Palermo Stone
Palermo Stone | |
---|---|
Height | 43.5 cm |
Width | 25 cm |
Created | c. 2338 BC |
Discovered | before 1859 |
Present location | Palermo, Sicily, Italy |
The Palermo Stone is one of seven surviving fragments of a
The term "Palermo Stone" is sometimes applied to all seven surviving fragments of the Royal Annals, including those held in museums in Cairo and London. The fragments are also sometimes described collectively as the "Cairo Annals Stone",[3] although the term "Cairo Stone" is also used to mean only those fragments of the Royal Annals now in Cairo.
The Palermo Stone and other fragments of the Royal Annals preserve what is probably the oldest historical text that has survived from Ancient Egypt and form a key source for Egyptian history in the Old Kingdom.[4]
Description
The Royal Annals stele, of which the Palermo Stone formed part, may originally have been about 60 cm high and 2.1m wide. The fragments are composed of a compact hard black stone, probably a form of basalt.
The Palermo Stone itself is an irregular shield-shaped fragment, 43.5 cm high, 25 cm wide and 6.5 cm thick (maximum dimensions).
The inscription on the "front" (recto) of the Palermo Stone consists of six horizontal bands or registers of
The text continues on the "back" (verso) of the Palermo Stone, cataloguing events during the reigns of pharaohs down to
Information recorded in the Royal Annals (as preserved on the Palermo Stone) includes measurements of the height of the annual Nile flood (see Nilometer), the inundation, details of festivals (such as Sed festivals), taxation, sculpture, buildings, and warfare.[7]
Archaeological history
The original location of the stele is unknown and none of the surviving fragments have a secure archeological provenance. One fragment now in Cairo is said to have been found at an archaeological site at Memphis, while three other fragments now in Cairo were said to have been found in Middle Egypt. No find site for the Palermo Stone itself has been suggested.
The Palermo Stone was purchased by a Sicilian lawyer, Ferdinand Guidano, in 1859 and it has been in Palermo since 1866. On 19 October 1877, it was presented to the Palermo Archaeological Museum by the Guidano family, where it has remained since.
There are five fragments of the Royal Annals in the
The importance of the Palermo Stone was not recognized until it was noticed by a visiting French archaeologist in 1895. The first full publication and translation was that done in 1902 by Heinrich Schäfer.
Uncertainties
There are uncertainties regarding the date of the Palermo Stone and of the Royal Annals it records. It is unknown whether the inscription was done all at once or whether it was added to over time. It is also unknown whether or not it dates from the latest period it describes (i.e. from no later than the Fifth Dynasty). It has been suggested[
It is also unknown whether all the surviving fragments are parts of the same stele or whether they come from separate copies. None of the smaller fragments held in Cairo have any clear provenance, and they might not all be genuine.[9][10]
Various parts of the ancient text are in widely varying states of preservation, which makes the text difficult to decipher. If the text is a later copy, rather than a Fifth Dynasty original, errors and invention may have crept in during the copying process.[9]
Significance
The Palermo Stone and the other associated fragments of the Royal Annals are a vital source for the history of the
The surviving Royal Annals fragments contains the names of the following pharaohs:
- Hor-Aha (1st dynasty).
- Djer (also 1st dynasty).
- Den (also 1st dynasty).
- Semerkhet (also 1st dynasty).
- Nynetjer (2nd dynasty).
- Khasekhemwy (also 2nd dynasty).
- Huni (3rd dynasty).
- Sneferu (4th dynasty).
- Khufu (also 4th dynasty), builder of the Great Pyramid of Giza.
- Djedefre (also 4th dynasty), first pharaoh using the sun symbol in a royal cartouche.
- Shepseskaf (also 4th dynasty)
- Userkaf (5th dynasty), founder of the 5th dynasty.
- Sahure (also 5th dynasty)
- Neferirkare Kakai (also 5th dynasty)
The ancient historian
The Palermo stone also mentions 9 predynastic pharaohs, their true existence uncertain. These are:
See also
References
- ISBN 0-500-05128-3.
- ^ a b Schirò, Saverio (9 February 2021). "The Palermo Stone and its unsolved mysteries". palermoviva.it.
- ^ Dodson
- ^ Hsu, Hsu, Shih-Wei (2010) The Palermo Stone: the Earliest Royal Inscription from Ancient Egypt, Altoriental. Forsch., Akademie Verlag, 37 (2010) 1, 68–89.
- ^ Lloyd, Alan B. (1988), Commentary on Herodotus 99–132 p.8.
- ISBN 0-87099-907-9
- ISBN 0-19-280458-8.
- ^ Wilkinson, Toby A. H. (2000), Royal Annals of Ancient Egypt. New York: Columbia University Press, p.23ff.
- ^ a b Wilkinson, Toby A. H. (1999). Early Dynastic Egypt. London: Routledge, p.64.
- ^ O'Mara, P.F. (1979). The Palermo Stone and the Archaic Kings of Egypt. California: Paulette Pub. Co., p.113-131.
- ISBN 978-0-473-29338-3
Sources
- Partial and dated English translation of the text in J.H. Breasted, (1906). Ancient Records of Egypt, vol. I, sections 76–167. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
- St. John, Michael (1999). The Palermo Stone: An Arithmetical View. London: University Bookshop Publications.ISBN 0-9536-8650-7
- Wilkinson, Toby A. H. (2000). Royal Annals of Ancient Egypt. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 0-7103-0667-9.
- Wilkinson, Toby A. H. (1999). Early Dynastic Egypt. London: Routledge. ISBN 0-203-02438-9.
- O'Mara, P.F. (1979). The Palermo Stone and the Archaic Kings of Egypt. Calif: Paulette Pub. Co, 113-131.
External links
- Extract of a lecture given by T.A.H. Wilkinson, University College London 2000
- Image of London fragment and translation, Petrie Museum
- Gallery of images of Palermo Stone and Cairo fragments (and more) by J.D. Degreef.
- Christine Tetley's book.