Royal Annals of Ancient Egypt

320 Pages·2000·10.62 MB·English

by  Toby A. H. Wilkinson

STUDIES IN EGYPTOLOGY
EDITED BY GEOFFREY THORNDIKE MARTIN
EDWARDS PROFESSOR OF EGYPTOLOGY EMERITUS,
UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON
THE EGYPTIAN TEMPLE A BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THE
PATRICIA SPENCER AMARNA PERIOD AND ITS AFTERMATH
GEOFFREY THORNDIKE MARTIN
THE ADMINISTRATION OF
EGYPT IN THE OLD KINGDOM THE PRIVATE CHAPEL IN ANCIENT EGYPT
NIGEL STRUDWICK ANN H. BOMANN
CORPUS OF REliEFS OF THE NEW KINGDOM AKHENATEN'S SED-FESTIVAL AT KARNAK
FROM THE MEMPHITE NECROPOLIS AND JOCELYN GOHARY
LOWER EGYPT, VOLUME 1
AFTER TUT'ANKHAMUN
GEOFFREY THORNDIKE MARTIN
EDITED BY C.N REEVES
PROBLEMS AND PRIORITIES IN
EGYPTIAN ARCHAEOLOGY THE BOUNDARY STELAE OF AKHENATEN
EDITED BYJ AN ASSMANN, WILUAMj. MURNANE AND
GUNTER BURKARD AND VIVIAN DAVIES CHARLES C. VAN SICLEN III
LOST TOMBS THE CANOPIC EQUIPMENT
USE MANNICHE OF THE KINGS OF EGYPT
AIDAN DODSON
DECORATION IN EGYPTIAN TOMBS
OF THE OLD KINGDOM LIVING IN THE PAST: STUDIES IN ARCHAISM
YVONNE HARPUR OF THE EGYPTIAN
TWENTY-SIXTH DYNASTY
UNTERSUCHUNGEN ZU DEN PETER DER MANUEUAN
TOTENBUCHPAPYRI DER 18. DYNASTIE
EGYPTIAN SOLAR RELIGION
IRMTRAUT MUNRO
IN THE NEW KINGDOM
THE MONUMENTS OF SENENMUT JAN ASSMANN
PETER F. DORMAN
WINE AND WINE OFFERING
THE FORT-CEMETERY AT HlERAKONPOLIS IN THE RELIGION OF ANCIENT EGYPT
BARBARA ADAMS MU-CHOU POO
THE DUTIES OF THE VIZIER ASKUT IN NUBIA
G. P. F. VAN DEN BOORN STUART TYSON SMITH
A GLOSSARY OF ANCIENT EGYPTIAN THE NEW KINGDOM ROYAL CITY
NAUTICAL TITLES AND TERMS PETER LACOVARA
DILWYNjONES
CHIEF OF SEERS
LAND TENURE IN THE RAMESSIDE PERIOD EUZABETH GORING, NICHOLAS REEVES
SALLY L.D. KATARY ANDJ OHN RUFFLE
VALLEY OF THE KINGS GODS, PRIESTS AND MEN
C.N REEVES AYLWARDM BLACKMAN
THE COBRA GODDESS OF ANCIENT EGYPT THE COSMOS OF KHNUMHOTEP II
SALLY B. JOHNSON JANICE KAMRIN
PHARAOH'S GA TEW A Y TO ETERNITY
ERIC P UPHILL
ROYAL ANNALS
OF
ANCIENT EGYPT
The Palermo Stone and its associated fragments
Toby A.H. Wilkinson
•
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© Toby A.H. Wilkinson 2000
Printed in Great Britain by IBT Global, London
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form
or by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented,
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ISBN 0-7103-0667-9
British Libral"), Cataloguing in Publication Data
Information on this book may be obtained from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Information on this book may be obtained from the Library of Congress
For Mike, with love and thanks

CONTENTS
Prologue 9
Acknowledgements 11
PART I THE ROYAL ANNALS IN CONTEXT 16
The fragments l7
Publication and study 28
Interpreting the annals 60
PART II TRANSLITERATION, TRANSLATION AND COMMENTARY 83
The Palermo Stone 85
The main Cairo fragment 181
The smaller fragments 222
Appendices 253
Bibliography 261
Indices 273
Figures 289
FIGURES
The Palermo Stone (recto)
2 The Palermo Stone (verso)
3 Naville's drawing of the Palermo Stone (verso)
4 Edwards' hand-copy of Cairo fragment 1 (recto)
5 Cairo fragment 1 (recto)
6 Cairo fragment 1 (verso)
7 Cairo fragment 2 (recto)
8 Cairo fragment 3 (recto)
9 Cairo fragment 4 (recto)
10 Cairo fragment 5 (recto)
11 The London fragment (recto)
12 The London fragment (verso)
PROLOGUE
Ancient Egypt's early kings are fascinating and intriguing figures. They were
responsible for the creation of a unique and enduring civilisation, epitomised by
its most impressive monuments, the pyramids. Their names leap from the pages
of history books, at once resonant and mysterious: Djer, Khasekhemwy, Sneferu,
Sahura. Yet what do we know about the reigns that comprised Egypt's first five
royal dynasties? Archaeological excavations, particularly in recent years, have
revealed much; but Egyptology has always been blessed with another rich source
of information, the written texts and inscriptions composed by the ancient
Egyptians themselves.
For the history of the first five dynasties, one particular series of inscriptions
has always been of prime importance. This is the collection of inscribed, stone
fragments known as the royal annals. Now divided between museums in Palermo,
Cairo and London, these documents from ancient Egypt have been the focus of
countless studies in the century or so since they first came to light. For they seem
to record the reigns of Egypt's early kings on a reign-by-reign, year-by-year basis.
The information they contain has been translated, interpreted and re-interpreted
by generations of Egyptologists, in the hope of achieving a better understanding
of the first great period of ancient Egyptian history. And yet - amazingly, for
such crucial documents - no complete edition of all seven surviving fragments
has ever been published. The current work seeks to fill the gap.
This new edition of ancient Egypt's royal annals is arranged in two parts. Part
I provides an introduction to the study of the artefacts. In the first section, the
various fragments are described, the history of their acquisition is recounted, and
questions concerning their provenance, date and unity are discussed. The second
section charts the history of scholarship surrounding the annals, and the different
attempts to reconstruct the original document in its entirety. The third section
9