Historical studies

scarabs 2, pendent seals 2, crystal seals 50, crystal
beads 500, crystal vases 5, wooden seal i. Of
many things the offerings are slightly irregular,
working out as even numbers if between 30 and
31 years. Thus there were annually 70 jars of white
incense, 35 jars of honey, 90 of Egyptian oil, 60
of Syrian oil, 30 of white fat, I2i of goose fat, 8
measures of cinnamon, 4 measures of nukapatha, 60
crates and measures of grapes, 12 crates of pome-
granates. Other things were provided more fre-
quently, as 8 geese and 14 turpu geese each month,
and two jars of skedeh or wine every day.
The section on the new feasts founded in the
9th year, and lasting 23 years to the king's death,
has numbers which are divisible by 23. One ex-
ception is the measures of beer, which are 24 daily
during the time.
9. The Nile Offerings. The " Books of Hapi," the
Nile god, are the next division {lyb to 41*^). The
heading states that the offerings were founded by
Rameses, " the increase of 8 years making 31 years " ;
that is, the greater amount of offerings during years
I to 8, making with the subsequent 23 years the
whole 31 years of the reign. Prof. Breasted prefers
to read 48 years making 31 years, and considers the
sentence quite insoluble; but Birch read "««" (in-
crease), not " 40 " ; and the sign aa appears in almost
this form in page lyb, line 11. It is quite likely that
the first draft may have been aa, and owing to a
number following it the scribe thought it was 40 and
wrote accordingly. We find that eight years is a
factor in all the numbers, which points to the in-
telligible reading above. We see ten multiples of
about 2920 (from 2909 to 2945 in different subjects).
Now 2920 is the number of days in eight years.
Another very frequent base is 848, of which there
are 53 examples, with various multipliers. Taking
eight years, as stated, and shewn by the number of
days, this yields 106 per year. What then can 106
be, as a basis of offerings to Hapi, and particularly
of statuettes of Hapi ?
10. T/ie Nile Stages. The Nile was divided into a
series of towing stages, called schoinoi, though longer
than the land schoinos. The length of these stages
is best fixed by those beyond Egypt in the dodeka
schoinos from Aswan to Takompso. This district
was about 81 miles along the river, giving 674 miles
per schoinos, or 592 miles if measured direct upon
the plain. This river schoinos is stated by Herodotos
to be 60 stadia, or 69 miles. Probably it was 20,000
cubits, or 6"SS miles. On this scale of the schoinos
EGYPTIAN FESTIVALS AND NILE SHRINES
the distance from Aswan to Memphis would be
84 schoinoi, and from Memphis to the sea 21 on
the plain or 27 by the river windings. Thus the
number of these stages on the Nile was between
105 and III. This small uncertainty thus includes
the number 106 which is so prominent in these Nile
offerings.
Herodotos gives the same number, in stating that
the schoinos was 60 stadia. The distance from the
sea by river to Syene is 725 miles, or 6330 Greek
stadia. This divided by 60 is 105J schoinoi. His
statement of the number of schoinoi is apparently
corrupt, as he gives from the sea to Heliopolis as
25, and from Heliopolis to Thebes as 81, making
106 from the sea to Thebes. He then adds 30 from
Thebes to Elephantine. It is possible, however, that
the schoinos varied (see Strabo, XVII. i. 24 for later
variations), and that the 106 which we here deal with
were the Nile stages only from Thebes down to the
sea.
II. The Nile Shrines. The conclusion then is that
the 106 offerings were made for, or at, each stage
on the Nile ; and as they are mainly of statuettes it
is probable that each stage had a shrine of Hapi
on the shore, and these shrines were redecorated each
year. There is also another important number, the
272 " Books of Hapi " recording the offerings. These
divided by the 8 years shewn by the offerings gives
34 a year: and 34 has no relation to the 106, which
we have seen to be the stages on the Nile. But the
Nile flows through 22 nomes in Upper Egypt, and
in Lower Egypt its main stream touched 12 more
nomes— Memphis, Letopolis, Heliopolis, Athribis,
Prosopis, Bubastis, Busiris, Sebennytus, Xois, Mendes,
Hermopolis, and Pakhnamunis. Thus there were 34
nomes on the course of the Nile, and there may
have been a register of the offerings in each nome
on the Nile.
The numbers then shew the amounts provided
daily in the great shrine of Hapi. There were 160
baat loaves for divine offerings, 300 persen loaves, 16
kunek loaves, 17 jars of beer, 21 large measures of
grain, i cow or ox, 2\ jars of shedeh or wine, 30 jars
of incense, 15 measures of palm fibre, 15 flower
garlands, and 25 bunches of grapes or raisins. These
were used at the great temple of Hapi, and perhaps
partly at the lesser shrines.
The river shrines at each stage had each year
12 kifts of linen for the keeper or the priest, 300
measures of fruit, 125 apt of raisins and of carob-pods,
IS measures of onions, 15 jars of salt and of natron,