The article takes into account the meaning of the word mskA in the Old Kingdom letter to the dead, Cairo JE 25975. This term was previously translated, in this context, as “couch” or “leather”, influencing the interpretation of the event described in the rest of the letter. As evident from the internal content, the letter addressed to Seankhenptah is mainly focussed on property transmission from father to son. The question of inheritance is the Leitmotiv of all the text addressed to Seankhenptah. Also from a comparative analysis with other letters to the dead, it stands out also that the letter could represent an attempt at creating a solid base to support an unsolved inheritance question. Hence, the lemma mskA could be more simply interpreted as “inheritance” or any related words belonging to the inheritance sphere. At the end of discussion, the author tantalisingly proposes to translate the word mskA as “child’s inheritance”, interpreting it as compound of the verb ms “bear, give birth”, related to the world of “infancy”, and the noun kA, “vitality”, “Nahrung”, related to the world of “sustenance”.
The mskA as “child’s inheritance” (?) in the context of the Old Kingdom Seankhenptah’s letter to the dead, Cairo JE 25975
MINIACI, GIANLUCA
2014-01-01
Abstract
The article takes into account the meaning of the word mskA in the Old Kingdom letter to the dead, Cairo JE 25975. This term was previously translated, in this context, as “couch” or “leather”, influencing the interpretation of the event described in the rest of the letter. As evident from the internal content, the letter addressed to Seankhenptah is mainly focussed on property transmission from father to son. The question of inheritance is the Leitmotiv of all the text addressed to Seankhenptah. Also from a comparative analysis with other letters to the dead, it stands out also that the letter could represent an attempt at creating a solid base to support an unsolved inheritance question. Hence, the lemma mskA could be more simply interpreted as “inheritance” or any related words belonging to the inheritance sphere. At the end of discussion, the author tantalisingly proposes to translate the word mskA as “child’s inheritance”, interpreting it as compound of the verb ms “bear, give birth”, related to the world of “infancy”, and the noun kA, “vitality”, “Nahrung”, related to the world of “sustenance”.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
