TEMPLE OF HORUS AT EDFU: REMARKS ON REUSED BLOCKS DISCOVERED IN THE TEMPLE COURT*

Transcription

1 THE HISTORY OF THE TEMPLE OF HORUS AT EDFU: REMARKS ON REUSED BLOCKS DISCOVERED IN THE TEMPLE COURT* Yehia EID and Martin Von FALCK Abstract In 1984 several decorated and undecorated sandstone blocks from earlier buildings came to light under the late Ptolemaic court pavement of the great temple of Horus at Edfu. Among these are two fragments dating to King Ìwtj which can be joined. Most fragments may be assigned to a Kushite Heb Sed porch. The right half of a lintel and a scene belonging to the right door-jamb are reconstructed in the following article. 1. In 1984 the northern part of the late Ptolemaic court pavement (designated 'H' after Chassinat) of the great temple of Horus at Edfu was removed by members of an Egyptian Antiquities Organization (EAO) team under the direction of Yehia Eid. Below the original pavement a layer of reused sandstone blocks from earlier buildings came to light. 1 The find comprised 39 decorated and several undecorated pieces. During 1985, the fragments were still displayed to the public in the temple court. Two building fragments, which were inscribed with formerly unknown names of King Ìwtj, were published by a group of students of Egyptology. 2 After his visit in April 1985, Leclant briefly described outstanding pieces of the find and ascribed fragments bearing names of King Psamtek II to an usurped 'porte jubilaire' (Heb Sed porch) erected under Kushite rule. 3 The discovery of the blocks was mentioned several times in reports on field work in Egypt and in popular essays Among the fragments bearing inscriptions and a relief, at least four pieces and most likely two others date from the reign of the king mentioned above Ìwtj; while a corner stone and an architrave fragment were already published, 5 two other architrave fragments can be joined (Fig. 1) showing an inscription which is identical with that of the architrave piece already published. The text of the right fragment has to be read from right to left and shows slightly more damage at the beginning of the text than the parallel. It bears the golden Horus name, 6 two epithets and the initial signs of a third one belonging to the following nzw-bjtjname: [bjk]- nbw Wsr -.w nzw-bjtj nb-t.wj nb jr(j).t. The following fragment on the left bears the remains of the third epithet, the nzw-bjtj name and the z -R wtitle: jr(j).t (j).t S m-r w smn-t.wj z -R w 'Horus of gold, Powerful of appear- 65

2 Y. EID AND M. VON FALCK ances (resp. Powerful of crowns), King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Lord of the two lands, Lord of the ritual Power-of-Ra, He-who-establishes-the-two-lands, Son of Ra...' 7 One of the fragments mentioned above, which also dates most probably from the time of Ìwtj, bears traces of a building inscription 8... Ìw.t m w.t m jnr ̃ nfr...'house, renewed in sandstone...'. Recently, this sovereign was with good reasons assigned to the Thirteenth Dynasty instead of the Seventeenth Dynasty At least 25 fragments most probably can be assigned to the 'porte jubilaire' (Heb-Sed porch) identified by Leclant. Among these blocks, five fragments might have belonged to the lintel of the gateway, which consists of two halves, each showing an inner pattern with a larger scene and an outer pattern with two smaller scenes. Of the right half of the lintel, three adjoining fragments are preserved. Two of these are kept today as an ensemble, one fitting above the other, while the third piece bearing the larger scene (Fig. 2) 10 can be joined to the upper one of the two. The third fragment shows the upper part of a king on his throne looking to the right. The king wears a Kushite cap on his head and holds his flagellum and sceptre in his hands. The god Horus approaches him from the right and presents a bundle of three Upper Egyptian lilies. His left hand clenches the upper end of the stem, while his right hand grasps the lower end. Behind the falcon-headed god, the front part of a goddess is preserved. She holds a notched, leafless palm-branch in her right hand and a long stalk of another plant in her left hand. Behind the enthroned king, parts of the protection formula remain: z n. The cartouches on either side of the king s head are hacked out. Only on his right, the title nb jr(j).t (j).t 'Lord of the ritual' remains. One of the Kushite doubleuraei on the king s forehead was cut out as well as on all other representations on this gateway. Between Horus and the king a ritual formula can be read: rdj.t m w mìw n núr nfr... 'Handing over Upper and Lower Egypt to the perfect god'. The upper fragment of the two with one on top of the other was already published in a photograph (Fig. 2). 11 It shows the remains of a goddess with her left arm bent and thus marks the join to the scene of the fragment described above. The scene following on the right is separated from the former by a column of text which continues on the lower fragment:...nb ÌÌ m rnp.wt Ìfn // m Ìb.w-sd tp t '... Millions of years, hundred thousands of Sed-festivals on earth!' The block consists of two scenes in which a Kushite king coming from the left interacts with a goddess. In the Recently, this sovereign was with good reasons assigned to the Thirteenth Dynasty instead of the Seventeenth Dynasty first scene, the king is holding out his right hand to a bundle of three ankh-symbols which is offered to him by a goddess. With her right hand she lifts a w ssceptre with ankh-symbols on top towards the king s nose. The second scene shows the king embraced by the god Horus, who is coming from the right holding an ankh-symbol directly towards the king s nose. While the first king carries a menat in his left hand, the second one does the same with an ankh-symbol. The formula at the right end of the lintel fragment is written in a column:... rw? nb dj.n=(j) n=k? // w ƒ =j s.t=j ns.t=j mj R w r w nb '... I give my flourishing to you, my seat and my throne every day'. Two adjoining fragments of the left half of the lintel are preserved. The outer left one also bears two smaller scenes. It was already shown through photography and was briefly described. 12 The inner fragment joined to the right was also briefly described and shows the remains of a larger scene with Thoth followed by a goddess. The edge of it runs along a papyrus flower and through the outstretched left arm of the god; the complete scene is to be reconstructed by comparison with its better preserved counterpart on the right half of the lintel: here Thoth is obviously offering the papyrus plants symbolizing Lower Egypt; and the king on his throne, who has to be added on the right, is now lost. Among the twenty other fragments, five are inscribed with the names of King Psamtek II (Nfr-jb-R w). Leclant states that the formerly Kushite cartouches were reworked during the reign of this Saitic ruler. Eight fragments belong to scenes in which the king offers various items to a god. According to their orientation, three of these fragments should be placed on the left inner passage wall of the gateway; the other five of which four can be assembled to form a complete scene, should be placed on the right inner passage wall on the gateway. 13 Eleven fragments seem to belong to the two doorjambs which are composed similarly to the Heb Sed porch of the temple of Ptah at Karnak erected by the Kushite ruler Sabacon: 14 the western facade of this gateway shows a monumental vertical inscription framed on both sides by oversized rnp.t-hieroglyphs next to the passage on both sides. The register scenes in which gods sitting on thrones offer nb-baskets with ankh- and w s-symbols are orientated towards these two inscriptions. On both base registers, Thoth (resp. Seshat) is followed by the royal ka. The hieroglyphic sign for 'heaven' marks the upper border of each register. On both doorjambs, the registers are framed by one elongated w s-hieroglyph on their outer edge. 66

3 THE HISTORY OF THE TEMPLE OF HORUS AT EDFU According to their orientation, two of the fragments which were excavated at Edfu belong to the left, the nine other ones to the right doorjamb of the gateway. Among the last group, there are three differently sized fragments which should be attributed to the same scene. The largest of these fragments (Fig. 3 bottom) has part of a monumental inscription on its left side with the title: z [R w] PsmÚk. The notched borders can be recognized as sections of the oversized rnp.thieroglyphs. To the right of the inscription, the upper (resp. the lower zone) of two registers is preserved: the lower register is framed by a pt-hieroglyph, below which runs a text of four columns, a horizontal line and two unframed columns: (1) Jtm(w) (2) núr nb BÌd.t (3) nb p.t nb t (4) dj=f n nb ƒd.{t} (5) nb.{t} w s nb.{t} snb (6) nb.{t} w.t-[jb nb.{t}]... (7) Îrw n.t n.w... 'Atum, great god, lord of Behedet, lord of heaven and lord of earth: May he give every life, every duration, every power, every dominion, every health and [every] joy... Horus of the living...'. Of the god represented in this scene, only the top of his head is preserved. In the upper register the lower end of a cartouche ring with the remains of Psamtek s name, [PsmÚ] k, is to be seen next to the monumental inscription. To the right the feet of the sitting god, the lower part of his throne and the throne base are left. Behind the throne the lower part of a chapel of the sì-núr-type remains. It is also possible that a smaller piece was attached to the left part of the fragment just described (Fig. 3, middle left). Remains of a cartouche ring and the rnp.t-like notched border can be explained as continuation of the monumental inscription. The cartouche with the name PsmÚ [k] joins the cartouche remains of the larger fragment already mentioned above. A right forearm presenting a nb-basket and an animal s tail hanging down should be assigned to the sitting god. The third fragment (Fig. 3, top right) shows the upper part of the body of an anonymous god with a god s beard and wig, holding out his bent forearms. His right forearm is preserved only halfway and seems to join the fragment just described. In the upper left corner of the fragment, only the lower part of a framed column remains: nb.t. Two unframed columns contain the lower part of a jubilee inscription: (1)... nb? ÌÌ nw rnp.wt m n w s (2)... mj R w? ƒ.t nìì '... Millions of years in life and dominion... like Ra? forever and ever. Below the inscription are traces of a chapel s roof. A rectangular block showing the upper part of a scene, which belongs to the base register of the right doorjamb, was already discussed in relevant publications (Fig. 4). 15 The hieroglyphic sign for 'heaven' and a section of the monumental w s-hieroglyph which enclose the register are preserved. To the left are three columns that contain the title of the goddess whose head wears the Seshat-symbol: 16 (1) Sf.t- b.wj ntj.(t) (2) Îsr.t ntj.(t) (3) Îw.t-jrj.(w) nb.t mdw.wt núr 'Sefechet-abui, 17 Mistress of Heseret, Foremost of the house of ritual instructions, Mistress of the god s words'. 18 To the right of the goddess, another four columns are to be seen; further below the head of a male god can be recognized: (1) k -nzw n (2) nb-t.wy dj=f n (3) nb ƒd.{t} nb.{t} (4) w s.{t} nb mj R w, 'Living ka of the king: Lord of the two lands, May he give every life, every duration and every power like Ra'. 3. The final publication of the material by the authors is in preparation. 19 Apart from the photographic documentation and the publication of drawings of the entire find, their integration into the wider context of an architectural history that includes all precursors of the late Ptolemaic temple of Horus is intended. 20 All hitherto known archaeological relics as well as the textual testimonies concerning the great temple of Horus until the early Ptolemaic period should be considered altogether and summed up as an actual building history. Endnotes * We thank Gawdat Gabra and Andreas Effland for offering material as well as ideas and corrections. 1 Y. Eid, Discovery of reused Blocks from earlier Temples under the Forecourt of Edfu Temple (1984), in Fifth International Congress of Egyptology. Abstracts of Papers (Cairo, 1988), M. von Falck, S. Klie and A. Schulz, 'Neufunde ergänzen Königsnamen eines Herrschers der 2. Zwischenzeit', GM 87 (1985), Since then the golden Horus name and the Nebty name of this king are cited in works of reference: J. v. Beckerath, Handbuch der ägyptischen Königsnamen, 2 nd edition, MÄS 49 (Mainz, 1999), (4.); T. Schneider, Lexikon der Pharaonen, revised edition (Nördlingen, 1996), ; differently from the proposed translation by von Falck et al., GM 87, 17. The recently discovered Nebty name should be interpreted as He-who-grasps-with-power. 3 J. Leclant and G. Clerc, 'Fouilles et travaux en Égypte et au Soudan, ', Orientalia 55 (1986), Leclant and Clerc, 'Fouilles et travaux en Égypte et au Soudan, ', Orientalia 56 (1987), 349. Tab. XLIII-XLV; C. Loeben, 'Bemerkungen zum Horustempel des Neuen Reiches in Edfu', BSEG 14 (1990), 63; Leclant, 'Archaeological Activities in Egypt', in VI Congresso Internazionale di Egittologia. Atti, Vol. I (Turin, 1992), 7; A. Dodson, 'From Dahshur to Dra Abu el Naga. The Decline and Fall of the Royal Pyramid', in KMT 5/3 (1994), fig. on p. 32; B. Watterson, The House of Horus at Edfu. Ritual in an Ancient Egyptian Temple (Gloucestershire, 1998), 47 (fig. 7); G. Gabra, 'Möglichkeiten zur Feldarbeit in Edfu', in Tell-Edfou soixante ans après, Actes du colloque franco-polonais, le Caire - 15 octobre 1996, Fouilles Franco- Polonaises 4 (1999), von Falck et al., GM 87, 15-17, 18, 20, Abb. 2-4, figs I-III; C. Eder, Die Barkenkapelle des Königs Sobekhotep III. in Elkab. Beiträge zur Bautätigkeit der 13. und 17. Dynastie an den Göttertempeln Ägyptens, ELKAB VII (Turnhout, 2002), Alternatively Gold name; cf. Schneider, Lexikon der Pharaonen, Slightly different, see Schneider, Lexikon der Pharaonen, 173: 'Powerful, a Ra...'. 8 The text seems to be a consecration formula; cf. an inscription of Thutmosis III after S. Grallert, Bauen Stiften Weihen. Ägyptische Bau- und Restaurierungsinschriften, Text u. Anhang, ADAIK 18/1-2 (Berlin 2001), 275 (T3Wf054), 604 (T3Wf054): jrj.n=f... m m w.t m jnr ̃ nfr n nw. 9 C. Geisen, Die Totentexte des verschollenen Sarges der Königin Mentuhotep aus der 13. Dynastie. Ein Textzeuge aus der Übergangszeit von den Sargtexten zum Totenbuch, SAT 8 (Wiesbaden 2004), 2-3; C. Geisen, 'Zur zeitlichen Einordnung des Königs Djehuti an das Ende der 13. Dynastie', SAK 32 (2004), ; C. Vandersleyen, 'Rahotep, Sébekemsaf I er et Djéhouty, rois de la 13e dynastie', RdÉ 44 (1993), 189: As Jb-j (j), the grandfather of Queen Monthuhotep, wife of Ìwty, seems to have been vizier at the time of the equally named King Jb-j (j)/j (j)-jb, Ìwty has to be dated earlier. In addition, the coffin and canopic chest of Monthuhotep belong typologically to the Thirteenth Dynasty. Thus, the doubts expressed earlier by von Falck et al., GM 87, 17, 19 are confirmed. 67

4 Y. EID AND M. VON FALCK 10 For a description of the two upper blocks, see Leclant and Clerc, Orientalia 55, Leclant and Clerc, Orientalia 56, 349, Tab. XLIV-XLV (figs 57, 59). 12 von Falck et al., GM 87, 16 (Abb. 1), 21 (n. 1); Leclant and Clerc, Orientalia 55, 288; Leclant and Clerc, Orientalia 56, 349, Tab. XLIV (fig. 58). 13 The right half of the upper fragment was already published in a photograph: Leclant and Clerc, Orientalia 56, 349, Tab. XLIII (fig. 56). 14 Leclant, 'Recherches sur les monuments thébains de la XXVe dynastie dite éthiopienne', BdÉ 36, Text and Plates (Cairo, 1965), ( 10 A), pl. XIII. 15 D. Budde, Die Göttin Seschat, Kanobos 2 (Leipzig, 2000), 45 (n. 256), 270 (Dok. 162a*); Leclant and Clerc, Orientalia 55, Budde, Die Göttin Seschat, 208 (Nr. 5), 291 (Nr. 203), 303 (Nr. 419), 310 (Nr. 540). 17 For this epithet, see Budde, Die Göttin Seschat, For these two epithets, see Budde, Die Göttin Seschat, Besides the two authors, Gawdat Gabra will be also involved in the project. 20 Until now, see Gabra, A. Farid, Neue Materialien zu königlichen Baudenkmälern in Edfu, MDAIK 37 (1981), and Gabra, in Tell-Edfou soixante ans après, 9-10 (with reference to earlier contributions). For the New Kingdom pylon, see Loeben, BSEG 14, 57-68; W. J. Murnane and F. J. Yurco, 'Once Again the Date of the New Kingdom Pylon at Edfu', in R. Friedman and B. Adams (eds), The Followers of Horus. Studies dedicated to Michael Allen Hoffman , Egyptian Studies Association Publication 2 (Oxford, 1992), and A. Egberts, 'The Pylons of Edfu', in Egyptian Religion. For the Last Thousand Years, Part II, Studies Dedicated to the Memory of Jan Quagebeur, W. Clarysse, A. Schoors and H. Willems (eds), OLA 85 (Leuven, 1998), The Berlin stela (ÄGM 15699) mentioned by Gabra and Farid, MDAIK 37, 181 (n. 3) and attributed to Tuthmosis II was recently exposed as a fake by C. Goedicke and R. Krauss, Der Denkstein Berlin ÄGM eine Ägyptologen- Fälschung, in Jahrbuch Preußischer Kulturbesitz 35 (1998), For the hypothesis expressed by Loeben, see BSEG 14, For the representation of the Ramesside pylon in the decoration of the Ptolemaic pylon has to be rejected being a misunderstanding of the ritual scene 'presenting the pylon'; see D. Kurth, Edfou VIII. Die Inschriften des Tempels von Edfu, Abteilung I Übersetzungen, Band 1 (Wiesbaden, 1998), 242 (n. 3) and Egberts, in Egyptian Religion. The Last Thousand Years,

5 THE HISTORY OF THE TEMPLE OF HORUS AT EDFU Fig. 1. Two architrave fragments from the time of Ìwtj. (G. Gabra) Fig. 2. The Kushite Heb Sed Porch: Three fragments of the right half of the lintel. (G. Gabra) 69

6 Y. EID AND M. VON FALCK Fig. 3. The Kushite Heb Sed Porch: Three fragments assigned to the same scene of the right doorjamb. (G. Gabra) Fig. 4. The Kushite Heb Sed Porch: Fragment with the upper part of the bottom scene of the right doorjamb. (G. Gabra) 70