Through the Eras

Architecture and DesignA QUARRY INSCRIPTION FROM THEMIDDLE KINGDOMINTRODUCTION: Opening a quarry was an official event oftencommemorated with steles at the quarry. Leaders ofquarrying expeditions were high officials who proudlyleft records of their accomplishments in long inscriptions.Amenemhet, one such official, led an expedition to theWadi Hammamat during the reign of Mentuhotep III in1957 B.C.E. and left the following record. Because heshares a name with the next king, Amenemhet I, manyscholars have identified him with the first king of Dynasty12. The section head within was not resident in theoriginal document.Year two, month two of the Inundation season, Dayfifteen of the Horus Nebtawy, the Two Ladies, Nebtawy,the Horus of Gold, the King of Upper and Lower Egypt,Nebtawyre, the Son of Re, Mentuhotep, living forever. HisMajesty commanded the erection of this stela for his father,(the god) Min, the Lord of the Hill Country in thisnoble, primeval mountain. (Min is) one who is foremostof place in the land of the Horizon Dwellers and thepalace of the god. (He is) one who offers life in the sacrednest of Horus with which this god is content. (Thismountain) is his pure place of enjoyment which is overthe hill countries and god’s country in order that his(Min’s) soul might be satisfied. (Min is) one who is honoredby gods, that being what the king who is on theGreat Throne does. (The king) is one who is foremost ofthrones and one who is enduring of monuments, abeneficent god, the lord of joy, one who is greatly fearedand one who is great in love, one who is heir of Horus inhis Two Lands, one whom Isis—the divine mother of Minand one great of magic—had reared for the kingship ofHorus of the Two Banks, the king of Upper and LowerEgypt, living like Re forever. (He) says: I caused thatAmenemhet—a nobleman, mayor, vizier, and one whomthe king trusts—go forth together with an expedition often thousand men from the southern nomes of UpperEgypt and the frontier of Oxyrhynchus in order to bringto me a noble, costly, and pure stone which is in thismountain—whose excellence Min made—to be a sarcophagus,an eternal remembrance that will be a monumentin the temples of Upper Egypt. (I sent him) just as aking sends the chief of the Two Lands in order to bring tohim his desire from the hill country of Father Min. Hemade it as a monument for his father Min of Coptus, thelord of the hill country and chief of the tribesmen that hemight make many great offerings, living like Re forever.Day 27. The cover of this sarcophagus descended, ablock of four cubits by eight cubits by two cubits (2.10 x4.20 x 1.05 meters; 6.8 x 16.5 x 3.4 feet), that beingwhat came form from the work. Three calves wereslaughtered and goats were slaughtered and incense wasburned. Now an expedition of three thousand sailors fromthe nomes of Lower Egypt followed it in peace to Egypt.The Same Expedition: The Commander’s RecordNebtawyre, living forever, Regnal Year Two, MonthTwo of Inundation, Day Fifteen: A royal mission which thenoble, count, mayor, vizier, judge, King’s-confidant, Overseerof Works, Great One in his Office, Great One in hisNobility, Foremost one of Place in the House of His lord,Inspector of Magistrates, Chief of the Six Great Ones,Judge of Nobles and Commoners, Judge of Sun Folk, Oneto Whom the Great Ones Come Bowing and the WholeLand is Prone, One Whose Lord Promoted his Rank, OneWho Enters His (the king’s) Heart, Overseer of the Doorof Upper Egypt, One Who Controlled for Him Millions ofCommoners in order to do for him his heart’s desire concerninghis monuments which endure on earth, GreatOne of the King of Upper Egypt, Great One of the Kingof Lower Egypt, Controller of the Mansions of the Crownof Lower Egypt, Priest of Herakleopolis being the Onewho Stretches the Cord, One who Judges Without Partiality,Overseer of all Upper Egypt, One to Whom Everythingis Reported, One Who Controls the Affairs of the Lord ofthe Two Lands, One Who Sets his Heart on a Royal Commission,Inspector of Inspectors, Controller of Overseers,Vizier of Horus in His Appearance, Amenemhet says: MyLord—may he live, prosper, be healthy—the King of Upperand Lower Egypt Nebtawyre sent me as a god sendshis (own) limb in order to establish his monuments in thisland. He chose me in front of his town while I was honoredbefore his entourage. Now then, His Majesty commandeda procession to this noble foreign country, anexpedition together with the best men of the wholeland—stone masons, craftsmen, stone cutters, carvers,outline scribes, metal workers, goldsmiths, treasurers ofthe Palace of every department of the treasury, every rankof the palace being gathered under my control. I madethe hill country as a river, the high valley as a water way.I brought a sarcophagus—an eternal remembrance, enduringforever—to him. Never did anything like it descendfrom the hill country since the time of the gods. The expeditionreturned without a loss, no man perished. Thetroops did not turn back. A donkey did not die. Therewas no deficiency of the craftsmen. I brought it about forthe Majesty of the Lord as a Spirit, while Min acted forhim, in as much as he loved him. And that his soul mightendure on the Great Throne in the Kingship of Horus.What he did was a greater thing. I am his servant of hisheart, one who did all which he praises every day.Translated by Edward Bleiberg.Arts and Humanities Through the Eras: Ancient Egypt (2675 B.C.E.–332 B.C.E.) 55