The Palermo Stone
an Related Fragments
The Palermo Stone is a fragment of a
wall, that was inscribed on both sides with an overview of mostly ritual events
that occurred during the first five dynasties. Several other fragments of that
same wall (or a copy of it?) have been found as well. The Palermo Stone is the
largest piece of the wall is now on display at Palermo, hence its name.
A second large piece and four
smaller fragments are in the Cairo Museum (Cairo Fragments 1 to 5) and one
small fragment is in the University College of London (London Fragment).
It is not certain that all seven
known pieces derive from the same original, as all fragments were found on the
antiquities market. Only one small Cairo fragment seems to have been traced to
Memphis, but some other fragments are believed to have originated in Middle
Egypt. The differences in thickness of the fragments, may also be an indication
that there were several originals, but thusfar, none of the fragments contains
a partial or full copy of one or more of the other fragments.
The original to which the Palermo
Stone belonged, is believed to have been approximately 2.2 meters long, 0.61
meters high and 6.5 cm thick. It is generally accepted, but not proven, that
the large Cairo Fragment, may have belonged to the same original.
It is inscribed on both sides with a
list of kings from Predynastic Egypt to the middle of the 5th Dynasty. From the
4th Dynasty on, the list also contains the foundations and offerings made by
the kings. It is thus highly valuable in the study of the early history of Ancient
Egypt.
The exact creation date is not
known, the earliest possible date being the middle of the 5th Dynasty. Some
Egyptologists have seen differences in the style of hieroglyphs in different
year cells, which has led them to believe that the stone or stones may have
been carved at different times, perhaps even updated on a regular basis. If
this is correct, then at least the later parts of the stone(s) were carved
shortly after the reported events.
On the other hand, the way the stone
has been carved -lightly incised signs on a black stone- is reminiscent of an
artistic style that came into vogue during the 25th Dynasty, suggesting that
the Palermo Stone and related fragments may perhaps not be dated earlier than
this dynasty.
The fact that for the Early Dynastic
kings, their actual Horus-names were used, rather than their fictive Prenomens
of Nomens, as is the case on the Turin Kinglist, could support the thesis that,
regardless of the creation date of the Palermo Stone, the composers of this
document had access to original sources. Maybe the Palermo Stone is just a late
copy of an original that was created during the Old Kingdom.
Another question that needs to be
addressed is the purpose of the Palermo Stone and related fragments. Did the
composers intend to actually compile historical information, as seems to have
been the case with the Turin Kinglist? Or was the stone originally located in a
temple, serving a religious or propagandistic purpose? In the latter case, the
historic value attached to this document may have been overestimated.
Список литературы
Для
подготовки данной работы были использованы материалы с сайта http://www.ancient-egypt.org