Amarah West Inscription

ʻAmarah West Topographical List

Ancient Near East · c. 1279-1213 BCE

A New Kingdom Egyptian topographical inscription from the temple of Ramses II at ʻAmarah West in Nubia (ca. 1279-1213 BCE). Lines 93-98 list six subdivisions of the “Shasu-land” (ta shasu), duplicating four names from the older Soleb list of Amenhotep III in reversed sequence and adding Seir at the head. The list pairs the Shasu group named yhwʒ (a linguistic match for the Israelite divine name) with Seir, the southern wilderness from which Israel's earliest poetry says Yahweh marched out (Judges 5:4-5; Deuteronomy 33:2).

1From the wall inscription in the hypostyle hall of the temple of Amun-Re at ʻAmarah West, built under Ramses II. Lines 93-98 list subdivisions of the “Shasu-land” (ta shasu) in reversed order from the older Soleb list, with Seir added at the head.[1] ta shasu sʻrr (Shasu-land: Seir) ta shasu rbn (Shasu-land: L(?)-b-n?) ta shasu pyspʒys (Shasu-land: Pyspys) ta shasu smt (Shasu-land: Smt) ta shasu yhwʒ (Shasu-land: Yhwʒ) ta shasu (t)rbr (Shasu-land: (T)rbr)

Glossary