28
LITURGY OF FUNERAL OFFERINGS
meaning of "offerings" for pert kheru are Virey,[1] Amélineau,[2] and Erman.[3]
It now remains to consider how the words
suten ḥetep ṭā, were understood by the Egyptians. It is true that they occur on almost every sepulchral monument known to us, but there are cases in which they are omitted. To one of these Mr. Griffith has called attention, namely the inscription of Methen, which begins with the words Ȧnpu ḥetep ṭā
, "May Ȧnpu give an offering," and makes no mention of the ḥetep of the king. Another is found in the work of Mariette, Les Mastaba, p. 116, where we have
"May the great god give an offering," and no mention is made of the king. Both examples come from monuments which are not later than the IVth Dynasty, and it is clear that there was a time in Egypt when men invoked the god and made no mention of the king. It is quite possible, and very probable, that the king sent gifts or offerings when his friends among the nobles, or highly meritorious officials, were laid to rest in their tombs, and a proof of this is perhaps furnished in a text published by Mariette (op. cit., p. 396) where we have the following :--
- ↑ Tombeau de Rekhmara (Mémoires, v., 101, note 7).
- ↑ Un Tombeau Égyptien (Revue de l'histoire des Religions, 1891).
- ↑ Egyptian Grammar, p. 50*.
