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Abstract
At least 71 non-royal women are commemorated by name or image in the inscriptions and scenes at the temple of Serabit el-Khadim. Their representation at the site may lead to the conclusion that they were an integral part of the ancient Egyptian mining expeditions sent to Serabit el-Khadim during the second millennium BCE. However, analysis of the manner in which these women are mentioned proves that this is not the case; the women seem to be mentioned merely as family members of expedition personnel.
Notes
1 The inscription numbers mentioned in this paper are those of Gardiner, Peet and Černý (Citation1952, 1955).
2 The royal women (i.e., queens or princesses) can be identified by their titles (king’s mother/ wife/daughter), special epithets and regalia (such as crowns, headdresses and sceptres), none of which appear with non-royal women.
3 Unfortunately, due to the poor state of preservation of some of the inscriptions, it is impossible to determine the overall number of people mentioned at Serabit el-Khadim. Moreover, in some cases the personal names were lost and we can deduce that a person was mentioned in an inscription only from the surviving titles and epithets. In the current state of our knowledge, the royal and non-royal women seem to constitute about 11.5% of those named at the site.
4 For instance, Inscription 85, dated to year 4 of Amenemhat III, mentions about 200 expedition members active at Serabit el-Khadim that year, and not a single one of them is a woman. For other examples, see Inscriptions: 90, 105, 106 or 112. For more information about the personnel sent to Serabit el-Khadim, see Seyfried (Citation1981: 202–220), Valbelle and Bonnet (Citation1996: 18–46) and Hikade (Citation2001: 22–24).
5 The case of this woman is discussed in greater detail below.
6 I have discussed the significance of the representations of the royal women at Serabit el-Khadim in my MA thesis. The results of this research are being prepared for publication.
7 Although the Egyptians alternated between the verbs jrj and msj in filiation formulae, there is a difference between the verbs. While jrj is translated as ‘to beget’, and should thus be ascribed to the father, the verb msi is translated as ‘to bear’, and should thus be ascribed to the mother. However, during the Middle Kingdom, the expression ‘X jr n Y’ was often used even when denoting the mother (Robins Citation1979: 198, n. 3; Obsomer Citation1993: 171–172). Thus I have chosen to include in this paper women named in the construction ‘X jr n Y’ only when their names or epithets indicate beyond question that they are women. The personal names index of Gardiner, Peet and Černý (Citation1955: 223–229) includes a few more names of persons whom the authors considered to be mothers of the expeditions’ members.
8 See Inscriptions: 112 (northern face, line 3), 168 (line 10), 184 (south pillar, line 7), 191 (northern face of the northeast pillar, line 3), 94 (fragment a) and 419 (line 3).
9 For a chronological overview and the various ways in which these constructions were used, see Obsomer (Citation1993: 170–195).
10 We know of at least 18 expedition members who chose to mention their fathers in the inscriptions by using the constructions ‘his father’ (see Inscriptions: 57 [lines 7–8], 92 [southern edge], 94 [fragment a], 94 [fragment b] 112 [northern edge, second register], 159 [lines 7–8], 170 [vertical line on the right side] and 430 [line 3]), ‘X son of Y’ (see Inscriptions: 64 [line 2], 87 [western face, bottom], 191 [northern face, line 3], 276 [lower part, line 5], 295 [upper part] and 301[line 5]), or ‘X jr n Y’/’X ms n Y’ (103 [southern edge], 219 [left column], 220 [lower line], 231 [line 4] and 231A [line 2]). However, there are also a few ambiguous cases. For example, in Inscriptions 54 (line 10), 108 (lower line) and probably 109 (extreme left) an expedition leader from the time of Amenemhat III named Ptahwēr mentions after the formula ‘X jr n Y’ a person named Itu. In the Middle Kingdom, this name was used by men as well as by women (see Ranke Citation1935: 49[7]). Therefore there is no way to know for certain if it is the name of Ptahwēr’s father or actually of his mother.
11 Another explanation is that the New Kingdom official inscriptions at Serabit el-Khadim generally mention expedition members (other than the leaders) less frequently than Middle Kingdom inscriptions do.
12 Some of the expedition members also chose to mention their brothers. In total, we know of 11 brothers named in the inscriptions (93 [western face], 94 [Fragment a], 126 [lower part], 170 [vertical lines on the right and left of the smaller figure] and 429 [lines 3–4]). Some other male relatives are mentioned from time to time. For example, in Inscription 64 (line 2) one of the members chose to commemorate his grandfather, and in Inscription 315 someone else chose to name his uncle.
13 See Inscriptions: 53 (line 7), 165, and 231 (line 4).
14 For instance, we learn from Inscription 90 that the expedition led by Harwerrēʿ, in year 6 of Amenemhat III, arrived at Serabit el-Khadim during the third month of the ‘Peret’ (‘Growing’) season (i.e., around mid-January), and left after about two months during the first month of the ‘Shemu’ (‘Harvest’) season (i.e., around mid-March).
15 We can learn about the logistics of expeditions to Serabit el-Khadim from the titles of various personnel mentioned in the inscriptions. Thus, for example, we know that in addition to the workforce and its overseers, cooks (Inscription 112), policemen (Inscription 295), medical people (Inscription 85), and persons in charge of maritime conveyance and transport (Inscription 77) were included.
16 The eastern face of this stela, which was found in the temple portico court, features the name of Thuthmosis III, but it seems that the inscription should be dated to Amenemhat IV, since it mentions the ‘God’s Treasurer, Chief Intendant of the Treasury’, Djaf-Horemso, named in several other inscriptions, including Inscription 119, dated to year 6 of Amenemhat IV, and Inscription 121, dated to year 8 of the same monarch.
17 Some scholars, such as Grajetzki (Citation2001), Kuraszkiewicz (Citation2006) and Marcolin (Citation2006), prefer to transliterate the hieroglyph as xtm.tj.
18 Including women from the Old Kingdom, the First Intermediate Period and the Middle Kingdom.
For examples, see von Bissing (Citation1915: 8), Firth and Gunn (Citation1926a: 203–204, 1926b: Pl. 21[b]), Vandier (Citation1936: 55, Pl. 2: 1) and Ward (Citation1984: 51–53).
19 For example, Seneb-bw, who appears with the title ‘sDAw.tjj kfA jb’ in a stela from the time of Senusret III found at Wadi el-Hudi (Sadek Citation1980: 38–39), as well as ‘Trusty Treasurer/Seal-Bearer’ Iatu, mentioned in Inscription 30 from the time of Amenemhat III found at Wadi Maghârah.
20 For examples, see Onstine (Citation2005: 99–140).
21 For more information about Thoth and his mythological roles, see Leitz (Citation2002: 639–644).
22 Two statues of Thoth, in the shape of a baboon, were found in the temple area. One is dated to the time of Amenhotep III (Statue 217), and the other to the reign of Ramesses IV (Statue 285). Moreover, a scene on Block 332, which is dated to the 19th–20th Dynasties, shows a man offering to Thoth.
23 This inscription lists the 10+? year of the reign of an unidentified Middle Kingdom king, but it is possible that the cAnkhib mentioned in it is the same cAnkhib referred to in Inscription 72, dated to Amenemhat II, and should thus be dated to the latter’s reign.