Identification
Title Sarcophagus of Nakhtnebef
Type Astronomical Representation
Decan List Family AR3
EAT3 Number and Name 39 Nekhtnebef
EAT3 Pages and Plates 53-54, Pl 25
EAT3 Decan List Family Seti I A B
Publications Lepsius (1849); Brugsch (1883); Gundel (1936)
Location In Berlin
Date 30th dynasty or early Ptolemaic

 

Content
Registers 2
Circumpolar Group and Deities Yes:  9 behind Hippo; 7 opposite.
Planets

Superior:  Jupiter, Saturn, Mars

Inferior:  Mercury, Venus

Decan Names Yes
Decanal Stars Yes
Personifications of the Decans No
Cluster Numbers Yes
Depictions of Decanal Constellations Yes
Decanal Deity Names Yes
Decanal Deity Figures Yes
Lunar Months No
Civil Months No
Nut No

 

Notes

The arrangement is unusual in having the two registers share the same orientation, similar to the representation in the Tomb of Senenmut.

 

Schematic

 39Nekhtnebef  schematic

 

Legend for Schematic
C Circumpolar group of constellations
A Circumpolar attendant deities
D Decans
P Planets
 Hippo symbol

Location and orientation of the circumpolar hippo

 Human symbol 

Indicates the starting point and directionality of list or procession of figures

 

Decan List

The list gives an approximate layout for how the decans, deities, cluster labels (x-nwt Xt), and decanal figures (in bold) are arranged.  However, the only way of perceiving the complete layout and orthography of the labels is by consulting photographs, drawings, or the original.  For conventions and abbreviations, see below the table. 

The deities are represented by figures, sometimes with characteristics of the deities, even when then name is not present.  The wording of Neugebauer and Parker's decan list for this sarcophagus (EAT 3 p. 129 ff.) suggests that names of deities are not present but they are indeed present for many decans.

The list is notable for its large triangle area and its borrowings from other traditions:  spellings, arrangement, and circumpolar style from Senmut, the decan tpy-a bAwy, and the depiction of many figures of deities from AR2.  These features, plus the lack of Mercury and the separation in time from the other astronomical representations that are members of the Seti I A subgroup, caused Neugebauer and Parker to class this diagram in a monotypical subgroup B of the Seti I A family.

 

tpy-a knmt         
3 Xry xpd knmt    
knmt Children of Horus  
4 HA<t> DAt Children of Horus  
5 pH<wy> DAt Children of Horus  
6 TmAt Hrt Children of Horus  
TmAt Xrt Duamutef  
8a {b}<w>SAti Hapy  
8b bkATi Hapy  
9 sbA<w> mH{t}w Duamutef  
10 tpy-a xnt<t> Hapy  
11 xntt Hrt Horus  
12 xntt Xrt    
13 Tms <n> xnt<t> Horus  
14 s<A>pti xnwy

Isis

Nephthys

Boat
15 Hry-ib wiA  
16 sSm[w]  
17 knmw Children of Horus  
18 tpy-a smd Horus  
19 smd Hapy  
20 srt Isis, Xt-nwt Sheep
21 sAwy srt    
22 Xrt <xpd> srt    
23 tpy-a Axwy    
24 Axwy    
tpy-a bAwy Imseti  
25 bAwy Hapy  
26 xnt<w> Hr{t}<w> Horus  
27 Hry-ib xnt{t}<w> Horus
28 xnt{t}<w> Xrw Horus
29 qd Horus  
30 sAwy qd

Hapy

Kebehsenuf

 
31 xAw Horus, Xt  
32 art Os<iris>  
<33 iwn sAH> Horus, Horus Sahu
34 rmn Hr<y> sAH Eye of Horus the Elder  
<35 msDr sAH> Eye of Horus Heset  
36 rmn Xr<y> n sAH Eye of Horus of the Horizon  
37 a sAH Eye of Horus of the Flame  
39 {As}-spdt Isis Sopdet
SP1 Hr-wpStA rn=f sbA rsy n pt Planet
SP2 DA=f rn=f Hr-kA-pt rn=f sbA imnty rsy pt Planet
SP3 Hr-Axty rn=f sbA iAbty pt sqdd=f m xt<xt>
Planet
siAtwStwy   Turtles
C .bn Imseti  
D hnhn Hapy  
E kAkA Duamutef  
F nbi wr Kebehsenuf  
G nsr<w> Imseti

   
H sSpt Eyes <of> Horus
J hp[ds] Horus
K abS<s> Horus
L {s}<nTr> wAS Duamutef  
IP2 bn<w>   Benu

The decan numbers and letters shown here are for the decan family AR3

SP = superior planet

IP = inferior planet

Grey shading = damage

< > = omitted but understood

{ } = inserted

The number of star symbols accompanying the decans is also omitted here, as it is often impossible to tell to which decan the symbols refer.  EAT3 deals with star symbols in some detail.