This document is the record of an investigation into serious abuses in the mummification of sacred ibises, which led to the arrest of six men. The abuses had continued unchecked for 32 years, and careful measures needed to put in place, to ensure that they did not re-occur. The exact nature of the abuses is not stated explicitly, but there are hints; see the remarks of S.E. Thompson, "Ancient Egypt: Facts and Fictions", pp. 48-49 ( Google Books ).
The translation is take from J.D. Ray, "The archive of Ḥor" (1976).
[Recto] From the scribe of the nome of Sebennytos, Ḥor son of Ḥarendjiotef. No man shall be able to lapse from a matter which concerns Thoth, the god in person who holds sway in the temple of Memphis, and likewise Ḥarthoth (?) within it The benefit which is performed for the Ibis, the soul of Thoth, the three times great, is made for the Hawk also, the soul of Ptah, the soul of Apis (?), the soul of Prê, the soul of Shu, the soul of Tefnut , the soul of Geb, the soul of Osiris, the soul of Horus, the soul of Isis, the soul of Nephthys, the great gods of Egypt, the Ibis and the Hawk.
That which was spoken to the great soul of Ḥepnebes in the chapel of Thoth. Thoth has caused the habit to occur to them of imparting regularity and it shall not fail into the Ibis and the Hawk within it: for it affects (?) likewise the excavation (?) of the courtyard which contains him within his houses of rest: and all earnestness is to be imparted into the inspectors not to trust the servants of the ibises and the servants of the Hawk the god in person when they perform his burial.
It happened that this lasted until Year 16 of the father of the father {207/6 B.C.}. But the said utterance was abused for 32 years, up to Year 9, Pharmuthi, day 29 of the Pharaohs for ever {31 May 172 B.C.}. The elders among the priests of Ptah who recorded within the chapel held session in the forecourt together with ʿAḥmosi son of Petineftem, the agent of Pharaoh, who was controller of the temple. The scribes of Ptah read out the documents. They sent in haste to Alexandria to determine the law of the matter which concerned these things habitually and which was established for ever.
They brought the servants of the ibises to Memphis [in Pharmuthi, day 30] together with the servants of the Hawk to the forecourt. Guilty . . . They seized (?) Onnofri son of Ḥapertais who made the inspection, and Ḥarkhemi and Neftemertais and Djeḥepetrosh and Ḥor son of Khensthoth and Ḥor son of Ḥapertais, making six men. They took them to the prison and secured them in the stocks (?). They caused the inspectors to be brought of the houses of rest of the Ibis and the houses of rest the Hawk openly before the priests.
[Verso] Khaʿḥapi, the priest in session in splendour(?) received the said inspectors and took them to his house. The 25 priests passed in review the matter whose content is written below, and they wrote it into the regulation (?) for Year 10.
They commanded in the presence of the priests to choose three priests of the year, who are reliable, and who shall direct the sustenance and the fortune of the Ibis. They are to come to Ḥepnebes at every counting, and shall perform the investigation of the gods in the house of waiting of the god which they shall find at the time, and they are to impart regularity into it, one god in one vessel. When the occasion occurs of the burial of the Ibis which is performed in one completed year, swiftly (?), they shall assemble the people of the Serapeum at Ḥepnebes, and they shall lead in procession the Ibis and the Hawk to his house of rest, the appropriate priest in attendance. They are to place the inspectors of the houses of rest of the Ibis and the houses of the Hawk in one chest, which is sealed in the storeroom (?) of the three priests and they shall give it into the hand of the pastophoroi of the forecourt of the Serapeum. The priests are also to assess for the bandaging two payments of the god one silver coin {ḥḏ} apart from the bandaging: regularity in this, 1¼ payments: its fine(?), ¾ payment, making 1½ silver coins {ḥḏ}: its linen (?) makes ½ silver coin {ḥḏ}: and this becomes the total for the men who perform the burial.
Attalus' home page | 16.07.24 | Any comments?