Verlag der Königl. Akademie der Wissenschaften 2 P. Budapest P.Budapest 51.1961: Kákosy, L. 1981. “Ein magischer Papyrus des Kunsthistorischen Museums in Budapest.” in: DERS.: Selected Papers (1956-73), StudAeg 7, Budapest 1981, 239-58 m. 314-7. P. Chester Beatty Gardiner, A. H. 1935. Hieratic Papyri in the British Museum: Third Series, Chester Beatty Gift. London: British Museum. P. Harris 500 recto P. BM EA 10060: Fox, M. 1885. The Song of Songs and the Ancient Egyptian Love Songs. Madison: The University of Wisconsin Press. P. Harris 500 verso P. BM EA 10060: The Taking of Joppa (LES VII). P. Hearst Reisner, G.A. 1905. The Hearst Medical Papyrus. Leipzig: Hinrichs. P. Kahun (med.) UC 32057: Griffith, F. (ed). 1898. The Petrie Papyri: Hieratic Papyri from Kahun and Gurob. London: Bernard Quaritch. P. Kahun (vet.) UC 32036: Griffith, F. (ed). 1898. The Petrie Papyri: Hieratic Papyri from Kahun and Gurob. London: Bernard Quaritch. P. Leiden Papyrus Leiden I 348 Recto: Borghouts, J.F. 1971. The Magical Texts of Papyrus Leiden I 348. Leiden: Brill. P. Ram. Papyrus Ramesseum III: Gardiner, A. H. 1955. The Ramesseum Papyri. Oxford: Griffith Institute at the Oxford University Press. PM Porter, B. and R. Moss. 1960-1995. Topographical Bibliography of Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphic Texts, Reliefs, and Paintings, Volumes I-VII, Oxford: Clarendon Press. PT Pyramid Texts: Faulkner, R. O. 1969. The Ancient Egyptian Pyramid Texts. Oxford: Clarendon Press. Sinuhe Koch, R. 1990. Die Erzählung des Sinuhe. Brussels: Fondation Égyptologique Reine Élisabeth. Westcar P. Berlin 3033: Blackman, A.M. and W. V. Davies. 1988. The Story of King Kheops and the Magicians. Transcribed from Papyrus Westcar (Berlin Papyrus 3033). Reading: J.V. Books. Wb Erman, A. and H. Grapow. 1982. Wörterbuch der aegyptischen Sprache: im Auftrage der deutschen Akademien. Berlin: Akademie Verlag. 3 1. Introduction 4 Medical texts are a unique source of information concerning the technology, society, and culture of ancient Egypt. They have been studied from a variety of perspectives, including pharmaceutical, surgical, grammatical, and religious.2 Each investigation has increased not only the overall understanding of medicine and science, but also the ability to comprehend the relationships between the ancient Egyptians’ material world and their language. This study will address a series of questions: what were the anatomical terms for cephalic elements in humans, when are they used in medical and non-medical contexts, and how did they change over time? The information gleaned from these questions will be used to further examine the ancient Egyptian’s perception and concept of the skull, and how modern scholars have elected to interpret those words based upon the extant textual evidence. Lefebvre3 tackled the broader scope of anatomical terminology - providing constructive descriptions of most terms - although in brief. Later, the authors von Deines, Westendorf and Grapow4, in their seminal work Grundriss der Medizin der alten Ägypter, dedicated two volumes to providing general information and specific citations to a relatively comprehensive selection of medical and anatomical terms. Finally, in his posthumously published dissertation, Walker5 addressed a selection of anatomical terms describing different areas of the body that had previously been poorly defined. However, his valuable work has still left a number of words that have been insufficiently investigated, many of which pertain to the cranium and its related structures. By focusing on the specifics of the terminology for a selection of cranial components, and assessing the extant evidence for the modern translation, 2 See respectively: Manniche 1999, Ebbell 1929, Westendorf 1962, Borghouts 1971, among others. 3 Lefebvre, G. 1952. “Tableau des parties du corps humain mentionnées par les Égyptiens.” Supplément aux Annales du Service des Antiquités de l'Egypte 17. Le Caire: Imprimerie de l'Institut français d'Archéologie orientale. 4 von Deines, H. and W. Westendorf. 1962. Wörterbuch der medizinischen Texte, Band I und II. Berlin: Akademie – Verlag, Grundriss der Medizin der alten Ägypter 7. 5 Walker, J.H. 1996. Studies in Ancient Egyptian Anatomical Terminology. Warminster: Aris and Phillips Ltd. 5 perhaps it will be possible to elucidate some of the details of the ancient Egyptian understanding of the human body, and the vocabulary used to describe it. a. Methodology: This thesis focuses on the analysis of textual material and the manner of its translation. The words selected have all been used to define osteological aspects of the cranium. There are other terms that could have been included in this list, however a few have been well addressed in previous publications (Figure 10), and some are so obscure that there is little more to be understood currently6. Those discussed here represent a cross-section of anatomical terminology; some are rare (gmꜣ), some are common (ḏꜣḏꜣ); the translations of some have been very contentious (tpꜣw), and others have commonly accepted definitions (pꜣḳt). Each term will be parsed in the same fashion: the primary definitions for the word from the authoritative sources mentioned above, and from Erman and Grapow’s Wörterbuch7, will be summarized. Then, building upon these, a broad range of instances in which each word appears will be examined. This process will begin with the study of each word in a variety of non-medical written forms, such as magical/religious texts and belles lettres in general, including didactic literature, and letters. This foundation will be completed by investigating the occurrences of each word in its medical context, with an explanation of the anatomical and pathological information provided by that text. Within the preceding discussions the accepted translations will be assessed based upon their textual evidence and a suggestion for the best possible translation will be provided. The frequency of usage will be analyzed to determine if the word is more common in a medical or non-medical context, and if that impacts the understanding of the word as an anatomical term. Each chapter will 6 For example: sskꜣ, which may mean ‘temple’, but is only found in the Book of the Dead (for example: Papyrus of Neferubenef (Paris Louvre 3092), Spells 69 and 70, line 80); Wb IV, 279, 1. 7 Erman, A. and H.