Description
This silver cylinder seal features the royal titulary of King Sahure, the second king of the Fifth Dynasty (ca. 2487-2475 BCE). The inscription includes four serekhs with his Horus name (Nebkhau), his Nebti name (Nebkhau), his Golden Horus name (Bikwy-Nebu), and one cartouche encircling his birth name (Sahure). The seal is also inscribed with the titles of a high official, including “overseer of the leather workers.” This cylinder might have come from Abusir where the king built his pyramid and most likely his unexcavated sun temple.
Provenance
Henry Walters, Baltimore, [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
Inscriptions
[Inscription, Egyptian; Transliteration]
1. Hr nb-xaw (Hr-stX nswt-zmA-tAwy)
2. Xkr-HA.t-nb-xaw-sxmtj nbti wAD.t
3. Hr nb-xaw nTr-aA (nsw.t-spH-ngA)
4. irr-wD.t bkwy-nbw xrp-gs.w mDH-wr.t jmi-ra-gs.w Xr.t-a-nsw.t
5. Hr nb-xaw nTr-aA
6. Xnm-nb-xaw-nbtj m anx wAs ra-nb mr-nTr ra-nb
7. Hr nb-xaw nTr[aA] (nswt-tj-xAsw.t ?)
8. sHtp-jb nsw.t-bjtj sAHw-ra
[Translation]
1. Horus: Nebkhau (crowned by Horus and Seth)
2. Adorner of the brow of the double crown, the Two Ladies, Wadjet: Nebkhau
3. Horus: Nebkhau, great god (lassoing the cattle)
4. One who does what the Golden Horus, Bek-wi Nebu, commands; director of the leather-workers; fashioner/overseers of the wrt-crown(?); overseer of the leather-workers; royal assistant
5. Horus: Nebkhau, great god
6. Wearer of the crown of the Two Ladies(?), Nebkhau, through life, power, everyday; beloved of the god, everyday
7. Horus: Nebkhau, great god (who slays the enemy)
8. One who satisfies the heart, lord of the two lands: Sahure
Credit
Acquired by Henry Walters
