Ancient Egyptian Science: A Source Book, Vol. 1: Knowledge and Order, tome 1

217 Pages·1989·5.93 MB·English

by  Marshall Clagett

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Ancient Egyptian
Ancient Egyptian
Science
A Source Book
by Marshall Clagett
Volume One
Knowledge and Order
Tome One
Map of Nile Valley
American Philosophical Society
Independence Square • Philadelphia
Map of the Nile Valley. Copied from W.S
Smith, Ancient Egypt, p. 192, with the permis 1989
sion of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
Memoirs of the
AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY
Held at Philadelphia
for Promoting Useful Knowledge
Volume 184
For Sue Once Again
Copyright © 1989 by the American Philosophical Society for its Memoirs series,
Volume 184
Library of Congress Catalog card No: 89-84668
International Standard Book Number: 0-87169-184-1
US ISSN: 0065-9738
Jacket Illustration: Front Several depictions of Maat, from Lanzone, Dizionario de mitologia egizia.
Back Re-Osiris, from the tomb of Nefertari, from Piankoff and Rambova, The
Tomb of Ramesses VI.
End paper illustrations: Front The Shabaka Stone. Dynasty 24. From Breasted, “The Philosophy
of a Memphite Priest.”
Back A vignette for Spell 110 of the Book of the Dead, from Naville, Das
agyptische Todtenbuch, vol. I.
Table of Contents
Volume One
Tome One
Preface ix
Section I: Knowledge
Chapter One. The Fruits of Scribal Activity in
Ancient Egypt 1
Document 1.1. The Early Egyptian Annals on Stone,
generally called the Palermo Stone 47
Document 1.2. The "Biography" of Metjen 143
Document 1.3. Inscriptions from the Tomb of
Niankhsekhmet 173
Document 1.4. Inscriptions from the Entrance of the
Tomb of Washptah 181
Document 1.5. Inscriptions from the Entrance of the
Tomb of Senedjemib 187
Document 1.6. Tales of Wonder at the Court of
King Cheops (Khufu) 203
Document 1.7. Scribal Immortality219
Document 1.8. The Satire of the Trades 229
Document 1.9. The Onomasticon of Amenope 237
Section II; Order
Chapter Two. The World and Its Creation:
Cosmogony and Cosmology 263
Tome Two
Document II.l. The Pyramid Texts 407
Document II.2. The Coffin Texts 429
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ANCIENT EGYPTIAN SCIENCE
Document II.3. The Book of the Dead 451
Document II.4. The Book of Amduat 471
Document II.5. The Litany of Re 511 Preface
Document II.6. The Book of the Divine Cow 531
Document II.7. Hymns 547
The work I have undertaken in this and the
II.7a. The Great Hymn to Osiris 553
succeeding volumes grew from a more modest idea that
II.7bIlH4I. Hymns to Amon-Re 556
came to me as I served on the committee for publishing
II.7c. The Great Hymn to the Aten 568
Source Books in the History of the Sciences, namely to
II.7d. Hymn to Ptah 571
produce a Source Book in Ancient Egyptian Science
II.7e. Hymns at Esna 578
consisting of enough extracts to illustrate some of the
Document II.8. The Destruction of Apep 587
aspects of that science. However, when I considered
Document II.9. The Memphite Theology 595
the matter I realized that a few documentary extracts
Document 11.10. A Dream-Book 603
were insufficient to give a historian of science without
Document 11.11. The Harris Magical Papyrus 615
any special knowledge of the Egyptian language and
culture a well-rounded view of the growth and
Section III: Appendixes
development of that science. Hence I decided to add
Chronology 629
substantial essays to introduce the documents. This
Abbreviations 641 resulted in a work independent of the Source Books
Bibliography 641 series, a work whose first volume is published here.
Index of Eypytian Words 667 It will be evident to the reader that the first
Index of Proper Names and Subjects 685 section comprising Chapter One and Documents I.H.9
Illustrations After 736 attempts to assay the importance for the development
of Egyptian science--and its practitioners and
institutions—of the invention and maturation of the art
of writing in Egypt during the three thousand years or
so after 3000 B.C. The first chapter supplies a general
and connected account, and the documents present some
detailed evidence to support that account. I have paid
particular attention to the so-called Palermo Stone as
my first document, since few if any efforts have been
made to evaluate its content for the beginnings of
Egyptian numerical, metrical, and calendaric techniques.
Furthermore, no translator has included all the
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ANCIENT EGYPTIAN SCIENCE PREFACE
fragments together and at the same time rendered all of I have at times had available to me a more complete
the many numbers that appear in the text. Previous Egyptian text than the earlier translators had. This is
authors have generally passed over the difficult evident in the case of some of the translations of tomb
numerical passages. My careful attention to numbers inscriptions by Breasted. Revised texts by Sethe have
has yielded evidence of a previously undetected, allowed me to give a more complete interpretation. As I
rudimentary place-value system. The relevance of the have already mentioned, my rendering of Document 1.1,
rest of the documents to those points I have made in the so-called Palermo Stone, is more complete than any
the introductory essay should be clear without further of the efforts in other modern languages, since it is
elaboration here. based on all of the fragments and attempts to render all
The second section has the same general format of the numbers. On the other hand, it will be clear to
as the first. Chapter Two attempts to show in a the reader familiar with the documents given in the
coherent way the fundamental religious context of second section, like the Pyramid Texts and the Coffin
Egyptian cosmogonic and cosmological ideas. The Texts, that these documents of mine are merely short
various schemes of the world and its creation are excerpts from long originals, presented by me to
detailed and organized according to the temple centers illustrate sundry cosmogonical and cosmological
in which they developed. Again, ample documentary concepts which I believe to be important. Certainly I
material has been given as supplementary support for make no pretense of giving definitive versions of even
the general account. I have purposely left the more those passages that I have presented. More definitive
technical astronomical considerations for the next versions would necessitate a careful rendering of the
volume, in which I shall examine in detail calendars, whole document to see if recent philological treatments
astronomy, and mathematics. A third volume will treat of similar passages throughout the document throw
Egyptian medicine and biology and will close with a further light on the passages in question. I am hoping
detailed presentation of Egyptian techniques for that a student of the history of science coming to
representing nature. Egyptian culture for the first time will derive benefit
A few remarks are in order concerning the from having these translations immediately available to
English translations of the documents. For most of the him, incomplete though they might be.
documents I have had the help of translations into A final word may be said about the title of this
modern languages made by competent scholars and I first volume: Knowledge and Order. It translates a pair
have often followed them closely. However, in many
of crucial Egyptian words: rekh ( • fl) and maat
cases I have rendered the texts in my own way, mainly
to bring some consistency to translation. A case in It will be noticed as we examine the
documents of the first section that the scribal craft
point is my effort to translate —110 and §7 almost
embraced an ideal of the knowledgeable man, who by
always as "eternity" and "everlastingness", the first being
his writing abilities was able to measure, count, and
the eternal past and the second the eternal future. Also,
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PREFACE
ANCIENT EGYPTIAN SCIENCE
record. It is this ideal that is epitomized by rekh. cheerful letters. My research assistant Mark Darby read
Similarly, if we peruse the second section with its this work with his usual care and it has benefited from
documents, it will be evident that the concept of cosmic the close attention he has given it. Similarly my wife
rightness or order, one of the meanings of maat, lies at Sue, an editor by profession, has exercised her craft
towards its improvement. Further, I owe much to her
the heart of the ancient Egyptian efforts to describe the
for photographing countless objects in the museums of
cosmos and its birth, together with the role of the gods
and the king therein. By using these separate terms Egypt, Europe, and America, and some of her many
"knowledge" and "order" I do not mean to imply a more photographs have been included in the pages that
modern scientific method whereby systematic order in follow. I must also thank my friend Dr. Alison Frantz
for the skill and artistry with which she has copied and
nature was intentionally and primarily sought by the
improved many older photographs that before her
careful gathering of knowledge. I merely mean that the
concepts of "knowledge" and "order" arose as important attention were scarcely readable.
The reader will notice that, for easy access, I
aspects of the Egyptian intellectual achievement, and
have grouped all of the figures, i.e. the line drawings
without their development Egyptian science,
and photographs, at the end of the separately printed
rudimentary as it was, would have taken some other
second tome, which also includes documents for the
form.
This volume and its successors are the result of second section, a chronology, a bibliography and
many trips to Egypt and much reading, and I hope they bibliographic abbreviations, and indexes. Permissions for
will be of some use to budding historians of science, and acknowledgments of the use of the illustrations are
and perhaps even to those who have fully blossomed. I included in the legends accompanying them. Permission
know that the study of Egyptian science has given me by the University of California Press to use the
great pleasure, for I have turned aside from my many translations by Miriam Lichtheim of the Great Hymns
years of detailed Archimedean studies to an earlier to Osiris and Aten, the Bentresh Stela, and the Song
cultural area of perennial fascination. Fortunately my from the Tomb of King Intef (i.e. The Song of the
colleague Otto Neugebauer not only gave me his entire Harper) is gratefully acknowledged.
collection of Egyptian reprints but has shared with me I initially composed this volume (on sundry
his learning at all stages of this work. This will perhaps different computers) with Nota Bene, a superior
be more clearly evident in the technical volumes that word-processing program, designing, by means of the
follow. I am as well indebted to Robert Bianchi for font program Lettrix, some 500 hieroglyphs and a
reading my manuscript with a careful eye and for the phonetic font needed to represent the glyphs. These
many pleasant and (to me) profitable hours we had fonts were designed for a dot matrix printer and are
together in Egypt and to Erik Hornung for his keen illustrated in my article "Computer-generated
analytical and textual studies that have proved so Hieroglyphs," Proceedings of the American Philosophical
useful to me in composing Section Two and for his Society, Vol. 131 (June, 1987), pp. 197-223. Later I
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PREFACE
ANCIENT EGYPTIAN SCIENCE
accordingly any reference to "before" or "after" in a note
acquired a laser printer and converted both my
relates to that point in the text where the note number
manuscript and its glyphs for use with that printer,
occurs.
employing the font program Fontrix and its
My secretary Ann Tobias has also participated in
complementary printing program Printrix (mentioned
every step of preparing the initial manuscript and she it
and briefly described in the above-noted article). I also
was who perfected many of the original glyphs.
found it necessary to compose a font which includes
Needless to say, she has my warmest thanks, as does
the accented letters that appear so frequently in the
the staff of the Institute for Advanced Study and its
quotations, notes, and bibliography of my work. This
library for supplying me with much of the equipment
was necessary because the Fontrix fonts do not include
and books I needed. Indeed, the Institute has provided
the higher ASCII characters representing the accented
me with the ideal academic home for a quarter of a
letters. Though no ambiguity is present, I regret the
century. Finally, I must once again thank the American
manner in which some of my accented capital letters
Philosophical Society for bringing another complex
dangle below the normal base line. On the whole,
work of mine to light.
Printrix did a yeomanly job with the often complex
and highly formatted text and only failed on occasion
Marshall Clagett
to impose proper spacing and justification, in some
Professor Emeritus
cases leading to loose lines. Also notice that the dots
The Institute for Advanced Study
inserted to connect quoted passages after an omission
are sometimes preceded and sometimes followed by
spaces added to aid justification. But, as usual, three
dots indicate that no period marking the end of a
sentence is present in the omission, while four signify
the presence of one or more periods. I believe that
these few infelicities of Printrix’s laser printing are a
small price to pay for the enormous saving in
publication costs.
The computer knowledge of my son Michael was
always at hand, and I made frequent use of it,
particulary in solving the problems of converting Nota
Bene text to Printrix text. Incidentally, in making that
conversion I directly converted footnotes to endnotes.
But, needless to say, an endnote must continue to be
thought of as a continuation of the text at the point
where the note number has been inserted, and
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Section One
Knowledge