MacGregor plaque
The MacGregor Plaque (or MacGregor Tablet) is the name of an important artefact, which probably derives from the mastaba tomb of the ancient Egyptian king Den (First Dynasty). According to its inscriptions, the plaque was originally attached to the king's sandal.
Origin and description
The artefact was probably found in the tomb of King Den at Abydos - it derives from the excavations of French archaeologist Coptologist and Egyptologist Émile Amélineau. Today the plaque is displayed in the British Museum with the inventory number BM EA 55586. It was acquired by the museum in 1922; before that it was part of the MacGregor collection. The tablet is made of carved ivory and measures 4.5 cm x 5.4 cm; it is about 0.2 cm thick. Images are engraved and fired into it.
On the front side, king Den is depicted. He wears a loincloth, a nemes headress with a Uraeus-snake and an animal tail which hangs down from the back of his skirt. Den is labelled with his Horus name. His pose belongs to the motif of the "slaying the enemy": the king has his right hand raised, holding a mace; with his left hand, Den holds an enemy in place with his hair. The enemy is already on his knees, but attempts to ward off the king's blow. He can be identified as an Asiatic on account of his hairstyle (goatee and braids). On the right side of the plaque is a hieroglyphic inscription, "First occasion of the strike on the east," accompanied by the jackel standard of the god Wepwawet. On the left side of the plaque is the name of a high official, Inika.
On the other side of the placque, a pair of sandals are depicted, although the left part is severely damaged by abrasion.
Bibliography
- Wolfgang Helck. Untersuchungen zur Thinitenzeit (= Ägyptologische Abhandlungen. Vol. 45). Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1987, ISBN 3-447-02677-4, S. 161 & 187.
- R. B. Parkinson, Whitfield Diffie, Mary Fischer, R. S. Simpson. Cracking codes: the Rosetta stone and decipherment. Vol. 2. California Press, New York 1999, ISBN 0520222482, p. 74.
- A. J. Spencer. Early Dynastic Objects (= Catalogue of the Egyptian Antiquities in the British Museum.). British Museum, London 1980, ISBN 0-7141-0927-4, p. 65, No. 460.
External links
- MacGregor-Plakette on the British Museum website.