Undeniably, the Palermo Stone represents one of the most significant archaeological finds in Ancient Egypt. The stone, made of black olivine basalt, measures approximately 45 cm high, 23 cm wide and 6.5 cm deep.
Archaeology | Palermo Stone
This splendid piece is currently housed in the Regional Archaeological Museum of Palermo in honor of Antonino Salinas (director of the museum for over 40 years, 1873-1914, and one of the most prominent Sicilian archaeologists of the 19th century). The stone arrived at the museum in 1877 as a gift from Sicilian lawyer and antiquities collector Ferdinando Gaudiano.
Although there are five more fragments that are conserved in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo and another fragment (pictured right) in the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archeology in London, the Palermo Stone contains important information about the earliest periods of Egyptian history, from the Early Dynastic Period and the Old Kingdom until the middle of the Fifth Dynasty, with mention of Nejantekara, the third king of this dynasty. It is worth highlighting, however, that this is a period still lacking in a lot of data, with the most recent archaeological discoveries answering only some of these questions. Therefore, the relevance of these documents, also called “Real Annals”, lies in the fact that they “can” provide references, which were not found in other sources.
Although there has been more than a century of studies on the Palermo Stone, many researchers doubt its real historical value and reliability, especially regarding the early dynastic period. Some scholars argue that one or more of the fragments, in particular fragment 1 from Cairo, may be fake, as they lack fundamental information such as, for example, the acquisition and original origin of all fragments.
In fact, it is not known how or when the Palermo Stone arrived in Italy, much less about the biography of the stone's donor Ferdinando Gaudiano. It is known that he traveled around the Mediterranean, between the end of 1840 and the beginning of 1850, to escape political persecution by the Bourbon regime of the Kingdom of Naples, or “Kingdom of the Two Sicilies”. Gaudiano defended republican ideals that were already gaining many followers both in Italy and elsewhere in Europe in the first half of the 19th century. It is imagined that, throughout these travels, he passed through France and Tunisia, including Egypt, mainly Alexandria, where the existence of a community of political exiles at that period was witnessed.
Could Gaudian have acquired the Palermo Stone on the Egyptian antiquities market?
According to Massimiliano Nuzzolo, professor of archeology, such a hypothesis seems unfeasible, since, in this case, Gaudiano would have acquired several other more striking artifacts, not the Palermo Stone, a single slab of black stone with some practically illegible hieroglyphic inscriptions. Nuzzolo believes in the possibility that Gaudiano acquired the stone, or actually received it as a gift, in Palermo, as described by some of his descendants.
However, when exactly did this happen?
The only reliable information, so far, is that the stone was in Palermo from 1865, when Michele Amari – great historian, scientist, politician and close friend of Ferdinando Gaudiano – sent a lithograph [1] of the Palermo Stone to the French Egyptologist Emmanuel De Rougé, who, in turn, informed the Egyptological community about the existence of the artifact. It is worth noting that the lack of reliable information about the acquisition and origin of the stone also applies to the other associated fragments, all acquired in the Cairo antiquities market, between 1910 and 1963, with the exception of the “Cairo Fragment 4”, which was found in Mit Rahina [2] in 1912, but in a confusing and obscure archaeological context. Another reason for distrust of its authenticity: the hieroglyphic text on the stone is not easily readable, especially on its back, whose condition is much more precarious than that of the front.
Mit Rahina (ancient Memphis) is an open Egyptian museum, with several ancient Egyptian artifacts discovered on site. The city of Memphis is the center of Badrasheen in Giza. Memphis was the capital of the first Old Empire in ancient Egypt, from the unification of north and south by King Narmer, until 2,200 BC. It is also interesting to remember that the majority of researchers who studied the Palermo Stone over time did not go to Palermo to carry out an investigation/recognition of the object, they limited themselves only to the study through the graphic and photographic reproductions available.
The analysis of the hieroglyphic text on the Palermo Stone, largely presented in scientific publications, is the result of photography taken by the Director of the Palermo Museum, Antonino Salinas, in 1900, whose request came from German scholars Ludwig Borchardt and Heinrich Schäfer. The most amazing thing is that the first and last publication in high-resolution photographic format (for the time) took place in 1902.
This system brought a great evolution to the history of photography, as well as a starting point for any investigation of the hieroglyphic text engraved on it. However (by the way in this case there seem to be a lot of “buts”), no other photographs have been made since then, although “ALL” articles regarding the Palermo Stone that were published after Schäfer's made use of the incredible progress of digital photography. In 1900, Salinas, in order to improve the visibility and legibility of the text on the stone, sprinkled chalk on it to highlight the contrast between the hieroglyphic text (white after chalk) and the stone background color, satisfactory for studying the front part of the stone, but not for the back, where the hieroglyphic text is not preserved to the point of being useful only for the use of chalk.
The observations presented are also aimed at more recent research on the “Royal Annals” such as, for example, the publication by Toby A. H. Wilkinson, in 2000. Again, despite the importance of this contribution, as it is the first monograph that considers the Stone of Palermo and its associated fragments do not have a photographic reproduction of the fragments. In this work there are only copies of Wilkinson's hand-made reproductions of all the fragments, as well as a copy by Naville of the reverse side of the Palermo Stone and a copy of Iorwerth Edwards' hand drawing of the so-called “Cairo Fragment 1”. The absence of photographic evidence prevented understanding and critical analysis of the graphic interpretation and reproduction of the hieroglyphic text proposed by Wilkinson, in addition to making a comparison with previous transcriptions and translations impossible. When Wilkinson's drawings of the back of the Palermo Stone were compared with those by Edouard Naville produced about a century earlier, we get the distinct impression that the legibility and conservation of the hieroglyphic text were drastically reduced at the end of the 20th century.
One more strange question: How can a stone go through a relentless process of deterioration since 1900?
Wilkinson explained that he was not allowed to open the display case containing the Palermo Stone when he visited the museum. Consequently, your analysis and inspection of the document could not be thorough, as the thick glass case prevents a much more precise examination. This major methodological error greatly hampered the reading, transliteration and translation of the document, especially the back of the stone, which was even less legible to the naked eye.
Conclusions
It is undeniable that the new research into the Palermo Stone and its associated fragments – still considered a work in progress – has provided a fantastic contribution to “knowledge of this unique piece of Egyptian history”. Professor Massimiliano Nuzzolo, in his article "The Palermo Stone and Its Associated Fragments: New Discoveries on the Oldest Royal Annals of Ancient Egypt", intends to emphasize:
“[...] the growing need to rethink and reanalyze a large part of the material generally considered natural by previous studies in the light of a new synergy between Egyptology and the most modern technologies in the field of digital humanities”.
He ends his article by warning that:
“Sometimes it is the case - as we have seen here - also of recent publications, which have not necessarily re-evaluated old questions and/or primary sources through a technologically advanced and scientifically appropriate approach”.
Quotes:
[1] Lithography is the planographic printing process that takes advantage of the immiscibility of grease and water. In the lithographic process, ink is applied to a grease-treated image on the flat printing surface; non-image (blank) areas, which retain moisture, repel lithographic ink. This inked surface is then printed - either directly onto the paper, via a special press (as in most fine art engravings) or onto a rubber cylinder (as in commercial printing) (ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA).
[2] King Mina "Narmer" took Mit Rahina as the capital of Egypt. It was initially called "White Wall" and later "Memphis". Its religious, historical and strategic importance continued throughout ancient Pharaonic times (EGYPT TODAY).
Source:
Nuzzolo, Massimiliano. The Palermo Stone and Its Associated Fragments: New Discoveries on the Oldest Royal Annals of Ancient Egypt - Massimiliano Nuzzolo, 2021 (sagepub.com)
Author: Vanessa Chamma
Graduated in Arabic Literature and bachelor's in international relations
Researcher and Author
Lines of Research: History, Middle East, Geopolitics.
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