433 Orientalistische Literaturzeitung 104 (2009) 4-5
Une approche litteraire novatrice a ete presentee par
H.-W. Fischer-Elfert, qui a interprete les lettres de Mnn"
a son fils, Mry-s""m.t comme des reproches attenues par
des expressions litteraires, des notations et des metapho­
res. La forme litteraire, utilisee dans cette affaire privee, a
done integre le texte dans la grande tradition des poemes,
independamment de !'intention de l'auteur.
Une selection des textes provenant du village, particu­
lierement des ostraca non-litteraires de l'IFAO, a ete pre­
sentee par P. Grandet, parmi ceux qui seront publies pro­
chainement par l'Institut. Les inscriptions ont ete repar­
ties dans les categories suivantes : petits textes varies -
dont certains ont un trait humoristique -, deux ostraca de
la 1seme dynastie, onomastique et grammaire, textes admi­
nistratifs. L'auteur y a aussi releve quelques particularites
grammaticales, lexicales et des neologismes.
Un ensemble coherent d'ostraca hieratiques, trouve
par Carter-Carnarvon, a fait 1' objet d'une classification
minutieuse par G. Neunert. Le chercheur a pu trier ces
documents d'apres leurs lieux de trouvailles, dans les
Wadi de la Vallee des Rois (tab!. 1) et selon leur contenu
(tabl. 2). Ce catalogage a permis, d'une part, de consta­
ter que les textes administratifs sont de loin plus nom­
breux que les documents cultuels et les textes divers (les
lettres, les etiquettes de jarres et les exercices d'appren­
tis) et, d'autre part, de dater les ostraca d'apres leurs
lieux de trouvailles, la stratigraphie et les circonstances
de fouille (tab!. 4-5). A la fin de !'article sont presentees
des listes de concordances des ostraca de Carter-Carnar­
von, publies et inedits, extremement utiles aux cher­
cheurs.
S. Wimmer a presente une mise a jour et une inter­
pretation de quelques ostraca de Berlin, figurant sur le
site internet, Deir el Medine online.
Dans sa conclusion, A. Loprieno souligne la comple­
mentarite des deux approches utilisees dans ce volume :
la perspective « fragmentaire », tenant compte d'une par­
tie de la documentation mise a la disposition des cher­
cheurs, conduisant ainsi a une approche « detaillee », qui
permet de reconstituer le microcosme de Deir el-Me­
dina. Cette reconstitution a ete particulierement fructu­
euse car les chercheurs se sont servi des informations
organisees dans les bases de donnees, qu'ils ont associees
aux approches utilisees en sciences economiques et so­
ciales. A. Loprieno a aussi emis quelques reflexions
linguistiques pertinentes, notamment, a propos des con­
ventions de 1' ecriture rendant peu accessible la connais­
sance d'un dialecte specifique a Deir el-Medina. Cette
difficulte est due a 1' archa"isme constate dans !'usage de
la langue. A. Loprieno suggere d'eviter d'attribuer les
particularites de l'ecriture de cette epoque a des « dialec­
tes >>, pour les reconnaitre comme des « idiolectes >>
caracterisant une partie specifique des documents. Enfin,
!'ensemble des articles de ce volume eclaire la culture «
de tous les jours >>, au contraire de la « haute culture >>.
Bien que la plupart des documents provenant du village
soient d'ordre administratif, le discours litteraire n'est
pas absent de Deir el-Medina, comme en temoignent les
lettres de Mnn" a son fils, presentees par H.-W. Fischer­
Elfert.
434
J an sen- Winkeln, Karl: Inschriften der Spatzeit. Teil 2: Die 22.-24.
Dynastie. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz 2007. XXXVIII, 536 S. 4°. Lw.
98,00 €. ISBN 978-3-447-05582-6. - Bespr. von Troy Leiland
S a g r i l l o , Swansea.
This work is the second volume of Jansen-Winkeln's
multi-volume work collecting the most historically rele­
vant texts from Dynasties 21-30; this particular volume
covers the Libyan Period, Dynasties 22-24. Each text is
presented in hieroglyphic type, preceded by relevant
bibliographic information, typically to the editio prin­
ceps and any later revisions, as well as to significant
secondary philological and chronological discussions. It
should be noted, however, that the texts included are not
tied strictly to the dynasties named in the subtitle, but
rather the period from 945-720 BCE as a whole. Becau­
se of this, texts relating to the early Napatan kings
Kashta and Piye are included in this volume rather than
volume 3, while texts relating to Shoshenq I from the
period before he became king (e.g. the so-called Abydos
Stela UE 66285]) are to be found in volume 1. While this
is understandable from a strictly chronological perspec­
tive, it could be a source of initial confusion if a reader
were to consult the volume on the basis of dynastic lines.
As might be expected, the structure of the book is
arranged along chronological lines, with texts related to
each king and his immediate family presented, as well as
texts of non-royal persons who can be relatively secure­
ly dated to a particular reign. Those texts that cannot be
assigned to a specific reign are collected together into
broad chronological categories of early, middle, and late
Dynasties 22/23, with a final collection of undated texts
spanning the entire range of Dynasties 22-24. The texts
in these sections are grouped geographically when pos­
sible.
In addition to texts from Egypt and Nubia, others
from places further afield are given, including those
found in Phcenician contexts in Iberia and the western
Mediterranean, as well those from the .!Egean and the
Levant.
Nachtrdge and indices follow the main body. The
indices are well arranged, and subdivided into texts loca­
ted in museums; the Karnak Priestly Annals; the Nile
Level Texts; graffiti; names of kings, royal family mem­
bers, and Libyan Great Chiefs; non-royal personages;
and Regnal Years. While these are generally adequate, an
index specifically dedicated to donation stelae might
have been worthy of inclusion.
The usefulness of this work to specialists of the later
parts of Egyptian history cannot be understated. Unlike
those from earlier periods of Egyptian history, it was
heretofore difficult to conveniently access most of the
texts collected in this volume. A great many of them
were originally published in the late nineteenth and early
twentieth centuries, in works often currently difficult or
impossible to obtain, but they are now thankfully
assembled together by Jansen-Winkeln. Likewise, many
texts only recently discovered, such as a stela mentioning
435 Orientalistische Literaturzeitung 104 (2009) 4-5
Takelot Ill from the Dablah oasis (doe. 30.14; p. 329),1
are also included, as are others found in more obscure
publicatio13s, such as the Osorkon III inscription from
Tihna al-Gabal [Akoris] (doe. 29.9; p. 296) originally
published by the Japanese,2 and the various Libyan Peri­
od texts discovered by the Spanish mission to Ihna­
siyyah al-Madinah [Herakleopolis magnaP
Wherever possible, the editor has re-collated the texts
with their originals or photographs with meticulous
attention. For this he is to be especially thanked, parti­
cularly in those cases when the original publication was
frankly less than careful and/or is not now readily acces­
sible. Quite understandably, however, this could not be
undertaken in every instance, and there are no doubt
errors and oversights that future closer inspection of the
originals will uncover. Case in point is a seated Sekhmet
statue (doe. 12.24; p. 20), reused by Shoshenq I and now
in the Royal Palace in Brussels. Jansen-Winkeln records
the epithet mry-jmn as being located outside of the
nomen cartouche, inadvertently reproducing an error
originally made by A. Eisenlohr (PSBA 11 [1888]:257)
whereas in reality the epithet is unexceptionally written
within the cartouche.
Similarly, further additions and clarifications can cer­
tainly be suggested. The seated statue of Shoshenq I
(doe. 12.30; p. 26) from Gubayl [Byblos], Lebanon, has
now been relocated in the Vorderasiatisches Museum
Berlin (inv. no. 3361), while a relief of the king in the
Royal Museum of Scotland (doe. 12.31; pp. 26-27) is
from Zaqaziq, probably Tall Bastah. The texts of
Takelot Ill from the temple of Osiris eqa-djet at Karnak
(doe. 30.3; pp. 313-319) - which are unfortunately not
re-collated with the originals - will no doubt need to be
reconsidered when they are finally republished in D. B.
Redford's long-awaited work (see JEA 59 (1973):16-30).
In cases where difficulties were encountered, such as
not having access to the original object, or working from
inadequate photographs, Jansen-Winkeln notes this, and
only publishes what can conservatively be seen. For
example doe. 26.6 (p. 257), the Hermitage stela (inv. no.
5630) naming Shoshenq Ilia (now "Shoshenq IV"4) in
Jansen-Winkeln's terminology, could only be collated
with the inadequate 1912 publication of B. Turaev. The­
refore, only the legible part of the text is given.
The Third Intermediate Period and its history is one
of intense debate between specialists, and this work
naturally reflects the views of its editor. When appro­
priate, Jansen-Winkeln notes that his conclusions are
controversial or at least questionable, leaving it to the
reader to accept or reject them. For example, he often
1 0. E. Kaper & R.J. Demaree,]EOL 39 (2005): 19-37.
2 The Paleological Association of Japan inc. (Egyptian Commit­
tee). Akoris: Report of the excavations at Akoris in Middle Egypt
1981-1992. 2 vols. Kyoto: Koyo Shobo. 1995. Vol. 1: 13-16, pi. 11.
3 M. Perez Die & P. Vernus. Excavaciones en Ehnasya el Medi­
na (Heracle6polis Magna) 1. Madrid: Instituto de conservaci6n y
restauraci6n de bienes culturales. 1992. Passim.
4 See now G. P. F. Broekman, R. J. Demaree, and 0. E. Kaper,
GM 216 2008: 9-10.
436
accepts the existence of various kings recently proposed
on very thin grounds, such as G. Broekman's sugges­
tion5 to take Nile Level Text 3 as referring to an other­
wise unattested Shoshenq VII, although the proposal's
questionable nature is rightly noted. Similarly, the
Heqa-kheper-Re Shoshenq (Ila) buried in NTR Ill is
considered possibly to be an unrecognized son of Shos­
henq 1.6 One particularly problematic example is docu­
ment 13.33 (p. 58), a re-inscribed statuette of Thut­
mose Ill (CG 42192). Jansen-Winkeln takes it as belon­
ging to an ephemeral Mae-kheper-Re Shoshenq (Ilc),
rather than a miswriting of Hedj-kheper-Re Shoshenq I,
something that should not be particularly surprising in a
text otherwise rife with scribal errors.
At other times Jansen-Winkeln seems to be overly
cautious. For example, the prince Nimlot mentioned in
documents 17.1-3 (pp. 84-85) is typically taken to be
Nimlot B, the son of Shoshenq I, but this association is,
according to Jansen-Winkeln, not entirely secure.
While others, including this reviewer, may quibble
over such conclusions, Jansen-Winkeln's forthrightness
regarding the manner he in which has treated questiona­
ble material can only be encouraged, and it in no way
diminishes the utility of the book as a text collection.
Some documents have never been properly published,
and unfortunately this occasionally remains the case in
the present work. Nevertheless, where possible Jansen­
Winkeln has included such documents, providing basic
bibliographic information, albeit the actual text remains
unavailable. (e.g., does. 26.2 [p. 256], 28.13 [p. 272], 28.15
[p. 273]; 44.41 [p. 399]).
The hieroglyphic texts are conventionally set using the
WinGlyph Professional text processor. The texts are set
in a horizontal orientation throughout, regardless of the
original vertical orientation, but left-to-right and right­
to-left orientation has been preserved. While this does
make for uniformly legible texts, limitations in typeface
technology implies that the hieroglyphs can of course
not be regarded as palaeographically accurate. Jansen­
Winkeln does his best within the limits of WinGlyph's
typefaces, attempting to construct missing hieroglyphic
signs, and in this he is generally successful. For example,
when the dot in the center of the sun-hieroglyph is not
written, Jansen-Winkeln uses a plain circular form. Like­
wise when a sign from the typeface is clearly different
from the original, he makes note of any differences (e.g.,
doe. 12.27; p. 22).
However, some of his choices - no doubt made for
expediency - can at times be questioned. Particularly
inappropriate is the use of cartouches for toponym lists
(that of Shoshenq I's at Karnak [doe. 12.20; pp. 13-16]
and a reused statuette of Thutmose Ill [13.33; p. 58]). If
a system for drawing the crenellated Festungsringe could
5 ]EA 88 (2002): 176-177; SAK 33 (2005): 75-89.
6 See also K. Jansen-Winkeln. "The chronology of the Third
Intermediate Period: Dyns. 22-24." In Ancient Egyptian chronology,
edited by Erik Hornung, Rolf KrauB, and David Alan Warburton.
Handbuch der Orientalistik 1 (Der Nahe und Mittlere Osten 83). Lei­
den: Brill. 2006. 237.
437 Orientalistische Literaturzeitung 104 (2009) 4-5 438
not be devised in another computer program, it probab­ (sollen). So ist - urn hier die Protagonisten der erwahn­
ly would have been better to either use plain ovals, or ten Anekdote fur eine Typisierung zu verwenden - eine
nothing at all, rather than cartouches. The hieroglyph for Eberssche Ubersetzungspraxis eine translatio im Wort­
/n/ (Gardiner N35) is often written as a horizontal stro­ sinne. Es wird versucht, das Asthetische des Originals
ke in Third Intermediate Period texts, a practice carried nachzuschi:ipfen. Die Ubersetzung ist ein autonomes
over from hieratic, and Jansen-Winkeln has faithfully Werk, bei dessen Betrachtung die Kenntnis des Originals
recorded this. Unfortunately the width of the stroke he unerheblich ist, weswegen eine breite Leserschaft ange­
uses is rather thin, giving the false impression that it may sprochen werden kann. N otwendig fur diese Art des
be over- or underlining, or some other editorial sigla rat­ Ubersetzens ist aber, dass das Verstandnis des Originals
her than a productive sign (e.g., doe. 44.13; p. 389). ein hohes MaB erreicht hat. Unverstandliche Texte oder
The book itself, in A4 format, is handsomely produ­ Passagen bieten einer freien Ubersetzung einen allzu
ced with a study hardcover binding and good quality breiten Raum in der nachschi:ipfenden Interpretation.
paper. Most refreshingly the publisher's listed price, Die Ermansche Ubersetzungspraxis hat gerade in diesem
while not pocket change, is within the reach of most Punkt ihre Starke, da sie sich nahe am Original orientiert
individual scholars, and even interested nonprofessional und somit die Variationsbreite der Ubersetzungsmi:ig­
enthusiasts, not to mention libraries and research insti­ lichkeiten minimiert. Man vermag also abzulesen, inwie­
tutions. weit der moderne Rezipient zu einem Verstandnis einer
Jansen-Winkeln's previous contributions to the study antiken Textstelle gelangt ist oder eben nicht. Das ist die
of the Third Intermediate Period are extensive and just­ Richtschnur fur die Ermansche Ubersetzungspraxis, und
ly well-respected, and this volume can only further this nicht die Asthetisierung im Ebersschen Sinne. Das be­
reputation. Without doubt this work will be the stan­ deutet aber auch, dass der ubersetzte Text nicht als
dard collection of texts from this period of Egyptian eigenstandiges Werk angesehen werden kann. Er bleibt
history for several generations to come, in good com­ immer dem Original verhaftet. Das muss nicht notwen­
pany with K. H. Sethe's Urkunden des agyptischen digerweise ein Nachteil sein, wenn sieh die Ubersetzung
Altertums and K. A. Kitchen's Ramesside Inscriptions, als philologische Einstiegshilfe versteht, sich mit dem
Historical and Biographical. While the following volu­ Original auseinanderzusetzen. Wenn man nun eine An­
mes of this series are eagerly awaited, the Egyptological thologie vorlegen mi:ichte, so bedarf es zunachst einer
community nonetheless owes a substantial debt to Jan­ Prufung der Zielgruppe: Will man einen breiten Leser­
sen-Winkeln for undertaking such a massive task and kreis ansprechen, die Kenntnis des Originals weder vo­
making available these works in such a splendid manner. raussetzen noch bei der Leserschaft fi:irdern, so hat man
die Eberssche, also die nachschi:ipfende Ubersetzungs­
praxis ZU wahlen, die literarischen Anspriichen zu ge­
nugen hat. Wendet man sich aber an ein Fachpublikum,
Hoffm ann, Friedhelm/Quack, Joachim Friedrich: Anthologie der
dessen Interesse an den Originalen geweckt oder gefi:ir­
demotischen Liter atur. Berlin: LIT 2007. XIV, 378 S. m. Abb. so
=
dert werden soli, so wahlt man die Ermansche, also die
Einfiihrungen und Quellentexte zur Agyptologie, 4. Kart. 39,90 €. philologische Ubersetzungspraxis. Und genau in diesem
ISBN 978-3-8258-0762-7. - Bespr. von Simon D. S c h w e i t z e r , Ber­ zweiten Sinne verfahrt das zu besprechende Werk.
lin. Die Autoren, zwei ausgewiesene Kenner der demoti­
schen Literatur, legen hier ein Werk vor, das Uberset­
In einer Ubersetzungsubung im 19. Jahrhundert an zungen zu der gesamten demotischen ,schi:inen" Litera­
der Universitat Leipzig - so die Anekdote - kritisierte tur bietet, soweit der jeweilige Text publiziert vorliegt
der junge Student Erman wiederholt die Ubersetzungen und nicht allzu fragmentarisch erhalten ist. Als Aus­
des Dozenten Ebers. Der wiederum antwortete: ,Ihre wahlkriterium dient dabei das Ausschlussprinzip: Das,
Ubersetzungen sind vielleicht korrekter, meine sind aber was nicht als dokumentarisch, religii:is oder wissen­
schi:iner." Treffender lasst sieh das Spannungsfeld von schaftlich angesehen wird, wird unter die ,schi:ine" Lite­
Ubersetzungen antiker Texte m. E. nicht darstellen, wel­ ratur subsumiert und hier ubersetzt. Damit ergibt sich
ches auch in der heutigen Diskussion noch sehr bedeut­ die stattliche Zahl von 28 Texten, die hier in Uberset­
sam ist. Entweder werden die Ubersetzungen geschol­ zung dargeboten werden. Die beiden Vf. richten sich
ten, weil sie sich allzu sehr vom Original entfernen, oder dabei nach der - urn in der Diktion der Einleitung die­
sie werden kritisiert, weil sie ein ,Agyptologendeutsch" ser Rezension zu bleiben - Ermanschen Ubersetzungs­
bieten, das der Syntax des Originals, aber nicht der Spra­ praxis. So heiBt es, urn wahllos ein Beispiel herauszu­
che der Ubersetzungen verpflichtet ist. Diese Arten einer greifen, in der Ubersetzung des Textes ,Agypter und
Kritik liegen einem Verstandnis zugrunde, das m. E. Amazonen": ,Sie haben meine Marsch(bewegungen)
nicht notwendigerweise den Kern der Sache trifft; denn nicht gefunden [. . .] bei meinem Gesicht - in den Gebie­
dadurch wird impliziert, dass man nach der einen richti­ ten [ein]es(?) Fremdlandes [. . ., in] dem sie anordnen
gen Ubersetzung streben muss. Im Kontext einer post­ [. . .] wegen dem, was ich zusammen mit meinem Heer
modernen Welt sollte verstandlich sein, dass unterschied­ gemacht habe." (S. 115) Hier wird gewiss nicht versucht,
liche Ubersetzungen gleichberechtigt nebeneinander die Literarizitat des Originals abzubilden oder nachzu­
stehen ki:innen, da sie verschiedene Zielgruppen - oder schi:ipfen, es sollen vielmehr ,verlassliche Ubersetzungen
anders formuliert - verschiedene Idealleser ansprechen demotischer Texte" (S. IX) angeboten werden. Uber