KAROL MYŚLIWIEC

SAKKARA – KOPALNIA ŹRÓDEŁ DO HISTORII EGIPTU

 

SAQQARA – A MINE OF SOURCES FOR THE HISTORY OF EGYPT

 

The largest necropolis of pharaonic Egypt was a place where kings, as well as noblemen and middle class citizens from the cosmopolitan metropolis of Memphis, were buried during a long period spanning almost four millennia, from prehistoric times to the Middle Ages. Many archaeological missions from various countries have excavated in Saqqara, from mid-19^th century until now, thus enriching historiography with important new sources.

This research was performed by a joint Polish-Egyptian team. Directed by the author of the present article, the excavations began in 1987 and have continued yearly since 1996. The article presents both the most important discoveries made by the mission and, in their light, the open questions inspiring further studies. The discoveries have specifically enlarged our knowledge of two phases of Egyptian history:

1. The late Old Kingdom (particularly the 6^th Dynasty), when a dense conglomeration of mudbrick-built and rock-hewn tombs came into being on the west side of the “step pyramid” (3^rd Dynasty). Among the tomb owners were two high ranking courtiers whose funerary chapels were decorated with reliefs and paintings of unique artistic value;
2. The Ptolemaic Period (III–I centuries B.C.) during which hundreds of middle class noblemen were buried in the sand stratum overlying the Old Kingdom necropolis; popularity of this cemetery may be connected with the first burial of Alexander the great in the vicinity of the Memphite Serapeum.

The excavation campaign in 2012 started a new, interdisciplinary research project that is connected with the so-called “Dry Moat,” originally a stone quarry used later for funeral and sacral purposes. With respect to its methodology, the new project emphasizes the unique geo-archaeological aspects of the mysterious object.

 

 

FILIP TATERKA

BIOGRAFIA EGIPSKIEGO DOSTOJNIKA Z OKRESU STAREGO PAŃSTWA NA PRZYKŁADZIE INSKRYPCJI Z GROBOWCA HER-CHUFA

 

THE TOMB INSCRIPTION OF HER-KHUF AS A MODEL EXAMPLE OF ANCIENT EGYPTIAN BIOGRAPHY OF THE OLD KINGDOM PERIOD

 

The article discusses the biography of Her-khuf, who lived during the 4^th dynasty, as a model example of ancient Egyptian biographical inscription of the Old Kingdom period. The first part of the text describes the structure of Egyptian biography, presenting its typical elements as well as their functions. The next part describes the most important episodes of Her-khuf ’s official career as presented in his biography, especially his four expeditions to the Nubian land of Iam organised under Mer-en-Ra Nemty-em-saf and Nefer-ka-Ra Pepy II. Her-khuf ’s biography contains also one unique element, which is a letter from young Pepy II concerning a Pygmy who was brought by the official to Egypt while returning from his fourth expedition to Iam. The text of the article is followed by first complete Polish translation of the ancient Egyptian text with a historical commentary.

 

KRZYSZTOF HIPP

BASEN GÓRNEGO TYGRYSU W OKRESIE IMPERIUM NOWOASYRYJSKIEGO

 

THE UPPER TIGRIS BASIN IN THE NEO-ASSYRIAN PERIOD

 

The Upper Tigris basin between Diyarbekir and Cizre forms a natural geographical boundary between the Anatolian highlands and Upper Mesopotamia.

During the late Assyrian period, this region became a political border of the empire, where the Assyrians created a buffer zone comprising both small political entities that were more or less dependent and new provinces, successfully keeping the northern archenemy – Urartu at bay in this region.

The neo-Assyrian kings were also keenly interested in stabilizing the political situation in the Upper Tigris valley for economic reasons. They exploited the abundant natural and human resources, including the natural deposit stretching to the north beyond the Taurus Mountains. Relevant written sources speak volumes about the methods of this exploitation, which are also reflected in the archeological data collected from the excavations conducted recently on a vast scale by the rescue projects (due to the building of the dams on the Tigris and the Euphrates.)

This article deals with the socio-economic situation in the area between Cizre and Diyarbakir during the reign of the Sargonids, focusing on the role of the Upper Tigris between the two towns as a thoroughfare of transportation. The river was undoubtedly the main artery for the Assyrians transport goods and (to a lesser extent) people down the river into the Assyrian heartland.

 

 

PRZEMYSŁAW DEC

JĘZYK I STYL RDZ 1,1–2,4. UWAGI I SZKICE JĘZYKOWO-LITERACKIE

 

LANGUAGE AND STYLE OF GENESIS 1:1–2:4. LITERARY AND LINGUSITIC DRAFT

 

The article presents literary and linguistics traits of hexameral text in Genesis 1. However, it should be noted, that most studies offer more theological interpretation of Genesis 1 than this article. It attempts to answer the question whether, on the basis of parallel texts in the Hebrew Bible, Genesis 1:1-2,4 shared a common lexical contribution with Exodus 20:8-11 and Deuteronomium 5:12-14. Furthermore, the analysis of lexemes and phraseological collocations argue that the structure of the text is based on Jewish weekly time calculations as observed in Persian Period.

 

 

WOJCIECH PIKOR

ŚWIĘTOŚĆ ZIEMI IZRAELA W KSIĘDZE EZECHIELA

 

THE SANCTITY OF THE LAND OF ISRAEL IN THE BOOK OF EZEKIEL

 

The author tries to verify the sacral character of the land of Israel proposed by the prophet Ezekiel. The article outlines the structure of the vision of New Israel in Eze 40–48. Then, the significance of the return of Yahweh’s glory to the temple, as described in 43:1-2, is examined. The renewed presence of God in the Jerusalem Temple constitutes an essential element of the sacral concept of the land. This is evident in the image of water flowing from the temple, which transforms the land of Israel (47:1-12). The water metaphor confirms that God’s sanctity does not close him towards others, but opens God to embrace his people, who, by the gift of the restored land, come into a life-giving relationship with him. Finally, the sacral concept of the land of Israel is indicated in the theological geography proposed by Ezekiel in the vision of the new borders of the land.

 

 

JAKUB SLAWIK

SKĄD WYWODZI SIĘ TRADYCJA O HIOBIE? ANTONI TRONINA VERSUS ŁUKASZ NIESIOŁOWSKI-SPANÒ

 

WHERE DOES A TRADITION OF JOB COME FROM? ANTONI TRONINA VERSUS ŁUKASZ NIESIOŁOWSKI-SPANÒ

 

In two recent articles in SBO, Antoni Tronina and Łukasz Niesiołowski-Spanò discuss the origin of Job. Tronina argues that Job originates from an actual man, as his name’s inclusion in the Amarna archive attests. In response Niesiołowski-Spanò suggests that the motif of the loss of all of one’s children originates in the Greek myth about Niobe. Neither hypothesis was conclusively proven. The name of Job is widely attested in AO texts. There is no link between the person known as Ajjab in the Amarna letters (EA 256, 3364) and the biblical Job. Similarly, there is no one indication that that author(s) of the Book of Job knew the myth about Niobe. A much more closer parallel is The Legend of King Keret (KTU 1.14). For the research it would be productive to find any AO parallel for the theme of a non-benefit devotion.

 

 

EDWARD LIPIŃSKI

MERKURY – sylwqrm

 

MERCURY – sylwqrm

 

Mercury, the Roman god of merchants and wayfarers, identified with the Greek god Hermes, occupies a relatively conspicuous place in the Mishnah and the Talmud. Rabbis seem to have been confronted quite often with sites dedicated to this pagan god and repeatedly warn against his worship. It was common for people either to add stones to mounds that had been erected in honour of Mercury alongside roads or to place gifts onto stone tables that had been dedicated to Mercury. If Mercury is discussed by rabbis more than any other pagan deity, it is probably due to the important roles played by Jewish merchants, wayfarers, and rabbis who travelled continuously along the silk roads connecting Babylonia, Syria, Palestine, and northern Arabia. It is unlikely that sentences of death by lapidation were ever carried out as punishment for this possible idolatrous behaviour, as Jewish courts in Roman times were deprived of the right to pass and carry out death sentences. In effect, the warnings against idolatry had only moral and religious significance.

 

 

ŁUKASZ TOBOŁA

„I ZNISZCZYŁ IM WSZYSTKO, CO (BYŁO) NA GÓRZE JEZABELI”: TOPONIM ṬWR JZBL W 2 MCH^ARAB

 

“AND HE DESTROYED WHATEVER THEY HAD ON THE MOUNT JEZABEL”:

THE TOPONYM ṬWR JZBL IN 2 MACH^ARAB

 

The article discusses the possible origins and meaning of the toponym ṭwr jzbl “Mount of Jezebel” used in the Arabic Second Book of Maccabees as the designation for the Samaritan holy mountain, Gerizim.

 

 

KAROL MYŚLIWIEC

STAROŻYTNY EGIPT W ŚWIADOMOŚCI HISTORYCZNEJ POLAKÓW

 

ANCIENT EGYPT IN POLISH HISTORICAL CONSCIOUSNESS

 

The article is a diachronic study focusing on the presence of Ancient Egyptian culture in the humanistic consciousness of Poles, beginning with the reports of the first travelers from the beginning of the 16th century, through art collectors’ activities in 18th-19th centuries, literary works inspired by Egyptian history and culture, the first Polish Egyptologists, and subsequently the creation of the renowned “Polish school of Mediterranean archaeology” founded by Professor Kazimierz Michałowski nearly eighty years ago. The “Polish school” has continued to enlarge its fields of scientific interest even after its founder had passed away in 1981. Among the most important recent discoveries made by Polish Egyptologists and archaeologists in the Nile Valley (both in Egypt and in Sudan) are also structures and artifacts from the earliest periods of Egyptian history, the Archaic Period and the Old Kingdom (3rd millennium B.C.). What particularly inspires the activity of the Poles in the field of Egyptology is the feeling that Ancient Egyptian culture is part of their own identity.

 

 

ADAM RYSZARD SIKORA

PRZEKŁADY TEKSTÓW BIBLIJNYCH NA KASZUBSKI. HISTORIA. STAN AKTUALNY. PERSPEKTYWY

 

TRANSLATIONS OF BIBLICAL TEXTS INTO KASHUBIAN. HISTORY. CURRENT STATE. PROSPECTS

 

This paper discusses translations of biblical passages into Kashubian that originated in Evangelical circles between the 16^th and 21^st centuries. Although the tradition of translation dates back to the 16^th century, a translation of the entire Bible, or at least of one complete biblical book, from that time has not been preserved. Presumably it never existed. The oldest translations of biblical texts into Kashubian were generally based on the German language. The first printed book with texts in Kashubian was Simon Krofey’s Hymnal, published in Gdańsk in 1586. It included eleven works he called Psalms and a range of short passages originating both from the Old Testament and the New Testament. A translation of The Small Catechism of Martin Luther came out approximately half a century later, and like Krofey’s Hymnal, it included many biblical passages. However, the biggest collection of biblical texts which has survived dates from the turn of the 17^th and 18^th centuries. These texts are found in the Smoldzinian Perikopes, which had lessons and gospel passages for all Sundays and church holidays. Before the Smoldzinian Perikopes, many shorter passages of older translations of biblical texts were only occasional translations of biblical passages that were incorporated into other religious texts. The Smoldzinian Perikopes was first intended and methodical translation of biblical texts into Kashubian. Research on these translations demonstrates that, while the translators did not translate the original texts, but rather German translations of the original texts, their translations are nevertheless characterised by a high degree of faithfulness to the thought of the original texts. The texts are also marked by the translators’ dedication to accuracy and making the texts both easily comprehensible and literarily beautiful. Contemporary translations of biblical texts into Kashubian include translations done during the second half of the 20^th century from the Catholic perspective which exists in Gdańsk and Pomerania. Among these translations are those of A. Nagel from 1973 (Mk 4,3-20), of Rev. F. Grucza from 1992 (four Gospels), of E. Gołąbek from 1993 (The New Testament) and 1999 (The Book of Psalms ) and translations of my authorship from 2001 (The Gospel according to St. Mark ) 2003 (Mt 1–2; Łk 1–2; J 1,1-14), 2007 (The Gospel according to St. John), 2009 (The Gospel according to St. Matthew), 2010 (The Gospel according to St. Luke). In 2010 my translation of the four gospels was published as a single book (Ewanielie na kaszëbsczi tołmaczoné) and from 2011 to 2013, about thirty Psalms were translated by from Hebrew to Kashubian. The translation of F. Grucza is done from Latin, of Gołąbek from Polish and mine are from Greek and Hebrew.