The Coronation of King Ḥaremḥab Author(s): Alan Gardiner Source: The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, Vol. 39 (Dec., 1953), pp. 13-31 Published by: Sage Publications, Ltd. Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/3855308 Accessed: 11-12-2019 19:35 UTC JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at https://about.jstor.org/terms Sage Publications, Ltd. is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology This content downloaded from 132.174.255.49 on Wed, 11 Dec 2019 19:35:30 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms (13) THE CORONATION OF KING HAREMHAB By SIR ALAN GARDINER IN this Coronation year of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II of England an Egypto- logist's thoughts travel back easily to a comparable event that occurred well over three thousand years ago. Temple-scenes depicting a god placing the crown on a young sovereign's head are not uncommon, but verbal descriptions of the accompanying ceremonies are very rare. Indeed, there exists none more straightforward and perspi- cuous than that which forms the subject of the present article. The inscription at the back of Haremhab's statue in the Turin Museum has interested me ever since, some fifty-five years ago, I read it for the first time with my revered teacher and friend Francis Llewellyn Griffith. Like so many other Egyptian historical texts this one has remained down to the present day without a completely accurate publication,' a lacuna in our documentation which the gracious help of the Director of the Turin Museum enables me now to fill. Not only did Professor Scamuzzi supply the splendid photo- graph shown here in pl. I, but he also equipped me with a series of photographs and rubbings, and, above all, with a squeeze which, checked with my own careful hand-copy from the original, has provided the material for Miss Broome's admirable reproduction of the text in pi. II. The hieroglyphs being very indistinctly cut in the dark-grey granite, an absolute facsimile was neither feasible nor yet really desirable, but our plate approximates closely to one and will, I believe, be found completely trustworthy.2 The group itself, of excellent workmanship, represents Haremhab seated beside his queen, the [Cs foloin g r.9, ps sibl [Great Wife of the King, Lady of] the Two Lands, Mutnodjme, beloved of Isis, mother of the god, may she live eternally. Our business being solely with the inscription on the back, details concerning the actual figures are left to those better qualified to deal with them.3 Nevertheless, I cannot refrain from drawing attention, as many have done before, to the extraordinary depic- tion of a female winged sphinx worshipping in front of the queen's cartouche. This The text, S. Birch in Trans.B SBA nI, 486-95 with two plates drawn by J. Bonomi; H. Brugsch, Thesaurus I073-8, these two perhaps the only independent ones. The main translations are: Breasted, Anc. Rec. III, §§ 22- 32; Maspero in Th. M. Davis, The Tombs of Harmhabi and Touatadnkhamanou, pp. 9-11, 19-21. I have also made some references to Brugsch's rendering in his Geschichte Aegyptens, 440 ff. and to notes by Erman in his Chrestomathie, 5 1* ff. 2 Apart from some broken and uncertain groups at the beginnings of 11. 4. 5. IO. 13, the only points in doubt are: 1. 6, the small sign following r-hry, possibly meant for o rather than 0; 1. 12, the signs after sms, doubtless to be understood as our -1\ ; 1. 2I, the determinative of nhm, more likely to be the tree l than a sceptre. In 1. 8 = is very thin and badly made, as also is the -- of hr's at the end of the line. In 1. 19 A of the Horus-name is no more than a thickish tapering stroke. 3 See particularly Champollion, Lettres a M. le Duc de Blacas, 48 ff.; Fabretti, Rossi, and Lanzone, Regio Museo di Torino, o06; also for the figure of the queen, Roeder in Mitt. Vorderas. Ges. 37 (1932), pl. 4, with p. 14 (i6). This content downloaded from 132.174.255.49 on Wed, 11 Dec 2019 19:35:30 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms I4 SIR ALAN GARDINER occupies the upper half of the left side of the throne and is well seen in our plate. A closely similar representation, extending even to the fantastic headdress, is found on the plaque of sard formerly in the Carnarvon collection,' but there it is Amenophis III's cartouche which is held in the sphinx's hands. I have no certain explanation to offer.2 The remains of a small scene above the great inscription at the back are likewise entirely cryptic so far as I am concerned. Of considerable interest for our undertaking is a fragmentary quartzite stela of great size first noted by Daressy3 near the pylons of the temple of Ptah at Memphis. The texts were published anew and equally unsatisfactorily by Petrie a few years later.4 To Newberry5 belongs the credit of having recognized on the Memphite stela several sen- tences recurring verbatim in the Turin text. These leave no doubt that the former like- wise belongs to the reign of Haremhab. On this subject see further the Appendix at the end of the present article. Translation (I) [Life to the Horus 'Strong Bull, ready of plans', Two Goddesses 'Great of marvels in Ipet- esut', Horus of Gold] 'Satisfied with Truth, fostering the Two Lands', King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Lord of the Two Lands 'Djeserkheprure^-setpenrec', Son of Re<, Lord of Diadems,'Haremhaba- miamfn', [beloved of] Horus, lord of HInesb,?, [given life eternally?]. (2) .............. [offshoot of?] Kamephis ; Amun King of the Gods (was he) who nursed him ;d Horus, son of Isis, his guardianship was the talisman of his flesh. He came forth from the body clad in majesty, the aspecte of a god upon him. He made . (3) . Bowed unto him was the arm in youth, the ground kissed byf great and small. Food in abundance attendedg him while he was (still) a child without understandingh .. (4) ........ courtiers(?) . of the entire people. The form of a god was his aspect in the sight of him who beheld his dread (?)i image. His father Horus placed himself behind him,i his creator made his protection. One generation passed, another (5) [came]k ........ he knew the day of his good pleasure to give him his kingship.1 Lo, this god distinguished his son in the sight of the entire people, (for) he desired to enlarge his gaitm until should come the day of his receiving his" office, causing (6) [him] ........... of his time,o and the heart of the king being content with his dealings, and rejoicing at the choice of him. HeP set him to be supreme chiefq of the land in order to steer the laws of the Two Regions as Hereditary Prince of this entire land. He was unique, without a second. [His] plans (7) ........ [and the people were happy] at the utterance(s) of his mouth, he being summoned before the Sovereign when it, the Palace,r fell into rage, and he opened his mouth and answered the king and appeased him with the utterance of his mouth. Alone efficient, without (8) ............ all his plans were as the gait of the Ibis, his conduct (in the) form of the Lord of Hasr6,s rejoicing at Trutht like the Beaky one, delighting over her like Ptah, he woke in the morning that he might make presentation of her, she being placed (9) ....... ....... .....his dealings, treading upon her path, she it is shall make u his protection upon earth for the length of eternity. Now he acted as vicegerentv of the Two Lands over a period of many years (and) reported (Io) JEA 3, pl. ii. 2 Nor has C. de Wit, Le rdle et le sens du lion, 55, where other analogous depictions are quoted. Some con- nexion seems possible with the coronation statues studied by Militza Matthiew, JEA i6, 31 f. Can the female sphinx be the goddess Tephenis as in the scene from Es-Sebu'a quoted by Mme Matthiew from Leps., Denkm. III, X82, e? 3 Ann. Serv. 3, 27 f. 4 Petrie, Memphis I, pl. 6. 5 Ancient Egypt [x], 1925, 4. This content downloaded from 132.174.255.49 on Wed, 11 Dec 2019 19:35:30 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms THE CORONATION OF KING HAREMHAB I5 ............... the councillors doing obeisance at the gatesw of the King's House, the great ones of the Nine Bows approaching him, South as well as North, their arms outstretched at his encounter, and they paid honourx to his face as (to) a god. And all that was done was done at [his] command (ii) ...his tread, hi his majesty being great in the sight of the populace. Prosperity and health were prayed for on his behalf: 'AssuredlyY he is the father of the Two Regions, (of) precious understanding by the gift of god to bring to port (12) [this land?] ' [Now when many days] had passed over these things, the eldest son of Horusaa being supreme chief and Hereditary Prince of this entire land, lo, this noble god Horus of Hnes, his heart desired to establish his son upon his eternal throne, and [he] commanded (I3) ........Amn.