RICH GREAT. and. Studies in Honour of Anthony J. Spalinger on the Occasion of his 70 th Feast of Thoth. edited by Renata Landgráfová and Jana Mynářová

Transcription

1 RICH and GREAT Studies in Honour of Anthony J. Spalinger on the Occasion of his 70 th Feast of Thoth edited by Renata Landgráfová and Jana Mynářová

2 RICH and GREAT Studies in Honour of Anthony J. Spalinger on the Occasion of his 70 th Feast of Thoth edited by Renata Landgráfová and Jana Mynářová Charles University in Prague Faculty of Arts 2016

3 2 The book was published through a non-investment subsidy of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic for the purpose of the development of international cooperation with the Arab Republic of Egypt and the Republic of the Sudan. Reviewed by G. Pieke and B. Vachala Contributors: L. Bareš, M. Bárta, V. G. Callender, F. Coppens, L. Depuydt, T. Dobbin-Bennett, E. Frood, O. Goelet, Jr., C. R. Hamilton, J. Hellum, C. A. Hope, J. Hsieh, D. Kahn, M. I. Khaled, R. Landgráfová, A. von Lieven, E. A. Mackay, J. Malek, M. Megahed, J. Mynářová, H. Navrátilová, A. Niwiński, J. F. Quack, K. Smoláriková, D. Sweeney, K. Szpakowska, M. Verner, H. Vymazalová Cover: Drawing of the image of Amun-nakht in the gateway at Ayn Birbiyeh, Dakhleh Oasis, courtesy of Olaf Kaper; a photo of a statuette of an Asiatic captive, Abusir (Archive of the Czech Institute of Egyptology, Faculty of Arts, Charles University in Prague). Type-setting layout: Agama poly-grafický ateliér, s.r.o., Praha Print: TISKÁRNA PROTISK, s.r.o. Charles University in Prague, Faculty of Arts, 2016 ISBN

4 @b Ssp mnx.t. A Feast of Re-Harsomtus of Khadi on Mesore Feasts in Written Evidence from the 5 th Dynasty Royal Necropolis of Abusir HANA VYMAZALOVÁ The ancient Egyptian festivals were previously a subject of discussions, to which A. Spalinger (1992; 1996; 2011; 2013) whom this paper is dedicated, made a great contribution, among many others. Our knowledge of the festivals comes above all from sources from the later period of Egyptian history (see for instance R. A. Parker 1950; Schott 1950; Bleeker 1964; Luft 1992; Grimm 1994; El-Sabban 2000; Sayed Mohamed 2004; also Haring 1997: 52 87), while the evidence from the Old Kingdom is rather scarce and fragmentary. The royal necropolis at Abusir however provides us with evidence in texts and inscriptions that reveals interesting details about the celebration of festivals in the period of the 5 th Dynasty. This subject is above all connected with W. Helck (1977) and P. Posener-Kriéger (1976), who published the then available material and discussed it in detail. Recently M. Verner contributed to their work and discussed the individual festivals attested in the Abusir sources, summarizing the evidence and also studying the cultic part of the festive celebrations (Verner 2014: ). The present paper intends to follow this discussion from the slightly different perspective of the economic significance of the events. The information that would be useful for us to better understand the Old Kingdom festivals include not only their names but also as we know from much later feast lists like the one in Medinet Habu (Nelson 1934; El-Sabban 2000: ) the time of celebration and period of the feast s duration, the types and quantities of the associated offerings, the types of cultic procedures, and ideally also the number of the participants. The Old Kingdom evidence is however much more limited. Depictions of festivals can sometimes be found in royal pyramid complexes and in the sun temple of Nyuserre, and these include mostly scenes of the sed-festival, occasionally the Min festival (Pepi II) or the king in cultic doings with goddesses (Schott 1950: 949). In nonroyal tombs some hints of festivals might also be found, including the list of festivals (Spalinger 1996), the personifications of estates and other scenes, which might be related to festivals (Schott 1950: 951). We can, of course, presume that in general some festivals were large-scale events of state importance, organized from the centre, while other festivals were rather local and limited in scale. The sources from the 5 th Dynasty Abusir necropolis naturally refer to those events which had special significance for royal cults (see also Verner 2014). The Abusir evidence discussed in this contribution is, however, very fragmentary compared for instance to the texts from the Middle Kingdom Lahun papyrus archive with numerous attested festivals (Luft 1992: ), and therefore it does not allow us to draw conclusions concerning Egyptian festivals in the Old Kingdom in general. The sources for this study from Abusir comprise different types of records, including monumental hieroglyphic inscriptions and administrative old-hieratic documents. The fragments of hieroglyphic inscriptions that relate to festivals were found in Sahure s pyramid complex and Nyuserre s sun temple complex (El-Sabban 2000: 1 8), while the fragments of old-hieratic records relating to festivals survived in the administrative archives from the pyramid complexes of Neferirkare, Raneferef, Khentkaus II and the tomb Lepsius XXV (Posener-Kriéger 1976; 1995; Posener-Kriéger Verner Vymazalová 2006; Vymazalová 2008b; Verner 2014: ). Part of the texts from the Abusir archives is contemporary with the hieroglyphic inscriptions, dating to the time of Djedkare, while a smaller number of the documents were written during the 6 th Dynasty (Posener- Kriéger 1976: ; Posener-Kriéger Verner Vymazalová 2006: 333). It is unimportant that the inscriptions from the sun temple relate to one king while the texts from the papyrus archives to two other kings, because we might presume that the same festivals were celebrated in all the pyramid complexes at the necropolis and each of them was, moreover, associated with a sun temple (Posener- Kriéger Verner Vymazalová 2006: , ). It is the combination of the two types of sources monumental hieroglyphic and administrative hieratic texts that might provide us with some additional information about the Old Kingdom festivals and their significance in cult and economy. We must keep in mind that the character and use of each of these two types of records served a different purpose, and as we will see below they do not exactly complement each other, even though both refer to events that were important for the royal cults.

5 332 Hana Vymazalová The fragmentary evidence that has survived in Abusir to the present day contains names of some festivals, and also additional information about the cultic objects used during the festival days, or the quantity of offerings associated with a particular event. The former gives us merely some hints concerning the cultic side of the festival, which is only rarely known (see also Verner 2014: ), while the latter reflects the number of people who participated in the feast and thus its significance for the population (see also Sayed Mohamed 2004: 65). The small-scale festivals mentioned in the texts possibly concerned only the attendants of the respective pyramid complexes or sun temples and the associated officials while the large-scale festivals could concern a number of people who lived in the vicinity of the necropolis. The evidence from Abusir concerns both the small and large-scale festivals. FRAGMENTS OF A CALENDAR OF FESTIVAL OFFERINGS(?) IN THE VALLEY TEMPLE OF SAHURE According to S. El-Sabban, some remains of a list of festivals might be identified on fragments of limestone blocks found by L. Borchardt in the temple of Sahure (El-Sabban 2000: 1 2). These are two small fragments of a Weihinschrift discovered in the valley temple of Sahure s pyramid complex (Borchardt 1913: pl. 72; see also the plan of the temple, h i, 12 13), which seem to constitute perhaps the earliest evidence related to festivals found in Abusir up to now. The fragments contain remains of inscriptions written in vertical columns and divided by lines, similar in form to Nyuserre s inscriptions (see below). One column of text seems to mention a number [...]+20 of iwa-bulls while the other column contains part of the name of the festival tpj rnpt after which follow the iwa-bulls with a plural determinative. The inscription therefore might have referred to festival dates and the associated offerings and could have been a part of an inscription similar to the one known from Nyuserre s sun temple (see below). CALENDAR OF FESTIVAL OFFERINGS IN THE SUN TEMPLE OF NYUSERRE The inscriptions from Nyuserre s sun temple in Abu Gurab, at the north edge of Abusir, are considered to be the oldest preserved Festkalendar (Schott 1950: 945). Fragments of two large inscriptions were found during the archaeological exploration of the sun temple cp-ib-ra that listed many religious festivals. The inscriptions once decorated the sides of the temple s entrance, the gateway of the so-called lower temple (Kees in Bissing 1928: pls , nos ). Parts of the inscriptions were reconstructed by W. Helck on the basis of the discovered fragments (Helck 1977, recently followed by Strudwick 2005: 86 91). Many parts of Helck s reconstruction are however only hypothetical and cannot be taken for granted (see also Spalinger 2013; Verner 2014: 137). The two inscriptions, A and B, seem to have comprised several themes, including the construction and furnishing of the temple, a list of estates, and a list of festival offerings (El-Sabban 2000: 2 and 186). The themes do not follow after each other but blend into each other, and lists of festivals and associated offerings alternate with references to construction works or the furnishing of the temple. In general, it can be said that the king in these inscriptions claimed to have fulfilled a share of his royal task, by describing both the physical and the economic equipment/establishment of the temple. He defined the conditions for the temple (its construction, equipment and furniture) and for its function (both cultic and economic) that were to be maintained for eternity. Thus, Nyuserre claimed to have guaranteed the proper operation of the temple with sufficient income from particular estates. This practice is better known in the Old Kingdom from the funerary estates associated with funerary complexes (Jacquet-Gordon 1962; Khaled 2009; Verner 2014: ; Vymazalová 2015: ), but it is clear that the same decisions must have been applied for any institution in ancient Egypt. It is worth noting that in the two inscriptions of Nyuserre, all names of the estates comprise the name of Re together with the name of the king (Helck 1977: 77; Vymazalová 2011: 297). Other gods are also known to appear in the names of royal estates (Vymazalová 2015: ), however, in this case the name of a particular domain seems to reflect the economic use of this estate s produce, specifically for the cult in Nyuserre s sun temple. The names of these domains moreover reflect the close connection of Nyuserre s cult and the cult of Re. In W. Helck s reconstruction of the inscriptions, which he himself called Opferliste, the text opened with His majesty has ordered establishment of divine offerings specifically for his father Re in cp-ib-ra for the festival offerings (transl. Strudwick 2005: 87). Thus the offerings and not just the festivals were the focus of these inscriptions. The inscriptions seem to provide partial information on the economic side of the festivals, but at the same time they reveal nothing about the ritual or ceremonial side of the individual events. The offerings are also what can help us today to distinguish the differences between the individual festivals. It is of

6 Feasts in Written Evidence from the 5 th Dynasty Royal Necropolis of Abusir 333 course questionable whether the quantities of offerings mentioned in the texts were the ideal or real quantities. The former can be supposed in tombs where usually a thousand of pieces of bread and beer (and other items) were wished for the deceased. At the same time, the accounts from the Abusir archives reflect the ideal-expected amounts (rxt) of offerings, perhaps specified in a king s decree, and the often smaller real-delivered amounts (kmt), which confirm that the actually consumed products in the pyramid temples were not always in quantities planned by the kings, resulting in the accounting documents in arrears (Haw Hrj-a) (Posener- Kriéger 1976: ; Posener-Kriéger Verner Vymazalová 2006: ). We might suppose the same in the case of Nyuserre s inscriptions. For this study, however, the ideal versus real numbers are not so important because the numbers still reveal a relative significance or the scale of these events. Due to the fragmentary state of preservation, we cannot of course establish a complete overview, and in the following considerations we must rely on Helck s reconstruction. It allows us to recognise three basic categories of festivals (out of the total of five categories of Helck 1977: 73 4): (i) 1,300 portions of bread and beer, 1 ox; (ii) 1,000 pns-loaves, 1 ox, 10 fowls, honey, milk, all sweet things/a bowl of Sat-cakes; (iii) 30,000 portions of bread and beer, 10 oxen / honey and cakes; Besides these common offerings, the individual feasts could be associated with various other offering commodities, as for instance with sxt-grain, isd-fruits, gazelles and goats, and the iwa-oxen next to the ordinary oxen. The celebrations of type (i) and (ii) seem to be local-size festivals. In Helck s reconstruction (see also Strudwick 2005: 86 91, and Verner 2014: 137) type (i) included the wagjfestival, feast of Thoth, feast of Dressing Anubis who is on his mountain (mnxt Inpw tpj Dw.f), the First day of the year (tpj rnpt), feast of Sokar, feast of Raising the dish of the burnt offerings/laying down the brazier (wah ah), feast of Intoxication (txi), feast of Sadj (cad), feast of Rekeh/Burning (rkh), a repeated event called Excursion/Voyage of Re in Shesepibre (Xnt ra m cp-ib-ra), and according to Helck s reconstruction, possibly also the feast of Bastet(?). The offerings indicate that this type of event was an ordinary festival during which the usual food was distributed, i.e. ta-bread, psn-bread and beer, to which the meat of an ox was added. The events of type (i) seem to have been connected with the necropolis and had a specific meaning for the funerary cults (see especially Sokar, Anubis and the burnt offerings, Verner 2014: 142, , 148). It might be worth noting the small scale of the feast of Sokar in the inscriptions, which in later times became the largest festival (Schott 1950: 944). Festivals of type (ii) were, in the reconstructed inscriptions, ascribed to the feast of the Opening of the year (wp rnpt) and feast of Coming forth of Min (prt Mnw). The offerings associated with these festivals were more specific than those of type (i), including only psn-bread (without ta-bread and without beer), meat but also fowls, honey, milk and sweets. This seems to indicate that the festivals of type (ii) were of a more specific kind. The former festival was associated with the renewal of royal power and played a particularly significant role in the ritual life of the sun temple complexes (see for instance Janák Vymazalová Coppens 2011). The latter with fertility and harvest (Verner 2014: ), and it might have consisted of a visit of a divine image in the necropolis (Posener-Kriéger 1976: ). Both of these festivals were of national importance in relation to kingship and the world s (Egypt s) order and wellbeing. The quantities written in the inscriptions might have been the ideal numbers, not exactly reflecting the reality, but we can leastways try to use them for a further discussion. The quantities of offerings associated with both these types of festivals in Nyuserre s inscriptions were not too high. Helck in his discussion estimated that the quantity of offerings assigned to the festivals of type (i) and (ii), consisting of 1,300 portions of bread and beer and/or 1,000 psnbreads, might have corresponded to approximately a few hundreds of participants. In his estimation, 160 people might have participated in these festivals, each of whom would receive 8 portions of bread and beer and/or 6 psnbreads (Helck 1977: in comparison to the Reisner papyri). We can, moreover, presume that the participants of the festivals had jobs associated with the sun temple complex. We might take a comparative look to the Abusir archives. These reveal that in Neferirkare s pyramid complex, 1 bull and 22 poultry were consumed daily (Posener-Kriéger 1979: 148, 523), while in Raneferef s pyramid complex, the texts give evidence that between 3,300 and 4,000 portions of bread and beer were consumed monthly (Posener-Kriéger Verner Vymazalová 2006: 385), corresponding to portions of bread and beer daily. At the same time, the number of the attendants serving in the temples at any one time was estimated around 20 for Neferirkare s funerary temple (Posener-Kriéger 1979: 573), while it was perhaps lower in Raneferef s pyramid temple (Posener-Kriéger Verner Vymazalová 2006: , see also Posener- Kriéger 1990: 175). These numbers seem more or less in accordance with Helck s estimation.

7 334 Hana Vymazalová The festival type (iii) on the other hand seems to include quite large-scale events, and in Helck s reconstruction of the texts, included the feast of Taking to the rivers/reception of the river (Sspt itrw) and an event described as His majesty acted particularly in accordance with what he should do for the offering table of Re in every place where Re is (transl. Strudwick 2005: 89). The former festival was most likely associated with the fertility of fields, and its name might indicate an association with the inundation (Verner 2014: ). It is worth noting, however, that W. Helck assigned it to type (iii) in inscription A but to type (i) in inscription B! (Helck 1977: 59, 70) The thirty thousand portions of bread and beer and ten oxen of type (iii) could feed a large number of people (Helck 1977: 76), and these events thus appear to be of particular importance. It is, however, impossible to assess whether the quantity of offerings was used in the sun temple complex only or throughout the whole Abusir necropolis, or even in a much larger region. For instance, we can only wonder whether every place where Re is meant the pyramid complexes of the deceased kings in Abusir or places of Re s cult outside the necropolis. The large quantity of offerings ascribed to this feast might support the latter possibility, while on the other hand a jar of honey and a bowl of Sat-cakes would rather indicate a limitation to one site (possibly the Abusir necropolis). It cannot be excluded either that the large number of offerings mentioned for these festivals indicates a longer duration of the festival rather than a large number of its participants. Even though in Nyuserre s inscriptions each festival was ascribed a date of one specific day, this day might have been the first of several during which the festival could have lasted. Festivals lasting for many days are attested, for instance, in Raneferef s papyrus archive (see below). The large-scale festivals from Nyuserre s inscriptions, therefore, might have lasted over a longer period of time, over which the large quantity of offerings could have been consumed by a limited number of people. In addition to the three basic types of events, one small fragment of Nyuserre s inscription mentions a festival (its date and name was not preserved) during which 100 oxen and 10 iwa-oxen together with 2 gazelles were to be offered. Another fragment records 20 oxen and 50 goats for a single festival, the name of which did not survive! Such a large quantity of meat indicates that these two festivals were of special significance and included numerous participants. Besides these festival offerings, inscription A also contained some sort of a summary, which equals to 100,[8]00 portions of bread and beer, 7,9[2]0 pieces of psn-bread, 1,002 oxen and 1000 fowls (Helck 1977: 65). W. Helck suggested that these large sums referred not to the total of the festival consumption but rather to a yearly consumption and calculated that the daily shares would then be 280 portions of bread and beer, 22 pieces of psn-bread, perhaps 3 oxen, and 3 geese (Helck 1977: 76 77). If we, however, compare these quantities to the Abusir papyrus archives, we find that there is no clear accordance (see above). For instance, the bread and beer would amount to more than double the consumption in Raneferef s pyramid temple. This would still be understandable considering that Raneferef s cult seems to have been smaller in scale than for instance the cult of Neferirkare (Posener-Kriéger Verner Vymazalová 2006: 389). On the other hand, as few as 3 geese and as many as 3 oxen per day cannot be explained so easily. As mentioned above, some of the king s activities were described besides and in between the names and offerings of the individual festivals, and these seem to relate to the construction and equipping of the temple. According to Helck s reconstruction, these seem to include the establishment of two great houses of the palace and the house of gold of Re and Hathor both during the Axt-season, the establishment of the sun temple in stone and providing of its basic equipment in the prt-season and the providing of a boat for the sun temple in the Smw-season. Helck s reconstruction of the inscriptions, therefore, indicates that these activities happened during the year, in between the festival celebrations. The question nevertheless arises whether the two inscriptions in Nyuserre s sun temple, which seem not to have been identical (Helck 1977: 70 75), described twice the same cycle of festivals and events that were to be celebrated yearly in the sun temple, or whether they rather referred to two periods of the construction project, starting on the ritually important New Year, continuing during the three seasons with establishment of the temple (first the administrative[?] houses of the palace, then the temple and later its boat), and also its economic background and the appropriate festival rituals and offerings (inscription A), and reaching to the next year with more festivals and establishment of the temple s own treasury (inscription B). On one hand, this idea might seem tempting and it can perhaps even explain the high consumption of meat, as proteins were needed for the temple builders. On the other hand, the period of the construction of the temple would be relatively short. Unfortunately our evidence is too fragmentary, and thus we will perhaps never be able to adequately answer this question. FEASTS IN THE PAPYRUS ARCHIVE OF NEFERIRKARE S PYRAMID COMPLEX The administrative documents from the papyrus archive found in Neferirkare s pyramid complex in Abusir (marked

8 Feasts in Written Evidence from the 5 th Dynasty Royal Necropolis of Abusir 335 here as documents Ne) mentioned or referred to several festivals that were celebrated by the king s complex attendants (Posener-Kriéger de Cenival 1968; Posener-Kriéger 1976). The detailed discussion on the festivals, their meaning and time of celebration in the publication of the archive (Posener-Kriéger 1976: ) was recently updated and enlarged in the context of the wider Abusir evidence on festivals (Verner 2014: ). The texts, which refer to festivals in Neferirkare s archive itself, are almost exclusively duty tables. They reveal to us types of tasks, which the temple attendants had to perform in relation to the feast celebration or preparation, and also mention a variety of cultic equipment that was used during the festivals. Rituals performed on statues were carefully planned for the Feast of the month according to documents Ne.4h and Ne.5f (Posener-Kriéger 1976: 546). Preparations for the Festival of Sokar appear in document Ne (Posener-Kriéger 1976: 59 76, ) and include the purification of the temple, acts with wx-emblems, the presentation of offering meals and linen, etc. Tasks related to the transportation of divine offerings by boat from the residence for the feast of Coming forth of Min can be found in document Ne.82b and c (Posener-Kriéger 1976: , ). A duty table in document Ne.14 relates to the Feast of adoration (Posener-Kriéger 1976: 76 80, ) and another one in document Ne.88 B to the sed-festival (Posener-Kriéger 1976: , 561). In addition to that, references to the Feast of Hathor and an inspection of the sacred boat were recorded in document Ne.19A (Posener- Kriéger 1976: , ); and an account of deliveries of drinks from the king s sun temple and the residence associated with the festival Night of Re was partly preserved in document Ne.60A (Posener-Kriéger 1970; 1976: , ). Divine emblems listed in document Ne.18A might have referred to another specific festival (Posener- Kriéger 1976: 87 98, ) or could be related to procedures performed during any festival in the funerary temple (Verner 2014: ). On the other hand, these texts from Neferirkare s pyramid temple archive reveal nothing concerning the economic side of the festivals, the quantities of offerings or number of participants. FEASTS IN THE PAPYRUS ARCHIVE OF RANEFEREF S PYRAMID COMPLEX In comparison to Neferirkare s temple archive, the fragments of papyrus that were found in Raneferef s pyramid complex in Abusir (marked here as documents Nf) provided only a little information about festivals (Vymazalová 2006: 263; 2008a: 138). The texts mention the festivals of Thoth and Wagj (Nf.11 13) and the festival of the First day of the Month (tpj Abd). In addition, a list of cultic equipment in document Nf.31C containing a face(mask) of Anubis might also have related to a festival, most likely the feast of Anubis (Verner 2014: 142). Much attention has been given to the festivals of Thoth and Wagj and their potential for absolute dating (Posener- Kriéger 1985: 35 43; Luft 1992: 55, ; Krauss 1994: 18; Rose 1994: 261; Krauss 1998: 122; a brief summary of the discussion Depuydt 2000: 172; Vymazalová 2006; Spalinger 2013). The texts associated with the festivals of Thoth and Wagj from Raneferef s pyramid temple archive provide us with evidence about the distribution of fine linen within the temple. Each of the temple phyles received a portion of linen, intended perhaps for their cultic service. Besides the phyles, a portion of linen was ascribed to the lector priest and another to the House of Statues (pr-twt), which undoubtedly were intended for the priest s cloths and for dressing the statues during renewal rituals (Vymazalová Coppens 2009; 2011; 2013; Coppens Vymazalová 2010). Still another feast seems to be attested in Raneferef s pyramid temple archive which deserves special attention (Vymazalová 2006; Verner 2014: ; Vymazalová 2015: ). Fragments of document Nf A 1 4 contain a part of an accounting table, for which offerings were brought from at least three different places, to which three preserved sections of the record corresponded. The heading of this accounting table is not preserved but the character of the record and the large quantities of offerings indicate that this text related to a festival (Vymazalová 2006: 262). However, not only the name of the festival but also the identity of the recipient of these offerings remains unclear from this document. Even though it was found in Raneferef s pyramid temple, this document might have referred to a larger area, and we cannot exclude that Raneferef s temple was only one of the participating institutions (Posener-Kriéger Verner Vymazalová 2006: 393). The three sections of the record referred to the temple of Ptah-South-of-His-Wall, the temple of Raneferef, and a third place, the name of which did not survive on the fragments. The accounting table reveals that the festival lasted for seventeen days (Vymazalová 2006: 262), providing the daily delivered quantities in each section and also their totals in red ink written at the top of the table. Thus we learn that in total 2,448 portions of bread and beer were provided by the temple of Ptah for this festival, while 18,000 portions came from the temple of Raneferef, and possibly even more from the third place. At the same time, 204 pieces of poultry, 221 iwa-oxen and 4 of an unknown kind of animal(?) were

9 336 Hana Vymazalová brought from the temple of Ptah, while a much smaller number was brought from the temple of Raneferef. Such large quantities of offerings can be compared to the type (iii) festivals from Nyuserre s sun temple inscriptions. Even though we do not know to which festival this document referred, it is clear that this particular event involved a large quantity of attendants, possibly within the whole Abusir necropolis and its vicinity. The feast of Sokar seems one plausible candidate (Vymazalová 2006: 263), even though in Helck s reconstruction of the sun temple inscriptions, this festival is a local small-sized event (see also Vymazalová 2015: 263). Another festival cannot be excluded either in relation to his text (see for instance the Great Festival, Verner 2014: 147). The question remains whether such a large event might have been associated with a special occasion in the reign of the ruling king, for instance his coronation or his sed-festival, which would very likely have a ritual impact on the cultic activities performed for his predecessors, the previous royal-ka-bearers. Even though such events might be mentioned in royal annals, they seem not to be very large events (Schott 1950: 944). FRAGMENTS OF PAPYRUS FROM THE ARCHIVE OF KHENTKAUS II S PYRAMID COMPLEX The evidence on festivals from the pyramid complex of Khentkaus II can be traced in the fragments of papyri that were found in the queen s pyramid temple (Posener-Kriéger 1995). The type of information that these fragments provide differs from those of the two kings mortuary temple archives. The small fragments of papyri from the queen s temple show various types of records, including accounts, headings, lists of names of individuals and depictions and descriptions of statues. One of the preserved fragments contains a reference to a festival, the name of which however did not survive (Posener-Kriéger 1995: pl. 31, fr. B). It seems very likely that the other texts also referred to a celebration of a festival (Vymazalová Coppens 2011: ). Some hints can be traced on the preparation of the festival and perhaps also the associated revenues but too little survived to make any conclusions about the economic side of this event. On the other hand, the fragments seem to provide us with evidence indicating that the feast in question was associated with rituals performed on statues of the queen and that a sort of a ritual handbook might have been part of this interesting record (Vymazalová Coppens 2011: , 799). This indication leads us to propose that the festival reflected in the papyrus fragments from Khentkaus II s temple might be associated with renewal and rejuvenation rites. Such rites are attested in Neferirkare s pyramid temple archive for the festival of the month (Ne.4h, Ne.5f, Posener- Kriéger 1976: 546), and the same rites were most likely performed during the New Year festival and possibly also on other occasions. FRAGMENT OF PAPYRUS FROM TOMB LEPSIUS XXV Small fragments of papyrus that were found in the chapel of the twin-tomb, Lepsius XXV, in Abusir provide some more fragmentary evidence possibly relating to a festival. Even though the fragments were found during the exploration of a member of Nyuserre s royal family (Krejčí Callender Verner 2008: ), it is highly likely that the record was not related to this particular tomb but that it originally came from one of the Abusir pyramid complexes. Only little of the writing survived on these small fragments, but it can be presumed that the text related to a festival (fragment O) and that it referred to deliveries of products as indicated by the main heading of the record reading: offering consumption (fragment B) (Vymazalová 2008b: ). CONCLUSION ON THE CELEBRATION OF FESTIVALS IN ABUSIR This brief summary of the fragmentary evidence relating to festivals associated with the Abusir necropolis can hardly provide us with a complete picture of the festive celebrations that once were part of the ritual life in the necropolis over the course of the 5 th Dynasty. Even though the surviving evidence dates to the same period of time, i.e. the second half of the 5 th Dynasty, it appears to be rather hard to compare or combine the information gained from the monumental inscriptions from Nyuserre s sun temple and from the administrative Abusir papyrus archives. The former communicated to the gods how the king fulfilled his role on earth, in regard to taking care of Re s cult. They reflected the perfect image of the king s actions. The latter, on the other hand, give us a hint of the daily routine of the pyramid temple attendants. Nyuserre s inscriptions provide us with the most complete overview of festivals. Unlike the festival lists in the nonroyal tombs of the Old Kingdom that seem to reflect the importance of the events (Spalinger 1996: 162), the inscriptions from Nyuserre s sun temple seems to be arranged in a calendric order (Helck 1977: 48), i.e. according to the time of celebration, starting with the renewal rituals of the Opening of the year. Nyuserre s inscriptions recorded in hiero-

10 Feasts in Written Evidence from the 5 th Dynasty Royal Necropolis of Abusir 337 glyphs the king s order (decree; see also Spalinger 1992: 3) concerning the establishment and furnishing of his sun temple, including the festivals with associated offerings and the other events associated with the project. The inscriptions might have mentioned the actually celebrated events during the construction of the temple but at the same time all the festivals to be celebrated in the years to come for eternity. The form of Nyuserre s inscriptions is rather different and not as detailed and informative as the later festival calendars (for a summary see for instance Spalinger 1992: 1 3), which not only show day by day overviews of rites and the offerings, including even their cooking-ratio (psw) but can, moreover, be accompanied by depictions and festive songs and hymns (Schott 1950: ; Meyer 1998). The Abusir papyrus archives show still a different picture from Nyuserre s inscription and, moreover, each of the archives provided us with a different type of text and therefore with a different type of information. These included specification of the priestly duties and some of the cultic equipment associated with festivals (Neferirkare), details of the distribution of offerings of linen (Raneferef) and even the description of statues and possibly the depiction of ritual activities that were to be performed (Khentkaus II). Thus, our material is not only very fragmentary but also very diverse. Lists of festivals on papyri and letters mentioning feasts that are known, for instance, from the papyrus archive found in the pyramid complex of Senusret II (Luft 1992) have not been preserved in Abusir. On the other hand, the small pieces of available information might help us to imagine at least a part of the organisation of the festivals in the royal pyramid complexes in Abusir. The preparation stage included first of all dividing tasks among the priests (Ne.4, Ne.5, Ne.13 14, Ne.82b). Some of them purified the temple while others brought and prepared the cultic equipment consisting of various vessels, boxes with small objects, linen (Nf.11 13), boats (Ne.19A) and divine emblems (Ne.18A). Other priests were in charge of the offerings and their delivery from the residence and also from or through the sun temples (Ne.60A, Ne.82b). The festival itself could include different ritual activities, depending on the type of festival. Sometimes rituals were performed on statues (feast of the month), other times divine statues visited the pyramid complexes (feast of Min), and ceremonies could also be performed outside the complexes, for instance on the river or a water canal (feast of Hathor). Offerings were presented to the deceased king and divine emblems were presented to Re and united with Re (feast of Sokar). After the priests performed the rituals, the cultic equipment was returned to the storerooms. Among the objects to be returned to the storerooms of Neferirkare s funerary temple, a papyrus scroll was mentioned, which was sent out for the rituals in favour of Khentkaus II (for daily rituals in document Ne.3c). It seems likely that papyrus scrolls (possibly ritual guidebooks) were used in the pyramid complexes also during festivals, but no direct connection with the papyri fragments from the pyramid complex of Khentkaus II (discussed above) can be drawn at the moment. At the end of the festival, the offerings were distributed in the reversion process to the priests and probably also to other attendants who could have visited the necropolis during the event. The number of participants can be only roughly estimated on the basis of the quantities of offerings mentioned in Nyuserre s sun temple inscriptions for the individual events. It cannot be excluded that the funerary cults of family members and some non-royal cults were among the recipients of the festive offerings. It is clear from the preserved records that in Abusir the royal funerary cults in the pyramid complexes were connected to the cult performed in the sun temples, and offerings were brought daily from the latter to the former (Posener-Kriéger 1976: 542; Vymazalová 2015: ). Besides the daily connections, the sun temples seem to have provided some offerings also for the festival days, as for instance the drinks that were delivered from Neferirkare s sun temple and the residence to his pyramid complex, according to document Ne.60A (Posener-Kriéger 1976: , ), and the pat-bread that was delivered from Neferirkare s sun temple to Raneferef s pyramid complex, as attested in document Nf.47 48A 1 4 (Posener-Kriéger Verner Vymazalová 2006: , , ; Vymazalová 2006: 262; Vymazalová 2015: ). Such economic connections during the festive celebrations between the sun temples and the funerary complexes is not surprising because it reflected the cultic function of the temples the sun temples were not merely the places of Re s cult but places where the kingship was periodically renewed and where the king s role in the process of maintaining the world s order was celebrated in association with the creator Re and Hathor (Janák Vymazalová Coppens 2011). We would therefore expect concordances between the attested festivals from the pyramid temples and the sun temples. We indeed notice that most of the festivals that are attested in the texts from the pyramid complexes are also mentioned in Nyuserre s sun temple. These include the feast of Thoth (and Wagj), the feast of Sokar, the feast of Coming forth of Min, the First day of the year and probably also the feast of Dressing Anubis. The feast of Hathor, the feast of adoration and the sedfestival are attested only in the pyramid complexes, but a connection with the sun temples can be presumed. The

11 338 Hana Vymazalová former was probably associated with inundation and with a voyage of Hathor s statue on a boat between the king s funerary complex and the sun temple (Verner 2014: ). The feast of adoration might have been a feast of the sun god (Verner 2014: 149), and the sed-festival is the feast most connected with kingship and attested in Nyuserre s sun temple, not in the inscriptions but as the main motif of the decoration and in the temple s ritual function (Bissing Kees 1922; Edel Wenig 1974; Nuzzolo 2007: ; Janák Vymazalová Coppens 2011: ). Beside these, the Night of Re and the feast of the month were celebrated in the royal pyramid complexes in Abusir. One of them might possibly be associated with the Voyage of Re, a monthly event attested in Nyuserre s inscriptions (Verner 2014: ; Janák Vymazalová Coppens 2011: 442). Some of the discussed festivals were of a funerary character (Sokar, Anubis) while others related to the king and kingship (Min, Hathor, sed-festival) or to the sun god (the feast of adoration and the Night of Re). It, therefore, seems that the festivals that were celebrated in the pyramid complexes were also celebrated in the sun temples. The evidence, however, does not show so clearly whether it was also the other way around. More than half of the festivals that occur in the inscriptions in Nyuserre s sun temple cannot be found in the surviving evidence from the pyramid complexes. This might, however, be due to the too fragmentary state of evidence. According to S. Voß the majority of the sun temple festivals were related to Re himself (Voß 2004: 126), but some of them appear to be rather important yearly events associated with renewal and rejuvenation, which were for sure celebrated throughout Egypt and not exclusively in the sun temples (Opening of the year, First day of the year, the five epagomenal days etc). Other events seem to have been associated with the idea of inundation, fertility and abundance (txi, Sspt itrw) (Verner 2014: 142, ; Daumas 1977: ), i.e. concepts which were of high significance for the whole Egypt as well. The rest of the attested festivals were mortuary feasts during which offerings were brought to the deceased and/or burnt (Feast of burning, cad, and Laying down the brazier) (Verner 2014: 143, 144, 148; Verhoeven 1986: 645). It is doubtless that these types of festivals were celebrated in the royal pyramid complexes as well. Taking into consideration the very close cultic and economic connection between the funerary complexes and the sun temples in Abusir, it might be presumed that each of the festivals celebrated in the sun temple was also celebrated in the funerary temples. Sun temple Pyramid temple Pyramid temple of Nyuserre archive archive of of Neferirkare Raneferef wp-rnpt Hb Abdw +Hwtjt-wAgj [wagj] %kr Inpw(?) +Hwtjt wdnt ihj %kr(?) txi divine symbols (?) cad wt-hr mnxt Inpw tpj Dw.f grg Ra Xnt Ra m ^sp-ib-ra prt Mnw wah ah Hb cd Ssp-itrw Hb %kr tpj rnpt rkh prt Mnw [Bstt] cad Smw Hrjw rnpt These festivals included both local small-sized events and large-scale feasts. Some of them were celebrated once a year while other feasts occurred several times during the year, similar to later festival lists (Spalinger 1992: 4). The small-scale festivals that occur in the fragmentary evidence from both the pyramid complexes and the sun temple were perhaps more or less limited to the temples attendants. The organisation of such events was in the hands of the phyle-section that was in service at the date of the festival, for instance the wac section of the wr-phyle on document Ne (Posener-Kriéger 1976: 59 76, ), and similar local necropolis festivals are also known from later evidence from the Middle Kingdom onwards, for instance from the temple of Mentuhotep II (Schott 1950: 949). The large-scale events, which are attested in both the sun temple inscriptions and the funerary temples administrative records, very likely involved the whole necropolis. It however remains unclear which institution was at the head of these celebrations, whether they were organised from the centre, for instance, the residence. This seems to be indicated by a few records from the Abusir archives. First of all, document Ne.82b c concerns transporting offerings from the residence on the occasion of the feast of Coming forth of Min (Posener-Kriéger 1976: , ), and this feast ranked among the large-scale festivals in Nyuserre s inscriptions. In addition, document Nf.47 48A 1 4 attests that bulls were sent from the temple of Ptah to the necropolis for a large-scale festival (possibly of Sokar) (Posener-Kriéger Verner Vymazalová 2006: , , ; Vymazalová 2006), and such a delivery can be expected to have been organised through the residence rather than di-

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