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    17 The Bull Hunt Scarab of Amenhotep III: Gilgamesh, Translated by Herbert Mason

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    The document summarizes a bull hunt led by Pharaoh Amenhotep III during his second year of rule. It describes how the pharaoh sailed north in his royal ship and accepted a journey to a place near the Delta. There, he appeared in a chariot to command his army units, including soldiers and children from the royal nursery, to drive wild bulls into an enclosed area surrounded by walls and a ditch, in order to hunt them.

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    17 The Bull Hunt Scarab of Amenhotep III: Gilgamesh, Translated by Herbert Mason

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    113 views10 pages
    The document summarizes a bull hunt led by Pharaoh Amenhotep III during his second year of rule. It describes how the pharaoh sailed north in his royal ship and accepted a journey to a place near the Delta. There, he appeared in a chariot to command his army units, including soldiers and children from the royal nursery, to drive wild bulls into an enclosed area surrounded by walls and a ditch, in order to hunt them.

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    Bull Hunt

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    The document summarizes a bull hunt led by Pharaoh Amenhotep III during his second year of rule. It describes how the pharaoh sailed north in his royal ship and accepted a journey to a place near the Delta. There, he appeared in a chariot to command his army units, including soldiers and children from the royal nursery, to drive wild bulls into an enclosed area surrounded by walls and a ditch, in order to hunt them.

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    17 The Bull Hunt Scarab of Amenhotep III: Gilgamesh, Translated by Herbert Mason

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    The document summarizes a bull hunt led by Pharaoh Amenhotep III during his second year of rule. It describes how the pharaoh sailed north in his royal ship and accepted a journey to a place near the Delta. There, he appeared in a chariot to command his army units, including soldiers and children from the royal nursery, to drive wild bulls into an enclosed area surrounded by walls and a ditch, in order to hunt them.

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    17

    The Bull Hunt Scarab of Amenhotep III


    He lunged from side to side
    Watching for his chance to seize the horns.
    The bull frothed in its rage at this dance
    And suddenly Enkidu seized its tail
    And twisted it around, until the bull
    Stood still, bewildered, out of breath,
    And then Enkidu plunged his sword behind its horns
    Into the nape of the bull’s neck, and it fell dead.
    Gilgamesh, translated by Herbert Mason

    Hsbt 2 xr Hm n anx Hrw kA nxt xa m mAat nbti smn hpw sgrH tAwi

    Hrw-nbw aA xpS Hw sstiw (n)sw(t)-bit(i)nb tAwi NB-MAa&-Ra zA ra IMN-@&P HqA-wAst di anx

    Hmt-(n)sw(t) wrt Tiy anx.ti

    biAit xprt n Hm.f

    iw(t).tw r Dd n Hm.f iw wn smAw Hr xAst nt w n St(a)

    nat Hm.f m xd m wiA-(n)sw(t) xa-m-mAat Hr tr n xAwi

    Szp tp-wAt nfrt spr m Htp r w n St(a) Hr tr n dwA

    xat Hm.f Hr ssmt mSa.f tm m xt.f


    sHnt srw mSa anxw nw mSa r Dr.f mi qd.f Xrdw n kAp r irt rsw Hr nA n smAw

    ist wD.n Hm.f rdit itH.tw nn smAw m sbti Hna Sdy

    wD.in Hm.f r nn smAw r Aw.sn

    rxt iri smAw 170 rxt in.n Hm.f m bHs m hrw pn smAw 56

    wAH.in Hm.f hrw 4 m wS rdit srf n ssmwt.f

    Xat Hm.f Hr ssmt rxt nn smAw in.n.f bHs smAw 40 tmt smAw 96
    The Bull Hunt Scarab of Amenhotep III.

    Vocabulary

    Hsbt regnal year xd go/sail


    downstream/north; m xd downstream,
    xr (preposition) by, near, during north
    kA bull tr time, season
    nxt victorious, mighty, xAwi dusk, evening
    successful
    Szp receive, accept
    xai appear, rise
    tp-wAt journey
    mAat Maat (goddess)
    spr arrive
    smn set, fix
    dwA morning, tomorrow
    hp law
    ssm horse
    sgrH pacify, make
    peaceful mSa army, expeditionary force
    tAwi Two Lands, Egypt tm (adjective-verb) complete
    aA great, important xt wake, aftermath; m xt
    after, future
    xpS strong arm, strength,
    power sHn command
    sttiw Asiatics sri official
    Hmt woman, wife anx person, citizen
    wr great, important Xrd child, boy
    biAit marvel, miracle kAp royal nursery
    wnn exist, be rsw watch, guard
    smA wild bull itH pull, draw
    xAst desert hills, foreign land sbti wall, enclosure
    w region Sdy ditch
    nai sail, travel by boat Hsb count
    rxt knowledge , hrw day
    bHs hunt dmd/dmD total
    The Bull Hunt Scarab of Amenhotep III

    Grammar Points
    The Bull Hunt

    Hsbt 2 xr Hm n anx Hrw kA nxt xa m mAat nbti smn hpw sgrH tAwi

    Hrw-nbw aA xpS Hw sttiw (n)sw(t)-bit(i) NB-MAa&-Ra zA ra IMN-@&P HqA-wAst di anx


    This scarab commemorates a wild cattle hunt led by Amenhotep III during his 2nd regnal
    year. The prepositional phrase xr Hm n followed by the king’s royal titulary is a typical
    construction meaning “during the incarnation/reign of.” Due to their compressed nature,
    the names in a royal titulary are notoriously difficult to interpret. In the (Living) Horus

    name “victorious bull” the ideogram representing kA is not the cattle but the wild

    bull , and nxt “victorious, mighty” is abbreviated to the mere sign .


    The perfective active participle of the verb xai “appear (in glory), shine” is used, and
    accordingly the phrase xa m mAat can be translated as “shining in truth,” lit. “(he) who
    shines/appears in truth/Maat.” In the Two Ladies name the causative (2-lit. and 3-lit.)
    verbs smn and sgrH are both in perfective active participle forms. In the Gold Falcon
    name, aA xpS is an easily recognizable nfr Hr construction, and again Hwi is in perfective
    active participle form. The throne name can be translated as “lord of the world-
    order/Maat of Re” and the Son of Re name as “Amun is content.”

    Hmt-(n)sw(t) wrt Tiy anx.ti


    The ‘great royal wife’ Queen Tiye was the most influential woman during Amenhotep
    III’s reign, later deified in Upper Nubia. Her name appears in many inscriptions
    (although not so much in the Karnak-Luxor temple complex). Note the feminine stative
    suffix of the verb anx.
    biAit xprt n Hm.f
    Matching the feminine noun biAit “marvel, wonder,” the perfective relative form of the
    verb xpr has a t ending.

    iw(t).tw r Dd n Hm.f iw wn smAw Hr xAst nt w n St(a)/St(p)


    The infinitive of iw “come” with impersonal suffix pronoun as subject starts the narrative:
    “one came,” lit. “one coming.” Another very similar example for the impersonal pronoun

    as the subject of the infinitive is iit.tw r Dd n Hm.f. 1 The


    pseudoverbal r + infinitive construction emphasizes purpose. The indicative/perfective
    sDm.f of wnn introduced by the particle iw is used here to express general existence.

    Another example to this is the well-known passage

    iw wn nDs DDi rn.f. 2 It can be translated as “there is/are.” xAst means

    here “desert hills,” not “foreign land.” w (with the tongue of land determinative)

    means “region.” According to Breasted, the feminine indirect genitive nt should be

    replaced by r “as far as.” Sta “Sheta” or Stp Shetep is an unknown place, but
    interpreting the story that follows, it must be somewhere near the Delta, probably in Wadi
    Natrun.

    nat Hm.f m xd m wiA-(n)sw(t) xa-m-mAat Hr tr n xAwi


    The narrative infinitive of the verb nai “sail, travel by boat” starts the action. In the
    prepositional phrase m xd “downstream, north,” xd is not the infinitive of xdi “sail
    downstream/north” but a verbal noun. Analogously, sailing in the opposite direction is
    expressed by m xntyt, where the verbal noun is derived from the verb xnti “sail

    upstream/south.” The means of transportation of the king is the bark wiA whose
    1
    [Urk. IV, 656, 14].
    2
    [Westcar 6, 26].
    royalty is expressed by the “sedge” (n)sw(t) on the deck. The name of the ship can easily
    be made up from the royal titulary above.

    Szp tp-wAt nfrt spr m Htp r w n St(a)/St(p) Hr tr n dwA


    The absence of subjects indicates that the verbs Szp “take, receive, accept” and spr

    “arrive” are still infinitives. The feminine noun phrase tp-wAt is an Egyptian

    idiom for “journey.” A similar example is … …


    wDA Hm.f…spr Hm.f…rdit Hm.f tp nfr.3

    xat Hm.f Hr ssmt mSa.f tm m xt.f


    Once again the predicate xai “appear” is infinitive. The hunting scenes in Medinet Habu
    clearly show that the Egyptians did not hunt wild bulls on horseback. The prepositional
    phrase Hr ssmt “on horse,” which also appears on Stela S of Amenhotep IV Akhenaten
    marking the southeastern boundary of El Amarna, needs to be interpreted as the king
    appeared in a chariot driven by a horse. In fact, as the feminine ending in ssmt also
    indicates, mares were the preferred chariot horses. Similar use of language appears in
    Exodus 15:1: “… I will sing unto the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously: the horse
    and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.”4 In previous passages (Exodus 14:6-7) it is
    clearly stated that the pharaoh’s army pursuing Moses was comprised of chariots and the
    soldiers were not riding on horseback.
    In the second adverb clause the adjective tm modifies mSa.f.

    sHn.t(w) srw mSa anxw nw mSa r Dr.f mi qd.f Xrdw n kAp r irt rsw Hr nA n smAw
    The infinitive of the causative verb sHn “command” has again the impersonal pronoun tw
    as its suffixed subject. The subject is, of course, the king, and this use of tw “One” is
    reference to the pharaoh seems to be of occasional use in Late Middle Kingdom. The list
    of objects include srw anHw “the commanders,” lit. “the officials of the army,” anxw nw

    3
    [Sebekhu 1-2].
    4
    Bible, King James Version.
    mSa “ the common soldiers,” lit. “the citizens of the army,” and Xrdw n kAp “the children

    of the kap/nursery.” Note that in some 18th Dynasty writings kAp resembles a wrist
    and hand. The attached apparent adjectives r Dr.f and mi qd.f emphasize that the entire
    army with all its attachments was present. Finally, the pseudoverbal r + infinitive
    construction expresses the planned action rsw Hr to watch over/guard the wild cattle (with
    rsw in the infinitive used as a noun).

    ist wD.n Hm.f rdit itH.tw nn smAw m sbti Hna Sdy


    The particle ist marks the adverb clause in which the king commands (in circumstantial
    sDm.n.f /perfect) to drive the wild cattle into a walled enclosure with a ditch. The
    command itself employs the rdi + prospective/subjunctive sDm.f construction with rdi (as
    the object of wD) itself in the infinitive. Notice the (suddenly) missing genitival adjective

    n after nn in the plural demonstrative, a practice that started before the 18th
    Dynasty.

    In Thuthmose III’s siege of Megiddo we can read

    i[H] m Sdy inH m xtw wADw n xtw.sn nb bnr5. The


    Egyptian army surrounded the town with a ditch and walled it up (with new timber from

    fruit trees). As Breasted pointed out, the situation and the choice of the words iH

    “surround, net, catch,” Sdy “inclosure, ditch,” and inH “wall” are
    reminiscent to ours here. While the situation is analogous, it is not the same. The static

    meaning of the verb inH should be contrasted with the dynamic meaning of

    itH, and it is more likely that the wild cattle were driven (drawn) into a walled
    enclosure (with a ditch) rather than surrounded by a wall.

    wD.in Hm.f r nn smAw r Aw.sn

    5
    [Urk. IV, 660, 15-6].
    The sDm.in.f form applied to the verb wD emphasizes subsequent action, the king’s next
    command. The command’s missing predicate makes little sense unless we follow

    Breasted’s suggestion and replace r with Hsb “count.” The apparent adjective r
    Aw with the plural suffix pronoun once again emphasizes that all the wild cattle had to be
    accounted for.

    rxt iri smAw 170 rxt in.n Hm.f m bHs m hrw pn smAw 56
    The verbal noun rxt “knowledge” is derived from the verb rx “learn, know.” This,
    combined with the prepositional nisbe iri is usually translated as “statement thereof,” lit.
    “knowledge thereof.” Although bHs “hunt” is a verb, as the object of the preposition m, it
    is a verbal noun since the pseudoverbal m + infinitive construction in the New Kingdom
    was used for the imperfect.

    wAH.in Hm.f hrw 4 m wS rdit srf n ssmwt.f


    As above, the sDm.in.f verb form indicates subsequent action. In the adjective-verb wS
    “unoccupied (of time), free” the hair determinative is because of the alternative meaning
    of wS as “fall out, missing (hair).” The object of the infinitive of rdi is srf “passion,
    warmth, temperature” in a spiritual context means that the king let his horses regain their
    strength/spirit.

    Xat Hm.f Hr ssmt rxt nn (n) smAw in.n.f bHs smAw 40 dmd smA(w) 96
    All the grammar involved here has been treated above.

    Bibliography
    Text: Cleveland Museum of Art; de Buck, pp. 65-66; G. Fraser, A catalogue of the
    scarabs belonging to George Fraser, London. Bernard Quaritch. 1900.
    Commentaries/Grammar: R. Ritner, JEA 72 (1986)193-4; C. Blankenberg-Van Delden,
    The Large Commemorative Scarabs of Amenhotep III, 1969; D. O’Connor and Eric
    Cline (Eds.), Amenhotep III, Perspective on His Reign, 2001.
    Translations: Breasted, II, §§863-864.

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