Introduction

Archaism and Innovation:

Studies in the Culture of Middle Kingdom Egypt

Edited by David P. Silverman William Kelly Simpson Josef Wegner

New Haven: Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, Yale University Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology 2009

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Roberson, The Early History of New Kingdom Netherworld Iconography:

The Early History of New Kingdom Netherworld Iconography: A Late Middle Kingdom Apotropaic Wand Reconsidered1
Joshua Roberson

he gRoup oF texts conVentionally designated guides to the a FteRliFe, and in particular the so-called Underworld Books, are something of an anomaly within the larger corpus of ancient Egyptian religious literature. The history of these books can, in some ways, be seen as the reverse of that found in many other compositions, which have survived primarily in funerary contexts.2 Whereas the development of certain spells from the Pyramid Texts into the Coffin Texts and, later, the Book of the Dead is often said to reflect a process of democratization,3 the earliest known map of the hereafter, the Book of Two Ways, originates as a distinct composition within the larger framework of the Coffin Texts and therefore begins its history in the non-royal sphere.4 The next attested cosmographic composition, the Amduat, does not appear until the New Kingdom, several centuries later, in the tomb of Thutmose I.5 By this time, however, the iconography of the hereafter had undergone a substantial revision, both in terms of its physical geography and inhabitants. Whereas the earlier Book of Two Ways had included both the celestial realm and the Underworld as goals for the deceased,6 the Amduat and related compositions focused almost exclusively on the latter.7 For the remainder of the Eighteenth Dynasty, and into the following Ramessid Period, these Underworld Books appeared, almost without exception, as the sole prerogative of royalty.8

4 5 6 7 8

Preliminary versions of the present study were delivered at the fifty-fourth annual meeting of the American Research Center in Egypt, in Atlanta, Georgia, and at the First International Symposium on Ancient Egyptian Theology and Demonology, in Rhodes, Greece. I am indebted to professor Josef Wegner for his suggestion to include this paper in the present volume, and to professor David Silverman for many useful suggestions and corrections made during its preparation; in addition, I would also like to extend thanks to Theresa Musacchio for her invaluable input on an early draft. One hesitates to apply the term funerary literature to the Underworld Books, given that multiple levels of discourse may easily be concealed within compositions known only from tombs and tomb equipment; E. Wente, Mysticism in Pharaonic Egypt? (1982), discusses this problem at some length, in his investigation of the possible existence of initiatory ritual in the Amduat and Book of Gates (noting parallel trends in the Coffin Texts [ibid., p. 161 nos. 12, and 8] and Book of the Dead [ibid., pp. 16162 nos. 6 and 9]); c.f. also J. Assmann, Egyptian Solar Religion (1995), p. 7 no. 32, who distinguishes between the Book of Two Ways, as a funerary text, and the Amduat as a cosmography of the Heliopolitan solar cult. The term democratization has come under increasing scrutiny as new discoveries shed light on the development of ancient Egyptian religious texts. See, e.g., D. Silverman, Coffin Texts from Bersheh, Kom el Hisn and Mendes (1996), for a discussion of recent finds relating to the early history of the Coffin Texts in the Delta. For a general overview of the problems relating to the concept of democratization, see idem., The Nature of Egyptian Kingship (1995), p. 80ff., and S. Quirke, Egyptian Religion (1992), pp. 15558. L. Lesko, Book of Two Ways (1972), p. 2. E. Hornung, Books of the Afterlife (1999), p. 27. L. Lesko, Book of Two Ways (1972), pp. 6, 13537. See E. Hornung, Unterweltsbcher (1972), pp. 3034. The Amduat occurs only once in a private context over the course of the New Kingdom, in the Theban tomb of the vizier, Useramun (for which, see E. Dziobek, et al., Die Grber des Vezirs User-Amun [1994], pp. 4227). For a concise overview of the distribution of the Underworld Books in the New Kingdom, see S. Quirke, Egyptian Religion (1992), pp. 16368; and E. Hornung, Unterweltsbcher (1972), pp. 1723.

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Scholars have traditionally divided the Underworld Books into an earlier group, consisting of the Amduat and Book of Gates, and a later group, which includes the Book of Caverns and Book of the Earth. This distinction is based largely on the regular inclusion of the solar barque in books of the former type, versus the solar disc typically found in the latter, as well as the fixed organization of the earlier books according to the twelve hours of the night.9 However, given the striking lack of royal mortuary texts from the Middle Kingdom and Second Intermediate Period,10 the task of assigning an original date of composition to either of these groups remains problematic, beyond a general assumption that the later type came into existence only shortly before it first appears in the record.11 Dates proposed for the earliest preserved Underworld Book, the Amduat, have ranged from the Middle Kingdom12 to as early as the First Intermediate Period.13 Hornung, however, has opted for a more conservative chronology, suggesting that the origins of the Amduat are likely contemporaneous with those of the New Kingdom itself.14 Irrespective of ones interpretation of the evidence, or lack thereof, for the books proposed date of origin, there remains the significant problem of a roughly 480 year time span between the depictions of the hereafter found in the Book of Two Ways (terminal Eleventh Dynasty, c. 2000 bce) and the considerably more detailed representations of the Amduat (from Thutmose I, c. 1516 bce) and related Underworld Books. New discoveries, as well as re-analysis of older material, have begun to fill in some of the gaps in our knowledge concerning the development of ancient Egyptian religious thought from the late Middle Kingdom and Second Intermediate Period. The coffin of Herunefer, which contains one of the earliest attestations of chapter 17 of the Book of the Dead, has prompted Parkinson and Quirke to suggest that the theologians of the Thirteenth through the Seventeenth Dynasties were more or less restricted to the Theban region, which in turn led to the development of New Kingdom mortuary literature there, following the move from Itjtawy.15 John Darnell, in his analysis of certain enigmatic Netherworld texts attested from the reign of Tutankhamun and later, has identified a Book of the Solar-Osirian Unity, which shows affinities with other, better-known Underworld Books.16 Parallels in the former book with later compositions such as the Book of Caverns and the Book of the Earth strongly suggest an earlier date of composition for these supposedly Ramessid elements.17 Based on internal evidence, Darnell has suggested that the Book of the Solar-Osirian Unity could, theoretically, date back as far as the Middle Kingdom but that, due to the inclusion of quotations from the Book of the Dead, and the clear solar emphasis of the treatise, the composition probably originated sometime between the mid- to late-Seventeenth Dynasty and the reign of Amenhotep III.18 In a recent study of portions of the Amduat, Rler-Khler concluded that the cavern of Sokar, from the fifth hour of that book, derives ultimately from Middle Kingdom conceptions of the pyramid as the locus of the kings resurrection, which can be traced back to Senwosret II.19 Ongoing excavations of the mortuary complex of Senwosret III at Abydos, under the direction
9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 Ibid., pp. 2628; idem., Books of the Afterlife (1999), pp. 2627. See J. Wegner, The Tomb of Senwosret III at Abydos (current volume). S. Quirke, Egyptian Religion (1992), p. 163. H. Altenmller, Zur berlieferung des Amduat (1968), p. 42; J. Assmann, Egyptian Solar Religion (1995), p. 7 no. 32; Baines 1990, 63. E. Wente, Mysticism in Pharaonic Egypt? (1982), p. 176 and no. 19 (citing Altenmller and Grapow). E. Hornung, Unterweltsbcher (1972), p. 18; idem , Books of the Afterlife (1999), pp. 2728. Parkinson and Quirke, The Coffin of Prince Herunefer and the Early History of the Book of the Dead (1992), p. 48. J. Darnell, Solar-Osirian Unity (2004). Ibid., p. 468. Ibid., pp. 47071. U. Rler-Khler, Knigliche Vorstellungen zu Grab und Jenseits im Mittleren Reich, Teil I (1999), pp. 8688; also see comments by L. Gestermann, Knigliche Vorstellungen zu Grab und Jenseits im Mittleren Reich, Teil II (1999), pp. 10810, regarding the Amduats fourth through sixth hours and the development of the myth of Osiris as a Kontinuittsmodell fr Jedermann, in the wake of the transition from the Old to Middle Kingdoms.

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of Josef Wegner,20 have provided additional data linking the structure of that kings tomb with the Amduat.21 Dr. Wegner has re-examined the architecture of Senwosrets complex, which is the earliest known exemplar of the curvilinear design common in royal tombs of the Eighteenth Dynasty.22 His analysis suggests that the overall layout, as well as the materials used in its construction, appear to mimic specific aspects of the suns nocturnal journey through the Underworld as depicted in the Amduatin particular, the sixth and twelfth hours. If these interpretations are correct, they prove that many concepts relating to the topography of the Beyond, as found later in the Underworld Books of the New Kingdom, were already being expressed in three dimensions as early as the second half of the Middle Kingdom, bringing them significantly closer in time to their presumable precursor, the Book of Two Ways. Although the architecture of the Senwosret III complex may constitute one of the earliest three-dimensional expressions of Amduat geography, the anepigraphic nature of the tomb sheds no light on contemporary iconographic representations of the various beings encountered in the Hereafter. It is the development of this iconography, as depicted later in the various Underworld Books, which concerns the present study. Of particular interest in this regard will be representations of the union of corpse and ba at the deepest point of the Netherworld, and the ultimate rebirth of the sun in the last hour of the night. The union of the sun gods corpse and ba is one of the principal themes of the surviving Underworld Books.23 All of these compositions include a solar element, in which the ba of Re, in his nocturnal, ram-headed form,24 provides the revitalizing light necessary for the temporary rejuvenation of the inhabitants of the Underworld. In addition, his ba also rejuvenates the sun gods own corpse during or immediately after the midpoint of its journey, thereby enabling his ultimate rebirth.25 In addition to this solar element, the Amduat, Book of Caverns, and Book of the Earth also exhibit what may be termed a chthonic component, whereby the sun gods rejuvenation takes place only after passing through a cavern identified with the gods Sokar and Aker.26 Both the solar and chthonic aspects of this nocturnal union are depicted already in the earliest complete copies of the Amduat. In the bottom register of the fifth hour (fig. 1), the ramheaded sun god passes through the secret way of the land of Sokar.27 A double sphinx, Aker who guards the secret flesh,28 rests at the center of the register. An oval-shaped sand bank rises from the middle of his body, in the midst of which stands the falcon-headed deity Sokar, atop a winged serpent with multiple heads. A large, human-headed mound then surmounts the entire region. Above the mound rests a tumulus designated darkness or night from which the rejuvenated sun, in scarab form, emerges.29 This complex group of figures intersects the three horizontal registers in order to form a separate, vertical scene.30 This conspicuously pyramidal

20 21 22 23 24 25

26

27 28 29 30

PennsylvaniaYaleInstitute of Fine Arts Expedition to Abydos. J. Wegner, The Tomb of Senwosret III at Abydos (current volume). Ibid.; also see comments in J. Romer, Royal Tombs of the Early Eighteenth Dynasty (1976), p. 191 no. 2. See E. Hornung, Unterweltsbcher (1972), pp. 3637. Or in hypostasis as the solar disc, which is the more common form in the Books of Caverns and Earth (see reference in no. 9, above). In the Amduat and Book of Gates, this union occurs in the sixth hour, at the deepest point of the nocturnal journey, (E. Hornung, Books of the Afterlife [1999], pp. 37, 62); the union of corpse and ba , as the union of Re and Osiris, was also conceived in terms of the eastern horizon, where the giant deity, Re-Osiris, stands with his head in the upper region and his feet in the lower regions (J. Darnell, Solar-Osirian Unity (2004), pp. 37475); the iconographic convergence of these two elementsthe midpoint and terminus of the Netherworldwill be discussed in greater detail, below. See E. Hornung, Valley of the Kings (1990a), pp. 7778; the Book of Gates omits this component of the nocturnal journey (see below). For the Aker tableaux in the Book of the Earth, see now J. Roberson, The Book of the Earth (2007), pp. 17594, 31221, and 33746. E.Hornung, Texte zum Amduat, Teil II (1992), p. 436: w.t t.t n.t t skr. Ibid., p. 446: kr z jwf t . E. Hornung, Das Amduat: Die Schrift des Verborgenen Raumes (1963), pp. 9697. Ibid., p. 92; and idem., Books of the Afterlife (1999), p. 37.

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Fig. 1. The Land of Sokar. Detail from the Amduat, fifth hour. After A. Piankoff, Rameses VI (1954), figure 78. Alexandre Piankoff, Egyptian Religious Texts and Representations, Vol. 1. 1954 by Bollingen, 1982 renewed by PUP. Reprinted by permission of Princeton University Press.

tableau31 alludes not only to the rebirth of the sun, but also to the union of Osiris and Re in the Netherworld,32 while the oval-shaped land of Sokar within the body of Aker may be interpreted as a concise summary of the Underworld itself.33 The sun gods encounter with Sokar and Aker is conspicuously absent from the next attested Underworld Book, the Book of Gates, which instead fills the fifth hour with an expanded version of the Judgment Hall of Osiris, which is unique to that book.34 The chthonic element next appears in the Ramessid Book of Caverns and Book of the Earth. Unlike the representations found in the Amduat, however, those in the Ramessid books downplay the role of Sokar, focusing instead on the double-sphinx Aker and his role in the suns rebirth.

31 32 33 34

For the interpretation of the mound of Sokar, etc., as a schematic pyramid within a necropolis, see U. RlerKhler, Knigliche Vorstellungen zu Grab und Jenseits im Mittleren Reich, Teil I (1999), pp. 8285. E. Hornung, Books of the Afterlife (1999), p. 37. Ibid., and idem., Das Amduat: Die Schrift des Verborgenen Raumes (1963), p. 105. For which, see idem., Pforten des Jenseits (1980), pp. 14352. For the cryptic annotations to this scene and its possible lunar significance, see now C. Manassa, The Judgment Hall of Osiris in the Book of Gates (2006), passim.

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Fig. 2. The Cavern of Aker. Detail from the Book of Caverns, third division. After A. Piankoff, Rameses VI (1954), figure 148. Alexandre Piankoff, Egyptian Religious Texts and Representations, Vol. 1. 1954 by Bollingen, 1982 renewed by PUP. Reprinted by permission of Princeton University Press.

In the third division of the Book of Caverns, at the center of the Underworld,35 the ramheaded sun god makes his way through the cavern of Aker.36 In the middle of the second register, Aker himself appears as a double-headed sphinx flanked by three gods and four goddesses, and surmounted by the scarab Khepri within a disc, alongside the recumbent figure of Geb (fig. 2). Immediately after, an image of Osiris in his coffin is juxtaposed with the symbols of Re (his eye and a rams head), all of which are encircled by a protective ouroboros serpent, perhaps emphasizing the unity of the two deities.37 The Book of the Earth, as attested in the tomb of Ramesses VI, depicts the mysteries of the chthonic deity Aker and the subsequent union and rejuvenation of Re and Osiris in even greater detail. In the middle of the upper register of section A,38 for example, the solar barque comes to rest on the back of the double-headed Aker sphinx, which is flanked by two praising deities, personifying the entrance and exit of the Netherworld (fig. 3).39 This image presumably

35

36 37

38 39

Unlike the Amduat and Book of Gates, which are organized according to the twelve hours of the night, the Book of Caverns was divided into six qrrwt /caverns; Akers placement at the center of the Underworld appears to be stressed by the fact that he and his entourage occur as the middle group (three of five), in the middle register (two of three), exactly halfway through the entire composition (third of six caverns). See A. Piankoff, Le Livre des Qurerts (1944), pp. 2123, and pl. 27. E. Hornung, Books of the Afterlife (1999), p. 87; R. Ritner, A Uterine Amulet in the Oriental Institute Collection (1984), pp. 21920, has argued that the primary function of the Egyptian ouroboros was to create an enclosure for either protection or imprisonment, rather than functioning as a symbol of cyclical eternity, as is often stated (see ibid., no. 74); J. Darnell, Solar-Osirian Unity (2004), pp. 7980, has suggested that the circular ouroboroi from the second gilded shrine of Tutankhamun were equated with the disc of the sun, whose cyclical motion can also be understood as a form of enchantment with protective connotations (ibid., no. 201, citing R. Ritner, Mechanics of Ancient Egyptian Magical Practice [1993]). I.e. the right-hand sarcophagus hall wall, following A. Piankoff, Cration du Disque Solaire (1953); for the organization of these divisions in the tomb of Ramesses VI, see F. Abitz, Pharao als Gott (1995), p. 135ff. E. Hornung, Books of the Afterlife (1999), p. 100; the figures names appear in the version of this scene from the tomb of Ramesses IV as q nfr, Perfect Entrance, and prj nfr Perfect Emergence (idem., Zwei Ramessidische Knigsgrber [1990b], p. 87); for the variant forms in the tomb of Tawosret, see A. Piankoff, Cration du Disque Solaire (1953), p. 8 no. 2; and J. Roberson, The Book of the Earth, 313, no. 1208.

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Fig. 3. Aker as the personification of the netherworld. Detail from the Book of the Earth, section A. After A. Piankoff, Rameses VI (1954), fig. 89. Alexandre Piankoff, Egyptian Religious Texts and Representations, Vol. 1. 1954 by Bollingen, 1982 renewed by PUP. Reprinted by permission of Princeton University Press.

reflects the equation of Aker with the Earth and the Underworld itself. 40 Immediately beneath this scene lies the unified deity Re-Osiris, the corpse in which Re is,41 surrounded by the discs and stars representing the hours of the day and night.42 Turning to the bottom register, a concluding scene appears which serves to summarize the entire Netherworld journey. 43 On the left, Re, in ram-headed form, rides in the solar barque through the first half of the Netherworld.

40

41 42

43

For which, see L 1, cols. 11415; also see B. de la Roque, Notes sur Aker (1931), pp. 57578, for discussion of the semantic range of the gods name, as reflected in his various determinatives, as well as observations on the textual parallelism between Aker and Geb as personifications of the Earth in the Pyramid Texts and Book of the Dead; although he does not refer to De la Roques much earlier study, J. Ogdon, Some notes on the name and the iconography of the god kr (1986), pp. 12729, has since restated most of these observations, in support of his etymology of the gods name as *kr(w/y) the earthling; earthly one. See A. Piankoff, Cration du Disque Solaire (1953), p. 9; the interpretation of (.t) jmj(.t) R as a reverse nisbe follows E. Hornung, Unterweltsbcher (1972), p. 429. Twelve discs and twelve stars, plus the larger solar disc; the accompanying annotation mentions wnw.wt t.wt , the mysterious hours, which surround the head and feet of the recumbent mummy (A. Piankoff, Cration du Disque Solaire [1953], pl. 5,24). E. Hornung, Books of the Afterlife (1999), p. 102; with additional discussion in idem., Zu den Schluszenen der Unterweltsbcher (1981), p. 226 and passim. The full tableau from the bottom register is reproduced in A. Piankoff, Rameses VI (1954), pls. 11718.

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Fig. 4. Aker and the solar entourage. Detail from the Book of the Earth, section A, bottom register. After A. Piankoff, Rameses VI (1954), fig. 101. Alexandre Piankoff, Egyptian Religious Texts and Representations, Vol. 1. 1954 by Bollingen, 1982 renewed by PUP. Reprinted by permission of Princeton University Press.

The sun god then assumes the form of a ram-headed scarab as he proceeds into the body of Aker, which appears here as fully leonine (fig. 4).44 As a double lion, the gods form recalls that of Rw.tj, the two lions, thereby stressing the association of the tableau with the horizon as the locus of solar rebirth.45 In the middle of Akers body, the arms of Nun46 lift up the solar disc a recurrent image of solar regeneration, 47 which prefigures the suns ultimate rebirth at the end of the Netherworld. Quite significantly, the double-headed lions occurrence at the midpoint of the lower register places him directly beneath the corresponding Aker tableau from the upper register. These two scenes form the poles of a distinct vertical axis, with a column of text containing the kings name between them, which serves to graphically illustrate the path of the suns ascent from the depths of the Underworld along the right-hand wall. 48 Following the encounter of the sun gods ba with his corpse at the midpoint of the nocturnal journey, the solar entourage then proceeds through the remaining divisions of the Underworld towards the ultimate goal of rebirth from the horizon, in the final hour of the night. The concluding representations of the Amduat, Book of Gates and Book of Caverns all depict this event in a similar and very distinctive fashion (fig. 5.13, below).49 The border which frames the entire composition is depicted as an upper and lower band of sand (A), which curves around the books final scenes to meet on either side of a solar disc (B), toward which the newborn sun,
44 Aker appears as a human-headed double sphinx elsewhere of the Book of the Earth; however, both the front and hind quarters of the double lion in the concluding representation are clearly labeled kr, while the caption to its left states unambiguously: kr m sr pn , Aker is in this form (A. Piankoff, Cration du Disque Solaire (1953), p. 26 and pl. 12, 4). B. De la Roque, Notes sur Aker (1931), p. 576, felt that the double lion represented the fonction essentielle of the god, but more recent analysis of the earliest textual and iconographic data suggests that the connection between Aker and the double lion was a secondary development, which probably does not predate the Old Kingdom (L 1, col. 114). For the horizon as the gateway between this world and the next, and its associations with death, rebirth, etc., see L 3, cols. 37; on the relationship between double lions, Aker, and the horizon see C. De Wit, Le rle et le sens du lion (1951), p. 94; compare also the vignette from chapter 17 from the Book of the Dead, and headrest 403c from the tomb of Tutankhamun, discussed below. A. Piankoff, Cration du Disque Solaire (1953), p. 25: .wj Nnw. E. Hornung, Zu den Schluszenen der Unterweltsbcher (1981), passim. P. Barguet, Remarques sur Quelques Scnes de la Salle du Sarcophage de Ramss VI (1978), p. 52; F. Abitz, Pharao als Gott (1995), p. 137. For a discussion of the iconography and mythological significance of the concluding representations, see E. Hornung, Zu den Schluszenen der Unterweltsbcher (1981), passim.

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46 47 48 49

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Fig. 5 (13). Netherworld concluding scenes. Amduat (left) and Book of Gates (center) after A. Piankoff, Rameses VI (1954), figs. 87 and 73, Book of Caverns (right) adapted from M. Murray, J. Milne, and W. Crum, The Osireion at Abydos (1904), pl. 15.

in scarab form (C), moves. The curving, symmetrical shape of this border and its juxtaposition with the solar disc recall the form of the .t hieroglyph, which effectively identifies the external border of the various concluding scenes as the literal horizon from which the new born sun will emerge.50 In addition, the concluding representations appear to have functioned as concise summaries of the cyclical solar journey, representing the most important themes of the Underworld Books in a single image, at the end of each composition.51 The principal differences between features A through C, discussed above, lie in (1) the representation of the sun god and his entourage, and (2) the orientation of the scarab as it moves into the horizon. In the Amduat, the scarab proceeds headfirst toward the solar disc, while the head and arms of the god Shu appear at the edge of the horizon, waiting to lift up the newborn sun (fig. 5.1). In the Book of Gates, the scarab, now upright with solar disc overhead, rides with his entourage in the solar barque toward the horizon. The barque itself floats on the primeval waters, while the god Nun raises it toward the outstretched arms of Nut, who waits above (fig. 5.2). In the Book of Caverns, the scarab, now ram-headed,52 emerges from the primeval waters and proceeds, hind feet first, into the curve of the horizon, apparently backward (fig. 5.3). Between the scarab and the solar disc in the horizon appears a seated child,53 emphasizing the suns perpetual rejuvenation and parthenogenesis in the depths of the Underworld.54 These images relating to the middle and end of the suns nocturnal journey are paralleled in contemporary sources. From the Book of the Dead, chapter 17, comes the well-known passage: Mine is yesterday, and I know tomorrow. Who is he? Yesterday is Osiris; tomorrow is Re (rubric italicized).55 Of particular interest, however, is the vignette, which often accompanies this text.

50 51 52 53 54 55

The Book of Caverns explicitly designates this area as w jb, the Mountain of the East (A. Piankoff, Le Livre des Qurerts [1945], pl. 144, 8), i.e., the eastern horizon (for which, see L 3, col. 7). E. Hornung, Zu den Schluszenen der Unterweltsbcher (1981), p. 226. As in the second Aker tableau from the Book of the Earth, discussed above. Depicted as ithyphallic in the version of Merneptah (E. Hornung, Zu den Schluszenen der Unterweltsbcher [1981], p. 223). Ibid. T.G. Allen, The Book of the Dead (1974), p. 27, S3.

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The tableau depicts a pair of lions, labeled Yesterday (sf ) and Tomorrow (dw), sitting back to back with a large .t sign between them.56 Jorge Ogdon identifies lion pairs such as this with Rw.tj, the two lions, whom he describes as an archaic form of the sun god and a manifestation of the divine pair Shu and Tefnut,57 which he wishes to distinguish almost entirely from the double lion/sphinx Aker.58 Goelet, on the other hand, interprets the lions as Tefnut and Shu, but feels that they should be distinguished from Rw.tj.59 Both authors point to the same piece of evidence to illustrate their respective views. The artifact in question is the ivory headrest of Tutankhamun, no. 403c, which takes the form of the air god Shu who raises the curved upper section of the piece on his arms and shoulders, while flanked by a pair of recumbent lionsa form which is otherwise unattested for this type of object.60 The lions on the headrest have most often been interpreted as representing the mountains of the horizon, above which the sun, represented by the head of the sleeper, is lifted each morning.61 In point of fact, the central figure on the headrest also bears a distinct resemblance to the concluding representation of the Amduat, in which Shu appears at the end of the Netherworld, arms stretched around the curve of its border, waiting to receive the rejuvenated sun. As a three dimensional variation on the programmatic concluding representations from the Underworld Books, the double lions on the headrest can be identified not only with Rw.tj, but also Aker.62 The body of the latter god, like the concluding representations themselves, represents the entire course of the Netherworld, as well as the site of the sun gods renewal and emergence, as discussed above, with regard to the Book of the Earth. The significance of Tutankhamuns headrest, which combines these concepts into a single piece of portable funerary equipment of late Eighteenth Dynasty date, cannot be overstated. Although iconographic prototypes for some of the beings encountered in the hereafter might stem originally from the Book of Two Ways,63 the geography of the Underworld as depicted in the Amduat finds its earliest three dimensional expression in the architecture of certain Twelfth Dynasty pyramids, mentioned above. However, the royal tombs of the Middle Kingdom lack the elaborate tableaux and two-dimensional representations, which characterize the majority of New Kingdom royal funerary monuments.64 As such, they can provide little information concerning the internal iconography of the Netherworld, which would fill the void between representations found in the earlier Book of Two Ways and the more richly developed pantheon of the New Kingdom Underworld Books.
56 57 58 59 60 61 62 Idem , The Egyptian Book of the Dead (1960), pl. 59. J. Ogdon, Some Notes on the Name and Iconography of the God kr (1986), pp. 13031; thus also L 5, col. 321. J. Ogdon Some notes on the name and iconography of the god kr (1986), pp. 13031; see no. 62 below. O. Goelet, A Commentary on the Corpus of Literature and Tradition Which Constitutes the Book of Going Forth by Day (1994), p. 159. N. Reeves, Complete Tutankhamun (1990), p. 183. D. Silverman, personal communication (2003); C. Desroches-Noblecourt, Tutankhamen (1963), p. 288; N. Reeves, Complete Tutankhamun (1990), p. 183; et al. This point is grudgingly conceded by J. Ogdon, Some Notes on the Name and Iconography of the God kr (1986), p. 131, who admits that the image of the two lions was not completely disconnected from that of kr. However, also note that, although more formal distinctions between the two deities doubtless existed earlier, Aker and Rw.tj had certainly become syncretized to a large degree by the New Kingdom (L 1, cols. 11415), since, as pointed out already by C. De Wit, Le rle et le sens du lion (1951), p. 94, the function of the paired lions in the Book of the Dead as the guardians and personification of the horizon naturally overlaps with the iconography of Aker, by virtue of their symmetrical, .t -like configuration (for which, see below). E.g., the god Aker is named in Coffin Text spell 1121 (CT VII 453h454b), along with Osiris and Sepa (centipede), in a vignette depicting a barque with symmetrically paired human heads to the fore and aft, in the middle of which rests the shrine of Osiris (E. Hermsen, Zwei Wege des Jenseits [1991], pp. 22122, noting the shared chthonic character of the three deities). With the exception of the sarcophagus hall, the earliest Eighteenth Dynasty royal tombs, prior to the reign of Thutmose III, were still largely anepigraphic (see E. Hornung, Valley of the Kings [1990a], p. 209); as a result, their attribution to specific kings has proven rather problematic (see A. Dodson, The Tombs of the Kings of the Early Eighteenth Dynasty at Thebes [1988]; J. Romer, Royal Tombs of the Early Eighteenth Dynasty [1976]).

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64

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In order to find the missing link connecting the iconography of these two groups of texts, it may be helpful to turn to an object from the sphere of private apotropaic ritual, the so-called magic wand. The group of objects generally referred to as magical wands, knives, or, perhaps more appropriately, apotropaia,65 appear in the material record primarily between 2000 and 1600 bce, in a period corresponding roughly to the latter half of the Eleventh Dynasty, through the Seventeenth.66 The wands functioned primarily for the protection of mothers and newborn children and appear to have either been placed over their bodies while reciting the appropriate spells,67 or were used to draw a protective circle around them, as perhaps indicated by patterns of wear along their edges.68 In addition to their use in daily life, the wands were also deposited in tombs for the purpose of achieving divine rebirth in the afterlife.69 The mechanism by which these magical acts were made effective was the identification of the child (and, by extension, the deceased) with the newborn sun god, in order to harness the protective power of his entourage.70 Since the child represented him in the ritual, the sun god himself almost never appears, except in hypostasis.71 Rather, the pantheon depicted on the apotropaia consists largely of the demons found in the sun gods entourage, which can assume a variety of forms and are identified in the occasional inscriptions as z.w, protective beings, or more generically as nr.w, gods.72 The most common of these include the Bes-like demon Aha; a composite hippopotamus goddess most likely representing Taweret or Ipet; and two additional composite creatures which are generally interpreted as a griffon and serpent-necked panther.73 These major figures are always accompanied by a host of other creatures such as frogs, vultures, various serpents, lions, and animal-headed standards, as well as double-headed figures in the form of bulls, lions and human-headed sphinxes.74 A few of the apotropaic demons appear to have acquired their associations with the solar entourage through pre-existing local cult traditions,75 while the origins of others are less certain.76 Some of the creatures found on the apotropaia are represented for the first time in the Book of Two Ways.77 There, they are charged with protecting the paths, doors and furnishings of the afterlifea tradition that continues into the New Kingdom via the Book of the Dead and the various Underworld Books.78

65 66

67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77

78

H. Altenmller, Apotropaia (1965), vol. 1, pp. 78. Ibid., p. 1; also note the apparent two dimensional representation of an apotropaion in earlier versions of the first hour of the Amduat (e.g. Thutmose III), which appears later in the version of Seti I as a knife, and as a serpentshaped staff, in that of Ramesses VI (E. Hornung, Das Amduat: Die Schrift des Verborgenen Raumes (1963), p. 24; a line drawing of the Thutmose III scene, which includes the apotropaion, appears in A. Piankoff, Rameses VI [1954], fig. 233, second register from top, far right). Similarly shaped objects occur also in the third and fourth hours (E. Hornung, Das Amduat [1963], nrs. 204, 312). Also cf. three apotropaia pictured in the Eighteenth Dynasty Theban tomb of Rekhmire (TT 100), together with serpent staves, incense burners, various types of statues, etc., presented by the vizier as furnishings for a royal temple (N. de Garis Davies, The Tomb of Rekh-Mi-R at Thebes (1943), pl. 37, bottom register). H. Altenmller, Apotropaia (1965), vol. 1, pp. 18687. Ibid.; G. Steindorff, The Magical Knives of Ancient Egypt (1946), p. 249; R. Ritner, Magical Wand from Rifeh (1997), p. 235. H. Altenmller, Ein Zaubermesser des Mittleren Reiches (1986), pp. 2627. Idem., Apotropaia , vol. 1, p. 187. E.g., as a scarab, solar disc, cat, etc. (see ibid., pp. 17175). Ibid., p. 136. For a full account of the knives pantheon, see ibid., pp. 13677. Ibid., with a number of representative examples in idem., vol. 2, pp. 11425. E.g. Bes/Aha, through his cultic associations at Hermopolis (E. Hermsen, Zwei Wege des Jenseits [1991], p. 132; H. Altenmller, Apotropaia [1965], vol. 1, p. 152). E.g. the frog, presumed to represent Heket (ibid., p. 169). Compare the various knife-wielding demons (cat, baboon, donkey, composite hippo, etc.) in Sections III and IV of the Book of Two Ways (E. Hermsen, Zwei Wege des Jenseits [1991], pp. 13537 and ff.), with similar figures in H. Altenmller, Apotropaia , vol. 2, p. 114 ff. E. Hermsen, Zwei Wege des Jenseits (1991), p. 137.

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Fig. 6. Apotropaion displaying typical organization and iconography. New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Theodore M. Davis Collection. Bequest of Theodore M. Davis, 1915 (30.8.218). Line drawing by the author, after R. Ritner, Magic: An Overview, in D. Redford (ed.), The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt , vol. 2 (Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2001), p. 323.

Although the selection of individual figures on any given apotropaic wand is highly variable and follows no canonical order, the wands general form and the internal organization of its images do adhere to certain stylistic conventions in almost all cases (for a typical example, see fig. 6).79 The material used in their constructiongenerally hippopotamus ivorydetermines the shape of the wand,80 which assumes the form of an asymmetrical curve or arc, rounded at one end and slightly pointed at the other.81 This shape was perhaps meant to echo that of the knives which are carried by many of the apotropaic demons.82 Based on the orientation of the incised images, the direction of the knifes curve points almost invariably downward.83 The duplication of figures on a single piece appears to have been deliberately avoided84 and, with very few exceptions,85 the images tend to be organized into one register, moving single file from one end of the wand to the other. Altenmller also recognized a second, much smaller class of objects, accounting for roughly 5% of his total corpus.86 As with the more common type, the selection of individual figures remains highly variable. The second group, however, is differentiated by the organization of its figures into two separate or antithetical groups flanking either side of a central image or middle point. The antithetical wands decorated in this fashion tend to be organized more or less symmetrically and exhibit exceptions to the rules governing representations on the standard

79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86

H. Altenmller, Apotropaia (1965), vol. 1, pp. 3031. Ibid., p. 29. G. Steindorff, The Magical Knives of Ancient Egypt (1946), p. 42, who also notes: a few knives show both ends equally rounded (see BM 18175, below). R. Ritner, Magical Wand from Rifeh, (1997), p. 235. See the representative examples shown in H. Altenmller, Apotropaia (1965), vol. 2, pp. 11425, all of which exhibit a downward curve. H. Altenmller, Apotropaia (1965),vol. 1, p. 31. I.e., the occasional stacking of small figures, e.g., W. Hayes, The Scepter of Egypt (1953), p. 249, fig. 159. H. Altenmller, Apotropaia (1965), vol. 1, p. 31 no. 2; six examples cited, from his corpus of 132 objects: Munich (unnumbered); Oxford AM E 2223; Louvre E 3614 +MMA 26.7.1288; MMA 15.3.197; Baltimore WAG 71510; and Price Lot 883; also see no. 89, below.

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Fig. 7. Apotropaion BM 18175. London, British Museum. Line drawing by the author, after Robins, Art of Ancient Egypt (1997), fig. 123.

formmost notably in the appearance of duplicate figures on the same piece.87 Altenmller has made the suggestion that one such piece (Munich, not numbered) was designed to imitate the form of a pectoral,88 but the significance of this alternate decorative style has yet to be adequately explained in other cases. An apotropaion in the British Museum, catalogue number 18175, belongs to this second class of wands (see fig. 7).89 As a member of Altenmllers Gruppe IV, it can be dated to the later Middle Kingdom, c. 1850 bce,90 or roughly contemporary with the reign of Senwosret III. BM 18175, however, exhibits several atypical characteristics, which further separate it from the bulk of the corpus, as well as from the other antithetical wands.91 The most immediately apparent of these features is the orientation of the wand itself, relative to the figures represented on it. Unlike the vast majority of apotropaia, BM 18175 has an unmistakable upward curve, in which the figures progress along the wand, down from one end, toward the center, and back up toward the opposite end.92 In addition, it does not adhere to the standard, knife-like shape exhibited by most of the other wands. On the contrary, it displays a uniform curve, which does not diminish to a pointboth ends being blunt and of roughly comparable size, skillfully designed to parallel one another, in both outward form and interior design. In addition, the figures appearing on BM 18175 depart radically from the standard, single file progression

87 88 89

90 91

92

Ibid., p. 31; see, for example, G. Steindorff, The Magical Knives of Ancient Egypt (1946), p. 41, fig. 5. H. Altenmller, Apotropaia (1965), vol. 2, p. 75. Altenmller (ibid., vol. 1, p. 31 no. 2), does not cite BM 18175 among his six antithetical examples, but the organization of the images around a central axis combined with the duplication of the lion and serpent figures at either end of the piece indicate that it should be considered a member of the antithetical class; for supplemental bibliography and description of BM 18175, see ibid., vol. 2, pp. 5052. Ibid., p. 52. Altenmller (ibid., p. 51) indicates that the purchase of BM 18175 also included a copy of the same piece executed in wood; in addition, two modern forgeries based on inaccurate copies of BM 18175 are currently housed in the Ashmolean and Oriental Institute Museum (ibid.). Ibid., pp. 5152, noting only one other definite example (Munich, unnumbered; see no. 87), featuring a similarly inverted arc.

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typical of the corpus, exhibiting instead a complex division into multiple sections, split at points into an upper and lower register, in which the various figures interlock like a jigsaw puzzle, filling every available area on the front side of the wand.93 The highly distinctive external form of BM 18175, coupled with the unique disposition of the figures inscribed upon it, appears to have been intended to represent the horizon. This interpretation is consistent with the wands function as an instrument used to magically associate the infant and the deceased with the newborn sun.94 The wands upward curving, symmetrical arc recalls the shape of the two mountains, which the ancient Egyptians used to depict the horizon in art and writing (i.e., the .t hieroglyph). In addition, each end of the wand bears matching images of a recumbent lion (A) above a knife-wielding uraeus. The fully recumbent lion motif is extremely rare among the apotropaia, including those belonging to the so-called antithetical group.95 The significance of the two lions with respect to the deity Rw.tj, and the corresponding association with the horizon have been discussed above, in relation to BD 17 and the headrest of Tutankhamun. The appearance of similarly positioned lion figures here, at either end of a uniquely horizon-shaped wand, whose use was intimately connected with solar mythology, was certainly meant to evoke this same image.96 The identification of the paired lions as Rw.tj, and therefore of the wand itself as a symbolic horizon, is further underscored by the twin uraei located beneath the lion figures. Taken ideographically, the rearing cobra can be read in numerous ways, but the clear solar context of the wand immediately calls to mind the so-called royal serpent, .t , attested already in the Pyramid Texts.97 When grouped together as a dual construction, comparable to the lion figures with which they are paired, the cobras can, therefore, be interpreted as a straightforward rebus, reading: .tj, two horizons.98 In addition to the symmetrical animals paired at either end of the wand, the middle of the piece also includes a double-headed sphinx (B), located at the central axis of the composition. The physical shape of this creature resembles the symmetrical form of the wand itself, as reinforced by the two lions appearing at either end.99 Altenmller identified this creature as a menschenkpfiger Doppellwe,100 which he associated with Rw.tj as a manifestation of Shu and Tefnut of Leontopolis, avoiding any mention of the chthonic deity Aker.101 As discussed

For the reverse, which includes an additional file of antithetically arranged demons and a short protective spell for the mistress of the house, Senbet, see H. Altenmller, Apotropaia (1965), vol. 2, pp. 5051; note that the placement of certain figures on the reverse corresponds with figures on the front side (e.g., the recumbent lion on the left, the hippopotamus goddess with knife and z -sign on the right, and the knife-wielding serpents on either end; see no. 98, below). 94 This interpretation also supports Altenmllers suggestion (Apotropaia [1965], vol. 2, pp. 5152), that BM18175 and the similarly oriented piece from Munich (unnumbered) may have been placed on the chest, beneath the head of the child (or deceased), like a pectoral; in this position, the head would appear above the center of the wand, in the position of the solar disc on the horizon, directly comparable to the placement of the head in the curve of the headrest from the tomb of Tutankhamun, discussed above. 95 See ibid., passim; the vast majority of examples of the lion divinity are listed as either upright (aufgerichtete) or sitting, less often as striding; Altenmller includes only one other example of a recumbent lion in his corpus (ibid.,p. 4; WAG 71.510). 96 The use of symmetrical animals as a motif relating to birth is attested in Egypt at least as far back as the Old Kingdom. H. Fischer, Orientation of Hieroglyphs (1977), pp. 8182, fig. 83, discusses such a scene from the sun temple at Abu Ghurob, in which two weasels stand opposite each other, tail to tail, with a symmetrical caption above reading: giving birth to a weasel (by) a weasel. Of particular note is the fact that the axis of symmetry for the text is the sign for birth, ms , which appears at the point directly above that at which the tails of the weasels meet, in the position occupied by the solar disc in the .t sign. 97 Wb 1, p. 16.1819; for PT references, see Belegstellen I, p. 3. 98 The significance of the serpents placement, relative to the overall decorative program of the wand, is further underscored by the identically placed pair on the reverse sidefrom any direction, twin serpents delimit the progression of figures. 99 On the overlap between the double-headed sphinx and paired lions as symbols of the horizon, etc., see no. 62, above. 100 H. Altenmller, Apotropaia (1965), vol. 2, p. 50. 101 Ibid., vol. 1, p. 172.

93

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above in relation to BD 17 and the headrest of Tutankhamun, the distinction between Rw.tj, Shu/Tefnut, and Aker can be problematic. However, the double sphinx represented on BM 18175 gives several important clues as to its identity and function. Due to the apotropaions unusual inverted arc, the sphinxs location at the center of the piece places it at the lowest point of the curve. It is likewise at the midpoint of the solar journey, at the deepest point of the Underworld, that the earth god Aker resides.102 In addition, the sphinxs proximity to the scarab and ram figures suggests additional parallels with later representations of the double-headed god, Aker. The scarab beetle (C) juxtaposed beneath the body of the double sphinx (B) on the wand is of particular importance for the identification of the figures in the central scene. The Amduat, Book of Caverns, and Book of the Earth each depict the god Aker in varying degrees of proximity to a scarab (see figs. 13). A direct correspondence between the two figures is most evident in the Book of Caverns and the concluding tableau from the Book of the Earth, both of which represent the sun god in his rejuvenated, scarab form only after, or as a direct result of, his encounter with Aker. However, as noted by Steindorff: the scarab which in mythology was held to represent the sungod (Khepre), is strangely absent from the assembly of protective animals [found on apotropaic wands].103 Consequently, the highly unusual appearance of a scarab on BM 18175, coupled with its location near the double sphinx at the central and lowest point of the wand, points to the identities of the figures in question as the rejuvenated sun god and Aker, respectively. Appearing to the left of this central scene is a group consisting of a serpent-headed deity and Bes-like god Aha on either side of a kneeling ram (D). This last figure, shown wearing the Atef crown and accompanied by a stylized image of the rising sun, is otherwise unattested on the apotropaia.104 The sun resembles the hieroglyph found as a determinative in verbs such as wbn, to rise/shine,105 and the presence of the Atef crown helps to clarify further the purpose of this solar imagery. The true Atef106 always represents kingship in the Netherworld and, therefore, serves as a counterpart in the afterlife to the double crown worn by the living king.107 But whereas the Atef crown is frequently associated with Osiris, it can also be linked with Re, and in this capacity it appears to reflect the union of these two gods in the Netherworld.108 This combination of imagery suggests that the ram-figure depicted on BM 18175 should, therefore, be identified specifically as the nocturnal manifestation of the Sun-god, Re, in the guise of the king of the Netherworld, Osiris.109 Its proximity to the central Aker and scarab figures strengthens this interpretation. In the Amduat,110 Book of Caverns,111 and Book of the Earth,112 the ba of Re unites with the corpse of Osiris either during or immediately after his encounter with the

102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109

110 111 112

See the discussion of the three chthonic scenes, above. G. Steindorff, The Magical Knives of Ancient Egypt (1946), p. 50; c.f. also H. Altenmller, Apotropaia (1965), vol. 1: 175, who includes only four examples, or roughly 3% of his total corpus. Ibid., p. 55 no. 5. Wb 1, p. 293. I.e., a bundled reed crown (mww) flanked by two curved feathers (w.tj ) (S. Collier, Crowns of Pharaoh [1996], p. 39). Ibid., p. 48. Ibid., pp. 4951. It is also possible that the ram on BM 18175 could represent the god Khnum, who is frequently depicted wearing the Atef crown. However, given that this crown does not become a standard part of Khnums iconography until the Eighteenth Dynasty (S. Bickel, Liconographie du dieu Khnoum [1991], p. 58) it seems that the preponderance of solar imagery on the wand points more strongly to the figures identity as a manifestation of Re. H. Altenmller, Apotropaia (1965), vol. 1, p.55, views it as a form of the Herakleopolitan god Harsaphes/ Heryshef, whose cult, however, is connected with both Re and Osiris (L 3, col. 1016). Sixth hour; for the union of Re with his corpse/Osiris in this hour, see E. Hornung, Das Amduat: Die Schrift des Verborgenen Raumes (1963), pp. 12324. Third division, middle register, fourth scene (figure 1.2); texts translated in A. Piankoff, Le Livre des Qurerts (1944), pp. 2324; for the interpretation of the scene, see Hornung, Books of the Afterlife (1999), p. 87. Section A, upper register, second scene (figure 1.3); texts translated in A. Piankoff, Cration du Disque Solaire (1953), pp. 89; with useful comments in E. Hornung, Books of the Afterlife (1999), p. 100.

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double headed sphinx, Aker. Following this interpretation, the ram figure on BM 18175 could represent one of the oldest images of the union of Re and Osiris yet identified.113 While the ram, sphinx, and scarab figures depicted on the apotropaic knife all appear to be connected to the events occurring near the middle or deepest point of the Netherworld,114 the overall shape and organization of the piece must also be considered. If one were to take the wand itself, with its upward arc representing the horizon, and rotate the piece ninety degrees counter-clockwise, the resulting image would be a fair approximation of the concluding scenes depicted in the New Kingdom Underworld Books (fig. 8). In essence, the exterior border (A) of both the wand and the concluding scenes assumes the curved, symmetrical shape of the horizon through which the rejuvenated sun, as a scarab (B) flanked by his nocturnal entourage (C), must pass. The orientation of the scarab relative to the external curve of the wand may also be significant. When placed in the normal, upright direction the scarab appears to climb head first, up and out of the horizon. But when turned relative to the orientation of the books concluding scenes, the scarab on the wand appears to move feet first and backward, into the arc of the external border, in a position most comparable to the corresponding tableau from the Book of Caverns.115 It is clear that the iconography and overall composition of BM 18175 are fundamentally different from the standard form of apotropaic wand. Whereas the typical apotropaion contains a fairly straightforward, linear progression of figures only loosely associated with each other under the general rubric of z.w, protective beings, BM 18175 exhibits a highly complex organization and division of figures, which interact to depict a much more fully developed mythological scene. This scene may function on multiple levels, but appears to incorporate iconographic elements belonging to the genre of so-called Guides to the Afterlife. While some of the figures represented on the wand find their earliest prototypes in the Book of Two Ways, several features unique to this piece suggest that the artist was familiar with certain elements of Netherworld geography, which would not find formal expression prior to the Underworld Books of the New Kingdom. The wands late Twelfth Dynasty date coincides very closely with architectural innovations found in the tomb of Senwosret III at Abydos. If Senwosrets complex was designed to imitate the layout of the sixth and twelfth hours of the Amduat, as Wegner suggests,116 and if the interpretation of the Netherworld iconography on the wand is accepted, then the evidence clearly indicates that these supposedly New Kingdom innovations were being developed and exploited in hitherto unrecognized ways, in both two- and three-dimensional art and architecture, as early as the Twelfth Dynasty. In conclusion, the fact that such typically royal iconography would appear so early in a private magical context must not be overlooked. This need not, however, imply a popular origin for those aspects of Netherworld geography depicted on the apotropaion. Rather, the use of such motifs on BM 18175 is indicative of the highly fluid relationship between the categories

113

114 115 116

The so-called Solar-Osirian Unity appears sporadically as a theological principal and iconographic element throughout the royal funerary texts of the Eighteenth Dynasty and Ramessid period (see, for example, the discussion of the giant deity as a manifestation of Re-Osiris in Darnell, Solar-Osirian Unity [2004], p. 347ff.); the widespread use these motifs in the elite, non-royal sphere only became standardized by the Twenty-First Dynasty (see A. Niwinski, The Solar-Osirian unity as principle of the theology of the State of Amun in Thebes in the 21st Dynasty [1989]); for a concise general overview, see also E. Hornung, Conceptions of God [1982], pp. 9396). If the figure on BM 18175 indeed represents the unified Re-Osiris, then it must be viewed as a prototypical form still far removed from the elaborate, syncretized deity, which appears in sources from the New Kingdom and later. Note that any/all of the figures may be assumed to operate on multiple levels of meaning which could lend significance to them beyond their basic apotropaic function. Note that scarab in the Book of Caverns is ram-headed, as in the corresponding tableau from the Book of the Earth, whereas the Amduat and Book of Gates (as well as BM 18175) represent it as fully scaraboid. J. Wegner, The Tomb of Senwosret III at Abydos (current volume).

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Fig. 8. Comparative view of the Book of Caverns, concluding scene, and BM 18175.

of private and royal magical practice.117 If Egypt, in fact, knew only priestly spells used for royal or private benefit,118 then BM 18175 should be viewed as a tangible indicator of the changes taking place behind the scenes in Egyptian religious thought during the later Twelfth Dynasty. These innovations, which appear to include the development of early versions of the cosmographic treatises known from the New Kingdom as Underworld Books, could then have been applied to both private magical practice and the royal funerary cult.119

117

118 119

In the realm of cosmographywhich is not devoid of elements of practical theology (E. Wente, Mysticism in Pharaonic Egypt? [1982], p. 175)the inadequacy of the royal/private dichotomy is illustrated already at the supposed beginning of the Amduat tradition in the early Eighteenth Dynasty, with the seemingly anomalous, non-royal version of Useramun (see no. 8, above); a similar situation prevails in the discussion of private versus state magic, as discussed in R. Ritner, Mechanics of Ancient Egyptian Magical Practice (1993), pp. 18390; see also the discussion of the identity of the magician, responsible for the authoring, compilation and performance of magical spells and rites, in ibid., p. 220ff. Ibid., p. 204 (italics original). Thus, E. Wente, Mysticism in Pharaonic Egypt? (1982), pp. 17576: It seems much simpler to assume that the Book of Amduat and Book of Gates, were originally designed for use upon earth as well as in the other world and were only secondarily adapted as specifically royal funerary literature.

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Abitz, Friedrich. Pharao als Gott in den Unterweltsbchern des Neuen Reiches. OBO, vol. 146. Freiburg: Universittsverlag; Gttingen: Vandenhoeck and Ruprect (1995). Allen, Thomas George. The Book of the Dead or Going Forth by Day. SAOC, vol. 37. Chicago: University of Chicago Press (1974). Allen, Thomas George. The Egyptian Book of the Dead. Documents in the Oriental Institute Museum at the University of Chicago. Chicago: University of Chicago Press (1960). Altenmller, Hartwig. Ein Zaubermesser des Mittleren Reiches. SAK 13: 127 (1986). Altenmller, Hartwig. Zur berlieferung des Amduat. JEOL 20 (1968), pp. 2742. Altenmller, Hartwig. Die Apotropaia und die Gtter Mittelgyptens. Eine typologische und religionsgeschichtliche Untersuchung der sog. Zaubermesser des Mittleren Reichs , 2 volumes. Munich: Ludwig Maximillians Universitt (1965). Assmann, Jan. Egyptian Solar Religion in the New Kingdom. Re, Amun and the Crisis of Polytheism , translated from the German by Anthony Alcock. London, New York: Kegan Paul International (1995). Baines, John. Interpreting the Story of the Shipwrecked Sailor. JEA 76 (1990), pp. 5572. Barguet, Paul. Remarques sur quelques scnes de la salle du sarcophage de Ramss VI. RdE 30 (1978), pp. 5156. Barta, Winifried. Komparative Untersuchungen zu vier Unterweltsbchern . Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang (1994). Bickel, Susanne. Liconographie du dieu Khnoum. BIFAO 91 (1991), pp. 5567. Bourriau, Janine. Pharaohs and Mortals. Egyptian Art in the Middle Kingdom. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (1988). Collier, Sandra. The Crowns of Pharaoh . PhD dissertation in Near Eastern Languages and Cultures, University of California Los Angeles (1996). Darnell, John C. The Enigmatic Netherworld Books of the Solar-Osirian Unity: Cryptographic Compositions in the Tombs of Tutankhamun, Ramesses VI and Ramesses IX . OBO, vol. 198. Fribourg: Academic Press; Gttingen: Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht (2004). Davies, Norman de Garis. The Tomb of Rekh-Mi-R at Thebes. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art (1943). De la Roque, Bisson. Notes Sur Aker. BIFAO 30 (1931), pp. 57580. De Wit, Constant. Le rle et le sens du lion dans lEgypte ancienne . Leiden: Brill (1951). Desroches-Noblecourt, Christiane. Tutankhamen: Life and Death of a Pharaoh. London: Penguin Books (1963). Dodson, Aidan. The Tombs of the Kings of the Early Eighteenth Dynasty at Thebes. ZS 115 (1988), pp. 11023. Dziobek, Eberhard, with contributions by E. Hornung and Y.M. Fecia di Cossato. Die Grber des Vezirs User-Amun: Theben Nr. 61 und 131. Mainz: Philipp von Zabern (1994). Edwards, I.E.S., et al. A General Introductory Guide to the Egyptian Collections in the British Museum . London: Trustees of the British Museum (1971). Eschweiler, Peter. Bildzauber im Alten gypten. Freiburg: Universittsverlag (1994). Fischer, Henry George. The Orientation of Hieroglyphs, Part I. Reversals. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art (1977). Gestermann, Louise. Knigliche Vorstellungen zu Grab und Jenseits im Mittleren Reich, Teil II: Osirisgrber des Mittleren Reiches in kniglichem Kontext: Amduat, 6. Stunde. Das frhe gyptische Knigtum, Akten des 2. Symposiums zur gyptischen Knigsideologie in Wien, edited by Rolf Gundlach and Wilfried Seipel. Wiesbaden: Harrasowitz Verlag (1999).

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