This study examines the concurrent use of simultaneously existing written varieties of the Egyptian language in the highest written register of the Ramesside era (ca. 1292–1077 BCE): the Ramesside royal inscriptions. “Old” and “new” are defined as emic categories in this framework and are applied to linguistic features that can be associated with either distinctively past or distinctively contemporary layers of the Egyptian language. The analysis builds on a detailed, multi-layered methodological approach that takes into account not only the grammatical but also the lexical and graphical selections of the inscriptions. The work is a qualitative, exploratory study with a focus on five in-depth case studies: Seti I’s Kanais Inscription, Merenptah’s Hermopolis Stela, Ramesses III’s Great Double Stela, and Ramesses IV’s Great Hammamat Inscription and Great Abydos Stela to Osiris and the Gods. The research demonstrates that the linguistic heterogeneity of the Ramesside royal inscriptions can be interpreted as the linguistic manifestation of the Ramesside kings’ cultural and political identity: a balancing act between tradition and innovation. As the study experiments with basic quantitative techniques, it makes complex linguistic data accessible to a broader Egyptological audience as well by graphically representing grammatical, lexical, and orthographic information.
Content overview
1 Introduction
- 1.1 Purpose of the Present Study in Light of Previous Research
- 1.2 Methodology
- 1.3 Notes on the Structure of the Present Study
2 Seti I’s Kanais Inscription
- 2.1 Texts A, B, and C or Texts B, C, and A?
- 2.2 Transliteration and Translation of Seti I’s Kanais Inscription
- 2.3 Translation Notes to Seti I’s Kanais Inscription
- 2.4 Selected Grammatical, Lexical, and Graphical Features from Seti I’s Kanais Inscription
- 2.5 Discussion of Seti I’s Kanais Inscription
3 Merenptah’s Hermopolis Stela
- 3.1 Attempts to Recover a Lost and Nearly Forgotten Text
- 3.2 Transliteration and Translation of Merenptah’s Hermopolis Stela
- 3.3 Translation Notes to Merenptah’s Hermopolis Stela
- 3.4 Selected Grammatical, Lexical, and Graphical Features from Merenptah’s Hermopolis Stela
- 3.5 Discussion of Merenptah’s Hermopolis Stela
4 Ramesses III’s Great Double Stela
- 4.1 A Monumental Ramesside Puzzle
- 4.2 The Southern Stela
- 4.3 The Northern Stela
- 4.4 Discussion of Ramesses III’s Great Double Stela
5 Ramesses IV’s Great Hammamat Inscription
- 5.1 Historical and Cultural Significance of the Stela
- 5.2 Transliteration and Translation of Ramesses IV’s Great Hammamat Inscription
- 5.3 Translation Notes to Ramesses IV’s Great Hammamat Inscription
- 5.4 Selected Grammatical, Lexical, and Graphical Features from Ramesses IV’s Great Hammamat Inscription
- 5.5 Discussion of Ramesses IV’s Great Hammamat Inscription
6 Ramesses IV’s Great Abydos Stela to Osiris and the Gods
- 6.1 Ramesses IV’s Great Abydos Stela in the Egyptological Literature
- 6.2 The Date of Ramesses IV’s Great Abydos Stela
- 6.3 Transliteration and Translation of Ramesses IV’s Great Abydos Stela
- 6.4 Translation Notes to Ramesses IV’s Great Abydos Stela
- 6.5 Selected Grammatical, Lexical, and Graphical Features from Ramesses IV’s Great Abydos Stela
- 6.6 Discussion of Ramesses IV’s Great Abydos Stela
7 General Discussion
- 7.1 Grammar
- 7.2 Lexicon
- 7.3 (Ortho)graphy
- 7.4 Ramesside Royal Inscriptions at the Crossroads of Tradition and Innovation
8 Synthesis and Outlook
- 8.1 Synthesis
- 8.2 Outlook
References
Plates