An enigmatic graffito from the sun temple of Nyuserre and the meaning of the so-called “slaughterhouse”

52 PES XVII/2016 AN ENIGMATIC GRAFFITO FROM THE SUN TEMPLE OF NYUSERRE The area of the so-called “big slaughterhouse” is undoubtedly one of the largest but yet most enigmatic parts of the sun temple of Nyuserre. The area, which was the very first part of the temple to be unearthed by Borchardt in 1898 (Schäfer 1899: 6–7; Borchardt 1905: 78), actually occupies around 800 sq. m (Borchardt 1905: 46) and is located in the north-eastern sector of the sun temple, in between the storerooms and the central altar (fig. 2). It was characterized by a limestone pavement inset with channels, each 24 cm wide. This pavement was raised about 15 cm above the courtyard level and was connected with a row of 10 alabaster basins, of which 9 were, and still are, preserved in situ (Borchardt 1905: 46, and Abb. 37; see also figs. 3–4 here).2These basins were placed at An enigmatic graffito from the sun temple of Nyuserre and the meaning of the so-called “slaughterhouse”1 Massimiliano Nuzzolo The sun temple of Nyuserre, first discovered by German archaeologist Ludwig Borchardt at the end of the nineteenth century, is the only sun temple which is nowadays still largely preserved and visible out of the six temples known from the historical sources (fig. 1). The study of this temple and the right interpretation of its different components are thus pivotal for our comprehension of the architecture and religious peculiarities of the sun temples as a whole. One part of the sun temple of Nyuserre seems to be particularly interesting in this regard, namely the so-called “slaughterhouse”. In fact, new archaeological investigations at the site, as well as a reassessment of the available epigraphic and historical sources, demonstrate that Borchardt’s interpretation of this area of Nyuserre’s sun temple is wrong. Consequently, a new proposal can be put forward. Fig. 1 Detailed view of the first two northern basins seen from the east. The basin on the left of the picture shows the remains of an element protruding from the square outline of the block, which may indicate the level of the original pavement (photo M. Nuzzolo) PES XVII_2016_studied_36-78_PES 13.12.16 11:42 Stránka 52 AN ENIGMATIC GRAFFITO FROM THE SUN TEMPLE OF NYUSERRE PES XVII/2016 5 3 Fig. 2 Relevant part of the plan of the sun temple of Nyuserre with the different building phases (2a) and the 3D reconstruction (2b) (after Borchardt 1905: Bl. 1, 6) the eastern end of the area into account, near the main enclosure wall of the solar temple, and were aligned along the north-south axis. For each of the basins but the two exterior ones, Borchardt reconstructed 3 channels, for an overall number of 28 channels set into the pavement (Borchardt 1905: 47 and fig. 2a here). The alabaster basins are circular in the middle – with a diameter of about 1.2 m and a depth of roughly 50 cm – but, from the outside, they look like cuboid objects, measuring 1.55 m in width and 76 cm in height (figs. 4–5). Only the round rim of the actual circular basin comes out from this square structure. Along the rim, there are also 26 very small round holes, whose function is still unknown (Schäfer 1899: 6–7; Borchardt 1905: 15, 46–48, Abb. 39). Each basin is characterized by a horizontal duct, placed in the upper, western part of the basins, which should have connected the above grooved pavement with the inside of the basins for the collecting of the liquids (figs. 4–5). On the back (eastern side) of one of these alabaster basins, Borchardt found a hieratic inscription which – he assumed – should determine the original name of the area as a slaughterhouse. He read it as and translated this as “Offering Place of the Royal Temple” (Borchardt 1905: 48; and fig. 6 here). However, a new reading can be proposed for this text, whose characteristics we shall see further below. According to the German scholar, this part of the temple was an actual area for the butchering of the cattle, which were conducted here through the valley temple and the causeway to be sacrificed (for a 3D reconstruction, see Borchardt 1905: Bl. 1 and fig. 2b here). The basins must have had the function either to collect the blood of the victims which were sacrificed in the paved area, or the water used to clean the area itself after the sacrifice (Borchardt 1905: 48). PES XVII_2016_studied_36-78_PES 13.12.16 11:42 Stránka 53 54 PES XVII/2016 AN ENIGMATIC GRAFFITO FROM THE SUN TEMPLE OF NYUSERRE Fig. 3 Area of the so-called “big slaughterhouse” during the excavations (after Borchardt 1905: Bl. 36, 54). In the first image (3a), it is clearly visible that a structure, apparently in limestone and mud bricks, seems to put the slaughterhouse and the magazines into direct communication (on the left side of the picture). The structure was then destroyed since in a later image (3b) it is no longer visible Fig. 4 The basins (4a) of the so-called “big slaughterhouse” during the excavations (after Borchardt 1905: Bl. 38). The section and plan (4b) of one of the basins (after Borchardt 1905: Bl. 39) PES XVII_2016_studied_36-78_PES 13.12.16 11:43 Stránka 54 AN ENIGMATIC GRAFFITO FROM THE SUN TEMPLE OF NYUSERRE PES XVII/2016 5 5 Based on Borchardt’s reconstruction, the entire area must have been accessible from the western side, near the north-eastern corner of the obelisk, by means of small podiums leading up to the grooved pavement, and must have been surrounded by a balustrade, running along its whole perimeter, possibly to pen in the animals (Borchardt 1905: 46). Borchardt also expected to find some closed spaces, possibly with loopholes on the sides, where the actual slaughtering would have taken place, but no such find was actually discovered (Borchardt 1905: 47). In the north-western sector of the temple, at the bottom of the obelisk (see fig. 2b), Borchardt also found very similar facilities, namely 10 basins, which had three rounded holes (and hence three ducts) each, and were very likely connected to channels to drain in liquids, although no trace of a grooved pavement similar to the one described above was actually found in this area of the temple (Borchardt 1900: 96; Borchardt – Schäfer 1901: 92–93; Borchardt 1905: 51). Moreover the basins of this area were made in rough limestone (and not in fine alabaster as the other ones) and did not exhibit the small round cavities along the edge (Borchardt 1905: 51, Abb. 45). Finally, in the western courtyard, namely the wide, empty area in-between the obelisk and the enclosure wall Fig. 5 The basins nowadays: (5a) the basins seen from the top of the obelisk; (5b) the basins from the north-western corner (photo M. Nuzzolo) PES XVII_2016_studied_36-78_PES 13.12.16 11:43 Stránka 55 56 PES XVII/2016 AN ENIGMATIC GRAFFITO FROM THE SUN TEMPLE OF NYUSERRE of the temple (see fig. 2b), Borchardt also found some relief fragments depicting slaughtering activities (Kees 1928: Bl. 23). Although the location of these reliefs was quite far from the area of the alleged slaughterhouse, their discovery was taken by the German scholar as a further hint as to the original function of the area into account. We should also not forget that slaughtering scenes are quite common in the repertoire of the contemporary tombs and pyramid complexes but, at the time of Borchardt’s exploration of the sun temple, they were not known in the Old Kingdom royal monuments. This lack of data may thus have further affected Borchardt’s interpretation of the discussed area. Taking into account the above elements, Borchardt concluded that the two areas of the sun temple should originally have had the same arrangement and were used for the same butchering activities. He thus gave the structure in the north-eastern part of the temple the conventional name of “big slaughterhouse” to distinguish it from the smaller structure in the north-western sector, which he named “small slaughterhouse”. The reason for the doubling of the slaughterhouses was identified by the German scholar in the complementary functions of the two areas, possibly intended for the presentation of offerings to Re and Hathor respectively (Borchardt 1905: 51–52). In this way, he also developed a previous suggestion by Kurth Sethe, who actually argued, some years before the discovery of the sun temple, and based on the sole titles of private persons, that a joint cult of the two deities should have existed in all the sun temples and pyramids of the Old Kingdom (Sethe 1889: 114). Criticalities of Borchardt’s interpretation Since the 1970s, Borchardt’s identification of these two areas as slaughterhouses has been seriously questioned. In his study on slaughterhouses in the Old Kingdom, Arne Eggebrecht first expressed serious doubts about the actual slaughter of offering animals in the sun temple. Lacking new archaeological elements, he argued that, ideologically, the so-called sun temple slaughterhouses might have been intended only for ritual display and cleansing of the meat, which was to be carried out in the basins before being offered on the central altar. He also emphasized that the slaughtering activities did not fit the ritual purity of the temple according to the Egyptian mentality (Eggebrecht 1973: 124–137, esp. 128–131). However, it was the discovery of the “House of the Knife” (Hwt-nmt) in the 1980s by the Czechoslovak team led by Miroslav Verner that added the most important data in this regard. In the slaughterhouse located near the southeastern corner of Raneferef’s pyramid complex, benches and binding-stones for the slaughtering of the animals were found, as well as a consistent number of bones, ritual flint knives and other related tools. These elements demonstrate the real use of the area for the slaughtering of the animals. To the contrary, none of these instruments or facilities was ever found in Nyuserre’s sun temple (Verner 1986: 182–187). The name itself by which the structure in Raneferef’s complex is defined, i.e. Hwt-nmt, is different from the name of the structure mentioned in the above hieratic inscription in the sun temple. The Hwt-nmt, however, seems to be the Fig. 6 The hieratic inscription on one of the basins and its hieroglyphic transliteration. It is engraved on the third preserved basin from the north (photo M. Nuzzolo) PES XVII_2016_studied_36-78_PES 13.12.16 11:43 Stránka 56 AN ENIGMATIC GRAFFITO FROM THE SUN TEMPLE OF NYUSERRE PES XVII/2016 5 7 correct name to define the slaughterhouse in the Old Kingdom, for in the Abusir papyri of either the pyramid of Neferirkare (Posener-Kriéger 1976: 353, 431, 507–510) or Raneferef (Posener-Kriéger – Verner – Vymazalová 2006: 347–349) we have a number of mentionings of the Hwt-nmt in a context that cannot but refer to a slaughterhouse. From the archaeological standpoint, we also have several elements that appear to contradict Borchardt’s hypothesis of a slaughterhouse inside the sun temple. First of all, the analysis of the ground plan of the Old Kingdom pyramid temples clearly demonstrates that they did not include a slaughterhouse, probably on account of its profane nature which did not fit the ritual purity of the temple (see also Posener-Kriéger – Verner – Vymazalová 2006: 348). Furthermore, in the sun temple of Nyuserre there is no drainage system connected to the slaughterhouses.3This draining system would have been pivotal to collect liquids and convey them out of the temple and can be indeed found, although not connected to a slaughterhouse, in the pyramid temple of Sahure (Borchardt 1910: 75–83). Moreover, both the limestone basins of the “small slaughterhouse” and the alabaster ones of the “big slaughterhouse” were tapped at the bottom and their entrance holes seem to be mainly intended to direct liquids onto the grooved pavement rather than collecting liquids coming from it. At any rate, even if we imagine that the system described above had been intentionally made to collect the blood of the cattle which were sacrificed on the grooved pavement it is yet not clear why this blood would have been drained into the basins, not having any cultic value. It is also worth noting that the sun temple of Nyuserre is characterized by very small and narrow entranceways (see Borchardt 1905: Bl. 6; Nuzzolo – Pirelli 2011: pl. 41–42), and this makes it practically impossible to lead cattle with broad horns into the temple. Last but not least, from a practical point of view, carrying out slaughtering activities far from the water source, as is indeed the case with the sun temple, which is not located in the valley area, would have been very unsuitable and inconvenient. Archeological-textual evidence for the slaughterhouses in the Fifth Dynasty royal monuments In addition to the above elements, other archaeologicaltextual evidence seems to indicate that slaughterhouses were actually located in the pyramid cities, or attached to the royal palace, and never situated in the pyramid/sun temple. Sahure’s slaughterhouses, for example, are mentioned in some hieratic inscriptions on jar dockets found in the temple of Raneferef, and are clearly related to the palace of the king, called wTs nfrw %AH.w.Ra (Posener-Kriéger 1993: 7–16; Verner et al. 2006: 272–286; Vymazalová 2011: 302). Documents from Neferirkare’s pyramid temple archive mention the sun temple %t-ib-Ra several times as the only source of meat used in the pyramid temple of the king for his funerary offerings prt-xrw (Posener-Kriéger 1976: 43–44, 47–52; Posener-Kriéger 1979: 145). The meat was transported by boat from the sun temple to the pyramid temple of the king (Posener-Kriéger 1976: 631) where it is logical to assume, although the sources are silent in this regard, that it was partially consumed and partially stocked. However, in the papyri there is no mention of a slaughterhouse located inside the sun temple that could demonstrate that the meat was actually slaughtered therein. Rather, the documents refer to the altar of Re in the sun temple as the place of provenance of the meat (PosenerKriéger 1976: 50, 611). In this regard, it is also interesting to note that all the other offerings which were delivered, daily or monthly, to the funerary temple – including beverages and bread (Htp-nTr), as well as poultry – also came from the sun temple. In fact, the provenance of this foodstuff was recorded in the papyrus archive of the king’s pyramid with different entries, including the Residence, the Palace and other estates of the king. However, these offerings physically arrived to the pyramid only from the sun temple, where they should have been previously accumulated, in some cases most probably as raw products, such as grain or flour, and not as finished ones, such as bread (Posener-Kriéger 1976: 631–634; Posener-Kriéger 1979: 145–146). This would demonstrate that a large settlement, endowed with bakeries, breweries and a slaughterhouse did exist by the sun temple of Neferirkare, but was not located inside the sun temple itself but rather – due to the type of activities involved – nearby the sun temple, possibly in the area around its valley temple (see also Vymazalová 2011: 303). In the case of Nyuserre, we do not have any archaeological or epigraphic element to confirm that a slaughterhouse did actually exist either by his pyramid/sun temple town, or his palace. However, around the valley temple of his sun temple, Borchardt actually found the remains of a large settlement, certainly used for a great variety of activities, which unfortunately he did not systematically excavate (Borchardt 1905: 7–8, 18–19). The possibility that the actual slaughterhouse of the sun temple was located there is, therefore, not groundless (see also Verner et al. 2006: 98, note 7). A different example was actually represented by the slaughterhouse of Raneferef’s pyramid complex. The archaeological evidence gives us a clear indication that the slaughterhouse of the king’s pyramid complex was used as such only for a very short period, namely during the king’s reign, when it was not attached to the pyramid complex. Soon after the king’s death – i.e. at the beginning of Nyuserre’s reign – the slaughterhouse was connected with the pyramid and transformed into a storehouse, with the necessary meat offering for the king’s cult taken from the above-mentioned royal palace of Sahure (Verner et al. 2006: 285–287; Vymazalová 2011: 303). The above elements seem thus to indicate that the actual slaughtering activities were usually carried out in the royal palace (see the complex of Sahure), or in the towns around the valley temples of sun temples and pyramids (as was the case with Neferirkare and probably Nyuserre), and that PES XVII_2016_studied_36-78_PES 13.12.16 11:43 Stránka 57 58 PES XVII/2016 AN ENIGMATIC GRAFFITO FROM THE SUN TEMPLE OF NYUSERRE the slaughterhouse next to Raneferef’s pyramid temple is actually an exception to the rule, possibly due to the specific historical circumstances of his reign (Vymazalová 2011: 302). Whatever the case, no slaughterhouse was located in a pyramid temple or a sun temple. These remarks evidently also affect the so-called “slaughterhouses” inside the sun temple of Nyuserre, whose meaning and function must thus be sought elsewhere. Epigraphic features of the inscription and its archaeological context The solution to the enigma probably lies in the abovementioned hieratic inscription found by Borchardt on the back of one of the alabaster basins of the “big slaughterhouse”. The inscription was erroneously read by Borchardt as wabt gs-pr nswt4and translated as “Offering Place of the Royal Temple”, which was, in Borchardt’s idea, the ancient name of the slaughterhouse (Borchardt 1905: 48). Later scholars (Fischer 1966: 66; Verner 2014: 214; see further below concerning their hypotheses) fostered this erroneous reading, although they tried to give it a different interpretation on which I will come back to later. This mistake in the reading was very likely due to the fact that they did not have the opportunity to inspect the inscription personally. In fact, as is clear when we approach the original hieratic inscription (see fig. 6),5its correct reading is definitely wabt gs-pr pr-nswt. The sign that Borchardt read as the phonetic complement n after the sign for the king (nswt) is actually the sign for pr (for a comparison of the writing, see also Möller 1909: 32; Dobrev – Verner – Vymazalová 2011: 37). The same writing of pr-nswt is also documented in the papyri from the pyramid temple of Raneferef (Posener-Kriéger – Verner – Vymazalová 2006: 156–157, fragment 66A). The inscription is characterized by quite small, and superficially carved, signs, engraved on the eastern side of the basin. The overall height of the inscription is 4.6 cm, although the nswt sign is slightly higher than the rest of the inscription, being 5 cm. The overall length of the inscription is 22.5 cm. The inscription is located almost at the top of the basin, being at around 9 cm from its rim. The inscription presents at least two important peculiarities: first of all, it is actually a scratch or graffito – rather than a proper hieratic inscription – which thus differs from the inscriptions engraved on several monuments of the Old Kingdom, either royal or private.6 The latter inscriptions are usually, if not always, painted in black or red and have much larger size, while the inscription in account is quite small, and does not present, at least to the naked eye, any traces of color. The only suitable and comparable example comes, in the present author’s knowledge, from the Red Pyramid of Dahshur. Here several marks were found which were not directly painted on the stone block, but rather scratched and then – and not always – painted (Stadelmann – Sourouzian 1982: 387–393). In this case, too, however, the inscriptions/signs are actually chiseled out and not just scratched, as is the case with the inscription from Nyuserre’s sun temple. Yet – and this is the second different feature of the inscription from the sun temple of Nyuserre – the nature of the inscriptions engraved on the above Dahshur blocks, as well as in all the other known cases, is very different from the inscription here considered. In fact, all the hieratic inscriptions on the royal and private monuments are basically intended to serve as masons’ marks or quarry marks7to record either the different phases of the construction works of the monuments (or its previous quarry activities), or the final destination of these blocks, namely the monument or place for which the blocks were quarried.8 One of the main features of all types of hieratic inscriptions and marks, whatever the site of provenance, is also a record of the titles and/or names of people somehow participating in the building and quarrying activities, either as donors of the blocks themselves, or simply as personnel in charge of the building/quarrying activity.9In all these cases, the name of the specific monument is indicated – often associated with the king’s name and/or a provisional date of the inscription – but never a specific part of the monument itself.10 A more complex and differentiated situation is to be found in the inscriptions and graffiti in Hatnub (Anthes 1928; Shaw 2010: 135–170),11 the main quarry of Egyptian alabaster/travertine in the Old Kingdom, from where the basins of the sun temple and the altar probably also came.12 Contrary to all the other sites, we do have here many inscriptions which are simply carved or chiseled out without being painted. But we can also find inscriptions which are carved and then painted and, in a minor part, even inscriptions which are only painted (Anthes 1928: 13–80). In the large majority of cases, however, these inscriptions are engraved on limestone and not on alabaster. Yet, they share the characteristics of the above inscriptions from the other sites, being mainly intended to record building activities for the kings, as well as to celebrate the people in charge of these quarrying expeditions (Anthes 1928: 4–5). Furthermore, in the Hatnub inscriptions, too, when a monument is mentioned (quite rarely in fact), it is mentioned as a whole, and not in its specific parts as is the case, instead, of the inscription from the sun temple. In the entire Old Kingdom, we have only two cases of specific parts of a monument named without the indication of the name of the monument itself: these are in the Fourth Dynasty pyramid of Djedefre, and in the Fifth Dynasty pyramid of Raneferef. In both cases, and very interestingly, the hieratic inscription mentions a wabt in connection with the burial chamber of the king’s pyramid, where both inscriptions were found (see Valloggia 2011: 49, fig. 180; Verner et al. 2006: 195–196). Both inscriptions, however, still partake of the main characteristics of all the other known inscriptions (see above), namely they are engraved on blocks from the masonry of the pyramids, and are painted in red or black. PES XVII_2016_studied_36-78_PES 13.12.16 11:43 Stránka 58 AN ENIGMATIC GRAFFITO FROM THE SUN TEMPLE OF NYUSERRE PES XVII/2016 5 9 Therefore, the hieratic inscription on Nyuserre’s sun temple basin does not share any of the features of the above-mentioned inscriptions, except for the two latter inscriptions found in the pyramids, with which it shares, at least, the mentioning of a specific part of a royal monument without any reference to the main name of the monument itself. A very important aspect of the question is also that the inscription in Nyuserre’s sun temple is to be found on an artefact, e.g. the alabaster basin, which was part of a cultic installation and not, as is usually the rule, on blocks intended for the core masonry of a building. The latter blocks were not intended to be visible once the construction works were completed. In the case of Nyuserre’s sun temple, instead, it is not entirely clear if the inscription was actually visible or not during the basin’s period of use. Borchardt argued that the basins were mostly sunken in the ground, in order that the interior duct could be aligned, horizontally, with the grooved pavement, for the draining of the liquids (see Borchardt 1905: 48, fig. 39; and fig. 4 here). This situation, however, was certainly valid for the western side of the basins – namely the one facing the central courtyard – which was aligned with the afore-mentioned grooved pavement. However, we do not know if the back (eastern side) of the basins, where the inscription actually is, was also arranged the same way with respect to the pavement. In fact, in-between the basins and the main wall of the eastern corridor, namely the corridor giving access to the area coming from the main entranceway of the temple, there is still a space of around 2.5 m which should also have been paved (see also fig. 2a). Borchardt (1905: 47–48), however, does not specify what the level of the courtyard was in this part of the temple, and the present state of disrepair of the area does not allow us to say anything more precise on the level of the floor. We can note, however, that the second basin from the north (fig. 1), at the bottom of the eastern side, shows the remains of an element protruding from the square outline of the block, which may likely indicate the level of the original pavement. If this is correct, a large majority of each basin, on its eastern side, would have been visible at the time of the completion of the temple, including the inscription. This remark, however, does not mean in any way that the inscription was intended to be visible. In fact, the inscription is located at around 63 cm from the bottom of the alabaster basin. Therefore, even if the eastern façade of the basin was really left completely uncovered by the pavement, as just assumed, the inscription would still have been in quite a low position to be clearly visible to the people moving around it. We should also bear in mind that the technique of the slight carving/scratching of the signs would have not facilitated the visibility of the inscription (see further below). Another important aspect of the issue is to define if the basins were finished or not. Actually all the basins – Fig. 7 The basin with the inscription seen from the eastern (7a), northern (7b) and western (7c) side, with detail of the inscription (7d). The corners and the lower parts seem to have been left unfinished. The basins rest on stones and not directly on the pavement. This would lead us to suppose that they were moved by Borchardt during the excavation (photo M. Nuzzolo) PES XVII_2016_studied_36-78_PES 13.12.16 11:43 Stránka 59 60 PES XVII/2016 AN ENIGMATIC GRAFFITO FROM THE SUN TEMPLE OF NYUSERRE including the one holding the inscription – appear mostly ended up and smoothed on both the main sides (eastern and western), especially in their upper parts. The corners and the lower parts, instead, seem to have been left unfinished, possibly because they had to be set in the ground or to join the contiguous pieces. This is particularly true of the basin with the inscription which is visibly broken at the bottom, as well as on both its northern and southern sides (fig. 7). In addition, we should consider that our perception of the basins is somehow affected by the fact that the basins were probably moved by Borchardt to investigate the structures underneath. Although he does not say anything about this, it may be inferred by the analysis of the artefacts (see fig. 5 and 7). This movement may have further damaged the weak parts of the basins, i.e. the corners and the lower parts, which are thus not perfectly preserved nowadays. Whatever the case, the inscription on the basin clearly appears, nowadays, as if it was written on a polished surface. This would lead us to conclude that the inscription was not carved in the quarry, but rather in the workshop where the basin was finished, or directly in the temple, when the basin was put in place (for more details, see further below). A final hypothesis still remains, namely that the inscription was a graffito scratched on the basin by a visitor to the temple in later periods. This hypothesis seems, however, very unlikely, for visitors’ graffiti are usually quite different from the inscription here taken into account as concerns either their content or their features (for a comparison of signs and discussion, see Navrátilová 2007 with further references). Additionally, if somebody had intended to reuse the basin for another monument and thus left the inscription on it to mark its new destination – something which frequently happened throughout Egyptian history – the basin would have been found reemployed somewhere else. However, even in the case of a reuse of the basin, the inscription would have been clearly painted on the block, with the same characteristics we have already seen for the quarry/masons’ marks, and this is not the case of the inscription here considered. In conclusion, the hypothesis that the inscription was engraved in the time of Nyuserre, either in the workshop or directly in the temple, remains the most plausible. Wabt gs-pr pr-nswt: the reading of the inscription and the possible meaning of the slaughterhouses of Nyuserre’s sun temple Regardless of the above epigraphic and archaeological characteristics of the inscription, what seems to be extremely interesting is its interpretation and possible meaning. We have here the record of three names determined with the pr sign. This implies the existence of three institutions, the last one of which (gs-pr) is put in direct relation with the second one (pr-nswt) by means of the usual honorific ante-position. The meaning of the inscription, however, is not quite as obvious and clear as it seems, since each of the three terms involved in it has a very debatable translation. The wabt In the Old Kingdom the term wabt, whose literal meaning is the “pure place”, is most commonly understood as a “workshop” in the broadest possible sense (Erman – Grapow 1955 I: 284). In fact, based on scenes and texts in private tombs, most scholars concluded that the term should designate primarily a “mortuary workshop” involved in the construction and decoration of the tomb, as well as in the production of a variety of goods for the afterlife of the deceased, such as false doors, statues and funerary furniture (Brovarski 1977: 110–115; Drenkhahn 1976: 144, 147–151; Coppens 2007: 57). The body of the deceased is also said to be treated in the wabt before being buried (Wilson 1944: 202). However, in titles of private individuals, the term wabt is often part of the title imy-r wabt and, more rarely, of the title sHD wabt (Jones 2000: 87, no. 922). The first title is regularly associated with that of wr xrp Hmwt, which is usually understood as the designation of the “High Priest of Ptah” in Memphis and chief of the artisans/craftsmen of the temple workshop (Maystre 1992: 18–19, 223–250). Therefore, in this context, the wabt seems rather a “temple workshop” connected with the production of cult statues (and more in general, other cultic material) and possibly located in the temple itself, notably the temple of Ptah in Memphis.13 In the royal context, as we have seen, the term occurs on masons’ blocks of two pyramids and seems to designate the burial chamber or, as suggested by Verner, the entire pit for the construction of the burial chamber (Verner et al. 2006: 196). The term is not documented at all in Nefereirkare’s papyrus archive, while it occurs only once, in a very fragmentary piece of papyrus, in Raneferef’s archive. The context of the mentioning of the wabt is, however, too obscure to try to attempt a reconstruction of its possible meaning (Posener-Kriéger – Verner – Vymazalová 2006: 253). In all the cases known so far, the term wabt is never attested in combination with the other two terms here taken into account (gs-pr and pr-nswt), if we exclude two titles of private individuals where the title of imy-r wabt is associated with that of imy-r gs (Fischer 1966: 67), which, however, is not the same as gs-pr as other scholars have noted (Moreno García 1999: 124; Posener-Kriéger – Verner – Vymazalová 2006: 357–358). This combination of wabt with gs-pr and pr-nswt thus stands as a hapax legomenos. The pr-nswt The term pr-nswt, literally the “king’s domain”, has frequently been the focus of past scholarship but has not yet received an unequivocal interpretation. Wolfgang Helck (1975: 95–110), for example, presumed that the pr-nswt was the administration of the country as an institution, not connected with a concrete king’s name and thus serving every ruling king, as was also the case with the terms Xnw “residence” and aH “palace”. Eva Martin-Pardey (1995: 285) also reached a similar conclusion based on the analysis of the term pr-nswt as it occurs in association with other terms in the titles of private individuals and official inscriptions. She maintains PES XVII_2016_studied_36-78_PES 13.12.16 11:43 Stránka 60