Sallier Papyri 351Sahuré began the royal cemetery at ABUSIRsouth of
SAQQARA. He erected a pyramidal complex there, com-
plete with a valley temple, causeway, and mortuary tem-
ple. It was designed with colonnaded courts and reliefs
depicting his military campaigns and is considered a
model of Fifth Dynasty funerary architecture, using not
only basic building materials from the local region but
fine limestone from the TUREH(Tura) QUARRYas well.
Sahuré’s desert hunting expeditions and his naval fleet are
depicted on the pyramid. The scenes are in low relief and
were once painted.
His mortuary temple had rainspouts shaped as lion
heads, forerunner of the Gothic gargoyles. Copper-lined
bases and lead plugs were also discovered in the complex,
as were red granite palm columns. His pyramid was
called Sekhet-Ré, “the Field of Ré.” A second pyramid
was built in the eastern complex, possibly for an
unknown consort. In the later eras, Sahuré’s complex was
used as a sanctuary for the goddess SEKHMET. Sahure was
succeeded on the throne by his brother KAKAI.
St. Petersburg Papyrus This is an Egyptian docu-
ment now in the State Hermitage Museum in Russia.
The papyrus contains the TALE OF THE SHIPWRECKED
SAILOR.
Sais (Zau, Sai, Sa-el-Hagar) It is a site on the right
bank of the Rosetta or Canopic branch of the Nile in the
Delta region. Called Zau or Sai by the Egyptians, Sais is
the modern Sa-el-Hagar. The city was the cult center of
the goddess NEITH(1) and the capital of the Twenty-sixth
Dynasty (664–525 B.C.E.). The rulers of the Twenty-
fourth Dynasty (724–712 B.C.E.) also resided in Sais,
which served as the capital of PSAMMETICHUS I (r.
664–610 B.C.E.). No monuments remain, however, as the
city was looted by later dynasties and by the Persians.
The burial sites of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty are still evi-
dent in the territory, some having yielded exquisite
objects of the mortuary regalia of the Necho-Psam-
metichus royal line.
sakieh(sakia) It was an Egyptian waterwheel de-
signed to take water out of the Nile for use in agricultural
projects. Oxen or humans powered the sakieh,which was
used side by side with the later shaduf,the irrigation tool
introduced by the HYKSOS.
See also AGRICULTURE; FAIYUM.
Salamis This was the principal coastal city of Cyprus,
where a naval battle took place between PTOLEMY I SOTER
(r. 304–284 B.C.E.) and DEMETRIUS I POLIORCETESof Mace-
donia and his allies in 306 B.C.E. The Egyptians were
defeated in the battle. At the time of the engagement,
Salamis was an important Egyptian TRADEcenter. The bat-
tle also took place early in the reign of Ptolemy I, at a time
when the former generals of ALEXANDER III THE GREAT
struggled for supremacy in the Mediterranean world.
See also DIADOCHE.Salamuni This was an ancient necropolis district serv-
ing the city of AKHMINin many historical eras. A temple
for the god MINwas also erected in Salamuni.Sal Island It is an eight-mile-long site south of the
third cataract of the Nile in NUBIA(modern Sudan). A
famous summit there was called Gebel Adou. ’AHMOSE(r.
1550–1525 B.C.E.) fortified an Egyptian outpost there,
and a temple was erected on the island by AMENHOTEP I
(r. 1525–1504 B.C.E.). The site served as an outpost of
Egyptian TRADEactivities. SETI I(r. 1306–1290 B.C.E.) put
down a rebellion on Sal Island, at Sha’at, defeating the
Irem, a local warrior people. The island became the
administrative base of the VICEROYof Nubia in Seti I’s
reign.Salitis (Sharek, Sharlek)(fl. c. 1640 B.C.E.)Asiatic
who founded the Fifteenth Dynasty, called the Great Hyksos
He started his line in MEMPHISand then moved his capital
to AVARISon the eastern side of the Bubastis branch of the
Nile in the Delta. Salitis is believed to have held the
Avaris throne for about 19 years. He ruled the entire
Delta and Egypt as far south as GEBELEIN. He is called
“Sultan” in some lists, and his Asian name was Sharek or
Sharlek. Salitis and his successors in Avaris were called
the Great Hyksos because of their dominance. Salitis had
an alliance with the KERMEHculture in NUBIA(modern
Sudan), and his seals were found there. He was a contem-
porary of INYOTEF IVof Thebes, whose line held Upper
Egypt. Salitis fortified Avaris against possible assaults by
the Thebans.Sallier Papyri This is collection of ancient Egyptian
texts purchased by one M. Sallier from an Egyptian sailor.
These papyri contained accounts of the campaigns of
RAMESSES II(r. 1290–1224 B.C.E.) and the confrontations
of Sekenenré TA’OIIof the Seventeenth Dynasty
(1640–1550 B.C.E.) with APOPHIS(1585–1553 B.C.E.) of
the Fifteenth Dynasty, starting the war against the Hyk-
sos. Also included is a copy of the “Poem of PENTAUR,”
the account of Ramesses II’s battle of KADESH. The SATIRE
ON TRADESis part of the accounts and literary texts.
The Sallier Papyri are in the British Museum in Lon-
don. Papyrus IV, for example, dating to the 56th regnal
year of Ramesses II, is long and composed over an earlier
text, with exercises, notes, and memorabilia on the verso.
A CALENDARof lucky and unlucky days is part of the
material in this papyrus.
See also QUARREL OF APOPHIS AND SEKENENRÉ(TA’OII).