Notes on the Date of Some Buchis Stelae

Author(s): H. W. Fairman
Source: The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, Vol. 16, No. 3/4 (Nov., 1930), pp. 240-241
Published by: Sage Publications, Ltd.
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/3854214
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240

NOTES ON THE DATE OF SOME BUCHIS STELAE

BY H. W. FAIRMAN

With Plate xlii, fig. 2.

The excavations of the Egypt Exploration Society in the Bucheum at Armant ha

yielded a large number of stelae recording the deaths of, and other events connected
the sacred Buchis-bulls1. The accurate dating of these stelae is naturally one of the
important duties of the expedition. Hitherto the chief difficulty, in the case of th
earlier than the reign of Tiberius, has been to determine whether two bulls are men
on any of the stelae.
The inscriptions fall into two groups, connected by two stelae (Ar. 28-29. 229, 2
which have points in common with both groups. The earlier series comprises seven
from the reign of Nekhthorheb to that of Ptolemy V Epiphanes. The text is very
and straightforward, and records the date of death, the name, age, date of birth,
birthplace, and the date of induction of the bull (see P1. xlii, fig. 2, Ar. 28-29. 55, b
Ptolemy II; the name of the birthplace is omitted). The expressions for "died,
born" in all these stelae are pr-in (or pr'n)...r pt, and ms.tw.f or ms.n.tw.f. The insc
in each stela quite obviously only refers to one bull. The same may be said of the t
intermediate stelae.
The second series does not present so simple a scheme. The first two lines contain
a date, the names and titles of the king and queen, and the name of a bull followed by
the phrase o~ ~t and the same date as that with which the stela began. Then
come a short description of the bull's induction at Thebes, the date of that ceremony,
and the record of its arrival at Hermonthis. Finally the age of the bull is given, and
a brief reference is made to its death and burial. The phrase used is pr b,'f r pt, and it
should be noted that no date is given after this. In explanation of these facts it has
been suggested that two bulls are mentioned in these inscriptions. The first date is said
to be that of the death of the bull whose name is given, while all the remaining details
refer to the life of a second bull, whose name is said to occur twice in each inscription.
The new names are, fiJ/ (Ar. 28-29. 246); fi 2 ^ (Ar. 28-29. 161); 5i/O
(Ar. 28-29. 203).
This seems quite a reasonable suggestion until we come to examine the facts more
closely. In the first place, the earliest date recorded is year 26 of Euergetes II (144 B.C.), and
the latest is year 35 of Soter II (82 B.c.). It is exceedingly difficult to fit five bulls into
this period when the combined ages of three of them amount to some 67 years, even
though the last date is that of the induction of a bull. It is also a remarkable thing that
in three stelae covering so short a period no bull mentioned in one stela is found in the
other two, though each stela is supposed to contain the name of a reigning bull and its
predecessor.
1 Full copies of all the stelae and inscriptions will be given in the forthcoming memoir on the Bucheum
and the Cemetery of the Cows.

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 NOTES ON THE DATE OF SOME BUCHIS STELAE 241

These doubts are increased when the suggested names are exami
new bull names are in every case determined by a circle-it is not
determine whether the sign meant is O or o. This fact in itself is susp
Buchis names are determined either by a human figure or by a bull.
form ms n N of the suggested new name only occurs once in each stela
n N in the other instance. The short form of the name appears imme
second date: hrw ir n mwt.f hIt.sp X n N. The full name occurs in
description of the installation of the bull and its journey to Hermont
barque of Amuin together with the boats of all the burghers of Theb
prophets and priests being with him. He reached Hermonthis Jl
28-29. 203, 11. 5-7; cf. 161, 246). Finally, if the first date on the
death of a bull the phrase pr r pt should occur. In no case is this so,
ht.-sp X niswt bit Y etc. pr bh N. Neither in the Buchis inscriptio
stelae is pr alone used to express death. In the Buchis inscriptions pr
and is common in the Apis stelae. Pr surely can only refer to the bir
In the face of the above facts it is difficult to see how the theo
mentions two bulls can be maintained. We seem to be forced to the conclusion that the
two dates at the beginning of the stelae refer to the birth of one bull only, the date of
whose death is not given. How, then, is the supposed second name to be explained? The
answer lies in the determinative to the "name," for it is natural to expect the deter-
minative of a circle after an expression of time or place. The phrases ms n N, n N are
not the names of bulls, but contain the name of a town which is probably the birthplace
of the bull in question. This view accords perfectly with the requirements of the stelae.
The first occurrence of the phrase simply records the fact that the bull was born on a
certain date in a certain town1. In the second case we find a contrast between the
birthplace of the bull and the place in which he spent his life, and we can now tran
the passage, "He reached Hermonthis, his living place, he having been born in N." (m
Old Perfective.)
This view has been confirmed by two of the stelae found in the course of the 192
excavations at Armant. One of these (Ar. 29-30. B) records the death of a bull i
first year of a Roman emperor whose cartouches are left blank. The inscription is in
portions, the second of which comprises part of the late Ptolemaic formula. The wh
stela is not without textual corruptions and therefore may not be too reliable for evi
but it is significant that in the part where the Ptolemaic texts give ms n N w
spr.f r iwnw smc ist.f pw m rnh n ;bd 2 prt hrw 12. The second stela (Ar. 29-30. C)
the reign of Tiberius, and the text, which is well preserved, is a full and complete c
of the late Ptolemaic type. Here, after the second occurrence of the date of birt
read n iwnw smr, and further on iw spr.f r iwnw smr ist.f pw m rnh ms n iwnw
iwnw mnr in each case is spelt 0JJo.
Assuming, therefore, that only one bull is mentioned in these inscriptions, it is
possible to calculate their dates. The full results will appear in the memoir on
Bucheum, but it is worthy of note that, whereas on the theory of two bulls no
worked out satisfactorily, once it was assumed that each stela referred to one bull o
the three late Ptolemaic stelae were found to follow one after the other without the
interval of a day, and to connect up with the two intermediate stelae, which in their turn
fit on to the last stela of the early group, that of Ptolemy Epiphanes (Ar. 29-30. F.), so
that every year from 194 B.c. to 77 B.C. is accounted for.
For the use of n instead of m cf. Junker, Grammatik der Denderatexte, 20.
31-2

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 Plate XLII

i. Ostracon British Museum 41228. Scale 3.

2. Buchis stela from Armant.

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