The Measure

30 2 Dr. William S. Ward (Beirut) has kindly drawn my attention to a brief communication by Sir Alan H. Gardiner entitled 'The word mrgl and its various uses' (JEA 26 [1941], 157-8). Gardiner there gave reasons to support the reading mrgl, and identified this word with Coptic .ll~~'2t£ (Greek p,aTtov), a capacity measure of one-twelfth of an artabe that was used for grain, fruit, and other commodities. I Despite the differences in spelling and gender, the ~~ to) of C T v, 185 a is in all likelihood the Middle Egyptian form of this Late Egyptian word, attested here for the first time. It is tempting to consider this m(r)gt tentatively as a nomen instrumenti derived from gl, listed in Wb. v, 5 I 6, I as a verb connected with measuring. This entry was probably prompted by the spelling ~ ~)b found once in the formula lw grn('l) pr Tmn m rnpwt qszot»Phrases like lw al·n(·i) it Im: n srna n niwt tn r-dr-s 'I measured out nourishing Upper Egyptian barley to the entire village'> might seem to support this interpretation, but the object of gl is pr Tmn, not the grain. It is therefore better to delete this entry, and to treat the two occurrences of gl as metaphorical uses of the well-attested verb gIl 'to extend': 'I maintained the temple of Amlin during the years of misery.'! For the same reason, the suggested etymology of m(r)gt remains exceedingly doubtful. Despite its uncertain origin, m(r)gt 'measure' is a welcome addition to our Middle Egyptian vocabulary, and may possibly furnish the correct reading for the above-quoted passage from tle15-anakhte's letter and other instances where similar spellings occur. The presence of the determinative \J in both texts is certainly noteworthy, and further examples may eventually come to light, especially where the reference is to the receptacle rather than the unit of measurement. DIETER MUELLER