4

DREAM INTERPRETATION

And so a dream is a kind of time-space doodle that uses the remembered forms of waking experience as its circles, squares, and triangles.

B.O. States, Seeing in the Dark: Reflections on dreams and dreaming

Because of their unique standing outside the regular bounds of space and time, dreams have often been thought to contain hidden meanings or secrets that need to be interpreted in order to be understood properly. Books have been written for millennia listing samples of dream images and their possible interpretations. From ancient Egypt, however, while the Late Period and later is well-represented by a large number of Demotic dream-texts, 1 only one dream book has survived dating to the period with which this book is concerned. Reconstructed and published by Gardiner in 1935, ² this compilation is contained on P. Chester Beatty III, RECTO 1–11, and dates to the Ramesside Period. It is possible that this uneven distribution in evidence for dream-omina, and the absence of earlier documents related to dream interpretation, may be explained by the vagaries of chance preservation. It is also possible that the Egyptian perception of dreams was not monolithic and did not remain static over the centuries, and the appearance of books devoted to dream interpretation reflects a change in the value and function of dreams in Egyptian society. While it is implau sible to suggest that P. Chester Beatty III is the actual first Egyptian book of dream interpretation, it may reflect a new technique for acquiring information that only developed in the New Kingdom. Ray has suggested that the Egyptians’ need for divination as a means to control fate intensified after the New Kingdom, particularly in the Late Period. ³

The classification of any ancient Egyptian text can be a complicated matter, and the Ramesside Dream Book is no exception. While there seems to be a consensus in Assyriological circles that the Mesopotamian dream-omina should be regarded as scientific texts, ⁴ the issue has been scantily addressed in reference to the Egyptian texts. Groll was the first to address this in detail, and she treats this papyrus as a ‘grammatical text which tries to systematize a specific technical dream language of literary Late Egyptian’. 5 Significantly, Groll enlarges her description and classifiesit as a ‘type of medical text specializing in dream interpretation, that is,the translation of the visual imagery of dreams into words’. The medical texts also are organized as a series of conditional clauses with the symptoms as antecedent, followed by a brief diagnosis, and ending with a treatment as the consequent. The conditional clauses in the Egyptian Dream Books consist of visual images as antecedent, a diagnosis of the dream as either positive or negative, and finally an interpretation as the consequent. In the medical texts, the nature of the symptom leads to a particular response or treatment. A similar relationship may have existed between each dream and its resulting effect in the Dream Book. Rather than the dream simply revealing an event which was destined to occur whether or not a particular image was seen, some dreams may have been thought to trigger a specific response. For example, the passage ‘If a man sees himself in a dream looking through a window; good (it means that) his call be heard by his god’ (r. 2.24), does not necessarily imply that his call would have been heard whether or not he saw that particular image. Rather, the image itself provokes the god into listening to the dreamer.

The connection between each dream image and its interpretation was not random, but was based on the Egyptians’ conceptual system of that time. A similar structure was used in a New Kingdom omina-calendar, which Vernus concludes arose from a view that may be called ‘scientific’, if we understand the ancient world as apprehending the universe as an infinite organisation of homologues and analogies, with each object being the sign of all the others. ⁶

The ancient methods of ‘science’ were different from that of the modern Western world, but upon closer examination a certain familiar rational approach may be discerned in the treatment of dreams and divination. In this approach, dreams are considered to be codified manifestations of some kind of higher order which can be decoded and understood by a specialist. ⁷ Oppenheim, in reference to the mantic techniques of Mesopotamia, a nation in contact with Egypt, considers

it essential for the understanding of Mesopotamian divination – and that includes dream omens – to see in it a ‘science’, that is, a willingness to face reality, a willingness endowed with the same seriousness of intent and the same innate global aspiration that characterize that aspect of our modern relation to reality which we call science.

(Oppenheim, ‘Mantic dreams in the ancient Near East’, 342)

More recently, Stephan Maul, in his study of Babylonian and Assyrian ‘Namburbi’ rituals, discusses the classification of divinatory practices in Mesopotamia. He notes that the study of natural portents that developed in the second and first millennia should not be labelled as ‘superstition’. 8 Rather, he agrees with Oppenheim’s assessment and concurs that different divinatory methods developed according to a standardized science, and could be learned only after a long period of study. ⁹ Much like western scientific thought, the presence of a god is not foregrounded in the early stages of Egyptian dream interpretation. In stark contrast to oracles which require the presence of a god or a divine representative, ¹⁰ the dreams are treated as omens: fixed signs which portend good or bad events without necessarily requiring the intervention of a deity. They would require interpretation, however, which could be provided by a Dream Book, or perhaps by a consultant.

The interpreters of dreams

That dream interpretation was a feature of Hellenistic Egypt is undisputed. For example, the archive of Hor of Sebennytos provides us with a large corpus of dreams and their meanings dating from c. 170 BC. ¹¹ As with the evidence for oneiromancy itself, much of our current knowledge regarding the identity of the Egyptian dream specialists stems from Greek, Coptic, or Near Eastern sources. Nevertheless, even with this later information, the origins of oneiromancy remain obscure.

By examining the primary sources, however, one finds that the evidence of Egypt’s supposed reputation in the area of professional dream interpretation prior to the Ptolemaic Period is highly problematic and consists largely of three non-Egyptian references. One of these references is found in the well-known passage of Gen. 41, where Joseph is able to interpret the dream of the pharaoh after the ḥarṭummîm fail. The word ḥarṭummîm is not a native Hebrew word, but has been assumed to be a foreign term, probably Egyptian, and related to the lexeme ḫarṭibi. The latter is attested in Akkadian sources as a title after three personal names in a text from the reign of Esarhaddon (680–669 BC) ¹² and again in a list of Egyptian prisoners and craftsmen from the reign of Ashurbanipal (668–627 BC). ¹³ According to the CAD, ḫarṭibi is an Egyptian word meaning ‘interpreter of dreams’ and is compared to the Hebrew ḥarṭōm. ¹⁴

Based on these Akkadian sources, the conclusion has been drawn that Egypt was an important oneiromantic centre at the time (roughly the end of the Kushite dynasty). For example, in one analysis of the divinatory economy of the ancient Near East15 Sweek emphasized that although a wide variety of divinatory techniques enjoyed a high status in Assyrian society and politics, oneiromancy as an institution did not seem to be included in the traditional scholarly disciplines. ¹⁶ Instead, based on the Akkadian sources mentioned above, it seemed that dream professionals were imported, particularly from Egypt. Sweek stresses that ‘Esarhaddon’s resort to foreign oneirocritics demonstrates the simplest means of controlling dreams within the academy. One seeks out specialists from another cultural reference, where dream divination is a specialization, or presumed to be so.’ ¹⁷ But this argument is only true if ḫarṭibi means ‘dream interpreters’, and this definition is based largely on the affinity of the Akkadian term to the Aramaic/Hebrew ḥarṭummîm. This lexeme, however, does appear elsewhere in the Bible in contexts completely unrelated to dreams, where the word clearly does not mean ‘dream interpreter’. ¹⁸ The major Hebrew-English lexicons recognize this, and the first meaning listed for the root ḥarṭom in the Brown-Driver-Briggs lexicon is ‘engraver’, ¹⁹ and in the Koehler-Baumgartner it is ‘fortune telling’ and ‘magician’. ²⁰

It should also be remembered that this particular episode in Genesis was likely composed as a literary narrative, rather than a historical record. ²¹ Although Egypt was chosen as the setting for the scene, it was ultimately written for an Israelite audience, and reflects the practice of dream divination with which that audience would have been familiar. ²² The point of the episode is that Joseph is the successful dream-interpreter, and not the Egyptian ḥarṭummîm who appear unfamiliar with the practice of dream interpretation and indeed are singularly inept in helping their pharaoh. Noegel points out that the redactors of the Bible characterized foreigners as unable to decipher their own dreams, unlike their Israelite counterparts. ²³ While magicians, such as the ḥarṭummîm, and other non-Israelite practitioners of divination are referred to as outsiders in the Hebrew Bible, ²⁴ dreams themselves as a means of gaining knowledge were well known and not prohibited. ²⁵ This was the case as well in the rest of the Mesopotamian world, where dream interpretation enjoyed a long and distinguished history²⁶ without requiring recourse to Egyptian expertise.

The case for ḥarṭummîm and ḫarṭibi meaning dream-interpreter is further weakened upon examination of the possible Egyptian source of these words. If these terms derive from the Egyptian, ḥry-tm⫖ (‘the one on the mat’), 27 ḥry-tp or ḥry-tb (‘chief), or h̲ry-ḥb ḥry-tp (‘chief lector-priest’) ²⁸ as has been suggested, there is no evidence that these were technical terms for dream interpreters in Egypt. On the contrary, the most popular candidate, ḥry-tp, and the Demotic ḥry-tb, ²⁹ appeared in numerous contexts with the meaning ‘magician’. ³⁰

Searching Egyptian biblical sources, one finds that in the Bohairic dialect of Coptic, the word used in Gen. 41 is which was probably derived from the ancient Egyptian sh̲ pr-‘ᒼnḫ ‘Scribe of the House of Life’. ³¹ In the Sahidic version the word is used instead. Although this word is derived from rmṯ jw.f w⫖ḥ rsw ‘the man who interprets dreams’, this title does not appear in the ancient Egyptian texts, and was likely inferred based on context. In other passages of the biblical tale these individuals are called cšou ‘learned men’. ³² Whether or not one accepts any of these tentative etymologies, the evidence for ḫarṭibi or ḥarṭummîm meaning ‘dream specialists’ remains inconclusive, and based mostly on context and tradition. These individuals should instead be considered either as wise men, magicians, or priests who did not necessarily have much experience at all in the practice of dream divination, or at best practised oneiromancy as one of their many specialities. While dream interpretation was practised, perhaps as early as the Late Period, and definitely in the Hellenistic Period, during that time there seems to have been no identifiable word or expression referring to Egyptian oneirocritics as a distinct category. Rather, dream divination seems to have been just one of the priestly activities under the auspices of the ‘House of Life’. ³³ It has recently been suggested that rather than being one of the functions of the lector priests (ḥry-tb), the interpretation of dreams, at least in the Ptolemaic Period, may have instead been part of the duties of the pastophoroi (a class of individuals that Ray describes as ‘semi-priests’). ³⁴

The earliest references to dreams in ancient Egypt are found in the First Intermediate Period letters to the dead. Here they function as a sort of liminal zone in which the barriers between the world of the living and the world of the dead become temporarily translucent, allowing the living and the dead to view each other. In the Middle Kingdom, they appear as malignant forces to be repulsed and avoided in medical and execration texts, and they function primarily as literary devices in belles lettres and wisdom texts. The earliest currently-known report of an Egyptian individual consulting any sort of technician, professional or otherwise, for help concerning a dream is found in P. Deir el-Medina 6 – a Ramesside letter from Deir el-Medina. 35 In this letter, an anonymous scribe³⁶ writes a letter to an addressee concerning his (the addressee’s) female friend who has come to visit. The scribe writes to his friend, telling him that he is sending this message in secret (verso 1–3): ³⁷

[The woman X has] run away to the village. Now look, I have taken charge of her. I didn‘t let her see that I had written to you saying ‘She’s here.’ Actually, it is because of a dream that she has come in order to stand in the presence of Nefertari. Look after her and don‘t do what you have usually done!

The writer of the letter emphasizes that he did not want the woman to know that he was revealing her presence in the village to his correspondent. Our lack of context and other substantiating evidence, however, leaves us unable to ascertain whether it was simply the presence of the woman in the village that was to be kept secret, or her visit to Nefertari. ³⁸ The phrase ‘to stand in the presence of’ (m-b⫖h) is often used to indicate an oracular consultation. ³⁹ From our understanding of the technology of oracles, it seems that they did not usually give detailed responses, but rather answered ‘yes’ or ‘no’, or signalled a response from among a number of previously written possibilities. ⁴⁰ The woman in the letter might have been inspired by a dream to go to the oracle, or her goal may have been to ask the goddess whether the dream was a positive or a negative omen. At least one other example of an oracular consultation concerning a dream is attested by a small ostrakon from Ramesside Deir el-Medina inscribed with the question: ‘As for the dreams which one will see, will they be good ones?’ ⁴¹ It is conceivable that this type of question was asked by the dreamer in our letter. There is no firm evidence whether this dreamer might also have obtained a fuller interpretation, or whether a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ response sufficed. In any case, assuming the woman was in search of guidance regarding a dream, it is clear that she did not take her troubles to a professional dream interpreter, but rather to a goddess. This letter, along with the oracular ostrakon, suggest that in the New Kingdom, questions regarding dreams were brought to the presence of a divine oracle, rather than a professional interpreter. But we have as yet not discussed the most important surviving piece of evidence for the practice of dream interpretation: the Ramesside Dream Book.

Ramesside Dream Book

Because P. Chester Beatty III remains our only evidence of a compilation of dreams and their interpretations prior to the Late Period, it deserves close attention. In 1928 an assemblage of religious, magical, documentary, and literary papyri was discovered in Deir el-Medina in the superstructure of a tomb between the base of a pyramid and the vault of a chapel, in a small trapezoidal space. 42 Koenig speculates that this collection may have been placed in this area in order to protect it during the chaotic period at the end of the twentieth dynasty. ⁴³ The group of texts was originally part of the archive of the well-known scribe Qenherkhopshef, a scribe from Deir el-Medina. The collection includes a diverse assortment of letters, memoranda, documents related to family and domestic affairs, exercises, belles-lettres, and texts that Pestman calls ‘semi-literary’ (such as ‘medical prescriptions, prophylactic spells, incantations against scorpion’s stings, the dream book, and other texts which may have had the scope of being something like "practical handbooks for daily use" ’). ⁴⁴ Some were written in Qenherkhopshef’s distinct hieratic handwriting, some were gifts, and some, such as the Dream Book, may have been bought – perhaps from a House of Life. It is clear that Qenherkhopshef himself was not the author of the manual, as the verso of the papyrus, as well as little leftover nooks and crannies were filled with texts written in his handwriting, which was markedly different from the handwriting of the Dream Book portion. The complexity of the punning and sophistication of language argues for its composer as having been one of the scribal elite of Egypt, that is the priesthood. ⁴⁵ Even though Qenherkhopshef was not himself the composer, nor was he a professional priest, he was a member of the village of Deir el-Medina where Ritner has suggested that ‘in the absence of a professional priesthood, workers acted as their own priests, and thus had access to material restricted elsewhere’. ⁴⁶ After Qenherkhopshef died childless, his wife remarried, and the library was passed down to her son Amunnakht, son of Khaemnun. This Amunnakht added a colophon to the Dream Book, falsely attributing its creation to himself. ⁴⁷ As it passed from owner to owner, the library increased in size, though individual papyri suffered the indignity of being torn for reuse. ⁴⁸ The Dream Book itself shows evidence of having been torn at some point prior to the death of its final owner. ⁴⁹

It is unknown whether Qenherkhopshef or any other members of that family actually used the Dream Book to interpret their own dreams or those of others. It is entirely possible it was kept simply for the papyrus itself as writing material, or as a curiosity, on a bookshelf as it were, like a first edition classic might be held by an avid collector, who has no intention of actually reading the book. Qenherkhopshef was after all an avid collector of a wide variety of texts. But we may also question just how useful the content of this manuscript was to Qenherkhopshef. While the roll itself did remain in his family, he used the verso of the papyrus as a convenient surface for his writing out portions of the Ramesses II battle of Kadesh poem, as well as writing a copy of a letter from himself to Merneptah’s vizier. 50 Nor are we able easily to establish if the document was frequently used before it reached the library of Qenherkhopshef. The height of the papyrus roll (35 cm) suggests that the Dream Book was kept as an official document, but the extant to which it might have been used in Egyptian society remains unknown. Structurally similar texts, such as the Calendars of Lucky and Unlucky Days, ⁵¹ have been found from the Middle Kingdom on, but only in temple contexts, leading some to suggest that their use was restricted to the priesthood. ⁵² The Dream Book is the only New Kingdom specimen (so far), and with no other documentation attesting to its use it is even more difficult to determine what, if any, impact it might have had on the lives of the Egyptians of this period.

What can be tentatively proposed, is the segment of the population whose dreams it explains. It is notable that the Ramesside Dream Book recounts dreams that a man, not a woman, may have. ⁵³ This is not only an accident of the gender in the initial phrase ‘If a man sees himself in a dream ...’, but is made abundantly clear throughout the text. For example, the activities mentioned are ones typically performed by Egyptian men, while references to the woman or wife of the dreamer certify the dreamer’s sex as male. A sharp contrast can be found in the Demotic Dream Book written a millennium later, which includes three categories of dream images that specifically women might see, perhaps pointing to a wider audience for the use of the Dream Book. One of these categories is labelled specifically as ‘The types of sexual intercourse about which one dreams [...] about which a woman dreams’ (n⫖ h̲ nkt.w mtw rmt nw r[.r-w (?r) w^c .t(?)] sḥjm.t nw r.r-w). ⁵⁴ While this is not the venue for an analysis of the Demotic Dream Book, all the extant categories of dream images that a woman may see in the Demotic text consist predominantly of fornication with, giving birth to, or the suckling of various animals, as opposed to the non-sexually specific categories of drinking specific kinds of beer and wine, or swimming with different types of people. ⁵⁵ Thus, these passages seem to correspond to the negative representations of women which are reflected in Demotic wisdom texts. ⁵⁶ The fact that a section of the Demotic Dream Book does enumerate dreams specifically experienced by women – and Oppenheim states that this is ’a unique feature in Near Eastern dream books’ 57 – tends to confirm the impression that women held a relatively high level of legal rights and standing in Ptolemaic Egypt. However, we cannot say with certainty that the Ramesside Dream Book did not contain dreams experienced by women, as a large portion is missing and it could potentially have contained additional categories of dreams.

In P. Chester Beatty III the dreams and their interpretations are quite brief and strongly reflect their cultural matrix, much like the dream dictionaries one can easily find in book stores today. The relationships between the individual images and interpretations are based largely on word plays, as well as underlying myths and the cultural values of the time. The content of the dreams thus echoes to a certain extent the stresses, anxieties, wishes, values, and realities of Egyptian society. The question remains, however, as to whose concerns these dreams reflect. The composer of the text was a member of the literary elite, whose skills in the subtleties of wordplay and grammar suggest a high level of expertise, so the text could have been composed as a literary exercise, reflecting the author’s own hopes and fears. Alternatively it could be an actual record of numerous dreams which an interpreter or priest might have heard over the years, used for daily consultation, or archived as an important resource, or to preserve an oral tradition. Closer examination of the papyrus as a physical artefact may provide further clues, but these questions are complex, and may ultimately remain inconclusive.

For the purposes of the present discussion, this dream book will be treated as a text written during the Ramesside age, reflecting the cares of the townspeople of a village such as Deir el-Medina. Certain elements of this text, such as frequent allusions to townspeople (njwtj.w), the description of the Sethian man (discussed below), as well as the occasional unflattering reference to officials, ⁵⁸ correspond to our reconstructions of life in that village and strongly suggest this context, but we should not lose sight that this is but one scenario.

Dating

Based on the later writing on the verso of the text by Qenherkhopshef, and a careful study of the palaeography of the RECTO, Gardiner dates the Dream Book portion of the papyrus to the early years of Ramesses II. ⁵⁹ He further tentatively suggests that its contents may date back to the Middle Kingdom, contending that the ‘language is pure Middle Egyptian, [and] the spelling throughout is that of early Ramesside times’. 60 The use of Middle Egyptian, however, may be attributed to the author’s intention to lend authenticity to the text and to elevate its status, as well as its appropriateness as the ‘scientific language of hemerology’. ⁶¹ Gardiner’s analysis of the grammar has been strongly contested by Groll, who describes the text as a ‘grammatical text which tries to systematize a specific technical dream language of literary Late Egyptian’. ⁶² While I am not entirely convinced by the details of Groll’s linguistic analysis, there is other evidence to support a New Kingdom origin for the initial compilation of the text. Certain of the text’s Middle Egyptian attributes can be explained by its function as a practical or technical manual. As described in Chapter 2, the expression rsw.t continues to be used in king’s novels, spells, and belles-lettres, throughout Egypt’s history. The phrase qd comes into vogue only in the New Kingdom, and then only in the documentary texts of non-royal Egyptians. Hensel (forthcoming) notes that certain terms in the Dream Book, such as gsgs (r. 10.5; Wb V 207; DZA 30713720), s-^c ḫj (r. 4.11; Wb IV 54.9; DZA 2897250), ḏnw (r. 6.7; Wb V 575.6; DZA 31632140) and wrry.t (r. 9.7; DZA 22535470) are only attested in writing from the time of the New Kingdom. Furthermore, she lists a number of correspondences between certain phrases found in the dreams related to the divine in the Dream Book, and Assmann’s listings of phrases found in New Kingdom hymns and prayers that reflect personal piety.

The formulation of the lists as conditional structures (‘if X then that means Y) is a feature of diagnostic texts such as medical texts and the Calendars of Lucky and Unlucky Days. While examples of the latter are found from the Middle Kingdom, no examples of dream interpretation have yet been found from that time. Finally, certain puns and metaphors used in the text are remarkably similar to those found in other New Kingdom texts, such as the Instruction of Amenemope. This does not imply that the authors of these texts necessarily were aware of each other’s texts, but that those particular word-plays were prevalent in that age.

Evidence frequently cited for an early belief in the mantic function of dreams is the following passage in the Instruction of Merikare (ll.136–7):

jrj.n=f n=sn ḥk⫖.w r ^c ḥ⫖.w r ḫsf ^c .w n.t ḫpr.yt
rs.wt ḥr=s grḥ mj hrw.(w) ⁶³

Some scholars have translated this passage as ‘He made for them magic as weapons to ward off (evil) events; dreams (also) by night and day.’ ⁶⁴ On this basis it has been claimed that as early as the Middle Kingdom the Egyptians believed that ‘dreams are sent by the gods so that man may know the future’. 65 This in turn has been used to help bolster an early dating for the Dream Book. New studies, in particular those by Quack, ⁶⁶ have resolved the ambiguity of this passage, which should properly read:

He has made for them magic,
as a weapon to oppose the blow of events,
watching over them, night and day. ⁶⁷

The lexeme rs.wt here is not the substantive ‘dream’, but rather the nominal form ‘to guard, watch over’. This has at times been said to refer indirectly to dreams, ⁶⁸ but rsj is not an uncommon verb, and does not necessarily bear any relationship to dreams. A more elegant and simple solution is to accept the sentence for what it says – the passage refers to magic as being a boon of the gods, and affirms that magic can function in the day and the night.

Thus far, we have found no reference to dream interpretation prior to the New Kingdom. It is entirely possible that future excavations in the field or searches within existing museums or private collections may yield such texts. But based on the currently known evidence, it is also reasonable to suggest that the interpretation of dreams and the recording of dream books began only in the New Kingdom, possibly the Ramesside Period, perhaps as an adaptation from familiar texts such as the Calendars of Lucky and Unlucky Days.

The Dream Book and society

The interpretations of dreams found in dream books, both modern and ancient, rely on a relationship between the image seen and its interpretation. Such a relationship is usually based on linguistic devices (such as homophony, or puns), ⁶⁹ or a contemporary cultural association. In ancient Egypt, punning was a particularly popular linguistic device, not because it was considered humorous or trivial, but because word play in general was an integral element in rituals. ⁷⁰ The presence of word play throughout the Dream Book neither reflects any sort of contemptuous attitude on the part of the Egyptians, nor suggests that the text was a literary exercise. Hodge has noted that while the denigration of puns as the ‘lowest form of humour’ may be prevalent in modern Western culture, this was certainly not the case in the ancient Near East, where the root and pattern systems of the languages provide fertile fodder for the generation of puns. Recently, Loprieno has pointed out that word play encompassed not only the phonetic and the semantic spheres, but also the dimension of writing itself. 71 Indeed one form of writing, the hieroglyphic script, itself in some ways resembles the script of dreams from a Freudian perspective. ⁷² According to Freudian psychoanalysis, when interpreting elements of a dream one is unsure whether the relationship between the element and its latent meaning is based on similarity or contrast in meaning, a historical basis (such as a memory), symbolism, or assonance. ⁷³ While plays on words are particularly prevalent in the hieroglyphic script, they can also be enjoyed in the hieratic script of the Dream Book, which contains the same range of bases for interpretation. In all cases, a familiarity with the Egyptian culture and writing system is required in order to disentangle these complex passages. For example, one passage tells us that ‘If a man sees himself in a dream sailing downstream; BAD,it means a life of running backward.’ In Egypt, the current runs downstream while the winds blow upstream, and thus one normally sails upstream. This point is visually clear, for the word for travelling downstream is usually determined by the sign of a boat without sails while travelling upstream usually has a boat with sails . The image of going downstream with sails up runs counter to the norm – and the interpretation is thus of a life running backward.

The use of paronomasia to create or expose connections pervades the Egyptian Dream Book, together with the related phenomena of metonymy and metaphor. In this we are thankful, for far from being meaningless linguistic toys, puns ‘represent a central component of the Egyptian analysis of the world, and remain a stable feature of Egyptian culture throughout its entire historical evolution. From the Pyramid Texts down to the Ptolemaic times they provide a linguistic instrument to classify the elements of life.’ ⁷⁴ Without intending to, the Egyptians have left us a useful vehicle for exploring their world.

The significance of certain dreams could derive from other common divinatory schemes, such as the pairing of opposites, as seems to be the case in ‘If a man sees himself in a dream as dead; good, (it means that) a long life is before him’ (r. 4.13). Others rely on the interpreter being familiar with the uses or characteristics of the image seen in the dream. For example, figs were used as medicinal ingredients. If a man were to see a man eating figs it might be because he was having a medical problem. Thus one interpretation reads, ‘If a man sees himself in a dream eating sycamore figs; BAD, it means pains’ (r. 7.2). Other dreams seem to be based on myths, others on satire, others perhaps on proverbs. It is doubtful if any of the relationships were arbitrary, but without a deeper familiarity with the culture and everyday workings of ancient Egypt, most are likely to remain cryptic to us.

While the Dream Book could aid an Egyptian man to catch a glimpse of his future, and perhaps to guide his behaviour, it can also help the modern scholar to look in the opposite direction. Even when the connections between the dreams and their interpretation remain obscure, the content reflects the underlying social structure, cares, wishes, and even belief systems prevalent in the waking life of a certain class of Egyptian. As mentioned above, certain themes such as promotion, owning of property and households, writing, and the acquisition of wealth and prestige, suggest that the composition describes the dreams of townspeople, craftsmen, and scribes. 75 The concerns are not those of agricultural labourers nor those of royalty, but they are consistent with our current reconstructions of village life based on other types of evidence from Ramesside Deir el-Medina.

The Dream Book itself explicitly describes the dreams of at least two categories of individuals, for the final section begins with the heading: ‘BEGINNING OF THE DREAMS of the followers of Seth’ ḥ⫖.t-^c ; m rsw.t jmy.w-ḫt Stḫ. This is immediately preceded by a description of the personality and physical characteristics of this type of man (r. 11.1–18). The first portion of the papyrus is missing, but it is possible that it too began with a description of a type of man, one quite different from the ‘follower of Seth’. It has been suggested that this other category would have been characterized as a ‘follower of Horus’ (šms.w Ḥr) – a group well attested since the Pyramid Texts. However, it should be noted that the phrase ‘follower of Horus’ does not actually appear in the surviving dream portion of the text. Unfortunately, the beginning of the description of the Sethian man is also missing and this section of the papyrus contains large lacunae, making it difficult to form an accurate portrait. What emerges from the scraps is a fragmentary sketch of a man with curly hair, possibly naturally red hair as is emphasized by mentions of his armpit hair, beard and eyebrows. He is described as a potentially violent, decadent, and debauched man and a womanizer. When he drinks (which he does often to excess), his Sethian nature takes control, and yet, he nevertheless enjoys a long life. The text tells us that he may be a member of the royal classes, but that his tastes and manners are unrefined, unrestrained and earthy, like those of a commoner. His solitary nature places him as a misfit outside the norms of ideal Egyptian society. But while he does not fulfil the image of the ideal as presented in the wisdom texts, being neither humble, peaceful, nor silent, he seems to represent a personality type one could expect to meet in ancient Egypt. 76 Indeed, glimpses of such individuals and conduct can be found in some of the letters and accounts from Deir el-Medina, as well as in the didactic texts, which contain injunctions against these types of behaviour.

It is unfortunate that only four dreams of the followers of Seth remain – too small a sample to form any firm conclusions. The very existence of these dreams implies that the Sethian man was considered as much a part of society as his counterpart – the follower of Horus. It also shows that men were thought to be divided into at least two distinct psychological types who saw different dreams and required separate interpretations. The implication is that not everyone has the same dreams, and that the dreams do not have the same meaning. This idea is expanded in the Demotic Dream Book, which includes a separate category for the dreams of women. ⁷⁷ It should be noted that the images seen in the four dreams of the Sethian portion of the Ramesside Dream Book are not duplicated in the earlier section of the text, while the interpretations are lacking. All of these dreams seem to be good dreams, and we can conjecture that a series of good dreams would have been followed by a series of bad ones.

Description

The dream portion of P. Chester Beatty III is divided into three separate yet related sections. The first section consists of the visual images of dreams and their interpretations, the second is a spell to counter a bad dream, and the third begins with a description of the ‘followers of Seth’, followed again by their dreams and interpretations. The layout of the dream interpretations is the same whether they are found in the first section or in the last. ⁷⁸

The charts below provide a brief summary of the content of the dreams listed in the Ramesside Dream Book. I have intentionally listed a wide range of categories; these can then be combined in various ways to form larger classes according to the interests of the reader. CHART a. shows the relative concerns of the dreamer, and CHART b. organizes these concerns according to their impact on the dreamer (negative or positive).

CHART a. The relative concerns of the dreamer

The miscellaneous category includes a number of unique examples such as seeing a wagon, the moon, prison, and other images. Evidently, nourishment (13%), wealth (9%), and prestige (6%), were of great concern to the villagers, as was the impact of the divine world (6%) on their lives. Emotions (1%), recreation (1%), and writing and reading (1%) played a much smaller role, as did sex (4%). Not surprisingly, disputes (4%) are generally assigned a negative impact, while prestige usually appears as a benefit.

The papyrus is damaged at the beginning, thus we have no way of knowing how many dreams would have been listed at the outset (there are at least 11 missing), and whether it included a description of men who were followers of Horus as has been suggested. 79 In the first section, the 139 dreams interpreted as good omens are listed first (r. 1.12–6.25), then 83 negative omens (r. 7.1–10.9). ⁸⁰ This is followed immediately by a protective spell to ward off the effects of a bad dream (r. 10.10–19), until Amunnakht’s intrusive colophon takes up the rest of the column (r. 10.20–3). The description of the Sethian type of man is found in r. 11.1– 18, and a listing of four good dreams (r. 11.19–23) completes the legible portion of this Dream Book. ⁸¹

Grammatical note

Before presenting the text of the Ramesside Dream Book, a short grammatical note is in order. The palaeography of the text, as well as the orthography of certain words, appears to be Ramesside. The grammar is largely late Middle Egyptian, which would lend credence to the text’s authority and is an entirely appropriate choice for the genre, even if it were composed in the New Kingdom. ⁸² In an effort to facilitate a smooth reading, I have generally rendered the prospective with ‘will’, with the understanding that this was a modal future in the original. This applies as well to the Egyptian infinitive constructions for which English lacks an elegant literal translation. The 227 dreams and their interpretations could tell us much about Egyptian society, yet the following should be considered as a possible reconstruction and an invitation to further study.

THE RAMESSIDE DREAM BOOK

Gardiner, A.H. 1935. Hieratic Papyri in the British Museum, Third Series: Chester Beatty Gift. Vol. I, Text. London, British Museum. NK/Ramesside(?) – Written near the end of the reign of Ramesses II/ Library of Qenherkhopshef in Deir el-Medina.

On the papyrus, each interpretation begins with jr m⫖⫖ sw s m rsw.t written vertically in columns. A literal translation of this phrase, ‘if a man sees himself in a dream’, implies that the dreamer is watching himself in the dream, but this is not the sense of the phrase. I will therefore translate ‘if a man sees in a dream’, in those cases when this is a clearer reflection of the meaning of the phrase. I have also tried to retain the essence of word-plays whenever possible. The dream interpretations were written in horizontal rows perpendicular to this column, consisting of the antecedent, then an evaluation of the dream image as ‘good’ nfr or ‘BAD’ D̲W, followed by the consequent. Throughout these translations rubric (words or phrases which were written in red in the original) are indicated by the use of CAPS (for example the word ‘bad’ was consistently written in red).

RECTO 1

First 11 lines missing

If a man sees himself in a dream [...]

[good,...]

(r. 1.12)

If a man sees himself in a dream [...]

good, it means giving [...] in his hand.

(r. 1.13)

If a man sees himself in a dream [...]

[good], it means [...]

(r. 1.14)

If a man sees himself in a dream [...]

[good,...]

(r. 1.15)

If a man sees himself in a dream [...]

[good,...] which will happen to him.

(r. 1.16)

If a man sees himself in a dream [...]

[good], it means [...] his [dream?].

(r. 1.17)

Gardiner suggests that the consequent may read ‘...it means [the fulfilment
of] his [dream?]’ based on the determinative which appears before the =f. 83

If a man sees himself in a dream [...]

[good], it means [...by] his god.

(r. 1.18)

If a man sees himself in a dream [...]

[good], it means [he?...] something.

(r. 1.19)

If a man sees himself in a dream [...]

good, it means a precious thing.

(r. 1.20)

If a man sees himself in a dream [...]

good, it means that he will be prosperous.

(r. 1.21)

Literally, wḏ⫖ ḫt=f pw means ‘he is prosperous of things’.

If a man sees himself in a dream [...]

good, it means sustenance.

(r. 1.22)

If a man sees himself in a dream [...]

good, it means something [with which] he will fill [the mouth?]. ⁸⁴

(r. 1.23)

If a man sees himself in a dream [...]

good, (it means that) sickness will be removed from him.

(r. 1.24)

If a man sees himself in a dream [...]

[good,.]

(r. 1.25)

If a man sees himself in a dream [...]

[good,.]

(r. 1.26)

RECTO 2

If a man sees himself in a dream when his mouth is broken (sd.t);good, it means that as for something which is terrifying in his heart, god will break(sd) it open.

(r. 2.1)

Note the word play here with sd (break). In Pyr. §249, fear occurs in the same context as sd: ‘O [Osiris the King], here is this Eye [of Horus]; [take] it, that you may be strong and that he may fear you – break the red jars’. This passage is discussed in detail in Chapter 5.

If a man sees himself in a dream eating the fruit of tiger nuts (bnr.w nt w^c ḥ); good, (it means) the governing of his townspeople.

(r. 2.2)

Gardiner⁸⁵ identifies w^c ḥ with the carob bean. However, Hannig⁸⁶ identifies w^c ḥ as Cyperus esculentus (Cyperus grass). According to Brewer⁸⁷ the existence of carob trees in ancient Egypt is by no means certain. Cyperus grass produces pea-sized edible tubers now commonly called ‘tiger nuts’ which may be candidates for bnr.w nt w^c ḥ. According to Ikram, ⁸⁸ these have been found in tombs and in the stomachs of mummies from the Pre-Dynastic Period. They are also included in J.F. Nunn’s compilation of herbal remedies. ⁸⁹

The concept of governing townspeople included ensuring that they were provided with adequate provisions, perhaps represented by the tiger nuts.

If a man sees in a dream a crane (ḏ⫖.t);

good, it means prosperity (wḏ⫖).

(r. 2.3)

This couplet features a wordplay between ḏ⫖.t (crane) and wḏ⫖ (prosperity).

If a man sees in a dream a honey jar whose top has been covered;

good, it means [...] him something by his god.

(r. 2.4)

The lacuna could be reconstructed with ^c fn, thus reading ‘covering him something by his god’. For the divine significance of honey see Chapter 5. Janssen calculates ‘the average price of honey seems to have been c. 1 deben per hin’, ⁹⁰ which indicates that it was relatively inexpensive.

If a man sees himself in a dream with his townsfolk encircling (phr) him;

good, it means [...].

(r. 2.5)

Ritner⁹¹ proposes that phr may refer to ritual circumambulation, while allowing that this example is unclear.

If a man sees himself in a dream chewing lotus-leaves (jnḥ⫖s);

good, it means something which he will enjoy.

(r. 2.6)

The word jnḥ⫖s⁹² appears in medical texts in Admonitions 15,12. ⁹³ Scenes of lotuses and blue water lilies are a common feature of paintings and reliefs. They are prominently featured in New Kingdom tomb paintings of funerary banquets, where both men and women wear garlands of lilies and hold the blossoms to their noses. While the precise nature of their symbolism is much debated, there is no doubt that they seem to be associated with pleasure.

If a man sees himself in a dream shooting at a target;

good, it means something (good) that is going to happen to him.

(r. 2.7)

If a man sees in a dream giving him copper (ḥmtj) as [...];

[good], it means something at which he will be exalted.

(r. 2.8)

Copper was not an inexpensive material, and owning copper tools would have indicated some status. The following passage also contains two instances of ḥm, thus there is a homophonous play on these words spanning the two passages.

If a man sees in a dream [...] his woman (ḥm.t=f to a married man;

[good], it means that the bad things (ḏw.t) related to him will retreat (ḥm).

(r. 2.9)

Note the homophony with ḥm.t and ḥm (this could also be ḥm-ḫt).The dw.t appear again in the Invocation to Isis (which is discussed later in this text), where they are ‘driven out’ of the sleeper. The woman in this example is called ḥm.t=f (see also r. 2.9, 6.12, 7.25, 9.1, 9.25) while in other passages the woman is referred to simply as s.t ḥm.t (r. 3.16, 7.17, 9.9). To differentiate the two, I translate ḥm.t=f as ‘his wife’ and s.t ḥm.t as ’a woman’.

If a man sees in a dream [...] his [...];

good, [...] great.

(r. 2.10)

If a man sees himself in a dream after his penis has enlarged;

good, it means an increase of his possessions.

(r. 2.11)

The relationship between image and meaning seems clear here.

If a man sees himself in a dream [...]ing a bow in [his] hand;

[good], (it means that) he will be given an important office.

(r. 2.12)

The bow could mean gaining prestige through military accomplisḥments. The bow could also represent hunting – an activity associated with the elite and royalty.

If a man sees himself in a dream dying from a back wound(?) (ḏ⫖y);

good, it means living after ‹his› father [dies(?)].

(r. 2.13)

If Gardiner is correct in the restoration, then there is a play on contrary notions of living and dying. 94 Living on after his father dies is of course positive both for the son and his father, who then is assured of funeral rites being continued.

The word ḏ⫖y does not appear in the dictionary with this orthography The same determinative appears in a twentieth-dynasty example in an unclear context in a text from Medinet Habu (Med. Habu 46, 28 Year 8). ⁹⁵ Gardiner suggests war wounds.

If a man sees in a dream the god who is above;

good, it means a great meal.

(r. 2.14)

This passage is discussed further in Chapter 5.

If a man sees in a dream a snake (s⫖-t⫖) [...];

good, it means a [...] meal.

(r. 2.15)

With the lacunae it is difficult to see the connection between the image and its interpretation. s⫖-t⫖ refers to a serpent of some kind. Mercer describes it as the ‘son of Geb’ (according to Pyr. 689d), and ’according to 691a–b, the same serpent was brother of Osiris, therefore uncle of Horus; and as uncle of Horus he may have been identified with Set’. 96 However, the first text (Pyr. 689d) does not explicitly mention Geb, nor is the s⫖-t⫖ determined with a divine sign. In the second instance, 691b reads s⫖w ṯw jt=k wtt wsjr s⫖-t⫖ s⫖w ṯw nb(?), ‘Beware of your father, whom Osiris begot; O s⫖-t⫖-snake beware of the...!’ This would make Osiris his grandfather, and presumably the one whom Osiris begot was Horus. This would make s⫖-t⫖ a son of Horus. One could also translate ‘one whom Osiris begot’ as referring to s⫖-t⫖ himself. But this would make him a brother of Horus.

The snake also appears in Coffin Text Utterance 885 which is a spell for warding off snakes. The sections in question are VII 97(s) ‘O Shu, the earth is against you; the son-of-earth-snake is against you.’ He appears also in VII 98(i) ‘Fall, O son-of-the-earth-snake, on [your] back(?).’ A ‘meal’ is mentioned between these two instances.

The s⫖-t⫖-snake appears in Book of the Dead spell 87 where he is depicted as a snake with two legs. ⁹⁷ The text reads ‘SPELL FOR ASSUMING THE FORM OF A SON OF EARTH. TO BE SAID BY N.: I am a son of earth, long of years, who sleeps and is (re)born every day. I am a son of earth dwelling in the realm of the earth I sleep and am (re)born, renewed, rejuvenated every day.’

Because s⫖-t⫖ is a type of other-worldly snake, there may be a semantic pun with his form of ḥf⫖w (snake), and df⫖w (the meal). On another level, the connection may be that the s⫖-t⫖ snake, like the nṯr, inhabits the farworld, and is therefore a good omen.

If a man sees himself in a dream when entering his [……];

good, [it means that] disputes will be dismantled.

(r. 2.16)

If a man sees himself in a dream drinking [……] beer;

good, it means a surging (nḏ⫖ḏ⫖) of his emotions (nj ib).

(r. 2.17)

Gardiner suggests that a semantic pun may be at work here for the verb nḏ⫖ḏ⫖ appears in P. Ebers as a liver or lung disease. ⁹⁸ He cites examples where one of the medicaments used to treat the latter is nḏ⫖ḏ⫖.yt beer, which he suggests could be restored in the lacuna in the protasis.

However, Walker cites P. Ebers 188 as ‘then you should say, "His liver is clean (i.e. healed) it is in nḏ⫖ḏ⫖-condition, he has taken up the medicine" ’. ⁹⁹ The condition seems more properly to be a positive one, which explains the positive dream diagnosis. There is a tendency for people to become quite emotional when using intoxicants, and perhaps nḏ⫖ḏ3 nj jb here simply indicates an outpouring of emotion.

If a man sees himself in a dream [...];

good, (it means that) great feasting is going to happen to him.

(r. 2.18)

If a man sees himself in a dream reducing(?) [...];

good, it means reducing [...] desire(?) [...]

(r. 2.19)

Gardiner suggests ḫb.t ‘reducing’ for the antecedent. 100 Other possibilities include ḫbj ‘dancing’, ḫb⫖ ‘ravaging’, ḫbs ‘hack up’, all of which provide a wordplay.

If a man sees himself in a dream his mouth full with earth;

good, (it means) eating (off) his fellow citizens.

(r. 2.20)

Note the play on the mouth being full and eating. There is the possibility that this is to be read ‘his fellow citizens may eat’, but this seems to be rather too altruistic.

If a man sees himself in a dream consuming the flesh of a donkey (^c ⫖);

good, it means that he will become great (s^c ⫖).

(r. 2.21)

There is an obvious pun here between s^c ⫖ and s^c ⫖.

If a man sees himself in a dream consuming the flesh of a crocodile;

good, it means consuming the possessions of an official.

(r. 2.22)

Gardiner points out the play on the greediness of the official and the greediness of the crocodile with which the official is often compared. ¹⁰¹ Notice that crocodiles and officials are associated again here, as well as in r. 5.11 and r. 5.17 (with an identical antecedent).

If a man sees himself in a dream upon a sycamore tree (nḥ⫖.t) which is flourishing;

good, it means that he will lose (nhy) [...].

(r. 2.23)

Note the possible pun between nh3.t and nhy. ¹⁰² A similar antecedent appears in r. 4.7. Notice the tree in question is the sycamore, which has strong religious connotations. Being up high on trees seems to be good in general (see r. 3.9; 4.7; 4.11).

If a man sees himself in a dream looking (nw) through a window;

good, (it means that) his call will be heard by his god.

(r. 2.24)

The word nw is used here in contrast with m⫖⫖ which appears throughout this text. The composer may have selected this marked term over the more common one in order to emphasize the contrast between the act of consciously ‘looking’ at something, and involuntarily ‘seeing’ something. 103

If a man sees himself in a dream when a homage present (mnḥ.t) is given to him; good, it means that his call will be heard.

(r. 2.25)

There is no obvious pun here, but perhaps the simple matter of the unlikely situation of being given a gift usually reserved for leaders, increases the potential that someone, perhaps a god or the king – though it is not stated specifically – will pay attention to the dreamer (see Chapter 5).

If a man sees himself in a dream upon a roof;

good, it means that something will be found.

(r. 2.26)

Two explanations seem plausible here. The first is quite simply that a person who is on a roof can see farther and is more likely to find things. The other is that there may be a religious connotation to the ‘finding’. Note that r. 2.24 is clearly a pious reference, while similar terminology is used in r. 2.25. If the dreamer sees himself on top of a house or temple, he is obviously closer to the sky, and thus to god. Assmann has suggested that ‘finding’ (gm) can be used as a technical term to indicate a revelation by god. ¹⁰⁴

RECTO 3

If a man sees himself in a dream [...] a pond(?);

good, it means that the road will be partial (gs⫖) towards him.

(r. 3.1)

Note the pun with g(⫖)s in the following line 3.2. In 3.1 perhaps gs⫖, literally ‘tilt’, may indicate that the road may always be favourabletowards the dreamer.

If a man sees himself in a dream (in) mourning (g⫖s);

good, (it means) the multiplying of his possessions.

(r. 3.2)

The lexeme g⫖s is apparently attested from the New Kingdom onwards (P. Orbiney 8,8), which offers further evidence for a later date for this text. ¹⁰⁵ Likely the connection between mourning and an increase in possessions is the possibility of an inheritance.

If a man sees himself in a dream after his hair has lengthened;

good, it means something at which his face will brighten.

(r. 3.3)

The determinative for ‘mourning’ seen in r. 3.2 is the three locks of hair(D3), perhaps indicating a specific appearance of hair during mourning. Funerary scenes often depict women with long hair thrown over their face, while Akhenaten is unshaved while mourning the death of his daughter. In r. 3.3 the hair has grown out. There may be a connection between this couplet and the previous one, in that the hair has now lengthened after mourning.

If a man sees in a dream white-bread (t-ḥḏ) being given106 to him;

good, it means something at which his face will brighten (ḥḏ).

(r. 3.4)

Note that the consequent of this couplet and the preceding are identical. Note the pun of t-ḥḏ (white-bread) with ḥd (brighten/whiten).

If a man sees himself in a dream drinking wine;

good, it means living according to maat.

(r. 3.5)

See the identical antecedent in r. 4.4 where the interpretation is ‘opening his mouth to speak’.

If a man sees himself in a dream sailing downstream;

good, (it means) tying his [ ].

(r. 3.6)

The identical image of sailing downstream appears in the antecedent of r. 8.3 and r. 10.1 (in the latter case the dream is interpreted as bad).

If a man sees himself in a dream copulating with his mother who is issuing fluid(?);

good, (it means that) he will be joined by his clansmen. ¹⁰⁷

(r. 3.7)

The image of an intimate relation here represents a closer relationship between a man and his fellows.

If a man sees himself in a dream copulating with his sister (sn.t=f);

good, it means that something will be assigned to him.

(r. 3.8)

The word sn.t in Egyptian can refer to a person’s biological sister, lover, aunt, or a close friend.

If a man sees himself in a dream upon a dom-palm;

good, it means a joy in the conduct of his ka.

(r. 3.9)

Gardiner translates as ‘what his k⫖ had done’. Being up high on trees seems to be good in general (see r. 2.23; 4.7; 4.11). ¹⁰⁸

If a man sees himself in a dream [...]ing of high/uplifted fingers;

good, something will be provided to him by his god.

(r. 3.10)

The religious significance of this passage is discussed in Chapter 5.

If a man sees himself in a dream while people [...]ing him with a blow;

good, it means that something [...] to him.

(r. 3.11)

If a man sees himself in a dream with a four-legged animal (šsr) with him; good, establishing him(?) [...] his heart.

(r. 3.12)

The word šsr may refer to an ’ape’. ¹⁰⁹ A short sequence featuring the dreamer seeing various animals follows.

If a man sees himself in a dream seeing a dead bull;

good, it means seeing [...] his enemies.

(r. 3.13)

A pun occurs with seeing (m⫖⫖) in both parts of the couplet. The connection between an enemy and the dead bull is unclear, unless perhaps mt or something like ‘death’ of his enemy fits in the lacuna. Note that the connection of a bull with an enemy reappears in r. 4.8 and r. 4.16.

If a man sees himself in a dream seeing [...];

good, his [...] overthrow [...]

(r. 3.14)

If a man sees himself in a dream [...]? a man [...] send far(?) (ḥ⫖b ^c ⫖);

good, great [...] his(?)[...]

(r. 3.15)

The ḥ⫖b ^c ⫖ in the dream image could possibly mean a ‘great message’. If a man sees himself in a dream [...] a woman [...];

good, [...] against a wife by [her(?)] husband [...]

(r. 3.16)

If a man sees himself in a dream being given a head;

good, (it means that) his [mouth will be opened] in order to speak.

(r. 3.17)

The connection here may simply be the mouth being a part of the head. The same interpretation but with a different protasis appears in r. 4.4.

If a man sees himself in a dream [...]

[...]

(r. 3.18)

If a man sees himself in a dream binding(?) [...] a donkey;

[...]

(r. 3.19)

If a man sees himself in a dream being very discreet;

[...]

(r. 3.20)

If a man sees himself in a dream going forth [on(?)] the earth (with(?)) a leg [...]; [...]

(r. 3.21)

If a man sees himself in a dream [after he was given………]; [...]

(r. 3.22)

If a man sees himself in a dream [...];

[...]

(r. 3.23)

If a man sees himself in a dream copulating [...];

[...]

(r. 3.24)

If a man sees himself in a dream [...]; [...]

(r. 3.25)

RECTO 4

If a man sees himself in a dream [k]illing (sm⫖) a snake;

good, (it means that) disputes [...] will be killed (sm⫖).

(r. 4.1)

The use of sm⫖ (‘kill’) creates the link between the image and its interpretation.

If a man sees in a dream his face (hr=f as a panther;

good, (it means) acting (as) a chief (ḥry-tp).

(r. 4.2)

The wearing of leopard or panther pelts often signals prestige, and this is perhaps referred to here. There is also a play on hr=f and ḥry-tp.

If a man sees in a dream a large (^c ⫖) cat;

good, it means that a large (^c ⫖) harvest is going to come to him.

(r. 4.3)

On the surface, this seems to be a simple play on mjw-^c ⫖ and šmw-^c ⫖. In addition, seeing a large cat may imply a lack of grain-eating rats therefore a large harvest. Equally likely is that this is a reference to the Great Cat, who in glosses in both Coffin Text Utterance 335 and Book of the Dead 17 is described as being the god Ra.

If a man sees himself in a dream drinking wine ([s]wj jrp);

good, (it means that) his mouth will be opened (wpj r⫖) in order to speak.

(r. 4.4)

Gardiner points out that this is the same antecedent as r. 3.5. There, however, drinking wine meant living in maat. He also points out the parallel in Pyr. §92 (PT 153) ‘O Osiris the king, your mouth is split open by means of it – 2 bowls of Lower Egyptian wine.’ 110 Thus there seem to be three levels of word-play at work here. The first is the connection between opening the mouth and wine, the second may simply be that drinking wine is commonly known to loosen the tongue, and the third is the assonance of swj jrp with wpj r⫖. Finally, the interpretation could also be a reference to the Opening of the Mouth ritual.

The same interpretation appears in r. 3.17.

If a man sees himself in a dream binding wretched people in the night;

good, (it means that) speech will be taken away from his enemies.

(r. 4.5)

Groll cites this as an example where ‘the visual image of the dream corresponds to an idea which can be immediately expressed in words’. 111 An alternative translation is ‘binding the people who are netted/trapped in the night’. Taking away a person’s ability to speak is a powerful threat, for without this ability, one cannot speak the necessary words to safely get through the farworld.

If a man sees himself in a dream ferrying in a ferry-boat; ¹¹²

good, it means the going forth of all disputes.

(r. 4.6)

This dream features a metaphor using the visual image of ferrying for the idea of going forth. In addition, the last three dream interpretations all involved speech or md.t.

If a man sees himself in a dream sitting on a sycamore tree;

good, (it means that) all his badness will be driven out.

(r. 4.7)

A similar dream image appears in 2.23. The sycamore is a sacred tree and Pyr. §916 mentions gods sitting on this tree, ‘The High Mounds will pass me on to the Mounds of Seth, to yonder tall sycamore in the east of the sky, quivering (of leaves)(?), on which the gods sit...’ The sycamore is also mentioned in Pyr. §689 along with s⫖-t⫖ snake. Pyr. §1433 brings together the preceding ferry boat of r. 4.6, and the sycamore of r. 4.7: ‘This King has grasped for himself the two sycamores which are in yonder side of the sky: "Ferry me over!" And they set him on yonder eastern side of the sky.’ The positive image of being high up on trees also appears in r. 2.23, r. 3.9 and r. 4.11.

If a man sees himself in a dream killing a bull;

good, (it means that) his enemies will be killed.

(r. 4.8)

Note the similar connection of a bull with an enemy in

r. 3.13.

If a man sees in a dream Busiris;

good, (it means that) great old age will be achieved.

(r. 4.9)

If one sees Busiris, that is the place of Osiris, one lives to an old age.

If a man sees himself in a dream mixing dates;

good, it means that victuals will be found.

(r. 4.10)

If a man sees himself in a dream climbing up a mast;

good, (it means that) he will be elevated by his god.

(r. 4.11)

The association here seems to be based on the visual imagery of being high up on a mast, and being lifted up high by a god. Being up high on masts as well as trees is a positive image (see r. 2.23; 3.9; 4.7). This passage is discussed further in Chapter 5.

If a man sees himself in a dream tearing his clothes;

good, (it means that) he will be freed from all badness.

(r. 4.12)

Note that the image of the removal of clothes indicates the removal of wrongs.

If a man sees himself in a dream dead;

good, (it means) a long life is before him.

(r. 4.13)

This is an example of a dream where the interpretation is the opposite of the image.

(r. 4.14)

If a man sees himself in a dream binding his legs to himself; good, (it means) dwelling with his fellow citizens.

The identical interpretation appears in r. 4.23.

(r. 4.15)

be positive

If a man sees himself in a dream falling off a wall; good, it means the outcome of a quarrel.

It is quite interesting that the dream of falling is considered to (see also r. 5.24).

If a man sees himself in a dream cutting up a bull with his own hand;

good, (it means that) his (own) opponent will be killed.

(r. 4.16)

This is another dream indicating a connection between a bull and an enemy (see r. 3.13, 4.8). Volten read the bovine sign as jḥ, and suggested a pun with ^c ḥ⫖ (opponent). ¹¹³

If a man sees himself in a dream fetching jars (jn ḥn.w) out of the water;

good, (it means that) a life of abundance (n-ḥ⫖w) will be found in his house.

(r. 4.17)

Gardiner points out the pun jn hn.w with n-ḥ⫖w. 114

If a man sees himself in a dream writing upon a [palette(?)];

good, (it means that) a man will be established in his office.

(r. 4.18)

The interpretation suggests a connection between literacy and an office (see also r. 6.10.) Note that in r. 7.21 writing on papyrus is a negative omen, whereas writing on a palette is considered positive.

If a man sees in a dream herbs of the field;

good, (it means that) sustenance will be found for (his) father (jt).

(r. 4.19)

The herbs may possibly hint at a reference to funerary offerings. Perhaps in this case, as in the previous one with ‘father’ jt (r. 2.13), the lack of possessive pronoun indicates this is to mean ’ancestor’ in general. Note that this is one of a series dealing with produce (r. 4.19–22).

If a man sees himself in a dream taking dates; good, it means that victuals will be found as a gift of his god.

(r. 4.20)

For a discussion on the relevance of this passage to the issue of religion see Chapter 5.

If a man sees himself in a dream ploughing emmer in a field;

good, (it means that)...something [to(?) him(?)] in(?) [...]

(r. 4.21)

If a man sees himself in a dream giving himself victuals of the temple;

good, (it means that) life will be assigned to him by his god.

(r. 4.22)

Further discussion on this passage can be found in Chapter 5.

If a man sees himself in a dream sailing in a boat; good, it means dwelling with his fellow citizens.

(r. 4.23)

The identical interpretation appears in 4.14, but the connection the dream and interpretation remains opaque in this case.

If a man sees himself in a dream [ ]ing bones(?);

good, (it means) sustenance of the palace^l.p.h. will be found.

(r. 4.24)

If a man sees himself in a dream [...];

good, (it means) [...] will assign to him [...]

(r. 4.25)

Perhaps the first lacuna in the consequent could be restored ‘his god’ ntr=f, thus ‘(it means that) [his god] will assign to him’. Gardiner suggests ‘his

father’ jt=f. 115

RECTO 5

If a man sees himself in a dream [...] in the field;

good, (it means) giving to him [...]

(r. 5.1)

If a man sees himself in a dream [...] river;

good, (it means that) his call will be heard by his god.

(r. 5.2)

This passage is discussed in relationship to expressions of personal piety in Chapter 5.

If a man sees himself in a dream [...] blood(?);

good, (it means that) an end will be brought to his enemies.

(r. 5.3)

If a man sees himself in a dream [ ] milk;

good, (it means that) much food is going to come to him.

(r. 5.4)

If a man sees himself in a dream [drinking(?)] ¹¹⁶ his urine;

good, (it means that) something belonging to his daughter will be consumed.

(r. 5.5)

This is the last in a series of dreams involving liquids: river, blood, milk, and urine.

If a man sees himself in a dream [...] him silver and gold;

good, (it means) much food of the palace^l.p.h.

(r. 5.6)

Silver and gold would normally be associated with royalty, and thus the connection to the palace. This is the same interpretation as r. 5.10 and 5.12

If a man sees himself in a dream [...-ing(?) stone(?)] against his finger;

good, it means giving to him his cattle.

(r. 5.7)

If a man sees himself in a dream [...-ing sto]ne;

good, it means giving something to him.

(r. 5.8)

Stone is mentioned again in r. 6.4 with a positive interpretation and in r. 8.18 with a negative meaning.

If a man sees himself in a dream [reading from] a papyrus roll;

good, (it means that) a man will be established in his home.

(r. 5.9)

If a man sees himself in a dream cutting up a female hippopotamus;

good, (it means) much food of the palace ^l.p.h117

(r. 5.10)

This has the same interpretation as r. 5.6 and r. 5.12.

The feminine ending ‘t’ is quite clear in the hieratic so the reading as female hippopotamus is certain. If it were the male hippopotamus it could possibly represent Seth, and the dreamer would be performing a symbolic act usually reserved for the king. The female hippopotamus, however, is usually associated with Taweret, and thus is naturally a good omen, but in this context the image of cutting her up seems inappropriate. In general, the female hippopotamus represented a good and helpful deity, and was not associated with Seth as was her male counterpart. ¹¹⁸ Hippopotami had been hunted for food and meat, but this practice was likely restricted to an earlier time in Egypt’s history.

If a man sees himself in a dream [...-ing] crocodiles;

good, it means acting as an [official].

(r. 5.11)

It seems likely that Gardiner is correct in interpreting this as the common comparison between an ’assertive’ official and a crocodile. ¹¹⁹ Note that crocodiles and officials are associated again in r. 2.22 and 5.17.

If a man sees himself in a dream [...];

good, (it means that) food of the palace^l.p.h. will be consumed.

(r. 5.12)

This is the same consequent as r. 5.5 and 5.10. This is the last in a series of three dream images of animals: female hippopotamus, crocodile, and a third animal (assuming Gardiner’s estimation of the badly damaged lacuna is correct.)

If a man sees himself in a dream sitting in a garden of sunlight;

good, it means pleasure.

(r. 5.13)

If a man sees himself in a dream removing a wall;

good, it means purification [...] from badness.

(r. 5.14)

If a man sees himself in a dream [eating(?)] faeces;

good, (it means that) his possessions in his house will be consumed.

(r. 5.15)

There is a lacuna in the precise spot of the verb in the antecedent, where Gardiner sees the verb ‘eat’ (wnm). In spells and religious texts this is invariably the vilest of acts, reserved for the unjustified dead.

If a man sees himself in a dream breeding with a cow;

good, it means that a happy day will be spent in his house.

(r. 5.16)

Parlebas translates this as ‘If a man sees himself making love with a cow, that signifies a day of love at his house.’ 120 His suggestion that the connection here is based on the cow being a representative of Hathor – who is the goddess of love, joy, and happiness – seems reasonable.

If a man sees himself in a dream consuming the flesh of a crocodile;

good, (it means) acting as an official among his people.

(r. 5.17)

Notice that crocodiles and officials are associated again as in r. 2.22 (with an identical antecedent) and in r. 5.11.

If a man sees himself in a dream paddling(?) water(?);

good, it means prosperity.

(r. 5.18)

If a man sees himself in a dream immersing in the river;

good, it means being purified from all badness.

(r. 5.19)

Parlebas suggests a connection between the regenerative powers of the primordial river as mentioned in religious texts and this image. ¹²¹

If a man sees himself in a dream lying down upon the floor; good, (it means that) something of his will be consumed.

(r. 5.20)

Groll suggests that this implies ‘being self-supporting’. ¹²²

If a man sees in a dream tiger nuts (w^c ḥ); good, (it means that) a happy life will be found.

(r. 5.21)

See r. 2.2 above for a discussion on the meaning of w^c ḥ. The reputed aphrodisiac qualities of the Cyperus tubers ¹²³ may explain the connection to a happy life.

If a man sees himself in a dream seeing the moon when it is shining;

good, (it means) being clement to him by his god.

(r. 5.22)

The clemency of a god is triggered by the image of the risen moon, itself an icon of a number of gods including Thoth, Osiris, Khonsu, as well as one of the eyes of Horus. See Chapter 5 for further discussion of this passage.

If a man sees himself in a dream veiling (^c fn) himself [...] (?); ¹²⁴

good, (it means that) he will drive away his enemies from before him.

(r. 5.23)

Perhaps there is a connection with the idea that if an individual is veiled, he cannot see well, and his enemies will be driven to where he cannot see them. The verb ^c fn is also used in situations where somebody is masked and thus unable to cast an evil eye. The idea of the dreamer being veiled in this situation, may be comparable to one in an omina-calendar cited by Vernus where the veil protects the wearer from possible effects of an evil- eye, and is thus a positive omen. 125

If a man sees himself in a dream falling [...];

good, it means prosperity.

(r. 5.24)

The unfortunate lacuna prevents us from knowing any details of this image, but it seems to be a dream of falling, which is commonly described in modern times, but here with a positive interpretation (see also r. 4.15).

If a man sees himself in a dream sawing wood [...];

good, (it means that) his enemies are dead.

(r. 5.25)

RECTO 6

If a man sees himself in a dream burying an old man;

good, it means prosperity.

(r. 6.1)

As part of his social duty the eldest son is supposed to perform the funerary ritual for his father, thus the image of burying an old man may indicate the fulfilling of social obligation and an inheritance.

If a man sees himself in a dream cultivating herbs;

good, it means that victuals will be found.

(r. 6.2)

There is a direct relationship here with the image of herbs resulting in the discovery of food.

If a man sees himself in a dream causing the cattle to come in;

good, (it means that) people will be assembled for him by his god.

(r. 6.3)

This passage may play on the concept of people (rmṯ) as the cattle (j⫖w.t) of god, a common theme in Egyptian religious discourse. ¹²⁶ This dream is also discussed in more detail in Chapter 5.

If a man sees himself in a dream working stone in his house;

good, (it means that) a man will be established in his house.

(r. 6.4)

Stone is a lasting material, and is used for objects one wants to have well established. Stone is mentioned in r. 5.8 with a positive interpretation and in r. 8.18 as negative.

This is also the second example where the consequent refers to ’a man’ s (see r. 4.18).

If a man sees himself in a dream throwing his clothes on the ground;

good, it means the outcome of a dispute.

(r. 6.5)

If a man sees himself in a dream towing a boat;

good, (it means that) he will be landed well in his house.

(r. 6.6)

If a man sees himself in a dream threshing grain upon the threshing floor;

good, (it means) giving him life in his house.

(r. 6.7)

If a man sees himself in a dream eating grapes;

good, (it means) giving him something of his very own.

(r. 6.8)

Grapes are associated with wine and would, not surprisingly, be considered a positive sign.

If a man sees himself in a dream planting gourds;

good, (it means that) a good life will be given to him as his god’s gift.

(r. 6.9)

Gardiner derives bnd.t meaning ‘gourd’ from Coptic 127 For a detailed discussion of this passage see Chapter 5.

If a man sees himself in a dream writing on a [fresh(?) papyrus(?)...];

good, (it means that) he will see his life as good.

(r. 6.10)

For another passage interpreting an image related to literacy as positive, see r. 7.22.

If a man sees himself in a dream burying [...] alive;

good, it means a lively prosperity.

(r. 6.11)

If a man sees himself in a dream breaking into [...];

good, (it means) giving to him his wife.

(r. 6.12)

If a man sees himself in a dream binding [...];

good, (it means) giving him his house in the end.

(r. 6.13)

If a man sees himself in a dream seeing a lily(?) blossom (ḥq⫖y[.t]);

good, (it means) prosperity.

(r. 6.14)

The word is a hapax legomenon and the species of plant this refers to is unknown. The reading of the determinative is uncertain, and the lily blossom is based on Gardiner’s interpretation. ¹²⁸

There is a connection created between this and the following two passages by means of punning in the antecedents (ḥq⫖y[.t] and ḥ⫖q).

If a man sees himself in a dream plundering (ḥ⫖q) [...];

good, it means something with which he will be satisfied.

(r. 6.15)

If a man sees himself in a dream eating [...];

good, it means that food is going to come to him.

(r. 6.16)

If a man sees himself in a dream chewing [...];

good, it means that something is going to happen to him.

(r. 6.17)

There are traces of the herb or plant determinative at the end of the lacuna. Whatever the ‘something’ which will happen to the dreamer might be, it will be certainly be favourable, as the dream is classified as good.

If a man sees in a dream barley and emmer [...] those who are in the beyond; good, it means that he will be protected by his god.

(r. 6.18)

The dreamer sees grain, possibly belonging to those who are in the beyond. This may refer to the fields which appear in the early sections of the farworld and which are tended by the deceased. The dreamer who can see into the farworld is assured personal protection by his god, who is also a member of that sphere. This passage is further discussed in Chapter 5.

If a man sees himself in a dream weak (gn);

good, it means that a man will find (gm) his enemies.

(r. 6.19)

Gardiner notes the pun of gn and gm. ¹²⁹

(r. 6.20)

If a man sees in a dream material (wḏ) being given to him [...]; good, it means prosperity (wḏ⫖).

Note the play on the words wḏ with wḏ⫖. ¹³⁰

If a man sees himself in a dream praising [...] ; good, (it means that) he will be justified before his god.

(r. 6.21)

This case of divine intervention is further discussed in Chapter 5.

If a man sees himself in a dream [food...] being given to him;

good, it means that his estate will unite with something.

(r. 6.22)

If a man sees himself in a dream mourning(?) tomb(?) [...] upon earth;

good, it means that his possessions will be great.

(r. 6.23)

If a man sees in a dream nomads;

good, (it means that) the love of a dead ancestor (jt mt=f) will come into his presence.

(r. 6.24)

The interpretation is ambiguous. Gardiner submits that ‘there is an allusion to telepathy? But Čenrý wonders whether mt=f “he dies” is not to be emended to mwt=f “his mother”.’ 131 One solution is to read jt=f mt=f, ‘his dead father’. This would not make sense for a dreamer whose father is still alive. In this case, Čenrý’s suggestion of jt=f mwt=f, ‘his father and his mother’, is more appealing. ¹³² A third solution is to read the passage as jt mt=f, ‘a dead father’, in the sense of a ‘dead ancestor’. This interpretation would allow the dreamer to look forward to the love of a deceased relative coming into his presence. See Chapter 5 for further discussion on this passage.

If a man sees himself in a dream with one greater (^c ⫖) than himself;

good, it means that he will be exalted (s^c ⫖) by his own ability.

(r. 6.25)

While there is certainly an example of paronomasia here between ^c ⫖ and s^c ⫖, ¹³³ what is more interesting is the contrast between a man’s promotion due to his own abilities, rather than through the will of god which is referred to in r. 4.11.

RECTO 7

If a man sees himself in a dream entering the temple of a female deity (ntr.t ḥm.t); ¹³⁴

BAD, [...]

(r. 7.1)

Aside from royalty and priests, entering the inner sanctum of a temple was prohibited to most Egyptians. It is unclear what the significance is of specifying the temple as that belonging to a female deity. For a longer discussion see Chapter 5.

If a man sees himself in a dream eating sycamore figs;

BAD, it means pains.

(r. 7.2)

One of the uses of figs was as a curative, so their image in a dream may indicate the dreamer would have need of their medicinal properties. ¹³⁵

If a man sees himself in a dream copulating with a hedjerit;

BAD,it means that a judgment will be made against him.

(r. 7.3)

The ḥḏr.t is an unknown animal, here determined with . In the Wörterbuch it is simply called a Säugetier, a wild animal. ¹³⁶ Gardiner suggests that it is a Jerboa (a small rodent), 137 while Hannig defines it as an Aardwolf (Proteles cristatus).¹³⁸ However, Osborn calls attention to the fact that no remains or depictions of the aardwolf are found in ancient Egypt. ¹³⁹ Without further information on the identity of the ḥḏr.t, it is difficult to determine what its connection might be to judgment, though it seems clear why copulating with an animal would generally be viewed as a negative omen.

The verb for ‘copulation’ used here is nk, which is also used to refer to human copulation, as opposed to p⫖y in r. 5.16 which usually refers to the copulation of non-humans.

If a man sees himself in a dream drinking warm beer;

BAD, it means that the suffering will come upon (ḫpr) him.

(r. 7.4)

While beer was normally drunk warm in Egypt, it was also prescribed as a medical treatment, or it could also be used as a carrier for other medicines to ease suffering. Beer heats up when it is fermenting, and perhaps this image refers to beer drunk before it is ready.

If a man sees himself in a dream eating the flesh of cattle;

good, it means that (the) something will happen (ḫpr) to him.

(r. 7.5)

This lone ‘good’ dream is inserted in the list of ‘bad’ dreams. The same dream image appears in r. 10.6 but with a negative interpretation.

If a man sees himself in a dream chewing a melon (šsp.t);

BAD, it means that disputes will happen (ḫpr) to him on his being met.

(r. 7.6)

The šsp.t is not a cucumber as suggested by Gardiner, ¹⁴⁰ for according to Brewer that vegetable (Cucumis sativus) was first cultivated in the Himalayas in northern India and ‘did not arrive in Egypt until relatively late’. ¹⁴¹ The šsp.t should more likely be identified as Cucumis melo as suggested by Hannig. ¹⁴² This is a cultivated melon which dates to at ‘least the Middle Kingdom’. ¹⁴³ Nunn describes its medical use as ‘occasional’. ¹⁴⁴ The connection of the image of a melon to disputes is unclear.

If a man sees himself in a dream stepping into a resting place (msḫr);

BAD, it means that a conspiracy ( bsn md.t) will develop (ḫpr)against him.

(r. 7.7)

While msḫr is not in the Wörterbuch, Hannig suggests reading this as mshn, ‘resting place’. ¹⁴⁵ As the mshn is attested as the resting place of Re, as well as the resting place of a deity within a temple, the presumptuousness of this image in a person’s dream may explain the negative interpretation. There may also be a polysemy on the normal secrecy of this resting place in the antecedent, and bs, which can mean secret, in the consequent. Groll explains that bs n-md.t means ’an argumentative secret’. 146

This also is the last of a series of four interpretations involving ḫpr, ‘to develop’.

If a man sees himself in a dream eating a gutted catfish;

BAD, (it means that) he will be seized by a crocodile.

(r. 7.8)

The visual imagery of a gutted fish, a creature of the water, and the interpretation of being seized and perhaps eaten by a crocodile is clear. In addition, the crocodile is classified as a fish itself in Egyptian texts (such as the Hymn to Sobek).

If a man sees himself in a dream chewing a djai-plant;

BAD, it means a debate (ḏ⫖js).

(r. 7.9)

The identity of this plant or herb is unknown, but Hannig refers to it as having a bitter taste. ¹⁴⁷ This would account for its negative interpretation, while Gardiner points out the paronomasia of ḏ⫖j and ḏ⫖js. ¹⁴⁸

If a man sees in a dream with one of his calves being removed;

BAD, it means a judgement concerning him by those who are yonder.

(r. 7.10)

The removal of a calf (the lower part of the leg) is an obscure image. Perhaps it refers to a figure of speech. The ability of the dead to affect the dreamer negatively is discussed in Chapter 5.

If a man sees himself in a dream seeing his face in a mirror;

BAD, it means another wife.

(r. 7.11)

Gardiner suggests that ‘to see one’s face in a mirror is to discover a second self, which second self must naturally have a wife; hence the interpretation “it means another wife” ‘. ¹⁴⁹

If a man sees himself in a dream after he had driven away his (god’s) tears (rmj.w=f for god;

BAD, it means fighting.

(r. 7.12)

Alternatives for this unusual dream image are offered by Groll (‘after he has driven a god to tears’), by Gardiner (‘the god making his tears cease for him’), ¹⁵⁰ by Ritner (‘God dispelling his tears’). ¹⁵¹ In his recent translation, Leitz also translates the passage as referring to the god driving away the man’s tears. ¹⁵² The translation offered above, however, takes into account the n before nir, and the fact that the antecedent off in rmj.w=f should be the first masculine noun immediately preceding, which is nir.This passage is further discussed in Chapter 5.

If a man sees himself in a dream with one side suffering (šn);

BAD, (it means that) something will be taken away from him.

(r. 7.13)

Groll suggests that being ‘cursed of his half means being ‘half-paralysed’. ¹⁵³ The sign used for šn in this instance is often associated with magical texts.

If a man sees himself in a dream eating hot meat;

BAD, it means no justification.

(r. 7.14)

Here is another example of the very real, albeit rarely referred to, possibility of not being justified (see also r. 8.9). Perhaps the image of burning hot meat suggests some of the more fiery locations of the farworld, or more prosaically, perhaps meat that has sat too long in the sun.

If a man sees himself in a dream shod with white sandals;

BAD, it means roaming the earth.

(r. 7.15)

Gardiner points out the connotation of the term ‘roaming’ (hwj-t⫖) as ‘being exiled’, thus the dream is interpreted as a negative omen. ¹⁵⁴

If a man sees himself in a dream eating what he detests;

BAD, it means that a man (s) will eat his detestation unwittingly.

(r. 7.16)

The similarity of images is clear here. The one who sees an image of himself eating what is proscribed in a dream, may end up accidentally doing so when awake. The interpretation, however, does not refer to the specific dreamer, ‘him’ or ‘he’ as is usual in these passages, but specifies a man in general (Egyptian ’s’).

If a man sees himself in a dream copulating with a woman ( s.t ḥm.t);

BAD, it means mourning.

(r. 7.17)

The only suggestion I can make here to explain the negative interpretation is that perhaps the woman is not specifically referred to as his wife.

If a man sees himself in a dream being bitten by a dog (ṯsm);

BAD, (it means that) he will be touched by magic.

(r. 7.18)

The lexeme ṯsm was by the New Kingdom used for various breeds of hounds and pet dogs as well. It is no surprise that the image of being bitten by a dog would be considered a bad omen. Its association here with magic is intriguing, for while in certain cultures dogs act as familiars of deities they are not in general associated with magic in Egypt. “While Handoussa points out that the jwjw dog does appear in Late Period magical texts, the ṯsm usually refers to a regular non-magical dog. 155 Being bitten by one would surely be a bad omen, and so ḏk⫖j is used here in a negative sense. Literally ḏk⫖j would clamp on to the dreamer like the bite of a dog. Ritner notes this passage as an example of hostile magic. ¹⁵⁶ For an example of ’a wild dog with its uncanny look’, see also Harris Magical Papyrus 501, v. 1, 9–10. ¹⁵⁷ However, see r. 7.19 below. If this is a case of a misplaced interpretation then the discussion is moot.

If a man sees himself in a dream being bitten by a snake (hf⫖w);

BAD, it means that a dispute will develop against him.

(r. 7.19)

This is the second of a sequence involving animal bites. The term used here for snake is hf⫖w, referring to the regular mortal snake as opposed to the s⫖-t⫖ snake seen in r. 2.15. It has been suggested that due to their similarity, the interpretations of r. 7.19 and 7.20 may have originally been the interpretations of 7.18 and 7.19, whose images also resemble each other in that they both feature animals. ¹⁵⁸ Thus the visions of animals would have both been interpreted as disputes of some kind.

If a man sees himself in a dream measuring barley;

BAD, it means that a dispute will develop against him.

(r. 7.20)

If a man sees himself in a dream writing on a papyrus roll;

BAD, it means that his crimes will be reckoned by his god.

(r. 7.21)

Note that in passage r. 4.18, and r. 6.10 writing is considered a good omen. Each of the three dream images describes writing on a different surface. Writing on a fresh papyrus roll or palette is considered good, perhaps in contrast to re-using a papyrus. This passage is discussed further in Chapter 5.

If a man sees himself in a dream tossing about his house;

BAD, it means that he will be ill.

(r.. 7.22)

If a man sees himself in a dream being enchanted (šnj.t) by the spell of another

(r⫖=f);

BAD, it means mourning.

(r. 7.23)

Gardiner translates the antecedent as ‘having a spell put on his mouth by another(?)’ and notes that the ‘word-order is exceptional’, 159 while Groll reads ‘being enchanted by his other spell’. ¹⁶⁰ I agree with Gardiner regarding the word-order, while following Ritner in his discussion on the terms šnj and r⫖ and thus I treat the latter as the word spell. ¹⁶¹ In other words, the dreamer sees himself being enchanted by a spell cast by another. Groll’s interpretation implies a miscasting of a spell, but this possibility may reflect a modern understanding of spells rather than the Egyptian one. In any case, this seems to be another instance of hostile, indeed potentially fatal, magic as it leads to mourning.

If a man sees himself in a dream acting as a helmsman in a boat;

BAD, (it means that) as for any judgment concerning him, he will not be

justified.

(r. 7.24)

This is another reference to not being justified, though this seems to imply that the judgment involves earthly disputes. The image of the helmsman cast in a negative light is found also in the Eloquent Peasant B1, 126,221.

If a man sees himself in a dream while his bed goes up in flames;

BAD, it means that his wife will be expelled.

(r. 7.25)

Perhaps there is a link here between the perceived role of a wife in a bed, and the image of the physical bed. ¹⁶² See also r. 8.6 for another reference to catching fire and Admonitions 7,1. ¹⁶³

If a man sees himself in a dream waving a rag (mny);

BAD, it means that he will be challenged (mṯ⫖.t).

(r. 7.26)

For mny the Wörterbuch provides a reference for one text only (P. Anastazi VI 23) and it is from the New Kingdom. ¹⁶⁴ The key word in the interpretation mt⫖ also has only one exemplar (Sinuhe 109 where the hero is challenged by the man of the Retjenu), but this is a literary one from the Middle Kingdom. ¹⁶⁵

If a man sees himself in a dream being pricked by a thorn;

BAD, it means telling lies.

(r. 7.27)

If a man sees in a dream the catching of birds (ḥ⫖m.w nt ⫖pd.w);

BAD, it means that something of his will be carried off (nḥm).

(r. 7.28)

Gardiner suggest a pun between ḥ⫖m.w and nḥm. ¹⁶⁶

RECTO 8

If a man sees himself in a dream. [...];

BAD, [...]

(r. 8.1)

If a man sees in a dream his penis stiffening (nḫt);

BAD, (it means) the victory (nḫt) of his enemy.

(r. 8.2)

The word nḫt can mean to be stiff, hard, or victorious, and the orthography is identical in both sections of this passage.

If a man sees himself in a dream sailing downstream (hr f⫖j-i⫖.w m ḥḏ);

BAD, it means a life of running backward (sḫḫ).

(r. 8.3)

Gardiner suggests ‘bitterness’ for shh, ‘perhaps connected with Coptic ciqe. or "of flight" ‘. 167 It may, however, be more literal, and refer to a life running in reverse, backward, contrary, wrong – a life that is failing. The pun is quite interesting, as it stems from the combination off⫖j-i⫖.w, ‘carrying the wind’ (in other words sailing), which is the normal way of travelling upstream on the Nile (the winds flow north to south in Egypt) and ḫḏ which means travelling downstream (south to north) with the flow of the Nile. The mental image of a boat using sails to go downstream would have been disturbing, and thus provokes an interpretation of a life going the wrong way.

The identical dream image appears in the antecedent of r. 3.6 (with a good interpretation) and r. 10.1 (in the latter case the dream is interpreted as bad.) These differences in interpretation of the same image raise important issues in terms of the practice of dream interpretation. Assuming interpretation was actually practised on the basis of this book, the interpreter may have had a choice as to which interpretation to provide the dreamer. If this represents a list of actual dreams, then the image of a boat sailing downstream may have been popular. It may be that this image allowed the composer to create a variety of plays on image and word.

If a man sees in a dream the giving of a harp to him;

BAD, it means something through which he might come to harm.

(r. 8.4)

Gardiner notices the paronomasia bn.t with bjn. ¹⁶⁸

If a man sees himself in a dream looking in a deep well (šd.t md.t);

BAD, it means that he will be placed in prison (jtḥ).

(r. 8.5)

The sense here is ‘looking’ not ‘seeing’. Gardiner connects šd.t with the Coptic ujcote ‘well’. The passage may reflect a semantic play on the concept of jtḥ meaning ‘tow (through water)’and jtḥ ‘prison’. Volten points out that drawings of well-water appear in Amenemope XXIII, 20 written as ḥnm jtḥ. 169

If a man sees in a dream flames coming forth against him;

BAD, (it means that) he will be slaughtered.

(r. 8.6)

series dealing with themes of punishment. Morschauser provides the following discussion on the term š^c d (‘knife; to cut off; to slaughter’/‘one (who ought to be) slaughtered’) as it appears in threat formulae from the twentieth dynasty onwards:

Both nominal and verbal (participial) forms of the word š^c d appear in Egyptian threats. S^c d itself is synonymous with š^c (t). Indeed, the terms are virtually identical, with simply an interchange of the dentals t/d in the orthography. Besides indicating a ‘physical’ execution, š^c (t)/š^c also expresses a concept of ‘terror’ or ‘fright’, which is the psychological reaction to a manifestation of divine or royal power. ¹⁷⁰

The parallel with being put to flames as a punisḥment is hampered only slightly by the fact that the phrase prj ḫt r¹⁷¹ does not appear in Morschaus er’s list of phraseology associated with punisḥment by fire. The Westcar Papyrus includes a tale of infidelity and intrigue, which ends with the punisḥment of the unfaithful wife by burning and then being thrown into the river.

If a man see himself in a dream removing (jtṯ.t) the nails of his fingers;

BAD, (it means) the taking away (jṯj.t) of the works of his hands.

(r. 8.7)

Note the relationship not only with jṯj.t, but also the association of the imagery of the fingernails and hands. The visual image of nails being removed was undoubtedly unpleasant.

If a man sees himself in a dream filling pots(?) (ḫw.ty);

BAD, it means that he will be in pain.

(r. 8.8)

Gardiner notes that ‘hwt.y is an unknown verb with as the determinative’. ¹⁷² The root hw usually involves protection. Possibly this is related to he breaking of the pots ritual.

If a man sees in a dream wings enfolding about himself(?);

BAD, (it means that) he is not justified before his god.

(r. 8.9)

Gardiner suggests that this is ‘ḥ⫖y.t, probably the same verb as Wb III 13.2’. ¹⁷³ This passage is discussed in detail in Chapter 5.

If a man sees himself in a dream copulating with a kite;

BAD, it means that something might be grabbed right out from his hand.

(r. 8.10)

This is a literal translation. The meaning is that his personal property will be seized. The kite is often representative of Isis or Nephthys, so this may be an oblique reference to the vision of a divine experience too intimate for mortals. On a more prosaic level, kites are known to boldly snatch food from market stalls or the catch of a fisherman. 174 Both artistic and textual evidence attests to the Egyptian’s familiarity with these attributes of the bird, and this passage in the dream book may reflect those traits.

If a man sees in a dream an ostrich;

BAD, (it means that) harm will happen against him.

(r. 8.11)

This is the second consecutive dream referring to birds.

If a man sees in a dream his teeth falling out below him (h̲ry=f);

BAD, (it means that) one of his underlings (h̲ry.w=f will die.

(r. 8.12)

This is perhaps the earliest example of what is now considered a typical anxiety dream. It has here an ominous significance as a portent of death. Note the paronomasia and polysemy with h̲ry/h̲ry.w (teeth falling under and the death of one of the man’s relations who is under him in rank).

If a man sees in a dream a dwarf;

BAD, (it means) taking away half of his life.

(r. 8.13)

This pun is more complex than it initially seems. On the surface, there is the obvious connection between the visual image of a person half the size of the average man, corresponding to half of a life. El-Aguizy notes the solar connection of dwarves in magical texts. Citing this passage in the Dream Book, she points out that this may be interpreted as ‘being also related to the sun-god who appears during half of the twenty four hours (half- day)’. ¹⁷⁵ For the dwarf as an attribute of various aspects of the sun or sky see Dasen, ¹⁷⁶ and also Romano who clarifies that the association of dwarfs with the solar deity is prevalent from the New Kingdom on. ¹⁷⁷

If a man sees himself in a dream having fallen prostrate before the southern tribunal;

BAD, (it means that) he will be removed from his office.

(r. 8.14)

If a man sees himself prostrate before the tribunal, it is likely that he has done something criminal enough to warrant his removal from office. The specific reference to this being the ‘southern’ tribunal may hint at an Upper Egyptian origin for this composition.

If a man sees himself in a dream being beaten by a willow;

BAD, it means a funeral procession when he dies.

(r. 8.15)

Gardiner suggests that the negative connotation of the dream is due to its being interpreted as ‘the absence(?) of mourning’. 178 However, the mention of a funeral procession and death may simply imply imminent death, perhaps after having been punished for a crime (represented by the beating with a willow stick). This would be enough to warrant the dream being labelled bad. McDowell notes that the seriousness of a beating depended in part on the type of stick used. ¹⁷⁹

If a man sees himself in a dream having entered a room when his clothes are wet (jwh.w);

BAD, it means fighting (^c ḥ⫖).

(r. 8.16)

Note the paronomasia of jwḥ with ^c ḥ⫖.

If a man sees himself in a dream shaving his lower body;

BAD, it means mourning.

(r. 8.17)

By some accounts, removing all hair from the body was also part of the embalming process¹⁸⁰ which might indicate the death of the dreamer and thus mourning. Alternatively, the thought of shaving lower parts rather than the more usual upper parts would have indicated contrariness – never a good sign.

If a man sees himself in a dream breaking apart stone;

BAD, it means that his god is angry towards him.

(r. 8.18)

Gardiner suggests that this šp is a miswriting of šp.t with the fish determinative meaning ‘to be discontented, angry’. ¹⁸¹ Faulkner, however, lists šp.t with the same determinative, meaning ‘discontent’, ’anger’. ¹⁸² Perhaps it was an error by someone more accustomed to writing šp, meaning ‘blind’. This passage is discussed in detail in Chapter 5. Stone is mentioned in r. 5.8 and 6.4 with a positive interpretation.

If a man sees himself in a dream casting copper (ḥm.t);

BAD, it means roaming the earth (ḥw-t⫖).

(r. 8.19)

There is a possible paronomasia of ḥm.t with ḥw-t⫖. See also r. 7.15, r. 8.20.

If a man sees himself in a dream fattening the cattle;

BAD, it means roaming the earth (ḥw-t⫖).

(r. 8.20)

The consecutive appearance of the same interpretation may be due to a scribal mishap. Alternatively, the repeated use of ḥw-t⫖, ‘roaming the earth’, in the Dream Book (r. 7.15, r. 8.19, r. 8.20) as a negative interpretation may emphasize the undesirability of this fate to an Egyptian.

If a man sees himself in a dream closing his house;

BAD, it means a repulsion.

(r. 8.21)

If a man sees himself in a dream snaring birds;

BAD, it means being deprived of his possession(s).

(r. 8.22)

See r. 9.16 for a similar interpretation.

If a man sees himself in a dream notching sycamore figs;

BAD, it means a depression(?) [will befall(?)] him.

(r. 8.23)

This is translated by Gardiner as ‘depressing(?) ailments attacking him’. 183 Notched sycamore figs were used extensively in a variety of herbal remedies, ¹⁸⁴ and thus the image of these fruits might provoke the idea of illness or disease.

If a man sees himself in a dream building his house;

BAD, (it means that) disputes will be engendered against him.

(r. 8.23)

Note the close similarity in both dream image and interpretation with

dream r. 9.25. ¹⁸⁵

If a man sees himself in a dream carrying off temple items;

BAD, (it means) taking away his property in his presence.

(r. 8.25)

The relationship between image and interpretation is unambiguous here: if the dreamer acts out stealing possessions from the house of god, that indicates his own personal possessions shall likewise be confiscated from his home.

If a man sees himself in a dream placing incense (snṯr) on the flame (hṯ) for god (nṯr);

BAD, (it means that) the power of god (nṯr) will be against him.

(r. 8.26)

Note the word-play between ‘incense’ snṯr and ‘god’ nṯr. This passage is discussed in more detail in Chapter 5.

If a man sees himself in a dream throwing away wood (ḫt) into [water];

BAD, (it means that) harm will be brought into his house.

(r. 8.27)

Placing wood on the water immediately follows placing incense on a flame. Notice as well the pun of ḫt (flame) in r. 8.26 and ḫt (wood) in r. 8.27.

RECTO 9

If a man sees himself in a dream [...]ing a stool (╹jsp╹.t) in his boat;

BAD, it means that his wife will be set aside.

(r. 9.1)

Gardiner suggests restoring the lacuna in the image with rdj.t, thus ‘placing a stool’. 186 The interpretation means ‘divorcing his wife’. The word jsp.t is probably a variation of jsb.t, which itself is a foreign word dating to the Amarna Period, meaning ‘throne’ or ‘seat’. ¹⁸⁷

If a man sees himself in a dream being appointed as an official;

BAD, (it means that) death is approaching and drawing near.

(r. 9.2)

The conclusion could be drawn here that the dreamer is not an official. And if the dreamer does see himself being promoted, the consequences are fatal.

If a man sees himself in a dream with an Asiatic garment upon him;

BAD, (it means that) he will be expelled from his office.

(r. 9.3)

Wearing the garb of a foreigner would perhaps have implied disloyalty. This passage conforms with the negative perception of foreigners promoted by political iconography.

If a man sees in a dream people (rmt.t) far away (w⫖j);

BAD, (it means that) his death is drawing near.

(r. 9.4)

The ability to see people and places physically distant from the sleeper in a dream was discussed earlier, where I suggested that the people (rmt.t) referred to are probably alive but spatially distant. Seeing people far away is not a positive indicator, perhaps because it reminds the dreamer that he is in a liminal zone between this world and the next, and by seeing people far away he may be a little too close to the other world.

On another level, a polysemy occurs with the word w⫖w, ’a cry of terror’, ¹⁸⁸ and the word w⫖j, ‘to be far’. ¹⁸⁹

If a man sees himself in a dream eating an egg (swḥ.t);

BAD, (it means that) something will be stolen from him beyond repair (m bṯ.w). ¹⁹⁰

(r. 9.5)

Nunn also lists bṯw as ‘real or metaphorical worms’, 191 but this seems to make little sense in this context. Another possibility is that these are obscure mythological references to Ra (swḥ.t) and Apophis (bṯ.w). ¹⁹²

If a man sees himself in a dream smearing himself with oil (mrḥt);

BAD, (it means that) his people will be taken away (nḥm rmt.t=f) from him.

(r. 9.6)

A word play may exist between mrḥt and nḥm rmṯ.t. ¹⁹³

If a man sees himself in a dream harnessing a wagon (wrry.t);

BAD, (it means that) insults are hurrying against his very flesh.

(r. 9.7)

A wrry.t is not necessarily a chariot, but can also mean a four-wheeled wagon. While this word may have been known prior to the New Kingdom, the first currently attested use in writing is from the reign of Aḥmose, and its use here suggests that this dream book was composed after this time. ¹⁹⁴ This and the following passage both involve disputes or some sort of words against the dreamer. In this passage, the words are directed against his physical person, perhaps implying insults.

If a man sees himself in a dream seeing the sky raining;

BAD, (it means that) disputes are coming against him.

(r. 9.8)

Rains can be associated with divine intervention or attributed to a deity or deities. The unusual occurrence of rainfall would be a powerful portent, in this case an unfavourable one.

If a man sees himself in a dream seeing a woman’s vulva (k⫖.t);

BAD, (it means that) the last extremity (ph.wy) of misery upon him.

(r. 9.9)

This is Gardiner’s translation of the figure of speech ‘the last extremity of misery’. ¹⁹⁵ The word-play here may consist of the image of a k⫖t (vulva) and pḥ.wy, (extremity, literally ‘backside’ or ‘buttocks’).

If a man sees himself in a dream ¹⁹⁶ baring his own rear-end (pḥ.wy);

BAD, (it means that) in the end he is going to be poor (ḥr pḥ.wy).

(r. 9.10)

There is a pun with pḥ.wy and ḥr pḥ.wy in this line. Also note the pḥ.wy in the preceding passage and that there may be an additional play with the preceding image of a woman’s genitalia, and the current vision of the dreamer’s buttocks. Finally, there is a play on the image of the bared backside and poverty. ¹⁹⁷ The poor in ancient Egypt were depicted with significantly fewer clothes, indeed sometimes naked, in contrast to the fashionably attired levels of society.

If a man sees himself in a dream eating figs and grapes;

BAD, it means pain.

(r. 9.11)

Both figs and grapes were common ingredients in herbal remedies.

If a man sees himself in a dream pressing (ḥm) wine;

BAD, (it means that) his possession(s) will be confiscated (nḥm).

(r. 9.12)

There is paronomasia of ḥm and nḥm. The wine referred to in the image of this couplet echoes the grapes in the preceding.

If a man sees himself in a dream plastering his house with yellow ochre;

BAD, it means that his people will be taken away.

(r. 9.13)

In the preceding couplet it was property that was removed, here it is people.

If a man sees himself in a dream placing his face against the floor;

BAD, (it means that) something will be required from him by the ones who are

yonder.

(r. 9.14)

By placing one’s face against the ground, one is closer to the farworld, but also in a subservient and obsequious position. This passage is discussed in detail in Chapter 5.

If a man sees in a dream a burning fire;

BAD, it means that his son or his brother will be taken away.

(r. 9.15)

If a man sees himself in a dream copulating with a pig (š⫖j);

BAD, (it means that) his possession(s) will be emptied (šw).

(r. 9.16)

Note the paronomasia between š⫖j (pig) and šw (empty). The pig at this period began to have negative connotations and could be associated with Seth. See also r. 8.22 for a similar interpretation.

If a man sees himself in a dream sitting in the hold of a ship;

BAD, (it means) the dragging of his own heart (jtḥ n jb).

(r. 9.17)

Gardiner notes that the same phrase, jtḥ n jb occurs also in P. Chester Beatty IV v. 4, 12–15, where he offers a translation of ‘presumption’ for the phrase. ¹⁹⁸ It may refer to being pulled by one’s own heart or will. This phrase does not appear in Nunn’s list of heart-related ailments from the Ebers papyrus. ¹⁹⁹ But he does cite the following passage from P. Ebers 189, ’You shall find his stomach dragging. It goes and comes under your fingers...’ 200 ° The word which Nunn translates as stomach, is r⫖-jb. The author of the Dream Book was perhaps aware of the term r⫖-jb, and thus it would be no great mental leap to connect them in a dream interpretation.

As with r. 8.5 above, there is also a connection between a ship and towing.

If a man sees himself in a dream drinking blood;

BAD, (it means that) fighting is ahead of him.

(r. 9.18)

The link between blood and fighting requires no further explanation.

If a man sees himself in a dream cutting his hair;

BAD, (it means that) something will be taken away from his house.

(r. 9.19)

This could be a reference to the loss of the forelock of youth, or possibly the image of removing something as personal as hair leads to the idea of the removal of personal property.

If a man sees in a dream his face in the water;

BAD, (it means) spending a lifetime in another life.

(r. 9.20)

In r. 7.11 the dreamer seeing his reflection in a mirror was interpreted as indicating a second wife. A similar logic may be at work here: seeing what appears to be a double of oneself implies an alternate existence, or a new job.

If a man sees himself in a dream weaving the thread (sḫ.t nḏt) of a [...];

BAD, (it means that) his possession(s) will be confiscated. ²⁰¹

(r. 9.21)

If a man sees himself in a dream copulating with his wife in the daylight;

BAD, (it means that) his crimes will be seen by his god.

(r. 9.22)

This passage is discussed in detail further in Chapter 5.

If a man sees himself in a dream brewing beer in his house;

BAD, it means being turned away from his house.

(r. 9.23)

If a man sees himself in a dream pounding barley and emmer;

BAD, (it means) seeking [ ] from him.

(r. 9.24)

Note the similarity of the themes of brewing and pounding grain in r. 2.23 and r. 2.24. These sequences of similar dreams suggest that they were not listed in random order.

If a man sees himself in a dream building a house for himself;

BAD, (it means that) contrary words will be ahead of him.

(r. 9.25)

Gardiner points out the close similarity in both dream image and interpretation with r. 8.24. 202

If a man sees himself in a dream snatching the wood of a god from his hand; BAD, (it means that) his own crimes will be discovered by his god.

(r. 9.26)

This passage is further discussed in Chapter 5.

If a man sees himself in a dream guarding monkeys;

BAD, (it means that) change is ahead of him.

(r. 9.27)

The type of primate referred to here is uncertain. It is not the usual term for the Hamadryas Baboon, Anubis Baboon, nor the Green Monkey. Osborn does not cite a specific Egyptian term for the Patas Monkey, so this remains a possibility, as does a general term for a pet or young monkey. ²⁰³ Perhaps the monkey is being used satirically here. Without further information, the connection between guarding a monkey and change remains murky.

If a man sees himself in a dream bringing mice (pnw) from a field;

BAD, (it means) a bad heart (ḥ⫖ty bjn).

(r. 9.28)

Both Gardiner and Groll suggest paronomasia between pnw and bjn, in Coptic πN and ²⁰⁴ Suggestions for ḥ⫖ty bjn include ‘sore heart’, ²⁰⁵ ‘bitter heart’, ²⁰⁶ and ‘gloomy state of mind’. ²⁰⁷

This passage and the preceding both involve images of wild animals.

RECTO 10

If a man sees himself in a dream sailing downstream (m-ḫḏ);

BAD,(it means that) the dispute is violent (nḫt.tj).

(r. 10.1)

The identical dream image appears in the antecedent of r. 3.6 and r. 8.3. Groll suggests that this was also a pun on m-ḫḏ and nḫt.tj . ²⁰⁸

If a man sees himself in a dream eating faience;

BAD, (it means that) the dispute is strong (dr.tj).

(r. 10.2)

Note the similarity of this interpretation with the preceding r. 10.1.

If a man sees himself in a dream preparing a shrine (ḥby.t);

BAD, it means that his crime will be brought to the light.

(r. 10.3)

Gardiner prefers the reading ‘bridal chamber’ from the Coptic Egyptian hb, but mentions that Speigelberg ‘equated ḥbyt with ḥbw “tent” ’ 209 My translation follows Borghouts, however, who interprets this as a shrine explaining that ‘the act is seen as the preparation for an expiatory rite’. ²¹⁰

If a man sees himself in a dream tending small kids;

BAD, (it means that) his possession(s) will be lost.

(r. 10.4)

Shepherds were possibly not considered to own much property, so the dreamer who sees himself performing the tasks of a shepherd, will see a corresponding loss of property. There could also be a connection with the notion of curious kids wandering away from their herd, and the fear that his possessions might wander off as well. ²¹¹

If a man sees himself in a dream measuring barley with a measuring cup;

BAD, (it means that) his victuals will be regulated.

(r. 10.5)

THe Visual Image Of Measuring – in other words regulating – grain conveys the idea of regulating or rationing the dreamer’s own food.

If a man sees himself in a dream eating the flesh of cattle (jwf n jḥ);

BAD, (it means that) fighting (^c ḥ⫖) will be ahead of him.

(r. 10.6)

Gardiner proposes paronomasia with jwf n jḥ and ^c ḥ⫖. ²¹² See also r. 7.5, which

refers to eating the flesh of cattle and is interpreted as a good dream.

If a man sees himself in a dream seeing the extinguishing (of fire with water);

BAD(it means that) his possessions will be ended.

(r. 10.7)

Perhaps there is a play on ḫ.t (possessions), and the unwritten but implied ḫ.t (fire). As the fire ḫ.t is put to an end, so are the dreamer’s possessions

ḫ.t.

If a man sees himself in a dream placing beer in a jug;

BAD, (it means that) something will be taken away from his house.

(r. 10.8)

Note that a similar relationship exists between beer and a house in r. 9.23. The interpretation of r. 10.8 is related to that of 10.7.

If a man sees himself in a dream breaking a vessel with his feet;

BAD, it means fighting.

(r. 10.9)

Ritner suggests that this is a reference to the breaking of vessels in execration rites. ²¹³ The enemy, represented by a receptacle, is rendered harmless by the act of smashing, or in this case by trampling with one’s feet. The image of the king trampling his enemies under his feet is well known, and is graphically represented on numerous monuments, and even on royal sandals. This is apparently the only known reference to the ritual breaking of vessels with one’s feet. Since the vessel represents an enemy, the interpretation is that fighting will occur.

RECTO 10.10–10.9

These lines contain the ‘Invocation to Isis’ which is discussed in Chapter 6.

RECTO 11.1–11.18

BRANDS [...] in his height. His life time is [...] years. AS FOR A MAN [...] his lifetime is 84 years. The god within him is Seth. AS FOR A SOLITARY MAN (s w^c ) 214 [...] 60 years. The god within him is Seth. [AS FOR A MAN] [...] he is a [man] of the populace [...] hair of armpit [...] in blood. He will die of [a final death(?) ²¹⁵ ...] FALL [...] sinews,(?) ²¹⁶ crooked of hair [...] cavern. AS FOR A MAN, RED(?) ²¹⁷ [...] covering of chin(?) ²¹⁸ [...] hair-covering of his eyebrows [...] He is intemperate(?) of will (^c rq=f jb) ²¹⁹ on the day of judgement [...] blind in his mind. If he drinks beer, he drinks²²⁰ [...] confusion. The redness of the white of the eye is arisen in his body. ²²¹ This god, he is one who drinks what he detests, he is beloved of women through the greatness [...] greatness of his loving them. Even if he is a real Royal Friend, ²²² he is (still) one who enjoys the food of a man of the populace, ²²³ his lifetime is for Seth. [...] the palace^l.p.h. . He will not enter the West, but he will be placed [on the place of annihilation as a prey to(?)] rapacious birds(?) ²²⁴ [...] AS FOR A MAN WHO IS DRUNK, confuses(?) [...] debauchery(?), slandering, bad things, wickedness. He drinks beer in order to incite confusion and uproar [...] giving to him himself. He will take up weapons of war [...] in front of him, a hippopotamus [...] after he regains his wits on the second day. ²²⁵ He will become [...] to do it, purged of impurities(?) [...] one. He will not distinguish the married woman from [...] consume (^c qq) ²²⁶ [...] As for any woman who defies him, he pushes [...] It is slaughter which arises in him, and he is placed in the farworld [...] VISIBLE like nomads. His make-up²²⁷ is like [...] uproar in order to break vessels, the destruction [...] while expunging something. [He is(?)] said [...] master of clemency(?) [...]

BEGINNING OF THE DREAMS of the followers of Seth.

(r. 11.19)

The orthography of rsw.t is unusual here. It is written literally as rsw.yt .

As with the first section of the Dream Book, the phrase jr m⫖⫖ sw s m rsw.t, ‘if a man sees himself in a dream’, is written vertically preceding thedream image and interpretation.

If a man sees in a dream a single billy-goat (^c nḫ) carved up in limbs being given to him;

good, [...]

(r. 11.20)

The precise meaning of ^c nḫ is uncertain.

If a man sees himself in a dream standing on high ground with a was-sceptre in his hand;

[good,.]

(r. 11.21)

If a man sees himself in a dream following behind a herd of billy-goats;

[good,.]

(r. 11.22)

Gardiner suggests ‘walking in a pen for goats’. 228

If a man sees himself in a dream throwing hay on the water;

[good,.]

(r. 11.23)

Gardiner was able to restore one more half-line on the verso of the text, and suggests it might read: ‘[good; it means something] with which he will be elated’.

Notes

¹ See for example the major works of Ray 1976; Volten 1942; Zauzich 1980. A further listing can be found in Vernus 1975–92, 749.42. At least one, possibly two new dream books dating to the Late Period have recently been discovered in the Berlin Museum (I am grateful to J.F. Quack for informing me of these documents).

² Gardiner 1935, 7–23, pls. 5–12a.

³ For an insightful discussion on this topic in general see Ray 1981 and for sought dreams in particular see Ray 1976, 130. The timing of this change will be apparent as well in the context of the message dreams of the pharaohs. The dreams of Amenhotep II, Thutmosis IV, and Merneptah as well as the non-royal dreams of Ipuy and Djehutiemhab did not require an interpreter but were immediately understood. The Late Period pharaoh Tanutamani, however, had a symbolic dream which did require interpretation.

⁴ Regarding the Babylonian ‘Dream Book’ Bottero, for example, observes that ‘in passing, it has to be said that the acknowledgment of this care for abstraction convinces us to speak here of research, not of the individual and the accidental, but of the universal and the essential. In other words: of “science” ’ (1987, 117). In like fashion the Egyptian dream books are written for no particular individual, and are careful to retain a universal applicability.

⁵ Groll 1985, 71.

⁶ Vernus 1981, 104. See also Bács’ comment (1991, 56 (a) ).

⁷ This outlook was first brought to my attention by Giorgio Buccellati in a seminar on Mesopotamian religion at UCLA, 1998.

⁸ Maul 1994, 1.

⁹ Maul 1994, 4.

10 See von Lieven 1991, 78.

¹¹ Ray 1976.

¹² The latest publication is Onasch 1994, 31–4. See also Borger 1957–8, 116.

¹³ ADD 851 iv 2, NA. Fales and Postgate 1992.

¹⁴ CAD 6, 116.

¹⁵ Sweek 1996, 136–40.

¹⁶ These included hepatoscopy, exorcism, extispicy, medicine, chanting, astrology, and augury. This does not exclude the possibility that dream interpretation was performed by a specialist in one of these other disciplines (Sweek 1996, 126).

¹⁷ Sweek 1996, 132.

¹⁸ For example in Dan 1.20, Exod 7.11, 22; 8.3,14,15; 19.11.

¹⁹ Brown, Driver, and Briggs 1968, 355.

²⁰ Koehler and Baumgartner 2000, 1880.

²¹ See Redford’s analysis (1992, 422–9) who suggests that the text may have been composed in the second half of the first millennium. The issue of the dating of this text remains controversial but, if Redford is correct, it dates to a few centuries after the Esarhaddon and Ashurbanipal references.

²² Jeffers 1996, 131.

²³ Noegel 2001, 55.

²⁴ Ricks 1995, 131–43.

²⁵ Tarragon 1995, 2072.

²⁶ See for example Gudea cyl. A, (c. 2150 BC) which includes a lengthy description of a dream seen by Gudea. Unable to understand it fully himself, he turns to a goddess for help in its interpretation. For other examples of dream interpretation throughout Mesopotamia see Oppenheim 1956; Cryer 1994; Frantz-Szabo 1995, 2013; Husser 1999, 27–51; Noegel 2001, 45–71; Zgoll (forthcoming).

²⁷ See Goedicke 1996, 24–30, who provides a synopsis of the debates surrounding the biblical term.

²⁸ Quaegebeur 1987, 368–94; 1985, 162–172.

²⁹ Erichson 1954, 321–2.

³⁰ Ritner 1993, 220–2.

³¹ Gunn 1917, 252; Crum 374a. Loprieno (personal communication) has confirmed that the reading of sb⫖ n pr-^c nḫ, ‘Teacher of the House of Life’, suggested by Černý 1964, 184 is less likely, thus Gunn’s and Crum’s reading is preferred.

³² Nordh 1996, 114.

³³ Nordh 1996, 125; Volten 1942, 17–44.

³⁴ Ray 1987, 89–91, refines his earlier suggestion that the ḥr-tb officials performed this function (1978, 134–5). Notice that he does not suggest that the pastophoroi specialized as dream-interpreters, but rather that this may have been one of many duties.

³⁵ Published by Čenrý 1978, 19, pls. 22–22a; KRI VI 266–7. Translated in Wente 1990, 151.

The dating is suggested by Kitchen (KRI VI 266).

³⁶ No proper names are mentioned in the letter, but Čenrý1978, vol. I, 15–19,

suggested that the correspondents in this letter are the same as in P. Deir el-Medina 4 (where they are named as Nakhtsobek and Amunnakht) and P. Deir el-Medina 5 (where the correspondents remain anonymous). This Amunnakht is the son of Khaemnun and Naunakhte, who was originally the wife of Qenherkhopshef, who was the owner of the Ramesside Dream Book. The authorship of P. Deir el-Medina 6 has, however, been called into serious question by Sweeney. Her palaeographical study suggests that these letters were written by different scribes (1998, 101–22).

37 This translation follows Sweeney’s new analysis of the text (2001, 181).

³⁸ This presumably refers to a shrine or statue of Aḥmose Nefertari, the divinized queen whose cult, along with that of her son Amenhotep I, was so popular in Ramesside Deir el-Medina. The deified Amenhotep I was certainly consulted for oracular purposes (McDowell 1990 and 1999), and this may be an instance where Aḥmose Nefertari was as well.

³⁹ Blackman 1925, 249–55 and 1926, 176–85.

⁴⁰ Roeder 1960; Čenrý 1962; McDowell 1990; Shirun-Grumach 1993.

⁴¹ Gardiner #40 in Čenrý 1972 51, pl. XV n. 40.

⁴² Čenrý 1978, vii. In the preface to this work Posener suggests that the papyri may in fact have been stolen from the excavations of Bruyere, for he cites a similar find in a similar space, part of which was subsequently stolen (xv–viii.)

⁴³ Koenig 1981, 41–3. Koenig also notes the intriguing possibility that these texts may be the ones referred to in a later Egyptian document discussing the unrolling and drying of an assemblage of papyri which had become wet, and their later caching for protection.

⁴⁴ Pestman 1982, 165–6.

⁴⁵ See also Noegel, Nocturnal Ciphers: The allusive language of dreams in the Ancient Near East, (forthcoming). I would like to thank Scott Noegel for allowing me access to his manuscript.

⁴⁶ Ritner 1993, 207; 1995, 52–3 n. 39.

⁴⁷ The most obvious case against Amunnakht’s having been the scribe of the Dream Book is quite simply that his handwriting differs markedly from the scribe of the Dream Book. See Pestman 1982, 155–72. For Qenherkhopshef s genealogy see Davies 1999 and Bierbrier 1975.

⁴⁸ Pestman 1982; Parkinson and Quirke 1995, 62–4.

⁴⁹ Gardiner 1935, 7.

⁵⁰ As explained by Gardiner (1935, 23), when the copyist of the Dream Book reached the end of the recto of his papyrus, he continued writing on the verso in the opposite direction. Qenherkhopshef then re-rolled the papyrus upside down to the writing on the verso, and began to write out his texts, until eventually he reached the dream portion of the papyrus again.

⁵¹ Earlier examples simply confirm whether a particular day was good or bad, while in the New Kingdom they include longer interpretations or explanations. A Middle Kingdom example from Kahun uses the same terminology of ḏw (bad) and nfr (good) to differentiate the prognosis for the day in question, whereas later examples tend to use ^c ḥ⫖ or ^c ḥ^c and nfr (Spalinger 1991, 216).

52 Troy 1989, 20.

⁵³ Because the text is broken at the beginning and at the end, we cannot say with certainty that it did not originally include a section of interpretations designed for the female dreamer.

⁵⁴ Volten 1942, 84, XIII, b, 14.

⁵⁵ Volten 1942, 8, 85–8, 98–101, 90–3,100–1.

⁵⁶ See Dieleman 1998, 7–46, who notes the dichotomy between the representation of women in wisdom texts and the more dependable picture provided by documentary papyri.

⁵⁷ Oppenheim 1956, 245.

⁵⁸ For example, crocodiles (who represent greed) are linked with officials in three instances.

⁵⁹ Gardiner 1935, 8.

⁶⁰ Gardiner 1935, 11.

⁶¹ Bacs 1990, 61. The choice of the term rsw.t for ‘dream’ in this case parallels the medical texts, which also employ the classical term rather than qd.

⁶² Groll 1985, 71.

⁶³ Per Quack (1992, 81.i) his version E is correct. An alternate for the section in question is mj hrw.(w) mj grḥ as found in the Carlsberg version.

⁶⁴ Gardiner 1914, 34. Similar interpretations have been more recently cited by authors such as Volten 1942; Sauneron 1959, 20; Ray 1981, 179, who alludes to Volten’s translation; and Husser 1999, 65, who reads in the passage an indirect reference to dreams.

⁶⁵ Ray 1981, 179.

⁶⁶ Quack 1992, 19.

⁶⁷ Parkinson 1991c, 54.

⁶⁸ Fecht 1969, 117–18.

⁶⁹ A similar relationship has been shown in modern experiments on ‘modes of relationship between stimulus name and mentation report’. During the experiments, the sleeper would be told a particular name. The relationships were based on assonance (for example, the stimulus ‘Robert’ produced ‘rabbit’), association (for example ‘Maureen’ induced a man to remember his English master ‘More’ and his current girlfriend ‘Maureen’), direct (for example ‘Eileen’ caused one sleeper to shout out his girlfriend’s name ‘Eileen’), and representation (for example ‘Leslie’ caused the sleeper to see an Indian woman with glasses – the sleeper’s boyfriend was an Indian named ‘Leslie’ who sometimes wore glasses), as shown in Arkin and Antrobus 1991, 272–5. The same relationships of assonance, association, direct relationship, and representation can be found throughout the Dream Book.

⁷⁰ Hodge 1975, 331–50.

⁷¹ Loprieno 2000, 3–20.

⁷² Vernus 1983a, 27–32. See also the seminal work of Goldwasser 1995.

⁷³ Vernus 1983a, 30.

⁷⁴ Loprieno 2000, 19.

⁷⁵ For a brief analysis see Théodoridès 1983, 22–8.

⁷⁶ For an interpretation of this description as a characterization of foreigners see te Velde 1977, 111–12. For a suggestion on the identity of Sethian characters among the villagers of Deir el-Medina see Romer 1990.

77 Volten 1942.

⁷⁸ The following table is adapted from Groll 1985, 75. The columns and text are written in hieratic from right to left.

⁷⁹ Groll 1985, 74.

⁸⁰ There should be 84 negative dreams, but one of them is listed as being good (this is likely an error on the part of the scribe).

⁸¹ For a sociological study of this Dream Book see Hensel (forthcoming).

⁸² The composer of the text, however, seems to have alternated between two linguistic models for the interpretations. In the majority of cases a finite verbal construction (usually the prospective sḏm.w=f) is used for the apodoses, but in other instances (e.g., those written with an indisputable .t ending) the lexeme cannot be anything but the infinitive form. The reason for choosing one scheme over another is not readily apparent and awaits more intensive analysis. In those cases where the morphological marker is missing or would not in any case be evident (as is the case with the strong roots) I have chosen the finite model. For a different analysis of the linguistic constructions see Groll 1985, 71–118. The use of the modal future is suitable in the context of divination, which deals with probable futures, wishes and hopes. Notable exceptions are a single instance of the modally unmarked objective future in r. 9.10, and six examples of N + r-ḫpr=f construction (r. 2.7, 2.18, 4.3, 5.4, 6.16, 6.17).

⁸³ Gardiner 1935, 11 and n. 2.

⁸⁴ This is Gardiner’s interpretation. There is virtually nothing legible left in the hieratic today.

⁸⁵ Gardiner 1935, 11.

⁸⁶ Hannig 1995, 186.

⁸⁷ Brewer, Redford, and Redford 1994, 62.

⁸⁸ Ikram 1994, 55.

⁸⁹ Nunn 1996, 14, 154.

⁹⁰ Janssen 1975, 353.

⁹¹ Ritner 1993, 58.270.

⁹² Wb I 99.

⁹³ Gardiner 1935, 11 n. 8.

⁹⁴ Gardiner 1935, 12.

⁹⁵ Wb V 519.4. See also DZA 31540400, 31540430.

⁹⁶ Mercer 1952, 208.

⁹⁷ Allen 1974, 74.

⁹⁸ Gardiner 1935, 12.

⁹⁹ Walker 1996, 130.

¹⁰⁰ Gardiner 1935, 12.

¹⁰¹ Gardiner 1935, 12.

¹⁰² Groll 1985, 112.

¹⁰³ For a discussion of verbs connected with seeing, see Winand 1986 and Depuydt 1988. This passage is further discussed in Chapter 5.

104 Assmann, 1994, 15.

¹⁰⁵ WbV 156.1; Hannig 1995, 895. ¹⁰⁶ According to Winand (1992, 333) this particular orthography of dj.tw falls slowly out of use through the New Kingdom until its virtual disappearance in the time of Ramesses III.

¹⁰⁷ Wb V 454.18. Note that although this is an infinitive construction, I have translated the passage as a passive, for ease of understanding in English.

¹⁰⁸ Gardiner 1935, 12.11. For a similar passage in Akkadian see Volten 1942, 68.

¹⁰⁹ Hannig 1995, 838.

¹¹⁰ Gardiner 1935, 13.13.

¹¹¹ Groll, 72.

¹¹² The writing of ferry, mh̲n.t, does show the dual-stroke, and therefore is perhaps to be read mh̲n.tj, ‘the ferryman’. I am less inclined towards this reading, as this would involve the unusual feature of the dreamer seeing himself as another person. It is significant that both of these terms (ferry or ferryman) are normally associated with the farworld.

¹¹³ Volten 1942, 62.

¹¹⁴ Gardiner 1935, 14.3.

¹¹⁵ Gardiner 1935, 14.

¹¹⁶ This is Gardiner’s reconstruction of a large lacuna. The only sign visible on the published plate is a short horizontal stroke, possibly an ‘n’.

¹¹⁷ Osborn and Osbornova 1998, 145–7.

¹¹⁸ Säve-Söderbergh 1953, especially 45–55.

¹¹⁹ Gardiner 1935, 14.

¹²⁰ Parlebas 1982, 21 suggests that if a man sees himself making love with a cow, that means spending the day making love at home.

¹²¹ Parlebas 1982, 22.

¹²² Groll 1985, 103.

¹²³ Brewer, Redford, and Redford 1994, 76.

¹²⁴ Gardiner 1935, 14 translates the passage [ḥr] ^c fn [...]=f [...] as ‘veiling himself. There should be something in the lacuna prior to the f, unless the f is used as a reflexive direct object with ^c fn in the infinitive. According to Wb I 183.1–3 the verb is attested only from the Middle Kingdom to the New Kingdom.

¹²⁵ Vernus 1981, 933–4(d).

¹²⁶ My thanks to Richard Parkinson for bringing my attention to this.

¹²⁷ Gardiner 1935, 15.2.

¹²⁸ Gardiner 1935, 15.5.

¹²⁹ Gardiner 1935, 15.8.

¹³⁰ Gardiner 1935, 15.9.

¹³¹ Gardiner 1935, 15.10.

¹³² Gardiner 1935, 5.10.

¹³³ Gardiner 1935, 16.1.

¹³⁴ Groll 1985, 106 suggests that ḥm.t is used here as a ‘literary Late Egyptian indicator of the feminine gender’.

x135 Parlebas 1982, 23; Germer LÄ VI 114.

¹³⁶ Wb III 214.12. DZA 27584560 suggests ‘Hyena’.

¹³⁷ Gardiner 1935, 16.2.

¹³⁸ Hannig 1995, 576.

¹³⁹ Osborn and Osbornova 1998, 103-35.

¹⁴⁰ Gardiner 1935, 16.

¹⁴¹ Brewer, Redford, and Redford 1994, 65.

¹⁴² Hannig 1995, 837.

¹⁴³ Brewer, Redford, and Redford 1994, 65.

¹⁴⁴ Nunn 1996, 14.

¹⁴⁵ Hannig 1995, 364.

¹⁴⁶ Groll 1985, 97.

¹⁴⁷ Hannig 1995, 994.

¹⁴⁸ Gardiner 1935, 16.9.

¹⁴⁹ Gardiner 1935, 22.

¹⁵⁰ Gardiner 1935, 16.

¹⁵¹ Ritner 1997, 54.

¹⁵² Leitz 2002, 241.

¹⁵³ Groll 1985, 79.

¹⁵⁴ Gardiner 1935, 16.11.

¹⁵⁵ Handoussa 1986, 27.

¹⁵⁶ Ritner 1993, 21.82.

¹⁵⁷ This is cited by Borghouts in LÄ III 1144, 1149.11.

¹⁵⁸ Gardiner 1935,16.13.

¹⁵⁹ Gardiner 1935, 16.14.

¹⁶⁰ Groll 1985, 77.

¹⁶¹ Ritner 1993, 40-4, 50.

¹⁶² As suggested by Richard Parkinson.

¹⁶³ Gardiner 1935, 17.1.

¹⁶⁴ Wb II 66.17.

¹⁶⁵ Wb II 175.8.

¹⁶⁶ Gardiner 1935, 17.3.

¹⁶⁷ Gardiner 1935, 17.5.

¹⁶⁸ Gardiner 1935, 17.7.

¹⁶⁹ Volten 1942, 61.

¹⁷⁰ Morschauser 1991, 106, 133.

¹⁷¹ Wb III 218.1-2.

¹⁷² Gardiner 1935, 17.10.

¹⁷³ Gardiner 1935, 17.11.

¹⁷⁴ Houlihan and Goodman 1986, 36-8.

¹⁷⁵ El-Aguizy 1987, 57.

¹⁷⁶ Dasen 1993, 46-50.

¹⁷⁷ Romano 1989, vol. 1, 110.

¹⁷⁸ Gardiner 1935, 17.

¹⁷⁹ McDowell 1990, 173.

180 Strouhal 1992, 260.

¹⁸¹ Gardiner 1935, 17.14.

¹⁸² Faulkner 1981, 265.

¹⁸³ Gardiner 1935, 17.

¹⁸⁴ Nunn 1996, 15, 152.

¹⁸⁵ Gardiner 1935, 18.11.

¹⁸⁶ Gardiner 1935, 18.1.

¹⁸⁷ Wb I 132.2, 12; Hannig 1995, 102–3; DZA 21303170.

¹⁸⁸ Wb I 245.

¹⁸⁹ Wb I 245. For this example of word-play see Volten 1942, 3.

¹⁹⁰ Groll 1985, 105 translates ‘immediately’ for m-bṯ.w.

¹⁹¹ Nunn 1996, 218.

¹⁹² Wb I 485.12.

¹⁹³ Personal communication from Noegel.

¹⁹⁴ Zeidler 2000.

¹⁹⁵ Gardiner 1935, 18.

¹⁹⁶ This is the only example of a clear jw=f r sḏm prospective form.

¹⁹⁷ Volten 1942, 60.

¹⁹⁸ Gardiner 1935, 18.8.

¹⁹⁹ Nunn 1996, table 4.2.

²⁰⁰ Nunn 1996, 90.

²⁰¹ A sḫt nḏ is listed as weben in Wb II 376.19, as a Middle Kingdom example (Beni Has. II pl. 4; vgl. and pl. 13).

²⁰² Gardiner 1935, 18.11.

²⁰³ Osborn and Osbornova 1998, 23–42.

²⁰⁴ Gardiner 1935, 19.1; Groll 1985, 113.

²⁰⁵ Gardiner 1935, 19.

²⁰⁶ Groll 1985, 103.

²⁰⁷ Groll 1985, 113.

²⁰⁸ Groll 1985, 113.

²⁰⁹ Gardiner 1935, 19.2.

²¹⁰ Borghouts 1982 n. 101.

²¹¹ My thanks to Parkinson for drawing my attention to this.

²¹² Gardiner 1935, 19.3.

²¹³ Ritner 1993, 151. This passage is also discussed by van Rinsveld 1986.

²¹⁴ See Parkinson 1996, 146–50 for the negative association with solitary (w’) individuals in Egyptian society. Although Parkinson’s essay is restricted to the Middle Kingdom, this New Kingdom text is unlikely to contradict his conclusions.

²¹⁵ Gardiner 1935, 20.5 suggests r⫖-^c -mt. All that is legible is r⫖-^c , which has numerous meanings including ‘end’, ‘utterance’, ’activity’, to name just a few.

²¹⁶ Gardiner 1935, 20 suggests this word sšmy may mean ‘sinews’, and speculates that it may be related to the šsmy found in Pyr. $2114b.

²¹⁷ This reading is uncertain as the determinative is lost in a lacuna and dšr(.w) has a variety of meanings including the name of a plant (from which red paint comes), a fish, and rage, to name just a few.

218 Perhaps meaning the ‘stubble’ of a beard, or unshaven chin.

²¹⁹ Gardiner 1935, 20 suggests ‘He is one dissolute(?) of heart.’ The phrase ^c rq-jb also appears in Urk IV 112, 13 (Faulkner 1981, 45) meaning ‘clever’. This logogram V12 (^C7 Y)can be read as ^c rq (‘bind’ Wb I 211.19) or as fh (‘loose’ Wb I 578.6–8). Perhaps we should think of someone who is fh as an opposition to the desired status of one who is restrained and well-spoken, one who skilled in knots (few). Noegel (personal communication) suggests ‘bound to do something’.

²²⁰ Gardiner 1935, 20.9 reconstructs ‘it so as to engender strife and’ in light of the text in r. 11.10.

²²¹ Perhaps a reference to the redness of the eyes which can occur from excessive drinking.

²²² Wb II 446.14 cites another example of this phrase.

²²³ Gardiner 1935, 20 offers ‘(yet) he has the personality of(?) a man of the plebs. His lifetime is (that of) Seth.’ I take this to mean that even if this type of man is of the aristocracy, he nevertheless behaves like one of the masses.

²²⁴ This is based on Gardiner’s reconstruction 1935, 20. He tentatively suggests the lacuna be reconstructed with ‘[on the desert as a prey to?] rapacious birds(?)’.

²²⁵ One of the meanings of ‘rq is ‘to be clever’ (Wb I 212.10). It can also mean ‘to tie on’ ( Wb I 211.19–23). The meaning here seems to be that after his bout of drunkenness and rage, the man comes to his senses, and pulls himself together (Gardiner 1935, 20).

²²⁶ This word ‘qq was not identified by Gardiner or the Wb. Hannig 1995, 163 suggests that it probably means ‘to eat’.

²²⁷ Gardiner suggests ‘tears(?)’(1935, 20). I suggest jrtw with a superfluous w inserted between the initial j and the r, meaning ‘qualities’ or ‘paint’ (Hannig 1995, 94). The literal meaning is ‘make-up’ in the sense of that which makes up a person’s character or constitution.

²²⁸ Gardiner 1935, 21.