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Egyptian Texts:  4.28


STATUE OF AHMOSE

Text:   Cairo JE 37075   [ TM 48353 ]
Provenance:   Karnak
Date:   332-300 B.C.
Script:   Hieroglyphic
Translated by:   H.W. Fairman
Format:   see key to translations

This statue was found in 1916, as part of the Cachette de Karnak. It is 98 cm tall, and covered with hieroglyphs on all the flat surfaces. The hieroglyphic texts have been translated by H.W. Fairman, "A Statue from the Karnak Cache" ( JEA, 1934 ).

Amongst other things, Ahmose was a 'prophet of Nekht-Hor-heb, the divine', in other words a priest of the deified pharaoh Nectanebo II. The cult of Nectanebo, the last native ruler of Egypt in ancient times, survived long into the Ptolemaic period, and his priests were men of considerable importance, at least until the end of the 3rd century B.C. The history of these priests has been discussed by G. Gorre, "Nectanébo-le-faucon et la dynastie lagide" (Ancient Society, 2009), who suggests a later date for Ahmose, making him a contemporary of Ptolemy III.

Alternative spellings of Ahmose's name are 'Ahmes' (Fairman) or 'Amasis' (Gorre).

        statue of Ahmose



{ Inscriptions on the waist: }

Lives the divine father and prophet of Osiris, the embalmer and divine purifier, Ahmose, justified.

Lives the divine father and prophet of Amun in Ỉpt-swt {Karnak}, ḥnk, embalmer and divine purifier, Ahmose, justified.

{ Main inscription on the back: }

1 The divine father and prophet of Amun in Ỉpt-swt, Ahmose, justified, says: O Amen-, King of the Gods, primeval one of the Two Lands, self-created, I am your servant, who follows your ka, a revered one who sees his lord. Grant me your life in following your majesty. May I not grow tired of seeing your face, well embalmed and adorned excellently in the Necropolis beside Ỉȝt Ḏȝmt {Mound of Djeme}. May you set my children in your city as those who have been appointed by the gods.

2 The embalmer and divine purifier of Amun, Ahmose, justified, says: O Nun the Old, who came into existence in the beginning, primeval one of the Two Lands, with upraised arm, my heart is loyal to you. May I be in thy following, may I praise your beauty in your noble shrine, may you establish my image within your sacred place, may my name be uttered by your servants, my children being in thy temple, and following your majesty every day without cease in your Ỉpt-swt.

3 The prophet of Amaunet, who is in Ỉpt-swt, Ahmose, justified, says: O Mut, who came into existence aforetime, I am your child (?) in your court. I have not done evil (??) with my left hand against the Temple of Mut through fear {lit. trembling} of Khonsu (?). A great offering in his goodly festival of the New Year (?) consisting of incense of Punt, that my reward from you, O mistress of the gods and goddesses, may be a long life with good fortune. May you cause my dwelling to endure in the portal of your temple, may you establish those who come after me therein.

4 The baron of the Memphite nome, the governor of the Hare nome, Ahmose, justified, says: I went to the Residence, I sailed up-stream to Hermopolis, a royal rescript being with me. I bent my arms to the prophets and their priests. I did good to their citizens. The reward for this was that Tenen and Thoth caused me to arrive at Thebes as an honoured one. May I complete my life upon earth in the following of Amun, as a divine purifier in his great place.

5 The prophet of Sokar-Osiris, Ahmose, justified, says: I am your servant, O King of the Gods, in your (?) temple (?). Thy censer is extended towards me. I am an embalmer in Pr-ʿnḫ-ỉrw, who revivifies Osiris in the Ḥt-nb {House of Gold}. May you put me among the excellent spirits who are in your train, and the sʿḥw who are beside you. May my ba not perish, may my body not die, . . . again, may I come and go on earth every day, may I enter in to the god and not be repelled.

6 The prophet of Amenopet of ȝḫ-swt {Temple of Mentuhotep II}, Ahmose, justified, says: Praise to your face, O phallus of the gods, Amenopet {Amun of Luxor}, bull with upraised arm, living image of in Hermonthis, who grants provisions to him who is in his favour. May you give them to me, O my great lord, for I am loyal to your majesty. Grant that I may see your noble ba when it sails to Rostau. May I live on the offerings which are made to you.

7 The prophet of Khonsu Amenopet, Ahmose, justified, says: I inscribe the gateways of Khonsu in Thebes, the noble sḫm in Bnnt {Temple of Khonsu}. I exalt his fear, I make great his majesty, I write upon the wall of his temple. May he make a reward for me by prolonging my life as a revered one, "one who has gone to his ka". May he grant that I should see his Majesty when he crosses the west of Thebes to receive snw-bread in his favour.

{ Inscription on the right side of the support: }

An offering which the king gives to Amen-Rê, King of the gods, and to Osiris of Coptos, who dwells in the Ḥt-nb {House of Gold}, that he {sic} may give everything that comes forth on his altar in the course of every day to the divine father and prophet of Amen-Rê in his temple, the ḥnk in Hermonthis, the embalmer and divine purifier, who sails to the necropolis from Ỉȝt Ḏȝmt {Mound of Djeme}, who sees the hidden ba in his image, the prophet of Sobek, Lord of Mrf, prophet of Nekht-Hor-heb, the divine, the scribe and divine treasurer of Amun of the second phyle, prophet of Khonsu Amenopet, Ahmose, justified, son of the ẖrỉ-tp-nỉswt, Smendes, justified, born of the lady of the house and ỉḥyt {musician} of Amun, Ti-nub, justified.

{ Inscription on the left side of the support: }

An offering which the king gives to Amen-Rê, the primeval one of the Two Lands, that he may give everything that is offered on his altar every day to the ka of the divine father and prophet of Osiris, the embalmer and divine purifier, who enters the burial-place of the Bull which is in Medamud {Montu}, who sees the secret of the first primeval one, prophet of Amaunet, who is in Ỉpt-swt {Karnak}, prophet of Amenopet of ȝḫ-swt {Temple of Mentuhotep II}, scribe of the fourth phyle of Amun, Ahmose, justified, son of the mȝȝ-ḏsr-ʿḥ, Smendes, justified, born of the dancer of Amen-Rê, Kamephis, Ti-nub, justified.

{ Right side between striding legs: Ahmose's eldest son, Smendes, is shown standing up, clad in a long robe which reaches from his breast to below his knees. }

His eldest, beloved son, prophet of Osiris, Smendes, born of the lady of the house and ỉḥyt {musician} of Amun, T-sherit-Min, justified.

{ Left side between striding legs: Ahmose is shown kneeling and facing left, with hands raised in adoration. }

The sȝ-st in "The Mistress of Cities" {Thebes}, the prophet of Osiris, Ahmose, justified.

The prophet of Amen-Rê in his temple, Ahmose, justified, says: O you ʿḏw-ntr and priests of the great ba, you embalmers of "The Eye of Rê" who enter "The Heaven upon Earth" {Karnak} on their feet while performing their duties therein, stretch forth your arms to me with an "offering which-the-king-gives", stretch forth your arms to me saying, "May he praise you in peace, namely Amen-Rê, the noble sḫm, chief of all the gods. May your ba live in heaven before Rê; may your ka be divine before the gods; may your body endure in the Underworld before Osiris; may your mummy be glorious among the Shining Ones; may thy noble ba go to Mendes and the Thinite nome on the day of the festival of Sokar." O doer of good to whom good is done, who does not take vengeance (?), who spends the night in taking thought (?), may your real heart be pleasant to me (?), for my heart is loyal to his majesty, my disposition is pure and far from evil, I hate wrong (??) . .. my lord, my god, my father, my protector, who does not grow tired of protecting his servant, may my name be happily pronounced by those who are upon earth as that of a revered one in the favour of his god.


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