The Inventory Stela
The Discovery of the Stela
In 1858, Auguste Mariette uncovered a small stela during excavations around the Sphinx, located within the Isis temple near what is now called Pyramid G1. This stela, inscribed with the name of Cheops, immediately aroused great interest among scholars. Initially believed to date back to the Fourth Dynasty, it soon became apparent for stylistic reasons and philological observations that it could not belong to the historical period of Cheops. Stylistically, even an untrained eye can note that documents from the Fourth Dynasty appeared quite different.
From a philological perspective, consider the hieroglyphs “𓊽𓊽𓊽𓊽” used to indicate the Sphinx, found in texts only from the New Kingdom. Since it was discovered in the Isis temple, bearing cartouches of Psusennes and Amenemope, Petrie concluded that this stela should be attributed to the 21st Dynasty. However, studies by G. Daressy led to a different conclusion, dating the Inventory Stela to the 26th Dynasty.
Description of the Stela
This stela, made of fine limestone, is 70 cm high and 42 cm wide. It is surrounded by a frame with hieroglyphic inscriptions (see translation sections A, B, C), and the inner area is slightly recessed relative to the frame level. This area is divided into four registers featuring bas-reliefs and hieroglyphic inscriptions.
The inscriptions in this part of the stela are in fair condition, making translation possible. The lower part, the base of the stela, however, is in very poor condition due to sand abrasion over the millennia. The inscriptions on the base are very difficult to read, with only a few usable words remaining. G. Daressy attempted to integrate this text, but he himself expressed significant doubts about the accuracy of his insertions.
In the first register of the inner part of the stela, starting from the right, the statue of the god Min is first seen, then two depictions of Upuaut, the god Soped, and finally the god Thoth. The inscriptions describe the materials from which these statues are made: gilded wood. In the second register, there is a sacred procession barque, defined as 'the support of the beauty of Isis'. Then, under a shrine is Isis, followed by Nephthys, then Isis again, and finally Selkis. All these goddesses are seated on thrones of unknown material (Daressy believes it to be schist). The dimensions of the statues are also indicated, about two palms (approximately 15 cm). The third register also presents a series of deities. From right to left, they are: Arendotes, Harpocrates, Ptah (under a shrine), Sakhmet, Osiris (also under a different styled shrine), then Isis nursing the young Horus (twice) and finally Horus 'who has conquered the Two Lands'. The materials used here are mostly gilded wood, but Sakhmet and an Isis are made of black bronze. It is also specified that the eyes are made of inlaid stone. The fourth register presents the bull Hapi and a serpentiform Nefertum. Following are two inscriptions that will be discussed in the translation section (D and C), and finally, an image of the Sphinx, called by its epithet Har-em-akhet ('Horus in the Horizon', later called Harmachis by the Greeks). The bas-relief of the Sphinx features above its head a strange sign formed by four inclined segments in the shape of 'S': it is the hieratic sign 'ššp', which in Middle Egyptian means 'Sphinx'. All these inscriptions have little relevance: they are the objects that are part of the inventory of the Isis temple and are not of particular interest. However, the inscriptions on the frame, the fourth register, and those on the base, although severely damaged, are of great interest. Below is the translation of these inscriptions, which has been done 'literally', without giving in to literary temptations or even interpretative ones. The reference letters in bold are those found in figure 2. The inscription text is reported here from left to right. The translation of the inscriptions on the base presented here is that carried out by G. Daressy, which must be taken with caution for the reasons mentioned above. For the same reasons, the translation, however made, presents incomprehensible sentences, but one must understand the difficulties of the work. To better highlight the added parts, these have been written in italics.
Frame Inscriptions
Translations of the Frame Inscriptions
- A: "Living Horus: Medjdu; King of Upper and Lower Egypt: \<Khufu\>, given life."
- B: "He made for his mother Isis, the divine mother, Hathor, lady of Nun, the inventory placed on this stela; he restored to her the divine offerings; he rebuilt her [the goddess's] temple in stone; he confirmed that these gods were in her [the goddess's] abode."
- C: "He found that the temple of Isis, lady of the pyramid, was near the temple of the Sphinx to the northwest of the temple of Osiris, lord of Ro-stau; he built his pyramid beside the temple of this goddess; he built the pyramid of the princess Henutsen next to this temple."
Fourth Register Inscriptions
Translations of the Fourth Register Inscriptions
- D: "(1) The site of the Sphinx of Harmachis is south of the temple of Isis, (2) lady of the pyramid and north of the temple of Osiris, lord of Ro-stau; the paintings of the god of Harmachis were brought to be examined."
- E: "…stone; it is sturdy and will live forever eternally, and the (its face) is before the east."
Translation of the Base Inscriptions
(according to G. Daressy)
"(The paintings of the sphinx) were brought for the restoration of this colossus, portrait of the very terrible. He [Cheops] restored the statue all covered in paint of the guardian of the atmosphere, which guides the winds with its gaze. He had the missing rear part of the 'nemes' cut with a golden stone measuring 7 cubits in length (about 3.70 meters). He comes to take a turn to see 'the storm on the place of the sycamore', so called because of a great sycamore that had its branches struck by lightning when the master of the sky (?) descended on the place of Harmachis, and so this image has once again traced the embrace (?) ...of all the animals slain at Ro-stau. There is a board for the vessels full of the remains of the animals that, except for the thigh (?), are eaten near these seven gods (?), asking ...the irradiation of his face on the stela traced near this colossus at the time of darkness. The figure of this god is cut in stone."
Commentary
No matter how it is considered, this is a document of great importance. In reality, it is the list (i.e., inventory) of the statues present in the temple of Isis near the Great Pyramid. Naturally, for the reasons mentioned above, this stela cannot be attributed to Cheops, but there is an element, noted by Daressy, that should precisely indicate the era in which this stela was carved. Towards the end of inscription B, the expression “𓎡𓏏𓏭𓀭”, which is transliterated as "hnw ntr.w", meaning 'these gods', appears. However, Daressy noted that if the sign "𓎡" underwent a slight correction and was written as "𓎛", the aforementioned expression would be read as "Smȝ.ty ntr.w", meaning 'the Chosen of the gods'. Indeed, this epithet was the Golden Horus name of Pharaoh Amasis of the 26th Dynasty. This graphic trickery should not be surprising: Egyptian writing allowed it, and the Egyptians were masters of these tricks. Thus, without heavily interfering with the text by writing his own name in the cartouche, which would certainly have disturbed the historical context of the artifact, Amasis wanted to cryptographically place his own signature on the stela. The early scholars who discovered that this stela should not be attributed to the Fourth Dynasty, but to the 26th, (among them G. Maspero) considered it to be a forgery composed in the Saitic period. I do not agree with this thesis, as I believe this stela is simply a document written during the reign of Amasis, which reported events that occurred during the reign of Cheops. It seems clear that, wanting to create a document as I just reported, Amasis had to cite the name of Cheops, and he did so rather emphatically. But if he had wanted to create a forgery, he would have adopted an artistic style not typical of his era, but would certainly have imitated the style of the Old Kingdom. And in this, the artists of the Saitic period were really skilled. Indeed, as Arborio Mella reports in "The Egypt of the Pharaohs", Mursia 1976, the Egyptians of the 26th Dynasty 'managed so perfectly (to refer to the ancient models) that today, on some pieces, one can argue at length whether they are from the Memphite period or the Saitic period, which means a difference of twenty centuries! However, from the examination of the inscriptions of this stela, some conclusions can be drawn.
- Cheops renovated and reintegrated the rites of an Isis temple that was located near his pyramid and which perhaps was already in ruins before the pyramid was built.
- The temple of the Sphinx existed even before the construction of the Great Pyramid.
- Nearby was also a temple dedicated to Osiris.
- Cheops built the Great Pyramid.
- Cheops also built the pyramid of his daughter Henutsen.
- It is very likely that the Sphinx existed even before Cheops built his pyramid, as this ruler had restored it.
The conclusions of points 2, 3, 4, and 6 seem, I believe, to be quite significant. Point four explicitly tells us that the Great Pyramid was built by Cheops. Indeed, the author of the stela uses the verb "s-nb", without further additions, and therefore, it simply means 'build'. However, for the Isis temple located nearby, he uses the phrase "s-nb.t nfr.t nfr.w", which means 'he built anew', and therefore 'he rebuilt'. The author uses the same verb "s-nb" even for the pyramid of princess Henutsen, about which, it seems, there are no doubts.
Even for the Sphinx, things seem to be quite clear. From the text, indeed, it seems that this monument was restored by Cheops, or, perhaps better, only 'inspected' (in fact, the verb used for the word 'restoration' is actually "sip", which means 'examine', or 'inspect' rather than 'restore'). Anyway, Cheops would have 'treated' the monument, which must, at his times, have been existing on site. Moreover, in favor of placing the construction of the Sphinx at times earlier than Cheops also plays the fact that, almost certainly, the temple of the Sphinx already existed before Cheops. Indeed, reading the translation it is observed that 'Cheops found the temple of Isis, Lady of the pyramid near the temple of the Sphinx'. It therefore seems natural that the Sphinx was built first, and then its temple. Mariette, for example, seems quite inclined to date the Sphinx earlier. Here I report, verbatim, the comment that Mariette himself made in his publication of the Museum of Boulaq. "We will add that the Great Sphinx of Giza is among the statues mentioned here. This colossal emblem thus already existed at the time of Cheops. It is therefore older than the pyramid." (Mariette, Album du muséè de Boulaq, Cairo, 1872). Other scholars (among them Zahi Hawass) believe that the Inventory Stela reports a restoration that took place in the Saitic era. In favor of this thesis plays the fact that in the Saitic era (26th Dynasty) it was common to restore ancient monuments, while it was a practice almost unknown in the time of the Old Kingdom.
Now, one last observation. From the examination of this stela, it is clear that the Great Pyramid was built by Cheops, confuting, I think definitively, the theories of those who assert that its construction must date back to 10,500 BC. But this result had already been reached considering the C14 tests done in 1984 and 1995 by Mark Lehner. As for the Sphinx, instead, it seems certain that it was built in an undetermined era before Cheops.
