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Introduction

The stela of Ramose

The scribe Ramose held important positions during the reign of Ramesses II, in the village of Deir el-Medina. He was a man of considerable wealth and prestige, and left a large number of stelae and other artefacts. This limestone stela, measuring 60.5x40cm, presents him praying to Ptah and Maat.

Acknowledgements

The stela is on display at the Manchester Museum, object number 1759. Analysis of the text is by Angela McDonald, Mark-Jan Nederhof and Campbell Price, prepared using PhilologEg.

The stela was donated to the Manchester Museum in 1896 by Mr Jesse Haworth.

Context

Provenance

map

The village of Deir el-Medina was in Western Thebes, across the Nile from Karnak.

Period

timeline

The earliest known mention of Ramose is as scribe at the temple of Tuthmosis IV (18th Dynasty). Later, in Deir el-Medina, he held positions under Seti I and Ramesses II (both 19th Dynasty). This stela is from that period, circa 1270-1240 BCE.

Pointers

A translation (p. 15) and a line drawing (pl. 10) are given in:

J.E. Quibell. The Ramesseum. Bernard Quaritch, 1898.

A transcription is given on pp. 624-625 of:

K.A. Kitchen. Ramesside Inscriptions III. Blackwell, 1980.

More information about Ramose can be found in:

K. Exell. The senior scribe Ramose and the cult of the king. Current Research in Egyptology 5, 51-67, 2006.
J. Černý. A Community Of Workmen at Thebes In the Ramesside Period. IFAO, 1973.
M. Bierbrier. Tomb Builders of the Pharaohs. Columbia University Press, 1993.

At Kingston Lacy, Dorcet, 25 other stelae from Deir el-Medina are kept, including two from Ramose.

Image

Gods

The stela is dedicated to Ptah and Maat, who are depicted in the upper register. The was-sceptre of Ptah is shown in its full length, by having it go down in sharp angles following the shape of his legs.

Ramose

Ramose himself is depicted in the lower register, kneeling and hands raised in adoration. Most of the hieroglyphic text constitutes his prayer to Ptah and Maat.

Offerings

An offering table is piled with a jar of beer with two bread loaves on either side, a lotus bouquet, and a large piece of ox meat. Represented in the upper right corner is most likely a basket with two conical bread loaves.

Text

Address to Ptah and Maat

⍰

Ptḥ nb mꜣꜥt

Ptah, lord of Truth,

⍰

nsw tꜣwj

king of the Two Lands,

⍰

nfr ḥr

with beautiful face,

⍰

ms nṯrw

who fashioned the gods,

⍰

nṯr ꜥꜣ nb r nḥḥ

great god, lord until eternity.

⍰

Mꜣꜥt sꜣt-Rꜥ

Maat, daughter of Re.

The lost area of the upper register would likely have contained further epithets of Maat, mirroring those in the lower register.

Incantation

⍰

wꜥb sp sn n kꜣ=ṯn m ḫt nbt nfrt

Purity, purity for you, in every good thing.

Ptah

⍰

rḏjt jꜣw n Ptḥ

Giving praise to Ptah,

⍰

nb mꜣꜥt nsw tꜣwj

lord of Truth, king of the Two lands,

⍰

nfr [ḥr] ḥrj st=f wrt

with beautiful [face], who is on his great throne,

⍰

nb šꜣy sḫpr rnnt

lord of destiny, who creates fortune,

⍰

sꜥnḫ tꜣwj m ḥmwt=f

who preserves the Two Lands with his crafts,

Maat

⍰

sn tꜣ n Mꜣꜥt

and kissing the earth for Maat,

⍰

sꜣt-Rꜥ nbt pt

daughter of Re, mistress of the sky,

⍰

[ḥnwt] nṯrw nbw

[mistress] of all the gods,

⍰

jrt Rꜥ jmt-ḥꜣt=f

eye of Re, who is in front of him,

⍰

nfrt ḥr m wjꜣ n ḥḥw

with beautiful face in the bark of millions,

⍰

ḥnwt pr Jmn

mistress of the temple of Amun,

Ramose

⍰

ḏj=sn qrst nfrt ḥr jꜣw

so that they may give a beautiful burial after old age,

⍰

ḥr jmntt wrt nt Wꜣst

in the great necropolis of Thebes,

⍰

smyt n mꜣꜥtj

the district of the Two Truths,

⍰

n kꜣ n Wsjr sš mꜣꜥ m st-mꜣꜥt

for the Osiris, true scribe in the Place of Truth,

⍰

Rꜥ-msjw mꜣꜥ-ḫrw

Ramose, justified.

Vocabulary

jꜣwj n age

jmj-ḥꜣt prep before

jmntt n (f) west

necropolis

jrt n (f/m) eye

wjꜣ n bark

wꜥb n purity

wr adj-verb great

pt n (f) heaven

pr n house

temple

m prep in

by (instrumental)
in (locative)
of (partitive)

mꜣꜥt n (f) Maat

truth

mꜣꜥ adj true

mꜣꜥtj f (dual) Two Truths

mꜣꜥ-ḫrw adj-verb justified

msj v give birth

create

n prep for

n adj of

nb adj all

nb n lord

nbt n (f) mistress

nfr adj-verb good

beautiful

nḥḥ n eternity

nsw n king

nṯr n god

~ ꜥꜣ great god

r prep to

until

rnnt n (f) fortune

rḏj v give

~ jꜣw praise

ḥmwt n (f) craft

ḥnwt n (f) mistress

ḥr n face

ḥr prep on

ḥrj adj who is upon

ḥḥ num million

ḫt n (f/m) thing

sꜣt n (f) daughter

sꜣt-Rꜥ daughter of Re

sꜥnḫ v preserve

sp time

~ sn typographical (to be read twice)

smyt n (f) desert

district

sn tꜣ v kiss the earth

n for

sḫpr v create

sš n scribe

st-wrt n (f) great throne

st-mꜣꜥt n (f) Place of Truth

šꜣw n destiny

qrst n (f) burial

kꜣ n spirit

tꜣwj n (dual) Two Lands

Names

Jmn Amun

Wꜣst Thebes

Wsjr Osiris

Ptḥ Ptah

Mꜣꜥt Maat

Rꜥ Re

Rꜥ-msjw Ramose

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