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tamerhany's Homepage http://search.zorpia.com/tamerhany Fri, 29 Aug 2008 19:08 EDT Fri, 29 Aug 2008 19:08 EDT Zorpia.com The Last King of Egypt's 11th Dynasty http://search.zorpia.com/tamerhany/journal/1832033 <center> <table bordercolor="#0066cc" cellspacing="0" bordercolordark="#0066cc" cellpadding="10" width="100%" align="left" bordercolorlight="#0066cc" border="1"> <tbody> <tr> <td width="100%" bgcolor="#fdffce" height="173"><img height="115" alt="The cartouche of Mentuhotep IV" src="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/mentuhotep4.jpg" width="150" align="right" border="0" /> Though <a href="http://touregypt.net/featurestories/mentuhotep3.htm">Mentuhotep III Sankhkare (Mentuhotep II in a number of texts)</a>  is said by both the <a href="http://touregypt.net/sakkara.htm">Saqqara</a> and <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/abydos.htm">Abydos</a> king lists as being the last of the <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/hdyn11.htm">11th Dynasty</a> rulers, followed immediately by <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/amenemhet1.htm">Amenemhet I</a> who founded the <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/hdyn12.htm">12th Dynasty</a>, the fragmentary papyrus known as the Royal Canon of Turin says there was a period of seven years without a king after Mentuhotep III. Egyptologists believe that it was Nebtawyre Mentuhotep IV who fit within this slot for a short reign of about six years. Mentuhotep was this king's birth name, meaning "The God Montu is Content". His Throne name, Nebtawyre, means "Lord of the Two Lands is Re". Unfortunately, no images of this king are known to us from reliefs or statuary. Because his name is missing from all of these kings lists, many presume that he may have usurped the throne. His mother was a commoner with no royal titles other than "king's mother', so it is possible that he may not even have been a member of the royal family. We know virtually nothing about any other of his family members. It should also be noted that inscriptions from the Hatnub travertine quarry suggest that some of the nomarchs (provinces) in Middle Egypt might have been troublesome at about this time. We should also note that the temple on the West Bank at Thebes cupped in a spectacular amphitheater of cliffs just a short walk from the <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/bahari.htm">mortuary temple</a> of <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/18dyn05.htm">Queen Hatshepsut</a>, which has traditionally been ascribed to <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/amenemhet1.htm">Amenemhet I</a>, is now believed by some scholars to be attributable to Mentuhotep IV. If so, this would be about the only building established by this king. This is a shadowy king and records regarding his reign are rare. From the reign of <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/amenemhet1.htm">Amenemhet I</a>, we find a fragment of a slate bowl discovered at Lisht in the first nome with both the name of Nebtawyre Mentuhotep and Amenemhet I. However, we do know that a vizier under Mentuhotep IV was one Amenemhet, who is well attested from a long inscription that he left in the <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/wadihammamat.htm">Wadi Hammamat</a>, He acted as Governor of the South under Mentuhotep IV, and most Egyptologists seem to believe that he is one and the same as King Amenemhet.  As vizier to Mentuhotep IV, he records that he went with an army of 10,000 (some sources say 1,000) men into the Wadi to seek and retrieve a fine flock of stone suitable for the lid of the king's sarcophagus. The text says that they were led to the block by a pregnant gazelle which, having dropped its young on to the stone to mark it, was immediately sacrificed on the block. A second miraculous event was also recorded when, after a ferocious rainstorm at <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/wadihammamat.htm">Wadi Hammamat</a>, a well 10 cubits square was revealed that was full of water to the brim. In such barren terrain, this would certainly have been a spectacular discovery.  Apparently, the block was successfully detached from the surrounding rock and safely taken to Thebes. However, during their expedition, they were also charged with finding a more favorable port on the Red Sea. Apparently, the port they found was Mersa Gawasis (Kuser), which was not established until the reign of <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/amenemhet2.htm">Amenemhet II</a> as the embarkation point for expeditions to <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/punt.htm">Punt</a>.  Regrettably, one of the reasons this king remains so obscure is that his tomb, and the sarcophagus made from the block as well as his mummy, has never been found. Perhaps Mentuhotep IV was never able to use the stone since it appears that Amenemhet, with the backing of his 10,000 (or 1,000) men, overthrew his master and proclaimed himself king, founding the 12th Dynasty. It has been suggested by Richard Tidyman tht the name of the new capital, Lisht, was a direct reference to this event, and that the literary texts known as the <a href="http://touregypt.net/propheciesofneferti.htm">Prophecy of Neferti</a> and the <a href="http://touregypt.net/teachingofammenemes.htm">Instruction of Amenemhat I</a> should be considered in the light of evidence for a civil war accompanying the takeover. However, there is really no direct evidence of such revolt and it is also possible that Mentuhotep IV simply died without an heir.   </td> </tr> </tbody> </table></center> Books http://search.zorpia.com/tamerhany/journal/1832033 Wed, 27 Aug 2008 22:18 EDT Mentuhotep III of Ancient Egypt's 11th Dynasty http://search.zorpia.com/tamerhany/journal/1832031 <center></center><center> <table bordercolor="#0066cc" cellspacing="0" bordercolordark="#0066cc" cellpadding="10" width="100%" align="left" bordercolorlight="#0066cc" border="1"> <tbody> <tr> <td width="100%" bgcolor="#fdffce" height="173"><center></center><img height="117" alt="The Cartouches of Mentuhotep III" src="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/mentuhotep35.jpg" width="150" align="right" border="0" /> Mentuhotep III (actually, the second Mentuhotep of the <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/ehistory.htm#Middle%20Kingdom">Middle Kingdom</a> and sometimes referred to as Mentuhotep II), benefited from a strong and flourishing country upon the death of his father, <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/mentuhotep2.htm">Mentuhotep II</a>. He used this to good advantage, though by the time he took the throne of Egypt in about 2010 BC he was relatively old and only ruled for about twelve years. Though an <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/hdyn11.htm">11th Dynasty</a> ruler, his order in this dynasty, perhaps as its fifty <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/kings.htm">king</a>, differs according to any number of chronicles of the period, due to the inclusion or exclusion of previous kings.  Mentuhotep, which means "The god <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/montu.htm">Montu</a> is Content" was this king's throne name. His throne name was Sankhkare, which means "Giving Life to the Soul of <a href="http://touregypt.net/featurestories/re.htm">Re</a>". We know little about his family. His father was presumably Mentuhotep II, and his mother is believed to have been Queen Tem. <img height="375" alt="Mentuhotep III wearing the Red Crown" src="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/mentuhotep31.jpg" width="258" align="right" border="0" />Mentuhotep III evidently continued with many of the policies of his predecessors, which included maintaining a defensive attitude towards his neighbors on the northern frontiers, and he was eager to extend trade beyond the First Cataract of the <a href="http://touregypt.net/magazine/mag05012001/magf4a.htm">Nile</a> to the south. In the north, he built a series of fortresses along the border of the eastern Delta, where a cult was later dedicated to himself and the <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/heracleum.htm">Herakleopolitan</a> ruler, Khety III at the site of el-Khatana.  This king initiated a number of expeditions to gather raw material for his many building works, which included a number of <a href="http://touregypt.net/featurestories/temples.htm">temples</a> and shrines. In Year 8 of his reign, we specifically learn, from a long inscription in the <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/wadihammamat.htm">Wadi Hammamat</a>, of an expedition led by his steward, <a href="http://touregypt.net/who/henenu.htm">Henenu</a>, from <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/koptos.htm">Koptos</a>  to Wadi Gasus. The road they used had to be cleared of rebels prior to their departure, and with him, Henenu took some 3,000 soldiers. Wood was carried by his soldiers in order to build ships once they reached the <a href="http://touregypt.net/redsea.htm">Red Sea</a>, and along their journey, they sank twelve wells to support future expeditions. After having built their ships, they departed for the land of East Africa land of <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/punt.htm">Punt</a>, the first such expedition we know of during the Middle Kingdom to do so. They acquired a number of products while in Punt, including perfume and gum. Upon their return, they apparently stopped in Wadi Hammamat in order to query stone. <img height="275" alt="Mentuhotep III wearing the nemes headdress" src="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/mentuhotep32.jpg" width="249" align="right" border="0" />It is also interesting to note the care with which Henenu treated his men. Each soldier was provided with a leather bottle, a carrying pole, two jars of water and 20 loaves a day. In addition, "the asses were laden with sandals" to provide for the troops in this harsh terrain.  Mentuhotep III's building work is characterized by a certain amount of architectural innovation. For example, at <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/habu.htm">Medinet Habu</a> he built a triple sanctuary that foreshadowed the <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/hdyn18a.htm">18th Dynasty</a> temple built for "family" triads of gods. He was also responsible for the temple atop <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/thothhill.htm">Thoth Hill</a>, the highest peak overlooking the <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/kingtomb.htm">Valley of the Kings</a>, not only had a triple sanctuary, but also incorporated the earliest extant temple pylons. Not far away lies the remains of another of his temples. He also apparently finished much of his father's building activities at <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/abydos.htm">Abydos</a>, <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/elkab.htm">Elkab</a>, <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/armant.htm">Armant</a>, <a href="http://touregypt.net/tod.htm">Tod</a> and <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/elephantine.htm">Elephantine</a>.  The artwork commissioned during the reign of Mentuhotep III was also innovative, and the relief work during this period is arguably the beast of the Middle Kingdom. Most of the stone carving is very fine, with raised relief conveying tremendous spatial depth with a differentiation of no more than a few millimeters of thickness within the stone. The subtlety of the portraiture and the details within the clothing on the reliefs from Tod are far better than the works commissioned by his father.  <img height="275" alt="Another image of Mentuhotep III wearing the Red Crown" src="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/mentuhotep33.jpg" width="261" align="right" border="0" />Though overall, Mentuhotep III reign seems to have been very positive, we do learn from some correspondence from a man named Hekanakht, who was the funerary priest under the vizier Ipy at <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/thebes.htm">Thebes</a>, that towards the end of the king's reign, there was apparently the onset of famine in the Theban region.  We believe that, upon his death in about 1998 (according to some sources, a few years earlier) BC, Mentuhotep III was probably buried in a bay in the cliffs to the south of his <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/mentuhotept.htm">fathers monument</a> at <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/bahri.htm">Deir el-Bahari</a>. Little remains of his mortuary temple beyond a causeway that apparently ends at a sloping passage going into the rock at Deir el-Bahari.  His mortuary temple may have been intended to be similar to that of his fathers, but it was unfinished and uninscribed. In 1997, a Hungarian team led by Gyoro Voros found an early Middle Kingdom tomb below the peak of Thoth Hill on the <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/westbank.htm">West Bank</a> at <a href="http://touregypt.net/luxor/">Luxor</a> (ancient <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/thebes.htm">Thebes</a>), that very likely belonged to this king. Its architecture may have been the inspiration of the bab-tombs of the early 18th Dynasty.  One wonders why Mentuhotep III's mortuary temple was unfinished, given his other monumental building activities. His successor, Mentuhotep IV could have usurped the throne, since he is missing from some king lists. His mother was apparently a commoner with no royal titles other than King's mother, so he may not have even been a member of the royal family. </td> </tr> </tbody> </table></center> Books http://search.zorpia.com/tamerhany/journal/1832031 Wed, 27 Aug 2008 22:16 EDT Mentuhotep II, First Ruler of the Middle Kingdom http://search.zorpia.com/tamerhany/journal/1832029 <center></center><center> <table bordercolor="#0066cc" cellspacing="0" bordercolordark="#0066cc" cellpadding="10" width="100%" align="left" bordercolorlight="#0066cc" border="1"> <tbody> <tr> <td width="100%" bgcolor="#fdffce"><center></center><img height="91" src="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/mentuhotep25.jpg" width="125" align="right" border="0" /> For everyone who studies Egyptian history, we like to point out occasionally the fallacy of accepting a single reference about many different ancient topics.  One problem with experts is they have their own opinions, which they often state unequivocally, even though others disagree.  References on the first ruler of the Middle Kingdom are a perfect example of this. His throne name was most certainly Neb-hetep-re, meaning "Pleased is the Lord Re", though we also find it spelled Nebhepetra.  But this is not his common, or birth name, and here we <img height="387" src="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/mentuhotep23.jpg" width="325" align="left" border="0" /> run into problems.  "Chronicle of the Pharaohs" by Peter A. Clayton refers to him as Mentuhotep I, and gives his reign as 2060-2010.  However, the "Oxford History of Ancient Egypt" edited by Ian Shaw gives his name as Mentuhotep II, with a reign from 2055-2004 while Aidan Dodson in his book, "Monarchs of the Nile" refers to him as Montjuhotpe II, with a reign from 2066-2014.  "A History of Ancient Egypt" by Nicolas Grimal calls him Mentuhotpe II, with a reign from 2040-2009, while "Who Were the Pharaohs" by Stephen Quirke simple calls him, as well as the following two kings Mentuhotep, without elaboration or dates. So much for Egyptology being consistent, but never fear, they are all talking about the same king, and they all place his rule as the first of the Middle Kingdom and within the 11th Dynasty.  However one names him, his birth name, Mentuhotep, means "The God Montu is Content". It should be noted that Montu was a Theban god of war. Mentuhotep ruled Egypt from <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/thebes.htm">Thebes</a>, which until then, had not been as prominent as it later became.   We believe he was the son or heir of <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/11dyn03.htm">Intef III</a>, for a number of reasons.  First, there is a relief located at Wadi Shatt el-Rigal, near Gebel es-Silsila, that incorporates a colossal figure of Mentuhotep II dwarfing three other figures believed to be he mother, Intef III and Khety his chancellor. There is also a masonry block found at <a href="http://touregypt.net/tod.htm">Tod</a> with reliefs portraying Mentuhotep II towing over three kings, named Inhtef, lined up behind him. However, Mentuhotep worked so diligently to enhance his reputation with his contemporaries with self-deification that some <img height="235" src="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/mentuhotep21.jpg" width="375" align="left" border="0" /> Egyptologists believe he may not have been a legitimate heir to the throne, though this might also be explained by his efforts to reunite Egypt. Left: Part of the Jubilee celebration scene of Mentuhotep II from Armant. Montuhotep's principle wife was Tem, but he had a number of lesser consorts.  A second major wife was Neferu, who mothered his heir to the throne, and we also know of a wife named Henhenet who died in childbirth. Though he reunited Egypt after the First Intermediate Period, he did not do this immediately, and we find him with a number of Horus names that follow a progression. First, he was "He who gives heart to the Two Lands", followed by "Lord of the White Crown" (Upper Egypt) <img height="375" src="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/mentuhotep24.jpg" width="325" align="right" border="0" /> and finally Sematuawy, "Uniter of the Two Lands", as he apparently unified Egypt. Indeed, in later inscriptions, the king was set alongside <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/01dyn01.htm">Menes</a> as being the second founder of the Egyptian State. At first, his reign was probably peaceful, but latter became most certainly a bloody one, and with a highly militaristic focus. Near his temple at Thebes, American archaeologist Herbert Winlock found a mass tomb in the 1920s with the bodies of 60 of his soldiers who were lain in battle.  There place of burial near the King suggests that the battle they fought was an important one, but sources disagree on where they might have fought.  In the tomb of a local prince or general named Mesehti at <a href="http://touregypt.net/asyuttop.htm">Asyut</a>, we also find models of marching Egyptian soldiers and even in the tombs of common people, we find an increase in the inclusion of weapons among grave goods. In year 14 of his rule, we know that a revolt took place in the <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/abydos.htm">Abydos</a> area by the <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/hierakonpolis.htm">Hierakleopolitan</a> forces, and that he quickly crushed it.  Afterwards, his armies slowly drove the Hierakleopolitan forces north eventually leading to his overall rule of Egypt, but even by year 39 of his rule, when the country was well under his control, he continued his military campaigns into Nubia. It would appear that there might have even been an Egyptian based local kingdom established in the area around <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/abusimbel.htm">Abu Simbel</a>, and so he apparently crushed these upstarts, as well as initiating other policing actions in Lower Nubia. One such expedition was led by his Chancellor, Khety, illustrating the importance Mentuhotep II placed on reopening Egypt's access to Nubia, and beyond. <img height="216" src="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/mentuhotep22.jpg" width="425" align="left" border="0" />However, he did have a long reign, perhaps as long as 50 years, and peace did finally return to Egypt proper, along with prosperity.  Mentuhotep II initiated a number of building projects, including in the areas of <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/elkab.htm">el-Kab</a>, Gebelein, Tod, Deir el-Ballas, <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/dendera.htm">Dendera</a>, <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/karnak.htm">Karnak</a>, Abydos, <a href="http://touregypt.net/aswan/">Aswan</a> and <a href="http://touregypt.net/armant.htm">Armant</a>.  His greatest building work, however, was his <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/bahri.htm">temple and tomb</a> on the west bank at Thebes (Modern <a href="http://touregypt.net/luxor/">Luxor</a>). It is located in the cliffs at <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/bahari.htm">Deir el-Bhari</a>, next to the later and today more famous temple of <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/18dyn05.htm">Queen Hatshepsut</a>.  Many of his high officials are buried near him including his chancellor Akhtoy, his viziers Dagi and Ipi, and his chief steward Henenu.  </td> </tr> </tbody> </table></center> Books http://search.zorpia.com/tamerhany/journal/1832029 Wed, 27 Aug 2008 22:14 EDT The Ancient Egyptian Concept of Fate http://search.zorpia.com/tamerhany/journal/1828037 <table bordercolor="#0066cc" cellspacing="0" bordercolordark="#0066cc" cellpadding="10" width="100%" align="left" bordercolorlight="#0066cc" border="1"> <tbody> <tr> <td align="left" width="100%" bgcolor="#fdffce" height="173"> <img height="276" alt="The Seven Hathors from Dendera" src="http://touregypt.net/featurestories/fate1.jpg" width="550" border="0" /> The Seven Hathors from Dendera Today, many Egyptians continue to believe, as they have for some 4,500 years, that fate plays a big part in their lives. While one might hear in the west concerning a possible promotion that "I hope I get it, I sure worked hard for this promotion", one is more likely to hear in Egypt, simply "inshallah", meaning "if God is willing". Of course, fate is actually very interwoven with religion, and the more religious a people are, the more likely that they are to believe that their destiny is not in their own hands. Even many modern Christians believe in preordination, that the thread of their life is already laid out by God, and hence their fate is sealed. Hence, in the <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/storyofsinuhe.htm">Story of Sinuhe</a>, the protagonist describes his flight to western Asia as a "fateful flight". However, earlier in the story, he refers to the journey by saying that, "I do not know what brought me to this country; it is as if planned by god". Clearly the notion of a divine plan and that which has been fated are synonymous.  The ancient Egyptians believed that, from the beginning of life, an individual was surrounded or assisted by powers that affected his destiny in many ways. Demons of fate were present at his side throughout his life, and accompanied him after death. However, in any culture, fate is a much more complex issue then one might at first imagine, and there were many facets of contradiction in how the ancient Egyptians viewed their fate.  The ancient Egyptian term for fate was derived from a word meaning "ordain" or "fix" and referred generally to the action of a deity. The word is first attested to as early as the end of the <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/ehistory.htm#Old%20Kingdom">Old Kingdom</a> and just as the Arabic word inshallah is frequently uttered from the mouths of modern Egyptians, so too does the term for fate appear regularly in the ancient texts. This is particularly true of <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/wisdom.htm">Wisdom Literature</a>.  Early on, we find fate and death closely associated in these texts. From the <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/hdyn6.htm">6th Dynasty</a> Instruction of Ptahhotep we find references to inevitable death, when it is stated that "His time does not fail to come; one does not escape what is fated", and again in the <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/admonitionsofipuwer.htm">Admonitions of Ipuwer</a> we are told that "Death is a kindly fate". In fact, in Hieratic script, the word for fate was sometimes written with the sign for death. Egyptians also thought that foreigners, including their <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/enemies.htm">enemies</a>, were likewise effected by fate. Hence, concerning the Nubian enemy Aata, <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/autobiographyofahmose.htm">Ahmose son of Abana</a> reports that, "His fate brought on his doom. The Gods of Upper Egypt grasped him." <img height="425" alt="Re -Horakhty right" src="http://touregypt.net/featurestories/fate5.jpg" width="304" align="right" border="0" />Fate apparently was thought to effect ones time as well as manner of death, which was ordained at birth. Thus, in the <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/taleoftwobrothers.htm">Story of Two Brothers</a>, the king of the gods, <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/re.htm">Re-Horakhty</a>, instructs <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/godsofegypt/khenmu.htm">Khnum</a> to create a wife for Bata. However, the seven Hathors are present and together they proclaim that, "She will die by the knife". These seven Hathors, sometimes referred to as the "old ladies", played a role akin to that of European witches. They were supposed to state, at the moment of birth, all the events (usually bad ones) that one would have to face during life.  Fate determined life and its outcome, which becomes apparent in the story of the birth of the three children of Ruddedet in the Westcar Papyrus. In this story, <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/re.htm">Re</a> sends <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/godsofegypt/isis.htm">Isis</a>, <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/godsofegypt/nephthys.htm">Nephthys</a>, <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/godsofegypt/meskhenet.htm">Meshkhenet (Meskhenet)</a>, <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/heqet.htm">Heket (Heqet)</a> and <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/godsofegypt/khenmu.htm">Khnum</a> to assist in the birth of the triplets. He tells them to, "Please go, deliver Ruddedet of the three children who are in her womb, who will assume this beneficent office in this whole land. They will build your temples. They will supply your altars. They will furnish your libations. They will make your offerings abundant."  Hence, the three children are preordained to their fate of becoming <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/kings.htm">kings</a>, building temples and providing for their offerings. It was actually Meshkhenet who proclaims of each child that "A King who will assume the kingship in this whole land". This text demonstrates that the other deities are acting on Re's behalf, and from this we find that fate was instrumental in the elevation of an individual to kingship. <img height="172" alt="A relief of the cobra goddess Renenutet" src="http://touregypt.net/featurestories/fate3.jpg" width="150" align="left" border="0" />Another aspect of fate was material possessions, which was associated with the goddess <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/godsofegypt/renenutet.htm">Renenet</a>. She was responsible for fertility and the harvest and hence with endowing individuals with material possessions.  Therefore, we may say that there were three forces, or deities associated with one's fate, at least by the <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/ehistory.htm#New%20Kingdom">New Kingdom</a>. The seven Hathors were responsible for one's lifespan and manner of death (as well as other bad events of one's life). <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/godsofegypt/meskhenet.htm">Meshkhenet</a> (Meskhenet decided one's status or work, while <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/godsofegypt/renenutet.htm">Renenet</a> (Renenutet) ordained an individual's material fortune or misfortune. However, it should be noted that Renenet and her companion <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/godsofegypt/shay.htm">Shai (Shay)</a>, ("Destiny") are also attributed with providing life spans, and which according to some scholars, could be lengthened or shortened by good or bad deeds. By now, the word for "fate" could be written with a deity determinative, as if the word were personified or deified itself, perhaps because of its association with particular deities. One important question remains, however. Could fate be changed? In the <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/wenamensjourney.htm">Report of Wenamun</a>, the prince of Byblos refers to his sending Egyptian envoys back to Egypt with timber "so as to beg for me from <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/amun-re.htm">Amun</a> fifty years of life over and above my allotted fate". Apparently, this might indicate that, while fate was ordained, they at least hoped that Amun could or would make alterations. We also know that magic spells were invoked to close the mouths of the seven Hathors and prevent them from foretelling the future.  <img height="289" alt="An artist representation of Meshkhenet" hspace="5" src="http://touregypt.net/featurestories/fate2.jpg" width="102" align="left" vspace="5" border="0" />One of the most notable instances of altering one's fate comes from the Story of the Doomed Prince. In this story, the Hathors announce that "He will die through the crocodile, or the snake, or the dog." Having three possible manners of death are unusual, and there is notably no mention of when death will occur. At first, the prince spends his life worrying which of these entities will bring his demise. Yet he asks his father for a pet puppy, which is reluctantly granted to him. Then, after years of living reclusively in the hope of avoiding his fate, the prince announces, "To what purpose is my sitting here? I am committed to Fate. Let me go, that I may act according to my heart, until the god does what is in his heart.". Afterwards, he sets off in his chariot, along with his dog, to Naharin. There he marries a princess, to whom he discloses his three possible manners of death. His wife urges him to kill his pet <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/dogs.htm">dog</a> but the prince refuses. We are told that a crocodile has followed him from Egypt to Naharin, but it is prevented from killing the prince by a protective demon or water spirit. At a different time, a snake enters the prince's bedroom but is killed by the princess.  She then announces, "Look, your god has given one of your fates into your hand. He will protect [you from the others also]". Afterwards, the prince makes an offering to Pre, who has delivered him from this fate. While walking with the dog one day, the animal tells him that it is he who will determine the princes' fate. The prince tries to escape the dog by running down to the lake, where the crocodile that was earlier prevented from killing the prince snatches up the dog and carries it off "to where the demon was". The crocodile returns to inform the prince that it is he who will determine the princes' fate, but offers to spare him if he will help kill the crocodile's enemy, the water sprit. Regrettably, the end of the papyrus is missing, but scholars generally believe that the prince manages to escape his fate and lives happily ever after. Basically, the message of this story is that one could, by divine intervention, alter their fate with a longer lifespan and perhaps another means of death.  There is little question that the ancient Egyptians did not attempt to cheat their fate. For example, the Egyptians had a calendar of lucky and unlucky days. The scholar F. T. Miosi believes that "There is no convincing grounds for positing an 'astrological' basis to the Egyptian concept of fate, destiny or whatever other term one wishes to use". Yet, why would the ancient Egyptians create such a calendar if they felt that they had no control over fate? Though James K. Hoffmeier advises us that "There is certainly nothing in the literature to suggest that amulets and other forms of magic had a role in altering one's fate", then why did this protective jewelry exist? It is even possible that prophetic name formulas such as "deity X says he/she will live" may have been given to children born on an unlucky day, in fact, to specifically alter the child's fate. In the final analysis, people of course were not informed of their divine fate, and the stories we have from ancient text are those told mostly after an event occurred in a person's life, rather than as a prediction. One might know if he or she were born on an unlucky day, or were subject to other bad omens and could take steps meant to attempt to mitigate such problems. However, the ancient Egyptians apparently believed that, while fate might be altered, it was a rare occurrence to be granted such divine intervention. One reason for this is, of course, because man did not know his fate, and as the <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/storyofsinuhe.htm">Story of Sinuhe</a> suggests, "Is there a god who does not know what he has ordained, a man who knows how it will be?". </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> Books http://search.zorpia.com/tamerhany/journal/1828037 Wed, 13 Aug 2008 02:49 EDT Divine Cults of the Sacred Bulls http://search.zorpia.com/tamerhany/journal/1828036 <table bordercolor="#0066cc" cellspacing="0" bordercolordark="#0066cc" cellpadding="10" width="100%" align="left" bordercolorlight="#0066cc" border="1"> <tbody> <tr> <td align="left" width="100%" bgcolor="#fdffce" height="173"><img height="375" alt="Divine Cults of the Sacred Bulls" src="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/bull1.jpg" width="174" align="left" border="0" />The deification of animals in ancient Egypt existed even before the countryâ€™s unification around 3100 BC. Communities worshipped their own deities, many of which were represented in animal form. In some villages animals wrapped with linen and matting, such as cows, dogs, and sheep, were buried right along with humans. Animal statuettes as well as amulets and slate palettes shaped like animals have been found in the graves of many ancient Egyptians. Although there is no clear-cut reason for the deification of animals, it has been surmised that some animals may have achieved their godly status because they helped humans, whereas the more dangerous and feared animals, such as jackals, may have been worshipped as a way to appease them. In any case, it is believed that deities needed to be given a recognizable form so that the divine force would not seem so abstract to the masses. A familiar image, such as that of an animal, gave people a more concrete concept of the powers of that specific deity, which is why one deity could be represented by several different images. In essence, the powers and traits of the god were conveyed by the form or forms that it took. In this way, it was more easily understood. <img height="317" alt="Divine Cults of the Sacred Bulls" src="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/bull7.jpg" width="325" align="right" border="0" />During the early dynastic period animal gods were gradually anthropomorphed, being portrayed with animal or bird heads on human bodies. Over the course of time these animal deities appeared many different ways, including in full animal form, animal heads with human bodies, and completely human. In all of these various forms, animal deities were drawn performing human activities, such as engaging in battle and conquering enemies. Among the most important animal cults were the bull cults, which appeared in Egyptian writings as far back as the First Dynasty. The ancients believed that the powerful bull represented the personality of the king; slate palettes dating back as far as 3100 BC even show kings as bulls. This animal was chosen because it symbolized the kingâ€™s courageous heart, great strength, virility, and fighting spirit. Bullsâ€™ horns even embellish some of the tombs of courtiers who served the first Saqqara kings. Priests of the bull cults identified a sacred bull by its very specific markings (described below). Once the bull was proclaimed to be a god incarnate, it was taken to the temple compound where it was purified, stabled in majestic quarters, fed the best foods, and given a herd of the finest cows. The Apis bull cult is probably the best known of the three most prominent and divine bull cults, and it is considered to be the most sacred. Herodotus wrote that the Apis was the "calf of a cow which is never afterwards able to have another. The Egyptian belief is that a flash of lightning descends upon the cow from heaven, and this causes her to receive Apis." The Apis bull was originally considered to be the incarnation of the god Ptah, the creator of the universe and master of destiny, but this was a lesser-known association. Later the Apis became widely known as the incarnation of Osiris, god of embalming and cemeteries, when Ptah himself took on funerary characteristics and became associated with Osiris. Plutarch wrote that the "Apis was a fair and beautiful image of the soul of Osiris". At any rate, only one bull was considered to be the sacred Apis at a time; a replacement could be sought upon the death of the bull. The new Apis was transported to Memphis on a boat with a specially built golden cabin. An Apis calf could be identified by certain distinct markings: the black calf had a white diamond on its forehead, an image of an eagle on its back, double the number of hairs on its <img height="375" alt="Divine Cults of the Sacred Bulls" src="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/bull8.jpg" width="273" align="left" border="0" /> tail, and a scarab mark under its tongue. Since the Apis was so sacred, it stands to reason that its mother (referred to as the "Isis cow") was revered as well. The birth of an Apis calf was a time for celebration among ancient Egyptians, since this meant that a living god had been born into their midst. But according to Herodotus, this religious belief was desecrated in 525 BC by Persian King Cambyses when he overtook the holy city of Memphis. Herodotus states that the day after Cambysesâ€™s bloody battle, he awoke to discover the Egyptians in Memphis celebrating. Upon asking why a defeated people would rejoice after being so brutally beaten, he was told that a living god had just been born. Cambyses demanded that this god be brought before him, and when he was presented with the Apis calf, he laughed with disgust and called the Egyptians pagans and fools. He then stabbed the calf in its hindquarters, which eventually caused the calf to die, at which point Cambyses had it cooked and served at a banquet. Horrified Egyptians considered this blasphemy to be the reason for all of Egyptâ€™s future tragedies. Herodotusâ€™s account differs greatly from Egyptian records, which appear to take an opposing view. These records state that between 525 and 522 BC, Cambyses partook in a religious ceremony in which he dedicated the sarcophagus of a mummified Apis bull as part of his pharaonic obligations. Egyptians celebrated the Festival of the Apis Bull, which lasted for seven days. Throngs of people gathered in Memphis to watch priests lead the sacred bull in a hallowed procession through the welcoming crowds. It was thought that any child who smelled the breath of the Apis had the ability to predict the future. In fact, the Apis itself was often consulted as an oracle. Egyptians asked the bull a question and then offered it food: if the bull ate the food it was a good omen, but a rejection of the food was a bad omen. When Egypt fell under the rule of the Ptolemies, a new god was created by Ptolemy I in an effort to unify Greeks and Egyptians by establishing a deity that would be familiar to both <img height="335" alt="Divine Cults of the Sacred Bulls" src="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/bull6.jpg" width="292" align="right" border="0" /> cultures. The new god was named Serapis, which combined components of the Greek gods Zeus, Asklepios, and Dionysys as well as the Egyptian deity Osiris and the sacred Apis bull cult. Although the god had a Greek appearance, it also had some of the features of an Apis bull as well as an Egyptian name. Serapis was declared a god of fertility and the underworld, but even though Egyptians tolerated this new deity, they never truly accepted it. On the other hand, because Greek leadership supported the new Serapis cult, many Greeks did accept and follow it, but the artificially created cult never achieved its goal of religious unity between Greeks and Egyptians. When an Apis bull died, the body was embalmed and entombed with the great ceremony that would be afforded royalty. A Memphis temple housing large alabaster slabs was the place in which the bulls were embalmed. After preparation of the body and internal organs, the crouching bull was intricately bandaged, artificial eyes were inserted, its horns and face were either gilded or covered with a gold leaf mask, and it was covered with a shroud. The Apis mummy was carried to the Serapeum (a catacomb preceded by an avenue of sphinxes), amid the formalities due a deity, for burial in a massive stone sarcophagus weighing over 60 tons. A papyrus from the 26th Dynasty explains the technique used to embalm an Apis bull. <img height="356" alt="Divine Cults of the Sacred Bulls" src="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/bull4.jpg" width="400" align="left" border="0" />Another bull cult was the Buchis cult, which lasted until about 362 AD. The Buchis bull was the representation of the gods Re and Osiris, but it was also linked with the god of war, Montu. A bull had to have the specific colorings of a black face with a white body in order to be considered Buchis. The center of the Buchis cult was the town of Armant. Many generations of mummified Buchis bulls and their mothers were laid to rest in a designated cemetery, called the Bucheum, where the bulls were fastened to wooden boards with metal staples that held the forelegs and hindlegs in place. <img height="375" alt="Divine Cults of the Sacred Bulls" src="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/bull5.jpg" width="241" align="right" border="0" />There is far less information about the Mnevis cult than the other two bull cults. Mnevis was the sacred bull of Heliopolis, and although it was associated with the sun god Re, it has been suggested that it was also identified with Min, the fertility god of Coptos. When Akhenaten (originally Amenhotep IV) raised the cult of the sun to new heights, he established a new city, now known as Tell el Amarna, and dedicated it to the worship of the god Aten. Akhenaten swore he would bury Mnevis bulls in this new city, but thus far archaeologists have not found any bull burials there. However, two Mnevis burials were found in Heliopolis, both belonging to the Ramesses dynasty. The bulls were found in individual tombs that were cut into the ground and sealed with a granite slab. Many of the animal mummies in museums today were donated over a century ago by various collectors who purchased them during their travels, therefore the mummies have no associated provenience information. Unless the animals are wrapped in a specific style, such as the diamond pattern used during the Greco-Roman period, the remains cannot be dated. Animal mummies with plain linen wrappings could belong to any era, from ancient to modern times. It is possible that radiocarbon dating performed on animal mummies in good condition could yield information about the age of some animal cults, providing some long-awaited answers. </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> Personal http://search.zorpia.com/tamerhany/journal/1828036 Wed, 13 Aug 2008 02:48 EDT Animals and the Gods of Ancient Egypt http://search.zorpia.com/tamerhany/journal/1828034 <table bordercolor="#0066cc" cellspacing="0" bordercolordark="#0066cc" cellpadding="10" width="100%" align="left" bordercolorlight="#0066cc" border="1"> <tbody> <tr> <td align="left" width="100%" bgcolor="#fdffce" height="173"> Egyptian towns usually had their own local sacred animal. It was thought that some gods and goddesses represented themselves on earth in the form of a single representative of a specific species, and honoring that species of animal would please the god or goddess associated with the animal. The animal believed to be the incarnation of the god or goddess lived a pampered life in and near the temples and religious centers. Baboon <img height="25" alt="y" src="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/is.jpg" width="28" /><img height="24" alt="n src="ahn.jpg" width=27> <IMG height=25 alt="baboon determinative" src="baboon.jpg" width=29> y" /> - The dog-headed <a href="http://touregypt.net/featurestories/baboons.htm">baboon</a> was one of the manifestations of both <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/thoth.htm">Thoth</a>, god of writing, and <a href="http://touregypt.net/godsofegypt/khonsu.htm">Khonsu</a>, the youthful moon god. Both deities were related to the moon. Hapy, the son of Horus who guarded the <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/canopic.htm">canopic jars</a> that held the lungs, had the head of a baboon. There was also a baboon god in the Early Dynastic period named Hedjwer, 'The Great White One', who became closely linked with <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/thoth.htm">Thoth</a>. Sometimes <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/thoth.htm">Thoth</a> was shown in baboon form, perched on top of the scales of judgement in the underworld. <img height="160" alt="Bast, Egyptian Cat Goddess" src="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/bast.jpg" width="125" align="right" border="0" /> Cat <img height="23" alt="my" src="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/my.jpg" width="26" /><img height="25" alt="y" src="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/is.jpg" width="28" /><img height="25" alt="w" src="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/w.jpg" width="27" /><img height="25" alt="cat determinative" src="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/cat.jpg" width="29" /> myw - Many deities were depicted as <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/magazine/mag04012001/magf1.htm">cats</a>, both domestic or wild, and so they were seen as benevolent, sacred animals. <a href="http://touregypt.net/godsofegypt/bast2.htm">Bast</a>, originally a desert cat, was later depicted as a domestic cat. Ra was shown as 'The Great Cat of Heliopolis' who defeated Apep in '<a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/bod.htm">The Book of the Dead</a>'. Cattle <img height="24" alt="mnn" src="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/mnn.jpg" width="27" /><img height="24" alt="mnn" src="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/mnn.jpg" width="27" /><img height="23" alt="t" src="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/t.jpg" width="26" /><img height="25" alt="cattle determinative" src="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/cattle.jpg" width="29" /> mnmnt - <a href="http://touregypt.net/godsofegypt/hathor2.htm">Hathor</a>, <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/godsofegypt/isis2.htm">Isis</a>, <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/nut.htm">Nut</a> and Bat were three goddesses who were often depicted as cows, with the horns of cows or with the ears of cows. Because of this, and because of the relationship of the pharaoh as a living god, the cow came to symbolize the mother of the pharaoh. The cow was also a solar icon, where <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/nut.htm">Nut</a> carried the sun across the sky on her back, when she was in cow form. The cow was linked to female fertility and to the mother of the pharaoh. Osiris was related to the bull - the Apis bull, after death, became Osiris-Apis. While it was still alive, the Apis bull was seen as the <a href="http://touregypt.net/magazine/mag05012001/magf3.htm">Ba</a> of Ptah, mummified god of creation. The Mnevis bull was regarded as the <a href="http://touregypt.net/magazine/mag05012001/magf3.htm">Ba</a> of Ra-<a href="http://touregypt.net/godsofegypt/atum.htm">Atum</a>. The bull, therefor, was linked to masculinity and the pharaoh. <img height="106" alt="Wadjet in her Human-headed Cobra Form" src="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/wadjet.jpg" width="150" align="right" border="0" /> Cobra <img height="24" alt="djt" src="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/djt.jpg" width="25" border="0" /><img height="24" alt="cobra in a basket determinative" src="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/cobrabasket.jpg" width="26" border="0" /> djt - The cobra was sacred to Wadjet, the cobra goddess of Buto, who represented Lower Egypt and kingship. The cobra goddess Renenet was a fertility goddess who was sometimes depicted as nursing children and as protector of pharaoh. Another cobra goddess was Meretseger, 'she who loves silence', who could punish criminals with blindness or her venom. Crocodile <img height="23" alt="m" src="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/m.jpg" width="24" border="0" /><img height="23" alt="sh" src="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/sha.jpg" width="27" border="0" /><img height="23" alt="crocodile determinative" src="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/crocodile2.jpg" width="27" border="0" /> msh - <a href="http://touregypt.net/godsofegypt/ammut.htm">Ammut</a>, the demoness at the judgement hall, had the head of a crocodile along with other fearful creatures, and was known as 'the devourer of the dead' who punished evildoers by eating their hearts. The god of the Athribis region, the solar god Horus Khenty-Khenty, was sometimes shown as a crocodile. But the crocodile was also sacred to Sobek, who was portrayed as a human with the head of a crocodile, or as the crocodile itself. The temples of Sobek usually had sacred lakes where crocodiles were fed and cared for. The hippo goddess of childbirth, Taweret, was thought to have the back and tail of a crocodile, or was shown with a crocodile perched on her back. Falcon / Hawk <img height="24" alt="b" src="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/b.jpg" width="26" border="0" /><img height="25" alt="y" src="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/is.jpg" width="28" border="0" /><img height="23" alt="k" src="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/k.jpg" width="26" border="0" /><img height="24" alt="falcon with a flagellum determinative" src="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/falconflagellum.jpg" width="26" border="0" /> byk - The sacred bird of the falcon-headed solar god Horus, it was also regarded as his <a href="http://touregypt.net/magazine/mag05012001/magf3.htm">Ba</a>. The falcon was a bird that had protective powers, and was frequently linked with royalty, where it was depicted as hovering over the head of the pharaoh, with outstretched wings. The falcon was also sacred to Montu, god of war, and Sokar, god of the Memphite necropolis. The bird of prey was sometimes associated with <a href="http://touregypt.net/godsofegypt/hathor2.htm">Hathor</a>, 'The House of Horus'. The son of Horus, Qebehsenuef who guarded the canopic jar of the intestines, was a falcon-headed god. The human headed <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/egypt_soul.html#ba">ba</a>-bird was sometimes given the body of a falcon. <img height="144" alt="Heqet, in her Frog Form" src="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/heqet.jpg" width="159" align="right" border="0" /> Frog <img height="23" alt="frog determinative" src="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/frog.jpg" width="27" /> qrr - The frog goddess <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/heqet.htm">Heqet</a> was often shown as a frog-headed woman or as a frog. Because the Egyptians saw that there were many frogs, all appearing from the Nile, they associated the frog with fertility and resurrection, and so <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/heqet.htm">Heqet</a> was a goddess of childbirth. The four male primeval gods of the Ogdoad - Nun (water), Amen (invisibility), Heh (infinity) and Kek (darkness) - were all frog gods. Goose <img height="23" alt="g" src="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/g.jpg" width="27" border="0" /><img height="24" alt="b" src="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/b.jpg" width="26" border="0" /><img height="27" alt="goose determinative" src="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/bird.jpg" width="28" border="0" /> gb - The goose was the sacred animal of <a href="http://touregypt.net/godsofegypt/geb.htm">Geb</a>, who was also known as 'The Great Cackler' when he was in goose form, and had the sign of the goose as his headdress. <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/godsofegypt/isis2.htm">Isis</a> was sometimes described as 'the egg of the goose', being the daughter of <a href="http://touregypt.net/godsofegypt/geb.htm">Geb</a>. Heron <img height="24" alt="b" src="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/b.jpg" width="26" border="0" /><img height="23" alt="n" src="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/n.jpg" width="26" border="0" /><img height="23" alt="nw" src="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/pot2.jpg" width="26" border="0" /><img height="25" alt="w" src="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/w.jpg" width="27" border="0" /><img height="24" alt="heron determinative" src="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/heron.jpg" width="26" border="0" /> bnw - The bnw-bird was represented as a heron, and was thought to be the original phoenix - it was a bird of the sun and rebirth, the sacred bird of Heliopolis, closely linked to the primeval mound. It was also thought to be the <a href="http://touregypt.net/magazine/mag05012001/magf3.htm">Ba</a> of both Ra and <a href="http://touregypt.net/godsofegypt/osiris.htm">Osiris</a>. Hippopotamus <img height="23" alt="d" src="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/d.jpg" width="26" border="0" /><img height="24" alt="b" src="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/b.jpg" width="26" border="0" /><img height="25" alt="hippopotamus determinative" src="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/hippo.jpg" width="29" border="0" /> db - Set was thought to have turned into a hippopotamus during his fight with Horus, where he was harpooned by the falcon god. The male hippopotamus was Set's animal, and an evil animal. <a href="http://touregypt.net/godsofegypt/ammut.htm">Ammut</a>, the female demon who ate the soul of the dead if they failed judgement against <a href="http://touregypt.net/godsofegypt/maat2.htm">Ma'at</a>, had the rear end of a hippopotamus, and was combined with the body parts of other fearsome Egyptian creatures. The female hippopotamus, on the other hand, was the manifestation of Taweret, the benevolent hippo goddess of fertility and childbirth. She was one of the most popular goddesses of the household, particularly among expectant mothers because of her protective powers. <img height="144" alt="The Scribe-God Thoth" src="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/thoth.jpg" width="73" align="right" border="0" /> Ibis <img height="23" alt="h" src="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/h.jpg" width="26" border="0" /><img height="24" alt="b" src="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/b.jpg" width="26" border="0" /><img height="24" alt="ibis determinative" src="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/ibis.jpg" width="26" border="0" /> hb - Regarded as the reincarnation of <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/thoth.htm">Thoth</a>, the sacred ibis was sacred to the god of knowledge, who had the form of an ibis-headed man. The <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/egypt_soul.html#akhu">Akhu</a>, part of the soul, was written with the sign of a crested ibis, known as the <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/egypt_soul.html#akhu">Akhu</a>-bird. Jackal <img height="23" alt="s" src="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/s.jpg" width="27" border="0" /><img height="24" alt="a" src="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/a.jpg" width="26" border="0" /><img height="24" alt="b" src="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/b.jpg" width="26" border="0" /><img height="24" alt="jackal determinative" src="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/jackal.jpg" width="26" border="0" /> sab - Associated with Anubis, the god of embalming and mummification, who was depicted as a black colored jackal (or dog) or a man with the head of a black jackal or dog. One of the four sons of Horus, Duamutef, was a jackal headed god who guarded the canopic jar that held the stomach. The other jackal god was <a href="http://touregypt.net/featurestories/wepwawet.htm">Wepwawet</a>, the Opener of the Ways, who performed the Opening of the Mouth ceremony on the pharaoh so he would be able to speak in the afterlife. There was also a jackal god named Sed (after whom the 'sed festival' or royal jubilee' was named) who was closely linked to Wepwawet. The jackal was thought to be a guide to the newly dead because they were often seen around the desert and mountains where the tombs were usually built. <img height="288" alt="Statue of Sekhmet" src="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/sekhmet2.jpg" width="101" align="right" /> Lions <img height="24" alt="r" src="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/r.jpg" width="27" /><img height="25" alt="w" src="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/w.jpg" width="27" /><img height="25" alt="lion determinative" src="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/rw.jpg" width="29" /> may - <a href="http://touregypt.net/featurestories/lions.htm">The lion</a> was connected with the rising and the setting of the sun, and so were thought to be guardians of the horizon and were linked to solar deities. The earth god Aker was shown in the form of a 'double sphinx' - two lions seated back to back - and was thought to guard the sun as it entered and exited the underworld at the eastern and western horizons. <a href="http://touregypt.net/godsofegypt/shu.htm">Shu</a>, god of dry air, and <a href="http://touregypt.net/godsofegypt/tefnut.htm">Tefnut</a>, goddess of moist air, were lion-headed and lioness-headed deities respectively. <a href="http://touregypt.net/godsofegypt/tefnut.htm">Tefnut</a> was given the title, the Eye of Ra. Many pharaohs associated themselves with lions, and so the lion came to symbolize rulership. Lions were also linked with ferocity and war-like deities. <a href="http://touregypt.net/godsofegypt/sekhmet2.htm">Sekhmet</a> was either shown as a lioness, or a lioness-headed woman who came into being as the Eye of Ra to destroy mankind for Ra, who was also known for her healing powers. <a href="http://touregypt.net/godsofegypt/hathor2.htm">Hathor</a>, goddess of love, was thought to have been sent out as the Eye of Ra, and so was also linked to lionesses. Even the cobra goddess, Wadjet, had a lioness form when she was identified as the Eye of Ra. Mut, too, had a lioness form when she was showing her more war-like side. The son of <a href="http://touregypt.net/godsofegypt/bast2.htm">Bast</a> or <a href="http://touregypt.net/godsofegypt/sekhmet2.htm">Sekhmet</a> (there was confusion over the motherhood of this god in ancient times), <a href="http://touregypt.net/magazine/mag10012000/mag4.htm">Nefertem</a>, was a lion-headed sun god of the lotus, healing and perfume. Another lion god was Apedemak who was known as 'the splendid god at the head of Nubia, lion of the south, strong of arm'. <a href="http://touregypt.net/godsofegypt/bes.htm">Bes</a>, dwarf god of sexuality and childbirth, was shown with either the ears and mane of a lion or as wearing a lion-skin cape. Ostrich <img height="23" alt="n" src="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/n.jpg" width="26" border="0" /><img height="25" alt="y" src="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/is.jpg" width="28" border="0" /><img height="25" alt="w" src="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/w.jpg" width="27" border="0" /><img height="23" alt="ostrich determinative" src="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/ostrich.jpg" width="26" border="0" /> nyw - <a href="http://touregypt.net/godsofegypt/maat2.htm">Ma'at</a>, the personification of order, was shown as a seated woman wearing an ostrich feather as her headdress or as the feather itself. Pig <img height="24" alt="r" src="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/r.jpg" width="27" border="0" /> <img height="24" alt="r" src="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/r.jpg" width="27" border="0" /><img height="25" alt="y" src="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/is.jpg" width="28" border="0" /><img height="25" alt="pig determinative" src="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/pig.jpg" width="29" border="0" /> rry - <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/pigs.htm">The pig</a> was an animal sacred to Set, god of chaos. Set took the form of a pig and blinded Horus then disappeared. Eventually Horus regained his sight. The eyes of Horus was thought to represent the sun and the moon, and the legend of the blinding of the god was an explanation of solar and lunar eclipses. Plutarch says that, once a year, pigs were sacrificed to the moon. <img height="96" alt="Khnum, Sheep-headed God" src="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/khnumsheep.jpg" width="102" align="right" border="0" /> Ram <img height="23" alt="ba" src="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/incense.jpg" width="26" border="0" /><img height="25" alt="sheep determinative" src="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/sheep.jpg" width="29" border="0" /> <a href="http://touregypt.net/magazine/mag05012001/magf3.htm">Ba</a> - <a href="http://touregypt.net/featurestories/ram.htm">The ram</a> was sacred to Banebdjedet, ram-god of Mendes, and Khnum the god who created men on his pottery wheel. Amun also had a ram form, though this was a different species of sheep. Rams were a symbol of fertility, and as such, the fertility god Heryshef took the form of a ram or a ram-headed man. Scarab Beetle <img height="23" alt="kh" src="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/kh.jpg" width="26" border="0" /><img height="23" alt="p" src="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/p.jpg" width="26" border="0" /><img height="24" alt="r" src="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/r.jpg" width="27" border="0" /> <img height="24" alt="r" src="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/r.jpg" width="27" border="0" /><img height="23" alt="scarab beetle determinative" src="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/scarab2.jpg" width="26" border="0" /> khprr - The personification of the scarab god <a href="http://touregypt.net/godsofegypt/kephri.htm">Khepri</a>, a solar god of resurrection. As the scarab pushes its dung behind it in a ball, so the Egyptians thought that <a href="http://touregypt.net/godsofegypt/kephri.htm">Khepri</a> pushed the sun across the sky. Young scarabs emerged, born out of the dung, and so the scarab also came to symbolize new life and creation. The scarab was also linked to Amen, as was <a href="http://touregypt.net/godsofegypt/kephri.htm">Khepri</a> himself. <img height="100" alt="Serqet, Egyptian Scorpion Goddess" src="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/serqet.jpg" width="52" align="right" border="0" /> Scorpion <img height="23" alt="scorpion determinative" src="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/scorpion.jpg" width="27" border="0" /> srq - Serqet was a scorpion goddess and was usually depicted with a scorpion on her head and featured in spells to both avoid and cure venomous bites. Shed, a god known as 'the savior', was linked with the scorpion and gave protection against its sting. Tabitjet was another scorpion goddess, relating to the bleeding caused by the loss of virginity. The scorpion was sacred to <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/godsofegypt/isis2.htm">Isis</a>, who was thought to have been protected by scorpions while Horus was young. Snake <img height="24" alt="djd" src="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/djd.jpg" width="25" border="0" /><img height="23" alt="f" src="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/f.jpg" width="27" border="0" /><img height="23" alt="t" src="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/t.jpg" width="26" border="0" /><img height="23" alt="snake determinative" src="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/snake.jpg" width="27" border="0" /> djdft - The snake had mixed popularity in Egypt because snakes caused the danger and the cure to the venom. <a href="http://touregypt.net/godsofegypt/apep.htm">Apep</a> was a snake-demon of the underworld, who tried to stop Ra on his nightly journey through the land of the west. The four primeval goddesses of the Ogdoad - Naunet (water), Amaunet (invisibility), Hauhet (infinity) and Kauket (darkness) - were also snake goddesses. There was a snake god called Nehebkaw who was depicted as a man with the head and tail of a snake. <img height="150" alt="Nekhbet in her Vulture Form" src="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/nekhbet.jpg" width="170" align="right" border="0" /> Turtle <img height="23" alt="sh" src="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/sh.jpg" width="27" border="0" /><img height="23" alt="t" src="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/t.jpg" width="26" border="0" /><img height="24" alt="yw" src="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/yw_bird.jpg" width="26" border="0" /><img height="24" alt="turtle determinative" src="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/turtle.jpg" width="26" border="0" /> shtyw - The turtle was associated with Set, and so with the enemies of Ra who tried to stop the solar barque as it traveled through the underworld. This was because the turtle was associated with night, and so came to symbolize darkness and evil. Vulture <img height="23" alt="n" src="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/n.jpg" width="26" border="0" /> <img height="24" alt="r" src="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/r.jpg" width="27" border="0" /><img height="23" alt="t" src="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/t.jpg" width="26" border="0" /><img height="24" alt="vulture determinative" src="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/vulture.jpg" width="26" border="0" /> nrt - sacred to <a href="http://touregypt.net/godsofegypt/nekhbet.htm">Nekhbet</a>, goddess of Upper Egypt and <a href="http://touregypt.net/godsofegypt/mut.htm">Mut</a>, mother goddess. The vulture often holds the shn symbol of eternity in its talons, offering eternal protection to the pharaoh. As such, the vulture is closely linked to </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> Books http://search.zorpia.com/tamerhany/journal/1828034 Wed, 13 Aug 2008 02:45 EDT Smendes, the First King of the 21st Dynasty http://search.zorpia.com/tamerhany/journal/1820522 <center></center><center> <table bordercolor="#0066cc" cellspacing="0" bordercolordark="#0066cc" cellpadding="10" width="100%" align="left" bordercolorlight="#0066cc" border="1"> <tbody> <tr> <td width="100%" bgcolor="#fdffce"><center></center><img height="86" alt="The Royal Cartouches of Smendes" src="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/smendes5.jpg" width="150" align="right" border="0" /> The founders of Egyptian Dynasties frequently worked to establish their legitimacy to the throne, and yet, in later years were just as frequently honored by their successors as great men. Fables came to surround these men, but at the same time, it is not uncommon for us to know little of their background, because they often rose from non-royal or at least obscure circumstances. Smendes (Smedes), who we believe founded the <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/hdyn21.htm">21st Dynasty</a>, ending the <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/ehistory.htm#New%20Kingdom">New Kingdom</a> at the beginning of the <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/ehistory.htm#Third%20Intermediate%20Period">Third Intermediate Period</a>, is a very difficult individual with almost intractable origins and affiliations. His reign, which <a href="http://touregypt.net/who/Manetho.htm">Manetho</a> assigns 26 years, produced only a tiny handful <img height="375" alt="An outline drawing of the only known depiction of Smendes, from the Tuthmosis I gateway in the Precinct of Montu at Karnak" hspace="10" src="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/smendes2.jpg" width="170" align="left" vspace="5" border="0" /> of monuments and we have never discovered either his tomb or his mummy (though many believe his tomb to be <a href="http://touregypt.net/featurestories/tanistombs.htm">NRT-I</a> at <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/tanis.htm">Tanis</a>, this structure offers up no clues concerning Smendes).  Smendes is a Greek rendering of this king's name. His birth name and epithet were Nes-ba-neb-djed (mery-amun), meaning "He of the Ram, Lord of Mendes, Beloved of Amun". His throne name was Hedj-kheper-re Setep-en-re, meaning "Bright is the Manifestation of Re, Chosen of Re".  In fact, most of what we know of Smendes predates his rise to the throne. From the <a href="http://touregypt.net/wenamensjourney.htm">Report of Wenamun</a>, dating to Year 5 of the "Renaissance Era" during the last decade of the reign of <a href="http://touregypt.net/featurestories/ramessesxi.htm">Ramesses XI</a>, we learn much of what we know of this future king. While on the way to Lebanon to obtain wood for the renewal of the divine barque of <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/amun-re.htm">Amun-Re</a>, Wenamun stopped at <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/tanis.htm">Tanis</a>, which he describes as "the place where Smendes and Tentamun are". Smendes is specifically described as being the one to whom Wenamun gave his letters of credence from <a href="http://touregypt.net/featurestories/herihor.htm">Herihor</a>, the <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/priests.htm">High-Priest</a> of Amun and a powerful general in the south. Wenamun was then sent in a ship by Smendes to Syria. Smendes, along with Herihor and others, was cited as having contributed money to this expedition.  Smendes, together with Tentamun, are therefore shown to be of great importance in Egypt's Delta, equals at least of the <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/priests.htm">High-Priest</a> of <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/amun-re.htm">Amun</a> in the south. Consider the fact that <a href="http://touregypt.net/featurestories/ramessesxi.htm">Ramesses XI</a> at this time presumably lived at Piramesses, only about 20 kilometers to the southwest of <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/tanis.htm">Tanis</a>, and yet Wenamun came to Smendes for assistance rather than to the king. In fact, <img height="326" alt="Herihor and Nodjmet from a joint Book of the Dead" src="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/smendes4.jpg" width="375" align="left" border="0" /> <a href="http://touregypt.net/featurestories/herihor.htm">Herihor</a> assumed some royal titles even while Ramesses XI was still alive, and the implication would seem to be that Smendes had a similar standing in the north.  Nevertheless, we can only guess at Smendes' origins. It has been suggested that he was a brother of Nodjmet, the wife of <a href="http://touregypt.net/featurestories/herihor.htm">Herihor</a>, but it has also been suggested that Nodjmet could have been a sister of <a href="http://touregypt.net/featurestories/ramessesxi.htm">Ramesses XI</a>. However, Tentamun, who was presumably Smendes' wife, may have been a member of the royal family. She could have been a daughter of another woman named Tentamun, who may have been the wife of Ramesses XI (or possibly another Ramesside king). The older Tentamun was certainly the mother of Henttawy, who later became the wife of the <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/priests.htm">High-Priest</a> of <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/amun-re.htm">Amun</a>, <a href="http://touregypt.net/featurestories/pinedjem1.htm">Pinedjem I</a>, who also acquired kingly status in the south. As a royal son-in-law, Smendes' status is more easily understood, though perhaps not his total eclipse of the king. Obviously there is a great deal of confusion concerning the origin of Smendes. Nevertheless, it is very probable that the families of Smendes and <a href="http://touregypt.net/featurestories/herihor.htm">Herihor</a>, or at least their descendants, were linked.  <img height="245" alt="The ruins of Tanis" src="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/smendes3.jpg" width="400" align="right" border="0" />Whatever his original status, after the death of <a href="http://touregypt.net/featurestories/ramessesxi.htm">Ramesses XI</a>, Smendes became a king of Egypt, and is recorded as such in most reference material. However, only two sources specifically name him as pharaoh, consisting of a stela in a quarry at Dibabia near <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/jebelein.htm">Gebelein (Jebelein)</a>, and a small depiction in the temple of <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/montu.htm">Montu</a> at <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/karnak.htm">Karnak</a>. Interestingly, while there are no known unambiguously dated documents from his reign, the contemporary <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/priests.htm">High-Priests</a> of <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/amun-re.htm">Amun</a> used year numbers without a king's name, and it is generally believed that, at least through year 25, these refer to Smendes' reign.  In fact, Smendes probably never ruled over a united Egypt as such, a condition which probably also existed at the end of the reign of <a href="http://touregypt.net/featurestories/ramessesxi.htm">Ramesses XI</a>. During much of what we refer to as the <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/hdyn21.htm">21st Dynasty</a>, there was also a dynasty of <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/priests.htm">High-Priests</a> of <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/amun-re.htm">Amun</a> at <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/thebes.htm">Thebes</a> who effectively ruled Upper Egypt, while the kings at <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/tanis.htm">Tanis</a> ruled the north. However, there appears to have been a rather delicate balance of powers, and perhaps even a formal arrangement for this division of <img height="401" alt="One of the canopic jars of Smendes, now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, new York" src="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/smendes1.jpg" width="325" align="left" border="0" /> Egypt.  The Priests at <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/thebes.htm">Thebes</a> seem to have held sway over a region which stretched from the north of el-Hiba (south of the entrance to the <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/Thebes">Fayoum</a>) to the southern frontier of Egypt, and their aspirations became apparent around year 16 of Smendes' reign, when <a href="http://touregypt.net/featurestories/pinedjem1.htm">Pinedjem I</a> apparently began to take on full pharaonic titles, yet at all times he continued to defer to Smendes as at least a senior king.  Hence, to the outside world, Egypt appears to have been a united entity during this period, and in a certain respect, it was. While Egypt was effectively divided between the north and south by powerful men, the government of Egypt became a theocracy, with the supreme political authority being vested in the god <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/amun-re.htm">Amun</a> himself. In a hymn to Amun on a papyrus from <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/bahri.htm">Deir el-Bahri</a>, which has been dubbed the "credo of the theocracy", the god's name is written in a cartouche and he is addressed as the superior of all the gods, the fountainhead of creation, and the true king of Egypt. In fact, Wenamun also says in his tale that Smendes and Tentamun are "the pillars which Amun has set up for the north of his land. Apparently, <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/tanis.htm">Tanis</a> was developed as a northern counterpart to <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/thebes.htm">Thebes</a>, and therefore a principal cult center for <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/amun-re.htm">Amun</a> in Lower Egypt. However, there is also evidence that Memphis functioned as a residence for the northern kings, for a decree of Smendes is recorded as having been issued there. The city may have once more served as a major administrate base at this time.  During this period, the High-Priesthood of <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/amun-re.htm">Amun</a> at <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/thebes.htm">Thebes</a> was passed on from father to son, more or less, so that Pinudjem's heirs inherited both the position of <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/priests.htm">High-Priest</a> and control of southern Egypt. Intriguingly, however, it was also one of <a href="http://touregypt.net/featurestories/herihor.htm">Herihor</a> probable sons, <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/21dyn02.htm">Amenemnisu</a>, who succeeded Smendes on the throne for a brief period. </td> </tr> </tbody> </table></center> Books http://search.zorpia.com/tamerhany/journal/1820522 Tue, 15 Jul 2008 09:07 EDT Pinedjem I in the Third Intermediate Period http://search.zorpia.com/tamerhany/journal/1820521 <table bordercolor="#0066cc" cellspacing="0" bordercolordark="#0066cc" cellpadding="10" width="100%" align="left" bordercolorlight="#0066cc" border="1"> <tbody> <tr> <td align="left" width="100%" bgcolor="#fdffce" height="173"> <img height="99" alt="The name cartouches Pindjem" src="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/pinedjem1-1.jpg" width="150" align="right" border="0" />We see at the beginning of the <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/hdyn21.htm">21st Dynasty</a> and what Egyptology refers to as the beginning of the <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/ehistory.htm#Third%20Intermediate%20Period">Third Intermediate Period</a>, two individuals officially rising to power almost simultaneously in about 1070 BC.  They were <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/smendes.htm">Smendes</a> in the north at <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/tanis.htm">Tanis</a> and Pinedjem in the south at <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/thebes.htm">Thebes</a>. By "officially rising", we mean that, at least in the case of Smendes, he seems to have been a very powerful individual some years before, at least as implied in the <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/wenamensjourney.htm">Record of Wenamen</a>.  While we are really unsure of <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/smendes.htm">Smendes</a>' claim to the Egyptian throne, Pinedjem I's pedigree is better known, as he was the son of the preceding <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/priests.htm">High-Priest</a> of <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/amun-re.htm">Amun</a>, Piankh, who ruled southern Egypt for only a short time after the death of <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/herihor.htm">Herihor</a>.  While we know something of Pinedjem, this is nevertheless a very complicated period in Egyptian history, in appearances, we have a divided Egypt with <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/smendes.htm">Smendes</a> controlling the North, and Pinedjem I the south, yet there seems to have been little conflict, and even cooperation between the two men. This period is frequently referred to as a theocracy, because we are told essentially that the real ruler of Egypt at this time was actually the god <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/amun-re.htm">Amun</a> himself. This situation might be easier to visualize were Smendes the <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/priests.htm">High-Priest</a> of Amun in the north just as Pinedjem was in <img height="354" alt="Box holding funerary figurines of Pindjem" src="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/pinedjem1-2.jpg" width="400" align="left" border="0" /> the south, but that does not seem to be the case and the situation appears to have been much more complicated. More probably the underlying reason for this almost disturbing peace was family relations. It seems likely that either by marriage or ancestry, these rulers of north and south were related. Pinedjem apparently married Henuttawy (I), a daughter of <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/ramessesxi.htm">Ramesses XI</a>, and it also seems every possible that Smendes' wife, could have also been a daughter of the same king. Essentially, <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/smendes.htm">Smendes</a> took on, to the outside world, all the attributes of a king ruling over a united Egypt, but in fact he only ruled in the north, as far south as el-Hiba (just south of the <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/fayoum.htm">Fayoum</a>). Pinedjem I, on the other hand, sends us mixed signals, writing his name in a royal cartouche, for example, but dating material such as the restoration dockets on the royal mummies to the reign of Smendes. Pinedjem was this king's birth name, and together with his ephithet, mery-amun, his name may be translated as "He who belongs to the Pleasant One {Horus or Ptah}, Beloved of Amun. He chose a throne name of Kha-kheper-re Setep-en-amun, which means "The Soul of Re appears, Chosen of Amun". There may have been an upheaval of the <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/tanis.htm">Tanis</a>-<a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/thebes.htm">Thebes</a> relationship around year 16 of <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/smendes.htm">Smendes</a>' reign. For a period of time, although claiming no more than his military and priestly titles, Pinudjem executed a number of monuments showing him in full pharaonic regalia. Although in one case a representation was altered back to showing him in priestly garb, as if to hint at some hesitation on Pinudjem's part, from year 16, we find him bearing full pharaonic titles. His <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/titles.htm">Horus </a><img height="375" alt="A ushabti of Queen Henuttawy I, wife of Pinedjem" src="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/pinedjem1-3.jpg" width="168" align="right" border="0" /><a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/titles.htm"> name</a> was "Powerful bull, crowned in Thebes and beloved of Amun", and from this point on his name was written in a cartouche and is found in inscriptions at <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/thebes.htm">Thebes</a>, <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/koptos.htm">Koptos</a>, <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/abydos.htm">Abydos</a> and even <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/tanis.htm">Tanis</a>. However, the dating system continued to reference Smendes' reign.  Beyond Henuttawy (I), he apparently had a second wife named Maatkare, and by his wives, several sons including Psusennes I, who perhaps surprisingly became a successor of <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/smendes.htm">Smendes</a> in the North,. and Masaherta and Menkheppere, who became successive <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/priests.htm">High-Priests</a> of <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/amun-re.htm">Amun</a> at <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/thebes.htm">Thebes</a>, and therefore rulers of the south. His second wife, Maatkare, was probably also a daughter, who became the "Divine Adoratice': God's Wife and chief of the Priestesses of Amun. In the <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/karamun.htm">Temple of Amun</a> at <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/karnak.htm">Karnak</a> in <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/thebes.htm">Thebes</a>, Pinedjem can be found on the outer face and entrance of the pylon beyond the first court, and his name is on a number of scattered blocks. He also usurped a colossal standing statue of Ramesses II, in the first court of the temple of Amun at Karnak. Apparently, Pinudjem I passed on the office of <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/priests.htm">High-Priest</a> of <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/amun-re.htm">Amun</a> to his son, Masaharta, while still alive, though he apparently continuing to hold sway over southern Egypt until his death in about 1032 BC. Pinedjem I's <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/magazine/mummificationinancientegypt.htm">mummy</a> and a large number of his bright blue faience funerary figurines wee found in the <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/cache.htm">royal cache</a> at <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/bahri.htm">Deir el-Bahari</a> (DB 320) in six boxes. Like the mummy of Nodjmet, the wife of <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/herihor.htm">Herihor</a>, Pinedjem appears to have been moved to this cache of mummies from a previous cache. He may have attempted to take over the tomb of <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/ramessesxi.htm">Ramesses XI</a> (<a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/ramessest11.htm">KV4</a>), but never did so, for unknown reasons. In fact, none of the original burials of any of the <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/priests.htm">High-Priests</a> form this period are currently known. </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> Books http://search.zorpia.com/tamerhany/journal/1820521 Tue, 15 Jul 2008 09:05 EDT Herihor, A Ruler But Not a King http://search.zorpia.com/tamerhany/journal/1820520 <table bordercolor="#0066cc" cellspacing="0" bordercolordark="#0066cc" cellpadding="10" width="100%" align="left" bordercolorlight="#0066cc" border="1"> <tbody> <tr> <td align="left" width="100%" bgcolor="#fdffce" height="173"><img height="94" alt="The Kingly Cartouches of Herihor" src="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/herihor3.jpg" width="150" align="right" border="0" />Under <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/ramessesxi.htm">Ramesses XI</a> at the end of the New Kingdom, the steadily increasing power of the Amun <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/priests.htm">Priesthood</a> at <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/thebes.htm">Thebes</a> finally came to a head. Homer said of Thebes in the Iliad, Book 9, that "in Egyptian Thebes the heaps of precious ingots gleam, the hundred-gated Thebes". By this time, the priesthood at <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/amun-re.htm">Amun</a> was in control of two-thirds of all temple land in Egypt, which was extensive. They also owned 90 percent of all <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/shipsandboats.htm">ships</a>, and 80 percent of all factories, as well as many other resources, so their grip on the Egyptian economy was paramount. No wonder that, by the end of Ramesses XI's reign, he was virtually powerless and it was but a short step for the priesthood at Thebes to enforce supremacy, at least in the south. Earlier in <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/ramessesxi.htm">Ramesses XI</a>'s reign, after Amunhotpe assumed the position of <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/priests.htm">High-Priest</a> of <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/amun-re.htm">Amun</a>, he attempted to inflate his status, probably resulting in a nine month period when Amunhotpe was "suppressed", clearly as some sort of major civil upheaval, This seemingly included an attack on the fortified temple complex of <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/habu.htm">Medinet Habu</a> on the <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/westbank.htm">West Bank</a> at <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/thebes.htm">Thebes</a> (modern <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/luxor/">Luxor</a>). This problem was ultimately settled by Paneshy, who was the Egyptian Viceroy of <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/historicalessays/nubia.htm">Nubia</a>. He marched north to <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/thebes.htm">Thebes</a> to restore order, and for probably a period of years, continued to hold sway over southern Egypt and Nubia. Apparently this too was unacceptable, and he in tern was eventually ousted by General Herihor.  <img height="326" alt="A scene from the joint Funerary papyrus of Herihor and his wife, Nodjmet" src="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/smendes4.jpg" width="375" align="left" border="0" />This all seems to have been, in the end, a situation of the survival of the fittest, for apparently there were never any gains for the king himself. After having driven Paneshy into <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/historicalessays/nubia.htm">Nubia</a>, and even though campaigning against the now-renegade Paneshy continued for some years, prosecuted by Herihor's son-in-law and eventual successor, Piankh, General Herihor at least nominally assumed the viceroyalty of his opponent, and additionally was appointed as the <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/priests.htm">High-Priest</a> of <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/amun-re.htm">Amun</a>. He thus acquired the authority of a military dictator as well as the economic resources of the <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/karamun.htm">Amun temple</a> at <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/karnak.htm">Karnak</a>. One must wonder whether his appointment to this high office by <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/ramessesxi.htm">Ramesses XI</a> was due to the king's stupidity, or more likely forced upon him. However, Herihor's wife, Nodjmet, may have been a sister of Ramesses XI, which might help to explain the king's allowances.  Herihor marked the establishment of his new regime by initiating a new dating era, known as the Renaissances, or "Repeating of Births", a term that had previously been used by kings who founded new dynasties. The first year of this system began with the nineteenth regnal year of <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/ramessesxi.htm">Ramesses XI</a>.  Herihor was this individual's birth name, and he had as an epithet, Si-amun, which can all be translated to mean "Horus Protects Me, Son of Amun". His title became Hem-netjer-tepy-en-amun, which means "The First Prophet [High-Priest] of Amun". It has been suggested that Herihor's family may have been Libyan, though there is no clear cut evidence.  <img height="425" alt="Herihor from the Temple of Khonsu at Karnak" src="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/herihor1.jpg" width="311" align="left" border="0" />Though clearly dominate over southern Egypt, however, the reason he is not referenced as a true king of a divided Egypt in most sources is that he never took on outwardly the titles of a king, though he did use cartouches, usually reserved only for kings These can be found today within the <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/khonsutemple.htm">temple of Khonsu</a> at <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/karnak.htm">Karnak</a>. This temple, located on the south side in the <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/karamun.htm">complex of Amun</a> at <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/thebes.htm">Thebes</a>, was also his most major building work. There, he had constructed the forecourt and pylons. We also here about Herihor in the famous <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/wenamensjourney.htm">report of Wenamen</a>, who he sent abroad to purchase wood for a new <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/aboat.htm">barque</a> of <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/amun-re.htm">Amun</a>. This report is very valuable to us today, because, not only does it point out Egypt's weakness during this period, it also provides some information on the dynamics of leadership in Egypt while Herihor controlled the south. Herihor apparently sent his envoy not to <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/ramessesxi.htm">Ramesses XI</a>, who probably lived in <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/qantir.htm">Pi-Ramessse</a>, but rather to <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/smendes.htm">Smendes</a> at <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/tanis.htm">Tanis</a>, not very far from <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/qantir.htm">Pi-Ramessse</a> in the Delta for assistance along his journey. The implications are that, by this point, Ramesses XI was virtually powerless Otherwise, the records of him are the pious restorations written on some of the coffins and dockets on the mummies from the <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/cache.htm">Royal cache (DB 320)</a> of mummies discovered at <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/bahri.htm">Deir el_Bahri</a>. Just as in the case of <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/20dyn08.htm">Ramesses IX</a>, there were <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/robbery.htm">tomb robberies</a> at <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/thebes.htm">Thebes</a>, and at least some of the mummies of previous rulers were initially moved to caches by Herihor in order to save them from vandalism.  <img height="274" alt="A scene from the joint Funerary papyrus, a Book of the Dead, of Herihor and his wife, Nodjmet" src="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/herihor2.jpg" width="400" align="left" border="0" />Among these mummies was found Herihor's wife, though their joint funerary <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/papyrus.htm">papyrus</a>, a magnificent illustrated copy of the <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/bod.htm">Book of the Dead</a>, had come on to the antiquities market some years before the formal discovery. A linen docket on the mummy shows that the queen was embalmed in or after year one of <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/smendes.htm">Smendes</a>' rule, indicating that she apparently outlived her husband by as many as five years. She had apparently been hidden in another cache of <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/magazine/mummificationinancientegypt.htm">mummies</a> before being transferred to this second cache, and it would also seem that husband and wife were not buried together despite having a joint funerary <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/papyrus.htm">papyrus</a>.   In fact, there has so far been no trace of Herihor's burial apart from this <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/papyrus.htm">papyrus</a>. Herihor probably died some five years prior to <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/ramessesxi.htm">Ramesses XI</a>. One must wonder how different Egypt's history might have been had he outlived <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/ramessesxi.htm">Ramesses XI</a>. Nevertheless, the heirs of his office would change Egypt for many years to come.  No <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/ushabti.htm">funerary figurines</a>, <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/canopic.htm">canopic jars</a> or other fragments of <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/equip.htm">funerary equipment</a> have ever been discovered. There is good reason to suspect, from rock graffiti, that Herihor's tomb may still remain intact somewhere in the Theban hills.  </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> Books http://search.zorpia.com/tamerhany/journal/1820520 Tue, 15 Jul 2008 09:03 EDT The First Certain Female King of Egypt http://search.zorpia.com/tamerhany/journal/1813075 <table bordercolor="#0066cc" cellspacing="0" bordercolordark="#0066cc" cellpadding="10" width="100%" align="left" bordercolorlight="#0066cc" border="1"> <tbody> <tr> <td align="left" width="100%" bgcolor="#fdffce" height="173"><img height="425" alt="A stela from the tomb of Meryneith at Abydos" src="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/firstqueen2.jpg" width="269" align="right" border="0" />Undoubtedly, the structuring of Egyptian royalty was meant to focus upon a male king, who was considered to be the earthly manifestation of <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/godsofegypt/horus.htm">Horus</a>, a male god. Normally, a king would be succeeded by his senior surviving son, but every so often in Egyptian history, a woman rose to power, sometimes acting as regent for a young son, but at other times taking the throne completely, as in the case of <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/18dyn05.htm">Hatshepsut</a>. However, Hatshepsut was not the first nor the last woman to rule Egypt. In fact, the last ruler of a pharaonic Egypt is frequently considered to be <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/cleopatr.htm">Cleopatra</a>, prior to Egypt's fall into Roman hands. Perhaps the first woman to wield executive power in Egypt was Merytneith, a probable wife of <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/djet.htm">Djet</a> who acted as regent during her son's (<a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/den.htm">Den</a>) early years. However, few claim that she was a king in her own right.  So who was the first woman to rule Egypt? The earliest candidate for an actual female king of Egypt is Khentykaues I, who lived at the end of the <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/hdyn4.htm">4th Dynasty</a>. Her unusual tomb is located at <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/giza.htm">Giza</a>, and on its granite doorway is recorded a set of titles that can be read either as "Mother of Two Kings" or "King and Mother of a King". In support of the latter title is her image, which was altered to show her in a kingly pose, including a false beard.  <img height="270" alt="The tomb of Khentykaues I at Giza, sometimes called the "fourth pyramid" src="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/firstqueen3.jpg" width="400" align="left" border="0" />Khentykaues I may have ruled during the youth of her presumed son, <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/sahure.htm">Sahure</a>, possibly in conjunction with <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/userkaf.htm">Userkaf</a>, the founder of the <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/hdyn5.htm">5th Dynasty</a>. However, despite the fact that she was apparently considered the ancestress of the 5th Dynasty and was commemorated in the mortuary chapel at <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/abusir.htm">Abusir</a> of Khentykaues II, the wife of <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/neferirkara.htm">Neferirkare</a> and mother of <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/neferefre.htm">Reneferef</a>  (and probably <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/niuserre.htm">Nyuserre Ini</a>), her name has never been found in a royal cartouche. It should be pointed out that most modern lists of Egyptian kings do not include Khentykaues I as a ruler. A more mysterious candidate for the first female king of Egypt is recorded many centuries later in the work of the Egyptian Historian, <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/who/Manetho.htm">Manetho</a>. He, in an obvious error known to us today, says <img height="375" alt="Inscriptions at the entrance to a chapel with Khentykaues' confusing title" src="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/firstqueen4.jpg" width="206" align="right" border="0" /> that Nitokris built the <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/menkaurep.htm">third pyramid</a>. <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/who/herodotu.htm">Herodotus</a> also mentions Nitokris, telling us that she killed hundreds of Egyptians to avenge the king, her brother, whom his subjects had killed. She accomplished this by constructing a huge underground chamber where she invited to a banquet all those she knew to be responsible for her brother's death. Then, when the banquet was underway, she let the river in on them through a concealed pipe. Afterwards, in order to escape her punishment, she was reported to have flung herself into a room full of embers. Interestingly, <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/who/herodotu.htm">Herodotus</a> does not ascribe the third pyramid at <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/giza.htm">Giza</a> to this woman, but rather to another female courtesan of the <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/hdyn26.htm">26th Dynasty</a>. Nitokris is actually a Greek rendering of the Egyptian name Neitaqerti, and in the Turin king-list, which can be dated to the <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/hdyn19a.htm">19th Dynasty</a>, this Egyptian name appears on a fragment that seems to belong to the late <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/hdyn6.htm">6th Dynasty</a> portion of the papyrus. Initially, many scholars linked this name to the legendary queen. However, work on linking the misplaced parts of the papyrus during the mid 1990s has suggested that the Nitokris cartouche is actually part of the titulary of a clearly male king named Siptah. Furthermore, it has also been suggested that "Neitaqerti" is actually the result of a faulty transcription of the prenomen, "Netjerkare", which was assumed by a king on his accession.  This would fit nicely with the only other kings-list, at <a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/abydos.htm">Abydos</a>, that covers the period. It places a "Netjerkare" in exactly the right spot,