May6] SOCIETYOF BIBLICAL ARCHAEOLOGY. [189aconvinced, and so was Mr. Goodwin, whohad been inclinedto
agree with him.* Thetruthis that , P "7T and , P Ij are not
phonetic variants, but different readings which have come down
fromindependenttexts.
Andthis is the case withall the double readingsassignedto the
namesof these godson the sarcophagi andsometimesin the papyri.
Theyagreein most casesas is quite natural,but there are occasional
discrepancies,andit requires the exercise of a critical judgmentto
decidewhenthis is the case.
Thepalaeographicalargumentis of considerable importance. In
the two most ancientcursivedocuments!whichadmitof the com
parison, the initial sign of U is different fromthe initial signof
Q 1. The hieroglyphicsign V m these groups standsfor two
differentthings,and consequently withtwo different values..
Whenit is followed by J^. the value is sexem, not seX + em!
the ^. may be omitted withoutaltering the sound of the group.
|l®^ sexemwas the name of a sceptre having the form of J,
as may be seen in the plates 28 and 38 of Lepsius' Aelteste
Texte. At a later timesexemcameto signify a ' sistrum.'
When the sign is followed by the complementary letters ®
the value is seyet, a word whichis susceptible of various meanings.
Thenameof the goddess sometimeshas for its initial signa sistrum
r.+ It is evident thereforethat the sceptre and the sistrum have
been confoundedunderonehieroglyphic sign,§and the ambiguity
caused by this confusion easily explains differences of reading.
Y ^ may be read either as scxet or as sexemet, and a copyist
wouldsupplya © or a |> according as he understood the text.
I will giveone or two instances in proof of the necessity of
subjecting to criticism these most valuable lists of gods, before
usingthemin evidence.
- Zeitschrift, 1 868,p. 107.
t The Bookof the Dead of Queen Mentuhotep,c. 26, 4 and elsewhere, and
the Berlin PapyrusI, Tale of Sinehit; cf. line 45 with lines 189 and 211.
X E-S-, the great HarrisPapyrus,pi. 43.
§ The differencewas still recognized by the latest scribes. See the Calendar
of Edfu in Brugsch, DreiFest-Kalender,pi. II, line 14, fin, wherethe name
of the goddess is written witha different sign from thatof the word which
precedesit.
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