The Great Karnak Inscription of Merneptah's 5th regnal year, the longest surviving continuous monumental text from Egypt, describes the combined Libyan and Sea People invasion of Egypt c.1208 BCE. This new study, the first complete commentary on this long but unfortunately damaged text, begins with a translation of the text, accompanied by detailed notes. The study considers specific military aspects of the inscription alongside its religious background. A grammatical analysis of the Great Karnak Inscription also sheds new light on the grammar of Ramesside monumental texts.

About the Author

Colleen Manassa, curator of Echoes of Egypt: Conjuring the Land of the Pharaohs, is the William K. and Marilyn M. Simpson Associate Professor of Egyptology at Yale University.

Reviews

'...a very useful study of a highly important historical text, largely neglected hitherto.' (K A Kitchen, Book List 2005)

'...should be of interest to anyone studying issues relating to international relations of the period, aspects of military conflict in the later New Kingdom, or the monumental grammar of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Dynasties [...] The welcome inclusion of the complete hieroglyphic text should be of great use to anyone wishing to study the content and grammar of this inscription for themselves.' (Joshua Roberson, Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt, Vol. XL2005)

Book Information
ISBN 9780974002507
Author Colleen Manassa
Format Paperback
Page Count 240
Imprint Yale Egyptological Institute
Publisher Yale Egyptological Institute
Weight(grams) 475g
Dimensions(mm) 250mm * 170mm * 13mm