Memphite Formula
The Memphite Formula was a standardized greeting of
Form
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Life, Prosperity, Health in hieroglyphs | ||||
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Letters written in the Memphite Formula begin with a greeting from "the servant", the author, to "the lord", the recipient.
Connected to the word lord is usually found a common exhortation or blessing, "may he live, be prosperous, be healthy", which is commonly abbreviated l.p.h. in translations for convenience.[3] This blessing is usually understood to be an example of the Egyptian old perfective or stative tense, and one of the few remaining instances where a non-first-person stative can be used in an independent clause.[4]
The Memphite Formula blesses the recipient in the name of Ptah and the principal god of the letter's author.[1]
History
The Memphite formula was common in the First Intermediate Period and the beginning of the Middle Kingdom. Its use was so standard that frequently it would be written in advance on sheets of papyrus intended for use as letters.[1] While the early Middle Kingdom convention has been termed the Memphite Formula, all letters in the Memphite style which have established provenance come only from Thebes.[5] The Memphite Formula did not see use long into the Middle Kingdom, being replaced with the set formula, "a communication to the master, l.p.h."[1]
References
- ^ a b c d Hayes. (1948) p. 2
- ^ a b c Gunn. (1945) p. 107
- ^ a b Gardiner. (1957) p. 239
- ^ Allen. (2000) p. 217
- ^ Frandsen. (1978) p. 26
Bibliography
- Allen, James (2000). Middle Egyptian. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-77483-7.
- Frandsen, Paul (1978). "A Fragmentary Letter of the Early Middle Kingdom". Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt. 15: 23–31. JSTOR 40000126.
- Gardiner, Alan (1957). Egyptian Grammar. Griffith Institute, Ashmolean Museum.
- Gunn, Battiscombe (1945). "The Expression for the Recipient in Middle Kingdom Letters". Journal of Egyptian Archaeology. 31: 107–108. JSTOR 3855393.
- Hayes, William (1948). "A Much-Copied Letter of the Early Middle Kingdom". Journal of Near Eastern Studies. 48 (1): 1–10. S2CID 161853927.