The obelisk in Piazza Monte Citorio is one of thirteen in Rome.
The internet gives basic information about it, the following being typical:
“The obelisk was originally erected by Psammetichus II in the 7th century BC and then brought to Rome by Augustus who placed it as a sundial in a vast square (Horologium Divi Augusti) where its shadow indicated the hours of the day and the days of the year. The obelisk was found split in five pieces in 1748 and it was eventually repaired and erected in front of Palazzo di Montecitorio. The reliefs are partially lost.” <http://www.romeartlover.it/Obelisks.html>
Nowhere could a translation of it be found. There was a reference to one, in IItalian, in Gli obelischi iscritti di Roma. Ciampini Emanuele M, Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato, Roma, 2004; br., pp. 200, ill. col., cm 18,5x26. ISBN: 88-240-3442-X - EAN: 9788824034425
Your amateur researcher (YAR) photographed this obelisk in April 2011. The face shown is much the best. Two other faces have some hieroglyphs and the fourth face is blank.
In the absence of professional help, a translation is attempted here, with a plea to any who know more than YAR does to offer a better version.
The translation will proceed section by section. Here is the first component, followed by an analysis made possible by the Nedjnedj Hierolex Database.
Fig. 1.1 Top left column of hieroglyphs
Fig. 1.2 Analysis of top left column of hieroglyphs
The double chevrons << and >> indicate the Horus name, in a serekh, the first of the five names of a pharaoh, seen as a rectangle on the obelisk, with tassels, with the Horus above.
The single chevrons < and > denote a cartouche, in which pharaoh’s throne and birth names appear, being the fourth and fifth of a pharaoh’s names.
The other two names are the ‘Two Ladies’ name, and the ‘Golden Horus’ name.
A further naming element is ‘he of the sedge and bee’, meaning ‘king of Upper and Lower Egypt’ or ‘king of the south and north’. This is one of the standard royal epithets. It often came to introduce the throne name cartouche, as ‘son of Re’ did the birth name cartouche.
The five royal names, with those for Psamtik II shown on the right, are:
name
|
feature
|
respelt
|
meaning
|
|
1
|
Horus
|
in a serekh
|
meneKH ib
|
efficient heart
|
2
|
Nebety
|
introduced by the ‘two ladies’: vulture and cobra, each on its basin
|
weser a
|
powerful arm
|
3
|
Golden Horus
|
introduced by the <necklace> glyph for ‘gold’
|
se-nefer tAwi
|
make good land two
|
4
|
Throne
|
in a cartouche, introduced by <sedge bun bee bun>: 'king of the south and north'
|
nefer ib ra
|
good heart of Re
|
5
|
Birth
|
in a cartouche, introduced by <duck sun>: 'Son of Re'
|
pesemetjek
|
[?]
|
"r¬-ḥr-3ḫty <<mnḫ ib>> <nfr ib r¬> nswt bỉty wsr"
|
ra Her AKHeti <<meneKH ib>> <nefer ib ra> nesut biti weser =
|
"Re Horachty <<efficient heart>> <good heart of Re> king of Upper and Lower Egypt, strong"
|
Re Horus horizon <<efficient [of]heart>> <good heart [of] Re> king [of the] south [and] north strong :
|
<hawk: crown-N&S sun: cobra-ankh << comb string heart >> < sun lute heart > sedge bun bee bun foxy cloth mouth arm>
|
 |
Fig. 1.3 Analysis summary: Re Horachty <<efficient heart>> <good heart of Re> king of Upper and Lower Egypt, strong
In this summary the hawk and the cobra and disc are approximations of the actual obelisk renderings, and are taken together to represent Horakhty.
In the glyphs column the first symbols, like the clubs suit in a deck of playing cards, indicates that the glyph was not available in the hieroglyph font used here.
Fig. 2.1 Centre left column of hieroglyphs
Fig. 2.2 Analysis of centre left column of hieroglyphs
There is a substantial portion missing or damaged in this section of the obelisk. While it is possible to guess at some of the glyphs, there is not enough remaining to make such a guess useful.
In these analysis panels, there are four tiers of information. The top pink tier shows the name given to the hieroglyph in the database. Typing in this name brings up the glyph shown in the second tier.
The third tier on a dark maroon or purple background is the Gardiner number for the glyph concerned, a number used by most Egyptologists.
The fourth tier on the yellow background is the recognised transcription using standard lettering. It is this transcription that forms the spelling in the fist column of the panel below
"<psmṭk> ntr nfr ...... ¬t mry nb t3wy"
|
<pesemetjek> netjer nefer ...... at meri neb tAwi =
|
"<Psametjek II> good god ... beloved one of xxx, lord of the two lands"
|
<Psametjek II> god good ... xxx love agent lord [of] lands two :
|
<< stool cloth owl tether cup > flag lute ...... arm bun hoe reeds basin stripx2>
|
 |
Fig. 2.3 Analysis summary: <Psametjek II> good god ... beloved one of xxx, lord of the two lands
The second panel in the above analysis respells in easy-to-read form the transcription in the first panel. The key to this respelling is that consonant sounds are separated by a standard vowel /e/, and two vowels are not permitted together. These are conventions of this database only, not of respellings of Ancient Egyptian writing generally.
This respelling column also avoids the use of punctuation, and prefers to omit the use of hyphens, thou it does permit the use of a full point to mark suffix pronouns. These devices assist in enabling searches to be made in the database. Because computers do not distinguish styles of a character (capital, lower case, or even with a diacritic, capitals can be and are used in this respelling.)
Fig. 3.1 Lower left column of hieroglyphs
Fig. 3.2 Analysis of lower left column of hieroglyphs
[The <flag> glyph is doubtful.]
"<nfr ib r¬> ntr bAw ......"
|
<nefer ib ra> netjer bAwu ...... =
|
"<good heart of Re> souls of the god"
|
<good heart [of] Re> god souls :
|
<< sun lute heart > flag crouch jabirux3 ......>
|
 |
Fig. 3.3 Analysis summary: <good heart of Re> souls of the god
It is assumed the two birds at the bottom are part of a group of three birds; and that the birds themselves are jabirus (bAwu: ‘spirits’) and not ducks (sAwu: ‘sons’).
Fig. 4.1 Top right column of hieroglyphs
Fig. 4.2 Analysis of top right column of hieroglyphs
"r¬-ḥr-3ḫty nbw snfr t3wy <psmṭk> tm iwnu mr"
|
ra Her AKHeti nebu senefer tAwi <pesemetjek> tem iwenu mer =
|
"Re Horachty, the golden one, improver of the two lands <Psemetjek II>, beloved one of Tem of Heliopolis"
|
Re Horus horizon gold improve lands <Psemetjek II> Tem [of] Heliopolis :
|
<hawk: crown-N&S sun: cobra-ankh necklace cloth lute stripx2 < stool cloth owl tether cup > bun sledge candle: wick pot town hoe>
|
 |
Fig. 4.3 Analysis summary: Re Horachty, the golden one, improver of the two lands <Psemetjek II>, beloved one of Tem of Heliopolis
At the top of this second column of glyphs, and corresponding to the first column, is presented the third of the pharaoh’s names: the ‘Golden Horus’ name, introduced by the <necklace>, the sign for gold, nebu. Thus Psemetjek II’s golden Horus name is ‘Improver of the two lands’, Senefertawi (make-good-land-two).
Fig. 5.1 Upper centre right column of hieroglyphs
Fig. 5.2 Analysis of upper centre right column of hieroglyphs
This portion begins with the ‘he of the sedge and bee’ marker for the pharaoh’s throne name ‘Nefer ib Re’ (good heart of Re)
There are snares in abundance in reading hieroglyphs and one is evident here. The second-last glyphs depicted are two ovals. These are to be distinguished from the two strips seen in Figs 4.1 and 4.2. ‘strips’ indicate land; ovals are a determinative for AKHet(i), horizon.
"nswt bỉty <nfr ib r¬> r¬ wr 3ḫti mr"
|
nesut biti <nefer ib ra> ra wer AKHeti mer =
|
"king of Upper and Lower Egypt <good heart [of] Re>, great Re, beloved of the horizon"
|
king [of the] south [and] north <good heart [of] Re> big horizon love :
|
<sedge bun bee bun < sun lute heart > mouth arm sun swallow ibis: crested string bun ovalx2 hoe>
|
 |
Fig. 5.3 Analysis summary: king of Upper and Lower Egypt <good heart [of] Re>, great Re, beloved of the horizon
Fig. 6.1 Lower centre right column of hieroglyphs
Fig. 6.2 Analysis of lower centre right column of hieroglyphs
This is one of the more challenging portions of this obelisk text.
—There is a crack in the centre, obscuring the clarity of what is probably <viper>
—<tether: legs> seems to be a word on its own, and so meaning ‘seize’. But how does it relate to the rest?
—the row below it at first sight seems to make no sense.
"mr s3 r¬ n ht=f ỉt nfrt ḥdt hnm sḫmty "
|
mer sA ra en khet.ef itj neferet Hedjet khenem seKHemeti =
|
"son of Re of his body, seize what is good [?], crown south unite double crown"
|
son [of] Re of body him-of seize [?] good what is crown south [?] unite double crown :
|
<duck sun water mace bun viper tether: legs lute bun crown-S jug basin: crown-N&S>
|
 |
Fig. 6.3 Analysis summary: son of Re of his body, seize what is good [?], crown south unite double crown ... or son of Re of his body, seize the crown south unite the double crown
---------------
Was there an error in the hieroglyphs?
Fig. 7.1 The glyphs on the obelisk
The glyph on the left seems to be <lute>, and <lute> is often combined with <bun> as here,
Fig. 7.2 The first two glyphs appear to read nefer-et: ‘good’
though more commonly still as <lute mouth bun>, and more commonly still in its fullest form <lute viper mouth bun>:
7.3 The normal fuller way of writing nefer-et
all versions making nefer-et, the feminine, or relative, form of ‘good’ (beautiful etc.)
But while the obelisk might read ‘good’, this word in an adjective and adjectives usually follow a noun, and in this case a feminine noun. Yet the only preceding such noun is <mace bun> khet, which would seem too far away to be appropriate, separated as it is by <tether: legs>.
Rash to suppose, but could the glyph not in fact be <lute> but something else? Could the artisan carver of the original hieroglyphs have mis-read the instruction of the scribe — who no doubt set out on papyrus for him to carry out. Might it be that the scribe might have intended the following:
Fig. 7.4 Hedj-et: bright what is [white crown]
Could the stonecarver have made a mistake over the first glyph <streetlight> (ḥd pronounced Hedj), turning it upside-down and producing the somewhat similarly shaped <lute>? This becomes the more plausible when considering the fact that <streetlight> Hedj combined with <bun> actually reads Hedjet, the very same word as is represented by the next glyph in the row, <crown-S>, meaning ‘white crown’ or ‘crown of south or upper Egypt’.
"ḥdt"
|
Hedj-et =
|
"white crown"
|
bright what is [white crown]:
|
Gardiner [583.2:2.5]
|
<streetlight bun crown-S>
|
 |
Fig. 7.5 Analysis of Hedjet: ‘white crown’ (of the South)
Should an error in carving be the case, then the obelisk might begin to make some sense here. Rather than the final words being ‘neferet Hedjet khenem seKHemeti’ they would become ‘Hedjet khenem seKHemeti’, and so ‘crown-S unite double crown’, the two crowns south and north standing for Upper and Lower Egypt, actually united in the <basin: crown-N&S> seKHemeti, symbolising the ‘double crown’ or literally ‘one who has power’. Uniting of the two ‘lands’ (upper and lower) of Egypt was a recurrent theme from the first dynasty to the last.
The obelisk itself had a chequered history. It started out in Heliopolis, and was brought to Rome in 10 BC by the Emperor Augustus. This obelisk was always intended as a form of clock, but that function can be ignored here.
Wikipedia states that either because of war activities or an earthquake, sometime between the 9th and 11th centuries AD the obelisk fell, broke and over time became buried. Pope Sixtus V (1520–1590) made some abortive attempts to repair and raise the obelisk, reassembling some pieces that had been found in 1502. More parts were found in 1748. Then from 1789 to 1792, Pope Pius VI carried out major repair work, and the obelisk was later raised and restored, being placed in the Piazza Montecitorio. Perhaps during the restoration of the obelisk wrongly carved hieroglyph was unwittingly introduced. for by then no-one could read the hieroglyphs, not until Jean-François Champollion began to decipher them in 1822. A website, <http://cdm.reed.edu/ara-pacis/altar/related-material/obelisk-2/> specifically dealing with this obelisk states: “Many of the hieroglyphs had been destroyed or damaged. Some have been extensively repaired.” Perhaps the lute/streetlight was one of the repaired portions.
Fig. 8.1 Bottom right column of hieroglyphs
The bottom row, the last two glyphs, are uncertain.
Fig. 8.2 Analysis of bottom right column of hieroglyphs
The analysis makes a probably wrong guess over the last two glyphs.
"<psmṭk> b3w iwnw mr ḥm tp"
|
<pesemetjek> bAwu imenu mer Hem tep =
|
"<Psametjek II> souls of Heliopolis beloved one of xxx"
|
<Psametjek II> souls [of] Heliopolis love xxx :
|
<< stool cloth owl tether cup > jabirux3 candle: wick pot town canal club rivet ......>
|
 |
Fig. 8.3 Analysis summary: <Psametjek II> souls of Heliopolis beloved one of xxx
Complete tentative translation
Re Horachty <<efficient heart>> <good heart of Re> king of Upper and Lower Egypt, strong
<Psametjek II> good god ... beloved one of xxx, lord of the two lands
<good heart of Re> souls of the god
Re Horachty, the golden one, improver of the two lands <Psemetjek II>, beloved one of Tem of Heliopolis
Re Horachty, the golden one, improver of the two lands <Psemetjek II>, beloved one of Tem of Heliopolis
king of Upper and Lower Egypt <good heart [of] Re>, great Re, beloved of the horizon
son of Re of his body, seize the crown south unite the double crown
<Psametjek II> souls of Heliopolis beloved one of xxx
If this is less than a fluently idiomatic text, remember that parts of it are missing, and that the obelisk was once in three large portions together with other lesser sections, and that no-one knows how faithfully the restored monument seen today reflects the one first erected in Heliopolis twenty-five centuries ago.
-------------
Postscript
The day after completing the above entry, the following was chanced upon on the internet:
“The Golden Horus,
'beautifying the Two Lands,' beloved of Atum, lord of Heliopolis;
the King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Neferibre, beloved of Re-Harakhti;
the son of his own body, who seizes the White Crown and who unites the Double Crown,
Psammetikos, beloved of the Souls of Heliopolis.”
This is a more idiomatic interpretation. It basically confirms the translation of Your Amateur Reseacher.
Pyramidion
A pyramidion is the pyramid-shaped top of an obelisk. The pyramidion of the Psamtek II obelisk has been capped with a new bronze globe in 1792, replacing the original.
Globe on the top of the Psamtek II obelisk pyramidion
The fastening ‘legs’ of this globe have obscured some of the hieroglyphs on the pyramidion. However, on page 26 of the following book:
Baines, John, and Jaromir Malek. 1984. Atlas of Ancient Egypt. Oxford: Equinox (Oxford) Ltd.
there is a drawing of the pyramidion in detail:
Drawing of the Psamtek II obelisk pyramidion inscription
The authors, Baines & Malek, state that this comes from
Zoëga, G., 1797. De origine et usu obeliscorum. Rome
They add: “The copy is accurate and legible, but its style is un-Egyptian”.
Indeed, there is enough there for a translation to be attempted.
Fig. 9.1 Hieroglyphs right, part 1
Note that this is read from left to right. Any animate beings always look to the start of the writing.
Fig. 9.2 Analysis of hieroglyphs right, part 1
"nswt bỉty <nfr ib r¬> s3 r¬ <psmtk"
|
nesut biti <nefer ib ra> sA ra <pesemetjek II> =
|
"king of Upper and Lower Egypt, <good heart of Re> son of Re <Psamchek II>"
|
king [of the] south [and] north <good heart [of] Re> son [of] Re <Psamchek II> :
|
<sedge bun bee bun < sun lute heart > duck sun < stool cloth owl tether cup >>
|
 |
Fig. 9.3 Analysis summary: king of Upper and Lower Egypt, <good heart of Re> son of Re <Psamchek II>
Fig. 10.1 Hieroglyphs right, part 2
Fig. 10.2 Analysis of hieroglyphs right, part 2
"¬nḫ dt nḥḥ"
|
aneKH djet neHeHe =
|
"life for ever and ever"
|
life ever eternity :
|
<ankh sun stroke mace-2 cobra-J bun strip rope sun rope>
|
 |
Fig. 10.3 Analysis summary: life for ever and ever
Fig. 11.1 Hieroglyphs left, upper
These hieroglyphs reverse the direction of the writing. This is now to be read from the right, as the animate beings are looking to the right.
Fig. 11.2 Analysis of hieroglyphs left, upper
"di ¬nḫ snb nb dt r¬-ḥr-3ḫty ntr r¬-ḥr-3ḫty nb pt"
|
di aneKH seneb neb djet ra Her AKHeti netjer ayA neb pet =
|
"give him all life and all health for ever Re Horachty great god lord of the sky"
|
give life health all ever Re Horachty god big lord [of the] sky :
|
<teepee viper ankh basin cloth water leg basin cobra-J bun strip hawk: disc ovalx2 flag pointy-v basin stool bun sky>
|
 |
Fig. 11.3 Analysis summary: give him all life and all health for ever Re Horachty great god lord of the sky
Fig. 12.1 Hieroglyphs left, lower
Fig. 12.2 Analysis of hieroglyphs left, lower
"di nnk ¬nḫ w3s nb snb nb 3w ib nb dt"
|
di nenek aneKH wAs seneb neb Awu ib neb djet =
|
"I gave thee all life and dominion, all health, and all joy for ever"
|
give did to thee life dominion all health all joy all ever :
|
<teepee waterx2 cup ankh sceptre: w3s basin cloth water leg basin ribs heart basin cobra-J bun strip>
|
 |
Fig. 12.3 Analysis summary: I gave thee all life and dominion, all health, and all joy for ever
Complete tentative translation of the pyramidion text
King of Upper and Lower Egypt, <good heart of Re> son of Re <Psamchek II>
life for ever and ever
give him all life and all health for ever Re Horachty great god lord of the sky
I gave thee all life and dominion, all health, and all joy for ever
Jeremy Steele
Friday 12 December 2014
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