ML

7: Greek Mercenaries in Egyptian Service (591 BC)

(Meiggs and Lewis no. 7)


When King Psamtik came to Elephantine,

those who sailed with Psamtik son of Theokles
wrote these lines; and they came above Kerkis, as far as the river allowed;
and those of foreign tongue Potasimto commanded, and Amasis the Egyptions.
Archon son of Amoibichos and Pelekos son of Oudamos wrote us.

Among the earliest Greek inscriptions, and possible the earliest Greek inscriptions
in the Nile region, the graffiti of Greek soldiers on the leg of the colossal statue of
Rameses II at Abu Simbel in Nubia attests to Greek tourism, mercenary activities
and cultural contact and integration in Egypt as early as the beginning of the sixth
century CE.

The expedition of Psamtik II (595589) into Ethiopia is mentioned briefly in
Herodotus II.161, without reference to the participation of Greek soldiers, although
Herodotus does describe the recruitment of Ionian and Carian pirates by the kings
grandfather Psamtik I in his rise to power earlier in Book II, and their subsequent
establishment in the Nile Delta, where they taught Egyptian boys Greek. At roughly
the same period, the Greek trading settlement of Naukratis was becoming
established in the Nile Delta: the earliest Greek pottery (Corinthian) suggests a
foundation in the final quarter of the seventh century, with the construction of the
Panhellenic shrine mention by Herodotus (the Hellenaion) in the 570s. Thus, while
Greek contact with Egypt may have been still in its early stages, there is ample
evidence of interactions and exchange of goods, knowledge, labour, and skills.

One of the interesting sociolinguistic aspects of this graffiti is the implied mixture
and blurring of ethnic backgrounds. The inscription translated above, the most
extensive in the collection, is in the Doric dialect (hence huis as far as, and the
spelling of the masculine genitive singular as o (Ionic ou). The lettering,
meanwhile, is Ionic, as is that of a second inscription Helesibios the Teian (ML 7b).
Three further inscriptions similarly indicate the authors background: ML 7c
(Tlephos the Ialyssian wrote me) and ML 7g (Anaxanor the Ialyssian ) indicate
Rhodian origins, while ML 7f (Pabis the Colophonian with Psammat) refers to the
East Greek city of Colophon.

Jessica Wright 2012

This mixture of written dialects and origins is interesting in various ways: it

suggests, firstly, that Greeks abroad were as likely to identify themselves by where
they came from as by their patronymic. In her comments on this inscription, Jeffery
suggested that authors who did not identify their homeland were second or third
generation settlers (LSAG). it also suggests that writing practices remained
distinctive, even among the children of settlers perhaps because of methods of
instruction, or perhaps in order to maintain a distinctive sense of ethnic identity.

Names have also provided a route into these inscriptions: particularly striking is the
commander Psamtik son of Theocles, perhaps a second generation Greek named
for the Egyptian royal family (ML 7), perhaps the son of a Greek guest-friend (xenos)
of the king, who named his son Psamtik in accordance with Greek customs of name
exchange in such relationships (Gabriel Herman). The distinction between these
interpretations has important consequences, as the latter assumes an aristocratic
element among the Greek soldiers, while the former is more in keeping with the
image of Greek Mercenaries employed by Meiggs and Lewis and suggested by
Herodotus description of the Ionian and Carian pirates-turned-mercenaries.

Informal private inscriptions, such as the hexameter verses on Nestors Cup, the
kalos graffiti on wine cups, and the political slogans painted over the walls of
Pompeii, provide a view into ancient history that complements and contrasts public
inscriptions, such as lists of officials, accounts, and decrees, as well as formal private
inscriptions such as tomb stones. The advantage of informal texts is the tendency for
the author to be, rather than to hire the inscriber, indicating literacy levels (and
uses) outside of official contexts. However, it is important to beware of assuming
that informal means sub-elite, an easy connection to make, since most formal
inscriptions were commissioned by elite individuals or groups; as Hermans
argument suggests, the aristocracy were just as capable as the common people
(perhaps more so) of carving their own names in the rock.

Jessica Wright 2012