Egypt Exploration Society

An Inscription on Gebel Barkal

Author(s): H. N. Chittick
Source: The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, Vol. 43 (Dec., 1957), pp. 42-44
Published by: Egypt Exploration Society
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3855277 .
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 (42)

AN INSCRIPTION ON GEBEL BARKAL

By H. N. CHITTICK
rises in monumental isolation from the gravel-strewn desert, its sheer
GEBELBARKAL
east cliff looking over the temples at its foot towards the Nile and the site of Napata on
the farther bank. On this eastern face are traces of what are thought to have been four
gigantic standing figures, rising almost to the full height of the hill, nearly a hundred
metres.These tracescan be clearlyseen in pl. IV, i which is aview from the east, the great
Temple of Amuin g situated below the scars of the two northernmost of the sup-
posed statues. It will be observed that the distance between the two central 'statues' is
greater than that separating them from the outer ones, which are equally spaced on
either side. It has been suggested by Dr. A. J. Arkell that the great quantities of fallen
rock at the foot
the of hill may hide a rock-cut temple with its entrance between the
two central 'statues' as at Abu Simbel.2
The most southerly 'statue' is the only one of which more than a scar survives.
Plate IV, 2 is a view of this pinnacle from the top of the cliff, facing south. It is possible
without the exercise of too much imagination to see this is the remains of a standing
figure, and the upper part has some resemblanceto the Egyptian White Crown. More-
over, lying in the ruins of the small temple below and a little to the south is a fragment
of a head (about one-quarter of the whole, including an eye and part of an ear) about
seven times life size. Though much too small to have come from a statue nearly the
height of the hill, it would be about the size one would expect for an attendant figure
standing by the leg of the chief statue.
Dr. Arkell has observed two cartouches and some vertical cuts near the top of
the pinnacle, and thought he could distinguish the sign A at the bottom of one of the
cartouches. In September, 1953, I examined the inscription through the telescope of
a surveyor's level, and was able to read some of the signs. I returned in December with
a powerful telescope3and spent a whole day examining the rock face in various lights.
No writing was seen except on the southern pinnacle.4
An area on the east side of the pinnacle has been cut to form a smooth flat surface.
Though most of this has been heavily weathered,it is clearthat this areahas been divided
into at least five panels by shallow vertical channels cut in the rock and it seems that
the greater part was at one time inscribed. The only part where the signs are legible,
I Points of the compass are considered as 'true' throughout, and not with reference to the Nile which flows
in a southerly direction in this region.
Z See article in Illustrated London News, Feb. 13, 1957, pp. 2 14-15, and his History of the Sudan to A.D. 1821,
13I. The traces of the 'statues' were first observed by Major G. Titherington.
3 For the loan of which I am indebted to Mr. David Oates, of the Ministry of Education, Sudan Govern-
ment.
4 Dr. Arkell thinks there is another inscription farther to the north, but although I examined the whole face
of the hill, I saw no other signs.
 PLATE IV

·,- '.*--'' ': . ·r

41'4: J J S_ D D 2

..

i. GEBEL BARKAL

2. SOUTHERN PINNACLE, GEBEL BARKAL

(Photographsby courtesyof the OrientalInstitute, Universityof Chicago)
 AN INSCRIPTION ON GEBEL BARKAL 43
however, lies where, it seems, a rather harder stratum of sandstone runs across the
pinnacle, and has consequently been comparativelyfree from weathering. Nevertheless
some signs, even in the same cartouche, are much easier to read than others. This last-
described area is just visible in pl. IV, i, showing as a white dot one-eighth of the height
of the pinnaclebelowthe summit,andjust abovethe patchof shadowextendingacross
its face.

/£SEVE
P-LLy Lintt o FLot-

AR£R

...-- ..].. -- "-

I---, -.... "' 7

\EVEPRELY WEATHERED AREA

R*.

ofL,titgC i<e /
Lo f
Ftnt.tod J

FIG. I.
A sketchof the whole areain which tracesof humanworkmanshipcan be seen is
shownin fig. I. It will be seen that in additionto tracesof six verticalchannels,there
are two horizontalones. That at the top has almostcertainlybeen artificiallycut, but
does not appearto extendbeyondthe right edge of the fifth panelfrom the left. The
lower horizontalchannelis less regular,and appearsto rise at the right-handend; it
seems to be of naturalorigin, presumablya narrowband of softer stone that has
weatheredaway. The whole of the area left blank in the drawingis fairly heavily
weathered;therearetracesof signs (exceptwheretheirabsenceis indicated)but they
could not be read. The weathering is even more severe in the areasdelimited by dotted
lines.
It will be seen that therearefour cartouchesvisible,togetherwith top of a fifthnear
the upperhorizontalline.' The two completenamesare CouL, presumablyNastasen,
and (ot-, clearlyTaharqa.Of the other two, the first from the left will be con-
sideredbelow,the thirdfromthe left I havenot identified.
It is hard to see from the little that has been read how the whole inscription was laid
out. Perhapsthe most obvious interpretationis that it is a list of nsw-bitynamesof
kings,but thereare difficultiesin takingthis view. First, since the signs readfromleft
to right (presumablyin verticalcolumns)Nastasenappearsto be namedwell before
Taharqa,who, in fact, lived nearlyfour hundredyearsearlier.
I am not absolutely certain of the reality of this; it may possibly be a line produced haphazardly, byweather-
ing. But a sign (o or FD)certainly lies within it.
44 H. N. CHITTICK
Second, there is no known nsw-bityname ending (as the first does) in 44,and we must
be especially hesitant about postulating a hitherto unknown king by reason of the fact
that the sign at the beginning of the name is doubtful. The so Rr name Nastasen does,
however, end with the signs 44,and it is tempting to link it with his adjoiningnsw-bity
name. If we do so, it is nevertheless difficult to see how the two cartouches, written
vertically and beside each other, can be fitted into any acceptable scheme for the in-
scription as a whole.
In effect, the verdict on the nature of this inscription must wait on more of it being
read. I doubt whether much more can be made out from the ground, and it is quite
impossible to scale the pinnacle or to gain access to it from the top of the main mass of
rock. Useful results perhaps might be obtained by photographing from a close flying
light aeroplane; observation from a helicopter would be best.
The reasonswhich prompted the placing of an inscription in such a curious position,
presumably in the expectation that it would never again be read, will no doubt always
remain a mystery.

Note by Dr. A. J. Arkell

Mr. Chittick only studied this inscription on a single day in September; but the
angle at which the sunlight falls on the inscription changes considerably at different
seasons. I think it was almost certainly in the winter (December?) that I read part of
the Son of Re name of Taharqa. If someone can visit the hill every three months for
a whole year and study the inscription through a telescope for the whole of a day each
time, I am confident that more of the inscription will be read from the ground. I am
certain I have seen part of the cartouche of Taharqa, and now Mr. Chittick has read
his nsw-bity name. Surely the explanation of the occurrence of Nastasen's name,
assuming that it has been correctly read, is that the original inscription of Taharqa
naturally occupies a central position and another inscription by Nastasen has been
added beside it.
The other inscription I have seen was on the head of this statue, just to the right
of the cartouche of Taharqa.