Laboratory (119-125)
All texts and scenes from the Laboratory were recently discussed in detail by Vadas 2020. A photograph of the ensemble can be found on Vadas 2020, p. 127, Fig. 2.
Esna 119
- Location: Laboratory, upper bandeau
- Date: Domitian
-
Hieroglyphic Text
- Bibliography: Vadas 2020, p. 94 (full translation).
[ỉỉ.n] ([…])ḫr=k *
ẖnmw nb nṯr.w […]
[…]
m ỉd.t=f
[The king (…)has come] before you,
Khnum, lord of the gods […]
[…]
with his scent
Esna 120
- Location: Laboratory, left panel
- Date: Domitian
-
Hieroglyphic Text
- Bibliography: Vadas 2020, pp. 94-95.
Title
1ỉr(.t) snṯr n bȝ wr-šfy.t
sȝẖ kȝ=f m tp-rȝ=f
2mzỉ dbḥ.w nw ỉḫt-nṯr
3ỉr(.t) ỉrw nb
n wʿb ʿȝ m hrw=f
ẖr.t-hrw nn ȝb
1 Offering incense to the Ba, great of prestige,
transfiguring his Ka with his utterance,
2 bringing311 the requirements of the divine rite,
3 performing every ritual
by the priest, great in his day,
daily, without interruption.
The King
4 […]
([…])
5 […]
([tmt]yns xwỉ)
6 […] nfr […]
7ỉr nty.w-ʿ
m ḥw.t-ẖnmw *
4 […]
([…])
5 […]
([Domit]ian Augustus)
6 […] good […]
7 who performs rituals
in the Temple of Khnum.
Khnum-Re Lord of Esna
8[…] n tȝ mỉ-qd=f
9ẖnmw-[Rʿ] nb tȝ-sn.t
bȝ 10 […]
nb ʿnḫ
ỉỉ n ʿš 11[n=f…]
[…] tȝ pn
nn tȝ šw 12 […]
[…]f sšr.w m tȝ r-ḏr=f
13[…] nfr […]
ỉr wnn.t
pȝwty tpy
ms pȝwty.w
ẖnm ḥr nb ḥr nḥp=f
nṯr wʿ ḫpr ḥḥ.w
ẖnmw qdỉ m šȝʿ
8 […] of the entire land
9 Khnum-[Re] Lord of Esna,
Ba 10 […]
Lord of Life,
who comes to whomever calls 11 [to him…]
[…] this land,
without any land devoid of 12 […]
[…] he […] plans in the whole earth.
13 […] good […]
who made what exists,
the first Primeval one,
who birthed the Primeval gods,
who joined everybody on his potter’s wheel,
the sole god who became millions:
Khnum, the builder in the beginning
Esna 121
- Location: Laboratory, lower bandeau
- Date: Domitian
-
Hieroglyphic Text
- Bibliography: Vadas 2020, p. 95 (full translation).
ʿnḫ nṯr nfr
smn nty.w-ʿ
m ḥw.t-ỉt
rwḏ-rȝ=f
ḥr ȝḫ
nfrw=f sḏfȝ ḥtp.w
r nw=f
sȝḫ kȝ=f ḥr wḏḥw
mn(.w) r ḥn.ty
Live the good god,
who established rituals
in the Temple of the Father,
whose mouth is firm 312
upon (saying) what is excellent;
it is his perfection that provisions 313 offerings
at its proper time,314
and transfigures his Ka upon the altar,
enduring for all eternity.
Esna 122
- Location: Laboratory, left lintel
- Date: Domitian
-
Hieroglyphic Text
- Bibliography: Vadas 2020, p. 96 (full translation).
Esna 123
- Location: Laboratory, right lintel
- Date: Domitian
-
Hieroglyphic Text
- Bibliography: Vadas 2020, p. 96 (full translation).
The King
2zȝ-Rʿ nb-ḫʿ.w
3(ỉwtk(rtr))
4(twm(tyns))
2 Son of Re, Lord of Appearances,
3 (Autok(rator))
4 (Dom(itian))
Bastet
8tȝ-(nt) (pr)-Bȝst.t
9ʿḏ.t Bȝst.t 315
8 She of Bubastis,
9 the ichneumon, Bastet.
Esna 124
- Location: Laboratory, left
- Date: Unknown, probably Domitian
-
Hieroglyphic Text
- Bibliography: Vadas 2020, pp. 96-98 (complete)
NB: For the individual ingredients and objects mentioned, most of which are depicted in Esna 120, see the detailed commentary by Vadas 2020.
1[pr]-ḥḏ n kȝpw pw
ʿpr(.w) m ỉḫt nb nfr
m dbḥ.w nw ỉr.t-ḥr
ỉhm.w wr.w m ʿšȝ=sn
[…] m sštȝ=f
m pr(.t) ḥr wḏḥ=f
nn-ỉb m qmḥ.w
ḫȝw nb nw Pwn.t
gȝ.wt nw tȝ-nṯr
ỉw=sn ỉry r s.t tn
nḏm.wy ḫnm=s
wr.wy sṯỉ=s
ḥḏ ỉȝd.t=s ḥr.w nb
1 This is the treasury of Kyphi,
equipped with all good things,
with ingredients of the Eye of Horus.
Great ỉhm.w in numerous amounts,
[…] in its secret form,
as that which goes upon his altar.
styr[a]x on branches,316
all resins from Punt,
the products317 of God’s Land,
they are all in this place.
How sweet is its scent!
How great its aroma!
Its musk brightens every face!
2bw n ỉrp pw
s.t n ỉnm.t
tḫ ỉm=s
ḥʿʿ m-ḫnt=s
wnf-ỉb (ḥr) pr m-ẖnw=s
[…s]wn
ḫpr m Im.t
ḥw.t-ỉḥ.t m-ʿb Knm.t
ỉn.w nb nw dsds
ḥtr(.w) r ʿrry.t tn
nḏm-ỉb tḫ ỉm=s
nwḥ r-ȝw m r’-wȝ.t=s
2 This is the place of wine,
the seat of ỉnm.t-vintage,
drunkennes is inside,
rejoicing is within,
and exaltation emerges from it.
[…from S]uni,
which comes from Imet,
Hut-Ihet and Kharga Oasis,
all products of Bahariya Oasis
are gathered to this portal:318
Joy and drunkenness are therein,
total inebriation surrounds it!
Esna 125
- Location: Laboratory, right
- Date: Unknown, probably Domitian
-
Hieroglyphic Text
- Bibliography: Vadas 2020, p. 98 (complete)
NB: For the individual ingredients and objects mentioned, most of which are depicted in Esna 120, see the detailed commentary by Vadas 2020.
1s.t tn nfr.t
ndm
n nwd šps
ỉwnn pw n N.t nb kȝpw
ḥnw.t Pwn.t
ỉ[zwy] n sḫp
n mḏ ỉbr tỉ-šps ḥknw
nw ḫȝw nb.w nw fk-ḥr.t
2sḥ pn nfr
s.t sḫn n ḥḏ.t-wr.t
mnqb n ḥw.t-ḥr nb.t šsm.t
ʿ[.t] n ḫȝʿ snṯr mnwr
ṯz.wt nw pẖr.w
ʿq.n šsmw r nw=f
r ỉr(.t) ỉrw nb ỉm=f
r sḥb Iwny.t
m ḫnm nḏm nn ȝb
1 This good place,
(it is) the throne
of the August Distiller (Shesemu),
it is the sanctuary of Neith, lady of kyphi,
mistress of Punt,
the la[boratory]319 of production
of ointment, ỉbr, tỉ-šps, oil,
of all resins from Fek-heret.
2 This good chamber,
the place of alighting for the Great White,320
the palace of Hathor, Lady of Shesemet,
the room of applying incense and mn-wr,
and ingredients of recipes.
Shesemu enters at his proper time321,
to perform every rite in it,
in order to make Iunyt festive,
with sweet aromas, without fail.
- A standard spelling of the verb mzỉ (Wb II, 135, 7-21), and not jmj sb(.tw), “May the (…) bring forth” (Vadas 2020, p. 94, with n. 7).↩︎In Esna II, 4, 12, Khnum grants the king “mouths are firm (rȝ.w rwḏ.w) recalling your perfection ((ḥr) sḫȝ nfrw=k).”↩︎
- Vadas 2020, p. 95, split this group into two words (“the supplier who created”) but the alighting bird is just a determinative for this verb, a variant of the usual dfA bird. Cf. DZA 29.884.780-790; Esna III, 222 A; Esna VII, 584, 5; 600, 12.↩︎
- Vadas 2020, p. 95, with n. 16, translated “his brightness (jwn=f).” However, this is the adverbial phrase “at his moment (r (< jw) nw=f)”, which occurs frequently at Esna. So also in Esna 125, 2, which Vadas 2020, p. 98, n. 41, translated as r ntf, “so that he.”↩︎
- For the reading “ichneumon”, see Vadas 2020, p. 96, with n. 22, who read “Who belongs to Bastet, ichneumon, the bright one (ṯḥn.t).” Maged Mahgoub (personal communication) suggested the final signs write the combination “ichneumon, Bastet”, that occurs on multiple texts recently discussed by Leitz 2009.↩︎
- Vadas did not read this word, but it is apparently qmḥ.w, “branches; leaves” (Wb V, 40, 2).↩︎
- Vadas 2020, p.97, copied this word as šnwt, “offerings”, but the sign is more likely gȝ.wt , “bundles (of tribute)” (Wb V, 153, 3-7).↩︎Vadas 2020, p. 97, imprecisely translated this term as “sanctuary.” This term has the more precise meaning of “portal” or “gateway” of a palace or temple, a place for bringing tribute, and an interface between the temple and the profane outside world; cf. Klotz 2008, p. 69, n. g. It is thus an appropriate venue for drunken celebrations by the masses, gathered right outside before the forecourt.↩︎
- The first word is damaged, but few names for rooms or structures begin with an initial yod. From the context, this is almost certainly jz, “laboratory”, supporting the conclusions by Vadas 2020, pp. 124-125, about the function of this room. Note that in Esna 118, 4 (scene with Tutu, immediately above the laboratory) the king is identified with Shesemu and Horus “Chief of the Ennead of the Laboratory.”↩︎Vadas 2020, p. 98, n. 38, argued this might be an epithet of Hathor. Nonetheless this almost certainly refers to Nekhbet, goddess of the “great White crown,” who is frequently called just “the White one of Nekhen” (e.g. Esna 70, 3), and is closely linked to incense. Cf. LGG V, 608b-c. ↩︎
Vadas 2020, p. 97, with n. 41, translated r ntf, “so that he”, which is improper syntax. Instead, this is just a standard expression for when rituals happen at Esna.↩︎