Much of the graffiti represents prayers and votive dedications.[1]
Prior to the discovery of the Abydos graffiti, very few Semitic inscriptions had been found in Egypt – a few Aramaic texts, the Abu Simbel Phoenician graffiti (published by Ampère, Lepsius, and Graham), and an engraved sphinx found in the Serapeum of Saqqara. Abydos was considered to contain the tomb of Osiris, the god of the afterlife, hence it was considered a holy burial place and attracted pilgrimage.[2]
Discovery
The first Phoenician and Aramaic graffiti was recorded by Théodule Devéria during Mariette's excavations at Abydos; 13 inscriptions were published in 1868 by Hermann Zotenberg.[3]Heinrich Karl Brugsch subsequently made notes of 16 inscriptions. The inscriptions of Deveria and Brugsch were published in the first edition of Corpus Inscriptionum Semiticarum.
In 1885, Joseph Derenbourg and his son Hartwig published an interpretation of 61 inscriptions noted by Archibald Sayce on a visit in 1883.[4]
A small amount of further graffiti was published by Margaret Murray in 1904, together with her excavations at the Osireion (note that no Phoenician or Aramaic graffiti was found on the Osireion which, unlike the other temples, had been hidden underground for many centuries).[5] The Phoenician graffiti was found to be "roughly scratched on the walls, even more roughly than the Greek".[5]
Concordance
Deveria
CIS I
Brugsch
Sayce
1
99
6, 16
18
2
100a-b
-
-
4
-
-
5
6
101
-
25
7
-
-
4
8
102a-d
1, 2, 10
36–38, 40
9
-
-
61
10
103a-c
-
21-23
11
104
-
-
12
105
-
1
13
-
-
41
-
106
8, 13
2
-
110
-
3
-
109
15
19
-
107
12
31
-
108
14
-
Gallery of handwritten notes
CIS, including Deveria and Brugsch
Deveria 8, 9, 11
Deveria 1–7, 10, 12-13
Brugsch 1-16
CIS I 98, 110
Murray
Sayce
Sayce 1-15
Sayce 16-31
Sayce 32-46
Sayce 47-61
Notes
↑ Naveh, J. (1979). Graffiti and Dedications. Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, (235), 27-30. doi:10.2307/1356553
↑ Zotenberg, H., "Nouvelles inscriptions phéniciennes d'Égypte." JA sér. 6, t. 11 (1868): 431–50 + 2 pls (also at BNF, including full plate scans): "Dans le grand nombre d'inscriptions diverses qui ont été trouvées jusqu'à ce jour aux bords du Nil, les anciennes inscriptions sémitiques sont fort rares... En dehors de quelques textes araméens, les seules inscriptions phéniciennes découvertes en Égypte jusqu'à ce jour, sont celles d'Ipsambul, copiées successivement par Ampère, Lepsius, et Graham, et quatre lignes gravées sur un des sphinx du sérapéum de Memphis... Deux temples, dont l'un construit par Séti Ier l'autre par Ramsès II, lui étaient consacrés. Elle renfermait, en outre, le tombeau d'Osiris... Mais Abydos avait la prétention de posséder le vrai tombeau du dieu Osiris, et cette croyance eut pour effet que beaucoup d'Égyptiens, de toutes les parties du pays, firent établir leurs sépultures à proximité de l'endroit où reposait le dieu. Il est naturel que cette coutume ait ajouté à la sainteté du lieu et du culte d'Abydos. Aussi cette ville attira-t-elle de très-nombreux pèlerins venus de tous côtés pour y adorer Osiris.
↑ Derenbourg, J., & Derenbourg, H. (1885). LES INSCRIPTIONS PHÉNICIENNES DU TEMPLE DE SETI À ABYDOS, PUBLIÉES ET TRADUITES D'APRÈS UNE COPIE INÉDITE DE M. SAYCE. Revue D'Assyriologie Et D'archéologie Orientale, 1(3), 81-101: "En visitant à la fin de 1883 le temple construit par Seti Ier à Abydos, dans la Haute-Égypte, M. Sayce a pris soin d'y copier toutes les inscriptions phéniciennes, dont une partie seulement avait été relevée par Deveria et Brugsch. Il y a beaucoup de nouveau dans les soixante et un petits textes, que M. Sayce a bien voulu nous envoyer."
Murray, M.A., The Osireion at Abydos. Egyptian Research Account, Ninth Year, 1903 . London: B. Quaritch, 1904
Kornfeld, W., "Neues über die phonikischen und aramäischen Graffiti in den Tempeln vom Abydos." ÖAW, 115 (1978a): 193–204 + 18 pls.
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