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MACQUARIE UNIVERSITY Faculty of Arts 

  Department of Ancient History  

AHPG 871 Introduction to Late Egyptian       2011  In  this  unit  you  will  be  introduced  to  the  language  of  the  Ramesside  Age  (Late  Egyptain, Neuägyptisch,  néo-égyptien), used for non-monumental texts, both literary and non-literary. After an introduction to the main new features, as compared with Middle Egyptian, we will work through the text of the Contendings of Horus and Seth and discuss the grammatical forms and constructions as we encounter them.    Bibliography  Grammars 

A. Erman, Neuägyptische Grammatik 2nd Ed. (Leipzig, 1933) P.J. Frandsen, An Outline of the Late Egyptian Verbal System (Copenhagen, 1974) J. Černý, & S.I. Groll, A Late Egyptian Grammar [Studia Pohl, Series Maior 4] (Rome, 1978) François Neveu, La langue des Ramsès. Grammaire du néo-égyptien (Paris, 1996) Friedrich Junge, Late Egyptian Grammar (Oxford, 22005)  Dictionaries 

A. Erman & H. Grapow, Wörterbuch der Ägyptischen Sprache 12 Vols (Berlin, 1926ff.) L.H. Lesko, A Dictionary of Late Egyptian 5 Vols. (Berkeley, 1982 ff.), (Providence, 22002)  R. Hannig, Die Sprache der Pharaonen. Großes Handwörterbuch. Ägyptisch‐Deutsch (2800‐950 v. Chr.) (Mainz, 1995)   Assessment 

The unit will be assessed by: 1. 5 assignments (transliteration, translation & commentary)  50% 2. Final class exam (held in class on 10th November)      40% 3. Class participation              10%   The class exam will  involve the transliteration and translation of two texts, with grammatical commentary. One of the texts will be a seen text, the other will be an unseen.  

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Notes on Late Egyptian Orthography (notes from Junge p. 33 ff.) Addition of Endings whose significance is not clear:

1. The Ending :

This is appended to a whole range of verbs:

xpr "become"

nHm "take"

bAk "work" etc.

In the case of those words which end with an n , one adds a :

xni "alight"

wstn "stride"

XnXn "approach"

This leads to the situation that is added even where is simply functioning as a determinative:

qd "outline", "form".

2. The Ending

When a fem. noun is followed by a suffix pronoun, the feminine ending t , which has in general

disappeared, reappears:

HAt:t*Z1\70 t*W:f HA.t (pronounced *ha, cp. Coptic 5h "front", HA.t=f ;

Sometimes the ending is added to an infinitive when the infinitive is followed by a suffix

pronoun:

In the case of the verb Dd , the situation is different. By this time, in the absolute form, the final d was no longer being pronounced, as the Coptic form jw indicates. Also by this time, the phoneme d was pronounced like t, which explains why t is used.

3. The old writing was often confused:

bnr ; swi .

4. The writing of one word is sometimes confused with the writing of another more common word with which the first word shares some signs: (see Erman Neuäg. Gramm. § 17 for further examples)

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psd "back" with Sad "cut".

swsx "widen" with wsx.t "hall".

sbA "gate" with sbA.yt "teaching" .

5. Syllabic Writings

In ME syllabic writings were used to write foreign names and loan words:

mrkb.t "chariot" (Hebr. markabar, Akk. narkabtu);

in LE they are used for normal Egyptian words too: e.g.

r-bl "outside"

Hrr "flower".

Redundancy of signs

Word endings often redundant, esp. phonograms such as -w, -i, -t, and -ti. For all practical purposes, these have no recognisable function as graphemes and can be ignored in the reading and parsing of the word. Eg:

aqw for aq "to enter"

xprw for xpr "to be"

qdw or even qdnw for qd "character, form" Because a final n can sometimes be written nw, one sometimes also finds things like

wstn-nw for wstn "stride, go". Other examples:

for iyi, for psi "to cook" The fem. -t ending is no longer a reliable indicator of the feminine:

pA Sri p¥hre

tA Sri t¥eere NB the difference in the vocalisation between masc. and fem.!

Bi-consonantal signs often complemented by uniliterals, as in pA and tA , even though this complementation says nothing about whether the phoneme actually existed, eg. the A in pA . In fact, in this case, the aleph was probably not spoken, ie the word was probably pronounced already as in the Coptic. NB the phonetic complement A in pA is not written in hieroglyphic text, but it is written in hieratic. Determinatives Used very frequently, but strangely enough not those that are specific, but rather the

general ones which do not really say very much. In particular , , or , eg.

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nHm "to take". Determinatives can be reduced to   Historical development of the Egyptian Language (The following notes are taken from B. Kroeber, Die Neuägyptizismen vor der Amarnazeit (Tübingen, 1970) The most marked division in the course of the history of the Egyptian language occurs with the change from Middle to Late Egyptian. If we look at the development of the Egyptian language as a whole, which can be traced over more than 4000 years, we can divide it into two more or less equally long periods, which we can call "older" and "later Egyptian". The characteristics of the language stages making up each of these groups have more in common with one another than they have with any of the stages in the other group. To the older group belong Old Egyptian, Early Middle Egyptian and Classical Middle Egyptian, the later group is represented by Late Egyptian, Demotic and Coptic.

The decisive difference between these two groups can be described as a contrast between a synthetic and an analytical structure. Comparative linguistics has shown that every synthetically structured language bears within it the tendency to break up into individual elements, and that at one point in the course of its internal development, it inevitably changes into an analytically structured language. Conversely, an analytically structured language moves towards concentration and gradually changes to a synthetically structured language. A classical example of such a process is the French future tense: The classical Latin form cantabit, a pure synthetic form, began to become unclear in speech when the inter-vocal labial b partially or completely disappeared and the resulting form *cantait could no longer be distinguished from the perfect form *canta(v)it. Vulgar Latin dealt with the problem through a paraphrase of the future in the form *cantare habet. Thus the move from a synthetic language to an analytical one was complete, and the converse movement could begin. Further development produced the Old French chantera [from *cantar-(h)a(t)], which in turn can be understood as a synthetic form. The renewed opposite movement in the direction of analysis can be seen in the situation that modern French can not do without the personal pronoun - the form is now il chantera, and the continual development can be seen in the new paraphrase which exists alongside the old form: the new analytical form il va chanter will eventually replace the synthetic form il chantera. Seen structurally, the form cantabit is on the same level as Old French chantera and, in the later development, il chanter; conversely the form cantare habet, il chantera (17th C.) and il va chanter also stand on the same level.

The radical change from Middle to Late Egyptian, i.e. the seam between "older" and "later Egyptian", offers many examples of the process of change from a synthetic to an analytical structure.

Examples:

pr.w=n "our house" becomes pAy=n pr.w

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sDm.n=f "he heard" becomes iri=f sDm "he heard" lit. he did hearing" - in LE the earlier form is "analysed" into a complex form with the tempus indicator now a separate element. The ME Complex Future iw=f r sDm: [This is already an analytical form that increasingly replaces the olderFuture (prospective) sDm=f, it undergoes further developments itself:] First Stage: As a result of phonetic changes, certain function bearers of a linguistic unit lose their definitiveness (the preoposition r). Second Stage: In order to eliminate confusion with another similarly slurred form (the present iw=f Hr sDm), the threatened morpheme is supported by a new element (the obligatory iw). Third Stage: The supports themselves become function bearers, making the old element (i.e. the preposition r) superfluous. The linguistic unit is unified and becomes a new synthetic form (iw=f r sDm > efeswtM 3rd Future). The driving force behind this development is, in the final analysis, the permanent striving after economy of the living language, i.e. after maximum effect with minimal effort, whereby under "effect" one would understand the clearest possible differentiation between functions, and under "effort" the number of individual morphemes. Central to this development is the general change in WORD ORDER from Middle Egyptian Verb–Subject–Object to Late Egyptian Subject–Verb–Object Sources for spoken ME and the spoken language of the 18th Dyn. prior to the Amarna Period (Kroeber, pp. XVIII ff.) A. Middle Egyptian 1. Upper Egyptian papyri of the late 11th Dyn.: James, The Hekanakhte Papers 2. Late 12th Dyn. letters found at Illahun: Griffith, Hieratic Papyri from Kahun and Gurob 3. Letter of the Vizier Intefiqer of the time of Sesostris I: pReisner II.E : Simpson, Papyrus Reisner II pl.8. B. 18th Dyn. i.e. early Late Egyptian i. Period of Hatshepsut - Thutmosis III: 1. 6 letters from the archive of the architect Ahmose-Penyati: Peet, JEA 12 (1926), pp. 70-74, pl.

17. Glanville, JEA 14 (1928), pp.294-311, pl. 30-35. 2. Short letter from Deir el Bahri: Hayes, MDAIK 15 (1957), pp. 89-90, p. 81 fig. I o. 3. Numerous ostraca from Deir el Bahri ii. Period Amenophis II: 1. Letter of the king to an official in Nubia: Urk IV 1343.4; 2. Letter of Mayor of Thebes, Sennefer, to a subordinate: Caminos, JEA 49 (1963) pp. 29-37, pl.6. iii. Period of Amenophis III: Three letters of a military officer found at Saqqara (unpublished).

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Late Egyptian Grammar Outline of main verbal forms

(Based on P.J. Frandsen, Late Egyptian Verbal System) I. Conjugation Patterns A distinction is made between initial and non-initial conjugation patterns, i.e. between those that can begin a sentence and form a main clause and those that only follow another verbal construction. A. Initial Conjugation Patterns 1. Sentence Conjugations preterite/perf. act. sDm=f [2.3.2, 3.5] afswtM bwpw=f sDm MpefswtM

prospective sDm=f1 [3.4.1] bn sDm=f [non-initial tm=f sDm(.w)] perf. passive sDm=f2 [p.101, 152] bn sDm=f3 aorist4 bw (iri=f) sDm mefswtM [Junge 2.3.2 (3) p. 100] "not yet" bw iri.t=f sDm MpatFswtM [Junge 2.3.2 (3) p. 100] I future5 [p.127] tw=i m nay r sDm fnaswtM

III Future6 [3.2] iw=f r sDm efeswtM bn iw=f r sDm NnefswtM

I Present7 [3.1] tw=i Hr sDm +swtM bn tw=i Hr sDm tw=i m aq tw=i aq.kw bwpw=i aq.kw8 pA si/sw dy/m nw.t 1 Meaning: future. In a subordinate clause, i.e. in a non-initial position, usually the object of rDi or its imperative imi. The negative of a subordinate prosp. sDm=f is expressed with the negative word tm; when the prosp. sDm=f is object of rDi (di=i ir=f sdm > tarefswtM) it is the verb rDi that is negated, not the prosp. sDm=f . 2 The verb rDi very frequently has the form DD. The perf. passive sDm=f expresses a statement, e.g. ini A "A was brought"; DD n=f anx "An oath was administered to him". 3 Eg. bn ini=f n=n m sS "He (i.e. his case) was not brought to us in writing." 4 The positive corelative of the neg. aorist is the I. Present, denoting a regular, customary, habitual activity. The neg. thus denotes I. non-performance of an habitual, regular or customary activity, or II. inability to do something. 5 Denotes a progressive action, or action that is about to take place. Composed of the verb nay "to go" + m + infin.. It is not encountered very frequently in Late Egyptian 6 A bi-partite pattern. Junge refers to these as bi-membral" sentences – see 3.1.1, p. 111. They are formed with two phrases, a nominal phrase [SUBJECT] followed by an adverbial phrase [PREDICATE]. 7 A bi-partite pattern. Note: In some situations, the First Present can be translated as a past tense, esp. when the second part is formed by an Old Perfective. 8 When tw=i + OP indicates past or present perfect.

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2. Imperative (Junge 2.2.2) imperative sDm m iri sDm MpRswtM

caus. imper. [3.4.3 (1)] imi iri.y=f sDm marefswtM m iri di.t (iri=f) sDm(=f) MpRtrefswtM

B. Non-Initial Conjugation Patterns9 – NIMS (Junge 5.2 p. 207ff.) 1. Sentence Conjugation iw=f (Hr) sDm efswtM iw=f (Hr) tm sDm Function The non-initial conjugation pattern has the appearance of an independent sentence within a longer section of text, but it cannot begin a sentence; it follows an initial conjugation pattern, or some other introductory phrase or formulae, e.g.: a. it can continue an initial main sentence such as i. the perf. act. sDm=f ii. a bi-partite pattern10 referring to past time – see example in Junge, p. 207. b. It appears in past narrative sequences after various formulae and set phrases, e.g.: I. xr ir Hr-sA hrw.w qnw ..... / hrw.w + number "Now after many / x days..." ii. xr ir sA wnwt "Now after a while ..." iii. xr ir hrw.w "Now after (some) days ..." 2. Clause Conjugations 1. "until" i-ir.t(w)=f sDm11 < r iri.t=f sDm [Junge 2.3.2 (2) p. 99] SAa i-ir.t(w)=f sDm ¥antfswtm [Junge 2.3.2 (2) p. 99] 2. preposition + pAy=f sDm conveys present or future time; [Junge 2.3.3 (1) p. 103] preposition + pA sDm i-iri=f conveys past time - with i. m "when", with ii. n "because"

9 In form the same as the "circumstantial present", but note that the latter has a different negative: iw bn sw Hr sDm. 10 Junge refers to these as i-membral" sentences – see 3.1.1, p. 111. They are formed with two phrases, a nominal phrase [SUBJECT] followed by an adverbial phrase [PREDICATE]. 11 The initial i = ME r; the form drives from r iri.t 11 The initial i = ME r; the form drives from r iri.t =f sDm, which in turn derives from r sDm.t=f . When the form could no longer be distinguished phonetically, SAa "until" was added to make it clear.

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3. Conjunctive [Junge 5.4.3] The Conjunctive can continue a whole range of constructions and takes on the tense of that construction: mtw=f sDm nfswtm

II. The "second present"/ "emphatic" form / "that" form (Junge: 2.3.2 (1) The nominal or emphatic sDm=f; 3.3.1) Forms a. Positive i. i-iri=f sDm – neutral in respect of time) ii. i-sDm=f (var. r-sDm=f ) – refers to future time and is likely to be the LE prospective emphatic form. b. Negative i. i-iri=f tm sDm – this form negates the verb form itself; (Junge p. 130) ii. bn i-iri=f ... iwnA - this form negates the adverbial adjunct. (Junge p. 130) III wn / wnn 1. wn in existential sentence In LE an existential sentence like rmT m niw.t "a man is in the city" is not possible; as a rule the predicative wn must precede it: wn phty aA im=k "there is great strength in you". The negative counterpart of wn is mn [Junge p. 172] eg.: mn btA r=s "No harm has come to her". mn wa dy "There is no one here". 2. wn as a preterite converter [Junge 3.6] wn is an explicit past converter; it can introduce: i. non-verbal sentences a. wn + in-construction (Fransden: cleft sentence)

"The goldsmith A, 2 deben,

iw wn mntf i-ir wdH n=n mtw=f pS m pS aqA irm=n an it being he who used to melt down for us and divide with us an accurate division with us

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again." b. wn + adjectival sentence

wn bn bAk xr bn bAk n nA rmt "There has been no work and there is no work for the men."

c. wn + adverbial non-verbal sentence

He said: wn pAy=i it im "my father was there."

He said: bn wn=f irm=i iwnA "he was not with me." ii. wn + Pseudoverbal Construction

a. wn + subject + Hr + infinitive

wn=i (Hr) sDm SAa niw.t "I used to hear as far away as Ne (=Thebes)"

wn nA nsy.w HAw.ty (Hr) di.t in.tw HD nbw "The former kings used to have silver and gold sent." b. wn + subject + Old Perfective

He said: A B ir ink wn=i Hms.k m pA pr.w n.y A iw B (Hr) iyi "As for me, I was sitting in the house of A and B came."

iiA wn=i mr.k m-di pH=i "Indeed, I was ill when I reached …"

One said to him:

A … wn.k Hms.tw irm A … xr wn=k irm=f m nA s.t "You were dwelling with A … and you were with him in the tomb." iii. wn + preterite sdm=f see Junge p. 160 iv. wn + III Future

If it were a thief belonging to my land who … stole your silver wn iw=i (r) DbA=f n=k I would have replaced it for you."

hn wn (m)-di=w anx snb wn bn iw=w di.t in.tw nA x.t "If they had had life and health, they would not have caused the things to be brought." (hn non-enclitic particle introd. unfulfilled condition)

What is the meaning of this writing that you have made saying:

A

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i-ir=k hAb Sa.t m-dr wn A dy wn bn iw=k hAb n=i aDA "'It was when A was here that you sent a letter.' You will not have written to me falsely?"

bpy=i ptr n.tyw nb.t hn ptr=i wn iw=i Dd.t=f "I saw no one at all. Had I seen (anyone) I would have said it." iw as a circumstantial converter – Junge 5.1.1 Table of forms converted by iw on p. 190

iw=w aS n pA HA.ty-a.w n.y niw.t iw=f m snny They called to the mayor of the city as he passed by. This is an example of the Circumstantial First Present (Junge 3.1.3)

ix pAy=k iyi.t m-sA=i r Xdb m grg iw nn sDm=k r=i Hr

md.t What is your coming after me in order to kill unjustly without your listening to me speaking? Here iw converts nn + infinitive. nty as a relative converter – Junge 5.1.2

tw=i Dd n Imn.w-Ra.w-@r.w-Ax.ty ... nTr nb nTr.t nb.t nty tw=i

zni Hr=w I speak to Amun-Re-Harakhte ... and every god and goddess whom I pass (lit.: which I pass by them). (Converted First Present)

m iri iri.t nA sp.w aA.w n.w grg nty bn st r s.t=w Do not do a doing of the great deeds of injustice which are not appropriate.

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