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SECOND DYNASTY

PALETTES corpus
LABELS corpus
NAQADA IIIB serekhs

THIRD DYNASTY
Unpublished inscription of the Goddess Bastet

Stone Vessels inscriptions of Egyptian Early Dynastic Kings
(based on Wolfgang Helck Z.A.S. 106, 1979 p.129 ff and Peter Kaplony M.D.A.I.K. 20. 1965 p. 1 ff.)

DYNASTIES 1, 2, 3

by FRANCESCO RAFFAELE

Horus Djer  Smr-Ntrw.  Click here to see images' previews only.

Introduction

Stone vessels are one of the most common kind of items deposited (and found) in the Early Dynastic Royal and Private tombs.
They were produced since the earliest stages of the Naqada culture, but the peak of the mastery in their fashioning was during the First Dynasty. They continued to be produced after the Third Dynasty, but at definitely lower levels of craftsmanship. Vessels are more often found smashed into fragments, only rarely are preserved in their integrity.
Most of the inscribed specimen have been found at Abydos Umm el-Qa'ab (by E. Amelineau, W.M.F. Petrie) and Saqqara (Step Pyramid complex of Netjerykhet and Sekhemkhet and North Saqqara tombs), but there are minor amounts from a large number of Upper, Middle and Lower Egyptian cemeteries.
Breccia vessel in form of a bird (British Mus.) Photo by Jon BodsworthThe shape of the vessels varies to a good degree (cfr. A.J. Spencer, Archaic Objects,1980, A. El Khouli,1978, 763ff.) and the range of production for most of the forms is very broad; therefore it's hard to establish the date of a certain vessel if we lack its context of discovery or an inscription onto it; as Prof. A.J. Spencer notes in his introduction to the collection of the British Museum "with unprovenanced material we are really dating the type rather than the individual vessel"; and this date is always something like 'First Dynasty', 'Late First Dynasty', when not 'First or Second Dynasty' ... the typological analysis of Ali El Khouli (1978) is still the main tool available. No study has been devoted to the development and datation of Early Dynastic stone vessels' shapes (but cf. now Aston, 1994; L.M. Mallory, Predynastic and First Dynasty Egyptian Basalt Vessels, PhD thesis, University of Toronto 2000). These new studies and more which have been already programmed or started (as the analysis of the Brussels Museum material from Amelineau and Petrie's excavations of the Abydos, Umm el-Qaab royal tombs) will certainly add more data, both in the clearer definition of early typologies, and in the datation of the shapes according to the material used and the type of manufacture.
Already since the Early Dynastic period, inscriptions do display a large number of hieroglyphs which represent different forms of (stone) vessels (see J. Kahl, Das System..., 1994, 790-822; I. Regulski, 2004).
Nebty Khasekhemwy Nwbkhetsen (UC11754) Shunet ez Zebib, Abydos (Diorite, Late 2nd Dynasty) Petrie, Tomb of the Courtiers 1921, Pl. 8,18What we are focusing onto here is the inscriptional evidence which characterizes a part of these objects. Unfortunately El-Khouli's thesis didn't deal with this aspect which hasn't been dealt with by anyone else to my knowledge (contrarily see van den Brink's recent studies on Naqada IIIB-C1 pottery incised serekhs).
We know more or less 300 vessels (or fragments) with inscriptions of kings of Dynasties I to III; they report names and titles of officials, mention administrative, templar, funerary structures, royal palaces, sometimes they record feasts and other very important celebrations (Kings' Heb Sed), and, above all, they often have the royal name (Horus name or Nebty-Neswbity).
For this reason they have the same importance (and some similarities in the inscriptional evidence) as the 1st Dynasty Labels (albeit this is particularly true for vases with ink inscriotions rather than for those with incised ones).
Later bowls of the VIth Dynasty bear inscription fashioned with the year-sign to the right side, as the Royal Annals; this is a feature which appeared, before the late Old Kingdom, only on some pieces of Khasekhem from Hierakonpolis; later similar (ink) inscriptions on stone vessels have been found in the Step Pyr. complex (three, in P.D. V p. 88-90; Njnetjer's reign ?) and at Elephantine (three, in Dreyer, FS Fecht 1987 p. 98-109 probably from the reign of Huni - Njswteh), but despite their uncommonly longer text than on the other vessels, they have no royal name.
The stone vessels inscriptions are made by incisions on the (generally outer) surface of the vessel; very few examples are known which have been carved in relief.
Incisions are often filled by a coloured paste which makes them show up more visibly on the spotted or veined stone types.
Abundant are also the vessels inscribed in black or red ink (in this case the inscription is often found inside the vessel): these form the large corpus (Pyr.Deg. V) found at Saqqara, which Netjerykhet probably gathered from the storerooms of the surrounding IInd Dynasty Royal Tombs. For Helck (ZAS 106) these inscriptions in ink date to the reign of Ninetjer (as shown by the recurrant name of Khnemwenii or Jj-n-Khnemw) and (the vessels) may be still earlier. On palaeographic grounds, and also supported by the more probable later datation of the possible tomb of Ji-en-Khnum at Saqqara, 2498, I. Regulski (2004) has recently proposed that ink inscriptions could be from Khasekhemwy's time.

Frog (breccia) Stone vessel (BM65240)As in later periods (New Kingdom), these objects were 'status markers', 'powerfacts', because they could be owned only through a gift of the king to his most valuable administrators. In the private tombs they had, aside the function of containing the food/drinks offerings for the dead, also a value by themselves (similar to the later Gold of Value which the general Djehwty received from Thutmose III); some vessels are indeed 'dummy-vessels', i.e. they're not hollow (especially frequent in the 2nd Dynasty), others have ornamental forms inspired to animals (birds, frogs, fishes, pigs), plants (lotus, water lily), objects (stands, tables, granaries, baskets, hieroglyphs-personal names "Ankh-Ka", and beautiful multifoiled circular bowls). Many shapes are also found on earlier slate palettes, thus vessels could also have a value as amulets, apotropaic items or cult images (temples' furniture).
The vessels of the galleries (VI-VII) beneath the pyramid of Netjerykhet were not for food storage; they were neither sealed, and the only seal impressions found in the galleries (Khasekhemwy and Netjerykhet himself) were probably those impressed on the clay of the cords which had closed the sacks containing the stone vessels collected from previous periods.2nd-3rd Dynasty Stone vessels in Cairo Museum

In the Early Dynastic period the inscribed stone vessels are rare out of Egypt, (IInd dyn., Khasekhemwy at Byblos: Montet Kemi 1, 83ff) in contrast with the abundance of pottery (Narmer); later, with the Vth and especially the VIth Dynasty, there are a plenty of examples found abroad, in Sudan (Pepi I,II, Kerma), Anatolia (at Dorak, Vth dyn.), and obviously in the Southern Levant / Near East.
We have evidenced the value of these objects for the élite, but what about the reason which made some early kings 'drag' their predecessors' tombs' magazines to appropriate all of their vessels for their own tomb's storerooms?
Was it only to reuse them for their food offerings without having to make their craftsmen build more, or are there deeper and maybe magical/symbolical reasons? (cf. Helck, ZAS 106, 1979; Lauer, Pyr. Deg. V, 1965, Conclusions). Similar usurpations occur for statuary and other artifacts.
Another similar practice to that of appropriating the vessels from past rulers' furniture, was to erase the royal name; this also encountered with statues. The practice is known from the end of the Ist Dynasty (Adjib's vessels) up to the Second (Nebra); these vessels' usurpations often made some scholars dub "unlegitimate rulers" those kings who adopted this practice (Semerkhet), but it's an untenable and old idea which can't be considered valid at all anymore.
The quantity of vessels grew in the second half of the Ist Dynasty with the reign of Adjib; this is the king of whom the least number of labels have been found (only 1, fragmentary). But the functions and the subjects of the inscriptions on Stone Vessels, on labels and on cylinder seals is, we must precise it, totally distinct, although some overlapping characters are noticeable.
More than a dozen of examples give rows of royal names, the Neswt-bity / Nebty of Den, Adjib, Semerkhet and Qa'a: in this case, therefore, the previous names have been retained and the successive rulers appropriate the vessels but made them be inscribed beside, not over, the predecessors' inscriptions (see W. Helck 'Untersuchungen zur Thinitenzeit' p.101; P.D. n.19).
The quality of the vessels steadily increases with the early 1st Dynasty, and the apex is perhaps the reign of Den. Afterwards there is a slow decay up to the middle of the Second Dynasty (many roughly shaped dummy vessels) although the reign of Khasekhemwy have left once again admirable and, not seldom, unique shapes (little bowls closed by gold foils are very fine artefacts).

A further particularity of interest about these objects is that in some cases they have preserved names of previously unknown ephemeral rulers: Sneferka, Bird, Za, Nwbnefer; sometimes they are the only contemporary source for kings otherwise unknown or attested in later documents only: Wng, Sened (but for this latter's name on a brick inscr. from Saqqara see his page).
After the end of the Second Dynasty the manufacture of stone vessels abruptly declined: only one stone vessels (unprovenanced) is known bearing the name of Netjerykhet, the king whom funerary complex yielded so many thousands fragments of older kings' vessels.
We cannot be sure of the date of vessels which lack any inscription, but it has been often expressed the idea that Djoser's sculptors must have concentrated upon stone statues and architecture, therefore the stone vessels' craftmanship would have declined in his reign (and he would eventually reuse his predecessors' vessels).
It has never been made a specific study on the datation of the non-inscribed stone vessels found in the Step Pyramid; Ali El-Khouli dated most of them to the Third Dynasty. It must be said that Third Dynasty private tombs like Saqqara 3073 (Khabausokar), 3518, 2405 (Hesyra) or Bet Khallaf K1 contained large amounts of stone vessels; but after this period there is a sensibly decreased archaeological evidence (cf. Bet Khallaf K2, Zawiyet el Aryan Z500) especially owing to those excavations which Firth, Quibell and Emery made at North Saqqara in the last years of their respective lives (see El-Khouli, op. cit., p. xi ff.) and which remained largely unpublished.
For the remaining kings of the Third Dynasty the inscriptions on vessels are not attested except for Khaba: on his pieces the serekh and name have a particular carving (or hammering) technique; they are all from Zawiyet el Aryan Layer Pyramid cem. (cfr. D. Dunham, 1978, Arkell J.E.A. 42, 44, N. Swelim, S.P., T. Wilkinson, E.D.E., Lehner in 'Studies W.K.Simpson', tomb Z500) or unprovenanced.
As already cited, six 'annalistic' ink-inscriptions (three of Dyn. 2: Ninetjer or, less probably, Khasekhemwy; three of Dyn. 3: perhaps Huni) have been found (cfr. above); Sekhemkhet also used some vessels which were destined to Ninetjer or Djoser (ink inscrip. of Jj-n-Khnemw); 700 vessels were found by Z. Goneim under Sekhemkhet's Pyramid, but only an irrilevant number was adequately published.
With the Fourth Dynasty the inscriptions on stone vessels appeared again and they became numerous once again under the Fifth and Sixth Dynasty kings.

Brussels (MRAH), E552 (mirrored photo): See Lacau-Lauer, PD IV.2, p.62, fig. 7; Amelineau, Nouv. Fouill. II, pl. 22.8 (Middle 2nd Dynasty)Brussels (MRAH) E575: See Lacau-Lauer, PD IV.1, p.35; Amelineau, Nouv. Fouill. II, pl. 21.5 (Ninetjer)
See Kaplony, in: ZAS 88, 1952, 5ff (nr. 16) Kofler-Truniger, Lucerne (now in Boston MFA?) Late 1st Dyn. - early 2nd Dyn (?)

The importance of these inscriptions, apart from the means of chronological assistance, is in the details they reveal of the complex system of the organization of the state through hundreds of named structures, buildings, institutions and the name and titles of their principal administrators, the place of the manufacture of the vessels (Hatnub and other unidentified), marks of the workshops, the celebrations that the vessels were fashioned and inscribed to commemorate (Heb Sed, 'Gotterfestungen' and temples' opening, offerings to shrines, gods' festivals), the names of phyles, of donors or receptors, and those of the establishments of origin or destination of these gifts.

Apart from the royal and private names, a clue to the date of the vessels -more precise than the shapes typology- can be obtained by the palaeographical and epigraphical study of the inscriptions and by the arrangement of themselves in vertical or horizontal lines (this latter orientation is extremely rare before the reign of Horus Sekhemib).
The problem of forgeries (either fake inscriptions on original vessels or forged uninscribed vessels) is an actual one (cf. Kaplony, Steingefasse).

Finally some precisations on the Stone Vessels manufacture: the stones used were more or less hard varieties, common or rare (few vessels are known of flint, lapislazuli, obsidian); some were imported from abroad, and almost all were extracted only by royal authorized expeditions. The king had the monopoly on all the stages of the stone vessels production. The commonest stones used were alabaster (calcite), limestone, schist (slate/ greywacke), basalt, diorite, porphiry, marble, volcanic ash, then crystal, breccia, serpentine, syenite, dolomite, granite, quartz and some rerer ones. Stone drills and bead drills (Gardiner Hieroglyphic sign-list n. U-24-U27
The raw block was initially pireced by a small tool which created the hole to insert the drill. After the drill (and sand used as an abrasive agent) hollowed the vessel, this latter was refined, carved and polished (El Khouli, op. cit., 789ff.).
The drill (Hmj; WB III, 82-6) was the hieroglyph (Gardiner signs U24-25) to determine "crafts" ("art") and related words. It was a wooden pole with a stone or two heavy bags tied on one end (to augment by their weight the penetrative effect) and a stone or copper point at the other end (often set in the crescent shaped extremity).
The use of "figure of eight shaped" drills, which was associated to the larger diffusion of tuff as a material for vessels late in the First Dynasty, led to qualitatively lower results (thicker walls or dummy vessels, largely widespread in the mid Second Dynasty). Cf. S. Bielen, in: Hendrickx et al. (eds.), Egypt at its Origins, 2004,621-35; S. Hendrickx, S. Bielen, P. de Paepe, in: MDAIK 57, 2001, 73-108).

Predynastic and Early Dynastic vessels are present in most of the Egyptian Museums all over the World, but the (numerically) largest collections are those which share the ownership of the Abydos and the Memphite necropolis vessels and fragments threrof: the Cairo Museum and its basement, the Saqqara inspectorate, the Brussels RMAH and the Petrie Museum at University College, London (New York MMA, Philadelphia University Museum, Berlin Museuim, the Louvre, the Liverpool and the London British Museum also posses respectable collections).

For possible titles of sculptor and engraver of stone vessels: Weill 'Ire Dynastie' p. 109-113, contra Helck cit. p. 258;
for stone vessels making: Denys A. Stocks in K. Bard ed. 'Encyclopedia of the Archaeology of Ancient Egypt' 1999, 749-51; A. Lucas - J.R. Harris 'Ancient Egyptian Materials and Industries' 1962, p. 421 ff; Lucas, in: JEA 16, 1930, p. 200-212; W. Emery, Archaic Egypt 1961, 214 ff; W. Needler, Predynastic and Archaic Egypt in the Brooklyn Museum 1984, 238-9; see also J. Spencer and J- Crowfoot-Payne catalogs and J. Vercoutter, in: CdE 68, 1993, 77-80.
For some problems connected with Stone Vessels function and use cf. F. Raffaele, Stone Vessels in Early Dynastic Egypt, in: CCdE 7/8, 2005, 47-60.

Stone vessels Corpus:
Ali el-Khouli, Egyptian Stone Vessels Predynastic period to Dynasty III. Typology and analysis, Mainz am Rhein, 1978 (3 vols.)
B.G. Aston, Ancient Egyptian Stone Vessels. Materials and Forms. Heidelberg, 1994.

Saqqara annalistic ink inscriptionsCorpus of Stone vessels inscriptions from Step Pyramid Complex of Djoser, Saqqara:
P. Lacau - J.P. Lauer, La Pyramide à Degrés, Tome IV, 1-2 (incised inscr.); Tome V (ink inscr.), Cairo 1959, 1961; 1965
Annalistic inscriptions (without royal names) on alabaster vessels (Second Dynasty):
ibid., tome V, 88-90 (nr. 172-174; see image on the right >);
cf. the beer jar inscriptions from Elephantine (late 3rd Dynasty):
G. Dreyer, Drei Archaisch-Hieratische Gefassaufschriften mit jahresnamen aus Elephantine, in: FS Fecht 1987, 98-109;
Kahl, Kloth, Zimmermann, Die Inschriften der 3. Dynastie, 1995, 168-171; M. Baud, Djéser et la IIIe dynastie, 2002, 56-59.

Datation of the (ink) inscriptions on stone vessels from Saqqara SPC:
W. Helck, ZAS 106, 1979, 129 ff.
I. Regulski, Cracow 2002 International Conference. Origin of the State. Abstracts of Papers.
I. Regulski, Second Dynasty Ink Inscriptions from Saqqara... RMAH in Brussels, in: S. Hendrickx et al. (eds.), Egypt at its Origins, 2004, 949-970.

Museums:
To my knowledge the largest amount of Early Dynastic Egyptian Stone vessels (with inscriptions) is found in the Cairo Museum (and in its basement, as well as in the deposit of the North Saqqara inspectorate) and in the Brussels Museum; there are large collections in other European and US museums too.

Private Collections:
P. Kaplony, Steingefasse mit Inschriften...., 1968
P. Kaplony, Beischriftete Kleinfunde, 1973 (Michailidis coll.)

Web-links (stone vessels/stone working in Ancient Egypt):
http://nefertiti.iwebland.com/trades/stone_vessels.htm
http://www.digitalegypt.ucl.ac.uk/alphabet.html
http://www.petrie.ucl.ac.uk/ (search the collection for several examples)
http://www.geocities.com/unforbidden_geology/ancient_egyptian_stone_vase_making.html

http://www.geocities.com/unforbidden_geology/ancient_egyptian_copper_coring_drills.html
http://www.sunship.com/egypt/articles/stonetech.html


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All Kings

Inscription
n. in Pyr. Deg. IV (East galleries VI/VII if not differently indicated)

Total number (P.D.IV+Other locations)
 
King-name .......other
   
Narmer
Horus
n.1 ........................... 1
 Fragm. in Abydos, Delta ...
Aha
Horus
Horus + 1st Apis feast
Horus + Princess Bnr-ib (Im3-ib)
Horus + Prince Tjaty
Horus + Prince Tjaty + Neithhotep
Horus + Prince
-
-
-
-
-
-
10
1
4 (Abydos)
4
1
1
Djer
Horus
Horus + Hwt Smr-ntrw
-
n.2-15 ...................14
2 (MDAIK 56: Djer + Djet)
15
Djet
Horus
Horus + Neith
n.16 .........................1
n.17 .........................1
7
1 + 1 with unclear inscr.
Den
Khasty
Horus
Horus + Prince Mafdjwt (Djw Mafdet ?)
[Horus ?] 2nd Heb Sed
Neswt-bity
Nswt-bity serie (see below)
-
-
-
n.22 .........................1
-
2
1
M.D.A.I.K. 46, p.80,fig. 9,pl. 26d
4 (n.22 +Khnmwenii ink)
-
Adjib
(fig. 1)


Merbiape
(fig.2)
Horus
Horus + Hwt Za-Ha-Hor
Horus + White Crown statue
Horus + Red Crown statue + Sm3 Tawy, Shen'a
Horus + White Crown statue + Sm3 Tawy, Shen'a
Horus + King statue
Horus + King staue with Harpoon
Horus + Za-Ha-Hor + (1st) Heb-Sed
Hwt-Ka Hor Adjib
Nswt-bity/Nebwy (or Neterwy) Mer-bia-Pe
Nswt-bity/Nebwy + Hwt Qd-Htp
Nswt-bity/Nebwy + serie (see below)
n.23-25 ....................3
n.26-29 fragments..... 4
n.30 ..........................1
n.31,32,33.................3
(pl. en. III,2) Amelineau
n.34 fragments.............1
-
n. 35 fragm..................1
-
-
-
-
12 (Abydos)
n. 28 from Entrance colonn.
1(+Khnmwneferhotep ink)
-
Abydos (N.F. 96-7 t. 21,4
4
1
5 (Abydos)
1 (M.D.A.I.K. 20 n.39)
11
1 (R.T. II pl. 48.102)
-
Semerkhet

Iry Ntr
Horus
Horus + Hwt-Ka (?)
Horus + Prince (?) Smr-Sopdw
Horus serie (see below)
Nswt-bity
Nswt-bity + Visit at the Hwt Htp-Nswt
Nebty
n. 38 fragm. ...............1
-
-
-
-
-
n.37 .fragm.................1
2
1
1
-
1
1 (I.A.F.S. n.1078 bis= B.K.n.11)
3 : also P.D. IV n.38, 39
Qa'a
(fig. 1)


Qa'a
(fig. 2) [1]
Horus
Horus + (Heb) Sed
Horus + 2nd Heb-Sed
...........
Horus + 2nd Heb-Sed
Horus + Qaw-Ntrw + Hwt Ntr , swdj Khnmw
Horus + PrNsw Hwt Za-Ha-Nb +iz 'ah ntr +NfrNtrw
Horus + Hwt Pe-Hor-Msn
Horus serie (see below)
Nswt-bity/Nebty Ipet (+ Horus + 2nd Heb-Sed)
Nswt-bity/Nebty Hwt Pe-Hor-Msn, 'Aa Khnty Za-wr
Nswt-bity
Nswt-bity + Hwt Za-Ha-Nb + Hwt Pe-Hor-Msn
Nswt-bity + Hwt Za-Ha-Nb + Nfr Ntrw
Nswt-bity + Ship (wtjs ?)
Nswt-bity - (?) Ship
Nswt-bity + (?)
Nswt-bity - Qa'a-Nebty
Nswt-bity serie (see below)
-
-
n.41 ...........................1
.................
n.42-43 .fragm............2
n.44-45......................2
n.46 ...........................1
-
-
-
n.40............................1
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
2
R.T. I pl. 8.7
1(ink inscript. : Heb-Sed Sesher-ntrw Khnmwenii)
6
2
11
1
-
1 (?) Kaplony, Steingefasse n.12
9
7
2
1
1
1
1
2
-
Den,Adjib, Semerhet,Qaa
Nswt-bity Khasty + Nebwy Adjib + Nswt-bity Irj Netjer Nebty + Nswt-bity Qa'a Nebty + Hwt Pe-Hor-Msn
n.19-21.....n.19 frag....3
9 ? (See photo below)
Adjib, Qa'a
Nebwy (Ntrwy) Adjib + Nswt-bity/Nebty Qa'a
n.36 SW South court .1
1
 Semerhet,Qaa
Horus Semerhet + Horus Qa'a
H. S.+Q. + Hwt Pe-Hor-Msn + 'Aa-Khnty + Htp-ntr
n.38 (pl. IV en. 3) ......1
n.39............................1
1
1
Sneferka
Horus + Qaw-ntrw + Hwt-ntr , swdj-Khnmw
Horus + hm-shenwwt
Serekh + Hwt Za-Ha-Nb + Pr-Nswt + Khnty Za Wr
n.86............................1
-
-
1 (usurped; cfr. PD IV, 40)
1 (1: Kapl. Steingefasse n.13
1: Saqqara G.T. III tav.38,1
Bird [2]
Horus + ? (an indistinguishable bird hieroglyph)
Horus + Pr-Nswt + Khnty Za wr + Hwt Za-Ha-Nb
(P.D. IV pl.en. IV,6)
n. 108 (pl. IV,7).........1
R.T. II pl. VIII A 6
1
Bird ?
Horus + Hwt Ha-Ka-Za + Pr-Nswt + Khnty
(Name reading unclear, maybe = Horus Bird(?) above.
Cf. Kapl. MDAIK 20, p.3)
n.97............................1
cfr. Horusname in Kapl. I.A.F. III n.742
1 with an ink inscription : shedet, Hwt-Ka Hor Za Khnmwenii
 Htpsekhmwy
(fig.1) 

 
 
Hotep
(fig.2)
Horus (n.47-51 on vase with handle)
Horus + Upper Eg.-Lower Eg. Crowns Shrine
Horus + Upper Eg. Crown Shrine
Horus + Lower Eg. Crown Shrine
Horus + Bastet + grgt-Bastt
Horus (without Serekh) Hwt-Ka Ntr-Akhty
Horus + Hwt-Ka Hor Hotepsekhemwy
Horus + Hwt Za-Ha-Ka (+ Iz Mehty or + Iz Djefa)
Nswt-bity/Nebty
Nswt-bity/Nebty + Khnty Za wr
Nswt-bity/Nebty + Hwt Za-Ha-Qd (?)
Nswt-bity/Nebty + iz - Up. Low. Eg. Crowns Shrine
Nswt-bity/Nebty + Hwt Pe-Hor-Msn
n.47-53......................7
n.54 ..........................1
n.55-56.....................2
-
n.57-58.....................2
n.59-60.....................2
-
-
n.79-81 frag...............3
n.82 ..........................1
n.83 from gall.VIII.....1
n.84-85 ....................2
-
10; on n.52 ink ins.: stp-sftt
1
2
2
3; on n. 58 Nebra is added
3; see Kapl. MDAIK 20, 3
5 (cfr. Nineter PD IV n.74)
3
4
1
1
2
1
Nebra
Horus + Hwt-Ka Hor Nebra (near 2nd Hb-Sd Hor Qa'a)
Horus (see Hotepsekhemwy - P.D. IV n.58)
Horus (see Nineter - P.D. IV n.77)
Horus (see Ninetjer - R.T. II pl. 8.12)
-
-
-
-
1: Kaplony, Steingefasse n.16
-
-
-
Nineter
(fig.1)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Nineter
(fig.2)
Horus + Hwt-Ka Hor Hotepsekhemwy
Horus + Up. Eg. Crown Shrine
Horus + Shedet Hwt Pe-Hor-Msn Hor Nebra; Neith
Nswt-bity(/Nebty)
Nswt-bity/Nebty + Iz Djefa Bastet + Za wr
Nswt-bity/Nebty + Iz Djefa Bastet + Za wr + Khnty
Nswt-bity/Nebty + Iz Djefa Nebw (Netrw) + Za wr
Nswt-bity/Nebty + Iz Djefa Nebwy (Netrwy) + Za wr
... +Khnty + Za wadjtyw
Nswt-bity/Nebty + Iz Djefa Ntr
Nswt-bity/Nebty + Za wadjtyw
Nswt-bity/Nebty + i'a r'a-nb, Za 'ankh
N.-b./N. + Iz i'a r'a-nb + Hwt Za-Ha-Nb Hor Nebra
Nswt-bity/Nebty + God +'Ankh izwt +Za wr +tp mrw
Nswt-bity/Nebty + God +'Ankh izwt +Za wr +tp mrw
... +Pr-Kherw -'Ash
Nswt-bity/Nebty + wild-bull Ship
Nswt-bity/Nebty + Hry-Ship
Nswt-bity/Nebty + Prince Nineter-nebty
Nebty + hry-hb + hwt-smr + pr-desher
(Gold name ?) Hwt Mnt-'Ankh Nwb Rn
n.74 ..........................1
n.78 ..........................1
n.77 ..........................1
n.72 fragm.................1
n.63-66 ....................4
n. 67 fragm................1
n.68 ..........................1
.........
n.69 ..........................1
-
n.71 ..........................1
n.73 ..........................1
-
n.75 ..........................1
.........
n.76 ..........................1
-
-
-
n.70 ..........................1
n.98 ..........................1
1 (usurped from Hotep.)
1
1
7
4 (n.63 has a ink inscr.)
1
1
.......
1
1
1
1 (Abydos: NF II pl. 31,5)
1 (R.T II pl.8.12)
1
.......
1
1
1
1
1
1 (cfr. Palermo Stone titul.)
Wng
(= Za ?)
Nswt-bity/Nebty
Nswt-bity/Nebty + Great Ship
Nswt-bity/Nebty + wild-bull (sma) Ship
Nswt-bity/Nebty + sba Hor-akhty (or -tawy) Ship
Nswt-bity/Nebty + Nebty Crown Shrine
Nswt-bity/Nebty + Iz-Djefa Nebwy (or Ntrwy)
n.101-104 .................4
n.105 .........................1
n.106 .........................1
n.107 .........................1
-
-
5 (Kaplony, B.K. n. 27)
1
1
1
2
1

Za
Hwt-Ka Hor Za (a building or Horus name ?)
(see also PD IV n. 97 p.47-48)
PD V pl.6, 7
PD IV n.97 (ink)
39 (uncertain chronol. posit.
cfr. ASAE 28 pl. 4.4, 4.7)
Snd
Nswt-bity (/Nebty ?) - (no inscription) 1 (Holscher, Chefren 106)
Nwbnefer
Nswt-bity + Hwt Mnt-'Ankh (see also n.98, Ninetjer?) n.99-100 ...................2 2 (n.100 S. treas. house pit)
Peribsen
Nswt-bity/Nebty
Seth
Seth + In-Setjet + Zesh Ze(m)wt
-
- (no inscription)
-
1 (R.T. I pl. 4.7)
1 (M.D.A.I.K. 20 n.51)
1: Kaplony, Steingefasse n. 18
Sekhemib-
Perenmaat
Horus (Sekhemib)
Horus + God (Seth/Ash ?)
Nswt-bity/Nebty (Sekhemib Perenmaat) (+ In-Khaswt,
Iz Djefa, Per Nswt, Per Shena, Iry Khet Nswt)
Nswt-bity/Nebty (" ") Per-Nw Hm-Ntr Nzr Kherty
-
-
- all in fragm. out of galleries
n.87-94 .....................8
-
1 (M.D.A.I.K. 20 n. 52)
2 (Spencer, EDO n.277-8)
...
9 (Kaplony, B.K. n. 28)
1: Kaplony, Steingefasse n. 19
Khasekhem
Khaskhmwy
Khaskhmwy
Horus+Year of defeating Low.Egypt.+Besh+sma-tawy
Horus-Seth (Khasekhemwy Nebwyhotepimef)
Nswt-bity (/Nebty) (1 ex.: Nebty Khaskhmwy Nwbkhets[en])
n.18 ..........................1
n.95 .South tomb........1
-
5
3 (1 from Byblos, Kemi 1 p.84)
3
Neterykhet
Horus
- (no inscription but seal.)
1: Kaplony, Steingefasse n. 21
Zanakht
Horus- (no inscription but seal.) -
Kh'aba
Horus - 11 (Zawiyet el Aryan - unprov.)
No other stone vessel inscr. is known before Snofrw; but Sekhemkhet used old stone vessels marked by ink inscr. of Khnwmenii (jj-n-khnwm) and some annalistic ink inscriptions without king-name have been found at the Step Pyr. (PD V, 88-90) and at Elephantine (these latter prob. Huni's)
Nebmaat
Snofrw
Horus
Horus Neswt-bity (?) unclear
Nswt-bity
No name + Feasts
No name + service notes
-
-
-
-
-
10 : 4 int. + 6 fragm.
1 : Petrie Hist.(10° ed) f. 31
15 : 10 int. + 5 fragm.
15 : 10 int. + 5 fragm.
36 : 11 int. + 25 fragm.

[1] The occurrance of Sen Nebty on some unprovenanced vessels' inscriptions should be a (non royal) person name (IAF 626)
[2] There are 4 kings with scarcely known names in this period (?): Sneferka, Sekhet (?), Bird and Ba;
Sneferka and the name read Sekhet are referenced above; here we must clarify that there is no relation between the Horus Bird (the sign is a simple bird which hasn't been specifically read) and Horus Ba (for this cfr. Swelim 'Some Problems ...' p.182-3); this latter name is written with a B (leg) + Ram (Ba) and it could also date to the Third Dynasty (ibid). See my page here.
Kaplony (MDAIK 20 p. 3) and, recently, T. Wilkinson ('Early Dynastic Egypt' p. 82) seem to identify/mistake the two names.

P. Kaplony, Steingefasse (1968) n. 9, Pl.  2 and 18; Unprovenanced. Private collection. Pyroxen-Syenite. H. : 7,2 cm, D. : 30,0 cm. 1st Dynasty, c. 2900-2850 B.C.

Francesco Raffaele 15-08-2000 / 4-08-2001

Unpublished inscription of the Goddess Bastet

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