Six ostraca of The Teaching of Khety in the State Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow

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The Teaching of Khety, also known as The Satire of the Trades, seems to be the most popular composition used for scribal training in the New Kingdom Egypt (along with The Book of Kemit and The Teaching of Amenemhet I). The number of known copies has been growing in recent decades. W. Helck ¹ in 1970 could collect 104 copies; B. Mathieu ² in 1998 knew of 6 papyri, 2 tablets and more than 250 ostraca; S. Jäger ³ in 2004 was aware of 9 papyri, 3 tablets and 263 ostraca. Now the number of ostraca has grown to 323 ⁴. To those we can now add six more fragments kept in the collection of the State Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow: ostraca I,1b 334, 340, 344, 347, 348, 362. They all formerly belonged to the collection of the Russian Egyptologist Vladimir S. Golenischeff. There is no information about their provenance, although they might have come from Deir el-Medina, as other ostraca of the Golenischeff collection (Pushkin Museum I,1b 326 (now State Hermitage 5598) ⁵, I,1b 328 ⁶, I,1b 345) ⁷. Judging by the paleography, they be dated to from the 19^th–20^th Dynasty.

The Teaching of Khety is written in the Middle Egyptian language, which was not in everyday use in the New Kingdom. The text was used in the training of young scribes, who followed different versions of the text and introduced many mistakes. This makes The Teaching of Khety difficult to read, with some parts of it still being unintelligible. The same can be said about the Golenischeff fragments. Detailed philological analysis of many problems of The Teaching is the subject of extensive bibliography ⁸, and now a new full edition by J. Jurjens ⁹ is awaited. Introducing new fragments to the corpus of The Teaching of Khety contributes to our understanding of the meaning of the text, as well as the process of its transmission.

1. Ostracon I,1b 340 (Golenischeff no. 5519) (fig. 1, a, b, c)

Date: 19^th–20^th Dynasty

Provenance: no information

Dimensions: 14.5х13.3 cm

Materials: pottery, paint

Acquisition: from the Golenischeff collection, in the Pushkin Museum since 1911

Four lines of the text are written on the upper part of the ostracon. The scribe used technical horizontal grooves as guiding lines. Only the right part of the original ostracon is preserved. Judging by the length of the lacunae, the ostracon was three times bigger. There are rubs and cuts on the surface. On the back side of the ostracon there are four lines written in cursive hieratic in Late Egyptian.

 

 

The text corresponds to the chapter 15.1–15.4 of The Teaching ¹⁰.

1. ir.w aHA.w {s}fn{d}^[1.1][=f r-sy Hr pr(.t) r xAs.t iw wr ddy.t=f n aA.w] ¹¹
2. {ir.w}<r>^[1.2] kA.t=st iry^[1.3][.w]^[1.4] [wr ddy.t=f n imy.w-SA ddy.w sw Hr]
3. wA.t spr.w^[1.5] r imy-SA^[1.6] spr[=f r pr=f mSrw wDa.n sw]
4. Sm.t

 

The weapon-maker is weakened [utterly going out to the hill land. What he gave to the asses is greater] than their work.	Оружейный мастер [совсем изможден походами по нагорью. То, что он задал ослам (по стоимости), больше,] чем их работа.
[Great is his gift to the men in the marshes who put him on] the track, Reaching there through the marshes. He reaches [his home in the evening, and he is exhausted from] the travelling12.	[А еще много он отдал жителям зарослей за то, что его вывели на] дорогу, добираясь через заросли. [Он] возвращается [домой вечером, разбитый] переходом13 .

 

Fig. 1. Ostracon I,1b 340: a – photo; b – infrared photo; c – facsimile © Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow

 

[1.1] The word fn is written with superfluous signs as in pSallier II and pAnastasi VII ¹⁴.

[1.2] The scribe mistook the preposition r for the ‘eye’ sign.

[1.3] The scribe wrote r kA.wt=st iry ‘more than their corresponding work’ while the majority of the texts read here r kA.wt=st r sA iry. Erroneous determinative 𓀸 is also found in oDeM 1179 and oTurin 57316.

[1.4] Other witnesses have here or . The horizontal sign does not look like the ‘plural stroke’ earlier in the same line, it might be a very cursive ‘seated man’ sign.

[1.5] Similar ‘superfluous’ phrase occurs in pSallier II (spr=f r imy-SA spr=f r pr=f).

[1.6] The scribe had to deal here with the confusing consonance m-S-r/A which occurs at least thrice in the Teaching (chapters 13.5–6, 15.3–4 and 16.2–3). It plays on consonantal likeliness of imy.w-SA ‘those of the marshland’, mSr ‘evening’ and r im m SA ‘through marshes’. Our scribe obviously did not understand the sentence, his spelling of the beginning of the word looked as an imperative  and he put a wrong ‘sun’ determinative as in mSr ‘evening’. Alternatively, the round sign at the end of the word might be understood as a 𓊖 determinative, also present in oRamesseum 82 ¹⁵.

2. Ostracon I,1b 344 (Golenischeff no. 5526) (Fig. 2, a, b, c)

Date: 19^th–20^th Dynasty

Provenance: no information

Dimensions: 9х10.5cm

Materials: pottery, paint

Acquisition: from the Golenischeff collection, in the Pushkin Museum since 1911

Three lines of the text can be seen. There was at least one line over them, yet what is left cannot be surely placed in the text of The Teaching preceding the passage in lines 1 and 2. These words appear three times in some copies of The Teaching (13.5–6, 15.3–4, 16.2–3). Our text may correspond to 13.5–6 or 15.3–4, which ends with this phrase. Since chapter 16 ends differently, 16.2–3 is ruled out because the ostracon I,1b 344 has a date which was always added after the end of a chapter ¹⁶. The lines are broken off on both left and right sides. The date in line 3 is in cursive hieratic, probably in a different hand ¹⁷.

 

 

1. [spr=f im m]^[2.1] SA spr=f r pr ASr(w)
2. wDa^[2.2].n sw {sn Hr^[2.3]}
3. Abd 4 Ax.t (sw) 21

 

[…He reaches there through] the marshes. He reaches home in the evening, and he is broken?… Month 4 Akhet season (day) 21

[…добирается он туда по] зарослям. Добирается он до дома вечером, Он разбит?… Месяц 4 сезона ахет (день) 21

 

Fig. 2. Ostracon I,1b 344: a – photo; b – infrared photo; c – facsimile © Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow

 

[2.1] Precise placing of the restored text by lines is not possible.

[2.2] Either mDd or wDa are normally found in this place. What is left of the first sign might be the left part of 𓐣 or 𓏛 (most copies have the book roll 𓏛 before the striking man 𓀜 ¹⁸).

[2.3] 𓁷 𓏤 is scarcely visible. While wDa.n sw Sm.t is more satisfying grammatically, some scribes put here Hr Sm.t. oRamesseum 82 (chapter 16.3) has similar sequence of signs: . However, we see no traces of any sign after Hr in ostracon I.1b 344.

3. Ostracon I,1b 334 (Golenischeff no. 5517) (Fig. 3, a, b, c)

Date: 19^th–20^th Dynasty

Provenance: no information

Dimensions: 7.7х11.3 cm

Materials: limestone, paint

Acquisition: from the Golenischeff collection, in the Pushkin Museum since 1911

Partly preserved five lines of the text correspond to the chapter 19.1–19.5. This part is unclear in all of the copies; interpretations can be found in the work of S. Jäger ¹⁹. Precise placing of the restored text by lines is not possible.

 

 

1. [rxt.y Hr rxt Hr mry.t] sAH=f n^[3.1] [xnty]
2. [pri] it=f^[3.2] mw^[3.3] aD^[3.4] xr zA[=f
3. nn iAw.t Htp.n=f Hr=s t]nw^[3.5] <r^[3.6]> iAw.t^[3.7] nb.t
4. [Sbb=f Sbnw n s.t-Hs] nn a(.t)^[3.8] [wab(.t) im=f
5. ddi=f sw m dAiw ny z.t-Hm.t] wnn.t^[3.9] m Hzmn

 

[The washerman does the laundry on the shore,] he neighbours [crocodiles. ‘May] his father [leave] the destroying water’, says son [of him. It is not a job to be satisfied with, more than] any other job. [He mingles mixture of filth], and there is no [pure] limb [on him. He puts on the clothing of a woman] who was in her menstruation.

[Прачечник стирает на берегу], Соседствует он с [крокодилом «Пусть выйдет] его отец из опасной воды», – говорит сын [его. Это не то занятие, которым можно быть довольным, более чем] всякое другое. [Он смешивается с вонючей смесью]. Ни одна часть тела не [чиста у него. Одевается он в одежду женщины], у которой была менструация.

 

Fig. 3. Ostracon I,1b 334: a – photo; b – infrared photo; c – facsimile © Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow

 

[3.1] sAH=f n is also in oBM 29550, while most copies show either sAH tA or sAH m.

[3.2] it=f is also in oDeM 1551.

[3.3] While some copies have 𓁷 𓏤 between it and mw, this ostracon omits it.

[3.4] As in some other copies, aD has a determinative 𓐎 as in ‘fat’ ²⁰. As ‘fat’ does not make good sense here, it is often emended to aD ‘to hack’, hence ‘stir up, destroy’.

[3.5] The sign under the ‘duck’ could be a failed ‘papyrus roll’ as in the other copies.

[3.6] r is omitted before iAw.t, as in oDeM 1550.

[3.7] The scribe left the jut on the stone blank.

[3.8] t could be originally on the ostracon but then faded away; now the sign is not visible. J. Jurjens suggested that black blot at the end might stand for 𓀀, which is not in other witnesses.

[3.9] wnn.t is also found in oBM 29550, while the large papyri (pSallier II and pAnastasi VII) read here xr wnn=f.

4. Ostracon I,1b 347 (Golenischeff no. 5524) (Fig. 4, a, b, c, d ²¹)

Date: 19^th–20^th Dynasty

Provenance: no information

Dimensions: 15х8.5 cm

Materials: pottery, paint

Acquisition: from the Golenischeff collection, in the Pushkin Museum since 1911

Originally this ostracon could have contained full chapter 16 written in three lines. We now have only its left part. The ink is very faded, particularly on the right side, and often merged with dark colored technical grooves. Line 3 is hardly visible. There are traces of red pigment on the ostracon’s surface (see Fig. 4, b). The one on the lower left in a date put after the end of the chapter ²². It is difficult to establish if other dots are verse points or just blots. That is why the placement of red dots in the transcription is uncertain, the more so as it does not always correspond to the beginning of phrases.

Precise placing of the restored text by lines is not possible.

 

 

1. [sxxty].w^[4.1] Hr pr(.t) r [xAs.t]

s{wAD}<wD>=f [A]xw.t=f^[4.2]n [ms.w=f

snD.w m mAi.w Hna aAm.w

2. rx=f sw r=f iw=f] Hr Km.t

spr=f im m SA

3. [spr=f m pr=f ASrw

wDa.n sw] Hr Sm.t^[4.3]…

Abd 3?^[4.4] sw 12

 

[The messenger] goes out to the hill land after bequeathing [his goods to his children, fearful of lions and Asians. He recognises himself again, when he is] in Egypt. He reaches through the marshes. [He reaches home in the evening, and he is exhausted from] the travelling. Month 3 of… day 12.

[Посыльный] уходит в пустыню. [Свои вещи он завещает детям. Напуганный львами и азиатами, Он приходит в себя только] в Египте, Когда возвращается туда по зарослям. [Он] возвращается [домой вечером, разбитый] из-за перехода. Месяц 3… день 12.

 

Fig. 4. Ostracon I,1b 347: a – photo; b – enhanced with DStretch; c – infrared photo; d – facsimile © Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow

 

[4.1] As in several other witnesses, sxxty.w is plural here, which disagrees with 3^rd masc. suffixes further. For coherency, we put it in singular in the translation.

[4.2] Superfluous 𓏏 𓏲 as in some other copies.

[4.3] The reading of the last line is uncertain. If this reading is correct, the wording is the same as in oRamesseum 82 and the ostracon I,1b 344 (see above).

[4.4] The traces are consistent with pr.t as well as Smw season.

5. Ostracon I,1b 348 (Golenischeff no. 5538) (Fig. 5, a, b, c)

Date: 19^th–20^th Dynasty

Provenance: no information

Dimensions: 9х6.5 cm

Materials: pottery, paint

Acquisition: from the Golenischeff collection, in the Pushkin Museum since 1911

Remains of four lines written across technical grooves correspond to the chapter 3.4– 4.1 ²³. The precise placing of the restored text by lines is not possible.

 

 

1. [wr sw gr].t^[5.1] i[Aw.t nb.t nn wn mit.t=st m tA
2. SAa.n=f wAD].t iw=f m Xrdw [tw r nD-xr.t=f
3. tw r hAb]=f r ir.t m^[5.2] wpw.t n^[5.3] [iy.t=f sd sw m dAiw]
4. n] mAA[.n=i gnw.ty m wpw.t…]

 

[For it is greater than any profession, there is none like in this land. He started to succeed,] being just a child. [He will be greeted, He will be sent] to carry out a mission, [and before he returns, he is clothed in apron. I do not see a sculptor on a mission…

[Важнее это, чем любое занятие, Нет подобной в стране. Стал он процветать,] будучи еще ребенком. [Будут его приветствовать. будут посылать] выполнять задания, И еще до того, как он вернется, будет облачен в (должностное) одеяние. Не видел я скульптора на задании…

 

Fig. 5. Ostracon I,1b 348: a – photo; b – infrared photo; c – facsimile © Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow

 

[5.1] The traces of the signs in the upper line may be the end of gr.t written in the same way  in oDeM 1014.

[5.2] Some other scribes (oDeM 1014, 1042, 1047) wrote m wpw.t as here.

[5.3] The rest of the sign is consistent with n as well as with nn negation. Both variants occur in other witnesses.

6. Ostracon I,1b 362 (Golenischeff no. 5527) (Fig. 6, a, b, c ²⁴)

Dating: 19^th–20^th Dynasty

Provenance: no information

Dimensions: 8х7 cm

Materials: pottery, paint

Acquisition: from the Golenischeff collection, in the Pushkin Museum since 1911

Three lines correspond to the chapter 22.3–22.5 and belong to the second half of The Teaching, which was rarely copied ²⁵. The handwriting is sloppy, with small spaces between the lines. Precise placing of the restored text by lines is not possible.

 

 

1. m=k^[6.1] {i}-ir.t^[6.2] st n [mry=k

Ax n=k hrw m a.t sbA]

2. ˹i˺w^[6.3] r nHH {k.ty}^[6.4] <m kA.t> [Dww

iw As zp snw di=i rx=k

3. Di=i mri]w sshp^[6.5] btn[w]

 

Look, it is done for love of [you. A day in the school chamber is more useful for you] than an eternity of toil [in the mountains]. It is the fast way I made you know, I made you like removing (?) revolt.

Смотри, это делается из любви к [тебе. День в школе полезен для тебя] более, чем вечность выполнения работ [в каменоломнях]. Так вот очень быстро я объяснил тебе, Я заставил полюбить изгнание (?) бунта.

 

Fig. 6. Ostracon I,1b 362: a – photo; b – enhanced with DStretch; c – facsimile © Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow

 

[6.1] Two strokes in m=k are written vertically.

[6.2] It’s impossible to establish here if 𓇋 𓀁 before ir.t is a fallacious writing of infinitive ir.t (or sDm.t(w)=f form), or a Late Egyptian emphatic form, as proposed by J. Jurjens for similar writing in pTurin CGT 54019 ²⁶.

[6.3] Alternative reading is proposed by J. Jurjens. She suggested to read 𓀂 here as in pTurin CGT 54019 ²⁷.

[6.4] All known copies speak of kA.t «work» here. pAnastasi VII has  while oDem 1529, oDeM 1590 and pTurin CGT 54019 read . Our scribe has probably confused kA.t and kj.t (female form of the word ky ‘other’). The sign at the end might be 𓇋 or 𓁐.

[6.5] The word  is written the same way as in pSallier II, other copies spell it ssnhp or sshAp. Normally it is emended to snhp. See different translations of this unclear passage in the commentaries of P. Dils on TLA ²⁸.

 

¹ Helck 1970, 1–6.

² Mathieu 1998, 37–40.

³ Jäger 2004, 5–9.

⁴ Vernus 2010, 243; Jurjens 2021a, 83.

⁵ Bogoslovsky 1973, 79–82.

⁶ Bogoslovsky 1973, 96–103.

⁷ To be published soon.

⁸ For the bibliography on The Teaching of Khety before 2000 see: Mathieu 1999–2000, 65–73. The list of texts published after the latest synoptic edition by S. Jäger (Jäger 2004), see Quack 2020, 240. A short bibliography and profound commentary can be found in the work of P. Dils on TLA: URL: https://thesaurus-linguae-aegyptiae.de/object/7MAXH6NAXVB6VAIHPPHQ6XXY3Y; accessed on: 26.02.2024.

⁹ Jurjens, J. (forthcoming): Being and Becoming a Scribe: The Teaching of Khety and Its Use as an Educational Tool in Ancient Egypt. PhD thesis. University of Leiden. URL: https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/staffmembers/judith-jurjens#tab-1; accessed on: 26.02.2024.

¹⁰ The numeration of chapters in the paper is given in accordance with Jäger 2004.

¹¹ Here and elsewhere sentences are restored in accordance with the transcriptions of The Teaching collected by S. Jäger (Jäger 2004). We chose the transcription presenting a set of signs most similar to the Golenischeff fragments. When there was no specifically similar variant, we chose one that presented less problems of grammar and interpretation. The commentary of P. Dils displayed on TLA was useful for that.

¹² Our English translation of the ostraca is based on that of S. Quirke (Quirke 2004, 121–126).

¹³ For Russian translations of The Teaching of Khety see Turaev, Borozdin 1917, 25; Turaev 1935, 222–223; Мatthieu 1934, 66–68; 1936, 94–97; 1950; Katsnelson, Mendelson 1958, 242–244; Katsnelson 2000, 425–430; Korostovtsev 1962, 143–144; 2001, 209–210; Berlev 1963; 1980; 2002; Bogoslovsky 1983, 101, 166, 199, 216, 224, 227; Panov 2021, 86–115.

¹⁴ All references to text variants are given according to Jäger 2004.

¹⁵ We owe this suggestion to J. Jurjens.

¹⁶ We thank J. Jurjens for this observation.

¹⁷ On dates on the literary ostraca see: Jurjens 2021a (with a bibliography). About the meaning of dates on the Golenischeff ostracon with The Hymn to the Inundation of the Nile (I,1b 327 (4470)) see Makeeva, Anokhina 2023, 409–410.

¹⁸ We thank J. Jurjens for this observation.

¹⁹ Jäger 2004, 96–99; see also the commentary of P. Dils on TLA.

²⁰ Wb I, 239.8.

²¹ DStretch enhanced photos are given only when they bring out new information.

²² The note in the lower left corner of the ostracon enhanced with DStretch:

²³ This ostracon might be the one mentioned by A. Piankoff in his paper on the writing tablet Louvre N693 with The Teaching of Khety: «…son début, sur un ostracon de Golénischeff, au Musée de Moscou, encore inédit…» (Piankoff 1933, 52). The ostracon I,1b 348 is the only one in the Pushkin Museum which contains a passage from the beginning of The Teaching. The authors are indebted to J. Jurjens for the reference to the paper of A. Piankoff.

²⁴ Due to the technical reasons, infrared photos have not been taken.

²⁵ Jurjens 2021b, 109.

²⁶ Jurjens 2021b, 116.

²⁷ Jurjens 2021b, 116.

²⁸ URL: https://thesaurus-linguae-aegyptiae.de/sentence/IBUBd0sPQ9cri09HmKSEO25Vviw; accessed on: 26.02.2024.

作者简介

Evgeniya Anokhina

Lomonosov Moscow State University; The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts

编辑信件的主要联系方式.
Email: evgeniia.anokhina@arts-museum.ru
ORCID iD: 0000-0002-1795-3356

research team member of the RSF project 19-18-00369 ‘The Classical East: culture, worldview, tradition of studying in Russia (based on the material of the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts collection and archival sources)’, member of the Department of the Ancient Orient

俄罗斯联邦, Moscow; Moscow

Natalia Makeeva

Saint Petersburg University

Email: nataliam.makeeva@gmail.com
ORCID iD: 0009-0008-0045-7859

Senior Lecturer at the Department of the History of the Ancient Near East

俄罗斯联邦, Saint Petersburg

参考