The Rock Inscriptions of Tjehemau at Abisko

Abstract

Rather than being rudely carved and incomplete inscriptions in imperfect Egyptian, the rock Inscriptions of Tjehemau, carved near Nag el-Wasiya in the district of Abisko, are a single, well-executed text in colossal lapidary hieratic. The present examination demonstrates that the inscriptions form a single, continuous text of considerable literary and historical merit, containing much of grammatical and lexicographic interest. Tjehemau describes a career in which he ranges widely through the Western Desert, depicts the rejoicing of the city of Thebes, gathered in celebration on the riverbank as the desert warrior descends, and quotes the Theban song of praise. The placement of the sections of the inscription within the landscape mirrors the content of the text - a military life beginning on the Nubian Nile, journeying west, south, and north with the forces of early Middle Kingdom Egypt, and returning to the Lower Nubian Nile.